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Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review December 2006

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal, and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 685880514.

Memberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Evaluating Diet Composition Of Pronghorn In Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, Christopher N. Jacques, Jaret D. Sievers, Jonathan A. Jenks, Chad L. Sexton, Daniel E. Roddy

The Prairie Naturalist

The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) was reintroduced into Wind Cave National Park (WCNP), South Dakota, in 1914, and thus, has inhabited the Park for nearly a century. During the 1990's, a decline in the population raised concern for the continued existence of pronghorn inside WCNP; an investigation into the observed decline was initiated. Primary objectives of our study were to evaluate diet composition and forage selection by pronghorn in WCNP. Microhistological analysis was conducted on 58 fecal samples collected opportunistically from pronghorn during 2002. Blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), common juniper (Juniperus communis), and northern bedstraw …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Editor's Note

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

This issue presents four viewpoints on current issues involving judicial elections, politics, and the effect of public opinion on the courts. In our lead article, Shira Goodman and Lynn Marks of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts tell the story of Pennsylvania’s 2005 retention election for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. With very little warning, public opposition developed to the retention of two justices: one was retained with 54% of the vote and one was thrown out of office with only 49% voting to retain him. The election was unusual because it did not relate to opinions issued by either justice. Rather, the …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Directory Of Officers And Board Of Governors, 2005-2006

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

Directory of Officers and Board of Governors of American Judges Association

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - E-Courts: The Times They Are A-Changin’, James E. Mcmillan

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

The title obviously comes from Bob Dylan’s classic song from 1964. That song captured the spirit of the times and again, in a small way, captures ours as well. This year’s upcoming E-Courts Conference (www.e-courts.org) in December will highlight both the changes that computers have brought to court operations and where things are going in the future.

Court operations have been impacted over the past decade with the implementation of electronic court document filing (aka E-filing). This year the U.S. federal courts will have electronic filing available in nearly all district and bankruptcy courts. We have seen that not as …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Complete Issue

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Judges, Law, Politics & Strategy, Frank B. Cross

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

In law, we commonly presume that judges reach decisions based on legal materials, such as precedents. In political science, researchers typically presume that judges do not reach decisions based on such legal materials. They maintain that the apparent reliance on precedent to reach decisions is simply a hoax designed to provide cover for a particular outcome. These researchers traditionally argued that judges reach their personally preferred outcome in the case and then rationalize it after the fact with references to precedent, conveniently supplied them by the attorneys for their preferred side.

Much of the empirical research on judicial decision making …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Table Of Contents

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - A Profile Of Settlement, John Barkai, Elizabeth Kent, Pamela Martin

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

Ninety-eight percent of civil cases settle,1 right? Well, not exactly. Although claims of settlement rates of 90% and above are cited frequently, settlement rates really are not that high. Many commentators start with an accurate picture of low, single-digit trial rates (typically 2%-3%), but then they inappropriately assume the inverse—namely, that all the remaining cases are settled. Commentators ignore the fact that a significant proportion of cases are terminated for reasons other than trial or settlement, and their mistake goes undetected because most state judicial systems do not collect any information about settlements.

On the other hand, other people, speaking …

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Book Review: A Judge's Role In The Rule Of Law, William F. Hurst Iv

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

Two recently published books, On the Rule of Law: History, Politics, Theory by Brian Z. Tamanaha, and The Rule of Law in America by Ronald A. Cass, provide an in-depth analysis into what the rule of law means today, its history, and what impact its meaning has on the current American judiciary.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - President’S Column, Michael Cicconetti

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

Living in Northeastern Ohio, we are constantly promoting this part of the state as an area virtually free of natural disasters. Oh sure, we have our lake-effect snow, which we have learned to treat as more of an inconvenience and annoyance than a danger. Hurricanes? Those are reserved for the coastal states. Tornadoes? Hello, Kansas! Northeastern Ohio hasn’t experienced one in 35 years. Droughts? We may have an occasional dry spell during the summer but we always have the Great Lakes as a plentiful water source. Mudslides? Never. Forest fires? Doesn’t happen. Earthquakes? Minor blips on the Richter Scale.

Court Review: Volume 42, Issue 3-4 - Judicial Elections: Changes And Challenges, Jan Witold Baran

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

Today, myriad approaches for selecting judges exist and few states—if any at all—use identical schemes. In many states, the selection methods vary depending on whether the judge is a trial or appellate judge, or an initial selection or an incumbent. As will be seen, the vast majority of state judges are elected. Recently, judicial campaigns have become increasingly controversial while traditional restraints have fallen to the wayside. This article will address the variety of election methods, the challenges that recent constitutional decisions have presented to the ABA Code of Judicial Conduct, and whether innovations, such as public financing, offer a …

Reversing The Reversal Rate: Using Real Property Principles To Guide Federal Circuit Patent Jurisprudence, Paul M. Schoenhard

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Caffeine On Muscular Strength, Scott Wilson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Caffeine is the most widely consumed drug in the world. Research has suggested that caffeine can enhance aerobic performance. However, its benefits in the resistance training world are not fully understood. Due to caffeine's ability to alter pain perception and the onset of peripheral fatigue it may positively affect performance. This study examined the effects of caffeine on muscular strength, determined by the number of successfully completed reps at 85% of 1RM bench press. Fifteen recreationally trained males were tested for their 1RM on bench press. Subjects completed 3 randomized, double blind tria ls at 85% of their 1RM to …

Memory For Non-Focal Words, John Jones

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In two experiments a modified flanker paradigm was used to simultaneously present a focal word and an incidental non-focal word. The participants' task was to process the focal word in one of two conditions: naming aloud or a conceptual decision (concrete or abstract). The focal and non-focal words were either semantically related or not. Participants were instructed to direct their attention at the focal word.  Furthermore, the presentation of the focal word was brief to reduce the possibility of eye movement to the non-focal word. Memory was measured with implicit and explicit memory tests. Evidence was found to suggest implicit …

Predicting The Impact Of Demand- And Supply-Side Measures On Bus Ridership In Putrajaya, Malaysia, Nor Ghani Md. Nor, Abd Rahim Md. Nor, Ahmad Zainuddin Abdullah

Journal of Public Transportation

Putrajaya is a unique Malaysian city from a transport policy perspective because of its explicit goal to achieve a 70 percent share of public transport to its core precincts.A study was recently commissioned with the aim of quantifying travelers’ responses to policy measures to ensure effective strategy formulation. This article describes and discusses the methods, results, and policy implications of the study. Econometric estimation results show that improvement in public transport alone is incapable of inducing sufficient modal shift to achieve the goal of a 70:30 split between public and private transport. Although service quality positively influences ridership, modal split …

Smart Bicycles In An Urban Area: Evaluation Of A Pilot Scheme In London, Robert B. Noland, Muhammad M. Ishaque

Journal of Public Transportation

Automated or smart bicycle systems are seen as a way to enhance mobility and provide a convenient access and egress mode for public transport. This article summarizes an evaluation of a pilot system that was introduced in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in August 2004. Underground and commuter rail stations, as well as a heavily-used bus network, serve this densely populated area of London. A survey of users was conducted and data were collected from actual use of the system. Analysis of these data provided some insights into the capabilities of these types of systems to enhance existing …

Development, Evaluation, And Selection Of Advanced Transit Signal Priority Concept Directions, Amer Shalaby, Jinwoo Lee, John Greenough, Stanley Hung, Michael D. Bowie

Journal of Public Transportation

This article presents a process to define the framework for an advanced Transit Signal Priority (TSP) algorithm. For this study, traffic and transit agencies from a broad range of municipalities in Ontario, Canada, provided their views and expertise on various TSP-related issues, including practical needs, design implementation, performance measures, and challenges in developing effective TSP control systems. Based on their inputs as well as the objectives of the project, a set of TSP control concept directions was developed that are characterized with different methodologies and technologies. A listing of selection criteria was also established to evaluate the proposed TSP concept …

Full Issue 9(5)

Journal of Public Transportation

No abstract provided.

Microorganism Species Richness And Diversity In Elfin Forest Bryophytes, December 2006, Andrew Miller

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

The elfin cloud forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica is an area with a species rich bryophyte community that harbors an unexplored community of microscopic organisms. I examined two morphospecies of bryophytes to compare their species richness of microorganisms living in the water the bryophyte holds. The factors that I examined that may affect microorganism’s species richness are pH and structural differences between the bryophyte morphospecies. Bryophyte water samples were collected, pH was measured, and protozoan species were counted and viewed under a compound microscope. Even though there were visible differences in structural complexity between moss morphospecies (longer shoot lengths and …

Nutrient Availability And Protist Abundance In Cloud Forest Bromeliads, December 2006, Cierra Y. Allen

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Protists are microscopic organisms which play a vital role in nutrient degradation in tank bromeliads (Carrias et al. 2001). Their communities provide good subjects of study for the effects of nutrient availability in an ecosystem. One hypothesis says that the number of individuals that an ecosystem harbors is determined by the total energy that enters. This study tested the prediction that there will be a relationship between nutrient availability and abundance of protists in tank bromeliads. Data were collected among 25 bromeliads located within the Monteverde Cloud forest, Cerro Plano, Costa Rica and the following parameters were estimated: the number …

Species Composition Of Bats (Chiroptera) In Different Land- Use Mosaics, December 2006, Samantha Carter

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Bats are an abundant and diverse group of species that can be used as indicators of habitat disturbance and to test the effects of land-use mosaics on an ecosystem. For 11 nights I used mist-nets to sample the bat assemblages in pastures, forest fragments, banana fields and coffee fields on the Finca Santamaría in Cañitas, Monteverde, Costa Rica. The differences between the land-use areas were not significant in the abundance of bats, species richness, species diversity or trophic diversity. However the species that were found, such as Glossaphaga commissarisi and Sturnia ludovici could be considered indicators of disturbed habitats suggesting …

Tropical Cloud Forest Canopy And Subcanopy Adapt To Different Light Environments By Regulating Photosynthetic Pigments, December 2006, Bradley D. Wallentine

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

The canopy and subcanopy of a Tropical Cloud Forest provide distinctly different light environments. Here, the amounts and ratios of photosynthetic pigments in leaves from a Cloud Forest canopy and subcanopy plants are compared. The pigments of forty canopy and subcanopy leaf samples are extracted using acetone and analyzed using a spectrophotometer. It is found that canopy and subcanopy plants possess equivalent means of concentrations of photosynthetic pigments per mass of leaf tissue (x = 0.21± 0.09 mg/g and 0.22 ± 0.11 mg/g, respectively). Therefore, plants from these two microhabitats invest the same quantity in major pigments for photosynthesis. However, …

Behavioral Changes Of The Slate-Throated Redstart (Myioborus Miniatus) And The Collared Redstart (Myioborus Toquatus) Along An Altitudinal Gradient In The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, December 2006, Emma Gabrielsson

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Climate change has been found to affect the distribution of bird species in Monteverde, Costa Rica (Holmes 2000). In this study, the Slate-throated Redstart (Myioborus miniatus) and the Collared Redstart (Myioborus toquatus) were observed in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. Both altitudinal distribution and behavior were observed for both species. It was found that the Slate-throated Redstart has moved up in altitude. Further, observations for both species were compared using a chi square test, and there were significant differences between the two species, and also within the same species. This study shows that climate change is possibly responsible for the …

Gender Matters: Making The Case For Trans Inclusion, Nancy K. Knauer

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “The transgender communities are producing an important and nuanced critique of our gender system. For community members, the project is self-constitutive and, therefore, has an immediacy that also marks the efforts of other marginalized groups who have attempted to make sense of the world through description, interrogation, and ultimately a program for transformation. The transgender project also has universalizing elements because, existing within the gender system, each one of us embodies a particular gender articulation. It is through this articulation that we define ourselves in relation to the gender we were assigned at birth, the gender we choose, the …

Construction Law, Henry L. Balkcom Iv, Dana R. Grantham, Devin H. Gordon

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys construction law decisions handed down by Georgia courts and construction-related legislation enacted by the Georgia General Assembly between June 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006. As in prior years, the cases discussed are divided into five categories: (1) contracts, (2) torts, (3) mechanics and materialmen's liens, (4) arbitration, and (5) miscellaneous. Recent legislation is highlighted and summarized in Section VI, including a brief overview of the General Assembly's substantial revisions to Georgia's "Right to Repair" Act, the mandatory alternative dispute resolution framework that the legislature put in place in 2004 for residential construction defect claims in Georgia.

Death Penalty Law, Therese M. Day

Mercer Law Review

This Article provides a survey of death penalty case law in Georgia from June 1, 2005 through May 31, 2006. The cases include those that the Georgia Supreme Court heard on interim appeal, direct appeal, and on review of habeas corpus decisions. Two recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court are also included because of their relevance to Georgia death penalty law. While there have been recent significant statutory changes affecting capital litigation in Georgia, those changes are beyond the purview of this Article and therefore will not be discussed. Likewise, holdings in capital cases that are common to …

Workers' Compensation, H. Michael Bagley, Daniel C. Kniffen, Katherine D. Dixon

Mercer Law Review

There was minimal legislation during the 2006 term of the Georgia General Assembly that impacted workers' compensation. In fact, most of the legislative changes could be characterized as general housekeeping measures. For example, Official Code of Georgia Annotated ("O.C.G.A.") section 34-9-104 was changed to make its wording consistent with that found in other sections of the Workers' Compensation Act. The mandate that the employee shall receive notice from the employer was changed to provide that the employer shall send notice to the employee. The time limit for submitting mileage expenses was clarified as running one year from the date that …

Zoning And Land Use Law, Dennis J. Webb Jr., Marcia Mccrory Ernst, Victor A. Ellis, Amitabha Bose, Joseph L. Cooley

Mercer Law Review

This Article provides a succinct and practical analysis of the significant judicial decisions in the area of zoning and land use law handed down by Georgia appellate courts between June 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006. The cases surveyed fall primarily within five categories: (1) condemnation, (2) restrictive covenants, (3) easements, (4) zoning, and (5) miscellaneous.

Extended Visions, November/December 2006

Extended Visions Newsletter (ARDC)

Contents:
ARDC Director's Comments
ARDC Feature Unit – ARDC Administration
About the People
ASSIST Business Center Focuses on Service
Technology Capabilities at the ARDC
Calendar of Events
Embracing Holiday Nutrition
How We Spent Our Summer at the ARDC
Mead Magnet School Update
FFA “Families”
Nebraska Soybean Day and Machinery Expo Friday, Dec. 8
Upcoming Workshops for Acreage Owners Nebraska Friendly Landscapes
Wanted: Master Gardeners