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Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, December 3, 2009, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Department of Agricultural Systems Technology and Education

• Inactivate Course
• Delete Course

Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences

• Title Change, Course Description Change
• Title Change, Prerequisite Change, Course Description Change, Add Repeatable for Credit
• Prerequisite Change

Department of Plants, Soils and Climate

• Delete Course

Department of Economics and Finance

• New Course
• Title Change, Prerequisite Change, Course Number Change

School of Teacher Education and Leadership

• New Course
• Course Description, Add Dual List
• Title Change, Course Description Change, Add Dual List
• Title Change

Department of Family, Consumer and Human Development

• New Course
• Prerequisite Change
• Grade Mode Change

Department of Health, Physical Education …

Discovering Metabolic Networks Of Bovine Fertilization, Erin Lynn Young

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

At the time of fertilization, a dramatic change occurs in the oocyte that transforms this cell from a metaphase arrested state into a metabolically active and dynamic state. The view of the flow of biological processes within organisms has recently shifted from that of a linear path to a more complex network. Biological processes are no longer thought of in the simple terms of DNA to RNA, RNA to proteins, and proteins to final activity. It is now known that many biological processes involve interconnected networks and feedback loops in which DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites perform specific roles. We …

The Effect Of Irrigation Diversions On The Mountain Whitefish (Prosopium Williamsoni) Population In The Big Lost River, Patrick Allen Kennedy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Management agencies documented a decline in the mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) population on the Big Lost River, and unscreened diversions were recognized as a potential factor for this decline. Research suggests the Big Lost River mountain whitefish population is genetically unique, and it has been petitioned for protection under the Endangered Species Act. In 2007, a basin-wide synopsis of diversions was conducted to describe relative entrainment and identify diversions that entrained the most mountain whitefish. This larger scaled synopsis facilitated a more precise assessment of entrainment by a subset of diversions in 2008. In 2008, the volume that …

Defining And Meeting The Demand For Agricultural Machinery In China: A Case Study Of John Deere, Garrett W. Davis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There has been little research conducted regarding the agricultural machinery market in China. However, current data suggest that this demand is dramatically increasing. This dissertation endeavors to generally define the current demand of the agricultural machinery market in China. There has been research conducted on multiple factors of the agricultural machinery market in China, such as land tenure rights, rural migration, government agricultural policies, and others. Through the use of limited quantitative data, market demand is analyzed and defined. By means of a qualitative case study of a successful multinational corporation, Deere & Co., how the demand is being met …

The Effects Of Social Status And Learning On Captive Coyote (Canis Latrans) Behavior, Lynne Barbara Gilbert-Norton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many canids live within hierarchical social systems that could promote differences in learning or in behavior between ranked individuals. Differences in foraging and territorial behavior have been observed between ranked coyotes (Canis latrans), yet effects of learning and social status on coyote behavior are not thoroughly understood. I explored a) coyote response to an artificial scent boundary and whether response differed by status, b) how foraging coyotes tracked temporal resource change, and c) how coyotes find spatially distributed food, and the effect of dominance on foraging behavior. I used male/female pairs of captive coyotes at the National Wildlife Research Center …

Bed Bugs: For Homeowners, Ryan S. Davis, Erin W. Hodgson, Jay B. Karren, Alan H. Roe

All Current Publications

Bed bugs are notorious around the world for their impact on humans and have been recognized as important pests for hundreds of years. Infestations were common before World War II, but heavy insecticide use eliminated most bed bugs in North America for almost 30 years.

Bed Bugs: For Pest Control Operators, Ryan S. Davis

All Current Publications

Over the past decade reports of bed bug infestations (Cimicidae: Cimex lectularius) throughout North America and abroad have been on the rise. Accordingly, bed bug submissions to the Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab have also been increasing.

Bear River Oneida Narrows Recreation Use And Preference Study, Douglas Reiter

All Current Publications

As part of the study necessary for consideration of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing of the Twin Lakes Canal Company’s proposed Bear River Narrows Dam, Utah State University researchers collected data pertaining to existing recreational use and use patterns, and potential impacts of the proposed dam on recreational use.

Chopping And Storing Quality Corn Silage, Clark Israelsen, James Barnhill, Linden Greenhalgh, Michael Pace, Jody Gale

All Current Publications

This publication explains proper harvesting and storage of corn silage as a quality forage.

Removal And Utilization Of Wastewater Nutrients For Algae Biomass And Biofuels, Erick W. Griffiths

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Logan City Environmental Department operates a facility that consists of 460 acres of fairly shallow lagoons (~ 5'deep) for biological wastewater treatment that meets targets for primary and secondary treatments (solids, biological oxygen demand (BOD), and pathogen removal). Significant natural algal growth occurs in these lagoons, which improves BOD removal through oxygenation and also facilitates N removal through volatilization as ammonia under high pH conditions created by algal growth. Phosphorus, however, is non-volatile and stays in the water and likely cycles in and out of algal cells as they grow and die in the lagoons. In the near future, …

Costs Of Implementing Collective Action And Capacity Building Among Pastoralists In Southern Ethiopia, D. Layne Coppock, Seyoum Tezera, Solomon Desta

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Since 2000, the PARIMA project has implemented risk-management activities among semi-settled pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. The goal has been to improve human welfare via collective action and capacity building. Outcomes include progress in income generation, asset conservation, and livelihood diversification. Fifty-nine collective-action groups were created. Dominated by women, they included over 2,000 founding members and groups have recently merged to form 37 cooperatives, consistent with government policy. Creating sustainable impacts via collective action and capacity building requires many inputs. Taking raw, illiterate volunteers and transforming them into sustainable groups took up to three years, on average. Costs of implementing this …

Eleven Years Of Parima Activities In North-Central Kenya: Impacts On Egerton University And Neighboring Communities, D. Layne Coppock, Abdillahi Aboud, Mark Mutinda, Stellamaris Muthoka

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The PARIMA project was created to improve the well-being of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia via risk-management research, training, and outreach. The project began to collaborate with Egerton University’s Department of Natural Resources in 1998 and many joint activities were undertaken over the next 11 years. Among them were regional household research on pastoral risks and their management, a training program for Egerton teaching staff to obtain post-graduate degrees, facilitation of Egerton faculty and staff to attend professional meetings, and provision of computer hardware and software that led to the creation of a GIS teaching and …

Simple Cooling Method Improves The Quality Of Marketed Camel Milk In Northern Kenya, D. Layne Coppock, A. O. Adongo, F. Wayua, I. J. Sagalla, H. K. Walaga, C. Amboga

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Milk marketing is important for many pastoralists to generate income, especially poor households with little else to sell. Milk is accumulated at pastoral settlements and transported to local markets on foot, by pack animals, or in vehicles. Despite challenges of heat and long-distance travel, pastoralists or traders do not attempt to cool marketed milk and possibly reduce risk of spoilage. Milk spoilage is an important problem that limits urban consumer demand. Our research objective was to determine effects of water-soaked hemp (burlap), wrapped around plastic jerry cans, on reducing milk temperature and enhancing quality of marketed camel milk, a key …

Can Pastoral Linkages To Livestock Markets Be Sustained In Southern Ethiopia?, D. Layne Coppock, Getachew Gebru, Solomon Desta, Seyoum Tezera, Zewdu Edea

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The PARIMA project has facilitated collective action, empowerment of women, and increased involvement in livestock marketing among pastoralists on the Borana Plateau since 2001. Fifty-nine collective-action groups formed by PARIMA and her partners have been recently merged into market-oriented cooperatives, consistent with government policy. We used focus groups and participatory appraisals to assess the extent that market linkages have been sustained since previously reported in 2006. The markets have been growing, but are volatile. Members report they need access to early warning and livestock market-information systems, as well as more capital, to promote trade. Export firms have imposed added conditions …

Thaw: A Memoir, Diane Bush

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This collection of creative nonfiction essays is a hybrid text of visual and verbal narratives located broadly within the genres of memoir, research-based nonfiction, and history. Women's memoirs, including a number of non-traditional texts, historical narratives, and an archival collection of photographs, provided springboards for the exploration of and reflection on the emotional terrain of loss, the ache of remembrance, and the ultimate desire for peace.

Ultimately, this work is a search for solace amidst emotional upheaval, beginning in childhood, after the deaths of my father, mother, first husband, and beloved aunt. Unable to sit still with my grief, I …

Summer Home Range Fidelity In Adult Female Elk (Cervus Elaphus) In Northwestern Colorado, April M. Brough

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding the degree of spatial fidelity of individuals within a species increases our ability to manage appropriately. Elk (Cervus elaphus) is a highly managed species in the Intermountain West, but there is little research evaluating summer home range fidelity of individual elk. We evaluated fidelity of 72 adult female elk to individual summer-fall home ranges in the White River study area in northwestern Colorado during two consecutive summers. Based on individual kernel-estimated utilization distributions, we used (1) the Volume of Intersection (VI) statistic and (2) interannual distances between centers of mass to compare summer range overlap and distribution. …

Quantifying Surface Water And Groundwater Interactions In A High-Gradient Mountain Stream For Solute Transport, Noah M. Schmadel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study reach in a mountain stream highly influenced by groundwater was selected to test common data collection strategies used to characterize and quantify groundwater exchange processes necessary to predict solute transport. The data types collected include: high frequency discharge estimates with the use of rating curves, dilution gauging techniques with instantaneous tracer experiments, groundwater table and stream water surface elevations, vertical head gradients, and hydraulic conductivity estimates. The first two data types were categorized as stream gauging and the remaining three data types as site characterization. The stream gauging data were used to quantify net changes in stream discharge …

Effects Of Coyote Removal On Pronghorn And Mule Deer Populations In Wyoming, Dylan Earl Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I studied the relationship between coyote (Canis latrans) removal and pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) density and fawn:doe ratios in southwest Wyoming and northeast Utah in 2007 and 2008. Coyote removal variables studied included the number of coyotes removed, ground hours worked, total hours worked, coyotes removed/aerial gunning hour, coyotes removed/ground work hour, and coyotes removed/total effort hour. None of the variables explained changes observed in fawn:doe ratios of pronghorn or mule deer. The number of coyotes removed, ground hours worked, total hours worked, and coyotes removed/aerial gunning hour were positively …

Investigating Methods To Reduce Black Bear (Ursus Americanus) Visitation To Anthropogenic Food Sources: Conditioned Taste Aversion And Food Removal, Kari D. Signor

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Conflicts between humans and black bears (Ursus americanus) jeopardize the safety of both humans and bears, especially when bears become food-conditioned to anthropogenic food sources in areas such as campgrounds. Interest in using non-lethal techniques, such as aversive conditioning, to manage such conflicts is growing. I conducted a captive experiment at The Wildlife Science Center in Minnesota and two field experiments in the La Sal Mountains, Utah, to investigate the effects of taste aversion conditioning using thiabendazole (TBZ) with a novel flavor cue and food removal on black bear food consumption and visitation to human food sources. In …

Herbicide, Salinity, And Flooding Tolerance Of Foxtail Barley (Hordeum Jubatum L.) And Desirable Pasture Grasses, Karl R. Israelsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research trials performed in the greenhouse compared the tolerance and response of Hordeum jubatum and desirable pasture grass species to herbicides, salinity, and flooding. Desirable grass species used in this study included: 'Fawn' tall fescue (Festuca arundinaceae), 'Garrison' creeping foxtail (Alopecurus arundinaceus), 'Palaton' reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea), 'Climax' timothy (Phleum pratense), 'Alkar' tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum), 'Potomac' orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata), and 'Mustang' altai wildrye (Leymus angustus). Tolerance to herbicides, salinity, and flooding varied significantly among grass species. Herbicide tolerance was tested using four herbicides at five …

The Utah Statesman, November 30, 2009, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Faculty Senate Agenda, November 30, 2009, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Faculty Evaluation Committee Report
• Athletic Council Report
• ASUSU Report
• Retention and Student Success Report
• EPC Items
• PRPC Code changes Section 401.3 & .4 – Composition and Authority of the Faculty (Partial changes) - First Reading
• Faculty involvement in President’s evaluation of administrators (Refer to Code Section 104.3.6(3) on Human Resources Webpage)
• Recommendation to form an Ad Hoc Committee to review university reports of non-adherence to the Faculty Code

Subcutaneous Administration Of Tc007 Reduces Disease Severity In An Animal Model Of Sma, Virginia B. Mattis, Marina Y. Fosso, Cheng-Wei Tom Chang, Christian L. Lorson

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Background Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is the leading genetic cause of infantile death. It is caused by the loss of functional Survival Motor Neuron 1 (SMN1). There is a nearly identical copy gene, SMN2, but it is unable to rescue from disease due to an alternative splicing event that excises a necessary exon (exon 7) from the majority of SMN2-derived transcripts. While SMNΔ7 protein has severely reduced functionality, the exon 7 sequences may not be specifically required for all activities. Therefore, aminoglycoside antibiotics previously shown to suppress stop codon recognition and promote translation read-through have been examined to increase the …

The Utah Statesman, November 23, 2009, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Utah Statesman, November 20, 2009, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Utah Statesman, November 18, 2009, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Utah Statesman, November 16, 2009, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Utah Statesman, November 13, 2009, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Utah Statesman, November 11, 2009, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Regional Assessment Of Aspen Change And Spatial Variability On Decadal Time Scales, Temuulen Tsagaan Sankey

Aspen Bibliography

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is commonly believed to be declining throughout western North America. Using a historical vegetation map and Landsat TM5 imagery, this study detects changes in regional aspen cover over two different time periods of 85 and 18 years and examines aspen change patterns with biophysical variables in the Targhee National Forest of eastern Idaho, USA. A subpixel classification approach was successfully used to classify aspen. The results indicate greater spatial variability in regional aspen change patterns than indicated by local-scale studies. The observed spatial variability appears to be an inherent pattern in regional aspen dynamics, …