__Vol. 93, No. 80 Mond April 3, 2000 _ ~
__ _ e Carolina Community since 1Q08
Students review professors on Web
by Kelly Haggerty
Assistant News Editor
A relatively new Web site is offering its free
ervices to help ease the spring advisement process.
Www.teacherreviews.com allows students from
nore than 6,000 colleges in about 220 countries
o submit reviews of their professors and grade
hem for exams, handwriting, homework, lectures,
rflice hours, personality, projects and speaking
kills.
Although more than 7,000 people visit the site
t day, president and co-founder of TeacherRe
riews.com Dylan Greene doesn’t think enough
tudents are using the Web site.
“Many schools only have one or two reviews
so far. A lot of students go to the site and read the
reviews but don’t post one,” Greene said.
Because TeacherReviews.com has had zero
marketing or advertising, Greene said he deems
the Web site successful to have received 4,197 re
views of 1,381 professors.
USC is one of 204 schools that have had re
views posted. As of press time, 24 reviews of 24
professors had been submitted. The average
grade received of the reviewed professors was a B.
Greene looked at USC’s statistics and found
that they were typical compared with other re
views because most of them were positive.
Students can submit reviews to the Web site
for either current or prospective students and need
only give their e-mail address to the team that runs
the Web site. Reviews can be posted anonymous
ly or under assumed names.
Public relations freshman Sarah Taylor gave
her Statistics 101 professor Susan Simmons a grade
of A+. Taylor wanted to let future students know
about Simmons because she helped Taylor make a
smooth transition from high school to college.
Taylor said she thinks TeacherReviews.com
is a good system because “students who are com
ing to this college and don’t know students here
can get an idea of what professors they might want
for a certain course.”
Insurance risk management junior Chris Os
borne said he likes the Web site for different rea
sons. He said one is that it allows people to read
what students probably wrote in end-of-the-se
mester reviews, which he pointed out only pro
fessors see.
He also said, “It’s a way to find out about your
teachers without having to ask everyone you know,
‘Did you have this teacher? What about this one?’
“When students get advised, this is what hap- *
pens. If we all use the Web site legitimately, then
it will work great.”
Osborne said he didn’t approve of some stu
dents using the Web site to unnecessarily ridicule
their professors. This appears to be the downside
of the Internet reviews: Any student can write
harsh, untrue reviews of a professor for any rea
son.
Associate professor of statistics Lori Thombs
looked at the Web site after learning she’d been re
viewed and given a grade of A. She also read some
of the other reviews written by USC students.
“I was very distuibed at some of the reviews.
One reviewer was so nasty, using profanity and
commenting on non-leaching aspects of the per
son. 1 did not find this funny, informative or en
tertaining. This is the ugly side of student evalua
tions,” Thombs said.
“I would hope that students would back up
their views with good reasons, and I dunk that harsh
criticism should be stated in a construcdve man
»»
ner.
Greene’s team did create guidelines for stu
dents to follow when writing reviews.
Teacher reviews see page 2
Two
students
win
national
awards
Staff Reports
The Gamecock
Two USC students have won the Na
ional Science Foundation Graduate Fel
owships.
Chemistry senior William Henley
tnd chemical engineering graduate Car
oline Parler are the award recipients.
Henley is a member of the S.C. Hon
ors College, Phi Beta Kappa and is also
i National Merit Finalist, a Palmetto Fel
ow, a University Scholar, an EPSCoR
Fellow and a Howard Hughes Under
graduate Research Fellow. Henley is plan
ting to complete his Ph.D. in analytical
:hemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill, where
te has received the Venable Fellowship.
Parler is a December 1999 graduate
tnd a member of the S.C. Honors Col
iege. As an undeigraduate, Parler per
formed chemical engineering research at
ooth USC and the University of Colorado,
she’s a 1998 Goldwater Scholar and was
elected as the 1999 USC Outstanding
senior in chemical engineering. She also
oerforms with the USC Dance Compa
ty and the Don West African Dramming
tnd Dance ensemble. i
Karier held onices in lau oeia n ana
Dmicron Delta Kappa honors societies
ind served as vice president of Chi Omega
sorority. She received the Steven N.
swanger Award, USC’s highest award for
mdeigraduate leadership, and was cho
sen as ODK’s National Leader of the Year.
Farler will be attending Oxford Univer
sity in Oxford, England, in September to
xnsue a master of science degree in chem
stry as a 2000 Rhodes Scholar. She
hen plans on returning to the United
states to complete a Ph.D.
The fellowsliips are awarded forgrad
late study leading to research-based mas
er’s or doctoral degrees in the fields of
eience, mathematics and engineering.
fTirNational Science Foundation seeks
o ensure the vitality,of the human re
source base of science, math and engi
leering in the United States and to rein
force its diversity.
To that end, the NSF awarded about
S50 new three-year Graduate Research
Fellowships. NSF Fellows are expected
o contribute significantly to research,
caching and industrial applications. The
scholarships are awarded for three years
Awards see page 2
j USC shows off diverse programs at the annual Showcase
Amt Goulding Photo Editor
Marine biology Junior Chris Matthews, center, gives Columbla-area children a hands-on lesson about marine science Saturday at
USC’s annual Showcase. The Showcase featured more than 75 different displays of USC programs. See related story on page 2.
Bombs found in Chicago dorm room
by Elizabeth Neff and
Jennier Peltz
College Press Excange
Cwcago— The 19-year-old St. Xavier Universi
ty freshman charged with storing explosives in his
dorm room eventually wanted to work on a bomb
squad and had discussed the making and disarming of
bombs in a speech class, a classmate said Tuesday.
James Lyon, a chemistry major, spoke about
bombs in his speech class last semester and used man
uals he said were obtained from Army surplus stores
to illustrate his points, according to freshman Kelly
Rank, 18. Lyon’s assignment for the class had been
to give a speech on what he wanted to do when he
got older, Rank said.
“People thought it was weird, but he said he want
ed to disarm bombs when he was older,” Rank said.
Lyon’s lawyer, George P. Lynch, described his
client as a young man who enjoyed fireworks and has
never harmed anyone.
“None of these materials are designed for mak
ing bombs,” Lynch said Tuesday during a court hear
ing where a $75,000 bond was set for Lyon.
Security guards tipped off by a resident assis
tant at the school’s Regina Hall found 1.2 ounces of
explosive black powder, 19 model-rocket motors, a
bottle of lighter fluid, six books on explosives and a
map of St. Xavier in Lyon’s room Monday afternoon,
prosecutors said. The explosive could have fueled
two bombs capable of killing people within 30 feet,
according to Assistant State’s Ally. Erin Antonietti.
Lyon, who is charged with one count of felony
unlawful use of a weapon and one misdemeanor count
of reckless endangerment, apparently harvested the
explosive from model-rocket components, prose
cutors said.
An average student at the private school, Lyon
was under treatment for depression, Lynch said.
Students who lived near Lyon on the second floor
of the dorm at 3758 W. 103rd St. described him as
friendly and generous.
“He was a really nice guy, and he was everyone’s
friend,” said Andrew Zaghlul, 21, a junior at the
school.
Lyon was good with computers, enjoyed surfing
the Internet and would often lend a hand to his friends
by giving them money or sharing a pizza, Zaghlul
said.
Nick Block, 19, a freshman who lived two doors
from Lyon, said he spent time with Lyon last year,
playing video games. Block described Lyon as a “nice
guy” he would sometimes help with homework.
Lyon, who was on medication to treat his de
pression, had “kept more to himself’ during the sec
ond semester, Block said. Although the heavyset Ly
on was often teased about his size in high school, he
didn’t encounter the same behavior in college. Block
said.
Lyon attended Benet Academy for one year in
1994-95 before transferring to York High School in
Elmhurst, a Benet official said.
The Lyon family has lived in the 300 block of
Yorkfield Avenue for at least 20 years.
The Lyons’ next-door neighbor said she has known
the family more than 20 years.
“They’re vety good neighbors, outstanding neigh
bors,” she said, declining to give her name.
She said that James Lyon and his three brothers
were all good people and nice neighbors.
Lyon has no criminal record, and police offi
cers said he made no statements while in custody as
to what the explosives were for. Lyon has been sus
pended from St. Xavier pending further investiga
tion into the incident, school spokesman Bob Quak
enbush said.
Lyon’s family and Lynch declined to comment
after Tuesday’s court hearing.
March for
removal of
battle flag
begins
by Bruce Smith
The Associated Press
Charleston —While some chanted “Take
it down!” and others waved blue and white
South Carolina flags, more than 600 people
set out Sunday on a five-day, 120-mile*protest
march to Columbia to uige state lawmakers
to move the Confederate Flag from the State
house dome.
“The people of South Carolina — white
and African-American — want the flag to
come down,” said Charleston Mayor Joseph
P. Riley Jr., who had the idea for the march.
“The purpose is to say the people of South
Carolina are in step, and we want the Legis
lature to get in step with the people of South
Carolina,” said the mayor, who carried the
blue state flag with its white palmetto tree
and crescent as he led marchers into the street
The marchers will walk only during day
lieht hours and Dlan to arrive in Columbia for
a rally on Thursday, when pro-flag support
ers have also scheduled a Statehouse rally.
“Walk together, little children,” said state
Sen. McKinley Washington, D-Ravenel, a
minister. “Don’t you get weary. There is a
great camp meeting in Columbia when you
get there.”
The National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People has called for
a tourism boycott of the state, saying the Con
federate flag above the Statehouse in Co
lumbia is a racist emblem. Flag defenders say
it is a symbol of Southern heritage and hon
ors Confederate war dead.
Only state lawmakers can move the
flag from the dome, and several plans are un
der consideration. Organizers of the “Get in
Step” walk say it should be moved from
the dome to a place of honor.
Vans and shuttle buses will lake people
to the march so they can join as long as they
can. It will start each day where it ended the
previous day.
Novelist Pat Conroy, a South Carolinian,
was on hand for the start of the march. But
he said he would pick up with the marchers
again on Thursday in Columbia.
“They would find me dead on the high
way if 1 tried to make the entire march,” he
said.
Conroy said South Carolina lawmakers
don’t like being told what to do, but predicted
the march will help resolve the issue.
“It’s going to be such hideous publicity,
including this right here, that it will help,”
he said.
One of those who marched Sunday was
former Gov. John West, a state lawmaker
when the flag was raised by the all-white 1962
General Assembly.
West, who served as governor from 1971
March SEE PAGE 2
-1
Weather.. .-J-'M .Inside 111 . i DatebookV , . r-M .■ Online Poll j; -A J
Today
79
64
Tuesday
75
52
)
EtCetera
goes to
the races
Page 7
Monday
• The Gamecock, 4 p.m.,
RH 333
• Fraternity Council, 4
p.m., RH 322/326
• Sorority Council, 5
p.m., RH 322/326
• CP, 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday
• AAAS, 6 p.m., RH
Theater
• S.C. Student Legisla
ture, 9 p.m.
• RHA, 7 p.m., RH 307
•FOCUS, 8:15 p.m..
Women’s Club
• Spring Board, 5:30 p.m.
4
Should USC consider
revising or changing its
fight song?
Vote at www.gamecock.sc.edu.
Results will be published Friday.