Finally, a good reason to visit ratemyprofessor.com

Gabrella Montell on the academic art of manipulating scores on ratemyprofessor.com:

Mr. Mozer is an assistant professor of English at Flagler College, and Mr. Lemmond is A.B.D. in history at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Mr. Mozer gives his friend high marks for his ability to write like an undergraduate: “His [postings] are better than mine. There’s an art to writing the bogus review. Note the typos, the misspelling, the awkward syntax. These things have to be attended to if you’re going to be an aficionado.”

Richard Scott Nokes, an assistant professor of English at Troy University, sees no shame in posting faux reviews. He freely admits having primed the pump himself after a friend asked him if he was listed on the site and he found that he wasn’t: “I created my own first rating in which I rated myself extraordinarily high. I made myself very difficult, too, and gave myself a chili pepper.” (Professors who are considered “hot” get chili peppers by their names.)