All work handed in for grading must be your own work. If you discuss the homework
assignment with a friend, we urge you to use your own words and imagination in writing
your answers. Homework sets that are nearly identical will result in grades of zeros for all
involved. If you are puzzled by a question, do not copy out a friend's answer, but come to
the help sessions and to our offices, and discuss the problem. Don't be shy! We are here to
help!
Copying during exams is a heinous crime for which the punishment will be a zero for that
exam at minimum to an F for the course at maximum. We shall not hesitate to report such
cases to the Dean of Students.
The University's deadlines and rules regarding "dropping" the course will be strictly
enforced.
To encourage your understanding of the course material, we de-emphasize standard office
hours in favor of regularly scheduled help sessions. Office hours are by appointment for special
needs, but to work on homeworks, tests, etc. we will conduct two help/review sessions each
week (attendance is not mandatory). I hope to schedule one of these on Wednesday evenings
at 7 PM, and the other one at a late afternoon time of mutual convenience.
We will announce in the previous class period the "themes" of each extra session (questions
and problems to be addressed, test reviews to be conducted), but of course we will welcome
any discussion of topics that are of concern to you. I plan on personally conducting at least
one of the weekly sessions. These sessions have proven in the past to be extremely helpful
to students! If your schedule does not permit attending any of them, please think about
switching to another section of Astronomy 301. I won't want to set up special help sessions
for one or two people when all others in the class find time to get to the regularly scheduled
ones. Second, come to the help sessions prepared to participate! I refuse to use those times
to lecture at you (that would be unhelpful to all of us).
MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS
Astronomy is an observational science. In order to gather observations for our research, we
must visit the University's McDonald Observatory in West Texas and other astronomical
institutions around the world. Infrequently, I also attend meetings of editors of astronomy
journals. However, this travel should not occur at the expense of your education. On
the occasions when I must be absent from class, another faculty member will conduct the
lectures. All class periods will be held! I will attempt to maneuver one of two of the exam
dates to coincide with travel dates, in order to minimize the use of substitute lecturers this
semester.
We want you to do well in this course! To that end, a couple of points should be emphasized.
First, we encourage you to ask questions in class. This is of course not always easy
in a large class (and I often partially darken the lecture hall to project astronomical images,
etc. If I don't see your hand raised, feel free to speak up! Second, remember that the only
stupid question is the unasked one.
Your progress through this class will be greatly enhanced through interactions with us.
Take advantage of the regular review sessions. My home telephone number is listed on the
first syllabus page. Use it at any reasonable hour of the day or evening (<11 PM or so).
See also my electronic mail address. However, I GREATLY prefer phone calls to emails,
because I receive on average about 50 emails/day on various (legitimate!) matters, and
email exhaustion simply sets in on some days. I would far rather talk to you in person or
over the phone than go back and forth with emails.
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