Any Extra credit points earned will be added onto your overall grade at the end of the semester.
Extra Credit Assignment 1 - This assignment should be done after we have covered a significant amount of material in the course, which will help you in doing this. Read the National Energy Policy document from cover to cover and write a fairly detailed, honest assessment. This assignment may be turned in anytime before the final exam.
Extra Credit Assignment 2 - My preference is that this assignment be done during the month of October. This assignment will not be accepted after the election November 4. Go to the websites for Barack Obama / Joe Biden and John McCain / Sarah Palin, candidates for President/Vice President in 2008. Read about their positions on energy and environmental issues. Also, investigate the voting records and speeches of each in relation to these topics. Critique what you find and write a detailed report. For each one, ask whether the candidates have a real plan or is just paying lip service to the issue. In your conclusion, specify which of the candidates you consider would have the best energy and/or environmental policies and why.
Extra Credit Assignment 3 - Attend the Physics Department Colloquium on Tuesday, November 11 at 4 PM in Moulton Hall room 214. The talk is entitled, "Nuclear Waste Management: History, Current Status, and the Future" by Dr. Mark Nutt of the Nuclear Engineering Division of Argonne National Lab. Take detailed notes. Write a two or three paragraph summary about the talk, then write up your own conclusions about whether nuclear power should be used and its use should be expanded in the future. Turn in your report along with your handwritten notes to me in class. If you cannot attend this talk, there is no alternative assignment to this one.
Physics 207 ~ Fall 2008
