Spring 1997
The Impact of Electronic Publishing (3)
Kenneth Joy (Computer Science, 752-1077, joy@cs.ucdavis.edu)
The greatest revolution in the dissemination of knowledge since the development of the printing press is now upon us. The publishing industries of the world are (reluctantly) ready to move from the traditional printing methods of the past 100 years to those described as electronic publishing. As we move, there will be major upheavals throughout the chain of publishing: authors, editors, typesetters, printers, distribution agencies including the postal services, booksellers, subscription agents, librarians, teachers, researchers and students will all be dramatically affected. We will study the effects of this revolution and how society must change because of it.

Television's Influence on American Culture: For Better or For Worse? (3)
Maureen McMahon (Education, 754-9442, mmmcmahon@ucdavis.edu)
Television has gone through many changes since its first appearance in American living rooms 45-50 years ago. Black and white TV sets gave way to color, tubes to solid-state, and screen dimensions grew and grew. Through these years and changes, television has become a mainstay in American homes. What effects and influences has this media box had on our lives? Has television's presence influenced American culture for better or worse? Should we, as Americans, be elated or concerned? Some issues which may arise while exploring this topic include: television programming and funding, television rating systems, Public Broadcasting, television's roles as entertainer, educator and baby sitter, television's role in the lives of children, and television and the news media.


The Yangtze River Dam Project (3)
Debbie Niemeier (Civil & Environmental Engineering, 752-8918, dniemeier@ucdavis.edu)
In 1992, the China's National People's Congress gave the go-ahead for the world's largest hydroelectric project, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. Construction costs for the dam are estimated at $20 billion dollars. The 185 meter dam will require flooding of 600 kilometers of river valley and displace approximately a million people. The project has three goals: to prevent flooding, to improve navigation and to generate power. Opposition to the dam has focused on the loss of 19 towns and 24,000 hectares of arable land. There have also been doubts raised about the ability of China's engineers to carry out the massive undertaking without creating substantial environmental impact. The dam proponents argue that the dam will provide critically needed energy for China's inland central-southern region, opening up this backward area for economic development. The purpose of this seminar is to examine the issues associated with the dam construction, both pro and con, from various perspectives (engineering, energy, archaeological, social, etc.). A position paper will be developed on the "efficiency" of dam construction given the current state of knowledge.

Dealing with AIDS Victims in the Next Decade (3)
Arnold Sillman (Neurology, Physiology & Behavior, 752-7602, ajsillman@ucdavis.edu)
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is certainly the most important health problem to develop over the last decade. The full impact and scope of AIDS is just now becoming apparent as the disease spreads through Africa and Asia. Within our own culture the emergence of AIDS has forced important changes in some of our most basic behaviors. It is paradoxical that AIDS has been decisive on the one hand and unifying on the other. As an epidemic, AIDS has many of the same characteristics as other important plagues of the past, yet is relatively unique in other characteristics. As a disease, AIDS has proven extremely challenging to both research scientists and physicians, but the impetus to conquer it has led to a far better understanding of both human and viral biology. In this seminar we will study AIDS from multiple perspectives to gain insight into its biology, social influences, political aspects and economic consequences. We will do this from an historical standpoint with the intent of making reasoned predictions of how the disease will be dealt with in the decade to come.

Science and Pseudo-Science (3)
Rob Twiss (Geology, 752-1860, twiss@geology.ucdavis.edu)
The question this seminar will address is, 'What is science, what is not science, and how can you tell the difference?' The aim is to provide a basis for evaluating purportedly scientific claims, explanations, and arguments that are continually presented to us in the communications media, and that are important in evaluating public policy and understanding the world around us. Topics we will look at include characteristics and examples of scientifically accepted theories, characteristics and examples of 'pathological' science and pseudo science, examples of rejected hypotheses that subsequently became scientifically accepted, and evaluations of various scientific topics as presented in the media.


Water Problems in the Salinas Valley (3)
Stephen Whitaker (Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, 752-8775, sfwhitaker@ucdavis.edu)
In a global sense, the amount of water on the earth has not changed perceptibly in the last million years, thus it is inherently conserved. Given that water is inherently conserved, the admonition that "You should conserve water" must have some other meaning. What is this other meaning? Is this meaning different for politicians than it is for environmentalists? Is it different for farmers than it is for ranchers? Is it possible that "conservation of water" meant something different in 1896 than it does in 1996? If water is inherently conserved in the global sense, does this mean that it is also conserved in the local sense? Are there spatial scales associated with "conservation of water"? Are there characteristic times associated with "conservation of water"? Are these spatial scales and characteristic times different for politicians, economists, families, floods, droughts, rivers, groundwater flows, and communities? What do we mean by global, local, and characteristic time? In this seminar we will try to answer some of these questions by forming four study groups that will concentrate on the following areas of concern: 1) hydrology and geology, 2) agriculture and economics, 3) politics and the environment, 4) history. Members of each group will be expected to participate in the preparation of a group report dealing with their area of study, and each group will be expected to create a report that can be integrated into a paper dealing with the water problems of the Salinas valley. The course will begin with a field trip that will take us from Paso Robles, where water is plentiful and the vineyards are profitable, to the mouth of the Salinas river where salt water intrusion threatens the productivity of land that has been farmed for a century.

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Winter 1997
Vietnam: The Way We Were...The Way We Are (3)
Louis Grivetti (Nutrition, 752-2078, legrivetti@ucdavis.edu)
This seminar will explore a basic question: Why does the Vietnamese-American War that concluded in 1975 continue to haunt Americans in 1997? We will also examine a range of secondary questions, among them: what was the nature and essence of the conflict; was this war different from others fought this century? Could the Vietnamese-American War have been won by South Viet Nam and the United States? What impact, if any, did television coverage of the Tet Offensive have on extending or shortening the war? What are the results of the war on ecological and environmental change; poverty and suffering; health- and nutrition-related problems of civilians and combatants? Seminar participants will meet and interview veterans, medical support staff, former prisoners of war, participants in the peace movement, and members of the Vietnamese-American Diaspora. Readings will include a diversity of views on the War that reflect a broad range of political perspectives. Seminar participants will work in teams of four on topics that complement the panel discussions. During week eight participants will join with Viet Nam veterans, civilians, medical support staff, and members of the northern California Vietnamese-American community in an evening of contemplation, memory, and reflection at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Capitol Mall, Sacramento.

Education: A Right, A Duty, or A Privilege? (3)
Alfred Heusner (Vet Medicine, 752-1174, aaheusner@ucdavis.edu)
The functioning of a democratic society is based on the participation of its members in finding solutions to complex issues (economy, environment, defense). This requires that the citizens are honestly informed by the government and have an educational background enabling them to understand and analyze the issues and make judgments. Education is therefore a prerequisite for a democratic society. What is then the government's role in assuring the citizen's education (citizen's right)? What is the citizen's responsibility to get educated (citizen's duty)? What is the parents' role (citizen's privilege)? In this seminar series we will investigate how western democracies have solved these problems. In particular, we will compile statistics on education in various democracies (money spent on education, number of people with graduate and post graduate education, rate of illiteracy, etc) and compare these data to the economic rank and standard of living of the country. This exploration involves the use of the Internet and library searches.

Physician-Assisted Suicide (3)
Carole Joffe (Sociology, 752-7747, cejoffe@ucdavis.edu)
This seminar will discuss the issue of physician-assisted suicide from a philosophical, medical, legal and cultural perspective. We will discuss the arguments put forth by medical ethicists and others on the reasons for and against such a practice. We will review the current legal status of the issue, especially the two cases that are now before the Supreme Court. We will also discuss the turmoil within the medical profession as to how to respond to this issue; where appropriate, parallels to the abortion situation will be made, especially with respect to physician willingness to engage in such a socially-contested practice. Students are urged to come to this seminar with an open mind about the desirability of legally sanctioned physician-assisted suicide and with a willingness to fully explore all dimensions of this fascinating and difficult issue.

China & Cuba - Thorns in America's Side (3)
Randolph Siverson (Political Science, 752-3078, rmsiverson@ucdavis.edu)
United States foreign policy has been troubled in its relations with China and Cuba, two remaining communist states. The goal of this seminar is to explore the roots of the differences that separate the US from these states, to grasp the nature of their participation in an increasingly democratic international system, and then to attempt to design and evaluate a scheme for bringing them into the system of states while also being attentive to the imperatives that drive the political systems of the respective states. Students are expected to be able to form concepts, use data in an elementary way, and make comparative judgments. Good writing skills will be important.

The Impact of Media Violence (3)
Carol Tomlinson-Keasey (Provost's Office (Psychology), 752-2072, caroltk@provomail.ucdavis.edu)
Violence in our society is a continuing issue. This seminar will explore the impact of media violence on individual's violent acts. Issues that might be considered are television violence, including cartoons, news, and explicit violence on shows, radio violence, including talk shows, violence as reported by newspapers, and violence in the movies. After examining the kinds of violence that exist, we will consider the ways in which that violence impacts individuals, considering psychological or individual vulnerabilities to violence, age as a factor in vulnerability, copycat violence, the issue of whether or not violence in the media is reinforces or punished. A third area will be consideration of responsible actions that a society might embrace, given the data that we find on the impact or lack of impact of media violence. Here we will consider freedom of speech issues, parental rights and responsibilities, the responsibility of the media, and the role of the government.

Student PagesLessons Learned From the Floods of January 1997 (3)
Kenneth Verosub (Geology; DHC, 752-6911; 754-4098, verosub@geology.ucdavis.edu)
Early in January 1997, warm, rain-laden storms soaked northern and central Califonia, melting the snowpack and pushing the flows of rivers and streams to record levels. Reservoirs filled rapidly requiring emergency releases of water. This water put additional pressure on the five thousand miles of levees in the Great Valley. As levee after levee failed, nine people died, thousands of homes were flooded and hundreds of thousands of people were temporarily evacuated. Total damage estimates approach $2 billion. The goal of this seminar is to determine, almost in real time, what happened, why it happened and what we can learn from it. Participants in the seminar will gather and evaluate data from a variety of sources and will use this data to build a Website about the flooding. They will then identify and investigate key questions raised by the flooding and by the governmental and public response to it. The final product will be a report that deals with the lessons learned from this historic event.

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