“Can’t teach a class if his life depended on it.””He is the reason why people drop out of school.””He must be the worst professor alive.”Have you ever heard your friends talk about certain teachers like this? Well, these feelings are not just expressed in campus conversation anymore-they can now be found on the Internet through teacher rating Web sites.Teacher rating sites contain anonymous student reviews on teachers that can be read by any student with Internet access. The content has made teachers question their quality of teaching and reputations, and some have even led to lawsuits in recent years.Students use Web sites such as RateMyProfessors.com and TeacherReviews.com because they are quick ways to check teachers before actually enrolling in a class. “I actually use the Web sites to understand how the teacher teaches and this helps me with the grading policy,” said Kevin Umali, Skyline student. “I love these Web sites because they help me know what the class is all about.”Math professor Rick Hough, has a mixed opinion about the sites. “I certainly like how students get together to discuss teachers and see what teachers work for them,” said Hough, “but the problem that I see is that I noticed most of it wasn’t very constructive criticism, like ‘this person sucks’ or ‘I just love this person.'”Examples of such comments can be found in the many generic “worst teacher at Skyline” or “best teacher at Skyline” comments offered throughout the sites, often without explanation of why the rated teacher is so good or bad.According the “FAQ” section of RateMyProfessors.com, the goal of the site is “to be a resource for students. It also gives you, the user, a place to voice your opinion. It gives you a place to make a difference in your education,” according to the site’s FAQ page.This is a use that extends beyond a student’s current campus to other schools that the student may be interested in attending later.Since many schools offer a variety of classes with the option of different teachers, it can be difficult to find out which teacher is right for you. “At many universities, students can choose which classes to take,” wrote Dylan Greene, founder of TeacherReviews.com, in an e-mail. “TeacherReviews gives students the information they need to make an educated decision.”But where does a student draw the line before humiliating a teacher with a posted opinion about that teacher? Is this about students using free speech? Or is it simply a way of getting back at teachers? These questions are at the base of the controversy concerning teacher review sites because there are people who may not agree with the criticism posted on these types of Web sites.Different people have different opinions on where the boundary lies between constructive criticism and an abuse of a public space. “I think you would draw the line when you can recognize if it is that person’s opinion,” said Jen Malibiran, Skyline student. “Usually when degrading something of someone, it’s basically what a person thinks and when it’s the truth, that person would not just talk about what he or she thinks. They would mention about the teacher and give specific examples.” “If it’s something negative, it has to pertain to teaching,” said John Swapceinski, creator of RateMyProfessors.com. “You can’t call a person ugly, and you can’t accuse them of illegal behavior.”RateMyProfessors.com was based upon a teacher Swapceinski disliked while attending San Jose State University in 1999. He initially filed a complaint about the teacher. However, this teacher had tenure and nothing really happened, according to Swapceinski. “There ought to be a way to warn other students about teachers like her,” Swapceinski said. Still, some teachers admit to the usefulness of sites such as Swapceinski’s. “It can be helpful, but problematic,” said Jeff Westfall, Skyline English professor. “Teachers shouldn’t take it personally.”There are mixed reactions to these types of sites from both teachers and students, because opinions are anonymous and strongly opinionated. This means students do not know where the ratings are coming from and what kind of people are making them. It also allows people to use the anonymity to make their comments more extreme than they would otherwise.Many students have their own perceptive opinions on the credibility of these sites and recommend that everyone should take caution the next time they want to vent about professors. “I believe students want to demoralize certain teachers because this is the only way at getting back at the teacher,” said Clifford Fung, Skyline student. “They could express themselves so that no other students can suffer like them.”Overall, the sites have become quite popular with students looking to schedule their classes. “I’ve received hundreds of e-mails thanking me for the site,” wrote Greene in an e-mailed comment.Teachers may not agree with the sites and their content, but many use them as reference points for how students view them, and essentially refrain from conflict with the sites. “I believe in freedom of information, and they’re people’s opinions and they can give it as they want,” said biology professor Nick Kapp. “Would I be hurt if I read something negative? Yes, but I would look at it and say ‘Did I deserve this?'”However, all comments risk consequences, as teachers have had their credibility hurt and have responded with lawsuits.Almost seven years ago, professors Daniel Curzon-Brown and Jessie Wall were among those of City College of San Francisco who sued the school for web defamation.Ryan Lathouwers created TeacherReviews when he was a City College student in 1997, but two years later Curzon-Brown and Wall sued Lathouwers, the site’s webmaster over their objections to comments about them posted on the site. Curzon-Brown’s lawsuit was on behalf of himself and the rest of the faculty of City College which included an order prohibiting the posting of defamatory reviews on the website and prohibiting either the college or its students from connecting to TeacherReviews.com through the school’s Web site. Charles Burke, one of the professors involved in the lawsuit, refused to comment about his lawsuit and his views on TeacherReviews.com because it is now “part of his past” and he “does not wish to revisit the issues involved.”Curzon-Brown and Wall eventually dropped their lawsuit, as the teachers’ claims contained no proper legal support.Other teachers have varied stances on whether they would consider taking legal action against a teacher rating website. “Depending on what was said, I’d try to find out if the same thing is happening to me as it happened to (the teachers calling for the lawsuits),” said Hough.Although past incidents may have hurt some teachers’ feelings and reputations, Web sites like TeacherReviews have cleaned up their sites and instated rules users must abide by in order for an opinion to be posted on the Web. Greene is currently re-working the guidelines for a better explanation on what a visitor to his site can and cannot write. “Some professors don’t like that their reviews are online,” said Greene. “Those that ask, I take down.”Some instructors suggest more constructive, direct ways to improve situations between students and teachers. “If you are having an unproductive time in class, just knock on my door and we could talk about it,” Westfall said. “Instructors will make changes because they want students to do well.”From the professors interviewed, all of them advised that if students have a problem, whether it is about a class or something personal, try and talk to them personally about it before writing them off on the Internet. “Any teacher worth the honorific of the word ‘teacher’ wants students to do well,” Professor Westfall said. “If information of that sort helps students do well: great thing. If information of that sort gets in the way of students doing well: not a great thing.”