2014 Physics 280 Extra-Credit Essay Opportunity B (ECEO-B)

For extra credit opportunity B you need to attend the seminar and subsequent student meeting with the speaker:

"Afghanistan Reconstruction: Protecting America's $100 Billion Investment from Waste, Fraud, and Abuse" by Gene Aloise, Deputy Inspector General in the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The seminar will take place on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 at 4:00 pm in Room 46 of the Library & Information Science Building, 501 E. Daniel, Champaign. The student meeting takes place at 5:00pm in the same location.

In order for us to be able to accept and grade your essay, you must sign the special sign-in sheet that will be at the back of the room.

After attending this event, you must submit an essay that summarizes it and assesses it critically. You will submit only one version (extra-credit essays are not revised).

Your essay must be at least 1.5 pages but no more than 2.0 pages in length.

Your essay should have the following structure:

A brief introductory paragraph that explains what the event was about.

One or two paragraphs that summarize the information and arguments presented by the speaker.

One or two paragraphs that critically evaluate the information and arguments presented by the speaker.

One or two paragraphs that mention information or arguments you found interesting or important and explain why they were interesting or important to you. Which information and arguments did you find persuasive? Unpersuasive?

A closing paragraph that summarizes your main conclusion about the subject of the lecture.

Assume your audience is a typical University of Illinois student, but not a student in Physics 280. Begin each paragraph with a strong topic sentence and omit any information that is not essential for addressing the points listed above. Make your paragraphs clear, concise, and to the point. Avoid repetition and unnecessary words, especially adjectives and adverbs, and use active voice.

The Student Handbook provides complete guidance on how to format and submit an extra-credit essay and how the score you earn on an extra-credit essay is counted in computing your total course score. Be sure to review the writing assignment submission checklist in the Handbook before you turn in your essay!

In order to receive credit for your report, you must upload an electronic copy by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 15th.