Survey may point to UNLV student apathy

Jennifer Knight

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

When it comes to a lack of stimulating banter in class, people are talking about UNLV.

A nationwide student survey ranked the University of Nevada, Las Vegas No. 14 in that unflattering category.

"The Best 345 Colleges" student survey, released today by Princeton Review, an education service unrelated to Princeton University, asked 100,000 students across the country to rate their schools in 63 different areas.

While UNLV was not mentioned in any of the survey's 62 other categories, it placed 14th of 20 institutions listed in the category titled "class discussions are rare."

"Usually in every class, it's pretty much lecture and then go," Mary Scott, a 20-year-old junior majoring in psychology and criminology, agreed this morning.

The fact that students didn't rank UNLV among the best of anything could indicate something else, said Erik Olson, editor of the survey: UNLV has a student culture that is apathetic about its school.

"This doesn't mean it's great or bad," Olson said. "It just means that there is not a lot of extreme opinion about the school."

Student reaction to the survey this morning underscored that point. It was tepid at best.

"I just live here, so I have to go here. It's not to me the best school," said Daisy Pinero, a 21-year-old senior accounting major.

K.C. Chong, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in hotel management, agreed, though she noted UNLV has its strength. "I think it's an average school, but it has an exceptional portion, which is the hotel college."

Scott said there wasn't much of "an atmosphere" at UNLV.

"I feel like I'm losing out on a lot of stuff that a lot of my friends are experiencing at other colleges," Scott said.

The depiction of UNLV as lacking in class discussion, which comes as President Carol Harter tries to reshape the institution into a top research and teaching university, caused UNLV officials to question the validity of the Princeton Review survey.

"This is a totally nonsensical study," UNLV spokesman Tom Flagg said. "They shared an early draft of this report, which was full of errors. So, we don't put a lot of faith in it."

This year, Northwestern University ranked No. 1 for best academics in the survey.

The school with the "best campus food" was Washington University in St. Louis.

Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., had the best professors.

The top spot in the controversial "party school" category went to Indiana University. The American Medical Association blasted that category last week, claiming it contributes to binge drinking on campus.

UNLV's complaint about the validity of the Princeton Review study isn't that unusual, Olson said. Schools that make the positive lists usually tout their results while those with negative attributes complain, he said.

"It's only when they don't do well that they discount the survey," Olson said. "What I can say about this book is that it's the Consumer Report of higher education. We've been compared to Zagat's Restaurant Guide."

Martha Young, UNLV College of Education associate dean, said the Princeton Review survey is overlooking one thing -- classroom discussion isn't good for every course.

"If I were going to teach you how to fly a plane, do you think we should discuss that?" Young asked. "A lot of this depends on what you are teaching."

Young said that biology courses, for example, have little to no discussion while philosophy courses are dominated by it.

Princeton Review's survey -- which is conducted in person and online -- is a popular source for students when picking a college. That doesn't mean that it's a scientific study, Flagg said.

"I don't even know if they have any way of proving that the (online students) are even UNLV students," Flagg said.