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1. Global warming claims all hot air, says speaker at OU2. Police chief: City can’t stop parties before they start3. Parties spun by OU alums have bootie-shakers raving4. High St. student renters take on big local landlord5. Is another oil and gas land-rush starting in Athens?6. OU student charged with raping 17-year-old7. Tanning parlor fights to get back into uptown Athens storefront8. For most, the journey to Nine Fest seemed worth it9. Oak and Mill fests mellow down easy10. Landowners’ group renews leasing pitch11. City Council acts to ban ‘fracking’ in water supply area12. Wal-Mart asks judge to grant store win in shoplifter’s lawsuit13. OU and city officials urge better fest behavior14. Pills defeated relative when no other drugs could do it15. David Alan Jones16. Electric blue skies, May warmth frame music fest17. Local developers hoping to revive struggling hotel18. Festering fests; down, down deep; and the Golden Rule19. Hall of Fame baseball coach calls it a day at OU20. Graphic design students show off their chops
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Home / Articles / Editorial / Letters / It's wrong for OU to grant degrees to unprepared, uneducated students
Wednesday, May 25,2011
After I stopped chuckling about the bank teller, I stopped to think about OU's role and responsibility in this situation. Is it ethical for OU to take this man's tuition and give him a diploma without overseeing that he is, indeed, educated? Shouldn't OU either educate this man to a college-educated standard or fail him? Failing grades would tell him that he's not achieving.
It's wrong for OU to grant degrees to unprepared, uneducated students
To the Editor:
There is a teller at one of our banks in Athens, a recent OU graduate with a major in finance and business economics. He was lamenting about his boring, low-paying job, saying, "I wish I had did better in school." His statement says it all about his education.
After I stopped chuckling about the bank teller, I stopped to think about OU's role and responsibility in this situation. Is it ethical for OU to take this man's tuition and give him a diploma without overseeing that he is, indeed, educated? Shouldn't OU either educate this man to a college-educated standard or fail him? Failing grades would tell him that he's not achieving.
This would allow him to change his ways or to drop out of school and save his money. Isn't giving this man a diploma a lot like lying? Furthermore, does America need "college-educated" bank tellers? Can American afford to spend $100,000 to give everyone a "college education"? Do more such college graduates make the U.S. a more educated nation and better able to compete in a worldwide economy?
If OU and many other universities were in the pizza delivery business, we would be delivering very, very expensive pizza. Each pizza would come with a free six-pack of beer. In addition, the pizza boxes would be designed to please the esthetics of 20-year-olds. Unfortunately, many of these boxes would be empty.
Leon Hoshower, Ph.D., CPA, CMA
Professor of Accountancy
Copeland Hall
Ohio University
Athens
Also in Letters:
Forest Service apparently on verge of allowing oil-gas leasesWhat good does Ohio University provide to Athens community?City just encourages drunk-fests by closing traffic, recognizing eventsLet’s hope that climate change denial evaporates into stupidityFor decency’s sake, Time Warner, bring back Columbus CBS!Mitt Romney and Palmer Fest celebrants have much in commonWhy is city discriminating against people who want to rent out homes?Health commissioner is ignoring a lot of hard data that questions fluorideIf you’re disgusted by banking folly, you can express yourself locallyCity Council right to challenge state law on fracking regulation
Thank you for writing this letter. Although, you make a very serious claim (essentially calling OU a diploma mill) nobody does anything about it. Please allow me to add the following.
It is wrong for OU to:
1) tell the public plagiarized theses will be rewritten when really chapters are deleted.
2) revoke one student's degree for plagiarizing but allow another student to plagiarize in his rewrite.
3) publish, catalog and circulate a thesis known to contain pages of plagiarism.
4) appoint Dr. Ingram as the plagiarism hearing committee chairman when he has approved plagiarism himself.
5) hold Dr. Gunasekera and Dr. Mehta accountable for allowing plagiarism while completely ignoring the same by many other professors.
6) threaten me with a court settlement when offering information about plagiarism, and then claim ingnorance a year later.
7) not take steps to prevent retaliation against me for exposing fraud.
8) deceive the public by examining 32 theses and concluding no problem with 1500.
9) tell the public only 3 out of the 32 had plagiarism without announcing a second investiigation that found 7 out of 32 with plagiarism.
Last, it is unethical for any OU professor to read all of these claims and not do anything about it. You have an obligation to your profession, your students, your colleagues etc. to asses the validity of the claims and act appropriately. Otherwise, I claim that all OU professors who read this are complicit in fraud. Let the silence begin.
Grade Inflation in Engineering Education at Ohio University
http://sdsu-physics.org/sdsu_per/articles/GradeInflation.pdf
Grade Inflation, Ethics and Engineering Education
http://soa.asee.org/paper/conference/paper-view.cfm?id=20099
As for plagiarism at Ohio University, I highly recommend Tom Matrka’s blog to anyone wanting to learn more about it.
Ohio University Plagiarism
http://ohiouniversityplagiarism.blogspot.com/
Leon Hoshower, Ph.D., CPA, CMA
Professor of Accountancy
Dr. Hoshower said "Can American afford to spend $100,000 to give everyone a "college education"? Do more such college graduates make the U.S. a more educated nation and better able to compete in a worldwide economy?"
Great Job. You should be proud of the University that granted you a degree without the capacity to construct a sentence. Also, spellcheck is a standard function on most modern computers. 'esthetics'? I should apply for a doctorate program...
Actually, "esthetics" is one approved spelling of that word. F*** Spellcheck. However, I do challenge Leon's use of the word "overseeing." I've never heard it used as a synonym for "ensuring" or "making sure." But then again, who cares?