Digital Commons Network^™

Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Cultural Site Stewardship Program – Program Expansion And Steward Retention: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Cultural Site Stewardship Program

• A total of 25 stewards initiate Abandoned Mines survey for NP
• CSSP stewards record Grapevine Canyon near Laughlin
• CSSP recognition event draws 103 participants

Joint Fire Science Program – Lake Mead National Recreation Area Revegetating Burned Arid Lands: Identifying Successful Native Species Using Trait And Competition Analysis: Quarterly Progress Report, Time Period: October 1 — December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Fire Science

• Article accepted for publication in Journal of Arid Environments.

• Recharged irrigation gel packs for outplanting and watered seed plots at Goodsprings site.

• Completed full year of seed granivory trials at Goodsprings site.

• Presented information on this Task Agreement to 4th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress.

• Maintained nursery plots and added installment of nitrogen treatment.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monitoring And Evaluation Of Sensitive Wildlife: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Wildlife Monitoring

Project 1. Relict Leopard Frog Monitoring, Management, and Research

• All milestones and deliverables are on schedule
• Fall surveys at all sites have been completed
• Mark-recapture surveys scheduled for fall were completed
• Short-term habitat improvements at two sites were conducted
• RLFCT meeting was hosted
• Draft annual report was written and presented at the RLFCT meeting

Project 2. Bald Eagle Winter Monitoring and Evaluation

• All milestones and deliverables are on schedule
• An annual project review presentation was given to Clark County
• A draft final report was written and submitted to Clark County
• All data for this project was transferred to the County …

Nevada Interagency Volunteer Program: Helping Hands Across Public Lands – Phase Ii: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering October 1, 2009 To December 31, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• The number of records in the volunteer database decreased by 14% over last quarter. The database now contains 5,996 records.
• Website activity increased, recording an average of 121,918 hits per month, an increase of 8% from last quarter, with an average of 9,686 pages viewed per month.
• Volunteer fall training has been completed.
• One hundred and twenty-seven people attended the Volunteer Recognition Event.

The 2009-2010 El Nino: Hydrologic Relief To U.S. Regions, Glenn A. Tootle, Thomas C. Piechota, Oubeidillah Aziz, William Paul Miller, Venkat Lakshmi, John A. Dracup, Carly Jerla

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Current forecasts by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are that the Pacific Ocean will experience El Niño conditions in late 2009 and into 2010. These forecasts are similar to past El Niño events in 1972–1973, 1982–1983, 1986–1987, and 2002–2003.

Evaluating the hydrologic conditions for these past El Niño events reveals that during these times, surface water supply conditions improved in many parts of the United States, including the Southeast, Midwest, and Southwest. At the same time, the Pacific Northwest and other specific regions of the United States experienced below-average water supply conditions. This is consistent with the …

Solar Technology Innovation Meeting Summary, Solar Innovation And Technology Center

Meetings (SI)

On December 11, 2009, Senator Harry Reid and President Neal Smatresk (UNLV) conveyed a group of approximately 60 people (see attached lists) from the public and private sector to provide input on the structure, focus, and need for a Solar Innovation Technology Center. At this meeting, there were small group discussions followed by a larger group discussion on the needs in the areas of Workforce / Training, Marketing and Finance, Economic and Policy Making, Infrastructure and Manufacturing, Technology Transfer and Commercialization, and Research. The notes below summarize the major comments from the group. This represents individual comments and in other …

Dmitri Shalin Interview With Dean Maccannell About Erving Goffman Entitled "Some Of Goffman’S Guardedness And Verbal Toughness Was Simply A Way Of Giving Himself The Space And Time That He Needed To Do The Work That He Really Loved", Dean Maccannell

Bios Sociologicus: The Erving Goffman Archives

This conversation with Dean MacCannell, Professor of Environmental Design at the University of California Davis, was recorded over the phone on July 7, 2009. The initial exchange lasting a minute or so is reconstructed from memory. Breaks in the conversation flow are indicated by ellipses. Supplementary information and additional materials inserted during the editing process appear in square brackets. Undecipherable words and unclear passages are identified in the text as “[?]”.

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2009, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Each student in his or her senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. The senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real-world solution to an engineering challenge.

A highlight of the year-long senior design project is the senior design competition. This competition, which usually takes place the week before finals each semester, helps focus the senior students on increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects.

Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on innovation, commercial …

Solar Ready Buildings Planning Guide, L. Lisell, T. Tetreault, A. Watson

Publications (E)

This document identifies the important aspects of building design and construction to enable installation of solar photovoltaic and heating systems at some time after the building is constructed. This document addresses photovoltaic (PV), solar hot water (ST), and solar ventilation preheat (SVP) systems.

Reflective Optics Cpv Panels Enabling Large Scale, Reliable Generation Of Solar Energy Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels, S. Horne, M. Mcdonald, N. Hartsoch, K. Desy

Publications (E)

The objective of this 18 month subcontract was the improvement of reflective optics CPV panels to enable the large-scale, reliable production of solar electricity to meet SAI-established LCOE targets, and ultimately provide a path to solar power at parity with or better than the cost of energy generated utilizing fossil fuels. To this end, SolFocus has completed this subcontract with great success as evidenced by the end results of a CPV panel with conversion efficiencies greater than the targeted 22% and manufacturing capabilities with a run rate capacity far exceeding the milestone benchmark >3MW.

Wind Energy And Power System Operations: A Review Of Wind Integration Studies To Date, Jennifer Decesaro, Kevin Porter

Publications (E)

This paper provides an overview of the challenges associated with wind integration and summarizes the findings of the wind integration studies conducted over the course of the past five years. We begin with an overview of the approximate time frames used in grid operations. We then describe how wind integration studies are conducted, discuss the results on wind integration costs and grid impacts from these grid integration studies, and assess some of the grid planning and operation changes that may be necessary to incorporate higher levels of wind generation. We close with several conclusions.

Economic Investigation Of Community-Scale Versus Building Scale Net-Zero Energy, N. Fernandez, S. Katipamula, M. R. Brambley, T. A. Reddy

Publications (E)

The study presented in this report examines issues concerning whether achieving net-zero energy performance at the community scale provides economic and potentially overall efficiency advantages over strategies focused on individual buildings.

Wind Energy Assessment Study For Nevada -- Tall Tower Deployment (Stone Cabin), Darko Koracin, R. Reinhardt, Gregory D. Mccurdy, Marshall Liddle, Travis E. Mccord, Ramesh Vellore, Timothy B. Minor, Bradley F. Lyles, D. Miller, Lycia M. Ronchetti

Publications (E)

The objective of this work effort was to characterize wind shear and turbulence for representative wind-developable areas in Nevada.

Leadership Assessment: A Tool For Developing Future Hospitality Leaders, Sam Carlton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to identify and confirm important key leadership behaviors and characteristics of successful hotel and hospitality leaders with the intentions of validating key leadership theories and making suggestions for future hotel and hospitality leaders. Two very relevant theories of leadership are explored- Transactional and Transformational. The traits and behaviors contained within the theories are identified and subsequently mapped against past and present hospitality industry leaders. As a result, the paper identifies the critical few traits and behaviors necessary for future leaders to be successful. Finally, a tool has been developed to be used to identify …

Unlv Special Collections In The Twenty-First Century, Tom D. Sommer

Library Faculty Publications

University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Special Collections is consistently striving to provide several avenues of discovery to its diverse range of patrons. Specifically, UNLV Special Collections has planned and implemented several online tools to facilitate unearthing treasures in the collections. These online tools incorporate Web 2.0 features as well as searchable interfaces to collections.

Usability As A Method For Assessing Discovery, Thomas A. Ipri, Michael A. Yunkin, Jeanne M. Brown

Library Faculty Publications

The University of Nevada Las Vegas Libraries engaged in three projects that helped identify areas of its website that had inhibited discovery of services and resources. These projects also helped generate staff interest in the Usability Working Group, which led these endeavors. The first project studied student responses to the site. The second focused on a usability test with the Libraries’ peer research coaches and resulted in a presentation of those findings to the Libraries staff. The final project involved a specialized test, the results of which also were presented to staff. All three of these projects led to improvements …

Biodiesel Handling And Use Guide: Fourth Edition (Revised), National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Publications (T)

This document is a guide for those who blend, store, distribute, and use biodiesel and biodiesel blends. It provides basic information on the proper and safe use of biodiesel and biodiesel blends in compression-ignition engines and boilers, and it is intended to help fleets, individual users, blenders, distributors, and those involved in related activities understand procedures for handling and using biodiesel fuels.

Mountain Monitor-3rd Quarter 2009, Brookings Mountain West

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

Nationwide, the recession is technically over. Or at least that is the view of most economists. They note that real U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) finally expanded in the third quarter of 2009, growing at a 2.8 percent annual rate after four consecutive quarters of contraction. They point to a significant slowing of job losses in November, rising housing prices, and a slight downtick in unemployment as other positive signs. Their conclusion: Economic recovery is at last underway. And yet, the pace of renewal seems tentative and its geography patchy. Most notably, the aggregate national story of recovery and expansion …

New American Home 2010: Las Vegas, Nevada, Building Technologies Program, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Publications (SD)

This brochure details the New American Home 2010, which demonstrates the use of innovative building materials, cutting-edge design, and the latest construction techniques.

“Discovery” Focus As An Impetus For Organizational Learning, Jennifer L. Fabbi

Library Faculty Publications

The University of Nevada Las Vegas Libraries' focus on the concept of discovery and the tools and processes that enable our users to find information began with an organizational review of the Libraries' Technical Services Division. This article outlines the phases of this review and subsequent planning and organizational commitment to discovery. Using the theoretical lens of organizational learning, it highlights how the emerging focus on discovery has provided an impetus for genuine learning and change.

Building Pathfinders With Screen Capture Tools, Patrick Griffis

Library Faculty Publications

This article outlines freely available screen capturing tools, covering their benefits and drawbacks as well as their potential applications. In discussing these tools, the author illustrates how they can be used to build pathfinding tutorials for users and how these tutorials can be shared with users. The author notes that the availability of these screen capturing tools at no cost, coupled with their ease of use, provides ample opportunity for low-stakes experimentation from library staff in building dynamic pathfinders to promote the discovery of library resources.

Cost-Effective Training And Development Programs In The Hotel Industry During A Recessionary Period, Fiona Clementine King

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Training and development are essential in providing employees with the right skills for their present and future jobs. The world today is constantly evolving, with customers demanding more, which in turn adds pressure to companies and their employees. Therefore, in times of recessions, decreasing the budgets of training programs is a way for companies in all industries to manage and minimize their financial losses. The purpose of this paper is to identify the different techniques that the hotel industry could use to maintain the training and development of their employees during an economic recession. This paper will also look at …

Descriptive Experience Sampling Of Individuals With Bulimia Nervosa, Sharon Jones-Forrester

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite 30 years of research, much remains unknown about inner experience in individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN); yet attaining a clearer understanding of inner experience in BN may prove to be crucial in uncovering the nature of this profoundly disruptive disorder. The present study used Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) to examine inner experience in 13 participants with BN, replicating to some degree Doucette (1992) and Jones-Forrester (2006). Results in the present study were largely consistent with Doucette (1992) and Jones-Forrester (2006) but substantially different from beliefs about inner experience from the extant non-exploratory DES BN literature. Specifically, the present study …

Post-Katrina New Orleans: The Challenges, Milestones And Progress Of Small Business Owners And Entrepreneurs, Iona Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The US Small Business Association reports that 99.9% of all US business can be classified as small. Having less than 500 employees small businesses provide work for just over half of all US private sector workers (2009). Additionally, less than 2% of those businesses have between 100-499 employees (Headd & Kirchhoff, 2009), leaving approximately 97% of all US businesses employing 99 or fewer employees. Given this statistic, it would stand to reason that small businesses have a higher success rate than large ones; however, developing and opening a small business does not occur without risk. The SBA reports that only …

A Naturalistic Inquiry Of The Restructuring Of A Middle School: An Nclb Mandate, Susan Ann Moulden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As the 2013-2014 school year approaches, more and more schools across the United States are finding it problematic to meet the annual measurable objective of 100 percent of the school's population meeting its adequate yearly progress (AYP) target, as prescribed by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation of 2002. Pursuant to NCLB, schools are required to meet the (defined) academic needs of all demographic populations within the school, and to ensure that all students are on grade level.

The purpose of this study was to explore first-hand the perceptions, insights and strategies comprising the implementation of a major …

The Role Of Cultural And Change During Mergers And Acquisitions: Bringing The Pride Back, Geoffrey W. Denight Jr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1998 a small family run casino operation was acquired by a large Las Vegas Casino Corporation. At the time the two companies had different cultures and there was an immediate clash between the two as the larger corporation sought to change the ways business was being conducted. Compounded by out side economic factors the business experienced a dramatic decline in revenue and employee morale. In this case study, the personalities and outside factors that had an impact on this acquisition will be revealed and the steps taken to change and manage the culture of the company, improve morale and …

Loyalty To Relationships: Examination Of Affluent Casino Guest Retention In Las Vegas, Adrian Y. Low

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper analyzes the challenges faced by Las Vegas, Nevada casinos when catering to their affluent guests. As part of the literature review, the paper will examine the various retention efforts taken by luxury products and service providers, along with luxury hotels and hotel casinos in Las Vegas. Personal communications with casino hotel executives provides a real-world comparison of the effectiveness and limitations of various techniques discussed in the literature review.

Manganese Oxide Mineral Phases Produced At Room Temperature Under Acidic Conditions Investigated With Xrd, Tem, Sem, Eds, And Bet, Nancy R. Birkner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis concerns characterization of synthetic manganese oxides belonging to mineral phases known as Birnessite and Cryptomelane. Presented here are the results of an experiment designed to examine the influence of sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfate ions on the reduction of potassium permanganate under acidic conditions at room temperature to produce Birnessite and Cryptomelane. The experiments used KMnO4 as the source of Mn and the resulting Birnessite and Cryptomelane precipitates were washed with 18 Mn/cm NANOpure water at the end of syntheses. Several state-of-the-art solid state techniques were used to characterize the Mn-based oxide mineral phases. Based on the literature …

An Entry Level Managerial Training Program For Hourly Hospitality Employees, Cynthia Mejia

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to develop an entry-level managerial training program for line-level hospitality employees. An analysis of the current literature regarding training and motivation will be used as the foundation for the proposed training program. In addition, two central issues will be addressed to ensure the success of the participants in the managerial training program: a) The identification and resolution of perceived obstacles employees face when contemplating advancement, and b) the practice of developing internal employees to increase retention, and thereby reduce the high costs associated with middle management turnover.

Democracy And The Environment In Latin America, Javier Albert Escamilla

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examines the ability of democratic and non-democratic states alike to protect the environment. Democracy has long been an important concept in the study of politics and environmental protection is an increasingly important issue in world politics. Advocates of democracy claim democratic states are better able to protect the environment than non-democracies. In contrast there are those that argue democracy's emphasis on individual rights leads to excessive resource consumption. This thesis employs a mixed methods approach to determine if democratic countries protect the environment more than their non-democratic counterparts. In short democracies do protect the environment better than non-democracies …