Natural Disasters

Fall 2011

e-mail - snelson@tulane.edu         Office Phone 862-3194

Web Site:
Further course materials, including a copy of this syllabus, all homework assignments, lecture notes, disaster summary information, announcements from the instructor, and useful internet links can be found on the Internet at:  http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/.  Be sure to check this web page regularly throughout the course for important announcements and updates.

Homework and Exams:
The midterm and final exams will be mostly objective in nature with questions coming from the reading material, lectures, and homework assignments. No make-up exams will be given. The Final Exam will be cumulative. Homework assignments consist of exercises designed to help the student gain practical experience in examining information about the occurrence and effects of natural disasters. All homework answers must be typewritten. Due dates are listed in the schedule below.  All homework is due by the end of the class period on the due date.  Due dates and times are firm.  Late assignments will be subject to a 50% penalty and will not be graded in detail. 

Field Trip
Because part of New Orleans is still a disaster zone, we have an excellent opportunity to observe the effects of a natural disaster first-hand.  In order to help understand the Katrina disaster 5% of your grade will be based on participation on a 4.5 hour field trip to the disaster area. To receive the 5%, all you need to do is participate in the field trip.  To sign up for a field trip please go to the the web page at http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/fieldtrip.htm  Be sure to follow all links on that page.

Disaster Summary:
Students will be required to find information on major natural disasters that occur during the time period of the course. Information for this summary will be found in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet. On the last day of class, each student will turn in a short summary of the 12 worst disasters that occurred during the course. This summary should include information on the type, details, effects, death/injury toll, and economic impact of each of these 12 disasters. Further information on the disaster summary can be found at http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/disastersummary.htm.

Honor Code:
All students are expected to follow the Tulane Honor Code.  If you are unfamiliar with the Honor Code or have any questions about it, get a copy of the Honor Code from your Dean's office or view it at: http://college.tulane.edu/code.htm.  In short, the Honor Code states that all work turned in for credit must be your own work in your own words, unless clear and explicit acknowledgement of the sources of the work is given.  This does not mean that collaboration on assignments is discouraged.  You may collaborate, just make sure that the work you turn in is in your own words, and not just a copy of the work of your collaborators.

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