SyllabusGNM 2420 The Geology of National Parks (6 credits).Summer Session A, 2008 

The National Parks Seminar (GNM 2421) is the only prerequisite for this course.  It may be waived in some cases.  You must have Permission of Instructor to take this course (2420).

During our time out west we will be in and will study the spectacular geology of selected National Parks. 

We will travel in vans, camping in the National Parks.  Thus, you will need a sleeping bag and a tent.  I must approve the sleeping bags.  Sharing tents is highly advisable for warmth and space considerations.  We will share cooking stoves, pots, utensils and food coolers.  You will need hiking boots and clothes for both very hot weather, potentially cold weather and perhaps, wet weather.  We will provide our recommendations for what to bring before the end of the Spring semester.  See my weblog. 

The cost to students will be 6-credit hours of tuition + food + ~ $500 which will cover all camping and entrance fees.  The “$500” will depend upon how many people are signed up for the class.  We do not know about the cost of gas yet.  The upfront fee is an estimate, and any that we do not use will be refunded to you (though I can say that the refund is not timely).

We must have a $200 deposit by April 12^th.  This will confirm your intention of going on the trip.  If we do not receive this fee by that time, then we will give away your “seat” in the class and you will not be able to go on the trip.  This $200 deposit will only be returned under the direst of conditions, which will be decided by the Dean at the recommendation of faculty.  So, consider that $200 non-refundable. 

We will depart from the Arts and Sciences building in two 15-passenger vans and one carry-all.  We will rotate drivers and passengers, so that no one sits in the navigator’s seat the whole time and so that no one is relegated to the back seat in a cramped position for too long.  Safety while driving is EMPHASIZED!

Once we begin the trip we will be in the field or traveling every day.  You will be ready to go at 8 am each day, and will work until evening.  If, on a regular basis, you are not ready in the am when the group is, you will be warned early on and if your behavior does not improve you will be sent home at your own expense.  Much of our work will be in rather remote areas, thus there will be no towns or cities nearby.  Some days we will be mapping and examining outcrops to determine geologic processes, many days hiking, some days looking at road cuts or overlooks, and some days we will be driving for many, many hours.  You will occasionally get days or half days off, but you may not be near cities during this time, and these days off are subject to change.  We will work in times for you to do laundry, etc.  We will schedule a night at a motel every 7 days or so.  Unless you want to pay the cost of a room by yourself, you will share rooms (3-4 people per room).

We will expect you to abide by the laws of whatever state we are in.  We need to be particularly careful when we are near the borders of Canada and Mexico, as we will be in remote border country and may very possibly be searched.  Thus I will ask each of you to sign a form that states that you are not bringing drugs or firearms.  PLEASE NOTE:  WE WILL HAVE TO PASS THROUGH SEVERAL BORDER CHECKS IN TEXAS, NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA.  THEY HAVE DRUG-SNIFFING DOGS, AND EMPLOYEES WITH SOMEWHAT OF A SIXTH-SENSE ABOUT ILLEGAL ITEMS.   

IF YOU HAVE DRUGS ON YOU, YOU WILL ENDANGER THE ENTIRE GROUP AND THE FUTURE OF THESE TYPES OF CLASSES OFFERED AT RSCNJ!  YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF THESE BORDER SEARCHES.  THEY ARE SCARY FOR ME, AND I HAVE NEVER ONCE HAD CONTRABAND WHEN SEARCHED OR QUESTIONED.  IF YOU HAVE SEEDS ON YOU, AND OUR VEHICLES ARE SEARCHED, THE DOGS WILL BE ABLE TO SMELL THEM. 

SafetyWe will be outside almost everyday for four weeks in high altitudes where the sun’s UV rays are much more severe than at the elevation of the coast.   One must be ever mindful that the field is not as safe as the classroom. We will be at much higher elevations, and UV rays from the sun will be much more damaging.  You will burn more easily.  The humidity will be drastically lower than you are used to; so much so that your mucus membranes in your nose will dry up and may bleed.  Keeping hydrated will be a number one priority.  See the booklet on safety that will be distributed during the last few weeks before we leave on the trip. 

Grades

Most assignments will entail describing rocks on the outcrop or rocks in hand specimen, drawing/sketching rocks, and evaluations of geologic processes.  We may have additional quizzes or other assignments due as we see fit. 

Honor system:In this class, you are not to use any materials, notes, or tests from any previous geology class. Nor are you to provide any materials, notes, or tests for future students to see or use. If you are given an area to map, you are not to look at any previously published map of the area until the assignment is finished.  You will often be working in small teams, but most assignments will be turned in individually. In particular, you are not to look at other teams’ maps once you are finished with being in the field.  We will make it clear when what work is to be done individually, besides the obvious test times.  Make certain you know the difference between working together and plagiarism and cheating.  Ask questions for each assignment if you are unclear on this. 

General Info on the trip

Field trips of this sort do not require you to look good, or have many of the amenities that you normally have.  We are basically trying to maximize our time enjoying the general geology.  See the TAs, students who have taken the class before, or me for a list of recommended things for you to bring.  Students invariably bring too much stuff.  I am not real big on buying all the latest outdoor gear, but you must have hiking boots, a raincoat and a hat.  If you do not have these yet it is time for you to buy them.  Do not leave for the trip without these.  Think hard about buying used gear:  there are numerous good websites and there are always gear swaps (e.g. REI and such places hold annual meets).

As for money, we will often times be in places that do not accept credit cards or where there are no automatic tellers.  Thus you should plan on having money for food with you (travelers checks are still a very good idea for many).  I would plan on about $15-20/day for food.  You will want a little extra money for books, posters, trinkets, but we really won’t be near many cities.  I am pretty sure we will be able to hit an ATM once a week when in the remotest parts of the trip.

As for communicating with the outside world, cell phones may or may not work.  We will be in some areas where they will not work, especially out in the field.  I recommend you tell your parents that you will call home.  It may be difficult for your parents to call you on your cell.  Likewise they may have trouble calling you at the motels because most motels will not keep a list of who is in each room.  If your parents need to call you at the motel room they can try, of course, as you have given them the itinerary, right?  Note that the rooms may be just in my name.  They can always call my room (at a decent hour; but if an emergency, then at any time) and I will come and find you.  NOTE:  I detest the use of cell phones for chit chat.  Try your best to relieve your addiction, if you have one.  I truly will not put up with cell phones ringing all the time on a field trip in the wilds.  In the evening, we will enjoy each other’s company and WE WILL NOT call our pals/boyfriends/girlfriends/parents every blasted day! 

Podcasting and homework on the road: An iPod will be used heavily (?) on this trip.  Note the assignments given to you in the schedule, which will help you learn as we drive and will enable us to spend more time on the outcrops and on hikes – and so I won’t have to lecture as much while semis are driving by.

Park contact numbers (they can take a message, but likely won’t be able to deliver it):  Let your parents know that it can be very difficult getting hold of a person at the Parks, especially after hours or on weekends.

Big Bend Ranch State Park:  432-229-3416

Carlsbad Caverns:  505-785-2232

Bauer’s Canyon Ranch RV Park:  888-648-2564

Zion National Park 1-435-772-3256

Grand Canyon:  928-638-7814

Yellowstone – we’re at Bridge Bay Campsite: 1-307-344-7311

Glacier:  406-888-7800

Rocky Mountain National Park:  970-586-1206

My cell phone:  have to purchase one yet…

hello again,

I am astonished that you have to pay fees like the ones I see: if the class is off-campus it doesn’t make sense to me. However, getting Stockton to back off this may be a chore. I will email the registrar/bursar’s office to see if they actually have a precedent for this.

It would be great to have someone stop by and explain this to us….

As for non-stockton students (or those who are coming but not taking the course for credit) it means very little, unless everyone else drops…Gee, I hope not. It’s weird that students last year didn’t seem to flinch at this…maybe they were used to it.

Remember, tomorrow, we’ll have past students show up, and we are going to go ahead and set up tents. Everybody gets to learn.

Hello Everyone:

 I just was given the breakdown on the cost of the class for last year, which includes all of the many fees you normally pay, plus our $500.  I’ll copy that below.  This year, the tuition is $198/credit hour.  On top of this, it seems that the school isn’t going to allow me to let you take the class as an Ind. Study, unless you take it for 6 credit hours.  I know that this will really affect the decision of some of you.  I apologize for the change in my knowledge of the costs.  If I could change it, I would.  Please let me know if this means that you won’t be coming on the trip.  I will need to find others to replace you if you decide not to come.  Please let me know as soon as you can.

 Prof. Linda L. Davis

Fee list follows:

FCAF College Activity Fee

$15.00

FCAH College Act WellnessCenter Fee

$30.00

FCCM Sum College Center Fee

$180.00

FCNM Sum Facilities Fee

$96.00

FDEF Deferred Payment Plan Fee

$45.00

FGNM Sum General Services Fee

$186.00

FLAP Late Payment Fee

$50.00

FRCM Sum Recreation Fee

$30.00

FTHM Sum Technology Fee

$48.00

GEOL Geology of National Parks Trip

$500.00

TIUM Sum Tuition In State Undergrad

$1,113.30

Term Charges:

$2,293.30

Term Credits and Payments:

$3,353.20

The Assistants and class alums will come to the meeting for a Q&A period.  Rob will have obtained some of our tents by then, so we will assemble the tents, check for problems, and attempt to seal the seams.  We may have to take them home with us to do this, because they have to dry….we’ll read the instructions.

 Did anyone find out for certain about the fees?  What I am pretty sure of is that you have the tuition per credit hour, and our own special fees (the $500).  It doesn’t make sense to double charge you the fees, and I am sure I would have heard of this last year.

Just a gentle reminder that the fund raisers benefit everyone, so everyone should be helping. Now, of course we all have conflicting schedules, and some people JUST joined the class, so of course not every one can help each time. I have noticed a couple of people who are not contributing. Let me say here, that to me, this is a sign that you won’t help on the trip. Let me say here that that means I will not give you permission to register for the trip. It’s easy - we all work together for the benefit of all. We have more fund-raising opportunities where you can amend the situation. I can guarantee you that no one will get away with not helping with camp chores - and I am very, very patient with what I describe as practiced incompetence. If you choose to get out of work during the trip, by doing it poorly such that someone else just takes over and does it, you will do it again and again until you complete the tasks competently. We will tolerate no horse hockey manipulation of the group. Trust me on this. Yo Mama Ain’t Coming Along on THIS Trip.

Secondly, I am a tad worried about the tent situation in the sense that I need to make it clear here that we have to share tents, and I know that there are couples in the group….I also know you are adults, more than likely sexually active, and responsible. But, you must also be considerate on this trip. How do I say that an ultimate inconsiderate act would be to have sex in the tents or the hotel rooms while others are in there with you….We will try to be as communicative as possible through out the trip and as considerate….So, there will be places where two of you, that is, any and all couples, may sleep in the same tent without others; however, there will be places where our space is so freaking limited we can only have X number of tents and we’ll buddy up. Our first camp site is remote, to say the least, and if you can find space for your tent, we can have as many as we want up. Likely our second spot also. The big parks, like Grand Canyon and Yellowstone may be very different stories.

I am reserving 7 hotel rooms and I have to set this up so that the rooms are all male and all female. By the end of the trip, we will all get to know each other very, very well, so some, well, there are just certain things I should not commit to print or say out loud. There are certain times when I am going to make a comment to you, ask you to not ask questions about what I said, and we will do our very best to realize that sometimes reading between the lines is a necessity. If that is vague, it should be.

Hi All,

I just sent an email, just in case you aren’t reading this, and doing this blog in case you aren’t doing email. My feeling is that no one is really checking much, yet…so I’ll cross my fingers.

I’m supposed to broadcast our trip to the ENVL seminar, and have been pared down to 10 minutes. I’ve begged to go the first 10 minutes, but the prof won’t email me back….that class was supposed to meet in AS108, but the Prof, Zimmermann just emailed with B016 as the room. God knows where I will be at 3:35 tomorrow, but let’s meet at my office by 3:55 (B106 by sliding glass doors). I’m going to confiscate a nearby room for us to meet in because I have all my stuff to haul around…and I’m not going to K-wing!

Remember our bake sale on Tuesday. I need people to sign up and commit to this for the whole day. I have two labs to teach and I will be out at Nacote….unless I get clever and work on campus…….

Hi All,

Just in case you want to compare the cost of buying versus renting…check out REI’s rentals here
http://www.rei.com/stores/rentals.html#newjersey

Maybe you want to try out a hard core product without paying the price before finding out if you like it or it fits your nature….

Linda

Besides me, your fearless and ultra-experienced professor, we are very fortunate to have the following three people as teaching assistants/outdoor experts/helpers on this trip: Steve Nerney, Keith Reineke, and Rob Rounds (in alphabetical order - no way to use a hierarchy here). They will help with logistics, preparation, general advice, group leading, map interpretation, wilderness first aid, nutrition, decision-making, and advising me. Again, we are really lucky to have them on the trip - it will make our time less stressful and more enjoyable. Please read over the blurbs about hiking rim to rim at the G. Canyon. If anyone knows right now that they are not going to attempt this 27 mile hike in extreme heat with a 20-50 lb back pack, let me know. It will help with planning how we do this hike.

Socks: 7 pairs; different weight; smart wool or something similar, not cotton, you might want liners, but I find that they just roll and give me blisters
Shorts: 4-5 pair, mix of synthetic athletic shorts that you can rinse out and dry overnight, and cotton heavy weight hiking shorts
Pants: I bring one pair of jeans, one pair of wind pants – ripstop nylon, parachute cloth, and a pair of long johns (not cotton)
Tops: 1 synthetic long-sleeved t-shirt, 2 tank tops, 3 sleeveless shirts, a turtle neck?
Fleece: a fleece jacket (actually I bring two – and when it’s really, really cold, I wear both, with an outer wind jacket
Wind jackets: can be a high-tech thin wind parka with or without lining, or just an old-fashioned wind breaker
Hats: sun hat with wide brim to cover ears and nose for hikes, and maybe a ball cap for daily out and about
Caps: wool or synthetic for cold – I always wear a cap to sleep in the cold – even with a mummy bag – I just get cold
Underwear: I bring about 7 days worth – we’ll hit a hotel with laundry facilities about every 6 days…

Equipment needed for the trip:

Basic camping gear:
- Daypack for dragging your “stuff” while traveling and for short, short day hikes
- Water bottles – at least 4 one-liter bottles. These should be wide-mouth, screw-top, and HDPE (Leak-proof)
- sleeping bag – rated to about 20 or 10 degrees F
- **** tent with rain fly- we’ll borrow most of these – and we share- tent with rain-fly; use sealant before we go!–
RSCNJ has 4 we can use We have to think about “car camping” and then the treks
- extra rope/string, doo dads for fixing up tent stakes or tent repair
- pocket knife, a jazillion tools is great, but bulky
- flashlight, and I am a convert – headlamp for camp chores
- meal utensils (plate, knife fork spoon, bowl, cup) mesh bag to keep them in?
- pillow (in car and in tent)
- ground pad, easy simple inexpensive ensolite pad, closed cell foam pad, to ThermoRest pads
- small first aid kit with the usual band-aids, etc., but add things like cold medicine, antihistamines for allergies
or bee stings, burn cream, extra tampons/liners
- duct tape – you can’t believe the ways you can use this
-compass – small to use with maps; A silva map compass will work well
- Ziploc bags to enclose cosmetics, anything liquid, underwear and socks
- I bring about 7 pair of underwear and I definitely keep these in Ziploc bags to keep out dirt and disaster- in case
some thing leaks in my bag or in the vans
- hiking socks – I don’t use pure cotton, I buy smart wool socks (wool and synthetic combo) of different thicknesses,
lightweight, medium and heavy weight socks for different days/ different hikes
- sneakers
- flip flops/water shoes/camp shoes/crocs as attested to by the fabulous Meryl Willett!
- sunscreen – high spf!!! Watch out for carcinogens
- bug spray watch out for carcinogens
- broad brimmed hat (you need to protect the back of your neck, your nose and your ears)
- wool cap or the equivalent (synthetic caps are great because they don’t itch!)
- babuska scarves/do rags
- wind jacket (I combine a rain jacket and wind jacket – use layers, layers, layers)
- fleece jacket (or shirts, I bring 2 so that I can wear both with an outer jacket for warmth)
- rain gear (and you can go ultra cheap here)
- watch (cell phones will not work in many places – so you can’t use as an alarm or clock)
- towel and washcloths or towelettes for cleaning
- long johns (go silk or synthetic – stay away from cotton thermals – will not keep you warm if they get wet
- nose spray – just saline water – your nose will dry out
- sun glasses