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Fall Quarter
This quarter I
will be teaching Mineralogy. I am now a FERP and as such will only be teaching half-time until retirement. I will be doing the
usual Ig-Met trip to Mammoth Lakes, but it was very difficult to get approval
for the trip due to the budget problems (see discussion below)
Research News
I attended the
GSA meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2008. I coauthored a poster session on
Cenozoic volcanism in the southern Owens Valley with Julie Brown and Jessy
Bruns. Last year I authored or co-authored four presentations on volcanism in
the southern Owens Valley and near Baker, CA. In the Spring of 2009 I was co-leader of the Desert Studies Field Trip to the Owens Valley. I published three peer-reviewed papers in conjuction with that field trip. I also co-authored the field guide
Campus News
We are under attack by the administration on this campus
whose agenda seems to be the elimination of the Geological Sciences
Department in favor of an Environmental Sciences program. Given that growth for geology is
projected at 27% over the next three years (three times the national average
for all occupations) and starting salaries are exceeding those of MBAs by
$10,000 this viewpoint seems to be both short-sighted and woefully
mis-informed. Any help or support for the department that would improve our campus profile
would be greatly appreciated.
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New Equipment
We have no new
equipment this year whatsoever.
Due to budget problems we have even been forced to bring in our own
copy paper and printer cartridges.
Field trips have been eliminated and class size increased. The situation could get
worse, much worse.in the future. We are
soliciting alumni and friends to raise money to cover future field trip
expenses and equipment purchases.
We would welcome any help we can get in the form of monetary or equipment
donations. The strength of our
department depends on the ability to provide top notch field and laboratory
experiences for our students. The
current State budget crisis could severely impact our mission.
Geology Page
You probably have noticed that the Geology page underwent a complete
overhaul. We now have to conform
to the ADA act so all Cal Poly pages have to have the same “look and
feel”, meaning they are template generated. We were initially told the changes
won’t involve faculty pages, but have subsequently heard otherwise from
those higher up. Rest assured I
will resist any effort to change my Home Page; I have put far too much effort
into it.
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