By WIBKE RICHTER

Web Intern

Before the winter semester comes to an end, students should start planning ahead for summer and fall because popular classes will fill up fast.

The web site RateMyProfessors.com is one of the tools students can use to decide which courses they will register for and which professor will teach them during the next semester.

According to the creators of the 10-year-old web site, “RateMyProfessors.com is the Internet’s largest listing of collegiate professor ratings, with more than 6.8 million student-generated ratings of over 1 million professors.” Over 6,000 schools located in the U.S., Canada, England, Scotland and Wales are listed.

Of the 47 students at Oakland University who participated in the poll on oaklandpostonline.com, 57.8 percent answered that they take the RateMyProfessor.com very seriously, 31.1 percent said they don’t care and 11.1 percent don’t know what the page is about.

At OU, Ghassan Saed, adjunct associate professor in the department of chemistry, got the most votes. Saed was rated by 160 students between February 2003 and March 2009. The overall quality of his classes was evaluated at 4.2 on a five point rating system with five being the best. Many of the students’ comments are positive and summarized with a yellow smiley, while others are more critical.

“I’ve never checked the page,” said Saed, who gets feedback from students through the department’s evaluations at the end of the semester. He is proud of the evaluations and said he receives e-mails with positive responses.

“I tell them lots of stories about how relevant chemistry is for everyday life,” Saed said. To keep students awake during a morning class, he tells them jokes, asks them to bring a cup of coffee and to come to class with a different attitude towards life.

Besides teaching, Saed does research in the field of ovarian cancer.

Q: What do you teach?

A: Introduction to Chemical Principles (CHM 104) and Introduction to Organic and Biological Chemistry (CHM 201). Both are also taught online.

Q: Who in your field inspires you to teach?

A: Actually, no one. I am mainly inspired from the need I see of students for a different way of teaching, an exciting way to teach chemistry. Traditionally, there is no link [as to] why you are learning this. I relate information in a way that makes sense.

Q: What is on your reading list?

A: Lots of journals like “The Journal of Clinical Investigation,” for example.

Q: Could you describe what you do at OU in one sentence?

A: One sentence? I am teaching.

Q: What is your favorite OU sport to watch live?

A: None. I am not a sports guy.

Q: It’s lunchtime and you’re hungry. Have you packed your own lunch, are you going to the OC or are you ordering out?

A: None of the above … I am having a granola bar in my bag.

Q: How is your office looking? In other words, if I were a student who had an appointment, would I be able to see around the piles of papers?

A: You don’t want to see my office. There are lots of papers and books. It’s unorganized.

Q: When is bedtime?

A: Between 11 p.m. and midnight.

Q: What is the most interesting place that your studies have taken you?

A: I just came back from Scotland from a meeting of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. It’s interesting to see how other people live there.

Q: What do you hope students know before they take your class(es)?

A: Logic. Sit down, understand and enjoy!