Note to students:

Wednesday, Sept. 10
As of Wednesday afternoon, the bookstore has called the publisher and asked for a rush shipment by 2nd day air to replace the missing books. The publisher was unable to guarantee that the books would leave the warehouse before Thursday. Although we hoped originally that they would be in by Thursday, it now looks possible that they may not arrive until Monday morning. There is still the possibility that the missing books will arrive before then. If you are anxious, just check the bookstore shelves. I have placed 15 copies of other introductory geology textbooks on the front counter in SS 211, where you can sign one out overnight if you wish. The basic coverage of material from the first few chapters should be just about the same in all of these books.

Please let me know if you find that the books have come in. However I will be out of town from Friday morning through Monday night.

Monday, Sept. 8
As of Monday afternoon, Sept. 8, the bookstore had received a partial shipment of textbooks. Unfortunately, only 3 cases out of the 9 cases that were shipped actually arrived, and the shelf was empty by late morning.

I am aware of this situation and I understand there is considerable frustration. The bookstore is not at fault - they are doing everything they can, but all of the shipping companies are in a state of confusion because of the aftermath of the UPS strike. They are trying to track down the missing books. If the books don't arrive by noon Tuesday, they will ask the publisher to rush another replacement shipment.

In the meantime, please be patient. If you have a textbook, please arrange to let someone else in the class borrow it for a couple of hours at a time. If you know someone who has one, ask if you can read or photocopy the first couple of chapters when he or she has finished reading them for the first time. I have only one copy and cannot put in on reserve, and even if I did, 120 students all clamoring for the same book would quickly overwhelm the library reserve system.

Above all, don't panic. There's plenty of time to catch up. If the books are delayed beyond the next couple of days we will come up with some contingency plans, but please don't start worrying about the exam this early. Note also that especially for the material on basic structure and composition of minerals, every basic physical geology textbook provides pretty much the same information, so if you are really desperate you can look for other basic texts in the library.

I will let you know what is going on as quickly as I find out anything. While you are waiting, remember also that there is a lot of information available on the Web, and that you can probably learn a thing or two by browsing through web sites from some of the courses being taught elsewhere.