TheYoungtownEdition COUNTY COLLEGE OF MORRIS AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER
VOL. 87, NO. 5
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2011
RANDOLPH, N.J.
Gold Medalist, 2009 Columbia Scholastic Press Association • First Place General Excellence, 2010 NJPA
“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” -Cynthia Ozick
Thanksgiving Eve: biggest party night of the year Is it a reliable source for choosing classes? Imagine a website that could enable you to anonymously critique your friends and coworkers. It would be a great way to blow off steam about a particular person, and it would also enable you to read “reviews” on new acquaintances, helping you to decide whether or not to establish a new friendship. Why doesn’t this website exist? Probably because most people tend to abuse anonymity when given the chance to use it. Not to mention, a vast majority of people would probably object to a website that let both friends and complete strangers rate them as though they were a product on Amazon.com. Ratemyprofessor.com is about as close to this theoretical website as it gets. This site enables students to anonymously rate and review over one million professors from colleges and universities around the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Approximately 3 million college students use this website every month, and it’s not much of a surprise. This website is extremely easy to use, and comes in handy when scheduling classes for the upcoming semester. Each professor is judged on helpfulness, clarity, easiness, hotness or attractiveness, and the students interest in the subject matter using a 1-5 scale. After the student has given a rating in each particular category, they are also given the opportunity to write a short comment as well.
“I swear by Ratemyprofessors.com. If I am going to pay for an education, I want to get the most for my money,” said Nicolette Tsipouras, a sophomore at CCM. “I don’t think there is anything more important than making sure I have a fair and reliable professor. It pretty much eliminates the risk of having a bad teacher and failing the class.” Tsipouras, along with a surplus of other college students, feel that this site is a necessity when compiling their schedules. However, there are still students who choose to make their own judgment on a professor, rather than trust a website of anonymous ratings and comments. Kyle Furey, a twenty-year-old CCM student, is one of them. “Nobody is going to feel exactly the same about a person. I’m sure if there was a website that let people rate me, the reviews would be all over the place. I would much rather form my own opinion on a professor; or anybody for that matter,” Furey said. As helpful as it may be to read other students’ opinions on a professor, there is never any guarantee that the comments will be accurate or that you will feel the same way upon meeting the professor yourself. However, based on the positive feedback about this site and the number of hits it gets per month, it is clear that there has got to be at least some validity to the ratings. All we can do is hope that the professors don’t create a “rate my student” website!
eliminates pay during the break periods, and the amount that one gets paid during a semester is weighed by that student’s rate of pursuit. Basically, the bill makes students have to work exponentially harder just to receive less money. There are enough problems for veterans as is, they shouldn’t have to worry about the government taking what they have earned with sweat, blood, and tears. Veterans being discharged from service are having a hard
enough time finding jobs, or homes. There are hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans living in the U.S at any given moment. The state of the economy is one thing; the president’s need to save a buck is another. This is truly an institution to big to fail and too sacred to corrupt. It’s time to do more for those that give everything; it’s time to give more to those who take nothing.
An artist among us
CSE at CCM
LAUREN BOZZI Entertainment editor
A shot of Bliss lounge in Clifton, NJ 4Sixty6, which opened just EDDIE VILLABON Acting managing editor about a year ago, prides itself on being one of the largest venues Students and partygoers all in New Jersey. The Las Vegas around are going to be nursing meets Jersey theme has been attheir hangovers tomorrow with tracting young fist pumpers since turkey and stuffing. Tonight is it opened. If you decide to hit up Thanksgiving Eve and it has been this spot tonight be sure to dress long known as the biggest party to impress because there’s going night of the year. to be lots of beautiful competition New Year’s Eve festivities out there. pale in comparison to the lines Bliss lounge in Clifton has wrapped around bars and night- teamed up with HOT 97, 106 clubs of students home for the &Park, and LA MEGA for its holiday celebrating the beats be- party tonight. Heavy Hitter DJs fore they celebrate the feast. Camilo and Reymo are headlinThis year all the local spots ing the event. Every group of five are taking it up a notch advertising girls or more is promised a $50 headline DJs and Thanksgiving bottle of Ciroc with an RSVP beEve specials. 4Sixty6 Nightclub fore midnight. A promotion like in West Orange has collaborated that is sure to attract plenty of with Pacha NYC to bring out Vic- girls with plenty of boys to foltor Calderone. low.
MIXLOGIC.COM
If you’re more the local type that is not into waking up the next morning with your ears ringing from the sound system and the house music, NJ Bar and Grill is great. Located on Randolph Avenue in Mine Hill it is just around the corner from the school and the staff is super friendly. The second you walk into NJBAG you feel right at home. It is the epitome of sports bar in decor, but the menu transcends bar food with mouthwatering specials. With no cover and reasonable pricing it is a no-brainer for the average college student on a budget that is not into a Snooki night out. Tonight is the holiday before the holiday, but be sure to be safe. If you’re old enough to drink, don’t do it and drive.
Missing pieces in veteran GI Bill Contributor
Index
The brave men and women who serve or served this country don’t ask for much, and for those utilizing the Post-9/11 GI Bill, times are tougher than ever before. Veterans who attend County College of Morris, as well as any other college in which veterans may utilize this benefit, know that with the Post-9/11 GI Bill comes a monthly housing stipend which
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is gauged on a scale relating to the area code in which the school is, and the rank of an E-5 in the military (E-5 is the fifth level of an enlisted service member). The full range of benefits used to be easy to secure. A veteran student just had to be registered as what their school considers a full-time student. The program was originally designed so that a person using the GI Bill would receive a stipend during the break periods between semesters. It was designed this way
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Final Exam Schedule Inside
because being a full-time student is very demanding time-wise and it was recognized that those using the bill would depend on this money every month to survive, to eat, to sleep, or to support their families. On January 4, 2011, Obama signed into law a number of changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, changes that he considers improvements. Perhaps for some the changes will bring benefits, but not for most. One of the changes made
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JEREMY GERSON
The Youngtown Edition gives a profile of a local artist Page 4.
Learn how to get your B.A. closer to home Page 3.