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Social and Behavioral Sciences

2008

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Alcoholic Beverage Sales To Underage Buyers In The Commonwealth Of Virginia: Deterrence And Equality, William L. Goodman Aug 2008

Alcoholic Beverage Sales To Underage Buyers In The Commonwealth Of Virginia: Deterrence And Equality, William L. Goodman

Theses & Honors Papers

The Commonwealth of Virginia relies on the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to enforce laws designed to deter alcohol and cigarette sales to underage persons. ABC employs underage buyers (UAB) who attempt to make controlled purchases of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.

The primary purpose of this research project is to determine if compliance checks deter alcohol sales to underage persons. Second, this study attempts to find if underage buyer demographics align with state demographics. Finally, this research attempts to determine if businesses are more likely to sell alcohol to underage buyers based on their race, ethnicity, and gender. This …


Open And Accessible: The Relationship Between Closures And Circulation In School Library Media Centers., Gail Dickinson, E Cogdell, Karen W. Gavigan Jul 2008

Open And Accessible: The Relationship Between Closures And Circulation In School Library Media Centers., Gail Dickinson, E Cogdell, Karen W. Gavigan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Time And Complexity In Historical Ecology: Studies In The Neotropical Lowlands, Alf Hornborg Jun 2008

Time And Complexity In Historical Ecology: Studies In The Neotropical Lowlands, Alf Hornborg

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Book review of Time and Complexity in Historical Ecology: Studies in the Neotropical Lowlands. William Balée and Clark L. Erickson, editors. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. The Historical Ecology Series. xii + 417 pp., maps, figures, tables, notes, references, index. ISBN 0-231-13288-3.


"Sustainable Development": Critical Concepts In Geography, Tyler Vick May 2008

"Sustainable Development": Critical Concepts In Geography, Tyler Vick

Geography Masters Research Papers

This paper reviews significant geographic contributions to academic literature in the arenas of conservation, environmental thought, and "sustainable development", in order to understand why geographers have not been more central contributors to the sustainable development movement. A review of geographic literature reveals no lack of understanding on the "sustainable development" concept. However, the disciplines' contributions are lacking in numbers relative to published articles and in developing research and practical methods for directly benefiting the "sustainable development" movement. In fact, only a handful of geographers have made multiple literary contributions on the topic of "sustainable development."

The discipline of geography is …


Habitat Selection By A Rare Forest Antelope: A Multi-Scale Approach Combining Field Data And Imagery From Three Sensors, Lyndon Estes, G. S. Okin, A. G. Mwangi, H. H. Shugart May 2008

Habitat Selection By A Rare Forest Antelope: A Multi-Scale Approach Combining Field Data And Imagery From Three Sensors, Lyndon Estes, G. S. Okin, A. G. Mwangi, H. H. Shugart

Geography

It can be difficult to further scientific understanding of rare or endangered species that live in inaccessible habitat using traditional methods, such as probabilistic modeling based on field data collection. Remote sensing (RS) can be an important source of information for the study of these animals. A key advantage of RS is its ability to provide information over an animal's complete range, but models incorporating RS data are limited by RS's ability to detect important habitat features. In this study, we focus on the rare, poorly-understood mountain bongo antelope (Tragelaphus euryceros isaaci) which survives in the wild in isolated pockets …


Designing A Base Station For Living Routes In Auroville, India, Vandita Mudgal May 2008

Designing A Base Station For Living Routes In Auroville, India, Vandita Mudgal

Living Routes Student Projects

Living Routes is a Non Governmental organization based in Amherst, MA that sends students overseas for semester long courses affiliated by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The courses comprise of sustainable living practices, ecological studies and a lifestyle that supports nature. These sites are primarily eco-villages spread throughout the world. In some of them Living Routes has its own campus and in others they function from temporary guest houses and hired accommodations.

This LARP Master’s study project worked to develop the spatial design for a campus located in Auroville, India for Living Routes. As the course is more established in …


Prospects And Limitations For Ecocultural Tourism In The City: Developing An Urban Heritage Water Trail On The Portage Creek, Eric Mark Kerney Apr 2008

Prospects And Limitations For Ecocultural Tourism In The City: Developing An Urban Heritage Water Trail On The Portage Creek, Eric Mark Kerney

Masters Theses

The decline in Michigan's economy and rapid loss of manufacturing jobs has forced communications to look towards new possibilities. The state's abundant water resources have potential to enhance regional economies and improve the quality of life. The Michigan Heritage Water Trails Program was initiated in 2002 by Michigan Public Act 454 in response to a lack of established routes in the state. The Portage Creek is located within the Kalamazoo River Watershed, which is being explored as a pilot project for a connected system of regional water trails. The study area of the Portage Creek is located entirely within the …


The Current State Of Populations Of Diadema Antillarum On Isla Colón In Bocas Del Toro, Panamá, 25 Years After Mass Mortality, Leah T. Ritz Apr 2008

The Current State Of Populations Of Diadema Antillarum On Isla Colón In Bocas Del Toro, Panamá, 25 Years After Mass Mortality, Leah T. Ritz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In January 1983, the worst recorded die-off of any marine animal hit the Caribbean beginning near the mouth of the Panama Canal and eventually wiping out nearly 99% of one of the most important herbivores in coral reef communities, Diadema antillarum—the long-spined sea urchin or Diadema. No populations of Diadema in the Western Atlantic are known to have escaped the drastic population declines. The loss of Diadema throughout the Western Atlantic has had long-lasting impacts on the structure and composition of many types of communities including coral reefs, mangrove roots, sea grass beds, and sand flats. Though the mortality was …


Endnotes Issue 12.2, Cisr Journal Mar 2008

Endnotes Issue 12.2, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Endnotes Issue 12.2


A New Approach To Flood Education (Booklet), Neil Dufty Jan 2008

A New Approach To Flood Education (Booklet), Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

No abstract provided.


Schoolyard Improvements And Standardized Test Scores: An Ecological Analysis, Russ Lopez, Richard Campbell, James Jennings Jan 2008

Schoolyard Improvements And Standardized Test Scores: An Ecological Analysis, Russ Lopez, Richard Campbell, James Jennings

Gastón Institute Publications

Boston MA’s schoolyards had seriously deteriorated since the middle of the 20th century resulting in dangerous and unusable outdoor spaces. Beginning in the mid 1990s, a program to renovate these schoolyards has resulted in approximately half of the schools now having outdoor recreational, learning and garden spaces. This study compared the 4th grade test score results in renovated vs. unrenovated schools. Controlling for school demographics, schools that had a renovated schoolyard had more of their students passed the state mandated math test (1.06, 95% confidence interval = .00012, .12). Effects on the state mandated English language arts test were not …


Earthworm Abundances In Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Pastures In Northwest Arkansas, Ashley Rashe, Mary C. Savin Jan 2008

Earthworm Abundances In Endophyte-Infected Tall Fescue Pastures In Northwest Arkansas, Ashley Rashe, Mary C. Savin

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

The ecology of organisms that co-evolve within an ecosystem is likely to be distinct from that involving organisms recently introduced into an area. To better understand the relationship of earthworms with endophyte-infected tall fescue, earthworms in novel and toxic endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures were enumerated and identified as adults or juveniles. We hypothesized that differences in endophyte infection of the fescue would influence earthworm abundances. Earthworms in two toxic and two novel endophyte-infected tall fescue fields in Fayetteville, Ark., were sampled weekly from January through July 2007. Each type of endophyte-infected pasture was established in 1997 and 2003. Sampling was …


An Hsus Report: Human Health Implications Of Intensive Poultry Production And Avian Influenza, The Humane Society Of The United States Jan 2008

An Hsus Report: Human Health Implications Of Intensive Poultry Production And Avian Influenza, The Humane Society Of The United States

Impact of Animal Agriculture

The high stocking density, stress, unhygienic conditions, lack of sunlight, and breeding practices typical of industrial poultry and egg production systems may facilitate the emergence and spread of diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses with public health implications such as H5N1.


An Hsi Report: Human Health Implications Of Intensive Poultry Production And Avian Influenza, Humane Society International Jan 2008

An Hsi Report: Human Health Implications Of Intensive Poultry Production And Avian Influenza, Humane Society International

HSI REPORTS

The high stocking density, stress, unhygienic conditions, lack of sunlight, and breeding practices typical of industrial poultry and egg production systems may facilitate the emergence and spread of diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses with public health implications such as H5N1.


Wolf Body Mass Cline Across Minnesota Related To Taxonomy?, L. David Mech, William J. Paul Jan 2008

Wolf Body Mass Cline Across Minnesota Related To Taxonomy?, L. David Mech, William J. Paul

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Recent genetic studies suggest that in northern Minnesota two species of wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758 or western wolf and Canis lycaon Schreber, 1775 (= Canis rufus Audubon and Bachman, 1851) or eastern wolf) meet and hybridize. However, little morphological information is available about these two types of wolves in Minnesota. We analyzed the mass of 950 female wolves and 1006 males older than 1 year from across northern Minnesota and found that it increased from 26.30 ± 0.56 kg (mean ± SE) for females and 30.60 ± 0.72 kg for males in northeastern Minnesota to 30.01 ± 0.43 …


Factors Influencing Predation On Juvenile Ungulates And Natural Selection Implications, S. M. Barber-Meyer, L. D. Mech Jan 2008

Factors Influencing Predation On Juvenile Ungulates And Natural Selection Implications, S. M. Barber-Meyer, L. D. Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Juvenile ungulates are generally more vulnerable to predation than are adult ungulates other than senescent individuals, not only because of their relative youth, fragility, and inexperience, but also because of congenital factors. Linnell et al.’s (Wildl. Biol. 1: 209-223) extensive review of predation on juvenile ungulates concluded that research was needed to determine the predisposition of these juveniles to predation. Since then, various characteristics that potentially predispose juvenile ungulates have emerged including blood characteristics, morphometric and other condition factors, and other factors such as birth period, the mother’s experience, and spatial and habitat aspects. To the extent that any of …


Planning Ahead: Adapting Settlements Before Disasters Strike, Christine Wamsler Jan 2008

Planning Ahead: Adapting Settlements Before Disasters Strike, Christine Wamsler

Christine Wamsler

No abstract provided.


Mapping Agricultural Land Cover For Hydrologic Modeling In The Platte River Watershed Of Nebraska, Patti R. Dappen, Ian C. Ratcliffe, Cullen R. Robbins, James W. Merchant Jan 2008

Mapping Agricultural Land Cover For Hydrologic Modeling In The Platte River Watershed Of Nebraska, Patti R. Dappen, Ian C. Ratcliffe, Cullen R. Robbins, James W. Merchant

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Throughout the western United States, natural resources managers are attempting to address the growing, and often competing, demands that municipal, agricultural and environmental interests have for water. The Platte River Cooperative Hydrology Study (COHYST) is a multi-agency effort that seeks to improve understanding of the ecology, geology, and hydrology of the Platte River watershed in central and western Nebraska. Information regarding the types, areal extent, and locations of crops (especially irrigated crops) is critical for estimating consumptive use of water. Digital land-cover and land-use datasets of the central and western Platte River valley have been prepared for four years: 1982, …


Urban Containment Policies And Physical Activity A Time–Series Analysis Of Metropolitan Areas, 1990–2002, Semra Aytur, Daniel A. Rodriguez, Kelly R. Evenson, Diane J. Catellier Jan 2008

Urban Containment Policies And Physical Activity A Time–Series Analysis Of Metropolitan Areas, 1990–2002, Semra Aytur, Daniel A. Rodriguez, Kelly R. Evenson, Diane J. Catellier

Health Management & Policy

Background: Urban containment policies attempt to manage the location, character, and timing of growth to support a variety of goals such as compact development, preservation of greenspace, and efficient use of infrastructure. Despite prior research evaluating the effects of urban containment policies on land use, housing, and transportation outcomes, the public health implications of these policies remain unexplored. This ecologic study examines relationships among urban containment policies, state adoption of growthmanagement legislation, and population levels of leisure and transportation-related physical activity in 63 large metropolitan statistical areas from 1990 to 2002. Methods: Multiple data sources were combined, including surveys of …


Lung Cancer Mortality Is Elevated In Coal Mining Areas Of Appalachia, Michael Hendryx, Kathryn O'Donnell, Kimberly Horn Jan 2008

Lung Cancer Mortality Is Elevated In Coal Mining Areas Of Appalachia, Michael Hendryx, Kathryn O'Donnell, Kimberly Horn

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Previous research has documented increased lung cancer incidence and mortality in Appalachia. The current study tests whether residence in coal mining areas of Appalachia is a contributing factor. We conducted a national county-level analysis to identify contributions of smoking rates, socioeconomic variables, coal mining intensity and other variables to age-adjusted lung cancer mortality. Results demonstrate that lung cancer mortality for the years 2000-2004 is higher in areas of heavy Appalachian coal mining after adjustments for smoking, poverty, education, age, sex, race and other covariates. Higher mortality may be the result of exposure to environmental contaminates associated with the coal mining …


An Examination Of Female Youth Gangs, Tiffiney Y. Barfield-Cottledge, Myrna Cintron, Jonathan Sorensen Jan 2008

An Examination Of Female Youth Gangs, Tiffiney Y. Barfield-Cottledge, Myrna Cintron, Jonathan Sorensen

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

Cohen's subculture of delinquency theory (1955) posits that male youth gangs exist largely as the result of the status frustration experienced by rejected adolescents in their search for middle class acceptance. Cohen concluded that social and structural factors, particularly neighborhood and school environments, impacted youth gang prevalence. While many studies related to the existence of youth gangs have been conducted, few have focused specifically on female youth gangs. In the current study, an examination of female youth gangs was conducted using self-report data gathered for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997-2001). Contrary to arguments that gendered-specific criminological theories are …


Literature Review Of Mule Deer And White-Tailed Deer Movements In Western And Midwestern Landscapes, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Scott R. Groepper, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Chuck J. Frost, Justin R. Boner, Travis C. Kinsell, Gregory M. Clements Jan 2008

Literature Review Of Mule Deer And White-Tailed Deer Movements In Western And Midwestern Landscapes, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Scott R. Groepper, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Chuck J. Frost, Justin R. Boner, Travis C. Kinsell, Gregory M. Clements

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The relationships among seasonal change, population dynamics, social pressures, landscape dynamics, anthropologic disturbances, and behavioral ecology are complex. Therefore, migration and seasonal movements are poorly understood and dispersal continues to be one of the least understood aspects of animal ecology in North America. We reviewed scientific literature on movements of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) in western and midwestern landscapes to identify gaps in our knowledge and direct future research. We used electronic databases, library catalogs, Internet search engines, and peer-reviewed journals to conduct key word searches for pertinent articles. We found …


Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, 1819-1820: America's First Biodiversity Ineventory, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe Jan 2008

Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, 1819-1820: America's First Biodiversity Ineventory, Hugh H. Genoways, Brett C. Ratcliffe

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

It is our thesis that members of the Stephen Long Expedition of 1819-20 completed the first biodiversity inventory undertaken in the United States at their winter quarters, Engineer Cantonment, Missouri Territory, in the modern state of Nebraska. This accomplishment has been overlooked both by biologists and historians, but it should rank among the most significant accomplishments of the expedition. The results of this inventory allow us to evaluate the environmental, faunal, and floral changes along the Missouri River in the intervening nearly 190 years. The historical records form a visual image of a dynamic riverine system in which a highly …


Ecological Literacy, Environmental Attitudes And Behaviors Of Residents Adjacent To The Coahcella Valley Preserve, Kathleen Dawn Fleming Jan 2008

Ecological Literacy, Environmental Attitudes And Behaviors Of Residents Adjacent To The Coahcella Valley Preserve, Kathleen Dawn Fleming

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis aims to address the many processes that guide communication between the public and conservation ecologists, and how one's knowledge of the area around them could affect communcation between groups. This thesis researched the dynamics of ecological literacy levels environmental attitudes and frequency of behaviors of the urban, suburban, and rural sub group residents that live in the Coachella Valley of Southern California. It is relevant to the current strategy for designing multiple species reserves through the development of multiple species habitat conservation plans.


The Impact Of Children's Literature On The Environmental Awareness Of A Population Of Second Grade Students, Iris Jackeline Russo Jan 2008

The Impact Of Children's Literature On The Environmental Awareness Of A Population Of Second Grade Students, Iris Jackeline Russo

Theses Digitization Project

This project aimed at helping second grade children gain environmental sensitivity and awareness by infusing the existing English Language Arts curriculum with environmental activities. The purpose is to demonstrate how one can infuse the California state's mandated curriculum, Houghton Mifflin, with children's literature in order to promote environmental sensitivity and awareness.


A Two-Part Measure Of Degree Of Invasion For Cross-Community Comparisons, Qinfeng Guo, Amy Symstad Jan 2008

A Two-Part Measure Of Degree Of Invasion For Cross-Community Comparisons, Qinfeng Guo, Amy Symstad

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Invasibility is a critical feature of ecological communities, especially for management decisions. To date, invasibility has been measured in numerous ways. Although most researchers have used the richness (or number) of exotic species as a direct or indirect measure of community invasibility, others have used alternative measures such as the survival, density, or biomass of either a single or all exotic species. These different measures, even when obtained from the same communities, have produced inconsistent results and have made comparisons among communities difficult. Here, we propose a measure of the degree of invasion (DI) of a community as a surrogate …


Open And Accessible: The Relationship Between Closures And Circulation In School Library Media Centers, Gail Dickinson, Karen Gavigan, Shana Pribesh Jan 2008

Open And Accessible: The Relationship Between Closures And Circulation In School Library Media Centers, Gail Dickinson, Karen Gavigan, Shana Pribesh

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

A hallmark of school library media best practice is for the library media center to be open and accessible to patron use before, during, and after the school day and throughout the entire school year. Anecdotal evidence and informal discussion among school library media specialists indicate that library media facilities are sometimes used for activities unrelated to the mission of the school library media program in the school. These activities may close the library media center to regular patron use for all or part of the school day. This study surveyed school library media specialists in two states and examined …


The Denial Of Emergency Protection: Factors Associated With Court Decision Making, Carol E. Jordan, Adam J. Pritchard, Pamela Wilcox, Danielle Duckett-Pritchard Jan 2008

The Denial Of Emergency Protection: Factors Associated With Court Decision Making, Carol E. Jordan, Adam J. Pritchard, Pamela Wilcox, Danielle Duckett-Pritchard

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

Despite the importance of civil orders of protection as a legal resource for victims of intimate partner violence, research is limited in this area, and most studies focus on the process following a court’s initial issuance of an emergency order. The purpose of this study is to address a major gap in the literature by examining cases where victims of intimate partner violence are denied access to temporary orders of protection. The study sample included a review of 2,205 petitions that had been denied by a Kentucky court during the 2003 fiscal year. The study offers important insights into the …


Impacts Of A Woody Invader Vary In Different Vegetation Communities, T J. Mason, K French Jan 2008

Impacts Of A Woody Invader Vary In Different Vegetation Communities, T J. Mason, K French

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The impact of an exotic species in natural systems may be dependent not only on invader attributes but also on characteristics of the invaded community. We examined impacts of the invader bitou bush, Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. rotundata , in fore and hind dune communities of coastal New South Wales, Australia. We compared invader impacts on vegetation structure, richness of both native and exotic growth forms and community variability in fore and hind dunes. We found that impacts of bitou invasion were context specific: in fore dune shrublands, functionally distinct graminoid, herb and climber rather than shrub growth forms had significantly …


Review Of The Niobrara: A River Running Through Time. By Paul A. Johnsgard., Fritz L. Knopf Jan 2008

Review Of The Niobrara: A River Running Through Time. By Paul A. Johnsgard., Fritz L. Knopf

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Paul Johnsgard has authored an exemplary list of books as an ornithologist and natural historian. This volume approaches (may actually be) his 50th. The Niobrara reads as if one is on an auto tour with a premier naturalist who has a trunk full of documented species data. Residents from Harrison to Niobrara will find herein a welcome overview of their own unique natural history.