LETTERS: `SURVEY' WAS APPALLING

To the editor:

I am writing regarding the recent "survey" conducted on KFVS-TV with high school seniors entitled "Making the Grade." I am a senior at Cape Girardeau Central High School, and I am appalled at the unscientific quiz given to my peers. First, Mary-Ann Maloney had a preconceived notion of the results for the test. She sought to prove this, so the survey was hardly investigative in nature. It is very shameful of KFVS-TV to degrade high school seniors for the station's own personal gain in ratings. I know personally many of the students polled, and they are very bright, intelligent students. Rather than comparing standardized test scores, grade-point averages or the plentiful honors the students at Central have received, the reporter put them on the spot and embarrassed them on the air.

My next issue questions the methods of testing. First, how many students were polled? This is never mentioned during the April 30 and May 1 newscasts. It is implied that the percentages given regarding each subject reflected the intelligence of all high school seniors. It seem to me, by watching both newscasts, that the same students were questioned each night. Thus, very few students were polled, and Maloney had no right to make such claims about seniors. Also, it does not seem that the students were given enough time to think. During a certain student's thinking, Maloney's voice could be heard in the background rushing her.

KFVS-TV has greatly embarrassed Central High School. The survey follows no discernible code of ethics and is performed very unprofessionally. The schools polled deserve an apology from KFVS-TV and Mary-Ann Maloney.

TINA McCLOSKEY, Senior

Central High School

Cape Girardeau