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first d iscovered the web site ra temyprofessors last fall d u r i n g preregistration, when the Rutgers s tuden t newspaper ran an article du r ing the week that s tudents were choos ing courses for the next term. Betore register for the spr ing semester, one s o p h o m o r e told the 7?zrgum reporter I make sure check ottt the site. It's a grea t way to f ind ou t abou t the course and professors. T h e 7?zrcum story m a d e it clear that Rntgers s tudents weren ' t a lone in their en thus iasm. site seems to be a useful and informal way of get t ing to know the professor, dec la red a faculty m e m b e r in ou r art his tory department . In t r igued, 1 a r r anged to call up the site on a fr iend 's c o m p u t e r so could see exactly what sort of valuable in fo rmat ion Rutgers s tudents were gaining f iom ra temyprofessor .com. T h e answer came as a revelation. .lust a few minu tes ' worth of scrolling revealed the magic. T h e website allowed s tudents to weigh in on matters wholly ignored on universi ty-sponsored teaching evahtations. Indeed the remarks on ra temyprofessors .com quickly made convent ional teaching evaluations seem hopelessly stodgy. Posting anonyrrmusly, s tudents were able to express themselves usefully and inibrma~y, as my art history col league pu t it, about the issues in academic life that really matter. The personal appea rance of the proff'ssol, [i)r instance. She's old and dying and dresses like she was e ighteen , said a s tuden t abou t one of nay English d e p a r t m e n t colleagues. Scores of o the r c o m m e n t s were similar: She's always scra tching he r eye and mak ing some sort of noise do ing it; Itas a t o r ehead like a drive-in movie theater; wore really tunny glasses and a hunti ng j acke t and galoshes every day. Ratemyprofessors .com also d i d n ' t fussily insist, as some professors still do, on college-level spel l ing and pmactuat ion. Instead, the site pos ted s tuden t op in ions in all their refreshing spontanei ty, j u s t as they were written. If you d o n ' t get it, your sic] screwed, wrote one s tudent . No resitat ion ]sic], horrible book, and he m u m m b l e s l sic]. What a e o n d o s c e n d i n g Isle] know-if all, p ro tes ted another . I th ink she has some deep seeded [sic] problems, said another no d o u b t a psychology major. He definately [s'ic] has t;avorites, r epo r t ed a history major. She is increadibly [sic] boring, l a m e n t e d an English major

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