Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Hurricanes, and Floods:

The Role of Natural Hazards in Civilizations Past and Present

 

GEOLOGY 335V

3 Credits, Fall 2009

 

Lecture:                T-Th 8:55-10:10                                                    216 Hadley

Office hours:       W 3:00-4:00 or by appt.                                        120 Breland

Professor:             Dr. Jeff Amato (amato@nmsu.edu)                      120 Breland

                              646-3017

                             

Textbooks:  Natural Hazards and Disasters:  Hyndman and Hyndman 2nd ed.

 

Course Description:  This class will provide an introduction to geologic hazards and natural disasters, their effects on society, and the attempts at preparation and mitigation for these events.   Hazards to be covered include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides, hurricanes, tsunamis, and others.

 

Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, students will be able to:

            ¥ Describe the basic framework of the EarthÕs structure

            ¥ Explain the fundamentals of the plate tectonic theory

            ¥ Analyze the causes of natural hazards

            ¥ Synthesize research on specific natural hazards

            ¥ Formulate hypotheses for the causes of natural hazards

¥ Write a clear and convincing analysis paper that applies their knowledge of the causes of natural hazards to a recent occurrence of this hazard

¥ Recognize the risks associated with humans living in areas susceptible to natural hazards

 

Viewing a Wider World Component:  This class will partially fulfill the VWW requirement at NMSU.  All VWW courses are upper-division and include a research and writing component.

 

Course Requirements:  335G is open to all undergraduate students who have completed basic skills requirements.  It is designed to fulfill part of the NMSU Viewing a Wider World requirement. Undergraduate geology students and other students in Arts and Sciences can take this as an elective. See the Catalog for details.

 

Email: Official communication to you regarding the class will be to your NMSU e-mail address.

Please access it regularly, or forward it to your current use address, as your success in the class may ride on your ability to respond quickly.

Grades:  This class will be letter graded, based on the criteria below:

 

¥ Exams (60%):  Exams will be based mainly on the content of the lectures.  Reading assignments supplement the lectures because not everything can be covered in the lectures and many important concepts cannot be learned on the basis of hearing a single lecture.  Some exam questions will be based on the reading assignments.  There will be four exams each worth 15%.  There will be study guides.

 

¥ Paper (20%):  You will write a research paper using library research with primary sources on a specific natural hazard and use this information to evaluate a recent example of this natural hazard. See separate handout on the paper guidelines.

 

¥ Quizzes (20%): There will be quizzes on the readings each Tuesday.  You can use one side of a piece of 8.5 x11" paper notes, but they have to be your own.  There will be occasional in-class exercises that sometimes will be team exercises.

       

 Web page:  http://www.NMSU.Edu/~geology/amato/ GEOL335G

        Check this page for information on the class and current topics.

 

Plagiarism: Absolutely not tolerated.  It is usually extremely obvious if the work you turn in is not your own, whether on an exam or on papers.  Do your own work!  Both parties involved in incidents such as this are equally at fault and will be penalized by either failing the assignment, failing a test, failing the paper requirement, failing the class, or possible expulsion from NMSU.

 

Plagiarism in writing is using another personÕs work without acknowledgment, make it appear to be oneÕs own.  Any ideas, words, pictures, or other intellectual content taken from another course must be acknowledged in a citation that gives credit to the source.  This is irrespective of the origin of the material, including the Internet, other studentsÕ work, unpublished materials or oral sources.  Intentional and unintentional instances of plagiarism are considered instances of academic misconduct.  It is the responsibility of the student submitting the work in question to know, understand, and comply with this policy.

                       

If no citation is given, then borrowing any of the following* would be an example of plagiarism:

                       

+ an idea or opinion, even when put into oneÕs own words (paraphrase)

+ a few well-said words, if these are a unique insight

                        + many words, even if one changes most of them

                        + materials assembled by others, for instance cades or a bibliography

                        + an argument

+ a pattern of ideas

                        + graphs, pictures, or other illustrations

                        + facts

                        + all or part of an existing paper or other resource

           

 *This list is not meant to include all possible examples of plagiarism.

  

Even with a citation, failure to put quotation marks around direct quotations also constitutes plagiarism, because it implies that the writing is your own.  Material should either be paraphrased or clearly designated as a quotation.  Note that replacing words with synonyms, changing verb tense or other minor alterations do not qualify as paraphrasing.

 

http://www.nmsu.edu/%7Evpsa/SCOC/misconduct.html

 

Feel free to call Jerry Nevarez, Director of Institutional Equity, at 575-646-3635 with any questions you may have about NMSUÕs Non-Discrimination Policy and complaints of discrimination, including sexual harassment.

 

Feel free to call Michael Armendariz, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities, at 575-646-6840 with any questions you may have on student issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  All medical information will be treated confidentially.