1. This course is intended to create a forum for student discussion on topics in student health and modern healthcare, and also to provide a platform for students to venture into health journalism.

The Sather Health DeCal will consist of two components:
a. Health Topic Surveillance: Each week, we will engage students in a discussion of a health topic that relates most to the student population (especially to Cal students). These topics vary from semester to semester depending on what are students are interested in talking about. We will often invite guest speakers to lead the discussion.
b. Writing for Sather Health: As associate writers for satherhealth.org students are expected to routinely contribute articles and blogs. They will compose and peer-edit these items according to a preset schedule and eventually have them uploaded onto our course website.

2. By the end of the course, we expect students to become more familiar with salient student health issues. We hope that they will gain valuable experience writing in a way that is appropriate for public health journalism through their articles and blogs.

3. We will be meeting Tuesday evenings, from 6 pm to 8 pm, in 187 Dwinelle. The course is structured so that in general we will be alternating between student-only discussion and guest speakers.

4. The course is graded on a P/NP basis, and due to the culture of Sather Health and Decal courses, we expect to give no NP grades. However, regular attendance, participation, and writing are required. In the case of habitual problems in any of these areas, we may ask students to drop the course or in the worst-case scenario grant an NP grade. A rough weighting of grade breakdown is as follows, with a minimum of 72% (**No less than 50% completion in any of the categories except for attendance. Attendance requires at least 70% completion) required to pass

Course Grading:
Attendance is mandatory. If a students need to be excused due to a midterm, an interview, or an emergency, they must notify the facilitators as soon as possible. Two or more unexcused absences may result in a No Pass. Otherwise, a passing grade is 70% or above.

Attendance/Participation 40%
Take-Home Quizzes (10) 10%
Blogs (2) 15%
Research Article 20%
Group Presentation 15%

Important Info:
- Quizzes will be based on speaker presentations, writing skills workshops, and/or readings from the previous week. Students need to get a 70% or higher to pass the quiz. Makeup quizzes need to be scheduled with the facilitator before the assigned meeting (day of missed quiz).
- There will be two blog opportunities throughout the semester
- To receive any credit for the research article, it must be between 3-5 pages and have at least 3 sources (One source must be an interview with a representative of the student health topic discussed in the article and the second source must be from a published study).
- An enthusiastic, well-rehearsed, and relevant presentation that is 5-10min long will receive full credit.

Our DeCal welcomes writers of all levels, but due to class-size restrictions, enrollment will be based on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please fill out the form below and make sure to attend the first day of class on January 31st. Course control numbers (CCNs) will be emailed to those who submit the form.