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Population Characteristics And Health Service Use By Latino Immigrants To Southwest Missouri, Suzanne E. Walker, Susan Dollar, Ravilldra G. Amonker Apr 2007

Population Characteristics And Health Service Use By Latino Immigrants To Southwest Missouri, Suzanne E. Walker, Susan Dollar, Ravilldra G. Amonker

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The rapid influx and new demographic patterns of Latino immigrants to the United States have precipitated numerous pressing issues, among them health and healthcare disparities. The relatively recent phenomenon of high Latino immigration rates to rural areas is increasingly common in the Midwest and Great Plains states, where they are drawn by the labor market. A rural setting, low socioeconomic status, and high concentrations of minorities have been shown to be closely intertwined, and such regions are often medically underserved. Such describes rural southwest Missouri, where we collected data in four counties on demographics, socioeconomic factors, healthcare perceptions, and use …


Evapotranspiration Estimation And Scaling Effects Over The Nebraska Sandhills, Venkataramana Sridhar Apr 2007

Evapotranspiration Estimation And Scaling Effects Over The Nebraska Sandhills, Venkataramana Sridhar

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Quantifying evapotranspiration (ET) over vast ecosystems such as the Sandhills of Nebraska is crucial in linking the surface, subsurface, and atmospheric processes affecting a region. There are numerous methods of obtaining large-scale ET estimates, but most are constrained by the availability of data. This study investigates implementation of an approach that uses a simple land-cover-based standardized tall (ETrs) and short (ETas) surface reference crop evapotranspiration and crop coefficient to compute actual ET over various spatial and seasonal scales. Subsequently, computed ETrs was used to get the preliminary estimate of regional ET over the entire Sandhills at the 30 m scale …


Evaluation Of The College Experience Among American Indian Upperclassmen, Terry Huffman, Ron Ferguson Apr 2007

Evaluation Of The College Experience Among American Indian Upperclassmen, Terry Huffman, Ron Ferguson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This article reports partial findings from a five-year study that examined the attitudes, perceptions, and expectations regarding higher education among a sample of American Indian students attending a predominantly non-Indian university. Most notably, this article examines some of the factors associated with two specific personal assessments of the college experience: (1) the impact of college upon their appreciation of Native American heritage and (2) the level of satisfaction with the college experience.


Great Plains Research, Volume 17, Number 1: News And Notes Apr 2007

Great Plains Research, Volume 17, Number 1: News And Notes

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Assessing The Free Land Programs For Reversing Rural Depopulation, Max Lu, Darci A. Paull Apr 2007

Assessing The Free Land Programs For Reversing Rural Depopulation, Max Lu, Darci A. Paull

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

A number of small towns in the Great Plains have recently started to offer free land and other incentives to entice new residents in the hope of reversing persistent depopulation. Based on in-depth interviews, this study assesses the initial performance of the free land programs in six small towns in central Kansas and analyzes the factors that have affected the migration decisions of the new residents. The initial results of these programs have been impressive. Not only have they attracted multiple new residents and increased enrollments in local schools, but they have also elevated long-time residents' pride in their community …


Sulfate Mineral Paragenesis In Pennsylvanian Rocks And The Occurrence Of Slavikite In Nebraska, R. Matthew Joeckel, K. D. Wally, S.A. Fischbein, P.R. Hanson Apr 2007

Sulfate Mineral Paragenesis In Pennsylvanian Rocks And The Occurrence Of Slavikite In Nebraska, R. Matthew Joeckel, K. D. Wally, S.A. Fischbein, P.R. Hanson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The acid weathering of pyrite-bearing Pennsylvanian clastic sedimentary rocks in southeastern Nebraska locally produces the secondary sulfate minerals alunogen, copiapite, epsomite, felsobanyaite/basaluminite, gypsum, halotrichite, jarosite, rozenite, and slavikite. Of these mineral occurrences, four are first-time discoveries in the state or the surrounding region. Slavikite (NaMg2Fe5 (S04)7 (OH) 6• 33H20), which has been reported only once before in North America and from a handful of sites in Europe and South America, was found in abundance at an outcrop at Brownville, NE. The pH values in 1:1 solutions of deionized water of the …


Water Rights And Land Values In The West-Central Plains, Allan Jenkins, Bruce Elder, Ram Valluru, Paul Burger Apr 2007

Water Rights And Land Values In The West-Central Plains, Allan Jenkins, Bruce Elder, Ram Valluru, Paul Burger

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Irrigation is vital to the economic activity of the west-central Great Plains. The crops grown, the distribution of center-pivot irrigation systems, and the basic transportation infrastructure is the same in northwest Kansas, northeast Colorado, and southwest Nebraska. But buyers of agricultural land face a different price for irrigated cropland in each of the states, even when the production characteristics of the land are similar. After accounting for factors like productivity and local property tax differences, we argue that it is the difference in water marketing rights between the three states that explains the price difference. The link between land values …


Great Plains Research, Volume 17, Number 1: Frontmatter Apr 2007

Great Plains Research, Volume 17, Number 1: Frontmatter

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


The October 1998 Flood Of The Upper Guadalupe River System, Central Texas, Richard A. Earl Apr 2007

The October 1998 Flood Of The Upper Guadalupe River System, Central Texas, Richard A. Earl

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The October 1998 flood on the upper Guadalupe River system was produced by a 24-hour precipitation amount of 483 mm at one station, over 380 mm at several other stations, and up to 590 mm over five days, precipitation amounts greater than the 100-year storm as prescribed in Weather Bureau Technical Papers 40 (1961) and 49 (1964). This study uses slope-area discharge estimates and published discharge and precipitation data to analyze flow characteristics of the three major branches of the Guadalupe River on the Edwards Plateau. The main channel of the Guadalupe has a single large flood-control structure at Canyon …


Regional Dynamics Of Grassland Change In The Western Great Plains, Mark A. Drummond Jan 2007

Regional Dynamics Of Grassland Change In The Western Great Plains, Mark A. Drummond

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This paper examines the contemporary land-cover changes in two western Great Plains ecoregions between 1973 and 2000. Agriculture and other land uses can have a substantial effect on grassland cover that varies regionally depending on the primary driving forces of change. In order to better understand change, the rates, types, and causes of land conversion were examined for 1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000 using Landsat satellite data and a statistical sampling strategy. The overall estimated rate of land-cover change between 1973 and 2000 was 7.4% in the Northwestern Great Plains and 11.5% in the Western High Plains. Trends in …


The Shop-Locally Discourse In Jefferson County Kansas, Gina K. Thornburg Jan 2007

The Shop-Locally Discourse In Jefferson County Kansas, Gina K. Thornburg

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Inhabitants in the villages of Jefferson County, Kansas, respond to socioeconomic changes in a variety of ways. Empirical research conducted in 2004 revealed multiple discourses that constituted such responses. The shop-locally discourse emerged in structured interviews, newspaper articles, and newspaper advertisements as an emblem of socioeconomic empowerment. Discourse was analyzed within its context and interpreted to provide some insight into residents' responses to change. The discourse revealed not only nostalgia for formerly vibrant commercial districts but also the importance of economic vitality to social life. Shopping locally today, however, will not restore yesteryear's social milieu. The proximity of midsize cities …


Physiological Responses Of Four Hazelnut Hybrids To Water Availability In Nebraska, Tala Awada, Scott Josiah Jan 2007

Physiological Responses Of Four Hazelnut Hybrids To Water Availability In Nebraska, Tala Awada, Scott Josiah

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Responses of hazelnut hybrids (88BS, BOX1, Gl7, and GEL502) to water availability (watered and nonwatered) were examined in the field. The study site received 35% of long-term average precipitation between July and September. Photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (gs), water potential (Ψ), and specific leaf area were generally lower in the nonwatered than in the watered treatment and exhibited significant seasonal decline, which was accompanied by an increase in water use efficiency (WUE) under both water treatments. Hybrids exhibited different strategies to cope with water availability. The hybrid 88BS was more water conserving, with the most decline in g …


Grassland Birds In Restored Grassland Of The Rainwater Basin Region In Nebraska, Jill Sporrong Utrup, Craig A. Davis Jan 2007

Grassland Birds In Restored Grassland Of The Rainwater Basin Region In Nebraska, Jill Sporrong Utrup, Craig A. Davis

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Conservationists and managers mention grassland restorations as a conservation strategy to reverse the decline of grassland bird populations in the Great Plains. In the Rainwater Basin Region of southcentral Nebraska, state and federal resource agencies have used grassland restorations to protect wetlands from sedimentation and agrichemical runoff. These grassland restorations may also provide important habitat for breeding grassland birds. In this paper, we describe the abundance, composition, nesting success, and habitat requirements of breeding birds in grassland restorations in the Rainwater Basin Region. We observed 14 grassland bird species in 12 grassland restorations. The most abundant species were dickcissels ( …


Notes And News For Vol.17 No.2 Jan 2007

Notes And News For Vol.17 No.2

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.


Prairie Sandreed Response To Preceding-Year Defoliation And Precipitation Regime, Patrick E. Reece, Justin W. Morris, Walter H. Schacht, Ann E. Koehler, Jerry D. Vole Sky, Lowell E. Moser Jan 2007

Prairie Sandreed Response To Preceding-Year Defoliation And Precipitation Regime, Patrick E. Reece, Justin W. Morris, Walter H. Schacht, Ann E. Koehler, Jerry D. Vole Sky, Lowell E. Moser

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Knowledge of how current-year grazing and drought stress affect subsequent-year herbage production is needed to enhance the management of semiarid Sandhills prairies. This study quantifies subsequent- year effects of defoliation and precipitation on prairie sandreed (Calamovilfa longijolia), a high-seral, warm-season tallgrass, and total graminoid herbage production in the Nebraska Sandhills. Mainplots (9.0 m2) received either ambient precipitation (noncovered) or precipitation was excluded during April-May, June-July, or August-September, resulting in 66% to 135% of the long-term average (434 mm) precipitation. All species in 1.0 m2 defoliated subplots were clipped in early July at the stubble height required for 30%, …


Review Of The Nature Of Eastern North Dakota: Pre-1880 Historical Ecology, Dennis H. Knight Jan 2007

Review Of The Nature Of Eastern North Dakota: Pre-1880 Historical Ecology, Dennis H. Knight

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Biologists, anthropologists, and land managers have at least two primary reasons for digging deeply into the journals of early explorers and inhabitants of an area. One is pure enjoyment, the kind that comes with learning from firsthand observers about the environment, people, flora, and fauna that existed over a century ago. Another is coming to a better understanding of the development of the ecosystems on which we now depend, and thereby gaining insights into how to achieve the elusive goal of sustainable land management while protecting the biological diversity that remains. Accessing this information is taxing, occurring as it does …


Native Land Acquisition In The Minnesota River Valley, Laura J. Smith Jan 2007

Native Land Acquisition In The Minnesota River Valley, Laura J. Smith

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The economic issues that often arise from Native land acquisition and development can strain relationships between American Indian tribes and non-Indian local governments. As Indian tribes expand their landholdings, political and economic landscapes are transformed. This paper examines intergovernmental relationships and the characteristics and impacts of recent land acquisitions made by two Dakota Indian communities in the Minnesota River Valley of Minnesota. The Upper Sioux Community has enjoyed a level of cooperation from local communities in their rural land acquisitions, while the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community has experienced vigorous opposition to their urban land acquisitions. Geographic situation may help to …


Potential Aboriginal-Occupation-Induced Dune Activity, Elbow Sand Hills, Northern Great Plains, Canada, Stephen A. Wolfe, Chris H. Hugenholtz, Christopher P. Evans, D. J. Huntley, Jeff Ollerhead Jan 2007

Potential Aboriginal-Occupation-Induced Dune Activity, Elbow Sand Hills, Northern Great Plains, Canada, Stephen A. Wolfe, Chris H. Hugenholtz, Christopher P. Evans, D. J. Huntley, Jeff Ollerhead

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Geomorphological and archeological evidence indicates potential linkages between Plains aboriginal occupation and dune activity in the Elbow Sand Hills of southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Vegetation encroachment has rapidly outpaced migration of an active dune complex over the last 65 years. Optical ages of stabilized dune remnants indicate that dune activity predates Euro-Canadian settlement (ca. AD 1900). Early Euro-Canadian explorers observed local occupation and exploitation of the sand hills by aboriginal groups for herding and impounding bison. Mapping of archeological sites in relation to physiography reveals that sand dunes, in close proximity to permanent water resources, were preferred areas of occupation. Collectively, …