Statistically Guessing (The End)

Martin called back Thursday.

Martin of Stonehill College.

Or should I say Mahtin, the way his softened  vowels reveal his Irish heritage when he identifies himself?

Martin had become as caught up in my little "Stonehill grads marrying Stonehill grads" study as I.  And as head of College Communications and Media Relations, Martin had gotten a hold of what I couldn’t uncover - numbers. Not for all Stonehill students since the Congregation of the Holy Cross founded the college in 1948, but for some.

            “’I’ve taken a look at all the alums in Mahssahchusetts,” he said, light on his “a”s, heavy on his “t”s .  Those would be the graduates who are settled in the state the college is located. “There’s 13,389 graduates living here and 1,624 of them are married to fellow students,” reported Martin.

          “That’s over 800 alumni couples,” I said. An easy estimate. I went on to do the high math on my computer screen: 1,624 / 13,389 – to five places.

            .12129

            That’s 12 %.

Twelve per cent of Stonehill College graduates living in Massachusetts are married to Stonehill graduates! 

Then, I wondered from where  the hearsay 70% emerged?

Martin let me babble a bit “Maybe it was once thought to be 17%, and the seventeen sounded so much like seventy, it became seventy,.” I said.

But Martin wasn’t into maybes. He preferred to speak with certainty. And so, with a just the facts M'am air of authority in his voice, he said all that really mattered:

 “I’m married to an alum. I highly recommend it.”