Announcements
Last revised: Tuesday, May 6, 2003
Final Exam and Review
- The final exam is scheduled for Monday May 12, 1-3 p.m. in TLS 154. Format will be idenctical to previous exams.
- Instructors are prohibited from initiating special arrangements for students to take the final exam at another time. Any request for taking the final exam outside its scheduled time must be made to the Dean's Office. Only if the instructor receives written permission from the Dean's Office may alternate arrangements be considered.
- There will be no need for early start time on the Final exam, so we will begin at 1 p.m. You will have up to one hour for the individual part of the exam, at which time we will administer the group exam for all students.
- The final exam is not cumulative, it covers material since exam #2.
- There will be a review session on Thursday, May 8, at 11 a.m. in TLS 154. Dr. Terry will be available to answer any questions you may have.
May 5, 2003
Honors Presentations Wed. May 7
- Students taking MCB 229 for Honors credit will meet for the final time at 10 a.m. on Wed. May 7 in the Kresge Library, 263 TLS
- Each team should plan for a 10 minute presentation, including some sort of poster display. Both members of the team should take part in explaining their results.
- If anyone has not yet filed their paperwork for honors conversion, please bring it to the meeting.
May 5, 2003
Summer Research
Opportunity
- Dr. Barth Smets is looking for motivated student(s) to assist in environmental biotechnology research.
- Possible research topics include rhizoremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, microbial gene transfer, microbial biofilms, bioremediation of explosives, pharmaceutical transformation
- Earn money while learning about environmental microbiology, plant root/bacteria interactions, environmental organic chemistry, bioreactors, and molecular biology. And gain valuable experience in contemporary laboratory techniques!!
- For more information contact:
Prof. Barth F. Smets
F. L. Castleman Building Room 310
Phone: 486-2270
Email: bsmets@engr.uconn.ed
May 5, 2003
Various Topics
- The final deadline for the Laboratory Report on the "Bacterial Scavenger Hunt" is extended to noon on Friday, May 2. Reports must be turned in to any of the TAs, or to the media room, TSL 211, not later than 12:00 p.m. on May 2 to be graded.
- Final deadline for all other lab reports is Tuesday, May 6 (last day of classes). Bring them to lecture, or turn them in to the media room, TSL 211, not later than 10:00 a.m. Materials not received by this deadline will not be graded and will count as zero.
- If you want to download your own copy of the Disease Worksheet that I handed out in class on Thurs. April 24, it is available as an RTF file that should work with any word-processing program.
April 24, 2003
Extra Credit Topic #3 is posted; Deadline extended
- See the extra credit web page for information. The topic is "Emerging Diseases", an especially timely topic now that SARS is front page news every few days.
- Deadline is extended until Tuesday, May 6 (last day of classes).
April 21, 2003
Grade Update is posted
- Includes all makeup exam scores and any corrections to scores for exams 1 and 2, as well as both extra credit paper scores.
April 21, 2003
MCB Career Day on Friday, May 2
- Molecular and Cell Biology & the Center for Applied Genetics and Technologywill be hosting CAREER DAY for our graduate students and MCB Majors
-
Date: Friday, May 2nd from 1:00 4:00 p.m. in the Biology/Physics Building Room 131
-
Details: The format for Career Day will be somewhat casual, offering our graduate students and undergraduate majors an opportunity to speak with representatives from industry about career opportunities in the world of science outside of academia.
-
Representatives from the Connecticut State Police Forensic Science Laboratory, AstraZeneca, Law offices of Wiggin & Dana, Merck & Co., and CuraGen Corporation will join us for an afternoon beginning with welcoming remarks and brief introductions to careers in industry. Following the introductions, students will assemble into smaller groups and talk with representatives about current activities and future directions in research in the industrial arena.
-
If you are unable to attend for the duration, please do stop in for a shorter prior and participate in this important event for our students.
April 14, 2003
What happens to our exam if snow causes UConn to cancel or delay classes on Tuesday morning, April 8?
- If UConn officially cancels 8 a.m. classes, we'll have the exam Thursday April 10 instead of Tuesday April 8, same ground rules.
- If UConn does not cancel classes, the exam will be held as scheduled on Tuesday morning, April 8.
- Check the UConn "Emergency Closing Information" web page for latest information, or call 24 hour emergency closing information line: (860) 486-3768.
April 7, 2003
Review for Exam #2, Monday April 7
- Time: 3:00-3:50 p.m. Room will probably be TLS 154. If not, there will be a sign indicating other room.
March 31, 2003
Exam #2, Tuesday April 8
- The exam will start officially at 8 a.m. You will have 40 minutes to complete the individual part of the exam. Then you will get together with the groups that have already been formed and retake the same exam in your group -- this should not take more than 30 minutes.
- I will be here at 7:40 a.m. -- anyone who wants some extra time is welcome to arrive as early as 7:40. By all means be here by 8 a.m.
- Exam coverage will include relevant material from Chapters 8-15 (see lecture notes and study guides 4-6), as well as relevant material from Ch. 17. Review material from metabolism that was presented prior to exam 1 -- I did not ask many questions about this material on exam 1, and will include at least a few questions that involve your ability to distinguish features of fermentation, aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
- I will post a practice exam with questions typical of what you might expect. These include multiple-choice, true-false, and short-long answer.
March 31, 2003
Make-up lab practical Friday, March 28
- Preston Garcia will be administering a make-up lab practical this Friday, March 28, at 1:00 pm in TLS 209
- This make-up is for students who missed the lab practical before spring break and have permission from their TAs to take it. If this situation applies to you but you have not yet contacted your TA, please do so today! Use website laboratory page to find out your TA's e-mail address. To be safe, contact both of them. Print out TA reply to serve as your lab pass to take the makeup.
March 26, 2003
Second extra credit assignment posted
- The topic for the second extra credit assignment is "Applications of Microbial Genetics"
- Papers are due April 1, 2003.
March 12, 2003
Grading Progress
- I've finished scoring all the answer sheets. As soon as time permits, I'll get this data entered into my spreadsheet and crunch the numbers.
- I hope to be able to post grades by Tuesday afternoon, March 4.
March 3, 2003
Reminder: Extra Credit Paper #1 due March 6
- The topic is "Microbes and extreme enviroments". See relevant web page for more details.
- I strongly recommend picking something very specific -- don't write a review paper on the whole topic! Focus on one or a few organisms and you'll find it much easier to write this paper.
March 3, 2003
Laboratory Schedule for week of March 3-5
- The laboratory activities for this week were not printed in the pink handout listing laboratory activities -- they are correctly listed at our web page. Here they are:
- Follow-up: Inoculate media to identify unknown cultures (p. 86 steps 5-6). Prepare slides and examine isolated unknowns by gram stain, and spore stain if appropriate.
- Control of Microbial Growth (pp. 57-66). Follow PERIOD I procedures for all 3 activities (pp. 58-60).
February 27, 2003
Summer Research Scholarships at Wesleyan University
-
Wesleyan University Hughes Summer Outreach Program announces
Summer Research Scholarships
for College undergraduates to perform research in the Life
Science at Wesleyan University.
- APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 14, 2003 [Note: updated from earlier information]
- Research opportunities include:
- Biochemistry and Biophysics
- Cell and Developmental Biology
- Ecology and Evolution
- Molecular Biology and Genetics
- Neurosciences and Behavior
- Summer Program: June 2, 2003 through August 8, 2003
- Stipend: $3,200
- To apply: send an email request to msnow@wesleyan.edu or
call Ms. M. Snow at 1-860-685-2409 or after February 1,
2003, download application materials from their web site:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/hughes/whso03form.htm.
Applications should include your name, address,
institutional affiliation, class and major, phone number,
email address, citizenship, and social security number and
be mailed to Hughes Summer Outreach Program, MDB&B
Department, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459.
Include a statement that describes any previous research
experience and an explanation of how the proposed summer
research experience relates to your academic and
professional goals. Please arrange for a current transcript
and two letters of recommendation from faculty to be sent to
the above address.
- The scholarship program encourages applications from
students from groups underrepresented in the sciences,
including minorities and women. The scholarship is limited
to students who are currently enrolled in undergraduate
colleges or universities within the state of Connecticut.
For further information, please see their web site:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/hughes.
February 25, 2003
Exam next Tuesday
- The exam will start officially at 8 a.m. You will have 40 minutes to complete the individual part of the exam. Then you will get together with the groups that have already been formed and retake the same exam in your group -- this should not take more than 30 minutes.
- I will be here at 7:40 a.m. -- anyone who wants some extra time is welcome to arrive as early as 7:40. By all means be here by 8 a.m.
- What's on the exam? Everything covered in lecture through Thursday, Feb. 20, and relevant text reading.
- I've posted a practice exam with questions typical of what you can expect. These include multiple-choice, true-false, and short-long answer.
February 18, 2003
Dealing with snow cancellations
- UConn postponed classes today, Tuesday Feb. 18, until 10 a.m. Lab section 02, that normally begins at 9:30 a.m., will begin at 10 a.m. instead.
- Classes meeting after noon yesterday, Monday Feb. 17, were cancelled. Students in lab section 01 should attend one of the remaining lab sections today or tomorrow. We will do our best to squeeze you in, but we cannot exceed 30 students under any circumstances. Here are the lab times and available seats. There is no convenient way to preassign you, so just go to a lab that matches your schedule. If space runs out, we'll have to ask you to try for a later section.
| Section |
Day |
Time |
Available seats |
| 02 |
Tuesday |
10-noon |
6 |
| 03 |
Tuesday |
12:30-3 |
6 |
| 04 |
Tuesday |
3:30-6 |
12 |
| 05 |
Wednesday |
1-3:30 |
10 |
| 06 |
Wednesday |
6:30-9 |
8 |
February 18, 2003
Time of Lab Section 06 had to be changed to 6:30-9 p.m. on Wednesday
All of the Teaching Assistants assigned to this course had schedule conflicts with the 4:30-6 p.m. time originally assigned to section 06L. It is impossible for us to staff a lab at that time. The only option we had, aside from cancelling the section altogether, was to move it to a later time on the same day. Effective immediately, section 06L will meet from 6:30-9 p.m. on Wednesday, and not from 4:30-6 as originally scheduled.
We apologize for the inconvenience. If you are registered in section 06L and your schedule makes it absolutely impossible (not merely inconvenient) to attend at this revised time, send Prof. Terry your schedule immediately and he will try to squeeze you into a lab section that matches with your schedule.
If you are not in section 06, but would prefer to transfer into that time, I will try to accommodate you. Let me know as soon as possible.
January 24, 2003
Student Management Team Chosen
Thanks to all of you who applied. I've selected the following individuals to represent the class this semester. We'll meet each Thursday immediately after class.
- David Goshdigian
- Ilea Khan
- Richard Lee
- Melissa Mueller
- John Schipul
January 27, 2003
No Labs until Monday, Jan. 27. No section 007L.
Note that an earlier scheduled lab section 007 (Wed. evening) was closed due to low enrollment. E-mails were sent to the 3 registered students, advising that they enroll in a different section. If you are one of those students and have not yet re-registered, please do so asap.
January 16, 2003
Volunteers needed for Student Management Team
If you're interested in helping to contribute to the success of this class in the following ways:
- meeting for 10-15 minutes after each Thursday lecture
- acting as a representative for other students in the class, so the instructor is quickly and well informed about any problems, difficulties, or sources of confusion that you or other students experience
- assisting the instructor occcasionally when handouts need to be distributed or forms collected
- taking turns cleaning the board after class, so the instructor can efficiently deal with students that have questions
then I invite you apply for one of 4 positions as student team manager for this class. Please send me an e-mail , including:
- your name, intended major, and class standing (freshman, sophomore, etc.)
- your gender if it is not obvious from your name (I hope I will have both males and females on the team -- sometimes I can't tell from name alone where you belong!)
- whether you represent any special interest group (commuter, older returning student, working 20+ hours/week, etc.) -- I like my student management teams to reflect the diversity of the class
- a short paragraph explaining why you are interested in being on this team
I will select the team to best reflect the diversity and composition of the class. Thank you for applying, and my apologies in advance to those of you I cannot fit onto the team in case I have more applicants than spaces!
January 16, 2003
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