UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA

                                     DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

                                                          FALL 2004

 

                                    POL 2213: CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS

 

Professor:  Dr. Jan C. Hardt

Class Meets:   MWF 11:00 -11:50 a.m.

Office Hours: MWF 12:00 -12:50 p.m., TTh 9:30 a.m. -12 noon, and other times by appointment

Office Phone: 974-5840 in LA 102B

E-mail address: jhardt@ucok.edu (preferred method of communication)

 

Who could ever forget the elections of 2000?  As your authors point out, even before the shenanigans of November and December 2000, the elections of 2000 were both unusual and unprecedented because control of the presidency, the Senate, and the House, were all up for grabs.  Nobody knew which party would end up controlling the three sectors of government and there were eight different partisan combinations of organization.  Then, came THE ELECTION that just wouldn’t stop.  At some point, almost every American just seemed to want it to end, no matter which political party was the victor.  Some have suggested that the 2000 election was a national embarrassment -- i.e. the greatest democracy in the world couldn’t even pick a president.  Others suggested that the 2000 elections showed that our democracy truly works because if our election system could survive this test, it should be able to survive anything.    After all, President Bush as of this writing is a fairly popular president (although it was not all his doing), and former Vice President Gore became just an ugly part-time professor of journalism with a beard.  With all of the focus on the presidential election, the other elections went unnoticed but they may be just as important. With the House having one of the smallest margins in history, the Senate 50-50, and many seats up for grabs because of retirements or census changes, the longest lasting legacy of the 2000 elections may have nothing to do with the presidential elections, especially if the Democrats get their wish in 2004. 

 

Just look at Oklahoma.  Republicans in early 2000 had 6 congressional seats all wrapped up; now in 2004, Oklahoma has lost a seat due to redistricting, and Senator Nichols’ decision to retire and Brad Carson’s decision to run for that seat has made the 2nd district seat a tightly watched contest. This doesn’t even address the state legislature.  This may be the biggest surprise of them of all, at least as far as Oklahomans are concerned. Oklahomans have already been surprised once lately; in 2002, Brad Henry defeated the favored Steve Largent to capture the Oklahoma governorship.  But in 2004, the real prize will be control of the state house and the state senate.  With term limits going into the effect for the first time in 2004, no one is really sure how many seats each party will have in each chamber in the Oklahoma legislature after 2004.  This is particularly the case since before the November 2004 elections there was only a three-seat margin in favor of the Democrats in the Oklahoma House.

 

This class will begin by looking at why candidates run for political office.  Some may have obvious reasons.  Perhaps their fathers or their great grandparents have run for political office in the past.  Perhaps they already hold some political office.  But what about some of the more unusual candidates in our elections?  What makes a former TV star run for the House?   What makes a basketball star run for the Senate?   What makes a millionaire run for President?  Which party will control Congress in 2004?  Who will win the Presidency in 2004?  Which party will control the Oklahoma state legislature in 2004? We will address these questions by learning some theories about candidacy and reading some of the material on what makes people run.

 

Then, we will look at the "guts" of any campaign -- the campaign strategy and the role of money.  How do candidates guide their campaigns?  What makes a successful campaign strategy?  We will look at what candidates need to win these elections.  We will talk about whether PAC money buys votes and whether a wealthy candidate can buy an election [does Ross Perot or Michael Huffington (R-CA) come to mind???].

 

Then, we will examine how American elections work.  We will look at the nomination process, conventions, the general elections, the differences between congressional and presidential elections, and the role of television.  

 

The last three weeks of the course we will be looking at the implications of both presidential and congressional elections.  Who votes in these elections?  Does it matter if our election turnout is low?  Does it matter if more women get into Congress?  Does it matter if congressional incumbents get reelected most of the time?  Does it matter who wins? How do elections (both presidential and congressional) have an effect on national politics?

 

Requirements of the Course: You will notice below that I have spelled out the requirements for this course in some detail.  I have done this so that you will know what I expect from you and what you should expect from yourself in this course.  For this reason, I have given the deadlines for all exams and papers in this syllabus, as well as how these requirements are weighted in the final grade for this course.  Please read these requirements carefully, and if you have any questions, I will be glad to answer to them.  Just stop by after class or during my office hours.

 

1.  PARTICIPATION IN CLASS:  Your attendance and participation grade will be composed of the following items:

*      how often you participate in class, whether during a lecture or a debate

*      the quality of your participation in class, including a measure of whether you have          done the assigned readings

*      your completion of the small assignments requested, such as the campaign finance       information and the Republican convention information

*      your attendance in class

Your participation and attendance will count for 5% of your total grade.

 

2.  EXAMINATIONS:  There will be two midterm examinations and a final.  All exams will include short answer and essay questions.  The exams will cover all readings, the material covered in lectures, and any videos we might see in class.  The first exam will be worth 15%, the second worth 20%, and the final will be worth 25% of your total grade.  If you neglect to take any exam, that exam will be recorded as a O, not an F.  This can mean the difference between receiving a C or failing my class.

Make-up policy for the exams is as follows:  Students with legitimate excuses -- i.e. serious illness, death, etc. -- must notify me that they will not be able to take the exam and explain why PRIOR to the scheduled exam date. You can call the office (X5353), my office (X5840), or have someone leave a note outside my door. It is under rare circumstances that I will allow a student to make up an exam without prior notification.  This is done to be fair to all students.  If I consider the reasons for missing an exam to be justified, a make-up will be given.  Make-up examinations should be taken promptly.

 

The exam dates are as follows:

FIRST EXAMINATION:                      Friday, September 24th       

SECOND EXAMINATION:                  Wednesday, October 27th

FINAL EXAMINATION:                      Monday, December 13, 11:00 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

3. WRITTEN WORK:

A. Written Essays:  In order to give students a choice, listed in the readings below are FIVE possible essay questions. Each student should answer TWO, using approximately 5-6 pages each.  To be fair to all students, I will stop after the 7th page.  Your essays should make sure that they accomplish several tasks:

1) INCORPORATE THE READINGS-- If you are doing the readings regularly, this is one of the BEST places to show it.  If you are not, you should be and these essays will show whether or not you have done them.  Your job is to analyze the appropriate class readings so that you can address the essays as if you were a campaign expert armed with all of this knowledge from the readings.  No OUTSIDE readings are required.  You are given five textbooks in this class so use them.  Make sure to indicate which reading you are getting your information from [citations help -- parenthetical citations are fine, i.e. (Pomper, p. 10)].  If you are using a quote don’t forget to include a citation, quote marks, and indent/single-space it if it is five lines or more. You should also introduce your quote.  Don’t just leaving it hanging out there.  You should keep long quotes to an absolute minimum, and quotes should never make up more than 40-50% of your essay. 

 

2) INCORPORATE CURRENT CAMPAIGN STUFF -- If you know something about the current campaigns, or can gather it from the readings, this is the place to use it.  Current campaign information cannot substitute for reading information above, but it can show that you are on top of things.

 

3) WRITING STYLE -- Well-formed paragraphs shorter than a page, good grammar and spelling, etc. all count.  Sloppy work gives the impression that you did not care about this assignment and I’m sure that impression is not the one you want to leave.  Almost everyone uses a computer these days and almost all have spell checkers.  Use them.  After you spell check, then read through your essay.  Spell checkers don’t catch everything and some programs are better than others.  You should also make sure to have the usual introduction, conclusion, etc.  You will not need a bibliography, unless you have used outside sources.

 

4) LATE POLICY-- This is an unfortunate necessity, but it is the only way to be sure all students have the same chance to turn in material on the same day for the same grade.  All late papers will lose 5% points per Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (or 15% a week) to be fair to all students.  Thus, if a paper is due on a Wednesday, and it is turned in the following Wednesday, it will automatically start at an 85%.  Thus, it is obviously to your advantage to turn your essays in on time.  This is particularly the case, given that you have a choice when to turn in your essays.

 

5) PLAGIARISM-- This is another unfortunate necessity, but given a rise in plagiarism on this campus, and everywhere really, it is a problem that must be taken seriously.   All written work must be your own.  Plagiarism is copying the work of others, whether that of fellow students or anyone else.  Plagiarism can also include the failure to use quotation marks around someone else's words or ideas, as well as the failure to include a citation.  For my purposes, parenthetical citations are all that is necessary [i.e. (Kellner, p. 243)].  The only exception is if you choose a source other than the assigned readings.  For this material (including press clippings), you should include a standard bibliographic citation at the bottom of the essay.  The penalties for plagiarism can range from failure in the course to expulsion so be aware of what constitutes plagiarism.  If you have any questions about plagiarism, please do not hesitate to come and see me.                        

 

B. Class Debates -- Each student in class will participate in a debate as a part of a group.  These debates accomplish several goals: 1) They will help you to learn the material without having to listen to me all the time.  2) They will get the students involved and may encourage more participation. 3) They will reduce the percentage of your grade that is devoted to examinations, which most students will find is definitely a good thing.  During the first week of class, we will pick debate topics and groups by some random method.  Each debate should be about 10-15 minutes long and should make sure that when finished students have all the information they need on the different sides of the debate.

 

C.  Prepare a Campaign Ad –We will create a second set of groups for our campaign ads.  There will be approximately five students to each group, and the group will be asked to create a video campaign ad, approximately 2-3 minutes in length on VHS tape.  Students should use all the creativity that they can muster and it should be for one of the 2004 presidential candidates. In creating your ads, you should make sure that you address the following:  visuals, sound, message, positive or negative, your suggestions for timing, and your strategy behind creating the ad.  Each group will be asked to create a one-page handout justifying their decisions in these six areas.  The handout and your video are due Monday, November 1, and we will watch the ads in class that week.  We will watch all six ads in class and each of the ads will be critiqued by the class, as well as by me.  In determining the grade for each group, I will consider the ad, how you addressed the six areas and your handout, the critiques by your fellow students, and the answers to a participation worksheet given to each member of the group. 

 

4. OUTSIDE WORK AND CHEATING-- The Dean’s office asked that these two statements be included on all syllabi.

A. OUTSIDE WORK: Based upon the Oklahoma Regents’ Statement on Course Workload and Homework

[OSRHE II‑2‑34], a college student should expect to spend 3 hours, on average, on outside work for each hour spent in class.  The message the OK Regents are trying to communicate is that if you have a full time job (30‑40 hours) you should not simultaneously expect to maintain a full‑time academic schedule (15 hours).  If you expect to do well, expect to put in the time!

 

B. ACADEMIC HONESTY:  Cheating is unacceptable conduct and will result in an automatic grade of "F" for the course, and be reported to Academic Affairs. Students are required to do all of the work for this class on their own. Copying answers to exercises or examinations from anyone constitutes cheating. Allowing another student to copy one's answers will be treated as cheating. A student may discuss exercises and case briefs with others before preparing his or her own answers, but the answers must be each student's own work product. Consulting with the instructor about any assignment does not constitute cheating, and is encouraged.

  

5.  GRADING:  Final grades for the course will be calculated on the following basis, with 90-100 representing an A, 80-89.9 representing a B, 70-79.9 representing a C, and so forth:

First examination                                    15% 

Second examination                                20%

Final examination                                   25%

Attendance/Participation                          5%

Written Essays                                        20%

Debate Performance                        7.5%

Ad and Ad Handout                                      7.5%             

 

 

6. OFFICE HOURS

My office hours are listed on the front page of this syllabus.  Please feel free to use my office hours if you have questions about the class, the readings, the exams, or the project.  If you have questions, it will be up to you to take the initiative to meet with me in my office hours.  You can also use my office hours just to come in and introduce yourself! If my office hours are not convenient, I am willing to make other arrangements so just stop by after class and ask.

 

7. OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

If you have special circumstances that I should know about, please let me know as soon as you can.  If you are an athlete, etc., who will travel, let me know.  The University of Central Oklahoma complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Students with disabilities who need special accommodations must contact the assistant director of Disability Support Services , Kim Fields, in room 309 of the Night University Center, (405) 974‑2549. It is the student’s responsibility to contact me, the instructor, as soon as possible after the DSS has verified for accommodations to ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. If you need to miss more than a few classes for a specific reason, please inform me as soon as you can so we can work out a schedule for you to complete the assignments. Also, you might have difficulty taking certain kinds of exams.  If any of these circumstances or others applies to you, please see me and we can make the necessary arrangements.

 

Required Readings

1. Jacobson, Gary C. (2004). The Politics of Congressional Elections, Longman Press.

 

2. Kellner, Douglas, (2001). Grand Theft 2000 – Media Spectacle and a Stolen Election, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.  (Note: this book has a bias to it that you won’t be able to miss.)

 

3. Pomper, Gerald M. (ed.) (2001). The Election of 2000-- Reports and Interpretations, Chatham House Publishers.

 

4. Wayne, Stephen J. (2003). Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Election?, Houghton Mifflin Press, 2nd edition. (listed below as WAYNE1)

 

5. Wayne, Stephen J. (2004). The Road to the White House 2004: The Politics of Presidential Elections, Wadsworth Press. (listed below as WAYNE2)

 

 

Week 1: August 23-27 -- INTRODUCTION

What happened in the 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002 elections?  What will happen in 2004?  Why should we care about elections?

POMPER, Ch. 1: The Clinton Enigma -- Seeking Consensus, Breeding Discord

JACOBSON, Ch. 1: Introduction

WAYNE1, Ch. 1: Democratic Elections – What’s the Problem?

 

Week 2: August 30 – September 3 -- DECISIONS TO RUN AND CANDIDATE RECRUITMENT -- We will start by looking at why politicians seek office.  What are the theories of candidacy?  Have the candidates always wanted to become politicians?  Are there certain requirements they should meet beyond the Constitutional ones?  When do they decide to run?   This is also Republican Convention week so we will do some things with that.

          JACOBSON, Ch. 2: The Context

            JACOBSON, Ch. 3: Congressional Candidates, pp. 23-41

            WAYNE1, Ch. 3: How Representative are American Elections?

Week 3: September 8 and 10 -- CAMPAIGN FINANCE -- Money, money, and more money.   In fact, there is so much money to be spent on presidential and congressional campaigns that we will spend two weeks exploring the crucial role of money in our elections.

          JACOBSON, Ch. 3: Congressional Candidates, pp. 41-end

POMPER, Ch. 5: Financing the 2000 Elections

WAYNE2, Ch. 2: Campaign Finance

WAYNE1, Ch. 5: Has Money Corrupted our Electoral Process?, pp. 96-109

INTERNET ASSIGNMENT TO BRING TO CLASS-- will be part of your participation grade.

 

DUE FRIDAY-- ESSAY #1-- Pick any two different candidates who ran for president in 2000 and 2004, using one from each political party. Relate the theories on candidacy to why these two candidates decided to run.  Do they have progressive ambition?  What do the readings say about why candidates run for office?

 

 

Week 4: September 13-17 -- CAMPAIGN FINANCE, CONTINUED -- See above.  Yes, we are still discussing the role of money in our elections.  This week we will get to some of the latest scandals in campaign finance -- the drug dealers, the arms smugglers, the foreign donations, the Lincoln Bedroom, as well as the expensive chats with Bill and Newt. Enough said.

            JACOBSON, Ch. 4: Congressional Campaigns, pp. 60-85.

            WAYNE1, Ch. 5: Has Money Corrupted our Electoral Process?, pp. 109-end

FRIDAY DEBATE #1: Something needs to be done to clean up the financing of our presidential and congressional campaigns, making sure to address some of the arguments raised by the 2000 and 2004 candidates as well as some of the reforms suggested by Wayne1.  Maybe more public financing would help.

  

 

Week 5: September 20-24 -- CONGRESSIONAL AND STATE/LOCAL ELECTIONS -- We will now look exclusively at congressional elections.  How do they differ from presidential elections?  Are they really a different beast? Is all politics really local?  Why are state and local elections important?

          POMPER, Ch. 7: The Congressional Elections

PACKET --HARDT on Oklahoma Elections

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 -- FIRST EXAM -- BE THERE OR BE A LOSER!

 

 

Week 6: September 27 – October 1 -- CREATING THE CAMPAIGN -- Now what, you ask?  Well, in order to be successful, a candidate will need to figure out his/her campaign strategy.  What makes up a successful campaign?  We will find out this week and next as we study the anatomy of a campaign, including the structural factors that may make a difference in our presidential and congressional election.

          JACOBSON, Ch. 4: Congressional Campaigns, pp. 85 to end

            WAYNE1, Ch. 4: Are Political Parties Still Relevant?

            PACKET: The Net and the Nomination

 

 

Yes, this is just blank space.  How do you like it here?

 

 

 

 

Week 7: October 4-8 -- PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS -- Once candidates have made the hard decision to run, they usually must go through a nomination process.                 WAYNE2, Ch. 1, Presidential Selection – A Historical Overview

POMPER, Ch. 2: The Presidential Nominations

            WAYNE2, Ch. 3: The Political Environment

           

DUE FRIDAY--ESSAY #2  --  As you can see from the readings, no one really likes our nominating process, whether it be for presidential or congressional candidates.  You should first determine what they believe is wrong with this process, and then discuss some ways in which it can be fixed. What kind of candidate is advantaged?  What candidates are disadvantaged?  Of the 2004 presidential candidates in the primaries, who do you think got the most benefits and why?  Who was disadvantaged? 

 

Week 8: October 11-15 -- NOMINATIONS CONTINUED/ THE CONVENTIONS -- This week we will continue our discussion of the nomination process, but we will also look at our conventions. More often than not, the two major party candidates are picked way in advance of the convention.  This is particularly the case because of front-loading by the states.  Do conventions matter anymore?  Should the taxpayers spend millions of dollars each in public funds to have these conventions?  Do they still have a purpose in our campaign system?            

            WAYNE2, Ch. 4: The Race for Delegates

            WAYNE2, Ch. 5: Spring Interregnum – Consolidating Victory and Posturing

            WAYNE1, Ch. 7: The Nomination Process – Whose is it Anyway?

 

FRIDAY DEBATE #2: Proportional representation in the nominating process is the only fair way of selecting the candidates.

 

Week 9: October 18-20 -- THE ELECTIONS CONTINUED: THE GENERAL ELECTION -- In many years, this really hasn’t been an issue.  Just look at the failed Dole candidacy in 1996 or Clinton’s cake-walk in 1996, whichever way you want to look at.   But in some years, like 1992, 2000, and perhaps 2004, the general election can be the place where the election is decided.  As we all know, in 2000, it wasn’t even decided then, but that we will look at in the next few weeks.

POMPER, Ch. 6: The Presidential Election

WAYNE2, Ch. 6: Organization, Strategy, and Tactics

 

DUE MONDAY -- ESSAY #3-- Given the campaign coverage that you saw in class, as well as what you find in the readings, were the 2004 conventions well constructed by both parties?  What would you do differently in either convention?  How were the 2004 conventions different from prior conventions, in terms of speeches, demonstrations, use of video, structure, platform fights, etc?  What do the readings say about our presidential conventions?  What did the Republicans and Democrats do differently for 2004?  Any comments on their changes in locations, themes, speakers, etc.?

 

 

 

                                  Yep. This is more blank space, but this time

I get to wish you a HAPPY FALL BREAK !!!

 

 

 

 

 

Week 10: October 25-29 -- POST ELECTION SHENANIGANS -- Normally, as you probably know, there isn’t much of a post-election.   The president-elect transition team goes to work, the current president engages in a few presidential functions, including the last Christmas in the White House, and everything changes on January 20.  Oh, yeah... and the Electoral College also meets.  Not in 2000.   Enough said.

            KELLNER, Grand Theft 2000, pp. 1-80

SECOND EXAM -- WEDNESDAY, October 27-- MAKE SURE TO BE THERE!

 

FRIDAY DEBATE #3: The TV stations blew it when it came to the 2000 election.  This is what needs to be changed.

 

Week 11: November 1-5 -- POST-ELECTION SHENANIGANS, CONTD. -- No surprise here.  There were so many post-election shenanigans in 2000 that we will just have to explore them for another week.

          KELLNER, Grand Theft 2000, pp. 80-116, 151-end.

 

DUE MONDAY:  Campaign Ad on VHS tape and one-page handout for each group.

DUE FRIDAY: ESSAY #4 -- Kellner in looking at the 200 election outcome obviously had an axe to grind, while others did not show the same level of bias.  Comparing Kellner to the other readings you have read about the 2000 election, which of the arguments about the 2000 shenanigans do you believe?  Does Kellner make any good points at all? 

 

Week 12: November 8-12 -- ROLE OF THE UNPAID MEDIA (News Coverage and Debates) --Have you ever wanted to see the Stockdale debacle?  When does news coverage favor a candidate?  Is there a difference between presidential and congressional coverage?  These are the questions we will answer this week.

POMPER, Ch. 3: The Campaign and the Media

            WAYNE2, Ch. 7: Media Politics

            WAYNE1, Ch. 6: New Media: Watchdog or Pit Bull?, pp. 123-135

FRIDAY DEBATE #4: Which candidates should be allowed in a presidential election debate?  All candidates?  Those that qualify for federal funds?  Those that have a certain percentage in the polls?  Those that have a certain amount of media coverage?   Debate this issue.

 

Week 13: November 15-19 -- ROLE OF THE MEDIA (PAID) -- When we talk about paid media, we are talking about campaign advertising.  Do our candidates run good ads?  Are they funny?   Are they as negative as everyone seems to claim?  There will be some readings this week on ads, but you will also see lots of ads in class.

          WAYNE2, Ch. 7: Media Politics

            WAYNE1, Ch. 6: News Media – Watchdog or Pit Bull?, pp. 135-end

            WAYNE1, Ch. 8: Campaign Communications – How Much Do They Matter?

 

Week 14: November 22 -- THE ESSENTIALS OF VOTING BEHAVIOR -- How do voters behave in elections? What are the key factors in their decisions?  Does the type of race make a difference in the voters (presidential or congressional)?  What are the theories on voting? Who participates in our elections?  What barriers are there to full participation?           JACOBSON, Ch. 5: Congressional Voters

POMPER, Ch. 4: Public Opinion in the 2000 Election – The Ambivalent Electorate

          WAYNE1, Ch. 2: The Popular Base of American Electoral Politics – Suffrage and Turnout

 

FRIDAY DEBATE#5: Does participation need to be increased in the United States in order to have a true democracy?

Week 15: November 29-December 3 -- WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ELECTIONS? -- Who wins?  Who loses?  What makes a successful candidate?  What makes a lousy one?  These are the questions that we seek to answer this week. What difference do elections make?  Do they really matter?  Could congressional elections just be as important as presidential elections?  As we answer these questions, we will explore the effect that elections have on national politics.  For anyone who still doubts this, just remember what happened after the Republicans won the Congress in November 1994.   

JACOBSON, Ch. 6: National Politics and Congressional Elections

WAYNE2, Ch. 8: Predicting Presidential Elections

POMPER, Ch. 8: The Meaning of the Election

 

DUE MONDAY: ESSAY #5: Examine the media strategy of any candidate in the 2004 elections, looking at both paid and unpaid coverage.  Relate this strategy and coverage to what we learned in class notes, the readings, and any ads shown in class.

 

 

Week 16: December 6-12 — THE BIG PICTURE – REFORM, IMPACT, POLICY, AND REPRESENTATION -- Throughout this semester, we have also discussed some of the problems with our elections:  the role of money, the negative campaigning, the lousy choice of candidates, and the lack of voters.  This week, we will examine some possible solutions to these problems.  Will any of them work?  Let's wait and see...

          JACOBSON, Ch. 7: Elections, Representation, and the Politics of Congress

            WAYNE1, Ch. 9:  Elections and Government – A Tenuous Connection

            WAYNE2, Ch. 9: Reforming the Electoral System

 

MONDAY DEBATE#6: The shenanigans of presidential election 2000 show us that the United States election system needs some serious reform and quick. Recent events and attempts at reform show us that things haven’t changed much.

 

 

FINAL: Students are expected to take the final on the date and time given by the registrar, which is MONDAY, December 13, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. Any student who wishes to be an exception should submit a petition to me in writing by the Monday of the last week of classes.  You should know in advance that I do not consider oversleeping, plane tickets, etc. to be good reasons for missing or rescheduling a final exam.

 

If a University emergency occurs that prevents the administration of a final examination, the student’s final course work will be calculated based on the work in the course completed to that point in time and the faculty member’s considered judgment.  Final exams will not be rescheduled, and a grade of “I” will not be given as a result of the missed exam.