Numbers

EDUCATION

$1 million

Yearly salary of presidents at 12 private universities for the 2005-06 academic year. Of the 68 community-college presidents surveyed by the Chronicle of Higher Education, about half made less than $250,000 per year

81

Number of private-college presidents earning more than $500,000 per year. Only three earned that much a decade ago

SMOKING

$1

Proposed federal excise tax on cigarettes, a 61-c--per-pack increase. The extra funds would help finance a proposed increase of approximately $35 billion for S-CHIP, a federal children's health-insurance bill

73

Number of times Congress has increased the sales tax on cigarettes since 2000

BROADWAY

$17 million

Cost per day to the city of New York for the Broadway stagehand strike, which comes during one of the industry's busiest seasons

27

Number of plays and musicals--from The Lion King to Mamma Mia! to The Little Mermaid--currently shuttered

DELECTABLES

$25,000

Cost of the world's most expensive dessert. Made of milk, cocoa, 5 g of 24-karat gold, gold-flecked whipped cream and shavings from a rare chocolate truffle, it's available at New York City's Serendipity 3, which has yet to sell one

$25,200

Price of the 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid

Sources: New York Times (2); AP (2); Wall Street Journal (2); New York Times; Toyota