Trigonometry 1060 Class Role (48 Students)
Tosha A. Asumah
Jennifer Atanasoska
Zachary H. Baron
Larissa A. Boyer
Scott G. Boyle
David J. Bozym
Mark A. Careyva
Eric S. Carlsson
Alessia L. Carluccio
Nicholas G. Cramsey
Scott A. Darwick
Alexander D. Davies
Melinda K. Drinkuth
Heather L. Drobish
Kara A. Duffy
Thomas J. Ellis
Andrea J. Englander
Marisa L. Enrico
Dana L. Fish
Kacie M. Fisher
Diana B. Furey
Amanda K. Furiasse
Lisa B. Furusawa
Nathan R. George
Kristen E. Georgian
Daniel A. Greenawalt
Randi A. Greenberg
Kyle R. Hartman
Julianna N. Harvey
Rebecca L. Hyne
Mary Frances Hynoski
Samuel Kirkpatrick
Rodline Y. Lazzare
Lindsay A. Lebovich
Nicole L. Montegary
Steven R. Moody
Douglas R. Moquet
James R. Neilson
Blake E. Neiman
Jesse M. Powell
Andrew J. Powers
Zachary A. Ross
Robert I. Rotfeld
Joshua M. Senior
Margarita M. Sergonis
Jacqueline C. Thompson
Katherine M. Thorne
Rachel A. Walker
Tyler C. Walling
Susan C. Zelinski
Selected Student Quotes
“I failed my other courses, just getting an A in this class” – Zachary A. Ross
“It was the most horrifying time in my life, being overloaded with so much stress” – Jesse M. Powell
“I felt suicidal the morning I was late for my 3rd exam, due to the elderly woman that cut me off, causing me to lose 100 points” – Blake E. Neiman
“I overdosed on pills the night of the morning I forgot to bring my contract for my exam” – Heather L. Drobish
“It was the first B I had ever gotten in my life, and I hated him, I hated him so bad!” – Rebecca L. Hyne
“He just ripped up my exam! For no reason!” – Andrea J. Englander
“Nathan R. George was caught looking over at my exam, on the final. I had everything worked out up to this point. I failed the course, and it wasn’t even my fault!” – Lindsay A. Lebovich
“I thought to myself on the first day, ‘I can handle it. Getting an A in this class will make me feel better about myself academically than ever before’. I was wrong, dead wrong”. – Thomas J. Ellis
“At first I thought his rules were gut-wrenchingly hilarious! I was laughing so hard just thinking about his rules! Then one day I left my contract I was to use for the final in my van! I failed the course!” – Steven Moody
“My stapler was out of staples! I lost 100 points over not having any staples to staple my assignment together! I hate him!” - Diana B. Furey
“He’s not going to get away with this. Wripping up everybody’s final in the class is just plain and simply inexcusable. We all vowed to make him pay, and we will”. – Nicholas G. Cramsey
“He told me I had to re-take the class, just because I missed a class period! I cut myself in the leg with a knife, down to the bone! I was sent to the E.R.!” – David J. Bozym
Professor Debry’s Trigonometry Class
The Infamous Syllabus
At Utah Valley State College, in Orem Utah, there was a teacher named Bob Debry. He was a trigonometry teacher, teaching at UVSC for over forty years. He was now in his early seventies, and did not enjoy teaching as much as he used to.
The Fall semester of 2005 started, and Debry was to teach a class of 40 students. He got his syllabus handouts, teacher’s manual, and class role, and headed for class.
“Okay. My name is Bob Debry, and this is the Math 1060 class, trigonometry. I am going to go over the syllabus very thoroughly with you, so you know what is expected of you. I will begin by starting at the top.
“Every student is responsible for his or her own grade. I am going to emphasize this, because every semester, I have students who complain about their grade, and ask if there’s anything they can do to bring it up. I will tell you what I have told them right now, it is your responsibility to make sure you know the material, show up to class, take notes, follow the syllabus, and I will make absolutely no special accommodations for anyone. My only responsibility is to show you how to do these trigonometry problems, and give you exams. Therefore, you are the only person to impact your grade. Now, let’s go down to attendance – participation.
“Every student is expected to show up to class every day, and be on time. 100 participation points will be given to students that are on time every day and turn in all homework assignments. These 100 points are a part of your final grade, and not extra points. They are an all or nothing deal, meaning you must come to class every day, be on time every day, and turn in every assignment. That means, if you have come to class every day for the entire semester, and turned in all your assignments, yet you are late on the last day, all those points will be taken away from you. You either do everything, or you don’t, that is the way it works. If this is an expectation that you cannot handle, do not take this class. Now, exams.
“I do not drop tests! The reason I bolded this, is because too many of my students have asked me if they can either make up a failed exam, or have one dropped. The answer is plain and simply no. It is your responsibility to make sure that you know the material, and be tested on it. You either know the material or you do not. I make no exceptions whatsoever. Every student is responsible for showing up on exam days. I do not move exam days. It is your responsibility to plan ahead for these days. I made a note off to the side saying that the test days shown on the calendar are accurate, and by planning on taking tests on those days, you can expect an exam to be given that day. I do not move test days whatsoever. Now, here is the deal on exams. If you are not on time on test days, you do not take the exam, hence getting a zero. I cannot have several people walking in while students are taking exams. Are there any questions so far?”
One student, named Ralph Winters raised his hand. “What if there is an emergency?”
Mr. Debry said, “I am not responsible for any form of emergency. I’ve had too many students expect to make up exams due to emergencies. The fact of the matter is this, you either take the exam on time or you don’t.
“Now, go to where it says honesty policy. I require every student to print off a contract like the example shown to the right, saying ‘The work shown in this assignment / exam is my own work, and I did not use the solutions manual or answers at the back of the book, or use the help of another student’. I do not provide these contracts. You must make one, save it to your computer, and print one for every day of class, and sign in pen. Any exam or homework assignment turned in without this contract will be ripped up, and result in an automatic zero. Now go to my cheating policy. Any student who is found cheating will automatically fail the course, and will not be allowed to take any classes from me ever again. That means if you flunk, I never want to see you again. If you are caught cheating from another student, I will not only fail you, but I will fail the student you are cheating from, never wanting to see them again either. Cheating will not be tolerated whatsoever, and I will not make any accommodations whatsoever. Any questions on this?”
A student, named Christina Witherspoon raised her hand. “What if we are unaware that they are cheating from us?”
Debry replied, “They are still cheating from you. You will flunk the course. Now, go to where it says homework. Homework is worth a total of 100 points. You are expected to turn in homework daily. Again, this is an all or nothing deal. If you forget your homework assignment just once, you will not get the 100 points. You are also expected to bring a signed contract, and staple it to the front of every assignment, if you wish to receive credit. Failure to staple this contract to your assignment will result in an automatic loss of 100 points. Now, go to the total points. There are a total of 5 exams worth 100 points, and a final worth 200 points. That is 700 points. With the 250 points for participation and homework, a total of 950 points are granted. Now, keep in mind, if you get 100 percent on every exam, yet don’t turn in one homework assignment, you will get a C for this class. Should you turn in all your homework assignments, get 100 percent on all exams, yet be late for class, or turn in your assignment, yet not be in class, you will get a B in this class. To get an A, you must put forth a substantial effort.”
“Now, go to homework-exam appearance expectations. Every student is required to show all his or her work, written neatly in pencil. Chicken scratch and unreasonable mathematical shortcuts are unacceptable, and will result in an automatic zero. All homework assignments must be turned in on a clean sheet of notebook paper with smooth edges, sharp corners, and stapled properly. Failure to meet these expectations will result in a zero. Any assignment that is folded, or has been folded will result in an automatic zero as well.”
