August 1, 2002 - I'm back in the saddle again...

• Turns out that I was able to respond to your e-mails when I was away. I'm grading your projects today, tonight, and tomorrow. I'm going to hold onto them (to read them a second time and see how I can improve the learning activities). If you have something (i.e. pictures) in your reports that you want back just let me know.
• I'll post your final grades tomorrow.
• Shenanigans! There were two bogus (and one questionable) questions on some of your final exams. A thousand apologies. I will drop at least three questions from the maximum points allowed... so your score will be the number of questions you scored correctly divided by 59 (not 62).

July 24, 2002 - If you need to see me (in person) better do so on Thursday. I'm heading out of town (over the mountains and far away) and won't be back until Wednesday. Naturally, I hope to be "wired" at my hotel. If you don't hear anything from me for the next five days you'll know that I'm either having an incredibly great time or my Internet connection crashed. Things appear to be on automatic for the end of the course. On the 25th your final exam and course evaluation will pop-up on BlackBoard. You have a bunch on assignments (investigations) to turn in (on my office door). Give everything the once over tonight and give me an e-mail if you have any questions.

July 23, 2002 - Grades have been updated. Your lowest quiz and test grades have been dropped. Should you score a lower test or quiz in the future... then that will be dropped and your previously dropped grade will be thrown back into the mix. Extra credit will be added after the last test (Plants)

July 22, 2002 - Wow! Devon, Laura, & Joe just turned in their Urban Field Study report. Excellent job! I'm very impressed. The envelopes are on my door so you can begin turning in your reports.

July 18 (late), 2002 - Hi again... The following is FYI - I probably won't be arriving to the office until 12:30 tomorrow (Friday). 

July 18, 2002 - Hi folks. A few folks asked for their "tree numbers." Here's a list of the trees assigned to our class. Want to take the guess work out of identifying your tree? Here's how - 1. use my interactive key 2. when you think you know the name, e-mail me 3. I'll tell you if you're correct (if you're not - try again).

July 15, 2002 - Your updated grades (including grades from your Virtual Cardiology lab & the midterm) are now available on-line. Go to the grade page and follow the instructions.

July 13, 2002 - What a day... I've typed up your names with your tree number assignment. I have also finished (and posted) you quiz for tissues, spirometry, bones, and joint stuff we did in class (see BlackBoard). I graded the midterms. Class Average was 77%. I'll post the updated interims early next week.

July 12, 2002 - Ugh.... It's 7:30 PM and I'm still working on your lab for tomorrow. I'm going home and coming back in around 6:00 AM to finish. See you at 9:00 AM sharp.   (P.S. Nobody has asked... (and I appreciate that) but I suspect the lab will run like it did last semester... which means that we should be taking the midterm exam around 2:30 PM)

July 7, 2002 - Hope you had a safe July 4th. I spent most of my time in Gypsy Hill Park. The bands and the fireworks were fantastic! A number of students have made a request... Mr. Murray, isn't there something we can do in the arboretum for extra credit?  Well, as a matter of fact there is. Click here to learn about this one and only extra credit opportunity for the course. 

July 4, 2002 - Two things...

• On the major news networks the "science" story today involves the discovery that the fishing industry is selecting for smaller fish because they are only keeping the large ones. Conclusion, by continually removing the fish with genes coding for large size, they are causing directional selection in the population resulting in decreasing fish size. Sound familiar?
• I dropped off a list of your names at the Sherando gatehouse (see announcement below). I asked the guy in the gatehouse to tape it up near their window (since previous copies have a habit or wandering away). Again, play it safe and print out a copy of each and bring them along with all that other stuff you're printing out.

July 3, 2002 - About the Sherando trip. In order to get into the recreation area for free I'm sending a letter to the superintendent with a list of your names. I will drop this off at the gate house late tonight or sometime tomorrow. The management at Sherando has been allowing my students to get in for free for the last three years. I really value this arrangement so... be on your best behavior :-) Here's a copy (Microsoft WORD) of what I'm sending to Mr. Sims and the gatehouse (letter + list of names). Not a bad idea to print out a copy of each and take it along with you just in case some in the gate house misplaces the list.

July 2, 2002 - Everyone all settled in? Post those questions on BlackBoard's discussion board. Check here on a regular basis for updates and announcements. You're first big deadline is approaching. Check your schedule to see what all should be done by Friday.

June 25, 2002 - Two announcements:

• BIO 101 folks... Way to go! The average on the final was 83% I've calculated your final grades. You can find them on-line (grade page).
• BIO 102 folks... Your practice quiz has been posted on BlackBoard. Go take it! (You grizzled veterans from 101 don't need to worry about the practice quiz).

June 24, 2002 - BIO 101 folks... I'll start working on your final grades tonight. Hopefully I can post your grades (on-line) tomorrow morning.

• Biology 102 folks. How about introducing yourself on our BlackBoard discussion board (under Ask Mr. Murray)? Please give a general description of where you live (i.e. west end of Staunton) so you will be able to identify possible partners for a semester-ending field study. More on this field study later.
• Biology 102 folks. If you haven't taken BIO 101-60 with me then you'll want to take the Practice Quiz on BlackBoard. I'll make this quiz available on Tuesday or Wednesday. It's a low-stress introduction on how quizzes and tests work on BlackBoard.
• Biology 102 folks. The Biology 101 folks that aren't taking Biology 102 are asking that I let you know that they will be posting 4-sale signs on bulletin boards around campus for CDs and lab manuals. Please note - I'm out of the loop! It's between you, them, and Thinkwell (i.e. this brings up some interesting questions... what about passwords? how about that access code?  how many times can the CDs be loaded? was that really Elvis Presley that I saw in Wal-Mart last Saturday?)

June 21, 2002 - BIO 101 folks... you should be finishing your molecular biology test (deadline is today), completing the end-of-the-course evaluation (posted on BlackBoard) and taking your final exams (seed June 19 announcement).

• Biology 102 folks. Welcome. I'm still finishing up BIO 101 but I'm starting to get things ready for you. I will make the BlackBoard portion of the course "hot" starting Monday. Please read my FAQ page, syllabus, and schedule.

June 20, 2002 - Please complete the on-line evaluation of me and the course. A link should appear very shortly on the opening BlackBoard page ("Assignments"). Sure would appreciate it. Thanks. Later today I will post your updated interim grades.