Niner Times - October 25, 2011

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2011

MYTHICAL CREATURES TAKE OVER POP CULTURE

FEATURES

SPORTS

THE NEW NORM REVEALED Friday evening Niner Nation had the opportunity to witness the unveiling of the new Norm the Niner at Basketball Madness.

The new Norm is complete with a new hat, six-pack, muscles and a brand new pickax.

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Once upon a time, there were two TV networks that desperately wanted to attract more viewers.

They huffed and puffed and finally came up with the idea to use fairy tales as the subject of their shows. p. 8

NINERTIMES TIMES Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Published twice weekly and online at www.nineronline.com

A product of Student Niner Media • The University of North Carolina at Charlotte • Partially funded by Student Fees • Breaking News? Email us at editor@nineronline.com or call 704.687.7148

New on NinerOnline.com: See a video of our “Super Senior” trying out to be the face behind Norm.

Who’s hot and who’s not The best and worst rated professors at UNC Charlotte talk about their rating on RateMyProfessors

UNC Charlotte’s RateMyProfessors’ score

Molly Mulhern MMULHER1@UNCC.EDU

Eden Creamer ECREAMER@UNCC.EDU

With registration approaching, students may begin turning to websites such as RateMyProfessors.com to create a schedule with professors they will enjoy. The UNC Charlotte page on RateMyProfessors provides students with ratings for over 2,000 professors, some of which no longer teach here, but others who have been at the university for decades. RateMyProfessors rates both the university as a whole and individual professors. The university is rated on things such as the library, the reputation of the school, the dining options, organizations and the location of the campus. While students may like looking at how their school compares to other universities, the ratings of individual professors will possibly captivate students more. Individual professors receive ratings based on overall quality, helpfulness, clarity, easiness, rater interest and attractiveness, which is displayed as a chili pepper on the professor’s main page. Professors can be searched alphabetically or by department and may also be sorted by their individual ratings. UNC Charlotte has professors with high ratings, and those with low ratings, but there can only be one highest and one lowest. Amy Good, who teaches social studies in the College of Education, is the highest rated professor at UNC Charlotte. “These make me blush. They are all very sweet,” said Good after reading her reviews. “I think anybody wants to hear that they’re doing well.” Good has straight 5.0’s on RateMyProfessors, the highest average possible, and also has a chili pepper. Her high ratings could come from her relationships with her students, she says.

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Source: RateMyProfessors.com Graphic by Karen Pierce “I truly believe students will not care until they know you care,” said Good. “These comments are nice and everything, but I’m not going to turn around and be friends. I tell my students, it’s not their job to become the friend of their students. It’s their job to teach. I want it to be a powerful experience.” Students may also appreciate the way she works with them. She is training teachers, she says, so she is teaching students “to grade and how to support teaching.” Good loves this aspect of her job and appreciates that her assessments aren’t “a hidden ‘gotcha’ situation.” These elements of the way she assigns and grades material works in students’ favor. She works with students one-on-one

and by email. She also sets her classes into teams, where they can work together if they have problems. “Since this is social studies, I think the most important part is setting up the classroom community. It’s not just me they can come to, they can come to their team,” said Good. “I can, in the almost 10 years that I have been a professor, count only maybe two people that have failed. And it takes an act of plagiarism, it has to be a rough situation for them to fail my course.” Ellyn Ritterskamp, the second highest rated professor at UNC Charlotte, also has straight 5.0s. Ritterskamp, who teaches practical issues and philosophy, started at UNC Charlotte in 2002. Despite her high rating among students, PROFESSOR p.3

NEWS Police Blotter: Larceny

through calls for services during the week of Oct. 16- Oct. 21.

Biotechnology: The Charlotte

Biotechnology Conference returns to UNC Charlotte for the tenth year. The conference, which will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, will be at the Barnhardt Student Activity Center (SAC).

A major decision

OPINION

SPORTS

A&E

JOSHUA GOMEZ Q&A

DIVERSITY AT

UNC CHARLOTTE

Joshua Gomez stars in NBC’s “Chuck,” a spy-comedy primetime

Read the first part of a Niner Times’

program produced by Warner Bros.

series on diversity at UNC Charlotte.

Television.

This week we introduce the series and talk about “The Things That Divide Us.”

Gomez plays the role of Morgan

FIGHT FOR A-10 TOURNAMENT p. 5

Grimes, the best friend of leading p.11

character Chuck (Zachary Levi). p. 7

The University Career Center will host Majors Day Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011, in the Cone University Center’s Lucas Room. The event invites students to come learn more about the paths of study UNC Charlotte has to offer. “There will be a table for every undergraduate major offered,” said Rebecca Cody, assistant director for Publicity and Outreach at the University Career Center. “The tables will have faculty, academic advisors and even some upperclassmen majoring in each discipline to talk about the majors and any minors or concentrations that they offer.” This event targets undergraduates. Students who have not declared a major or are considering double majoring or picking up a minor are especially encouraged to come and explore the different options available to them. “In addition to hearing from representatives from each department, students will be able to pick up ‘What Can I Do With A Major In’ forms that list examples of possible jobs they can get with the major. Also, the forms will list websites and books where they can obtain more information,” said Cody. “We recommend our ‘How To Get A Job In’ series, available online and in the UniMAJOR p.3

Working to fight addiction Ciera Choate NEWS@NINERONLINE.COM

In addition to the Alcoholics Anonymous program being brought to campus at the beginning of October, the Student Health Center will host their first Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education (NOPE) vigil Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, at the Belk Tower from 5 until 7 p.m. “The purpose of the vigil is to call attention to people who are impacted by drug overdose and impacted by addiction and that sort of thing. It’s a vigil in memory of those who have overdosed and lost their life and also the support of those who have addiction issues that they are struggling with,” said Angela Allen, the BASICS coordinator for the Student Health Center. The NOPE Vigil is a national event that takes place at different locations all over the U.S. on the same day every year. The event has been taking place for five years. During the event anyone is welcome to take the microphone and tell his or her See more at NinerOnline.com