ECONOMICS 310
NATURAL
RESOURCE ECONOMICS
Fall 2015
Instructor - Robert F. Mulligan
mulligan@wcu.edu
http://paws.wcu.edu/mulligan/
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"Practical men, who believe themselves exempt
from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct
economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are
distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. - John
Maynard Keynes |
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Office hours
- MWF 11:00 - 12:00 PM, or by appointment.
I am always happy to talk to students outside my scheduled hours. Feel
free to drop in without an appointment, but if you are coming from off
campus, call first to make sure I will be available. I will not be available
Mondays or Tuesdays before an exam. Offices – Forsyth 224A, Camp 110C, Phone
- (828) 227-3329. |
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1. Required Text - James
R. Kahn, The Economic Approach to
Environmental and Natural Resources, 3rd edition. |
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Red Zone Campaign Western
Carolina University supports its campus community members in their right to
healthy, happy, consensual relationships and is dedicated to developing a
culture of respect and nonviolence. Early in the first and second year at
college, students enter the “Red Zone,” where they are more at-risk for
unwanted sexual experiences on college campuses. And, according to NCHA 2013
data, 16.0% of WCU men and women indicated being in an emotionally,
physically, or sexually abusive relationship in the past 12 months. As a
result, the Red Zone Campaign encourages and empowers students, faculty, and
staff to develop an open dialogue on the dangers of sexual violence and to
speak up when they see violent behavior occurring. If
you notice red flags in yours or a friend’s relationship, are experiencing
violence or have in the past, you have a number of resources available to
you: •
Counseling and Psychological Services (828.227.7469 or
counselingcenter.wcu.edu) •
REACH of Macon County services in Jackson County (828.586.8969 or
www.reachofmaconcounty.org) To
report a crime, please contact University Police at 828.227.8911 (Emergency
line). For
more information, please visit redzone.wcu.edu or contact Sarah Carter at
sacarter@wcu.edu. |
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Office
of Disability Services Accommodations for Students with
Disabilities: Western Carolina University is committed to providing equal
educational opportunities for students with documented disabilities and/or
medical conditions. Students who
require reasonable accommodations must identify themselves as having a
disability and/or medical condition and provide current diagnostic
documentation to the Office of Disability Services. All information is confidential. Please contact the Office of Disability
Services at (828) 227-3886 or come by Suite 135 Killian Annex for an
appointment. |
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Student
Support Services Student Support Services provides
support to students who are either first-generation, low-income or those who
have disclosed a disability with: academic advising, mentoring, one-on-one
tutorial support, and workshops focused on career, financial aid and graduate
school preparation. You may contact SSS at (828) 227-7127 or email
sssprogram@wcu.edu for more information. SSS is located in the Killian Annex,
room 138. |
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Writing
and Learning Commons (WaLC) The Writing and Learning Commons (WaLC), located in BELK 207, provides free course
tutoring, writing tutoring, academic skills consultations, international
student consultations, graduate and professional exam preparation resources,
and online writing and learning resources for all students. All tutoring sessions take place in the WaLC or in designated classrooms on campus. To schedule
tutoring appointments, visit the WaLC homepage (http://walc.wcu.edu)
or call 828-227-2274. Distance students and students taking classes at
Biltmore Park are encouraged to use Smarthinking
and the WaLC’s online resources. Writing tutoring
is offered at the Biltmore Park campus on certain days of the week; call
828-227-2274 for availabilities. |
Academic Calendar includes dates for
all breaks, university closures, final exams, etc. The academic calendar can be found at:
http://www.wcu.edu/academics/campus-academic-resources/registrars-office/academic-calendar.asp.
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2. Course Objectives "The world consists of facts, not of
things." - Ludwig Wittgenstein a. Develop an understanding of
economic markets and how they function to transmit information, provide
incentives to economic agents, allocate resources, and distribute income, and
satisfy peoples' wants. We will cover the following chapter
in Kahn:
2.
Economic Efficiency and Markets: How the Invisible Hand Works. 3.
Government Intervention in Market Failure. 4.
Valuing the Environment. 5.
Environmental Decision-Making: Criteria and Methods of Assessment. 6.
The Macroeconomics of the Environment. 7.
Global Environmental Change: Ozone Depletion and Global Climate Change. 8.
Energy and the Environment. 9.
The Use of Energy and the Environment. 12.
Temperate Forests. 14.
Biodiversity and Habitat Preservation. 15.
Water Resources |
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3. Suggested Study Strategy Spend no less than twenty-thirty
minutes each weeknight reviewing, recopying, and reorganizing your notes, in
addition to reading the assigned chapters of Kahn. This adds up to
about 8-10 hours of study time each month. Be committed to spending enough
time each day to cover the material you need to, and to fully reviewing your
notes and identifying areas requiring further work and things you need to ask
me about. Spread out this way, your study time will be much more
productive than an equivalent amount of cramming before tests. In
addition to taking lecture notes in class, read, outline, and make notes on
all assigned readings. Take the chapter quizzes posted on the course
website to test your understanding and identify problem areas which need
further work. Take all the applicable chapter quizzes to prepare for
exams. The more time you have spent on the course, the easier it will
be to spend additional time studying, and the more productive additional
study time will be for you. Start this strategy the first day of class,
because the sooner you start, the easier it will be to continue. |
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4. Course Policies & Organization "Eighty percent of success is just showing
up." - Woody Allen |
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a. Absence policy: Class attendance is essential.
Attendance is important because: |
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"Be
content with fruit, with flowers, with weeds, even with thorns, but gather
them in the one garden you may call your own."
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b. Grades:
Out of a total of 11000 possible points:
you will receive the following letter
grade:
Cheating will not be tolerated and
will result in an automatic grade of F for the course. |
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"Champions
keep playing until they get it right." - Billie Jean King |
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c. Examination Policies: 1. No make
ups. |
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d. Withdrawal Policy: 1. Students
considering withdrawal prior to the withdrawal deadline should make an
appointment to discuss withdrawal with the instructor. This is to give me the
opportunity to advise you of your options and standing in the class. I do not
attempt to stop students from withdrawing. 3. Every
semester a number of students receive Fs because they stop attending class
and taking exams, but do not formally withdraw through the registrar. Don't
let this happen to you. |
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5. Electronic Writing
Assignment: One graded writing assignment is to
create a resume-like homepage on the professional networking website LinkedIn
(http://www.linkedin.com). Register
for a free, non-premium account. At a
minimum, list Western Carolina University as your school, from the year you
enrolled, to the future year you expect to graduate. Any other information is optional, but everything
you include in your personal profile must be (a.) honest and factually
correct, and (b.) must be presented in a mature, professional manner. You may wish to include information on past
and/or current employment, extra-curricular activities, etc. If you post a picture, it must present a
professional appearance. When you are
done and ready for your profile to be graded, invite me to add you as a
contact. My email address is
mulligan@wcu.edu. This assignment is
due on Friday, September 4, but
you are welcome to complete it earlier. |
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6. Course calendar: Read assigned chapters before the day they will be
discussed in class. |