By KIM Seong-kon, Professor of English Literature

Both in Korean and American universities, it is not easy for undergraduate students to earn straight A's. Especially in Korean universities, the system sets up an extremely strict rule about grading called"relative evaluation." According to the rule, professors should follow the grading ratio strictly, such as 20 percent A's and 50 percent C's and D's. Although the actual ratio varies from one university to another, the aim is the same: to prevent professors from over-issuing good grades.

This"relative evaluation" system has been criticized partly because it ignores students' individual competence, and partly because it deprives professors of their proper right to evaluate students.

The Office of Academic Affairs has its own reasons. It says that some professors give A's to all students in their classes and as a result, sometimes more than 200 students get away with an A. These professors are highly praised by students as"Angels" or"A-men."

Needless to say, students like the Angels tremendously and the courses they teach instantly become popular. On the contrary, students abhor the"CD players" who give mostly C's and D's.

For graduate students, earning good grades becomes much easier, with an A- representing the average. Some time ago, a Harvard professor became famous by giving A's to all the students in his class. According to his celebrated grading system, there were three kinds of A's:"the Chinese A, awarded automatically to all foreign students; the female A, given to all women, of whom there were very few; and finally the ordinary A for everyone else in the class." They say that in graduate courses, B means almost failure.

In Korean universities, however, there are some notorious professors who give B's to their graduate students. Because they like B's, those professors are appropriately called the"Beekeeper." The pronunciation of B is the same as"rain" in the Korean language and indignant Korean students also call such a professor the"Rain Man" or the"Rainmaker." Meanwhile, those professors who give D's are called the"Destroyer" or the"Devil," and those who seem to enjoy giving F's are called the"F-killer (the brand name of a bestselling insecticide manufactured in Korea)."

With all the terrible nicknames attached, many professors have nightmares of retaliation from former students who received poor grades. Suppose you become sick and lie down on a surgery table one day and find the surgeon who is about to operate is one of your former students to whom you gave a C! Having a glimpse of his grinning face and the shining scalpel in his hand, you shudder in horror. Like judges who are constantly exposed to the retribution of the ex-cons whom they sent to prison, professors, too, have an abiding dread of the return of resentful former students.

Nevertheless, professors have some consolation. As Professor Henry Rosovsky at Harvard pointed out,"Professors have the income of civil servants but the freedom of artists." Indeed, professors value freedom most. For example, professors do not need to keep regular hours from 9 to 5, even though many of them actually work from 8 to 10. In addition, professors have intellectual freedom and academic autonomy and thus can express their opinions and theories freely.

Rosovsky points out that another blessing of being a professor is that he does not have a supervisor who tells him what to do or bosses him around constantly. If you hold an administrative position, you may have a boss who is the university president. Otherwise, you don't have a boss. Even the department chair or dean is not your boss; rather, they are administrators whose responsibilities include facilitating your research and teaching. Although professors tolerate solitude in their offices all day, it is indeed bliss to work without the boss watching over you relentlessly.

Perhaps one of the most attractive fringe benefits for professors is the opportunity for frequent overseas travel. Many professors become frequent flyers while participating in numerous international conferences or conducting research overseas. Overseas travel provides you with invaluable experiences and consequently enables you to become an open-minded, global citizen. In addition, many professors benefit tremendously from their long-lasting friendships with foreign scholars and intellectuals.

But the thing professors truly appreciate is the opportunity for everlasting self-improvement. Professors constantly learn while reading so many books and sometimes they learn from their students as well. The only drawback of being a professor, then, may be the embarrassing nick names attached to professors, concerning grade-giving styles. Surely all of them want to be called the"Angel," and yet many of them are still called the"Beekeeper,""CD player,""Devil" or even"F-killer."