Karl Benacci, Features Editor Sour revenge for students by Dan Mihalopoulos Chicago Tribune Before registering lor classes, students at the University of Wisconsin campus here soon will he able to use the Internet to see just how tough it would be to ace courses Many students say they are eager to to pickapmf .com as they decide which classes to enroll in or which professors to avoid. Bar charts on the Wei) site show what per- centage of each instructor's students received As. lis. Cs. l)s or Is during past semesters “i'll be strongly tempted to look, like a bear with a honey jai," said Thomas McKinney. 27, a graphic design major “You could til ways hear this kind of stuff' through the grapevine. Now you can just punch it up." The University of'Wisconsin student association recently decided to pay $lO,OOO to Pick-A-Prof. joining more thiin 50 public universities nationwide that subscribe to the three-vear-old ser vice based in Texas. And student leaders at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UK') and Wright College are debating whether to bring it to their campuses next year. In ;m age when students can order term papers over the Internet, the spread of Pick-A Prof has triggered a fresh debate about the effects of rapid technological change on education. Many students relish having easy ac cess to grading histories, but college in structors here and across the country arc complaining that Pick A-Ptol is the worst blow to the integrity oiTiighet.edu cation since Clifts Notes “There is no relation between an easy A and the quality of learning," UW soci ology professor Carrie Yang Costello said. Critics say publishing grading histo ries on the Internet will make it simple lor students to choose prolessors who are most likely to grade gently. Students in evitably will try to play the odds to give themselves the best chance ol posting high grade point averages and attracting Crossword ACROSS 1 " O'Shanter" 4 Kind of melon 11 2 on the phone 14 Brouhaha 15 Adversary 16 Half a bikini 17 Auction call 18 Puts back together 20 Honked 22 Stink to high heaven 23 Arizona city 24 Cadiz populace 29 Happened by 32 Compact contents 35 Make a choice 38 Noah's peak 39 “The Avengers' star Patrick 41 Decimal base 42 Choo-choo of song 46 Potok novel 47 Clawlike foot problem 50 Paraphernalia 54 Zeno ol . 55 One Gershwin 57 "The Big Easy" star 63 Ely or Gant 64 Soviet mil. intelligence 65 Trip 66 United 67 UFO crew 68 Isolde’s lover 69 Bread for a Reuben DOWN 1 Pet cal 2 Ta-ta, Therese 3 Computer communicator 4 Macintosh center 5 Mimicked 6 Mineral spring 7 Call for help 8 Pack animal 9 Two-finger sign 10 Equip with weapons 11 More fit job offers, said George Davida, a computer science professor and faculty senate mem ber. “It's a no-brainer,” Davida said. “This will turn the university into a casino. Professors warned that Pick-A-Prof will result in grade inflation. “There will be an influence on profes sors to bring students into their classes by not grading too hard,” said Jennifer Maher, My Professor * Suchs.com ,/ X x \ Many college students have a few professors who are more sour than lemons. an associate professor of women’s stud- Pick-A-Prof is a simple, if novel, con cept. Data on the grading histories of pro fessors at public universities are open to the public. Pick-A-Prof requests the infor mation from universities and places it on its password-protected Web site. At most universities where Pick-A-Prof is used, the student associations pay the company to construct and maintain the Pick-A-Prof also runs message boards featuring anonymous reviews of profes sors, which the company screens for pro fanity and personal attacks. Company of ficials say the screening process makes Pick-A-Prof’s reviews more useful than the feedback that students post on other Internet sites. such as myprofessorsucks.com. Pick-A-Prof is in operation at some of the nation's largest universities, including the University of Texas, University of Massachusetts, University of Maryland, University of Kentucky and Indiana Uni versity. Pick-A-Prol founders Chris Chilek and John Cunningham began the company while students at Texas A&M University, where they graduated in 1999. Cunningham, a marketing major, and Chilek, who studied computer science, © 2003 Tribune Medi« Services, Inc. All righis reserved. 12 Produce Solutions offspring 13 Barrels 19 Promote oneself 21 Expectant dad, eg 24 Stitch 25 Launch area 26 Beer choice 27 Shearer and Zimmer 28 Mad 30 Cochise or Geronimo 31 Mayhonoree 32 Overweight 33 Exist 34 Is qualified to 35 Lennon’s lover 36 Cribbage marker 37 Herbal quaff 40 African river 43 False front 44 However, for 48 All ears 49 Program choices 51 Slip-up 52 Extreme discomfort 53 Taylor or Adoree 55 __ monster short 45 Little piggy 46 Fed 47 Border bush i\> j* I '1 r n fUj i Friday, January 17, 2003 knew they had the right to view profes sors’ grading history. But they noticed that few students went to the trouble of asking university administrators for the fat bind ers that contained the paper records. “We recognized the opportunity to put it online, where there would be more ac cess,” Chilek said in a telephone interview from the Pick-A-Prof office in Austin. Professors who criticize the service un- 56 Idyllic place 58 Adherent’s suffix 59 Orch. section 60 On the __ vive 61 Hesilation sounds 62 U S. dance grp. derestimate their stu- dents, Chilek said. “The stu dents know that if they go for the easy A. then they won’t have the background they will need to succeed in a higher-level course £ he said O u to Some col | lege students defend 8 the site as a valuable 0) | tool for increasing ac- E countability among | professors and giving ° students more infor | mation as they choose 3 expensive courses a class and you want to get something out of it," said Kory Kozloski. the UW student association president, UIC student government President An gel Alvarez has proposed subscribing to Pick-A-Prof. The company chose the cam pus as a trial site, meaning some data are already available to UIC students on a test basis. “Now I don’t have to rely on how accu rate my friends are when I ask them about a class,” Alvarez said, who expects stu dent representatives at UIC to decide on taking the service soon after the holiday break. May Ming Lam, a junior majoring in movement science at UIC, has logged on to the test version and said it is easy to use. “Of course, everyone is looking for a professor who hasn’t failed too many people,” she said. But sorne students said the main attrac tion of Pick-A-Prof is the opportunity to learn more about the demands of a class and the teaching style of professors before signing up. Course catalogs customarily give no more than a terse description ol the material a class will cover. “There will be a lot of people trying to get an easy A, but those people have al ways been there,” said Susan Howell, a marketing major at UW. “I just want to know which classes are good and which classes are not." CALDER COMMONS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU! TWO BEDROOM/TWO BATHROOM FULLY FURNISHED APARTMENTS! 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