Listed above is information about where and when I can be contacted. I'm frequently on campus and I generally don't mind talking to you outside of my office hours (if I don't have a meeting to attend in the next few minutes). If you come to my office during the last 10 minutes of the office hour, you'll not have my full attention because I'll need to leave soon to set up for my next class.

If you leave me an e-mail message, I will try to return it promptly. Note that my office phone is a 24-hour number—you can always leave a voice mail message for me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Please keep me informed about significant events that affect your attendance in class. I tend to work with students who keep me informed; otherwise, I'm not very forgiving about students missing important class meetings. If you need to talk to someone on the main campus when I am not around, contact the Earth Science Department Office at (760) 744-1150 ext. 2512. Brenda, the department secretary, is on campus weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

I truly believe that each student determines his or her own grade. In reality, I'm not the main factor in the outcome of your grade—you are. I encourage you to work hard to achieve the grade that you want and to utilize me as your instructor to help facilitate your learning. This lab course (like all lab courses) is a lot of work for one unit but I will try my best to make the course interesting and worthwhile. I love teaching and I'm interested in helping you learn about the science of oceanography.

Lab Manual and Other Supplies

Please note that the lab manual can be purchased at either the on-campus bookstore or at Campus Books (just west of the main campus on Mission Road near the railroad tracks). Since this is a lab manual (where pages will be written on and torn out), there are no used copies available. The lab manual must be brought to all class meetings―including field trips―beginning the second week of class.

In the introductory reading for each lab in the lab manual, there is a list of required equipment you'll need to bring to complete the lab. These are the required lab supplies that you will need during the semester:

	Lab manual
	Several #2 pencils with eraser
	Several colored pencils
	Ruler (metric system is best)
	Calculator (nothing fancy, any will do for most purposes)
	Clipboard for field trips
	Pencil sharpener (optional)

These items are available for sale at office supply stores. You may want to split the cost of these lab supplies with your lab partner(s).

Attendance is a requirement for the successful completion of this course. If you miss any classes, your grade will suffer. ABSOLUTELY NO LATE REPORTS OR "MAKE-UPS"!

You will be allowed to attend another lab section (usually during the same week) once per semester if you obtain my approval. Even if you miss a lab, you are responsible for any missed work. Also, it is your responsibility to get any notes or assignments from another student for any missed class.

Arriving late for class will deprive you of time to complete the quiz at the beginning of class.

Only students who are officially registered may participate in this class. If you are given a permission code to add this class, you must officially add the class prior to the next class meeting. If you have difficulty using the college's computerized enrollment system to add, please notify the instructor immediately. The deadline for adding any class or using a permission code to add is the end of the second week of classes. Under no circumstance will students be allowed to add this class after the add deadline.

Any student who misses either of the first two lab meetings will be dropped from the class if other students are wait-listed. After that time, it is the student's responsibility to initiate the procedure of withdrawing from a course by filing the proper form with administration; I will not do this for you. The instructor's signature is not required and you may withdraw through the eighth week of the semester. If you withdraw from the Oceanography 100 Lecture course at any time during the semester, you must also withdraw from this lab course.

To enable you to complete the lab within the 3-hour lab period, you must prepare for the lab before coming to class. This means that you MUST read the introductory reading for the designated lab in the lab manual. If you do not do this, you will not be able to finish the lab within the 3-hour lab period. Preparation before coming to class is essential!

At the beginning of each laboratory session, there will be either a 10-point quiz covering the material from last week's lab or a field trip report due (worth 10 points). Then, the schedule for the following weeks will be clarified and important announcements will be made. A brief introduction to the lab by the instructor will help to explain some of the activities that you will complete in the lab. Also, tips and helpful hints to assist you in completing the lab exercise will be discussed. Then you can begin the lab exercise. You must work with lab partners in groups of two or three (not any larger groups, please).

All exercises must be done neatly and legibly in pencil. Basic algebra knowledge is essential: be sure to show your work when ANY mathematical computation is required. You will find that your lecture notes and lecture book will be invaluable resources to you in the lab. You shouldn't leave the lab with any wrong answers to the questions from the lab exercise. A lab teaching assistant (T.A.) will be in the lab for assistance during about half of the lab classes. The lab T.A. and I are not here to simply give out correct answers; rather, our job is to help you figure out the answers for yourself. There might not always be a single "right" answer to a question—it may be how one views the question and interprets the data that’s important in arriving at an answer. Don't be afraid to do interpretation but remember that you'll need to justify your answer!

All the lab exercises are lengthy but if you have prepared well and have come to work hard in lab, you will be able to finish the lab within the 3-hour lab period (including a short break at some point during lab time). I will mark off points if you are taking too long to complete the lab due to not following directions, goofing off in lab, or because of your lack of preparation.

When your group has completed the lab exercise in class, you must check out with the instructor (or, in some cases, with the lab T.A.) before leaving. You will be assigned 10 points for the work done in lab if it is satisfactory. Points will be deducted for incomplete or unsatisfactory work. Generally, if you have prepared for the exercise, follow directions in the lab, and are honestly working hard to learn the material, you will be able to finish the lab within the 3-hour lab period. If you finish early and your work has been checked off, you are free to leave.

Please turn off your cell phone or other electronic device before you arrive in class; otherwise, if it rings or is used during class time (other than as a calculator), it becomes my property for an undetermined period of time. Also, use of cell phones and other electronic devices are prohibited during all field trips.

I don't mind if you bring in a drink or a light snack to eat during the lab but not a whole meal. You'll have too many other things to do in here besides eat food. Please clean up after yourself or I will revoke this policy. There will not be an official break during the lab but you can take a short break at any time. Also, if you socialize with your lab partners too much during lab time, you won't be able to finish the lab in the 3-hour lab period.

For the field trips, we will meet in the field at a designated time instead of meeting in class. Some flexibility in meeting times is essential so that we can meet during the times of good low tides. All field trips start in the field and end in the field. Consult the lab manual for locations and meeting times. Each field trip will last for approximately 2 hours in the field (except for the Dana Point Boat Trip, which is longer).

The field trips are opportunities to apply some of your knowledge and to observe oceanographic phenomena in action. Come prepared to work (not surf or peoplewatch), take notes (some students bring a camera to document the field trip sites), and to learn (that’s the whole idea!). Although no students have been seriously injured on any field trip in the past, there is always the potential of being injured while in the field. Please act responsibly and obey the instructor at all times. School policy prohibits firearms, illegal drugs, or alcohol on any field trip.

Note that there are these costs involved for the field trips:

	Oceanographic Boat Cruise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$40.00
	The Birch Aquarium at Scripps (class discount price) . . . . . . . . . . 5.00
	Your own transportation (car-pooling recommended, approximately 400 miles round-trip for all field trips)

The fee for the Oceanographic Boat Cruise is payable at the Cashier's Office, room A-2 or at PCEC Admissions. To accommodate your schedule, you may sign up for any of the scheduled boat trip dates on a first-come, first-served basis, starting around the middle of the semester (more information will be available later).

For the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, you will be given a discount coupon that will allow you to pay the discounted price (student ID may be required). Note that the normal student entrance fee is $9.50.

If the weather looks threatening on a day that is scheduled for a field trip, you may want to check with me before going out to the meeting location. Generally, the weather has to be really bad for the field trip to be canceled (like roads washed away due to flooding or a water spout sighted offshore by the National Weather Service). If it is raining, we will probably go on the field trip anyway. On the day of the field trip, I will make a determination at least 2 hours before the lab time and leave a message on my voice mail (see phone number above). If the field trip is canceled, we will meet in class and do an alternate lab instead. Note that slight adjustments to the schedule (next page) may be made as weather, new developments, or other necessity requires.

Course Schedule: Tuesday lab (PCEC)

There is no extra credit offered in this course.

The lowest of your lab scores will be dropped (which may represent an absence) in computing final grades as follows:

Adjustments may be made to the point totals above as necessary. Note that one lab can be dropped without it adversely affecting your grade EXCEPT FOR the Oceanographic Boat Cruise (you must attend this field trip or your grade will automatically be lowered by at least one full grade!).

Participation/lab procedure points will be deducted for any of the following reasons: excessive tardiness, excessive absences, failure to bring the required lab equipment, verbatim copying of lab answers, plagiarism, not showing your work, not following procedures, lab work done in pen, inappropriate behavior or malicious conduct in the lab, or any other reason that the instructor sees fit.

Final grades will be assigned based on these cutoff percentages:

I know that this grading scale seems quite high but the majority of the points (over half) are given just for showing up and doing the lab exercises in class (which is easy!). My experience has been that this is a fair grading scheme and I commonly give out a lot of A's and B's. I don't have a problem giving out a lot of high grades, as long as students are willing to work for them.

Don't hesitate to contact me to discuss any questions you may have about the course.