OPINION
Food is the New Gold - Page 4
Five Ways to Beat the Summer Heat
Entertainment Pelican Interview - Page 9
- Page 15
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/
Volume 104 No. 27
Faculty Respond to RateMyProfessors.com
Marissa Blaszko Staff Writer
Stephanie Bergeron / The Recorder
Bookstore Prepares for Buy-Back Season Melissa Traynor Managing/News Editor While it’s a busy end of the semester for the student-run CCSU bookstore, the staff over at the corner of the student center is prepared for the deluge of students and used textbooks, especially with their guarantee of 50 percent return. “Our team is proud as we continue to return the highest prices and guarantee 50 percent cash back on any faculty readopted textbooks (within our guidelines of course),” wrote Jack O’Leary, the CCSU book-
store director, in an email to The Recorder. “This time of the year—it’s tough,” O’Leary said. “The publishers are out there trying to jockey the faculty.” He said that while a textbook previously lasted five or six years, students are lucky if they can sell a book back that is more than two semesters old. “Now it’s less than a year. The publishers will add all of these bells and whistles to the book with things like additional CDs,” he said. The bookstore is working with the faculty to provide a list for books
that the store can accept at the end of the semester and increase awareness for students. “The faculty have been just unbelievable in terms of getting it together for us,” Jack O’Leary said of the professors who have working with the bookstore since February. He also said that they have been extremely diligent and the store now has about 70 percent of the list accumulated and it’s grown dramatically. O’Leary said that the CCSU bookstore has earned many accolades including the highest return in the state at around 80 percent of books returned.
See Buy-Back Season Page 2
File Photo by Stephanie Bergeron / The Recorder
The Blue Devils won on Sunday, putting themselves at 20-19 overall and 14-6 in Northeast Conference.
Clean Sweep for Blue Devils
See Clean Sweep Page 7
This time of year, RateMyProfessors.com seems to be running slower than usual—and with good reason. The site boasts over six million ratings on over one million professors and six thousands schools; with 1,113 of those professors employed at CCSU and schedule revisions in full swing, the site’s popularity at this time of year is matched only by PipeLine and Facebook. Political Science professor Dr. Jerold Duquette has been, the site claims, failing a good percentage of his students, who are in turn failing him. Duquette, however, said that the claim was completely unreasonable. “I’m easy to understand. All I ask of my students is that they laugh at my jokes, spend 10 hours a week on my reading assignments and demonstrate doctoral-level mastery on my exams and assignments,” he said. “Some seem confused about these expectations, staring back at me with a serious expression after I tell a joke, and making ME laugh when grading their work. Oh, well.” He took a similar stance on being labeled one of the school’s hard-
est graders. “Isn’t torture okay these days?” Duquette asked. Dr. Eric Leonidas of the English department admitted to looking at his profile in the past but was still surprised to discover the plethora of chili peppers next to his name, making him one of the hottest professors at CCSU. “I don’t consider myself a ‘hottie,’” he told The Recorder as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I think there’s a kind of beauty in what I teach,” he said. “Plus, it’s the Renaissance. [There is] a lot of sex and fun in the Renaissance.” Although most students viewed Leonidas as a tough grader, almost all of his comments were positive; likewise, Leonidas views RateMyProfessors as a positive thing. “I think students need more conversations about their teachers,” he said. Still, the comments tend to polarize. Students who meet the class average wouldn’t generally speak up on the Web site—a truth that anyone who has visited the site knows. One of the most polarizing professors on campus is Mike Alewitz, the art department’s in-house radical. On the site, one former student decided that “he already hates your work… even though you don’t know him and you aren’t even in his class.”
See Faculty Respond Page 2
Syrian Ambassador Returns to CCSU, Stresses Better U.S. Relations Brian Morache Staff Writer Despite currently strained U.S. relations, Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha was optimistic when he addressed a dinner at the final Middle East Lecture series. “Syria is not an enemy of the U.S. and the U.S. is not an enemy of Syria,” he said. “It is no great thing to be invited once. The real challenge is to be reinvited,” he said of his return to CCSU. With a hearty laugh, the audience welcomed back the Ambassador. Along with laughter there was also talk of some very serious subjects. In regards to the Palestinian issue, the Ambassador was very clear as to his country’s view of the importance of United States involvement. “Peace cannot be achieved without the full commitment of the United States. That is why we need good U.S. relations,” he said. Moustapha offered a more realistic view of the recent peace talks in Annapolis when he referred to them as a “grand photo opportunity.” There apparently was much hand shaking and some very delicious food, but little to no discussion of the issues. The Ambassador had another issue to contend with—the claim by the Bush administration that the fa-
cility that was bombed by the Israeli air force seven months ago was a nuclear reactor capable of processing plutonium. Moustapha presented logical reasoning as to why this assertion was completely absurd. “Why would Syria, or any other country, make a secret facility capable of being photographed by Google earth?” he asked. He also pointed out that this facility had none of the support services necessary for a nuclear facility, as well as no security stations or fences. Apparently anyone could have walked into the building at will. In regards to the “evidence” of the Bush administration, Moustapha pointed out that the President had “evidence” that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and a nuclear program, as well. “Who cares about logical deductions when it comes to the Bush people?” he asked at one point. In the role of peacemaker in the Middle East, Ambassador Moustapha highlighted the role that Turkey is now participating in negotiations between Israel, the Palestinians and Syria. He lamented that this was the “role that used to be played by the United States.” As part of an Arab state, the Ambassador pointed out that there is an offer on the table to Israel put forth by all of the Arab states. It offers land
See Syrian Ambassador Page 2