Morris, Andrew  

One aspect about the way in which this class was taught was the high rate of student involvement. He strongly encourages students to voice their opinions in the class. He would take time out of lectures just to hear how students would respond to his questions. This is good, because it keeps the interest level up. However, the class had a high school feel to it, because what Jon Q. Public has to say about the reading. Furthermore, It doesnt really influence what is on the test. On the other hand, I felt as if I learned a lot from him in this class. Unfortunately, that is due to the high level of reading required in this class. He required about 100 pages to be read in between each class period. Occasionally, he assigned only 40 pages over the weekend, and another an entire 350 page book. So, if you do not enjoy reading stay away, but overall the class was pretty good.

His lectures were long and the books we had to read were too much for a four unit class. It was a lot of work. Interesting but it is History come on now. It's a GE course, it should not be that much work. He is a great lecturer, is approachable and with in a few weks knew the whole class by name. An excellent teacher but a sucky course.

I have always hated history but Prof. Morris made me enjoy it a little. I am not going to lie and say that I love history now.....I still hate it, but I didn't mind sitting through his lectures. He let everyone express their own opinions and he never put down anyone for what they said. He graded very fairly and I would have gotten an A if I had studied for the final. I got an A on the midterm and was very please because I have never gotten an A on a history test. He is very straight forward. Take him for history, especially if you hate the subject. The only thing I had against the class was that it was more reading than needed for a 4 unit class.

Professor Morris is an outstanding professor who really loves the subject he teaches. I had him for an experimental course and he did an awesome job with new material. He enjoys getting to know you as his office is always open even if you just want to talk. I would recommend Professor Morris to anyone who is interested in Asian history.

I was horrified to read the foul mouthed reviews on Morris. In his class I did not detect an overly political agenda. His workload is reasonable, he grades fairly, and he demonstrates an amazing knowledge of Asian history. As for his personality, he is kind, helpful, with a good sense of humor and not at all a pu#sy(???)! Shame on whoever wrote that. I would highly reccomend Morris as a professor

I'm glad I took this class from Morris. We had tons of time to do everything and I think he graded things fairly. He knows what he's talking about, it was an interesting class. Bonus: he's really cute

A teacher is not supposed to relay his opinions in class? Insane. If you are truly passionate about a subject, as is Dr. Morris, you will expose your opinions on a subject. The topic of our course was "Asian America." I highly recommend any history majors or minors to take this section from Morris. I learned a great deal on Asian, and more specifically Chinese, contributions to America. Honestly, I had no idea that Chinese immigrants were the dominant labor force in the United States a hundred years ago, where now we see Mexican immigrants filling that gap. Through researching and writing about my topic, I became an expert on it. I doubt many people, save a few historians, know as much as I know about my research paper topic. One suggestion: do NOT procrastinate. I started my paper late and almost paid for it. The last two weeks of the class I was staying up until 4-5am and calling in sick for work just to finish the research paper. Anyways, back to Morris, he's a great teacher and a passionate man. And he kind of looks like Ben Stiller a little bit ...

Take 303 with Dr. Morris! He is someone who can really relate to students and pushes us to our full potential. HIST 303 is reading-heavy (but so are all HIST classes), but the discussions that were held in class were riveting and interesting. Also, go to his office hours! He is extremely helpful in his office hours and is willing to go above and beyond to help you in anything.

He was an excellent professor. This class was pretty easy. There was only 1 midterm, 4 page essay and a final. They were pretty easy. The lectures were also interesting and he has an outline he follows so it is really easy to write down notes. I thought the class was very interesting and he made a boring class fun and easy. I highly recommend him!

I came into this class with an interest in japan and left with an interest in all of east asia. He really is a nice guy and funny in a passive sort of way. He started college at harvey mudd with a major in phisics and ended up with a degree in asian studies (just for your information). When he teaches, you can see that he has a passion for what he's talking about and really wants you to understand him. Grading was as follows: 2 midterms x 60 pts, 1 paper x 50pts, 2 quizzes x 5 pts, one final x 70pts. I got an F on a quiz, C- on the paper, and B's on everything else and somehow wound up with a B in the class. I hope he gets the tenure he deserves. This class really was a lot of fun (when I woke up on time).

Although I was disappointed in my grade, Prof. Morris is definitely an excellent teacher and knows basically everything about China and a lot about Asia in general. At times, though, a little too defensive about the Asian culture, but not a bad thing in a teacher. His lectures are interesting, the reading wasn't too bad and the paper you have to do wasn't difficult to write. Our first midterm was short answer, and then he switched the format to multiple choice w/an essay option for the final--which no one really liked because it threw us all off. However, overall an excellent teacher and very approchable if you do have problems. I would recommend the Chinese course to anyone--you will learn a lot!

I love Dr. Morris. I would rate him in my top three Professors I've taken thus far. I thought his East Asian Culture and Civilization class was one of the most important I have taken at Cal Poly, and it fulfills the D4 GE requirement. Take this class; it will broaden your world a little bit. The work load is incredibly reasonable. Lectures are given outline format, and the outline is available on Morris's above-average website. Midterm and final were very fair and given directly off lecture and reading. The class even kept me interested and awake at 8 o'clock in the morning. A+ for Morris... I even plan on taking him again in the future.

Morris is incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subject. I rate him as one of my best professors here at Poly. He took a subject I knew nothing about and made me excited to learn about it. It's cool stuff mostly, the samuri lecture was awesome. Overall, I recommend professor Morris, take him!

Morris is awesome. It's great to find a professor who is so enthusiastic about his subject. Office hours are helpful too. Take him, he's really good.

This class on East Asian history was interesting. He presents the material well, and he is very knowledgeable of the stuff. He also tries to present interesting facts. Good guy, fair grader, and good class. Highly recommended!

Professor Morris is just a great teacher. He presents the material in a clear manner, tests are fair, and the reading load is definitely easy for an upperdivision course. He's very knowledgable about Asian History, making the class very interesting and worthwhile. He can go on and on sometimes, but honestly, which professor doesn't? He's a nice guy, always open to office hours...and just really awesome! good teacher, if you're open to learning a lot about another culture

Morris is a laid back guy. This was one of those courses that you want to take in the summer because the workload is much less than a regular session. He gave out free quiz points just for showing up to class, let us out early, and pretty much cancelled the last day of class. Oh yeah, his teaching... he presents material clearly with outlines you can print out. One midterm, a final, 2 quizes and a deductive paper on a Chinese writing source. All were fairly easy. A typical exam is 40% multiple choice (kinda tricky), 56% identify and signifcance questions, and 4% for writing your name in Chinese. The reading load is extremely light. Take him... he's cool.

Overall, I found the class interesting and it increased my interest in East Asian history. My only problem with Morris is his slightly skewed interpretation of the facts. While I thoroughly agree that East Asian history has traditionally been overlooked in America, his lectures continually failed to place it in its proper global context. The readings, though, were worthwhile and the short paper was a good way to independently analyze the facts. If you can take his perspective with a grain of salt, Morris is a passionate professor who cares about what he teaches.

Morris is a good professor. Some of these people demand perfection. Generally, most professors at Cal Poly (except for the business ones) are passionate about what they teach. I don't know how many professors I've had that said, "This is the most important GE you'll ever take because..." Morris didn't say that, but some people here knock him for being a little passionate about his area of study. I definitely concur that some of his opinions should be taken with a grain of salt, but he will readily admit the truth when questioned, i.e. about Chinese racism, etc. I recommend this class because, even though his opinion may be slightly skewed, you SHOULD know the things taught in this class. As you will learn, much has been overlooked in our history classes and curriculums. Just because he lets some of his opinions show through doesn't make him a bad professor, nor does it change the significance or validity of the information presented. Take him. He's good. I highly recommend this class.

Professor Morris is a great teacher! Hes very into his subject. For someone who doesn't care much about east asian cultures he made it really interesting. He gives the oppertunity to do these weekly essays instead of parts of the midterm and final. They aren't that big of a deal to do for the midterm, because the midterm isn't all that hard. But DO THEM FOR THE FINAL! The final is the only hard part of this class. Also he warns you about the reading quizes... make sure you read, or you'll regret it!

Asian history? Never heard of it? You need to take this course. It is an excellent introduction to the Far East. Morris keeps you entertained and the subject mater is great. Some notes. This is a very short course to cover all of Asian history. To counter balance that Morris assigns a lot of daily readings. You can usually skip them without too much trouble, but you should try to read at least the main textbook readings. As some of the other posters mention Morris also is left-leaning and a cheerleader for Asian stuff. The lecture material has a left-leaning slant but it is easy see and didn

Dr. Morris is by far one of the best professors here at Cal Poly. He made the class incredibly interesting and provided clear outlines for all of his lectures as well as study guides. He is passionate, enthusiastic and incredibly knowledgeable about the subject matter. I really could have kicked my self for not having this course before Western Civ., in my book this should be a pre requisite to Western Civilization so you can put history in perspective. Dr. Morris is very flexible as he gives you the opportunity to write a weekly essay to replace midterm and final questions which was just what I needed and made finals weeks much more manageable. Every student at Cal Poly should take at least one class with him, it will give you a new historical perspective that has been omitted in education.

Professor Morris is an excellent teacher. Not only does he know his stuff well, but he makes every class interesting. He's very passionate about his job and it shows in the class room. The class is very interesting and easy if you do the reading. He warns you ahead of time before giving quizes, and the midterm and final are most essay format. He doesnt look for numbers and dates so much as understanding of the significance of events and factors leading up to them. The primary source paper is the only big project of the quarter. I highly recommend going to his office hours for this one. It's easy to do well in this class as long as you do the reading and dont procrastinate too much. He grades fairly and is very helpful in office hours. I received a B in the class only because I didnt seek help for the final paper. I HIGHLY recommend this class.

Biggest doosh bag i have ever met. I am not joking, he is a Doooooosh bag!!!!!

I felt that Professor Morris was an excellent lecturer, teacher, and friend. He was very understanding and flexible with the students in his class. I really did enjoy his lectures and it was a 2 1/2 hour class! He does a great job of relating to students and making this course interesting and pertinent. History is not my subject, as I am sure this is the case for many; so if you fit this mold- take Professor Morris!! It has been the best GE I have taken thus far!!

I took Prof. Morris' Hist 310 course over summer. I had an enjoyable overall experience - Morris has well organized lectures and explains the materials thoroughly, but at a pace that makes it easy to take good study notes (sometimes teachers move too fast, he is not one of them). He assigns a decent amount of reading and holds discussions on the assigned pages at the beginning of every class meeting. He likes student participation in the discussions, and will call on you for input if he notices you're quiet. As a student usually terrified of speaking out in class, I was not happy about being required to participate, but by the end of the quarter, I really enjoyed sharing my thoughts! Morris creates a non-confrontational atmosphere that makes anyone feel comfortable speaking up. As for the "he makes Michael Moore look like a right-wing Republican", I found this to be categorically untrue - in class we covered some potentially explosive subjects on religion and politics, but we never saw a political agenda pushed upon us.

I learned that if I were to take up hunting, I should shoot deer, not bears, because a bear will hunt me back if I successfully wound it. Fascinating! I didnt know that the key to production and operations management was so brutally simple!

This is the most awesome professor that I have had at Cal Poly! I wasn't too excited about taking general ed history, but Professor Morris made this class so interesting, even at 8:00am. I think that one of the problems with most history/political science professors is that they are very liberal about certain things. Professor Morris is not too liberal and he encourages the class to say what is on their mind. The tests are not too difficult, as long as you go to the lectures and the paper that he assigns is graded very fairly. I would recommend this professor to anyone!

He knows what he is talking about when he discusses Asian issues. He is the epitomize of a bleeding heart liberal which does get in the way of his teaching sometimes. For no reason what so ever he will put an overhead up on the board that talks about how evil SUVs are or how Nike Corp. is the devil and should be eliminated. He even acknowledges the fact that these little diversions have nothing to do with the class, but he is just "using the forum". No offense, but his "forum" could be used in a better way. When he actually discusses history in a non-biased manner he is a great teacher. I'm not sure why so many people were complaining about the amount of reading in the class. I thought the reading aspect of the class was pretty good. I went into the class expecting the standard 400 page $80 history text book, but that was not the case. He has a bunch of photocopied stuff at 2nd Edition you are supposed to buy, but he also has 3 copies on reserve in the library. He even said that if it was him he would take advantage of the fact that the library has photo copiers, hint, hint. Since that "book" did cost a very unreasonable $30 for about 75 pages of bad photo copies. He spaces that reading out fairly well, only about 10 pages every other day. The other reading were two novels. The first was about Korea and was very easy to read and very entertaining. The other was a book about Honduras and was a little less interesting but easy to read and only about 150 pages. If you actually do the reading on time it averages out to be less than 10 pages a night which is nothing compared to other classes I have taken. Other bad thing about the class was the enrollment. The class I took was in a room that easily held 100 students. 45 spots were open to capture and about 15 people were trying to add the class. Usually most of the classes I have had the prof. adds all the people who he has room for unless it is a class such as speech were you have a timing issue. Morris on the other hand had plenty of seats but only added 2 people because he said, "I don't want to have to grade 60 essays." Ok, that is a point but as a prof you only have to grade a midterm, final and essay. Get off your ass and do a little more work to earn that pay check. Grade the other 13 essays.

This is one of the worst proffesors I have ever had, he came close to killing my love of History. I took his class on Modern World History, and we spent six weeks talking about the opium wars, a minor event. We spent a one day on WWII!!! Come on, I think he is just pissed off to be white. All he talks about is Asia and can never admit that there are any downsides to thier culture. He hates the military and anything even with the hint of being conservative, he is the embodiment of bleeding heart liberal. If you are taking him for an Asian class, than maybe, but he will frequently and lengthily digress on to how big corporations are bad. I WOULD NEVER TAKE HIM FOR MODERN WORLD HISTORY, you will spend the entire quarter on Asia, it disgusts me that my department cannot find a legitemate professor for this subject.

My god....this guy is a little pussy!!...I took this class thinking it was going to be about Modern World History...and it wasn't...all he talked about was china and before and before the US was "discovered" that the Chinese had boats that were 4 times the size and so much better...and how they invented everything...He is a left wing liberal that hates NIKE and SUV's...he is way to submissive...he looks like he is scared when he lectures..If he is reading this...America is the BEST country....if you don't like it MOVE TO CHINA...I don't care what you think...We will always be the best....and we have been since this country was created you CHI COMM (Chinese Communist)....OH...one cool thing in the class was the video on the WTO protests...it was cool because you couldsee the cops beating some hippie ass and spraying people with pepper spray...it was pretty cool...too bad it was made to make the cops look bad...

I hated this guy. He was noit a good teacher. I really think he should move to China so he can live a happy life. The class was easy but I felt that he was just being lazy..He didn't feel like giving papers..which is cool i guess...anyway...eventhough this was a Modern World History...it was more like Asian History...that is all he talks about...will Morris good buddy..you can have it...send me a post card!!!asshole

this was suppose to be a general education course. Dr. MOrris we are not history majors, next time you teach this course treat it as a generel ed, not a history class majors take, there is a difference. On a personal note he is a nice guy though.

I really liked Dr. Morris and enjoyed the subject matter but he seemed to think that everyone in the class was a history major. I am not a history major and had some trouble. There is a whole lot of reading, I just gave up after a while and the exam (there was only one) was difficult. I got an "A" but I worked my butt off for it. I would suggest this class for people who are history majors or people who are taking an easy load and will have the time to devote to the class.

I want to be the ass of whoever bad-mouthed andrew morris. He's a very dedicated, passionate historian with a ton of knowledge to share about a world most of us have never had a chance to peak into. I have never learned so much in my life than in Modern East Asia, and I was devestated that he took time off for sabatacle. I would recommend him to anyone, but go into his class with a grain of salt, and an open mind. If you are a close minded, ignorant republican who always believes everything your daddy told you or likes George Bush because he sends you precious little christmas cards, watch out. Morris will turn you on your head. Keep in mind that he is coming from the perspective of someone who knows and loves asia dearly; he's lived it, so his opinion will be naturally a little skewed. Don't let it get in the way of you learning. Easy A if you care, and he will care a lot about how you are doing. I had to miss a lot of school for family reasons and he was always sending emails to check up on me and giving me extensions on papers and things. Truly a wonderful person, and a great professor.

4-5(11 Question) Quizzes, 2(6-8pg Essays), 2(2pg Film Analysis). Minimum 50 pages of reading a day, 2 (250pg books), 1 crappy textbook. FINAL consists of 4 (2paragraph Identification and Signifance questions) and 7 Short-answer questions - 26% of grade 60pts. This class is a terrible GE, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Morris is a good professor, but this is the most boring class I have ever taken. I'm asian and I dreaded every day of learning about Modern East Asia. Take something else for your GE.

Okay, yes the book is boring, but you really didn't have to read everything in it. Dr. Morris's lectures are very interesting, and the class isn't very difficult in the least. All you have to do is write 2 papers, take online quizzes (you get 2 tries, so you should do a good job...), and talk every once in awhile during class. If you put in effort you should get a decent grade, and even if you don't (you just show up and do a half-ass job on your paper), I doubt you will do horribly.

Dr. Morris\'s Modern East Asia class was amazing! I\'m currently studying Mandarin here at Poly (I just took my 3rd quarter of Chinese, MLL 103) and will be going on a study abroad to China in the fall, and decided to take 316 as a good introduction course to the history of Asia so I can be better prepared for what I see in my travels. This was my first legitimate history class here at Poly, and I loved it! Dr. Morris is very enthusiastic about the subject matter and is excited to share it with his students. I must say that at times he has an odd sense of humor, but once you get it he can be amusing (I\'m thinking about his visual portrayals of guys getting cut up with swords an knives - he even supplies his own sound effects!) I had his class in the morning, so it was a pleasant experience to start my day. He always had interesting pictures, sometimes videos to show us. The evening movies were interesting as well. An important part of the class to me was how it destroyed the myths and stereotypes Americans generally have regarding Asia. Most people don\'t realize how intricate and complex the history of this great part of the world is, and knowing the truth is rewarding. I didn\'t find the class to be too difficult. There was one major midterm, a major paper, and then a few smaller activities we had to complete on the side. The final was very similar to the midterm, in that you must write a few paragraphs about certain topics. One small issue I had was that I had trouble finishing the 2 books that we\'re assigned outside of class. The major essay (about 6, 7 pages long) that we\'re required to write was comparing and contrasting these too books, and because I wasn\'t quite done with either of them, the essay became difficult to write. If he assigns a couple books to read outside of class, start reading them as soon as the quarter begins so you have more time later in the quarter when everything becomes busier.

I know a lot of people must be thinking that it's a bit strange for a non-Asian professor to be teaching a history class about East Asia. However, Morris is a very knowledgable and witty professor that shows his passion for this subject every class. I will admit that lecture can be a bit boring at times when he's just talking through slides, but if you have your laptop out then you'll be fine. The readings, clips, and movies we have to complete for the class is a bit much at times but they're interesting and if you manage your time wisely, you'll be fine! I think it's more important to just take notes on the textbook readings and maybe what he says in class but based off a lot of the assignments, it is not always reflective of the course material. His writing assignments are fun and flexible and he's a very open-minded person! I would definitely say to take this class if you're interested in modern East Asian history (within the past century) and would like to learn a little more on the different topics.

Dr. Morris is the one the best professors i've had at Poly so far. He presents the course material in a very organized and clear manner. He is also very funny and cracks jokes during lecture which helps break up the class. I would reccommend him to anyone.

Morris was an excellent professor. Okay, now there are those out there who still view the world from inside their box cannot grasp different viewpoints because only know what has been fed to them in this country. So they get offended and write comments reflecting their high level of ignorance like the ones below. Morris provides a great perspective because his experience in China for one can give two accurate viewpoints in his lectures. He is very intelligent and his lectures are very smooth and easy to follow.

A promising class, but came up flat. Dr. Morris is a great guy outside of class, and very knowledgable, but not a very good professor.

I had Morris for modern Chinese history and found the class to be very fun and informative. The grading revolved around class participation, one map quiz, two papers, and a final. The map quiz is a peace of cake and so was the final. The two papers are time consuming, but Morris is more than willing to help if you have any difficulties (I wnet to his office hours for clarification about certain points and he was very willing to discuss these issues with me). Although there is a quite a bit of reading, (and I did actually read most of it) there were no actual quizes or tests over this reading (nor were there any tests over his notes). Because of this, I simply read for enjoyment and participated in discussion which made the class seem like a lot of fun. Maybe its because I'm an engineering major and not a history major, but this class was a fun distraction from the everyday math and science routine and I also learned a lot. One final thought for you history majors, if the teacher says the final will be over a book one should do two things: first read the book, and then second realize its okay too stop frantically taking notes over every overhead slide that Morris puts up because he said he wouldnt test over it. I dont know how many people frantically took notes word for word without paying attention to what Morris had to say. My strategy was to read what Morris assigned, answer a few questions in class, and enjoy his lecture. If you take a fun attitude and a willingness to work then Morris's class is an easy A.

I have taken several classes with Dr. Morris. The first class was to fulfill a GE requirement. What I discovered was the captivating world of Asian history. Dr. Morris opened a completely new world to me. The readings were fascinating but it was the lectures that were the most interesting aspect of the classes. When I took the history of modern China, I found the same to be true. His lectures were informative and fascinating. The best day was when Dr. Morris choked up when talking about the Tiananmen Square

Morris is one of my favorite professors at Cal Poly. My class was only once a week on Fridays, which was apparently a sort of scheduling glitch, but Morris made the most of it. We had to read one book a week and turn in notes online, which was pretty intense. This was also very effective- class was a seminar with a mix of small and large group discussion. Morris was incredibly knowledgeable about the subject matter and put the books in both historical and historiographical perspective. We had four essays, all take-home: a midterm, critical book review (longest), and two finals. There was a basic map quiz and one random reading check sort of quiz. Not having tests made the class feel a little easy, but if you actually did (most) of the reading, you learned a great deal. I look forward to taking this professor again.

Morris is a little to passive for me and always waits to the end to throw in a lot of information. This class was cool because it was a Chinese Film and History course. You watch ten movies, write five write ups, two comparison, and a response paper. But, there is a final that consists of two questions. Overall Morris is a good guy and approachable.

Morris is a great guy in many ways. His main strengths as a professor are that he is helpful, is able to engage his class in interesting discussions, is very knowledgeable and passionate about Chinese history, makes it fun to learn about China, and has a good and warm personality. Morris does have his weaknesses. He shoves in way too much work for a quarter; the amount of work would be more appropriate for the semester system or over a period of two quarters. His course plans are overly elaborate and one can get a headache just by reading his course syllabuses. Maybe there is some new age way of teaching that Morris has gotten interested in, but who knows. He is very much interested in the new technologies available for professors. Another thing about Morris is that he epitomizes the ultra-radical liberal. Maybe it would be more accurate to call him ultra-ultra-ultra, radical-radical-radical liberal. Morris is at a level of liberalism that is so high it's explosive. Morris is so liberal, he makes documentary filmmaker Michael Moore look like a conservative Republican. Infact, he makes everyone seem like a conservative Republican. Almost all my professors during my college career have been liberal, and I am a liberal myself. But I must say that Morris is completely over-the-top about his liberalism. How that affects his teaching ought to be debated.

418 is a legitimate history course. You will not be sitting around watching Bruce Lee movies and eating popcorn. The class is writing-heavy (7 papers and two online critiques, plus a massive final exam)and there are two books filled with articles on Chinese films, directors, the industry, and how it all relates to current issues in China. VERY interesting; VERY abstract. We watched nine contemporary films, all of which were interesting and challenging to view, discuss, and write about. The class was difficult, but a joy. Participation and good writing/analysis skills are critical for success. Take it if you love film or china.

This class was not difficult material but was simply a lot of work. You watched a movie every week, which was pretty cool, and then discussed it. I would say one downfall was the readings he required. Although they weren\'t difficult, you were required to connect them in some way with the movie from that week in your write up. Sometimes the reading really applied, but sometimes it was a total stretch. The final and midterm and all the write ups in general were not difficult if you watched the movie and attended the discussion. You get to choose something like 2 movies to omit from your write ups--but don\'t choose the first two just in case you don\'t like one or two of the last!! Overall, I found attending the classes to be interesting, readings not so much. As for Morris himself, he\'s a really nice, smart guy. Other posts have claimed he\'s excessively liberal and obsessed with Asia--I think that\'s more likely to be students upset with their grade overexaggerating his tendencies. Of course, he\'s passionate--why shouldn\'t he be?

A very interesting class; not difficult to do the any of assignments if you attend/read, and actually enjoyable if you take part in the discussions and desire to learn something new (don\'t let the grad students scare you off!) As for Morris, he is intelligent, passionate, humorous, helpful, committed, and sexy to boot--I would highly recommend this class if you can manage your time and don\'t consider learning about other cultures to be a waste.

Very disorganized!! Random Grading and played favorites