You can tell all at MyProfessorSucks.com
by Susan Dickinson

Print date: Feb. 14, 2001

For the past two weeks, I have been writing about serious web sites that anyone can find useful. Well, I need a break. I need amusement. Fortunately, I found it. This one's for you, fellow collegians.

It is called MyProfessorSucks.com and it is where you go to unload those frustrations that the Prof caused during the semester. You are also helping future students avoid taking a class from hell. You can also include awesome professors on the site so that others know which ones are wonderful. This is one of the best ideas I have heard in a long time.

To view the list of your school's professors, go to www.myprofessorsucks.com and click on your school's state. Then, you will see that the schools are broken down by population into three groups: 20,000 or more students, 10,000-19,999 students, and the under 9,999 crowd. Find your school and let 'er rip! There will be an alphabetical listing of all the professors who have been submitted. Click on a Prof's name to view what others have written about him/her. If no professors are listed, there will be a box that says, "Please add a professor!" Click on that phrase and fill out the form that is provided. If you want to add comments about a professor who is already on the list, then simply locate his/her name and select "Add evaluation!" If the professor is not on the list, there is a link at the top of the box that the list is in that says "Click here to add a professor."

Here is what to expect on the form. First, you must fill out your professor"s first and last names and select the subject he/she teaches from a list that is provided. Then, you must give them four grades. The grading scale ranges from A+ to F and the topics are Coolness, Ease, Worth, and Overall Grade. Then, there is a list of positive attributes, such as, "Is interesting/entertaining/funny" and "Is willing to help students at any time." This is followed by a list of negative attributes, which includes zingers like "Professor is boring or bland" and "Is one of the worst professors I've ever had!" Your job is to check the boxes next to the phrases that apply to the professor and then to make any final comments about him/her in the comment box. The comments you write in the box are NOT immediately posted. They are reviewed before they are available to the public. This is so that the web site's legal statement is not violated. They do not want obscene or defamatory speech to vandalize their site.

MyProfessorSucks.com includes many other features, but I do not think that any of them are as interesting as the web site's purpose, itself. Here is the run-down on what they offer: at first glance, you see the "Quote of the Moment" that is there just for fun. When I logged on, the Dan Quayle quotation that I saw was interesting: "I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix." Dan has never exactly been a rocket scientist, but I guess it is an easy mistake. The places are very similar. California/Arizona...potato/potatoe.... There are plenty of links you can play around with in your spare time. You can download a screen saver, join their mailing list, view the "A+ Club" list (these are all the professors who were rated with an "A+" when their form was submitted), enter contests, view the awards that the site has received, fill out the weekly survey, get contact information if you have anything further to say to these geniuses, and explore the many other links that are provided.

This is a site that is definitely worth checking out when you have a free moment, even if you are not in college. I will now leave you with some food for thought. Are the professors of today truly effective? To help answer this question, I have provided you with some of the comments that are posted in the "hilarious comments" list that the webmaster composed from the remarks made by students in their professors' comment boxes:

· "I mean what type of professor brings their cat with them to class?"
· "He didn't notice the answers were stapled on the back of the first test, so we had to retake it."
· "Woodstock was in 1969. Just say no."
· "He is an avid hunter of small, defenseless animals and if you write a paper about duck or geese hunting, he will give you an A."

and my personal favorite:

· "Light was on fire- but we couldn't leave his lecture."

I can sympathize.

story originally published by The Voice, 2002. All Rights Reserved.