Module 9

Information from Course Outline
Module 9, Closes Monday, November 4
Risk Communications and Public Involvement; Emergency Planning and Response, Chapter 19

Introduction
This module treats the subject most engineers and scientist loath - public involvement.

Homework.
There are 25 points for this module's homework. a.) 5 points for the auto-quiz you access through Blackboard, b.) 5 points for the assignment relating to risk assessment, c.) 8 points for the discussion, d.) 5 points for an update on your paper. e.) 2 points points for the message to the instructor.

a.) Access the quiz through Blackboard. A copy of the quiz is found here. Several questions on the quiz require you to look some things up that are not in the learning submodules directly, and may ask for information from earlier closure modules.

b.) For the assignment relating to Risk Communications. A problem, Ghost Road Extension, is presented that involves you analyzing a situation and trying to understand what is making people outraged according to Sandman. (Submodule 9C introduces this.) Hint. Planning to tell the people they are stupid and should listen to you, because you went to college and know more then they do, is not a good answer.

c.) For the group discussion: Read the Ghost Road Extension problem. For this discussion, assume the Ghost Road Extension road was built and it is two years later. Monday after school, a dump truck hit a school bus that was leaving the Gooder School parking lot. Police say the dump truck was speeding. Six children on the bus were injured, all very slightly. You are the manager of the Big Bend Dump on the China River, you work for the county that owns and manages the dump. At first you are not too concerned about the accident: your children go to school on the other side of town; the dump truck was owned by one of the private sanitation firms that uses your dump, it was not owned by the county; none of the injured kids was kept in the hospital overnight. Wednesday, your secretary, Clyde, reminds you that the Gooder School PTA (Parent Teacher Association) has written you eight letters in the last year complaining that trucks have been speeding past the school. You responded to the first letter and told them that they should call the police - the drivers do not work for the county. You did not respond to the other seven letters. On Thursday morning, you can't get to work (you must drive Ghost Road to get to your office at the dump), there is a massive traffic jam. You get out and walk towards the school, where you see 50 or 60 adults blocking the road by linking arms. The police chief and the fire chief, both have children in Gooder School, are asking the people to get out of the road, but they are also drinking coffee and laughing. You see the police chief, you know each other, and she says that the school principal and the head of the PTA have gone to get a parade permit and the demonstration will soon be legal. "Looks like you won't get to work today." You consider protesting the parade permit, they can't block the only road into the dump, but instead go home and email your colleagues (the rest of the class) and start a discussion. You need to decide what to do when you see the mayor in a few hours. Assuming the non-collection of trash for a week or 10 days will not be a terrible threat to public health, make a plan for public involvement. What do you want to communicate to the public (or the parents and school officials)? What's the best way to do it? Develop a plan according to the outline in the ADEC guidance and the seven rules. In your discussion, brain storm the issues. Then one of you take the responsibility of writing a 3 or 4 paragraph draft plan. Then the others comment on that draft. Then one person submit the final plan to the mayor (Dr. Perkins).

d.) Update on your paper. Write a paragraph and let me know how you are doing on your paper. Do you have any questions? (If your questions involve a narrow technical area, I may not know the answer, but I might know where to look for the information.)

e.) Message to the Instructor. Mention one thing you found interesting or something you did not know before, and one thing you found foggy or incomplete. Extra credit for pointing out typo's or glitches in the material to the instructor.

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