Natural Disasters

Spring 2004

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

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 should 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. 

Disaster Log:
Students will be required to find information on natural disasters  that occur during the time period of the course. Information to keep and update this log will be found in newspapers, magazines, and on the internet. The log should include all natural disasters that occur during the course with information on the type, details, effects, death/injury toll, and economic impact of each disaster. The typewritten log will be turned in at the end of the semester and compared with a log kept by the instructor.  Further information, including an example of the instructor's disaster log from the last time this course was taught can be found  at http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/disasterloginfo.htm.

Term Paper
A 10 to 15 page term paper will be turned in on the last day of class (April 29, 2004).  The term paper can be on any topic related to Natural Disasters, but the topic must be approved by the instructor before February 3, 2004.  The term paper must show an advanced knowledge and understanding of the chosen topic.  The student may turn in a near final version of the term paper two weeks prior to the final due date for the instructor to review and critique.  The instructor will then return the reviewed paper, along with his comments so that the student has time to make the necessary revisions prior to the due date.  All students are encouraged to take this approach.

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://www.tulane.edu/~lasdean/honor 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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