by Kenneth Todd Ruiz
Assistant Editor
Students are turning the tables on their professors online, sharing their grievances, gripes and occasional praise at RateMyProfessors.com.
The ascension of the internet, where everyone has an equal voice, has subverted many traditional power structures.
Online, the words of the powerful hold no more weight than those of the weak, and the wise have no greater forum than the foolish.
Now, students can use the internet for more than just downloading music and satisfying other, more prurient, appetites.
At RateMyProfessor.com, students can read and create critiques of their University professors outside the scope of University control.
The site boasts ratings of more than 150,000 professors from almost 3,000 schools in the United States and Canada.
Online since 1999, the site was created by John Swapceinski, after having what he said was “a particularly dastardly professor” at San Jose State University.
“I found out there was a much better professor who taught the same class, and I thought to myself, ‘If only there were a website where I could research my profs ahead of time,'” Swapceinski said.
Reviews at the site range from gushing admiration to pugilistic abuse. Reviewers can opt to attach their name with their reviews or file them anonymously.
Included in the available ratings are around a dozen University of La Verne professors.
“Excellent teacher. Hard grader, but very fair and funny too,” wrote an anonymous student of English professor Dan Davis.
“They must have gotten a good grade,” Davis said of his review.
Included with the comments are several metrics. Professors are rated for their clarity, helpfulness, an “easiness” on a scale from one to five.
Davis received a low score for the ease of his class, but high marks for his helpfulness and clarity.
The small chili pepper icon next to his name signifies an additional distinction. The student completing his evaluation indicated Davis’s appearance as “Hot” as opposed to “Not.”
Not all ULV instructors have evaded the wrath of unhappy students, though.
Assistant Professor of Movement and Sports Science Scott Winterburn was flamed by an obviously irate student.
“This guy is a major psycho, total God Squad!” an anonymous user wrote. “I feel sorry for the players.”
Winterburn was philosophical about the incendiary remarks.
“I’m not too concerned; it’s something of an occupational hazard,” Winterburn said.
Many professors around the country are not as forgiving.
Swapceinski says two-thirds of the feedback he receives is negative.
“I receive threats of legal action pretty much on a weekly basis,” Swapceinski said.
“We get lots of e-mails saying a professor is going to shut us down if we do not remove his name from the site. It turns out that there are many professors in this country who do not understand the concept of the First Amendment,” he said.
Swapceinski admitted it is possible to abuse the system.
“We have several processes in place to remove libelous comments and multiple ratings from the same user,” Swapceinski said. “These include automatic profanity filters, student administrators who review the ratings and session tracking.”
The site keeps track of 15 funniest ratings it has received:
“Instant amnesia walking into this class,” reads No. 12. “I swear he breathes sleeping gas.”
“Your pillow will need a pillow,” is No. 3.
And No. 1, “She hates you already.”
