Fall 2012 Issue #1

Page 1

The Seminole Scribe

Issue No. 1

Seminole State College of Florida

September 20, 2012

Students rate Seminole State professors, classes By Kimberley Lewis

Walking into a new classroom, a crucial moment can occur: will it be a personalized hell, an exciting adventure or some combination of both? To be sure, students have been flocking to RateMyProfessors.com, the number one site to avoid a first day of class uncertainty. The site, built for and by college students, connects more than four million students a month to comments and ratings of 1.7 million professors and

Rate My Professor’s Satisfaction Ratings for Seminole State: College Altamonte Springs 4.2 Oviedo 3.79 Sanford/Lake Mary 3.79 Heathrow Not Yet Rated 7,500 colleges across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The first step to rating professors and Seminole State campuses is to create an account. Here, students can research their past, present and future professors and save to his or her profile for consideration. Next, students can research reviews from former students and write anonymous evaluations based on various standards. With the site, everyone has the ability to rate any professor on criteria such as “Class Difficulty, Lecture Clarity, Classroom Helpfulness, Textbook Use and Professor Attendance.” Other options for rating include the rater’s prior interest level in the course, or the attractiveness of the

professor, portrayed by a red chili pepper. At the end of each rating, a comment section is available to leave detailed experiences with the professor and share tips on surviving and thriving in their course. Some Seminole State students gave their ratings on professors at several Seminole State campus locations, but not all reviews of the site were positive: “I used RateMyProfessors. com when applying for Seminole State to see what my professors would be like, but most of my professors were not even on the site,” Emily Teitelbaum said, an Oviedo student. After scoring Seminole State professors, students can evaluate any campus on reputation, class opportunities, location, social activities and more. This feature also contains a comment segment to leave remarks about any subject from parking access and administration to Internet speed and cell phone reception. Along with these comments and ratings, the site generates an annual, “Top List” for the highest rated highest rated professors and colleges, and the most attractive professors. Although Seminole State campuses and faculty do not appear on any of the top ratings lists, more evaluations of the college and its professors could help them appear in future installments. Site users like Amy Gonzalez, also an Oviedo student, have always used RateMyProfessors. com as a tool for choosing courses. “I always use it before I start any semester,” she said. “It is so easy to navigate and I love the hotness option, so you know what you’re Continued on page 2

“Special” People A photography exhibit at Seminole State By Ambar Wessin, Editor

In the Fine Arts building next to the performing arts theater on the Sanford/Lake Mary campus, at the end of the hall on the left, a bright white room showcases paintings and pictures for free and open to the public.

Recently, Orlando photographer Bob Michaels displayed his selection of photographs from his ten trips to Cuba between 2009 and 2011. The exhibit, called“Cuba: People,”is the first reception of the 2012/2013 season,

The New SGA:

The Student Government Association gives students a representative form of government and an opportunity to enrich their college experience. With SGA available on all four campuses, getting involved is easy and rewarding. Seminole State students are able to:

from Aug. 30 to Sept. 30, and one example of the many galleries featured at Seminole State College. When Mr. Michaels visited Cuba, he said his goal was to understand and photograph the everyday people. Continued on page 6

• Make their opinions heard during weekly meetings • Discuss issues or concerns students may have • Participate in planning activities • Budget money to campus clubs • Learn about state legislative issues Sanford/Lake Mary: Monday, 12:30 p.m. Room C-110 Heathrow: Tuesday, 12:30 p.m. Room HEA-203 Oviedo: Tuesday, 12:30 p.m. Room OVF-108 Altamonte: Thursday, 12:30 p.m. Room ALT-214

Bring on the Stars By Sabira Mawji

A few minutes passed 8:30 p.m., the room blacked out. Stars took over the dome ceiling. Seats rested flat. A room full of students and locals gathered recently in the Seminole State College Planetarium for The Central Florida Night Show, a tour into the star-filled night sky. It is the only planetarium in Seminole County, with the closest being the Dr. Phillips Cinedome in Orlando, and is the first in Central Florida to have a complete full-dome

Seminole State Planetarium free for students Some students said they video system since 1987. attended the show because Seminole State students did Derek Demeter, planetarium not have to pay for admission, director, opened the audience though Krystal Payne, a by familiarizing them with Seminole State student on the space jargon, which he used Sanford/Lake Mary campus, said throughout the evening. He she attended the show because guided the viewers through she had a passion for astronomy, the solar system, beginning Continued on page 3 with quick facts of the planets, illustrations of constellations and concluding with the telescope viewings. Each explanation accompanied projections using a Sanyo projector, a spherical mirror that warps images on the dome, on the planetarium’s dome ceiling. Derek Demeter instructs the telescope viewing at the Seminole State Planetarium.

(Photos by Zainub Mawji)


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