Short Assignments:  These assignments will be due by noon the day of class and the distance students are expected participate on that same schedule.  The assignments themselves will not be graded.  Rather you will be graded on your participation.  There will be short assignments for some, but not all sessions.

For Session 1, 1/12:  Interview 3 people (1 over 50, 1 a member of a different political party than you, and 1 who was born and raised in a foreign country or, if this is not possible, who has spent substantial time in a foreign country) about (a) burning the American Flag and (b) about boys and girls wrestling each other in high school sports programs.  You should ask them to express their views about the legality and morality of these issues and whether current laws or practices should be changed.  Please remain neutral during the interviews and summarize the views of the different people you interview in an e-mail to me.

For Session 2, 1/19:  After reading Chapter 39, interview an engineer or architect that practices in a firm (as opposed to one that practices in-house).  Ask the following:  Is this person or their firm concerned about increased liability?  Have they made any changes in the way they practice as a result of concerns about liability and, if so, what are some examples?  What kind of liability insurance do they have?  How difficult is it to get?  Is the cost increasing and, if so, by how much ($ or %)? Summarize what you find out in an e-mail to me.

For Session 3, 1/26:  After reading Chapter 7, do an internet search on the words "jury nullification" and review one or more web sites of your choice and express your views on the subject.  What, if any, constitutional issues do you see with regard to this issue? Send me an e-mail with a BRIEF summary of your views of the pros and cons of this issue

For Session 5, 2/9:  Please answer Question 11 at the end of Chapter 11 concerning a job offer to Rebecca in Honolulu. E-mail your conclusions to me.

Presentations:   As indicated in the Syllabus, a 20 minute presentation is required as part of this course. The Presentation is to be a 20 minute oral presentation to the class on a subject of your choice relating to the law or legal liability as it applies to engineers, managers or business.  I strongly encourage the use of illustrative tools such as overheads, graphics, power point, etc., rather than simply lecturing for 20 minutes.  The presentation may be on a court case, a statute or regulation, a process (i.e., accident investigations, creating employee handbooks, bidding a job, or some other similar process), or any other, similar subject or event of interest to you that will help to teach or illustrate application of principles we have learned or will learn in this course.  I find it is most interesting if you select something related to your vocation/profession or that is of interest to you.  I don't care if you "borrow" something you have been assigned from work or from another class but it must be your own work.  This assignment will constitute 20% of the grade for the semester and the grades are likely to be better for presentations that cover a narrow subject deeply rather than a broad subject shallowly.

IMPORTANT:  I do require that you touch base with me before you select your subject.  This is for several reasons.  First, we need to be sure the subject fits the above criteria.  Second, we need to be sure the subject is sufficiently narrow that you can adequately cover it within your allotted time.  Third, we need to be sure we don't have unnecessary duplication.  Failure to meet this requirement will result in significantly reduced credit for your presentation.

I would like to begin these presentations not later than the week of the March 30 and proceed at the rate of at least 2 a session thereafter.  Tape students should plan to complete this assignment and get their tapes or other recordings to me as early as possible so they can be played for the entire class before the end of live lectures.  Tape students may provide recordings of their presentations in pretty much any format but for other than VHS or DVD, please touch base with me so we can be sure we will have the right equipment available. If students have power point slides and wish to provide them separately I can post them on the class web site. If you have any questions about this assignment please contact me asap, preferably by e-mail .

Quizzes:  There is a quiz for each chapter at http://www.westbuslaw.com/beatty/essentials1e/quiz_frame.html  Although you are not  required to take quizzes for each chapter, I may require them for some chapters.  This is a good way for you to receive instant feedback on your understanding of the text material.