UC Santa Cruz Summer Field Camp

Rules & Responsibilities

In 2006 the summer field class will dry camp for four weeks in a USFS group campground (“Camp Nelson”) on Westgard Pass (7271’) in the White-Inyo Mountains, near Deep Springs Valley.  We will be in the vicinity of other public campgrounds and you will be camping and working with cranky, older people (Hilde), hence mature conduct is a must.  Any behavior that is detrimental to our educational goals or to the common good may be grounds for expulsion from the course.  Such behavior includes but is not limited to racial or sexual harassment, fighting, excessive rowdiness/drinking, stealing, sabotage, inappropriate driving, vehicle abuse, incessant whining or lethargy, and unexcused absences from camp or the field site.  For health and fire safety purposes, smoking is not allowed in the field sites.  In camp, smoking must be restricted to the campfire ring area, well downwind of others.

On the first day of camp students will be assigned to work groups consisting of 3 to 4 students each.  Each group will be responsible for assisting with the preparation of meals, kitchen clean up and camp clean up on a rotating basis.  In previous years each group has come up to bat in the kitchen about once every 4 to 5 days.  In addition, all students will participate in a camp clean up (toilets, work areas, vehicles, kitchen, etc...) once a week.  Work groups and camp cleanup are necessary in order to keep field camp affordable and camp life pleasant.  The only problem with this system in the past has been malingerers.  Plan to pull your full work group weight if you want to pass/excel in summer field.

The purpose of this course is for you to learn as much about field geology as possible.  You are on your honor not to seek out or use maps, cross sections, reports, stratigraphic columns, etc... from past years or other schools.  Cheating is a waste of everyone’s time and if we find that you are cheating you will be sent home and fail the class, and perhaps be expelled from the university.  If you are not excited about the personal challenge of doing high quality, original work under difficult conditions please find an alternative capstone.