INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL MEETING REPORT

    Full credit will only be given for a report on an environmental meeting or agenda.  If you wait until the end of the semester and have to go to a city council meeting, points will be deducted.  Points will be awarded as follows: up to 2 points for cover page, up to 5 points for length, and up to 13 points for content.  Points will be deducted for grammar and punctuation errors.

    Call your city to determine the time and location of a planning commission meeting.  It is preferable that you attend a meeting for your own city, but if that is not convenient, call cities nearby.  Phone numbers are found in the front of the White pages of your telephone directory.  Attend the meeting.  Stay for about two hours (if it lasts that long).

    If you cannot attend any planning meeting there are other alternatives.  The California Coastal Commission will be meeting for 4 days, typically between Nov. 1 - 4 in southern California near LAX.  They typically meet between 9 AM and 4 PM.  Their web page has linkages to public meetings.  Their web page is www.coastal.ca.gov. 

    Other environmental meetings may also be scheduled that can be used.  Notice of these will be given in class as I find out about them.  Do not wait to learn about the meetings.  Start looking for them at the beginning of the semester.

    After attending the meeting, write a two to three page report about what happened.  If you go to a planning commission meeting, several proposals will probably be discussed.  Describe each proposal, relate any discussion of pros and cons, and tell about the decision made by the commission.  If they do not make a decision and hold it over for a future meeting, just say so.  Other types of meetings may be handled differently, since only one proposal may be debated.

    The paper should be typed, double-spaced, with a cover sheet.  All pages should be stapled together.  Do not put the report in a plastic folder.  On a cover sheet, make sure that you have your name, the day of class meeting, a title and the date.  Reports will be graded on content, style and grammar.

    This is a required report.  The due date is the last week of lecture, the 17th week of class.  The possible points are shown in the syllabus.  If not turned in, not only will you lose the opportunity to earn those points but 2% of the total points you earn in the class will be deducted from your total class average and I will not award any extra credit field trip points that you may have earned.  In other words, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT.