(U-WIRE) CORVALLIS, Ore. — College professors can ruin good days with bad test scores, eliminate weekend plans with homework assignments and set back dreams with poor letter grades. Students now hold a small taste of this power via a Web site.

RateMyProfessors.com allows college students to grade their professors online. Representatives of the Web site hosted a booth Wednesday, Oct. 8 at Oregon State University.

At the Web site, students can anonymously rate professors on their helpfulness, clarity, difficulty of classes and even physical attractiveness. Many students also leave personal opinions of the professors and the courses they teach.

Founder of the Web site, John Swapceinski, started his project in 1999. At the time he was attending San Jose State University to receive a master's in computer science.

"While there, I had a professor who was a real ogre and an unfair grader. I decided to start the Web site to warn others of professors like her," Swapceinski said.

The purpose of the Web site is to be a resource for students by students.

The Web site says it "gives you a place to make a difference in your education."

RateMyProfessors.com has 1,065,420 ratings on 236,294 professors. There are currently 373 professors rated at Oregon State University.

Oregon State's highest rated professor is Professor Linda Bruslind, with an overall rating of 5.0, from the Department of Science.

Some comments this professor received include "lots of memorization" and "easy follow-along packet for lectures."

Some teachers have a red chili pepper icon by their names indicating how "hot" they are.

Professor Richard Nafshun from the chemistry department has a red chili pepper icon by his rating profile. Some comments from his reviews include "he's a chemistry nerd but a really funny one," "fun class" and "look alike of Ben Stiller, but hotter."

RateMyProfessors.com has received complaints from professors. Swapceinski says he gets "threatened with legal action by angry professors on pretty much a daily basis."

The site receives about 400,000 visitors per month.

Comments are regulated; the Web site says that every rating is reviewed before it is posted. The owners do reserve the right to delete comments or entire ratings. Swapceinski has received serious legal action from displeased professors, but says that none of the reviews will be removed from the Web site.

— Stacy Austin