THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9512290005
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
I was at first quite alarmed by the headline ``ODU has highest probation rate'' (MetroNews, Dec. 23) until I read in the article that the probation rates at the various universities are measured differently. You do the ODU faculty, administration, students and your newspaper readers a great disservice by amplifying the differences between apples and oranges.
On the other hand, maybe you have stumbled upon a great news-generation technique. Your next headline could read ``People in Virginia Beach are 6 inches taller than people in Norfolk.'' City leaders in Norfolk could be questioned on why they have allowed their citizens to end up on the short end of the stick. Buried in the back pages, it could be shown that your measurement was actually 6 inches shorter than the one used in Norfolk.
Your probation-rate article should have immediately told the reader that academic probation is not standardized among state universities and that it is unwise to strictly compare the numbers without understanding the context in which they were generated. Your readers would have been better-served to read about a comparison between yearly rates within each university where the measuring device has remained consistent.
CURTIS K. AASEN
Norfolk, Dec. 23, 1995 by CNB