CHEMISTRY CH301 Pre-RequisitesTo remain enrolled in CH301 you must meet one of the followingMATH pre-requisites:1. Be currently enrolled in one of the following courses: SSC302,M305G, or calculus (one of the M408x courses) OR2. Have credit for one of the above math courses from a previoussemester, AP, IB, or dual-credit course.What you need to know- Hundreds of students are currently enrolled in UTAustin math courses for which they do not meet theALEKS-math pre-requisite. As such they will bedropped on Wed AM (9/1) from their math course.- If you are dropped from your math course, you willno longer meet the Chemistry pre-requisite andsubsequently will be dropped from CH301 on Friday(9/3)CH 301 Random Musings August 31, 2010(this is a really long one, the others are much shorter)1. Why, you ask, do I spend my one might a week writing Random Musings? I do it because Iknow how much you want to keep up with the goings on in class and don’t really want to sendme non-stop redundant e-mails. So before you go asking me a question because you haven’tbeen to class or paid attention to the Random Musings, you would do well to read them. Youdon’t want to have me look at you after you ask your question and have me ask, “Have you readthe musings?’ That way we can save our conversations for questions about chemistry.2. As you will learn, I don’t care that much for adults and animals, but I do like kids, and I havea bunch of them myself (six), including, Andrew, who just celebrated his second birthday,which means I will be in my late 60s before I can even hope he will be self sufficient and I willbe free to do as I please. In the pictureyou can see the current wife, four kids,and the results of Austin’s greatestsnowstorm in the last quarter century—literally a quarter inch at the higherelevations.3. Electronic Text Book. I choose touse an electronic text book that thevast majority of you now own for theyear. Associated with the e-book issomething called a ChemPortal forclass management and within it aDynamicBook. Over the next coupleof weeks I will roll out variousfeatures of the book including for example:- Practice quizzes and problems for you to work in the portal.- Communication with you through e-mail, blogs and chat functions.- A modified textbook in which will be imbedded video of me talking about the material ora TA work a problem in the text (coming September 13th).4. Buy your portal NOW. I need to the entire class to purchase the portal as soon as possible sothat I can feel comfortable that I am effectively communication with you. I can’t make youpurchase it, but I also can’t be responsible if you don’t get the e-mails or practice quizzes andexams or worksheets……5. Course notes—On Thursday the NSC will be selling my course packet, tax free, as a one-time fundraiser for student scholarships. The 450 pages of material include the syllabus, my 25typed lectures, high school review materials, the twelve 2009 worksheets, and all of last year’squizzes and exams, with answer keys. The cost of the course packet is a tax free $25 (it wouldsell for about $50 with tax at the copy centers so this is a good deal). If you intend to buy thenotes, please have cash or a check ready after class. The NSC will conduct a quick and orderlysale and everyone should have their notes by 3:30. By the way, proceeds from selling thesenotes will go to 10 $1000 scholarships for UT students to be awarded this spring. 6. Mistakes. Now something you need to understand about your instructors at UT. Beingprofessors we are deeply flawed on many levels (which is why we never get real jobs andinstead continue to hang out on college campuses until we die.) Anyway, you are about toreceive 450 pages of notes and support materials that I produced, mostly in the dead of night.And you will also start receiving tons of new material in the way of worksheets and practicetests. If you think there aren’t a million mistakes, you are sadly mistaken. How could Ipossibly make mistakes?- I have fat fingers and can’t fit them on keyboards easily- Even if they could fit, I don’t know how to type anyway- I have fat fingers and can’t fit them on calculators easily- I don’t pay really close attention to stuff like freshman chemistry problemsAnd most important:- I don’t care.And by “I don’t care” I mean that I am simply incapable of checking my working—it runscontrary to my very being and has already kept me out of medical school so I am not going tochange just for you. For example, do you think I read over the 6 pages of typing for thesemusings looking for mistakes? No.What this means, then, is that by all means you should e-mail me with mistakes you find and Iwill do my best to correct them. It is easily the most important thing you can do to help theclass. And in the meantime, don’t waste time wondering why you can’t get the answer we got,when the reason is that you are right and we are wrong.8. Reviewing for this course. The vast majority of you passed your ALEKS Chemistry and arein great shape to begin the course. Good for you. But be aware that if you need to brush up onyour high school chemistry, there are several places to go, including the four lectures I haveposted in the notes as well as the Chemistry remediation web site.http://chemprep.cm.utexas.edu/Remember that I will not be discussing high school chemistry concepts in lecture, but thatdoesn’t mean that you can’t ask about them in discussion sessions and office hours.9. I am a great believer in actually studying to do well. Many people like to study in groups orat least around a TA or professor to get help. Doing so around people who can help explainthings would also be a good idea, so I provide about 20 different times to choose from eachweek to study in a formal environment. Because you are in college and I think you should dowhat you want, these sessions are optional. Come, don’t come, it is up to you. But I find thatsetting aside a couple of these times to attend on a regular basis is a very nice idea. Here are thetimes available for you to choose. http://laude.cm.utexas.edu/courses/ch301/sessionsf10.html10. To help you discern the different study environments:- Office hours are intimate sessions that typically just a few people attend. They
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