Information Technology & Global Conflict

COMM 5610/6610
Dr. Sean Lawson
Email: lawson.sean2005+ITGC@gmail.com
Phone: 801-585-7127

Class meets: M, W 8:05AM - 9:25AM, BEH 108

Office hours: by appointment

**Once you have read through this syllabus carefully, please go to http://bit.ly/
PKaJB and fill in the Syllabus Understanding and Agreement Form. YOU WILL NOT
BE ENTERED INTO THE GRADE SHEET FOR THE COURSE UNTIL YOU DO.**

Overview and Objectives

"Smart bombs," GPS, cruise missiles, space-based surveillance and communication systems,
unmanned aerial vehicles--all of these and more are the tools that have revolutionized the
conduct of warfare over the last fifty years. And all of them have been powered by
advancements in information and communication technologies (ICTs). In this course, we
will explore the role of ICTs in global conflict, from traditional forms of warfare to newer
forms of conflict such as "cyberwar" and "softwar." We will begin with a series of readings
and lectures aimed at helping you to think better about technology in general, both what it
is and how change in technology relates to society more generally, as well as the general
relationship between technology and warfare. Next, to provide historical perspective for our
discussion of technology and warfare in the Information Age, we will examine a number of
theories and technologies of Industrial Age warfare. We will see that the key technologies
of the "information revolution"--i.e. the digital computer and the Internet--were themselves
products of World War II, and later Cold War, military research. We will then explore the
way that these technologies were being incorporated into a whole new generation of military
systems in the 1970s and 1980s, so much so that more than any other activity, the very
conduct of warfare came to be seen as an exercise in the collection and communication of
information. Beyond the conduct of traditional warfare by traditional military forces, we will
examine the way that new ICTs have shaped the conduct of terrorism and counterterrorism,
the collection and analysis of intelligence, theories of international relations in the
Information Age, as well as the emergence of new forms of conflict such as "cyberwar" and
"softwar." Finally, we will end by examining recent military use of two particular new media
technologies, blogs and videogames.

Course Objectives

This course has a three main objectives:

1. For students to become knowledgeable about the the various ways that the conduct
of warfare in particular, and global conflict more generally, have shaped the
development of information and communication technologies;
2. For students to become knowledgeable about the various ways that the conduct of
warfare in particular, and global conflict more generally, have been shaped by the
development of information and communication technologies; and
 3. For students to hone their research, writing, and analytical skills by participating in
a real-world, "open source intelligence" research project.

Required Readings

There are no required books to purchase!

All readings will be available as electronic documents via WebCT or elsewhere on the Web.
Unless otherwise noted, all readings are available in WebCT, in a folder labeled with the
corresponding week number. Readings available somewhere other than WebCT with have a
hyperlink to a publicly available document on the Internet.

Readings should be completed prior to the Monday class session each week. Some weeks
have more reading than others, so be aware and plan ahead. In general, you are
responsible for completing all of the assigned reading each week. I do understand that in
some weeks it may not be possible for you to get through all of it. In those cases, you
should push yourself to do as much as possible so that you can still make an informed and
valuable contribution to class discussions both online and in class.

Assignments & Grading

Class Participation = 20%

You are expected both to attend all scheduled class sessions each week and to participate
when you are in class. Of course, you cannot participate if you are not in class. Thus,
attendance will be taken at the beginning of each scheduled class session. You will be
allowed two (2) absences, for whatever reason, for the semester.

Cyberwar Threat Assessment Project = 80%

Each student will participate as a "Junior Investigator" (JI) in a large-scale, "Cyberwar

Threat Assessment Project" (CTAP) led and coordinated by the instructor in the role of
"Principle Investigator" (PI). Each JI will use a standard methodology to investigate and
analyze an incident of "cyberattack" occuring within the last two years. The collection of
individual "Incident Assessment Reports" (IARs) produced by JIs will be used by the PI to
produce an overall "Cyberwar Threat Assessment," which will be made available on the
Internet as a product of the "ITGC Research Group."

Performance of JIs will be evaluated on the following basis:

• Planning and Direction Work Product: 10%

• Collection Work Product: 10%
• Data Processing Work Product: 10%
• Data Analysis Work Product: 10%
• Dissemination Work Products:
◦ Incident Assessment Report: 50%
◦ Incident Briefing: 10%

More details about the project, its procedures, terminology, and work products are provided
in WebCT.
Weekly Schedule

In general, Monday class sessions will be devoted to lecture while Wednesday sessions will
be devoted to in-class discussion of the week's readings and/or coordination and work on
the course research project. There will be some exceptions to this general pattern,
however. They are noted in the schedule below.

Week 1 (8/24 & 8/26) - Intro to course

8/24 - Intro to course - Topic, assignments, expectations, etc.

8/26 - Background Brief - Cyberwar Assessment Project

Readings:
• Chpt 1, "Gulf War--Infowar," in Dorothy E. Denning, Information Warfare and
Security, 1st ed. (Addison-Wesley Professional, 1998).
• Drapeau, M. & L. Wells II (2009) Social Software and National Security: An Initial
Net Assessment (Washington, D.C.: National Defense University).
• Fitsanakis, Joseph & Ian Allen (2009) 'Cell Wars: The Changing Landscape of
Communications Intelligence', RIEAS Research Paper 131.

Week 2 (8/31 & 9/2) - Thinking about Technology and War

Readings:
• "The Nature of Technology," in R. Volti, Society and technological change. New
York: St (Martin's Press, 1995).
• Marx, Leo (1997) 'Technology: The Emergence of a Dangerous Concept', Social
Research 64(3): 965-88.
• Hughes, "Technological Momentum," in Merritt Roe Smith and Leo Marx, Does
Technology Drive History?: The Dilemma of Technological Determinism (MIT Press,
1994).
• "Introduction" and "Conclusions: The Logic of Technology and War," in Van Creveld,
Martin L. Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to the Present. New York: Free
Press, 1991.

Recommended:
• Law, "Technology and Heterogeneous Engineering: The Case of Portuguese
Expansion," in Wiebe Bijker, Thomas P. Hughes, and Trevor Pinch, The Social
Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History
of Technology (The MIT Press, 1989).
• Marx, Leo (1994) 'The Idea of 'Technology' and Postmodern Pessimism', in Merritt
Roe Smith & Leo Marx (eds), Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of
Technological Determinism (Cambridge: MIT Press): 237-58.

Week 3 (9/9) - Industrial-Mechanized Warfare

Readings: (Choose one sub-topic to read about)

Professionalization & Organizational Change

• Hacker, Barton C. "Engineering a New Order: Military Institutions, Technical
Education, and the Rise of the Industrial State." Technology and Culture 34, 1
(1993): 1-27;
 • "The Rise of Professionalism," in Van Creveld, Martin L. Technology and War: From
2000 B.C. to the Present. New York: Free Press, 1991.
• Bien, David D. "Military Education in 18th Century France; Technical and Non-
technical Determinants." In Science, Technology, and War: The Proceedings of the
Third Military History Symposium, edited by Lt. Col. Monte Wright and Lawrence
Paszek, 51-59. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969.

Recommended:
◦ Hughes, Thomas P. "A Commentary on Bien's 'Military Education in 18th
Century France; Technical and Non-technical Determinants'." In Science,
Technology, and War: The Proceedings of the Third Military History
Symposium, edited by Lt. Col. Monte Wright and Lawrence Paszek, 69-74.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969.
◦ Shy, John. "Western Military Education, 1700-1850, a Commentary on
Bien's 'Military Education in 18th Century France; Technical and Non-
technical Determinants'." In Science, Technology, and War: The Proceedings
of the Third Military History Symposium, edited by Lt. Col. Monte Wright and
Lawrence Paszek, 60-68. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1969.

War on Land
• Hacker, Barton C. "Imaginations in Thrall: The Social Psychology of Military
Mechanization, 1919-1939." Parameters 12 (1982): 50-61.
• "Land Warfare," in Van Creveld, Martin L. Technology and War: From 2000 B.C. to
the Present. New York: Free Press, 1991.
• "The Future of Land Warfare," in Fuller, J.F.C. The Reformation of War. New York:
E.P. Dutton and Company, 1923.

War in the Air

• "Command of the Air," in Van Creveld, Martin L. Technology and War: From 2000
B.C. to the Present. New York: Free Press, 1991.
• "Some Principles of Air Warfare" and "Bombardment Aviation" in Sherman, William
C. Air Warfare. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1926.
• Hart, B.H. Liddell. Paris; or The Future of War. New York: E.P. Dutton & Company,
1925.

Assignments:
• 9/9 - Planning and Direction Work Product due.

Week 4 (9/14 & 9/16) - Warfare, Cybernetics, and Computers: WWII to Vietnam

Readings:

• Peter Galison, "The Ontology of the Enemy: Norbert Wiener and the Cybernetic
Vision," Critical Inquiry 21, no. 1 (Autumn 1994): 228-266.
• Chpt 2, "MIT as System Builder: SAGE," and Chpt 6, "Networking: ARPANET," in
Thomas P. Hughes, Rescuing Prometheus: Four Monumental Projects That Changed
the Modern World, Reprint. (Vintage, 2000).

Recommended:
• "WWMCCS: Worldwide Military Command and Control System" from
GlobalSecurity.org (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/wwmccs.htm)
• Pearson, David E. "Organization, Technology and Ideology in Worldwide Command
and Control." Defense Analysis 15, no. 2 (1999): 197-214.
Week 5 (9/21 & 9/23) - From Igloo White to OODA Loops: Informatic Warfare in
the 1970s & 1980s

Readings:

• Correll, John T. "Igloo White." Air Force Magazine. November 2004, 56-61;
http://www.afa.org/magazine/Nov2004/1104igloo.asp
• Chpt 4, "Military Innovation in the Shadow of Vietnam: The Offset Strategy," in
Tomes, Robert R. U.S. Defense Strategy from Vietnam to Operation Iraqi Freedom:
Military Innovation and the New American Way of War, 1973-2003. London:
Routledge, 2007.
• William Perry, "Perry on Precision Strike," Air Force Magazine 80, no. 4,
http://www.afa.org/magazine/April1997/0497perry.asp.
• Grant T Hammond, The Essential Boyd, 2000.
• Romjue, John L. "The Evolution of the Airland Battle Concept." Air University
Review, May-June (1984); http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/
aureview/1984/may-jun/romjue.html

Week 6 (9/28 & 9/30) - From RMA to NCW: The 1990s & Beyond

Readings:

• Part I and II (pgs 1-10) of Andrew F Krepinevich Jr. , The Military-Technical

Revolution: A Preliminary Assessment (Washington, D.C.: Office of Net Assessment,
Department of Defense, 1992).
• Chpts 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 in Alvin Toffler and Heidi Toffler, War and Anti-War: Survival
at the Dawn of the 21st Century (Diane Pub Co, 1993).
• Joint Vision 2010, Washington D.C.: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1996.
• Arthur K Cebrowski and John J Garstka, "Network-Centric Warfare: Its Origin and
Future," Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, no. January (1998).

Assignments:

• 9/30 - Collection Work Product due.

Week 7 (10/5 & 10/7) - International Relations in the Information Age

Readings:

• Joseph Nye, Jr. and William Owens, "America's Information Edge," Foreign Affairs,
no. March/April (1996).
• "Summary" in John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, The Emergence of Noopolitik:
Toward an American Information Strategy (Santa Monica: RAND Corporation,
1999), http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1033/MR1033.sum.pdf
• Thomas Barnett, "The Pentagon's New Map," Esquire, March 1, 2003,
http://www.esquire.com/ESQ0303-MAR_WARPRIMER.
• Thomas Barnett and Arthur Cebrowski, "The American Way of War," Transformation
Trends, January 13, 2002.
• Thomas Barnett and Henry Gaffney, Jr., "The Global Transaction Strategy,"
Transformation Trends, December 16, 2002.

Week 8 (10/12 & 10/14) CLASS CANCELED

Fall break!!

Week 9 (10/19 & 10/21) - Challenging RMA and NCW

Readings:

• Gregory Witol, "International Relations in a Digital World, in Alan D. Campen and

Douglas H. Dearth, Cyberwar 2.0: Myths, Mysteries & Reality (AFCEA International
Press, 1998).
• Charles Perrow, "Difficulties with Network Centric Warfare," in Jacques S. Gansler,
Information Assurance: Trends in Vulnerabilities, Threats, and Technologies
(National Defense University (NDU), 2004); http://www.ndu.edu/CTNSP/
IAverMay03.pdf
• Charles Dunlap, Jr, "How We Lost the Hi-Tech War of 2007," The Weekly Standard,
January 29, 1996, http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/
000/001/569nzbrd.asp.
• Charles Dunlap, Jr, "Sometimes the Dragon Wins: A Persective on Information-Age
Warfare," http://www.afcea.org.ar/publicaciones/dunlap.htm.
• William Lind et al., "The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation," Marine
Corps Gazette, no. October (1989): 22-26; http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/
4th_gen_war_gazette.htm
• Conclusion in John Keegan, Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from
Napoleon to Al-Qaeda (Knopf Group E-Books, 2003).

Week 10 (10/26) - Terrorism/Counter-terrorism

Readings:

• Michele Zanini and Sean Edwards, "The Networking of Terror in the Information
Age," in Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy (RAND
Corporation, 2002), 29-60; http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/
MR1382/MR1382.ch2.pdf
• Timothy Thomas, "Al Qaeda and the Internet: The Dange of 'Cyberplanning',"
Parameters, no. Spring (2003): 112-123; http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/
Parameters/03spring/thomas.pdf
• 'Al-Qaeda Online: Understanding Jihadist Internet Infrastructure', Janes Intelligence
Review (2 December 2005).
• 304th MI Bn OSINT Team. 'Sample Overview: Al Qaida-Like Mobile Discussions &
Potential Creative Uses', 304th MI Bn Periodic Newsletter (16 October 2008).
• Melanthia Mitchell, “Cyber sleuths patrol Web for terrorism signs,” Great Falls
Tribune, July 4, 2004, http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040704/
localnews/777400.html.
• Richard Roesler, "Terrorist hunters get mixed welcome," Spokesman Review, May
15, 2004, http://www.spokesmanreview.com/local/
story_txt.asp?date=051504&ID=s1519976.
• Blaine Harden, "In Montana, Casting A Web for Terrorists," The Washington Post,
June 4, 2006; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/
03/AR2006060300530.html
• Mike Carter, "It's 4 a.m. in Montana, and a cyberspy is at work," Seattle Times,
June 16, 2004, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/
2001957222_montana16m.html.
Assignments:

• 10/26 - Data Processing Work Product due.

Week 11 (11/4) - Cyberwar & Critical Infrastructure Protection

Readings:

• Cybersapce Policy Review: Assuring a Resilient Information and Communications

Infrastructure (Washington, D.C.: The White House, 2009).
• Langevin, R. J. R. et al. (2009) Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency
(Washington, D.C.: Center for Strategic and International Studies).
• Dorothy Denning, Cyberterrorism (Washington, D.C., 2000),
http://www.cs.georgetown.edu/~denning/infosec/cyberterror.html.
• Dorothy Denning, "Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism: The Internet as a Tool
for Influencing Foreign Policy," in Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror,
Crime, and Militancy (RAND Corporation, 2002), 239-288; http://www.rand.org/
pubs/monograph_reports/MR1382/MR1382.ch8.pdf
• Sean Lawson, "The Cyber-Intifada: Activism, Hactivism, and Cyber-Terrorism in the
Context of the 'New Terrorism'," seminar paper for the course, Information Warfare
and Security, taught by Dr. Dorothy Denning, Georgetown University, Fall 2001,
http://seanlawson.rhetorical-devices.net/workpapers/Cyber-intifada.pdf
• Chpt 1, "Trends in Vulnerabilities, Threats, and Technologies," and Chpt 6,
"Vulnerabilities to Electromagnetic Attack of the Civil Infrastructure," in Jacques S.
Gansler, Information Assurance: Trends in Vulnerabilities, Threats, and Technologies
(National Defense University (NDU), 2004); http://www.ndu.edu/CTNSP/
IAverMay03.pdf

Week 12 (11/9) - Perception Management/Deception/Softwar

Readings:

• Chpt 5, "PSYOPS and Perception Management," in Dorothy E. Denning, Information

Warfare and Security, 1st ed. (Addison-Wesley Professional, 1998).
• De Caro, "Operationalizing SOFTWAR," in Alan D. Campen and Douglas H. Dearth,
Cyberwar 2.0: Myths, Mysteries & Reality (AFCEA International Press, 1998).
◦ Website for De Caro's company, Aerobureau Corporation,
http://www.aerobureau.com/
• Dearth, "Deception, Human Factors, and Information Operations," in Alan D.
Campen and Douglas H. Dearth, Cyberwar 2.0: Myths, Mysteries & Reality (AFCEA
International Press, 1998).
• Chapt 3, "Principles of Deception," and Chpt 12, "Future of Deception," in Jon
Latimer, Deception in War: The Art of the Bluff, the Value of Deceit, and the Most
Thrilling Episodes of Cunning in Military History, from the Trojan Horse to the Gulf
War (Overlook TP, 2003).
• Williamson, "Psychological Operations in the Information Age," in Alan D. Campen
and Douglas H. Dearth, Cyberwar 2.0: Myths, Mysteries & Reality (AFCEA
International Press, 1998).

Week 13 (11/16 & 11/18) - Intelligence - CLASS CANCELLED

Readings:
 • Chpt 2, "The Information Battle," in Jon Latimer, Deception in War: The Art of the
Bluff, the Value of Deceit, and the Most Thrilling Episodes of Cunning in Military
History, from the Trojan Horse to the Gulf War (Overlook TP, 2003).
• Chpt 7, "Seizing the Signals," in Dorothy E. Denning, Information Warfare and
Security, 1st ed. (Addison-Wesley Professional, 1998).
• Tracking Ghostnet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network (Toronto: Munk Center
for International Studies, University of Toronto, 2009).
• D. Calvin Andrus, "Toward a Complex Adaptive Intelligence Community: The Wiki
and the Blog," Studies in Intelligence 49, no. 3 (2005), https://www.cia.gov/library/
center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol49no3/
html_files/Wik_and_%20Blog_7.htm.
• Matthew Burton, "How the Web Can Relieve Our Information Glut and Get Us
Talking to Each Other: Connecting the Virtual Dots," Studies in Intelligence 49, no.
3 (2005), https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-
publications/csi-studies/studies/vol49no3/html_files/
Intelligence_Networking_6.htm.

Recommended:
• Shane Harris, "Intelligence Veteran Aims to Motivate Young Analysts," National
Journal, September 24, 2007, http://www.govexec.com/
story_page.cfm?articleid=38114&dcn=e_wfw.
• "U.S. Intelligence Community A-Space," in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
US_intelligence_community_A-Space.
• "Intellipedia," in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellipedia.

Assignments:

• 11/18 - Data Analysis Work Product due.

Week 14 (11/23) - SHORT WEEK

Monday: Incident Briefings

Wednesday: Class canceled for Thanksgiving

Week 15 (11/30 & 12/2) - Blogging

Readings:

• Intro from Matthew Currier Burden, The Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from
Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan (Simon & Schuster, 2006).
• Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, "Muddy Boots IO: The Rise of Soldier Blogs," Military
Review, no. Sept-Oct (2007): 109-118; http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/milreview/
English/SepOct07/robbinsengseptoct07.pdf
• Cori E Dauber, "Life in Wartime: Realtime War, Realtime Critique; Fighting in the
New Media Environment," in Military Life: The Psychology of Serving in Peace and
Combat, Vol. 4 Military Culture, ed. Thomas Britt, Carl Castro, and Amy Adler
(Praeger Security International, 2006), 180-210.
• Sean Lawson, "Loosing the Blogs of War: The Advent of Milblogging in the Post-9/11
U.S. Military," (presented at the Association of Internet Researchers Annual
Conference, Vancouver, BC, 2007), http://seanlawson.rhetorical-devices.net/
confpapers/Lawson_Loosing%20the%20Blogs%20of%20War.pdf.
Assignments:

• 12/2 - Incident Briefings

Week 16 (12/7 & 12/9) - Videogames

Readings:

• Timothy Lenoir, "Programming Theaters of War: Gamemakers as Soldiers," in

Bombs and Bandwidth: The Emerging Relationship Between IT and Security (New
York: New Press, 2003), 175-198.
• Sharon Ghmari-Tabrizi, "U.S. Wargaming Grows Up: A Short History of the Diffusion
of Wargaming in the Armed Forces and Industry in the Postwar Period up to 1964,"
Strategy Page, unknown date , http://www.strategypage.com/wargames/articles/
wargame_articles_20049715.asp.
• Michael Peck, "U.S. Spies Use Custom Videogames to Learn How to Think," Wired,
April 28, 2008, http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/04/
spy_games?currentPage=all.
• Noah Shachtman, "Army Sets Up New Office of Videogames," Wired: Danger Room,
December 12, 2007, http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/12/armys-new-offic.html.
• Glenn Derene, "Wii All You Can Be? Why the Military Needs the Gaming Industry,"
Popular Mechanics, May 29, 2008, http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/
military_law/4266106.html.

Assignments:

• 12/9 - IARs due!

• 12/7 & 12/9 - Incident Briefings

Week 17 (12/15, 8AM - 10AM, BEH 108) - Finals Week

Assignments:
• 12/15 & 12/17 - Incident Briefings (if needed).

Policies

Disability Accommodation

The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities
for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior
notice needs to be given to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Building,
581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for
accommodations.

All written information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior
notification to the Center for Disability Services.

Content Accommodation

The University recognizes that students’ sincerely-held core beliefs may make it difficult for
students to fulfill some requirements of some courses or majors. It is the student’s
obligation to determine, before the last day to drop courses without penalty, when course
requirements conflict with the student’s sincerely-held core beliefs. If there is such a
conflict, the student should consider dropping the class. A student who finds this solution
impracticable may request a content accommodation from the instructor. Though the
University provides, through this policy, a process by which a student may make such a
request, the policy does not oblige the instructor to grant the request, except in
those cases when a denial would be arbitrary and capricious or illegal.

Attendance

The student handbook states: <http://www.acs.utah.edu/sched/handbook/attend.htm>

You [the student] may not attend a University course unless you are officially registered and
your name appears on the class roll.

The University expects regular attendance at all class meetings. You are not
automatically dropped from your classes if you do not attend. You must officially
drop your classes by the published deadline in the academic calendar to avoid a "W" on your
record.

You are responsible for satisfying the entire range of academic objectives, requirements and
prerequisites as defined by the instructor. If you miss the first 2 class meetings, or if you
have not taken the appropriate requisites, you may be required to withdraw from the
course.

Extensions, Incompletes, and Extra Credit

In general, the policy in this course is that extensions will not be given for assignment due
dates. You will know the due dates for all assignments from the beginning of the course
and should plan accordingly to get your assignments turned in on time. If you are absent
from class to participate in officially sanctioned University activities (e.g. band, debate,
student government, intercollegiate athletics), religious obligations, or with instructor's
approval, you should make arrangements to turn your work in ahead of the assigned
deadline. Extensions will only be granted in the case of documented cases of personal or
family illness, a death in the family, or some other serious circumstance. If you believe that
you have such a circumstance, please contact me and we can discuss the possibility of an
extension.

An Incomplete will only be given for work not completed due to circumstances beyond your
control. Additionally, you must be passing the course and have completed at least 80% of
the required coursework to be eligible for an Incomplete. If you feel that you have met
these criteria, please contact me and we will discuss the possibility of an Incomplete, as well
as what would be required for you to see a successful outcome in the course. For more on
the university's policy on Incompletes, see http://www.acs.utah.edu/sched/
handbook/grpolicy.htm.

Finally, extra credit assignments will not be given under any circumstances, and certainly
not in lieu of a missed regular assignment. Your grade will based solely upon your
completion of the assignments identified in this syllabus and quality of your work on those
assignments.

Academic Honesty
It is expected that your work will be your own or, in the case of group exercises and
projects, the original work of you and assigned members of your group. Cases of plagiarism
and/or any other form of cheating will be dealt with severely, either with failure on the
assignment in question or failure for the entire courses depending upon the particular
circumstances. The university's definition of plagiarism is as follows:

“Plagiarism” means the intentional unacknowledged use or incorporation of any

other person's work in, or as a basis for, one's own work offered for academic
consideration or credit or for public presentation. Plagiarism includes, but is not
limited to, representing as one's own, without attribution, any other individual’s
words, phrasing, ideas, sequence of ideas, information or any other mode or
content of expression.

Ultimately, it is your responsibility to read and understand the university policy on student
academic conduct (see http://www.admin.utah.edu/ppmanual/8/8-10.html). As they say in
legal proceedings, "Ignorance is no excuse before the law."

WebCT

Students sometimes have difficulty understanding how WebCT works, and sometimes
students find that their personal computers, home Internet connections, or preferred Web
browsers have difficulty working with WebCT. Additionally, WebCT is sometimes quirky and
can have problems. Figuring out how you will use WebCT to suit your needs is entirely your
responsibility. Be persistent when faced with a technical problem—try again before giving
up. Visit the university’s library to use a WebCT-friendly computer. Also, WebCT has an
extensive "Help" function, you can find many discussion forums dedicated to
troubleshooting in WebCT through a Google search, and the university’s TACC office
(http://tacc.utah.edu) exists to help you with WebCT issues. The instructor is your very last
resort for WebCT troubleshooting.