  We have used a sample of 43 star-forming galaxies imaged in the
far-ultraviolet (FUV) by the UIT supplemented with 33 galaxies observed by
FAUST, to explore the consistency of UV and H alpha derived star formation
rates (SFRs). We find, even before correction for dust, that UV and H alpha
SFRs are quantitatively consistent for low-luminosity galaxies, and that higher
luminosity galaxies have H alpha SFRs a factor of 1.5 higher than their UV
SFRs: this reflects the influence of dust. Our results are consistent with a
scenario where the UV dust extinction is a factor of less than 2 larger than
the H alpha dust extinction in a given galaxy, and that there is over a 4
magnitude range of H alpha dust extinctions which correlate loosely with galaxy
luminosity such that low luminosity galaxies tend to have lower extinctions
than their higher luminosity counterparts.
