Mathematics & Fairness in Democratic Elections

HON 2515, Section 101, Fall 2009

MWF, 10:00 – 10:50 AM, B15 East Hall

Instructor: Dr. Rick Klima

Office: 323 Walker Hall

Office Phone: 262-2378

Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:00 – 5:00 PM

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 – 9:30 AM and 10:45 – 11:45 AM

Email Address: klimare@appstate.edu

Web Page: http://www.appstate.edu/~klimare

Required Course Text: (bring to each class meeting)

The Mathematics of Voting and Elections: A Hands-On Approach, by Hodge and Klima

Course Information:

Homework/Quizzes: At the end of some of our class meetings, you will be assigned a short reading assignment, over which a quiz may be given at the beginning of the next class meeting. Also, at the end of some of our class meetings, you will be assigned a small collection of homework exercises, for which solutions will be collected at the beginning of the next class meeting. These quizzes and homework solutions will be graded, and will count as 60% of your final average in the course. If you are ever absent from any of our class meetings, you will find the assignments given that day on the calendar for this course posted on my web page shortly after the class meeting ends, and you will be responsible for taking quizzes over reading assignments and turning in homework solutions on time with the rest of the class. So you should check the calendar for this course posted on my web page every time you are absent to find out the assignments given in your absence, and plan to talk with me in my office or by email or phone immediately if you need help on the material covered in your absence.

Midterm Projects: A few weeks into the semester you will be assigned a partner and topic for a midterm project. These projects will require both a short slideshow presentation and a short typed report, and will count as 20% of your final average in the course. These presentations will be given and the reports due on a date assigned to you and your partner sometime between Monday, October 5 and Wednesday, October 14, and all students in the course must be present for all of the presentations.

Final Projects: A few weeks before the semester ends you will be assigned a partner and topic for a final project. These projects will also require both a short slideshow presentation and a short typed report, and will count as the last 20% of your final average in the course. These presentations will be given and the reports due during our final exam period, from 3:00 – 5:30 PM on Friday, December 11, at which time all students in the course must be present.

Inclement Weather/Campus Emergency/Class Cancellation Policy: If the university cancels any of our class meetings due to inclement weather or a campus emergency, you will be responsible for any assignments and/or announcements given on the calendar for this course posted on my web page. Also, if I need to cancel any of our class meetings for any reason, I will announce this on the calendar for this course posted my web page and/or in an email sent from my klimare@appstate.edu email address to your your_username@appstate.edu email address. If you receive any announcement about this class from any email address other than klimare@appstate.edu, you should not consider it as coming from me, and ignore it. If you fail to do this, you will be assigned a grade of zero for any assignments you do not complete on time as a result, and you will be responsible for any subsequent assignments and/or announcements given on the calendar for this course posted on my web page.

Disability Services: Appalachian State University is committed to making reasonable accommodations for individuals with documented qualifying disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Those seeking accommodations based on a substantially limiting disability must contact and register with The Office of Disability Services (ODS) at http://www.ods.appstate.edu/ or 828-262-3056. Once registration is complete, individuals will meet with ODS staff to discuss eligibility and appropriate accommodations.

Academic Integrity Policy: As a community of learners at Appalachian State University, we must create an atmosphere of honesty, fairness, and responsibility, without which we cannot earn the trust and respect of each other. Furthermore, we recognize that academic dishonesty detracts from the value of an Appalachian degree. Therefore, we shall not tolerate lying, cheating, or stealing in any form and will oppose any instance of academic dishonesty.  This course will follow the provisions of the Academic Integrity Code, which can be found on the Office of Student Conduct Web Site: http://studentconduct.appstate.edu/.

Grading Policy: Final letter grades will be assigned at the end of the semester based on your final course average according to the following scale:

92.00% and above = A

90.00-91.99% = A–

87.50-89.99% = B+

82.50-87.49% = B

80.00-82.49% = B–

77.50-79.99% = C+

72.50-77.49% = C

70.00-72.49% = C–

67.50-69.99% = D+

62.50-67.49% = D

60.00-62.49% = D–

59.99% and below = F