Faculty,

As I ready the lab manual for the coming academic year, you should be aware
that "Media Productions" will no longer print AND sell our lab manual. We can
order the number of copies we need, pay for them, and then sell them internally,
but this is the only way to use the on-campus facilities. This means that we will
probably return to Kinko's for their services.

Before last year when I removed our manual from Kinko's, the manager asked
me why, and I told him the price--he said that they could come close to
matching the on-campus rate, as their rates are apparently negotiable. Thus,
when I go back there in the coming weeks I will try to get the cheapest rate
I can, hopefully it will not be too bad. But I would like to float the idea
of further trimming the lab manual to reduce its overall size--we now have
more labs than can be completed in a semester, and additional material which
may or may not be of value.

Here are some suggestions:

1) I have already removed the Telescopes & Detectors lab which cannot be run
with our current equipment (I had been planning on revising this--needing to 
upgrade our PCs to XP with USB ports--but recently switched my attention to 
development of a "seasons" lab which should trial this spring). Eliminates
10 pages.

2) We have two different Kepler's law labs. I know Kurt has run both of them
in a semester, and they are fundamentally different labs tuned to the specific
software (also, be aware that it is becoming much more difficult to book the
Jacob's hall computing facilities. The sooner you know your schedule the better
your chances of running the lab when you want it.)

3) "Mapping the Local Universe". This lab has rarely appeared on our schedule
the last few years---I know that it was planned at least for one section,
but the TA's decided to switch to the "How Many Galaxies" lab. The complaints
from the TA's about this lab is (like their initial issues with the HR diagram 
lab), is that there is too much plotting to do by hand, and we don't have a good 
computer interface to do this more easily. In addition the Morphology section 
is irrelevant if the new Morphology lab is scheduled. (12 page reduction)

Appendices:

We have 60 pages at the end of the manual that includes the observatory 
worksheets, the at-home observing projects--including the quasi-defunct "Moon 
Orbit" lab, and star charts. I need input into what parts you find relevant for 
your classes. As I told Jim this summer, I had two students tell me that their 
advisors told them not to take Astronomy 110 because it is too hard! While I 
have no plans on dumbing-down my lectures, I am going to try to reduce the 
amount of busy-work I currently require, including the elimination of the 
at-home observing projects. I have no idea if any of this material is relevant
to your classes, so if you have strong feelings about it let me know.
[I am sure that very few students actually ever even look at the star charts,
and I have an online version linked from the Ast110 homepage anyway.]

-tom