Issue 7 | Feb. 8, 2008 | Green River Community College Bad date blunders Students weigh in on dating mistakes. Pages 12
Students search for best way to select instructors Ratemyprofessor.com allows students to freely rant, rave about teachers Sara Olson Staff Writer
The pen is a powerful tool, and over the years has morphed into an even more damaging weapon – the keyboard. Thousands of students have started taking advantage of their freedom of speech by using the computer to rant or rave over their instructor or professor. Via Ratemyprofessor.com and “Grade my Professor” on Myspace, anyone can log on and attempt to persuade fellow students across the nation about who they should or shouldn’t take. Any student is able to post on the sites and all posts are unedited, allowing for people to say absolutely whatever they want. “Couldn’t teach his way out of a wet paper sack. The worst teacher I have ever had the poor fortune of having to endure,” was a post left about a GRCC instructor. Comments such as that have caused some to debate
because they’re really angry or really love their teacher. So, you get the extreme of whether the internet is both biases,” Warren said. the best way to select an Because of the unlimited instructor. access to the web sites, some Ron Riley, criminal justice students see the potential instructor, said that he sees risk of trusting the posts. the value and the possible “I think it’s good, but some harm of Ratemyprofessor. times you get crazy people com and sites like it. on there, and you don’t really “I’m not too displeased know if what they’re saying with it, because so far I’ve is valid or not. But mostly, been doing well,” Riley said. it’s good because you can get “Input is good. We do that a general idea for what the for marketing professor is and for “I’m not too displeased like,” student everything – with it, because so far S a r a h from groceries Johnson I’ve been doing well. ” to books to said. —Ron Riley, movies. Any T h e source of process of criminal justice in for mati on selecting an instructor has value, but instructor some perhaps can be are more daunting, trustworthy than others. considering that they either Sort of like Wikipedia, not a could make or break a lot of quality control in rate student’s quarter. my professor.” However, Riley said that Student Mick Warren students shouldn’t worry too doesn’t see such internet much about instructors at sites as a valuable source of GRCC, because of the quality information, because of the control initiated in the hiring circumstances in which the process. posts are written. “I know that the college “People either go on itself goes through great
lengths to get quality people for everything,” Riley said. “There’s constantly a rating and grading quality control process. So if someone isn’t well suited for the job, they tend not to be there.” He also said that the perfect instructor is different for every student. “The difference between a good and a bad instructor may depend on the student themselves and that particular quarter,” Riley said. “Sometimes you have a rough one, and what would normally be your favorite instructor may be your worst nightmare.” Johnson said that she gets the most valid information on instructors through word of mouth. “I talk to my friends,” Johnson said. Either way, Riley advises not to pass judgment too quickly on instructors. “Like anything else, if you have a somewhat negative experience, give them another chance,” Riley said. “I think most of the instructors do that with the students as well.”
Feature:
A&E:
Love letters
Movie review
Students submit written expressions for Valentine’s Day. Pages 6, 7
Students should avoid meeting the Spartans. Page 10
Campus - Pages 2-3 News - Page 4 Opinion - Page 5 Feature - Pages 6-7 Sports - Pages 8-9 A & E - Pages 10-11