Module 3

Information from Course Outline
Module 3, Closes Monday, September 23
Hazardous material or waste? Introduction to RCRA, Chapter 3; Preliminary Paper Topics due

Introduction
This module discusses practical aspects of the term "hazardous," especially the practical determination of hazard. Then the definition of "waste" and some other important RCRA issues. Also this week we get started on some electronic library searching and your paper. You will learn the difference between various types of literature used in scientific writing and how to access peer-reviewed articles through the library.

Homework.
There are 25 points for this module's homework. a.) 10 points for the auto-quiz you access through Blackboard, b.) 5 points for the assignment relating to lists, c.) 5 points for the discussion, and d.) 5 points for the library assignment, paper topic, and message to the instructor.

a.) Access the quiz through Blackboard. A copy of the quiz is found at the end of Submodule 3B. This, as all the quizzes, is open-book. You may need to look up some things from 3B for the quiz.

b.) For the assignment relating to lists, see the notes at the end of 3B. You'll combine this file with the message to the instructor, see d.) below.

c.) For the discussion, go to this web site: and read the story. [linked via ACAT homepage] on Savoonga on Saint Lawrence Island . The group that posted this page is Alaska Community Action on Toxics; their homepage: http://www.akaction.org/ . Having looked around the homepage and the article I want you to discuss the article with respect to the material on scientific literature in Submodule 3C. For the discussion, assume you were writing a paper on the proximity of Russian and Alaska hazardous waste sites. Since St. Lawrence Island is quite close to Russia, you want to use this article in your paper. Would you quote from the web site directly? Discuss your options.

d.) Paper topic and library assignment. This course requires a paper. You will need to put some references from primary literature in your paper. Getting this literature electronically is very expeditious, once you get into the UAF library system. Getting into the system is a small hurdle to jump for the off-campus students, but once you are in, I think you'll be amazed. First you need to select a paper topic. The topic may be about any hazardous waste issue. The nature and source of the waste itself, treatment or disposal strategies, or methods of preventing the generation of waste. You may take an issue out of the newspaper or similar media, and analyze it critically based on material from this course. Narrow topics are easier than broad topics, but for this assignment, I'll give you credit for a broad topic, then encourage you to narrow it. Having selected the topic, do an OCLC or CSA search on the topic and see if you find any information. You may also use one of the other UAF databases. Note: it is quite different than the Google search you did last week. You MUST use one of the library search engines for this assignment. For your assignment, cut and paste the abstract and data on one article you find in your search. So this portion of the homework requires you to 1.) select a topic and tell me what it is, 2.) do an electronic library search and send me copy of one abstract and citation. Combine this portion with the portion from b.) above and send it to me via email. The subject of the email will be ENVE 649 HW3.

EQE 649 Homepage