What's your take on Rateyourprofessors.com?

Parents Forum
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<p>Pickaprof.com claims to use grade distribution data directly from the universities themselves. I'm not sure how current they are, though.</p>

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<p>
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So... women look at men more deeply while men look only skin (and shape) deep at women....

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As a rule, but not consistently one either side, and only for a short while, possibly not more than the past 3,200 years (cf., Helen of Troy). This is news, nu?</p>

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<p>Otoh, when I was a searching young man, there were any number of women who judged me by car as proxy for the shape and size of my wallet. I was cautiously optimistic after I first walked TheMom to her car after class and discovered that her car was worse than mine.</p>

<p>Should I ever find myself single again, I'd be tempted to get an underwhelming older American car just to filter out the materialists among possible datees.</p>

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<p>There was once a minor flap on Jeopardy when they got complaints from Hindu viewers for having clues about Moses, Mohammed, and Paul under the category "Religion," but they put clues about Ganesha in the category "Mythology" along with clues about Aphrodite and Thor.</p>

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<p>Myth...</p>

<p>Thanks for the clarification. I want to clarify that I didn't say "that it is possible to keep all political biases out of the classroom." First of all, I was talking about teachers, not the entire classroom. My exact words were, "I would think the best teachers are ones that can facilitate discussions without revealing what side of the fence they sit (even playing "devil's advocate" at times)" And, I still believe that should be the goal - even if it is impossible to perfectly achieve all the time - because no one is perfect. It should, at least, be a professional goal so that each student feels free to express his/her opinon (even those students who would otherwise be uncomfortable voicing an opinion that is opposite of the prof's). After all, even tho kids can withdraw from classes, many times they can be "captured audiences" of a prof with a one-sided agenda.</p>

<p>As for your religious righties trying to dominate your class time. You have the right to shut down any efforts by any students who try to use your classroom for indoctrination or for their pleasure of having a "captive audience." My son's high school had some girls who were always trying to "take over" one class so that they could put forth their agenda. The teacher had to shut it down and tell the girls that they were welcome to put forth their thoughts in writing and give them to her or to visit her after class, but the current discussion was closed in the classroom. That wasn't what the girls wanted - they wanted the captured audience. But, at least, it stopped their efforts in the classroom.</p>

<p>Instead of just having hand-outs, if you had a KJV or NIV version (both are protestant versions) of the bible in your classroom, those students may not take a week to realize they were wrong. </p>

<p>BTW - I've always known that there are two creation stories in the Bible. As a Catholic, I have long pointed that out to "bible literalists" who think every word is perfectly and historically true. The bible contains books (BTW - selected by the Catholic Church) which contain symbolism, typography, foretelling, allegories, metaphors, poetry, prayers, historical info, etc. Altho Catholics believe the bible is the "word of God," we don't take every word literally (because if we did, we'd have a hard time with literal contradictions).</p>

<p>Part of what your students may be reacting to is semantics -- calling the bible (or parts of it), "judeo-christian myths/mythology" is a bit insulting because it implies that it is all a bunch of made up stories. Using words such as judeo-christian allegories or metaphors might be more respectful. Perhaps the term, "judeo-christian literature" would be a good compromise. If you were to call the Koran - "muslim mythology" - you might find yourself with a death warrant over your head. </p>

<p>Please keep in mind - I doubt any of those Religious Righties (as you call them) would issue a death warrant no matter what you may say about the bible in class. They might get mad, they might get angry, they might threaten to pray for you, but I really doubt they would hurt a hair on your head. Please keep that in perspective.</p>

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<p>Too many religions have issued death warrants--not just Islam. What about the guy who killed the Dr. who performed abortions? Wasn't that a death warrant? Religious extremism crosses many boundaries. I've never known an extreme Buddhist, but I'll bet I'll hear about some now. I do remember during the Vietnam war at least one monk setting himself on fire in protest. But he wasn't killing other people.</p>

<p>It's a shame to me when people use religion to advance their own agendas. I'm not a Bible scholar, but I've read it a lot and I have to guess that Jesus might not like some of the ways his name is being used and abused.</p>

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<p>Beth.... the number of non-muslims who are killing in the "name of God (or Allah) pales in comparison to the number of radical muslims who are doing so. Those doctor killers are an aberration - which is why so few have occurred in the last 35 years (since abortion was legalized.) That cannot be said about "religious" killings by radical muslims - a daily occurrence in various countries - obviously not an aberration. (How many of us would fear a bunch of Christian coalition members (who are young men) boarding our planes?? How many of us would cringe a bit if a bunch of young male muslims boarded our planes??? Certainly, many of us would "keep an eye" on that group of young muslim men. That isn't just fear from prejudice - it would be fear from discernment.) Mythmom is not in any danger from those christian kids, but she would likely be if she called the Koran - "myths" - in the classroom.</p>

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<p>jlauer95 it is true that there is a small percentage of Muslims who are radical but you seem to be forgetting the overwhelming majority of Muslims who aren't. You make it sound like it is mainstream Islam's fault that radical Muslims exist-yet it isn't. There have always been radicals in all religions that do heinous acts. However much mainstream Muslims speak out against these people no one notices (and yes we have many many times). Next time you see a young Muslim board a plane (like I am about to do in a few hours) remember that he is probably a victim of prejudice just trying to get to his destination without being looked at and gawked at. </p>

<p>If Mythmom called the Quran a myths in front of me and all my friends and family I can assure you that not one of us would ever possibly want to harm her.</p>

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<p>super...</p>

<p>I certainly do not think that the majority of Muslims are the radical. However, since there are about 1.5 billion Muslims (depending on source), even if only 1% are radicals who want to "kill all the infidels", that means that there are 15 million radical muslims that want to kill us - hardly a number not to worry about. (and, the 1% figure is VERY conservative. There are some estimates that indicate that 5 million radical Muslims live in Europe alone - which is 33% of the European Muslim population. 6 million Muslims live in the USA - I haven't found figures that give a % of how many are radical - but it is much smaller that the European percentage. Even if the number of radical muslims in the USA is only 5% of its Muslim population, then that figure would be around 300,000 radical muslims in USA) Therefore, while the numbers of radicals (just in USA and Europe alone) may be small compared to the majority of Muslims, there are a lot to worry about. These numbers should scare YOU, too, since radical muslims would want to kill you, too (since you don't accept their brand of Islam).</p>

<p>BTW.... If you noticed, I said "bunch of young male muslims" boarding a plane (I didn't say "one") - a huge difference. Even YOU might feel a bit scared, yourself - after all, there were innocent Muslims killed on 9/11, too (in the towers and on the planes). </p>

<p>I have several muslim neighbors and I do feel sorry for them - I know they feel awkward when meeting non-muslims who might think they are "dangerous." </p>

<p>AND.... if it became known that Mythmom was teaching that the Quran stories are - "Muslim myths" - she would get death threats. Who can really doubt that??? </p>

<p>Anyway... this is all "off topic". Let's get back to the subject...</p>

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<p>I guess I took it ot, but my point was that any religion can be used as a justification for bad behavior. Right now it's Islam in the news.</p>

<p>I think a prof should be able to be him or herself in the classroom and have a point of view. That can be done without marginalizing or demeaning students with different perspectives.</p>

<p>I had never gone on the rate my profs site and found it fun. My son's profs got mostly rave reviews.</p>

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<p>jlauer95 I'm sorry if I implied that you think most Muslims are radical-blame it on the tension of flying while Muslim. It's just that so many people forget to differentiate and end up inadvertently discriminating against all Muslims. It is truly sad that the words Islam and Muslim immediately trigger negative thoughts here in the West. Sorry for the deviation from the OP.</p>

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<p>superwizard....</p>

<p>No problem.... have a safe flight... We'll "see" you on CC when you get back.</p>

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<p>Hmmmm....both of my son's profs are listed on RMP--and accurately portrayed--academically that is.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Beth.... the number of non-muslims who are killing in the "name of God (or Allah) pales in comparison to the number of radical muslims who are doing so. Those doctor killers are an aberration - which is why so few have occurred in the last 35 years (since abortion was legalized.) That cannot be said about "religious" killings by radical muslims - a daily occurrence in various countries - obviously not an aberration. (How many of us would fear a bunch of Christian coalition members (who are young men) boarding our planes?? How many of us would cringe a bit if a bunch of young male muslims boarded our planes??? Certainly, many of us would "keep an eye" on that group of young muslim men. That isn't just fear from prejudice - it would be fear from discernment.) Mythmom is not in any danger from those christian kids, but she would likely be if she called the Koran - "myths" - in the classroom.

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</p>

<p>These are pretty bold statements in my experience. Religion has been used to justify many killings. When we hear about abortion clinic bombing incidents or the like, it is obvious it was about religion (or relatively obvious), and the spin is put on it that way to make it a national issue. However the motivations of many other crimes are often unknown to those who are only exposed to material about the case at the surface level. For example, I think many people would not know that the recent tragedy at Va Tech was carried out by someone who that previous summer received 'treatment' at a Christian organization to exorcise the demons from his soul. In the last pieces of evidence he left to the world, he justified his actions along the lines of being a martyr and references biblical characters. The only explanation that can really be found in the "ismail ax" scrawled on his are is biblical and fits in with his other references. And yet this isn't a crime that would be largely reported as having religious motive, the way a terrorist attack might be. </p>

<p>Sure, mainstream christianity today would say that such a crime was not justified, in fact, most people would interpret the bible to say that this is patently the wrong thing to do. Just like today we do not read the bible as justifying something as atrocious as slavery, but in the past, people did very strongly interpret that to be the case. They were willing to die and kill over it and the religious component of that was a serious thing. This is a fact. It does not mean anything bad about christianity or that anyone today should be ashamed, it only means that people used it as a tool to wrongly justify something for their own gain. But nonetheless they did. However the fact that this was all overturned would show that christianity is not an inherently violent or racist religion. </p>

<p>The fact is that the majority of Muslims are not interpreting the Koran in a way that means they should go out and kill a whole lot of people. I know plenty of "young, Muslim, males" who I sat with everyday and consider to be no more risk than anyone else in the room. If I was on a plane, I would recognize that there would be little I could do if certain events were to set in motion, and certainly little I could do at that point by "keeping an eye" on some people because they look a certain way. The fact is I could be killed by anyone, anywhere, I learned that last April with a lot of other kids from here, and the fact is by sheer numbers of who we come in contact with daily as citizens of the United States, I am more likely to be killed by someone with a judeo-christian background than anything else. How can we say what role religious background has in any crime? If we can state that these so called "religious killings" that are a daily occurence in other countries are a function of religious background, then how can we state that religious background plays no role in the daily killings in the US? I am not really sure myself. But maybe we are just looking at it differently.</p>

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<p>All I'm saying is that using religion to do what you want to do anyway is questionable, imo. And frankly, killing a bunch of people, with whatever justification, feels bad. Can't we do better than this?</p>

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<p>To all: I have had many Muslim students, especially in the Indian Lit. Course I taught at Stony Brook. Perhaps a self-selecting group come to the US to study, but these have been some of the most intelligent and open minded kids I have ever taught. There are also wonderful Christian students (as well as Hindu, Jewish, Buddist). I was just giving insight on the workings of Ratemyprofessor, and I thought it was so ironic, having just heard about my ratings for the first time. It was on my mind.</p>

<p>Bethie is right: acts committed in the name of religion is just as heinous, and no religion has the corner on this or is immune from this. </p>

<p>I did not mean to stir up quite this controversy.</p>

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<p>I( like it; it helps with course selection and tells me which teachers to aviod</p>