I'm unsure how academia actually decides to bestow the titles of "professor", "associate professor" and "assistant professor" upon individuals. If I'm understanding correctly, all those terms refer to a teacher of some ranking. But it is quite common that there are so many of them that don't seem to expose much intention of exercising whatever muscle is necessary to teach.

I tend to think, possibly incorrectly, that teaching a smart person is easy (It might require that you're equally smart. Maybe even smarter. Or at least have the attitude to admit that you haven't got a clue. But given that you were able to get the job, I'm hoping that I can assume so much. ) Teaching idiots like me, on the other hand, is hard. I ask same questions over and over again cuz I still haven't gotten it, I ask "stupid" questions, cuz, er... well, I'm stupid. ^^; To teach idiots like myself you need patience, endurance, and ultimately passion for explaining things. I absolutely understand that's a very difficult skill to acquire.

I have to say that I was extremely fortunate enough to have had the pleasure of interacting with not one, not two, not three, but four of them at my alma matar. I admire such teachers so much because they've basically stood up to this challenge and have vowed to take on the responsibility of acquiring these skills. I can't even begin to fathom what it takes to acquire those skills... What's unfortunate is that in many circumstances there simply aren't that many such professors. I don't know if its because of the way universities select professors, if it's the way they train them (directly or indirectly) or because prefessorship is a lost art... (reading that Wikipedia entry leads me to think that maybe it's because we're only allowed to use the latin definition of the word "professor"... hmmm...) But it is just so hard to find professors who show a true passion for teaching. If a student fails, it is so easy to blame the student that they weren't smart enough or that they weren't motivated enough. And you could be right. But if you confront the professors and ask them why couldn't they have tried harder or reached further, they usually just flash the "it does not scale" card. But, perhaps we need to remind ourselves that the existence of students is what defines the existence of teachers. Maybe even think of students as clients while the professors are like consultants who are meant to find a solution for them... Ooh! Ooh! Maybe the problem is that the professors aren't yet paid by the hour... Hmmmm.... I smell a reform! ;)