KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Asst. professor of English Charles Bertsch appears to be the average English teacher during school, but on his days off, he writes for Punk Planet, a magazine focusing on independent books and punk music.

Charlie Bertsch is not your typical English teacher.

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Bertsch teaches classes such as "Contemporary Fiction" and "Twentieth-Century American Novel" by day. By night, however, he writes for a magazine. The New Yorker? University of Arizona's Sonoran Review? Not quite.

Bertsch writes for Punk Planet, an independent magazine focusing on culture, politics and music - especially punk music. A regular contributor to the magazine, Bertsch has profiled artists such as the Melvins, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and Mouse on Mars, as well as author Dennis Cooper, economic authority Doug Henwood, and Colin Robinson, ex-managing director of Verso Press.

Before he officially began writing for Punk Planet in 1998, Bertsch and a group of friends put out "Bad Subjects: Political Education For Everyday Life," an online journal (http://eserver.org/bs) which strives to be accessible to "the outside world," as Bertsch put it. In 1997, he got involved with Punk Planet through fellow writer Joel Schalit and Dan Sinker, the magazine's editor.

Now Bertsch is the 'zine's official co-editor of the book review section.

Bertsch's interest in music began in childhood when his father read opera reviews to his mother while she cooked dinner. Although he knew more about opera than most kids his age, Bertsch admits that he was not always on the cutting edge of youth culture.

"My first 45 rpm was the Village People's 'Y.M.C.A.' And, yes, I'm proud of that," he said. "I went through a Beatles phase in junior high, a Bruce Springsteen phase in high school and a fixation on The Cure and New Order in my first year of college."

During his years at Berkeley, Bertsch was exposed to new music and became fascinated with bands such as Sonic Youth, The Pixies and Throwing Muses. These days, he also enjoys the music of Stereolab, Mouse on Mars, Bob Mould, Sleater-Kinney, Unwound and Wilco.

"It's not a very 'punk' list. But part of what my friends and I who write for Punk Planet have tried to do since getting involved in 1997 is to expand the definition of punk music to include lots of stuff that is 'punk' in spirit instead of fitting the record-store definition," stated Bertsch.

Bertsch has not only found his niche in the music world, he is well-liked by students and colleagues.

"We get lots of compliments on him from students. We had one student who told us that he was the first professor who really took an interest and encouraged her," said Stephanie Pearmain, an administrative secretary in the department of English.

When Bertsch speaks to his colleagues about his "non-academic writing," he said they have generally been supportive.

"Sometimes it's hard to explain why I spend my time doing something that's not 'scholarly' like writing footnote-heavy journal articles. But my research tackles the same topics that I touch upon in my Punk Planet interviews or Bad Subjects essays. I've come to regard it as a hobby, something I do instead of watching television or building cabinets in the garage."