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Spring 2011 Physics/Global Studies 280 Student Handbook

Course Description

Nature of the Course

Physics/Global Studies 280 is a non-technical course about the development of nuclear weapons and attempts to control them. Topics include the physics and design of nuclear weapons, the effects of nuclear explosions, including the probable consequences of nuclear war, and nuclear weapon delivery systems; current nuclear weapons, weapon programs, and arsenals; the threats these weapons pose, including the threat of nuclear terrorism; approaches to defending against nuclear-armed ballistic missiles; and efforts to control nuclear weapons and reduce the threat they pose.

Origins of the Course

Motivated by their concern about the dangers of nuclear weapons and the threat of nuclear war, a group of Illinois astronomy, nuclear engineering, and physics faculty volunteered to create this course in the Spring of 1982 as a public service. The faculty involved were Larry L. Smarr (Astronomy and Physics), Arthur B. Chilton (Nuclear Engineering), and Gordon A. Baym, Gary E. Gladding, John B. Kogut, Frederick K. Lamb, Christopher J. Pethick, Michael Stone, Jeremiah D. Sullivan, Jon J. Thaler, Albert Wattenberg, and Michael Wortis (Physics). The course was approved as a regular Physics course the next year and has been taught by Physics faculty every year since.

Course Objectives

Physics/Global Studies 280 has two main objectives: (1) to enable you, whatever your background, to gain a basic understanding of the nature of nuclear weapons, the threat they pose to humankind, and possible ways to reduce and eventually eliminate this threat; (2) to enable you to improve your writing skills.

Course Topics

• Introduction: course meetings, staff, and mechanics; history of the early Cold War; development and basic physics of fission and thermonuclear bombs; overview of nuclear weapon effects.
• Nuclear weapons: nuclear physics, design, and operation; production of nuclear-explosive materials; implications for nuclear proliferation and terrorism.
• Nuclear explosions: effects of a single nuclear explosion; probable consequences of a nuclear war; comparison of nuclear, radiological, chemical, and biological weapons.
• Nuclear terrorism: origins and characteristics of terrorism; the threat of nuclear terrorism; approaches to reducing the threat of nuclear terrorism.
• Delivery methods: conventional methods (aircraft, cruise missiles, land- based and submarine- based long-range missiles) and unconventional methods (backpacks, boats, trucks, cargo containers, short-range missiles, etc.); how to counter them.
• Nuclear arsenals: nuclear programs, weapons, and delivery systems of nuclear-weapon states and other states of concern.
• Missile defense: past, present, and possible future approaches to defending against ballistic missiles; anti-satellite and other space weapons and their implications.
• Nuclear arms control: individual and cooperative approaches; the current nonproliferation regime; preventing further spread and use (treaties and other approaches, verification regimes and technologies); loose nukes; eventual elimination of nuclear weapons.
• Conclusion: imperative of addressing the threat posed by nuclear weapons; possible approaches to reducing the threat; what citizens can do.

Physics/Global Studies 280 Web Site

Prior to 2005, this course was called Physics/Global Studies 180. The web site of the current course provides links to Physics/Global Studies 280 and Physics/Global Studies 180 web pages from previous semesters that contain valuable resources. Please feel free to consult these, but be aware that some of this information is now out-of-date.

The writing assignments for the semester have been posted on the Writing Assignments page. Please print the details of these assignments and bring them to the relevant Monday Writing Labs.

Course Readings

Required Textbooks

• Jane E. Aaron, The Little, Brown Essential Handbook for Writers, Pearson-Longman (2008 edition).
• U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy, ed. George Bunn & Christopher F. Chyba (available in paperback).
• What Terrorists Want, by Louise Richardson (available in paperback).
• Nuclear Terrorism, by Graham Allison (available in paperback).

Required Readings

The following texts are required reading for the course, but you do not need to buy them because they are available online:

• Selections from Michael Riordan (ed.), The Day After Midnight: The Effects of Nuclear War, Cheshire Books (1982).
• Sidney D. Drell & James E. Goodby, The Gravest Danger, Hoover Institution Press, November 2003.
  Available online at: http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/gravest.html.

Additional Documents

You will also be directed to fact sheets, charts, and articles that will supplement the information in the textbooks and presented in the slides shown in the Lecture-Discussion sessions. These materials will be made available via links on the course web site. To comply with fair use requirements, accessing some of them will require you to use your NetID and NetID Password. You are expected to read and understand this additional information.

Other Web Sites

In addition to the Physics/Global Studies 280 Web Site, many documents on topics covered in the course are available on governmental and non-governmental web sites. The quality and accuracy of these documents vary greatly. You should consult the course staff for guidance if you have any doubts. The Physics/Global Studies 280 Documents page provides links to some of the most authoritative and useful external web sites and documents. You are encouraged to bring to the attention of the course instructor and staff other useful web sites you find.

Online Gradebook

Your Essay, Research Paper, Writing Lab Participation, Quiz, and Exam scores will be posted in the secure online gradebook, as soon as they are available. The scores listed in the online gradebook are considered your official scores. You are strongly encouraged to check the posted scores as soon as possible, to ensure that no mistakes have been made. If you find a mistake, you please bring it to the attention of your Writing Lab instructor as soon as possible. You should retain the originals of all graded materials until you have received your final letter grade at the end of the course. Without these originals, it may not be possible to correct errors in the gradebook.

Course Meetings

Weekly Schedule

Monday	Writing Lab Attending your Writing Lab is required. The writing assignment you handed in the previous week will be returned to you and the next writing assignment will be explained. You will correct and improve the version handed in the previous week or write a new essay. The assigned readings and current events will be discussed. Your participation will be assessed.
Tuesday	Lecture-Discussion
Thursday	The writing assigned the previous Monday is due Lecture-Discussion

Writing Labs

The Writing Labs will be used to explain all the writing assignments and provide one-on-one help with these assignments. The Writing Labs are designed to help you think about the writing process and improve your writing skills. Activities will include writing and proofreading exercises and analysis and discussion of examples of good and bad writing. Your graded essays will be handed back to you in your Writing Lab and your TA will discuss the most common errors made in a given assignment and how to eliminate these errors. The Writing Labs will also be used to discuss assigned readings, material in the Handbook for Writers, and the current events discussed in the Lecture-Discussions.

Your TA will be happy to discuss your ideas with you and proposed organizations and structures of your writing assignments in the Writing Labs, before or after you have completed these assignments, but they are not able to read and comment on drafts of your writing assignments. They will discuss your graded assignments with you.

The Writing Labs are not a substitute for the Lecture-Discussion sessions. The Writing labs will not cover the material covered in the Lecture-Discussions.

Your participation in the Writing Labs will be evaluated and you will be assigned a Writing Lab Participation Score for each Lab. This score is worth 6% of the maximum possible score in the course, so be sure to prepare for and participate in all the Writing Labs!

Further details about how your Writing Lab Participation Score will be used to determine your course letter grade can be found here.

Lecture-Discussions

Lecture-Discussions will be used for lectures, demonstrations, and discussions of the basic course material. A few guest lectures by individuals with expertise in the subject matter of Physics/Global Studies 280 will be given during the semester.

Approximately once each week, about ten minutes of the Lecture-Discussion session will be used to discuss an important current event related to the course. You are strongly encouraged to ask questions and offer comments during these discussions. Your knowledge of the current events discussed in the Lecture-Discussion sessions will be tested by Lecture-Discussion Quiz questions (see below), by your participation in Writing Lab discussions of these events, and by questions about them on the Midterm and Final Exams.

Several times during most Lecture-Discussion sessions, the Instructor will ask you to discuss and answer or simply answer a specific question, using your iClicker. If you correctly answer 50% or more of the iClicker questions during a given session, you will receive the maximum possible Quiz credit (2 points) for that session. You can view the Quiz credit you have earned so far in Physics/Global Studies 280 in the online gradebook. At the end of the semester, your Quiz points will be converted to a percentage Quiz score by dividing by 2 points times the number of Lecture-Discussion sessions during the semester (28) and multiplying by 100. Your Lecture-Discussion Quiz score is worth 17% of the maximum possible exam score in the course.

Further details about how your Lecture-Discussion Quiz score will be used to determine your course letter grade can be found here.

Plagiarism and Cheating

We will not tolerate violations of academic integrity, such as plagiarism or cheating.

Article 1, Part 4 of the Student Code defines in detail what actions are considered infractions of academic integrity. These actions include cheating, fabrication, and plagiarism. Article 1, Part 4 also lists the penalties for infractions of academic integrity, which can be as severe as dismissal from the University. As the Preamble to Article 1, Part 4 explains, ignorance of the provisions of Article 1, Part 4 of the Student Code does not excuse violations of it.

Do not assume that you know what is and is not plagiarism or cheating. Many students who have committed serious violations of Article 1, Part 4 have done so because they failed to study it and were not clear about what is and is not allowed, even though Article 1, Part 4 was assigned reading in the first writing course that they used to satisfy the prerequisite for this course. For this reason Article 1, Part 4 is the first required reading assignment in Physics/Global Studies 280. You are personally responsible for reading carefully and understanding Article 1, Part 4.

All papers submitted in this course are scanned by plagiarism-detecting software.

Our plagiarism-detecting software will compare your paper with an international database that includes all papers submitted in Physics/Global Studies 280 during this semester and previous semesters as well as a very large collection of other writings (books, articles, essays, papers, etc.) by professional authors and students at Illinois and elsewhere. Your papers will also be reviewed carefully by the course staff for evidence of cheating, fabrication, or plagiarism. Do not plagiarize! You will be caught, and the penalties are serious.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

This section of the Student Handbook is intended to help you avoid common mistakes by highlighting important instructions that are given elsewhere in the Handbook but are frequently overlooked.

Each writing assignment has a strict page limit. Your paper must not be longer than this page limit, when printed in the format specified here and including the title, headers, and footers. To check this, you should print the exact version you are going to submit. If your paper is longer than the page limit when printed, it will be given a score of zero.

Your paper must be printed double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font with 1.25" side margins and 1" top and bottom margins. If your paper does not comply with these instructions, it will be given a score of zero.

To receive full credit, the first page of your paper must include a header block at the top right-hand side of the page that lists your name, the assignment code and your writing lab section, and the date you are submitting the paper. This block should look like this:

John Doe
RE4v1 WL12
1/15/2009

To receive full credit, you must type the title of your paper centered at the top of the first page.

To receive full credit, you must use a header to insert your name and the assignment code and your writing lab section in a block at the top right-hand side of the second and every subsequent page (if the assignment allows you two or more pages). This block should look like this:

John Doe
RE4v1 WL12

To receive full credit, you must use a footer to insert the page number at the bottom of every page.

To receive full credit, you must:

1. Place a paper copy of every writing assignment in the slot of the bright yellow "280" homework box on the second floor of Loomis by 1:55 p.m. on the Thursday the assignment is due.

2. E-mail a properly named electronic copy of your RE2v1, RE3v1, RE4v1, RPPv1, and RPv1 (and your Extra Credit Essay, should you choose to submit one) to the correct e-mail address for that particular assignment by 1:55 p.m. on the Thursday the assignment is due. You can find the correct file names and e-mail addresses here.

Example: If a student with Net ID klm is submitting the electronic copy of Required Essay 2 version 1, the file attached to the e-mail message should be named klm-RE2v1.doc, klm-RE2v1.docx, or klm-RE2v1.pdf, depending on the file's format. The same student's Research Paper version 1 file should be named klm-RPv1.doc, klm-RPv1.docx, or klm-RPv1.pdf, depending on the file's format.

Late papers will be accepted until 3:15 p.m. on the Friday after the Thursday the assignment was due, but 15 points will be deducted from the score of the paper if it was submitted late. No papers will be accepted after 3:15 p.m. that Friday.

When you turn in the second version of a paper, you must staple the first, graded version to the back of the second version. If this is not done, the second version cannot be graded, because we will not be able to determine whether you responded to the comments on the first version, and you will receive a score of zero on your second version (this course requires writing and revising the assigned essays).

If you discover that you failed to staple your first version to your second version when you placed the second version in the 280 homework box, place your marked first version in the box as soon as possible; you may still be able to receive full or partial credit (see Late Submission).

Learn from your mistakes on early papers and make sure you do not make the same mistakes on later papers. If you continue to make the same types of errors, your papers will be marked down very heavily. For further details, see our policy on recurring errors.

Writing Assignments

Writing Assignment Versions

Physics/Global Studies 280 is an Advanced Writing course. Such a course requires writing with revision. Consequently two versions are required for all writing assignments, except your Extra Credit Essay, should you choose to submit one.

For the second version to be graded, the marked first version must be stapled to it.

Both versions of each writing assignment are considered equally important. Consequently your scores on the first and second versions of each essay will count equally toward your overall course score.

First Versions of Writing Assignments

Your first version (not your first draft!) of each writing assignment should be a polished paper that represents your very best effort. The graded first version will usually be returned to you at the Writing Lab meeting immediately following the date the paper was due. If you do not pick up your graded writing assignment in your Writing Lab, you may pick it up from Linda Thorman in 337 Loomis.

Second Versions of Writing Assignments

Your second, final version of each writing assignment should correct any errors in your first version and address all of the comments, criticisms, and suggestions made by the course staff in response to your first version.

As noted above, the second version of your assignment must have the marked first version stapled to it; if it does not, the second version cannot be graded and will be assigned a score of zero.

Here are some other points to keep in mind:

• We cannot mark each and every error in the first versions of your papers. You are responsible for correcting each and every error before submitting your second version.
• You are encouraged to discuss any graded paper with your TA. This is especially recommended before you prepare a second version.
• If you disagree with changes your TA recommended to improve your paper, you must discuss your concerns with your TA before your revise your paper. If you disregard the changes your TA recommended without the TA's express permission, you will receive a low score on your revised version.
• If any errors or suggestions for improvement are marked on your first version and you turn in an identical text as your second version, the score on your second version will be substantially lower than that on your first version, because the focus of the course is on helping you improve your writing by revising your work.
• If you fix only the errors in your first version that your TA marked and your first version had other errors, your score on the second version will not be high. To earn a high score on your second version you must make a real effort to identify and correct all the errors in your first version, whether or not they were marked by your TA.
• Your scores on the first and second versions of each paper will count equally in computing your overall score in the course.

Learning From Good Writing

1. How did the author grab your attention and make you want to read on?
   The first thing you saw was the title. Did it catch your eye? If so, why?
   Did the first sentence interest you further? If so, how?
   Did the first paragraph make you want to read onward? If so, why?
   


2. How did the author structure the article or essay?
   Was there an introductory paragraph or paragraphs?
   Were there a series of main points? If so, how were they identified?
   How did the author end the article or essay?
   


3. How did the author communicate the main points of the article or essay?
   Did the author ask and then answer a question or a series of questions?
   Illustrate one or more points with a story or anecdote?
   List the main points and then elaborate?
   Or...?
   


4. How did the ending serve the purpose of the article or essay?
   Was there a summary of the main points made?
   An appeal for the reader to act?
   A dramatic claim?
   Or...?
   


5. Maintaining a critical attitude
   In reading any essay, article, or opinion piece, it is important to maintain a critical attitude and be alert to accidental or deliberate misuse of language. Language is a tool for thinking clearly as well as a vital mode of communication. If language becomes corrupted, communication becomes difficult and clarity of thought suffers. Particularly insidious is deliberate corruption of language to deceive or mislead the reader.

Try analyzing one of the readings posted on the course web site using the approach outlined here. Analyze its structure as well as its content, using the questions listed above and any others you think are relevant.

Essay Revision and Grading

Marking of essays

1. Our purpose in marking your essays is to call your attention to errors and to indicate ways in which you can improve your essay. We will try to call special attention to any problems that seem to recur in your writing. We expect you to reread your marked essay critically and use our marks in revising your essay and in writing future essays.
2. We will note in writing the most important strengths and weaknesses of your essays.
3. We will mark some but not all, perhaps not even the majority, of the writing errors that we notice. Even if we have not marked a particular error in your first version, we still expect you to find and correct it in your revised version.
4. For conciseness and clarity, we will use the error codes listed on the back cover of The Little, Brown Essential Handbook for Writers and the additional error codes listed here. You are expected to read The Essential Handbook and consult it and the additional error codes when reviewing and revising your marked essays.
5. Each graded essay will be marked with a numerical score, a letter grade, and the last name of the grader. The grading scale we will use is an absolute scale. It is described in the Writing Assignment Grading Scale section below.

Instructions for revising essays

1. The first version of your essay must be stapled to your second version in order for you to receive a nonzero score on the second version.
2. All marks on the first version of your essay must be addressed in the second version, in one way or another. If you think a suggestion or criticism is mistaken, please confer with the grader, resolve the issue, and have the grader indicate the resolution in pen on the first, marked version of the essay, so that it is apparent to the grader when the second version is graded. If you do not change the second version of your essay in response to a suggestion or criticism noted on the first version and the grader has not marked the first version indicating approval to make no change, you will be penalized.
3. If errors or suggestions for improvement were marked on your first version and you hand in a second version that is identical to the first, you will receive a low grade, even if the grade on your first version was high. Revising your essays is a crucial part of this course.
4. We will make every effort to have the second version of your essay graded by the same person who graded the first version, so the grader of the second version knows the history of your essay.

Eliminating recurring errors

You will occasionally make writing errors. To improve your writing, you must avoid repeating the same errors. To help you do this, we will keep track of your most frequent errors. The first time you make an error, we will deduct points appropriate for the seriousness of the error and we may mark it on your paper. If you make the same error in a subsequent paper, we will circle it, mark it as a second occurrence of the same type of error, and reduce your score by a larger amount. If you continue to make same type of error, your papers will be marked down heavily.

The goal is to make rapid progress in correcting bad writing habits and to eliminate recurring errors. If you study carefully the marks on your paper, keep your own list of the errors you have frequently made, consult with the course instructor or teaching assistants, and check carefully your subsequent essays to make sure you have not repeated an error, it is very unlikely that you will continue to make the same types of errors.

Writing Error Codes

In grading writing assignments, we will indicate writing errors and their nature using the error codes (“editing symbols”) listed on the back flap of The Little, Brown Essential Handbook for Writers and the additional codes listed in this table:

Writing Assignment Grading Rubric

Writing Assignment Grading Scale

Required Essays

You will be required to write and revise four short essays. Time will be set aside in the second Lecture-Discussion to write the first version of the first essay, which should be about 1.5 pages in length when handwritten. The second version of the first essay must be one page or less in length when printed in the format specified in this handbook, including the title, header, and footer. The second, third, and fourth essays must be no more than two, three, and four printed pages in length, respectively. To check this, you should print the exact version you are going to submit. If your paper is longer than the page limit when printed, it will be given a score of zero.

Explicit citations of your sources will be required in all your essays as well as in your Research Paper, but you may use shortform citations in your essays, in order to save space. For example, a class slide may be cited as [10p280 Nuclear Weapons, slide 30], where 10p280 refers to the Spring 2010 Physics/Global Studies 280 course (this would change to 11p280 for Spring 2011 slides). The sources we expect you to use for particular assignments and shortform citations for them, as well as the details of the assignments themselves and their due dates, are available via the Writing Assignments page.

Writing Assignment	Code	Length
Required Essay 1, Version 1	RE1v1	1 page
Required Essay 1, Version 2	RE1v2	1 page
Required Essay 2, Version 1	RE2v1	2 pages
Required Essay 2, Version 2	RE2v2	2 pages
Required Essay 3, Version 1	RE3v1	3 pages
Required Essay 3, Version 2	RE3v2	3 pages
Required Essay 4, Version 1	RE4v1	4 pages
Required Essay 4, Version 2	RE4v2	4 pages

The first two essays will emphasize writing skills at the paragraph level and will provide you with an opportunity to obtain guidance and detailed feedback from the course staff. You will then progress to the third and fourth essays and the research paper. This process is designed to give you a clear understanding of what is expected and to identify major problems early on so that you can avoid them in later assignments. The result should be a steady improvement in your writing skills.

Extra Credit Essay

You will have the option of submitting one Extra Credit Essay (ECE) during the course of the semester. In order to submit an ECE, you must first attend an approved seminar or other event on campus related to the subject matter of Physics/Global Studies 280. You must then write an essay no longer than 2 pages that answers certain specific questions about the event. The questions for each Extra Credit Essay Opportunity (ECEO) will be provided at the time the ECEO is announced. You must submit both a printed and an electronic copy of your ECE. Your ECE will not be revised. Full details will be provided on the Writing Assignments page.

Please include the appropriate code listed in the table below in the header of your extra credit essay, should you choose to submit one (see Writing Assignment Checklist).

Extra Credit Essay Opportunity	Code	Length
Extra Credit Essay Opportunity A	ECEO-A	2 pages
Extra Credit Essay Opportunity B	ECEO-B	2 pages
Extra Credit Essay Opportunity C	ECEO-C	2 pages

Regardless of which Extra Credit Essay Opportunity you choose, you must submit the electronic copy of your essay to the ECE e-mail address listed in this table.

If you submit an ECE, the score you earn on it will contribute to the Writing Component of your total course score. See the section on Course Grades for details.

Research Paper

You will be required to write a Research Paper on a question chosen by you in consultation with the teaching staff. The Research Paper represents a culmination of your writing activities in the course and provides you an opportunity to demonstrate the writing skills you have developed by writing and revising your Required Essays and to communicate what you have learned about the topic of your Research Paper. To the extent feasible, the course staff will assist you in completing this assignment.

The Research Paper assignment has two main purposes. First, it allows us to help you investigate a topic related to the course that is of particular interest to you. Second, it provides an opportunity for you to develop further your skills in research, analysis, proposal preparation, and writing, with help from the course staff.

Your Research Paper must address a research question that has both technical and policy aspects. To assure that your Research Paper will be successful, you must choose a research question within one of the Approved Research Topics.

The "research" in the Research Paper title indicates library research, not original research. Library research is required: a Research Paper based primarily on what has been covered in the Lecture-Discussion sessions or in the assigned readings is not acceptable.

The Research Paper assignment has four components:

(1) To help you write a successful Research Paper, you are required to prepare a Research Paper Proposal (RPP) and have your RPP approved by a member of the teaching staff before you begin writing your Research Paper. You must follow your RPP in preparing your Research Paper.

The first version of your RPP (your RPPv1) is due by the date listed on the Writing Assignments page and will count 50% of your total Research Paper Proposal score.

(2) You will review your graded RPPv1 and submit a second, revised version of your Research Paper Proposal (your RPPv2).

Your RPPv2 is due by the date listed on the Writing Assignments page and will count 50% of your total Research Paper Proposal score.

(3) You will write the first version of your Research Paper (your RPv1), faithfully following your approved RPPv2.

Your highly polished RPv1 is due by the date listed on the Writing Assignments page and will count 50% of your total Research Paper score.

(4) You will review your graded RPv1 and submit a second, revised version of your Research Paper (your RPv2).

Your RPv2 is due by the date listed on the Writing Assignments page and will also count 50% of your total Research Paper score.

The shorthand codes for each document you will submit in completing the Research Paper assignment are listed in the table below. These codes will be used to refer to these documents throughout the course.

Research Paper Component	Code	Length
Research Paper Proposal, Version 1	RPPv1	2 pages, Details
Research Paper Proposal, Version 2	RPPv2	2 pages, Details
Research Paper, Version 1	RPv1	Details
Research Paper, Version 2	RPv2	Details

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Preparing Your Research Paper Proposal

The purpose of preparing a Research Paper Proposal (RPP) is to help you start on your Research Paper and get early advice from the course staff, so you are able to define a suitable project and complete your RPv1 in a timely way. You are strongly encouraged to seek guidance from the course staff before preparing and submitting your RPP.

Remember that you must choose a research question within one of the Approved Research Topics. Do not choose a rapidly evolving research question, because events during the semester could then render your Research Paper obsolete or even irrelevant. Do not choose a question on which there is little or no publicly available information. As an example, "Nuclear Terrorist Sleeper Cells in the United States" is an interesting topic, but you would not be able to find much publicly available information about this topic.

To assure that you will have time to prepare your RPv1 by the time it is due, you must produce an RPP that is judged acceptable before you leave for Spring Break.

Your RPP must identify a specific question that has both technical and policy aspects and you must address both aspects in your RPP. To prepare an acceptable RPP, you must think deeply about your topic and how you will address it, do a substantial amount of library research, formulate a thesis, and provide a list of the references on which you expect to base your RP.

You must submit both electronic and paper copies of the first version of your Research Paper Proposal (your RPPv1) by the deadline listed on the Writing Assignments page.

Your RPPv1 will be evaluated and marked either acceptable (A) or unacceptable (U). It will also be graded as a writing assignment and given a numerical score between 0 and 100.

You must submit a paper copy of the second, improved version of your Research Paper Proposal (your RPPv2) by the deadline listed on the Writing Assignments page. You must do this even if your RPPv1 was judged acceptable.

Like your RPPv1, your RPPv2 will be evaluated and marked either acceptable (A) or unacceptable (U). It will also be graded as a writing assignment and given a numerical score between 0 and 100.

Once your RPP has been judged acceptable, you may begin writing your Research Paper, faithfully following your RPP.

Required RPP Structure

1. A header block on both pages and the date and title on the first page, following the instructions in the Writing Assignment Checklist.
2. An initial paragraph in which you identify your research question and state your thesis.
3. A detailed outline of your planned RP. You must divide your RP into several sections, using headings. The paragraphs you are planning to include within a given section should be listed in your RPP.
4. A statement of your tentative conclusion. (Your conclusion may evolve somewhat during preparation of your Research Paper, as your thinking evolves.)
5. On a separate page, under the heading "References", a list of the 6 to 8 sources (articles, books, chapters in books) on which you plan to base your RP. This page is not a bibliography: you must cite each of the sources in your Reference list at least once in the text of your RPP. This link will take you to a detailed description of the kinds of information that must have supporting references, the style to use in citing your references, and the style to use in listing them in your References section.
6. A length of more than 1 page but no more than 2 pages, with 1 additional page on which you list your references.

Further RPP Guidance

You should devote substantial effort to choosing a good research question, because having a good research question is vital to the success of your RP. Your research question will guide your research and help you collect the evidence you will need for your RP.

In preparing your RPP, you must consult at least two books, chapters from books, or review papers, to insure that you have an adequate overall perspective on your research question.

You may also use articles in professional and scholarly journals, such as Arms Control Today, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Foreign Affairs, and International Security, or high-quality magazines that address current affairs, such as The Atlantic.

You may use the online documents posted on the course Documents page and documents posted on the web sites of the U.S. government and the nongovernmental organizations listed on the Documents page. You may not use any other online resources without express written permission from one of the senior instructors.

You may use one or two newspaper articles from high-quality newspapers, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, if they are essential to your thesis, but see the caution above against choosing a topic where the facts may change substantially during the semester.

You should write a tentative statement of the proposed thesis of your RP early in the preparation of your RPP. Formulating a thesis will help you choose your evidence and develop your arguments in an organized and logical manner.

See pages 122–208 of The Little Brown Essential Handbook for Writers and Purdue University's Online Writing Lab for further guidance on picking a research topic and identifying a research question.

Preparing Your Research Paper

The following instructions must be followed faithfully to receive full credit for your Research Paper:

Originality: Using text you have prepared for a previous or current writing assignment in this or any other course is not permissible, even if the text is placed in quotation marks or paraphrased and properly cited, for three reasons. First, Physics/Global Studies 280 is a writing course and the RP is supposed to be an exercise in original writing. Second, students are not authorities on any of the relevant subjects and therefore are not appropriate primary or secondary sources for the RP. Third, doing so is a violation of Article 1, Part 4 of the University of Illinois Student Code. Check the Plagiarism section for details.

Technology-policy balance: As explained in the Research Paper Proposal instructions, your Research Paper should address a question that involves both technology and policy issues in an important way. The balance need not be 50%-50%, but both types of issues must be important and discussed. When addressing some questions, it may be natural to discuss the technological and policy issues separately, with one or more sections devoted to each. For other questions, it may be more natural to interweave the discussion of technology and policy. Follow whichever approach works best for your research question.

Cover Page: Your Research Paper should have a cover page that conforms to the instructions listed in the Writing Assignments Checklist for the first page of a writing assignment. It should be numbered page 1.

Your cover page must include the following three items:

1. A header block with all the usual required information in the required format plus the name of the TA who will be grading your Research Paper. The grader for your Research Paper will be assigned based on the subject of your paper.
2. A short descriptive title.
3. A half-page (no longer) abstract that describes the question addressed in your paper and summarizes your main conclusions.

Sections: You should divide the body of your paper into several sections, using boldface headings. Use as many sections as you need, but note that dividing the body into more than five sections is probably excessive for a six-page paper. Avoid sections that are only one or two paragraphs in length.

Introduction: The first section in the body of your paper should be an Introduction that begins at the top of the page following the cover page. The Introduction should not be longer than 1.5 pages. Its purpose is to interest and engage the reader. You may provide context (e.g., Iran has just tested a nuclear weapon) or spell out your approach to the question you are addressing. Do not list the sections in your paper or summarize your conclusions or recommendations in the Introduction—this paper is too short for that to be appropriate.

Conclusions or Recommendations: The final section of your text should present your conclusions or recommendations. It should say something interesting and definite but it should not be the longest section in your paper. Use active voice. You may motivate your conclusions or recommendations by pointing to findings in the earlier sections of your paper, but do not turn this section into a summary section!

References section: The very last section in the body of your paper should be a References section that contains a numbered list of the works you have cited in the body of your paper. This section should immediately follow your Conclusions or Recommendations section. It need not start on a new page. Do not place any references in footnotes!

The References section is included in the page count.

You are free to use any standard style for the information in your numbered reference list, but you must be consistent. For books, list the title, author(s), publisher, and the year. For journals and magazines, list the journal or magazine title, the month or year, the volume number if available, the author(s), and the pages on which the article appears. If no author is given, indicate this by placing an "em" (long) dash "—" where the author would be listed. Cite newspapers sparingly, if at all, and then list the newspaper's name, the title of the article, the author(s), and the month, day, and year of the issue in the References section. For stand-alone documents, list the title, author(s), date (in as complete a from as possible), and the organization that produced the document. Titles of books, journals, and magazines and the names of newspapers should be italicized. The title of an article taken from a journal, magazine, newspaper, or stand-alone document should be put in quotes. For brevity, refer to Physics/Global Studies 280 lecture slides as, e.g., [P280 Weapon Effects, slide 3], omitting all other information. Note, however, that your Research Paper must not be based on Physics/Global Studies 280 lecture slides or required readings.

Use of supporting citations: Just as in your essays, statements that are common knowledge (e.g., "the United States is in North America") need not be supported by citations. Information may be considered common knowledge if it is surely known by University of Illinois undergraduates who have not previously taken and are not currently taking Physics/Global Studies 280. All other statements must be supported by citations of works in your list of references (for details, see Article 1, Part 4 of the Student Code).

You may simply cite the relevant chapters of a book, unless you are suporting a specific fact, argument, or quotation, in which case the citation must include the number or numbers of the specific page(s) on which the fact, argument, or quotation appears. For example, suppose that you wish to cite a statement on page 37 of the book Teller's War, by William Broad. This statement could be supported in the text by the citation [1, p. 37] and in the References section by the entry

[1] William Broad, Teller's War (Touchstone Books, 1993)

Footnotes: Do not use footnotes (consecutively numbered textual comments placed at the bottom of the page to which they refer). If you wish to include information that is parenthetical, simply place it in parenthesis in the text.

Figures and Tables: You may include up to two (but no more than two) figures or tables in your paper, but only if they are important for understanding the text. If you wish to embed figures or tables within the text you may do so, but only if they have captions. If the original figures or tables do not have captions, you may place them at the very end of your paper, preceded by a page with their captions.

Bindings: There are various types of binders that provide a "professional" look to documents, but they are very inconvenient for grading. Do not use them. Use a single staple in the upper left-hand corner.

Formatting: See Formatting Your Writing Assignments for information on formatting your Research Paper.

Length: The Text of your Research Paper is defined as all the text in the paper excluding the text on the cover page and the text in any figure or table captions. It therefore includes the text in your Introduction, in your Conclusions or Recommendations section, in your References section (see above), and in any other sections. The Text must be no less than 6 pages but no more than 7 pages in length, in the format prescribed for all writing assignments. Papers with less than 6 pages or more than 7 pages of Text will receive a score of zero.

The Body of your Research Paper is defined as all the pages of your paper except the cover page. It therefore includes the Text and any pages with figures or tables. The first page of the Body must be numbered page 2 of your paper and subsequent pages must be numbered sequentially.The Body must be no less than 6 pages but no more than 9 pages in length. Papers with Bodies shorter than 6 pages or longer than 9 pages will receive a score of zero.

The total number of pages in your paper is the number of pages in the Body plus the cover page. The total number of pages in your paper must therefore be no less than 7 and no more than 10.

Submission: See Submitting Your Writing Assignments for instructions on how to submit the first and second versions of your Research Paper.

Summary of Research Paper Page Count and Numbering Rules

Final Suggestions

• Remember that quantity does not equal quality. Think of your research paper as a jewel: small but perfect.
• You do not have space to recount all the results of your reading and research. The extent of your research and the depth of your understanding will show in your overall perspective and the quality of your thinking and explication.
• You can carefully revise a paper this short several times. Ask your friends and classmates to review and critique your drafts, perhaps in exchange for your helping them in the same way with their papers.
• You should proofread the final version of your paper very carefully. There should be no spelling or punctuation errors. Do not rely on electronic spellling or grammar checkers.
• In preparing your RPv1, follow the suggestions provided by the course staff in response to your RPP.
• Be sure to submit properly the electronic copy of your RPv1 when you submit your paper copy. See the detailed instructions in the Student Handbook.
• The electronic and paper copies of RPv1 are both due by the deadline!
• In preparing your RPv2, follow the suggestions provided by the course staff in response to your RPv1. Be sure to staple your RPv1 to your RPv2 when you submit the latter.

Submitting Your Writing Assignments

First versions. Beginning with Required Essay 2 Version 1 (RE2v1), the first versions of all writing assignments must be submitted both as a computer file attached to an e-mail message and as a printed paper document inserted into the slot of the bright yellow "280" homework box (see Submission of Electronic Copies and Submission of Printed Copies). Both copies must be submitted before the deadline.

Second versions. The second versions of all writing assignments must be submitted as a printed paper document inserted into the slot of the bright yellow "280" homework box before the deadline (see Submission of Printed Copies). The graded first version must be stapled to the back of the second version or the second version will not be graded.

Extra Credit Essays. Extra Credit Essays must be submitted both as a computer file attached to an e-mail message and as a printed paper document inserted into the slot of the bright yellow "280" homework box before the deadline (see Submission of Electronic Copies and Submission of Printed Copies).

Deadlines and Penalties for Late Submission

The deadline for writing assignment submissions is 1:55 p.m. on the relevant Thursday, which is listed on the Writing Assignments page.

If both printed and electronic copies are required for the assignment, both must be received by the deadline in order to avoid a late penalty.

Papers received after 1:55 p.m. on the Thursday they are due but before 3:15 p.m. the next day (Friday) will be penalized 15 points (the paper will be graded normally, but 15 points will be deducted from the score it would otherwise have earned). Papers received after 3:15 p.m. that Friday will not be graded and will receive a score of zero. This policy is necessary to ensure that we receive papers in time to grade them, check and analyze the grades, and correct any grading errors before returning your papers to you in your Monday Writing Labs.

If you discover that you failed to staple your first version to your second version when you placed the second version in the "280" homework box, place your marked first version in the box as soon as possible and we will attempt to match it to your second version. If you place your marked first version in the box before the on-time submission deadline and we are able to join the two versions, we will grade the second version of your paper without any penalty. If you place your marked first version in the box after the on-time submission deadline but before the late-paper deadline and we can join your two versions, we will grade your second version as a late paper.

If you do not submit your marked first version by the late-paper deadline or we cannot match a marked first version with your second version, we cannot grade the second version and you will receive a score of zero on the second version.

Submission of Printed Copies

The printed copies of your writing assignments should be placed in the slot of the bright yellow "280" homework box in Loomis Lab. This box is on the second floor of the north-south corridor that connects Loomis Lab to the so-called Loomis-Seitz interpass (the bridge with offices between Loomis Lab and the Seitz Materials Research Lab, which is the building just north of Loomis Lab). This connecting north-south corridor joins the northern east-west corridor of Loomis Lab between rooms 269 and 271. The "280" homework box is the second homework box from the South in the top row of boxes on the West wall of this north-south corridor. It is labeled "280".

Submission of Electronic Copies

In order for us to be able to process the electronic computer file of your paper, the file must be:

1. in the Microsoft Word .doc or .docx format or in .pdf format
2. named NetID-ASSIGNMENT, and
3. attached to an e-mail message sent to the appropriate e-mail address for that assignment.

File types other than .doc, .docx, and .pdf cannot be accepted. This should not be a problem, because recent versions Microsoft Word can save documents in any of these three formats.

As an example, a student with the NetID klm submitting Required Essay 2, Version 1, as a Microsoft Word .doc file will have an attached file with the name klm-RE2v1.doc; if it is insred submitted as a Microsoft Word .docx file, the attached file will be named klm-RE2v1.docx; if it is submitted as a PDF file, the attached file will be named klm-RE2v1.pdf. When submitting Research Paper, Version 1, the same student will submit a file with the name klm-RPv1.doc, klm-RPv1.docx, or klm-RPv1.pdf, depending on the file type the student has created.

It is important that you follow these instructions exactly, because your e-mail messages and the files attached to them are sorted, separated, and filed by an automatic computer process. Files with names that do not follow the conventions listed above will not be correctly processed by this system.

If you e-mail any writing assignment that requires an electronic submission to the correct e-mail address at least 24 hours before the listed deadline, you will be given an opportunity to correct any errors that we discover in your submission process. All electronic submissions will be reviewed 24 hours before the deadline and any submitters who have used incorrect file names or sent otherwise unacceptable submissions will be notified immediately and told how to correct their mistake(s), thus giving them an opportunity to correct and resubmit their assignments before the deadline for full credit.

Both the electronic and the printed documents you submit must conform to the rules for the writing assignment and be received by the deadline listed for that writing assignment.

You should preserve an electronic and a paper copy of every writing assignment you submit, in case you are required to re-submit an assignment. It is your responsibility to make sure that you have back-ups.

Table of E-mail Addresses

The e-mail message with the attached computer file must be sent to the appropriate one of the following seven e-mail addresses (do not use "physics.uiuc.edu"):

Assignment	E-mail Address	File Name
Required Essay 2, Version 1	p280-RE2v1@physics.illinois.edu	NetID-RE2v1.doc or NetID-RE2v1.docx or NetID-RE2v1.pdf
Required Essay 3, Version 1	p280-RE3v1@physics.illinois.edu	NetID-RE3v1.doc or NetID-RE3v1.docx or NetID-RE3v1.pdf
Required Essay 4, Version 1	p280-RE4v1@physics.illinois.edu	NetID-RE4v1.doc or NetID-RE4v1.docx or NetID-RE4v1.pdf
Extra Credit Essay	p280-ECE@physics.illinois.edu	NetID-ECE.doc or NetID-ECE.docx or NetID-ECE.pdf
Research Paper Proposal, Version 1	p280-RPPv1@physics.illinois.edu	NetID-RPPv1.doc or NetID-RPPv1.docx or NetID-RPPv1.pdf
Research Paper, Version 1	p280-RPv1@physics.illinois.edu	NetID-RPv1.doc or NetID-RPv1.docx or NetID-RPv1.pdf

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Writing Assignment Checklist

Each writing assignment has a strict page limit. Your paper must not be longer than this page limit, when printed in the format specified here and including the title, headers, and footers. To check this, you should print the exact version you are going to submit. If your paper is longer than the page limit when printed, it will be given a score of zero.

EVERY PAGE of your paper must include (see the sample document in WORD format):

• In a header block in the top right-hand corner: your name (on the first line of the header block) and the Assignment Code and your Writing Lab Section (on the second line of the header block), like this:

John Doe
RE4v1 WL12

• In a centered footer: the page number

• Just under the header block in the top right-hand corner, the date the paper is being submitted
• Centered at the top: the title of your paper

• Be stapled together at the top left-hand corner
• Be printed double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman
• Have 1.25" side margins and 1" top and bottom margins
• Have the graded first version of your paper stapled behind the second version, using the staple at the upper-left-hand corner, if you are submitting the second version

• Printed copies of all your writing assignments in the slot of the bright yellow "280" homework box on teh second floor of Loomis Lab
• A WORD or PDF file of the first version of every paper, attached to an e-mail message sent to the appropriate e-mail address, which is listed here.

Reasons for these procedures

Following these procedures will ensure that your paper is graded promptly and will protect you in case the pages of any of your papers become separated in handling. (In grading some assignments, we will be handling more than 600 pages. If your name and the assignment code are not on every page of your essay and the pages become separated in handling, it is difficult if not impossible for us to reassemble your paper for grading. Putting the submission date on your paper will help ensure it is given appropriate credit.)

Exams

Material Covered

The quizzes and examinations will cover the material in the Reading and Writing Assignments, the slides and videos shown in the Lecture-Discussion sessions, and the discussions in the Writing Labs and Lecture-Discussions, all of which are important components of the course.

Quizzes

Several times during most Lecture-Discussion sessions you will be asked to discuss and answer or simply answer a specific question, using your iClicker. These questions are intended to:

• Poll you about your experiences and opinions.
• Encourage and facilitate discussion and interaction.
• Give you immediate feedback on whether you are understanding the material being presented.
• Help the Instructor determine during a Lecture-Discussion whether the material being discussed is being successfully communicated and explained, so the Instructor can revisit any material that was not understood or offer further explanation.
• Indicate to you which topics and points the Instructor thinks are most important.

Midterm Exam

There will be an 80-minute Midterm Examination on the date indicated on the Exams page with all questions requiring only short answers. The Midterm Exam will be given during a regular Lecture-Discussion period, but not in 144 Loomis (the regular Lecture-Discussion room). See the exams page for the date and location of the Midterm Exam. The Midterm Exam will cover the material presented during the first half of the course. You will be informed during the week before the exam the textbook chapters, assigned readings, and other course content it will cover.

Final Exam

The Final Examination on will be on the date indicated on the Exams page. The majority of the questions will require only short answers. The Final Exam will cover the entire course but will focus on material presented after the Midterm Exam. You will be informed during the week before the exam the textbook chapters, assigned readings, and other course content it will cover.

Grade Re-Evaluation Policy

• Bring all grade complaints to your TA's notice.
• All grade inquiries must be made in writing no earlier than 24 hours but no later than 1 week after a paper or an exam is handed back.
• In case a problem cannot be resolved between you and your TA, ask your TA to bring the problem to Professor Lamb's attention. (Professor Lamb is to be contacted directly only with the permission of a TA or in extreme circumstances.)

Course Grades

Grading Scale for All Course Work

All work will be graded using an absolute scale, not a curve. Consequently it is possible for every student to receive an A grade. This grading philosophy is in keeping with the goals of the course, which are to help you improve your writing skills and understand the course material well. How other students perform is not relevant to these goals. Grading on an absolute scale also encourages discussion and cooperation among the students enrolled in the course, since helping another student will not lower your grade. In fact, experience shows that both students in such a discussion usually learn something, which leads to an improvement in the grades of both. Keep in mind, though, that the University's rules on academic integrity require that all writing you submit be your own work.

Letter Grades

Letter grades will be assigned to all course work and to your overall course performance based on your percentage scores, as follows*:

• 95—100:  A+
• 90—94:    A
• 85—89:    A—
• 80—84:    B+
• 75—79:    B
• 70—74:    B—
• 65—69:    C+
• 60—64:    C
• 55—59:    C—
•    < 55:    D

*This is an advanced composition course; therefore any student who does not achieve a score of at least 50% on the Writing Component of the course, defined just below, may be given a failing grade in the course.

Total Course Score

Your total course percentage score will be computed by combining your percentage scores on the writing and examination components of the course using the following formula:

Total Course Percentage Score  =       0.7 •  (Writing Component)
                                                        +  0.3 •  (Examination Component)

Your Writing Component percentage score will be computed using the following formula:

Writing Component  =   (34/70) • Average Required Essay Score  +  (30/70) • Research Paper Project Score  +  (6/70) • Writing Lab Participation Score  +  (2/70) • Extra Credit Essay Score

where the Research Paper Project Score is computed using the following formula:

Research Paper Project Score  =  0.05 • RPPv1  +  0.05 • RPPv2  +  0.45 • RPv1  +  0.45 • RPv2

Your Examination Component percentage score will be computed using the following formula:

Examination Component  =   (1/3) • Midterm Exam Percentage Score   + (1/2) • Final Exam Percentage Score   + (1/6) • Quiz Percentage Score

The Writing and Examination Components are each capped at 100 percent.

These formulas weight the various course components approximately as follows:

Writing Component

• Required Essays (2 versions of 4 essays)                34%
• Research Paper Proposal (2 versions)                      3%
• Research Paper (2 versions)                                   27%
• Writing Lab Participation                                         6%
• Optional Extra Credit Essay (1 version only)            2%

Examination Component

• Midterm Exam:                                                       10%
• Final Exam:                                                             15%
• Lecture-Discussion Quizzes:                                     5%

The actual weights may differ slightly from the weights in this table, because the Writing and Examination Components are each capped at 100 percent.

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