Letters to the Editor

Cross-Cultural conflict leads to new memorial fund
Dear Editor,
My 45-year old daughter, Chhavi Bhatia, recently committed suicide by shooting herself with a gun. She had been suffering from severe migraine headaches and intermittent depression. For most of her adult life she had remained under psychiatric care. However, her major frustration was that most of the mental health practitioners in this country could not understand, or empathize with, her deep-rooted cultural conflict. She was 10 years old when she moved from India to this country and had always felt torn between the two cultures. It was this ongoing conflict that she could not completely resolve and that finally led to a tragic end to an otherwise promising life.

In honor of my daughter's memory, and hopefully to prevent future tragedies like this from occurring, I have established a scholarship at the University of Houston - Clear Lake to help attract Indian female therapists in the fields of Clinical Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy. I am writing to request your help in generously contributing to this fund. The contributions can be mailed directly to Chhavi Bhatia Memorial scholarship Endowment, Office of University Advancement, University of Houston - Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058.

Sincerely,
Tulsi B. Saral,
Professor of Clinical Psychology

Student GPA's stir reaction from faculty, students

One of the major functions of Institutional Research is to provide information to the university and its constituents in support of institutional planning and assessment activities.

As a part of this effort, we publish a variety of standard reports, both online and in hard copy. We also complete ad hoc requests for data when such information cannot be found in one of our standard publications. The typical turn around time for any ad hoc request is one to two weeks, depending on the amount of analysis required. This standard applies to all requests for information, including those we receive from President Staples, the UH Chancellor's Office and the state legislature.

There are many items, including average student GPAs, which we do not report on routinely. This does not mean that such information is "completely nonexistent" nor that we "have no information on the topic." It simply means that the data is not readily available, but can be retrieved as needed from the appropriate database system.

The response to Aaron Wright's request was the same response Don Asdel received when requesting data on mean GPAs last semester. In both instances, I indicated that we would be happy to provide the data if they could delay the story. Both students were asked how they would like us to proceed. In both instances, neither student responded.

Unfortunately, our ability to respond to Mr. Wright's request was also impacted by other activities that our office is directly involved in at this time, namely the SACS reaffirmation visit and the conversion to PeopleSoft. These facts were presented to Mr. Wright not as an excuse to avoid releasing this information, but to provide an awareness of the broader picture. Despite limited resources and the demands of these additional tasks, OIE continues to meet all requests for information.

It is distressing that although we have offered to work with the students and provide them the information they have requested, they are not willing to work with our office. Furthermore, there appears to be no understanding on the part of the students that as much as we strive to make information readily available, it is just not always possible.

I am disappointed with the editorial liberties Aaron took in quoting me in his article. I had thought that this form of journalism would not be condoned at an institution which prides itself on the quality and integrity of its educational programs.

Finally, rather than looking for a "conspiracy," I would hope that the students would be interested in pursuing the more meaningful aspects of the issue, that is, possible grade inflation and the university's honors policy.

Katherine R. Friedrich, Ph.D
Director of Instititional Research

I'm responding to the recent article in the UHCLIDIAN regarding grade inflation at UHCL. As an undergraduate student at UHCL, I concur with the viewpoint regarding the inflationary skewing of grades in the various departments. In fact I'm very displeased with the current situation. Subsequently, last semester as the SGA undergraduate representative on the Educational Policy Committee, I attempted to initiate student consensus on the situation. The result was negative, as I was not allowed to gain access to vital information from the Provost Office. Further attempts this semester have also been rebuffed.

In conjunction with grade inflation at UHCL is the detrimental effect the minus/plus grading system has on students with exceptional scholarship and intellectual initiative (A- 4.0 students). For example, the current system does not award A+ (4.33) like it does for the D+, C+, B+, students. Subsequently, these average students receive an additional 33 percent to their letter grade at the expense of the exceptional students. Additionally, this current system hampers academic excellence in conjunction with inflating the grades.

The only method of eliminating grade inflation at UHCL is to cease the current plus/minus grading system. Other universities in the area do not have this problem since they use the universal A, B, C, D, F system. I wonder what the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) position on this matter is.

This problem is intensified in the long-range educational goals of exceptional students that plan on competing nationally for admission to competitive graduate schools. For instance, in the selection committee process, undergraduates nationally receiving A's (100-90) 4.0 are compared with UHCL undergraduates receiving A- minus (90-93) 3.6. Consequently, undergraduates from UHCL with lower 3.6 GPAs, versus national 4.0 GPAs are unfairly evaluated based on the discriminatory nature of UHCL grade inflation. All UHCL stakeholders need to address this adverse situation that hampers academic excellence on campus. Of course, looking at the other side of the coin, the B+, C+, D+ students, do well with the current system. I know from experience that in most of my classes the average exam grade is in the 70s, which is average or satisfactory achievement in course objectives. Is this the goal of UHCL, only average achievement? This mediocrity is troubling especially when centers of higher learning are tasked with producing leaders for the future. Why doesn't the administration want this information public?

I canšt understand the President of the Senate Faculty, Dr. Frank Matthew's, reasoning, in that UHCL grade inflation "is beyond anyone's current interests." That viewpoint was probably correct prior to Aaron Wright's excellent investigative article on grade inflation. But this is no longer the case, as the high academic standards and institutional integrity of this fine institution are at stake. Ideals that the alumni and faculty cherish and hopefully the student body wish to uphold.

John Astad, environmental management student