GRADES will be based on class performance (20%), a midterm exam (35%),
and a comprehensive final exam (45%). CLASS PARTICIPATION IS CRITICAL TO
YOUR PERFORMANCE, and your grade may suffer if you have more than two
absences. BEGINNING AUGUST 25 you must bring computer scan cards and #2
pencils to class to record your answers to quiz questions. The questions
will be asked at intervals throughout the lectures. Some of the quiz
questions will be about material just covered, and the rest about
material covered in previous lectures. You may, within constraints of
time and noise levels, and insofar as it seems to contribute to the
learning process, CONSULT YOUR NOTES AND NEIGHBORS while answering the
quiz questions. However, you must complete your own card and no others,
and each of you may turn in only one card as you leave the classroom.
You may NOT consult notes or neighbors during the MIDTERM or FINAL EXAM.
These will be more traditional formats. BRING your student I.D. to these
exams.
Any student with a PHYSICAL LIMITATION that "prevents fullest expression
of abilities" should meet with the instructor as soon as possible to
arrange to minimize the effects of this limitation. DYSLEXIA is a
legitimate physical limitation.
The Faculty Senate asks that the following statement on ACADEMIC HONESTY
be included in every course syllabus: "Plagarism and cheating are
serious offenses and may be punished by failure on the exam, paper, or
project; failure in the course; and/or expulsion from the university.
For more information, refer to the 'academic dishonesty' policy in Inside
KSU."
THE GOAL OF THIS COURSE is to develop in you an understanding and
appreciation of natural hazards and how they can lead to disaster. To
this end, you will be expected to memorize a number of facts and terms,
most of which you will forget in a few months or years. Do not look on
this as a waste of effort, for these facts and terms are used as a
framework for understanding natural disasters, just as the dates of wars
and names of kings are used as a framework for understanding history.
But do not look on this memorization as a major accomplishment, either.
Your true accomplishment will be to understand the hazards of living on
this earth, and to retain this understanding long after terms such as
p-waves and pyroclastics have faded from your immediate horizon.
Tentative Schedule
DATE PROBABLE TOPIC
Aug 27 Introduction to earthquakes
Aug 29 Understanding earthquakes
Sep 3 Earthquake hazards
Sep 5 Earthquake hazards, cont.
Sep 10 Notable earthquakes
Sep 12 Notable earthquakes, cont.
Sep 17 Notable earthquakes, cont., cont.
Sep 19 Understanding weather
Sep 24 More understanding weather
Sep 26 Blizzards and thunderstorms
Oct 1 Tropical storms
Oct 3 Notable storms
Oct 8 Notable storms, more
Oct 10 ** MIDTERM EXAM **
Oct 15 Flood fundamentals
Oct 17 Flood-prone areas
Oct 22 Notable floods
Oct 24 Notable floods part 2
Oct 29 Drought
Oct 31 Introducing volcanoes
Nov 5 Understanding volcanoes
Nov 7 Volcanic hazards
Nov 12 Notable eruptions I
Nov 14 Notable eruptions II
Nov 19 Notable eruptions III
Nov 21 Basics of landslides
Nov 26 Notable landslides
Dec 3 Other notable landslides
Dec 5 Subsidence
Dec 10 Notable subsidence
Dec 12 Review
Dec 16 (Monday) 9:40-11:30 a.m.
** COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM **
Grading Policies, notices, and Advice
