Interesting thread that I'm just now seeing.... I was a real Algebra geek in school (but hated geometry!). I got some weird satisfaction out of working out a problem and the more it filled up the page, the better!
I have to admit though that high school for me was more than 20 years ago and I'm rusty. I originally got "2" as my answer but as soon as someone mentioned PEMDAS I reworked it and got 288. My girls are a Freshman and Junior in HS now and do not ask me for help with their work because from early on I would tell them how to do it and they would argue "that's not how the teacher did it" so I told them I wasn't trying to help anymore. They do very well without my help though.
This was actually a very simple problem with just a hint of "controversy" but as long as you follow the PEMDAS rule, you got it. Thanks for waking my brain up!