Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Platte River Odyssey, Derek Drost, Toru Fujioka, Kimberly Hansen, Steve Hermann, Art Hovey, Nate Jenkins, Algis J. Laukaitis, Yangyoung Lee, Joyita Mallik, Sarah Mccammon, Andrew Moseman, Kristine Nemec, Olga Pierce, Max Post Van Der Berg, Rachael Seravalli, Jason Wiest

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Media

Contents

4 | Nebraska’s Liquid Labyrinth
UNL and the Lincoln Journal Star join in an in-depth report on drought and the Platte River.
CAROLYN JOHNSEN

6 | Searching for the Source
With below-normal snowpack in the Colorado Rockies, the Platte River suffers from a lack of source waters.
ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS

8 | Product of Connections
No matter where the water comes from, watersheds are the link between land and water. And watersheds collect more than just surface water.
MAX POST VAN DER BURG

10 | Wrestling for Resources
The West finds itself in a battle for water after years …

No Longer Intending: The Relationship Between Relinquished Fertility Intentions And Distress, Lynn K. White, Julia Mcquillan

Bureau of Sociological Research: Faculty Publications

We use data from both waves of the National Survey of Families and Households to assess whether relinquishing a serious intention to have (more) children leads to greater increases in depressive symptoms than continuing confidence in childbearing intentions. Our sample includes 2,200 individuals of childbearing age, men and women, all parities, and all marital statuses. Change score analysis shows that individuals who relinquished a serious intent to have children had elevated distress at Time 2 and that the association is conditioned by gender, health, and education. We find that fertility potential can be important to psychosocial well-being and that closing …

Tips To Learn Your Beat, Carla Kimbrough

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Today, you've been assigned a new beat at your newspaper. You don't have the expertise, and you have less time than you imagined to master it. Or perhaps, you've landed in a new city on a new beat, and you have to get up to speed yesterday. In the corporate world, most leaders expect their new hires to be effective in about six months. When you can make the transition fast, you can make solid contributions to the paper. A four-step plan can help you create a strategy that gives you direction and brings greater depth to your coverage. A …

A Coprological View Of Ancestral Pueblo Cannibalism, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

As the object of my scientific study, I’ve chosen coprolites. It’s not a common choice, but to a paleonutritionist and archaeoparasitologist, a coprolite—a sample of ancient feces preserved by mineralization or simple drying—is a scientific bonanza. Analysis of coprolites can shed light on both the nutrition of and parasites found in prehistoric cultures. Dietary reconstructions from the analysis of coprolites can inform us about, for example, the origins of modern Native American diabetes. With regard to parasitology; coprolites hold information about the ancient emergence and spread of human infectious disease. Most sensational, however, is the recent role of coprolite analysis …

Crop Revenue, Resource Contributions And Budgeted Rents, Roger Selley

Cornhusker Economics

In an earlier newsletter (March 15, 2006) steps were outlined for arriving at a crop share and cash rent. It was ‘argued’ that establishing the productivity of the rental property is fundamental. Once the size of the pie is determined, it can then be divided between the resources used to produce the crop. As illustrated in the March 15th newsletter, failure to value the contributions so they add up to the expected revenue will misrepresent the actual value of the contributions.

April 2006 - Staff Meeting Minutes

ALEC Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Community Members’ Perspectives Of The Role The Intergenerational Dialogue Process Served In Changing Residents’ Attitudes And Strategies For Working Together: A Multiple Case Study In Two Rural Midwestern Communities, Terry R. Waugh

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this multiple case study was to describe community members’ perspectives of the role the Intergenerational Dialogue Process served in changing resident’s attitudes and behaviors in two Midwestern rural communities. Approximately one year after their involvement in the Intergeneration Dialogue, ten people (five from each community) were interviewed to describe if participating in the Intergenerational Dialogue changed their attitudes and behaviors toward seeking solutions that could resolve rural community issues. Three themes emerged from the interviews: understanding the generations, community action, and changes in communities. The findings of this research outlined changes in the participant’s attitudes toward other …

A New Tool For Analyzing Cooperative Equity Plans, Jeffrey S. Royer, Darrell R. Mark

Cornhusker Economics

A computer program designed to aid Nebraska cooperatives in making financial decisions will be released this month by University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension. The NebCAST program will enable directors and managers of any cooperative to assess the effects of their equity management decisions on the organization and its members in a manner consistent with the decision-making processes cooperatives typically follow. NebCAST, which stands for University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension Cooperative Analytical Simulation Tool, was developed by Darrell R. Mark, Jeffrey S. Royer, and Rik R. Smith of the UNL Department of Agricultural Economics.

The Pork Industry -- A Year Later, Allen Prosch

Cornhusker Economics

The only words for the pork industry in 2004, were “demand driven.” The industry had just put an annual record amount of pork on the market and received near record high prices for doing so. Demand for pork exports were at record levels and domestic demand was fueled by high protein diets.

2006 Advisory Council

ALEC Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Cropland Leasing, Bruce Johnson

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

Contents:

Shift from Crop-share to Cash leasing over time

Incidence of Crop Share and Cash Leasing varies across the state

Nebraska Agricultural Statistical Districts

Cash Lease Rates for Cropland

Cash rent adjustments for non-irrigated corners and for shared irrigation equipment.

Do cash rents lead or lag cropland value trends?

Central Nebraska Center Pivot Irrigated Land: Cash Rental Rates & Values 1981-2006

Eastern Nebraska Center Pivot Irrigated Land: Cash Rental Rates & Values 1981-2006

Relation of Cash Leasing to Crop Share Leasing.

Today’s Crop Share Rent Negotiation Process

Western EcoFallow

Cattle Lease Checklist, J. David Aiken

Cornhusker Economics

Some producers find it advantageous to lease their cattle to other producers either for cash or for a share of the calf crop. This may be in the course of ultimately transferring the herd — e.g., to a child or other new owner. It may also be used by a producer who has been forced to liquidate his/her herd and wishes to re-establish a new herd. This checklist has been adapted from Doye, Sahs & Coe, Breeding Livestock Lease Agreements, F-571 and Doye, Sahs & Coe, Stocker Livestock Lease Agreements, F-572 (Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service).

Pasture Leasing, Bruce Johnson

Department of Agricultural Economics: Presentations, Working Papers, and Gray Literature

Contents:

Introduction
Nebraska Vegetative Zones
Grassland Table I Nebraska Department of Revenue
Grassland Table II Nebraska Department of Revenue
Grazing Land Leasing
Historical Cash Rental Rates For Cow- Calf Pairs for Major Grazing land Areas
Preliminary 2006 Cash Rental Rates For Major Grazing land Areas
Why variation in rates?
2006 County Rental Surveys
Where are pasture rates headed?
New factors to watch on the horizon

Walt Whitman: Nineteenth-Century Popular Culture, Brett Barney

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Scholarship that traces connections between Whitman and so-called “subliterary” forms is valuable, as it makes us more competent readers, better equipped to navigate the allusive terrain of Whitman’s writing and to assess Whitman’s achievements in historical context. This essay will, in part, contribute to the growing “inventory” of Whitman’s affinities with currently devalued literary and social forms. In addition, though, I will attempt to redress the problem of anachronism that exists in current scholarship on Whitman and popular culture, exploring his literary career in the context of contemporaneous nineteenth-century understandings of culture. Lawrence Levine has pointed out that to define …

Clifford Lynch To Present On “Cyberinfrastructure, Digital Preservation And The New World Of Scholarly Communications”

Institutional Repository Information

The University Libraries is sponsoring a presentation by Clifford Lynch, Executive Director of The Coalition for Networked Information, on "How Information Technology is Changing Scholarship: Cyberinfrastructure, Digital Preservation and the New World of Scholarly Communications." The presentation is scheduled for April 17, 2006 at 2:00 - 3:30 pm in the Nebraska Union of City Campus and is open to UNL students, staff, faculty and the general public.

Most Popular Downloads -- March 2006

Institutional Repository Information

The 200 most often downloaded files from the UNL Digital Commons for March 2006, with total numbers of files downloaded, and total number of downloads for the period.

Leveraging The Skills Of The Corporate Special Librarian To Enhance The Perceived Value Of Information And Sustain Communities Of Practice, Patricia Margulies

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

An assessment is made of a fairly recent commitment by many business and governmental organizations to take a strategic look at ‘organizational knowledge,’ its origins and its management. Based on their activities and findings to identify, capture, and disseminate organizational knowledge, the paper describes how the Information Resource Center (IRC) and its special librarians can ensure the enterprise’s knowledge and information goals are met while heightening the IRC’s own intrinsic organizational value and profile.

This paper argues for major participation by the IRC and its special librarians in communities of practice (COPs). Such IRC participation is viewed as a …

Internet Use By Teachers And Students In Engineering Colleges Of Punjab, Haryana, And Himachal Pradesh States Of India: An Analysis, Rajeev Kumar, Amritpal Kaur

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the use of the Internet and related issues among the teachers and the students of engineering colleges in India’s three States viz. Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. A well-structured questionnaire was distributed among the 1980 teachers and students of all the engineering colleges of the three states of India under study. The response rate was 80.9 percent. The present study demonstrates and elaborates the various aspects of Internet use, such as frequency of Internet use, methods used for learning of Internet skill, most frequently used place for Internet use, purposes for …

“That’S The Way We Do Things Around Here”: An Overview Of Organizational Culture, M. Jason Martin

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

Culture permeates all aspects of any society. It acts as the basic fabric that binds people together. Culture dictates tastes in music, clothes, and even the political and philosophical views of a group of people. Culture is not only shared, but it is deep and stable. However, culture does not exist simply as a societal phenomenon. Organizations, both large and small, adhere to a culture. Organizational culture determines how an organization operates and how its members frame events both inside and outside the organization. This paper explores the basic concepts of organizational culture. It describes what organizational culture is, …

Designing An Academic Outreach Program Through Partnerships With Public Schools, Alan R. Bailey, Linda M. Teel, Hazel J. Walker

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

The article discusses an outreach program at the Teaching Resources Center of J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University. The collaborative project consists of three significant components created to partner with public schools within a designated service area. A library card for educators, interlibrary loan services and a production center provide commitment and support to area educators.

E-Resources And Services In Engineering College Libraries – A Case Study, K. R. Mulla, M. Chandrashekra

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

Libraries have witnessed a great metamorphosis in recent years both in their collection development and in their service structure. Over the last several years, a significant transformation has been noticed in collection development policies and practices. Print medium is increasingly giving way to the electronic form of materials. This study examines libraries by region within the State of Karnataka, India. It examines the level of effort taken by the engineering college libraries in Karnataka to build electronic resources.

Mobile Phone Usage Patterns Of Library And Information Science Students At Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria, Esharenana E. Adomi

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate mobile phone usage patterns among students of the Department of Library and Information Science, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. Through systematic random sampling technique, data were collected by means of a questionnaire from one hundred (110) undergraduate students. Results reveal that a majority of the respondents communicate using their own handsets; the students also use mobile phones at mobile phone shops/booths/kiosks. Some also use friends or relatives phones; while most respondents use mobile phone to communicate with their parents/relatives, there are those who use the phone to send/receive text messages; family …

Review Of Fishes Of Oklahoma By Rudolph J. Miller And Henry W. Robison, Keith Gido

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The second edition of Fishes of Oklahoma provides an important update and valuable reference for anyone interested in fishes in the Great Plains. Miller and Robison have extensive experience working on fishes in this region and have done an excellent job conveying their knowledge. There is a wealth of information in this book that can be used by students, anglers, and anyone else interested in learning how to identify fishes or who wants to understand the ecology of the diverse ichthyofauna in Oklahoma.

Review Of One House: The Unicameral's Progressive Vision For Nebraska By Charlyne Berens, James Johnson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This is a book that needed to be written-a valuable, though flawed, addition to the literature on Nebraska's unique legislative body. It is the first addition to research on the Nebraska Legislature in some time and presents a new approach to the subject: has the Unicameral lived up to the promises of its founders? The answer is, by and large, yes.

Underlying Causes And Implications Of Nebraska Retail Trade Patterns, Rex Nelson, Bruce Johnson, David Darling

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Declining retail trade in rural America is a concern for rural residents, their leaders, and rural development professionals. This cross-sectional study presents a framework for understanding relationships between changes in retail trade and rural population declines. The study uses county trade pull factors as a benchmark for retail trade in Nebraska and develops a theoretical and a statistical model to explain changes in this measure. The model suggests that retail trade in a given county is a function of the customer base, the buying power of those customers, and the quality of the retail environment.

A Delicate Balance: Rainfall And Groundwater In Nebraska During The 2000-2005 Drought, Mark Burbach, R. Matthew Joeckel

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Recent decreases in rainfall and the accompanying decreases in groundwater levels since 1999 indicate heightened vulnerability to drought in Nebraska and the surrounding Great Plains. Precipitation across Nebraska during 2000-2005 ranged from 72% to 108% of the 30-year normal value, with fully 90% of 150 stations reporting below-normal precipitation. Simultaneously, groundwater levels declined more than 9 m in the most heavily impacted areas, most of which were already experiencing declines due to extensive irrigation development and low recharge rates. Thus, recovery from the drought and long-term intensive land use will be particularly challenging in densely irrigated areas of Nebraska. In …

Review Of Prairie Dog Empire: A Saga Of The Shortgrass Prairie By Paul A. Johnsgard, Richard Reading

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Prairie Dog Empire provides a semitechnical overview on what some ecologists refer to as the Prairie Dog Ecosystem, focused on black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) and their associated vertebrate species. Given the controversy surrounding management of prairie dogs, it is surprising that such a volume has not been published previously. Leave it to that prolific guru of the Great Plains, Paul Johnsgard, to pen a book directed at filling that void at such a crucial juncture.

Review Of On Ancient Wings: The Sandhill Cranes Of North America By Michael Forsberg, Dale Hjertaas

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Michael Forsberg is a gifted photographer. I opened this book for a quick look, saw the first photograph, a stunning full-page photo of a dancing Sandhill crane leaping for the sky, and did not put the book down until I had looked at everyone of its 154 photographs. Particularly beautiful is a two-page photograph silhouetting a dozen Sandhill cranes against a golden sky, their legs extended, preparing to land at a roost along the Platte. Through the photographs Forsberg shows us the places where cranes live and gives us a look into their lives, capturing copulation, hatching, chick rearing, feeding, …

Reducing Smooth Sumac Dominance In Native Tallgrass Prairie, Susan Tunnell, James L. Stubbendieck, Sal Palazzolo, Robert Masters

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra L.) is a resprouting shrub native to the tallgrass prairie region that increases in density without an active disturbance regime. Our objective was to use prescribed fire and herbicides to decrease smooth sumac density as a strategy to improve a degraded tall grass prairie remnant. In two separate experiments repeated in space and time, we used prescribed fire in combination with herbicides at various rates and two application methods to develop an effective management scheme for reducing smooth sumac. We used a randomized complete block design with 13 herbicide treatments and a control with three …

Review Of Red Pedagogy: Native American Social And Political Thought By Sandy Grande, Steven Crum

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In this intriguing book, written by an indigenous Quechua scholar whose ancestors come from Peru, Sandy Grande introduces a new term which she labels "Red Pedagogy." The term has more than one facet.
One element of Red Pedagogy is its insistence that Native Americans in general, including indigenous scholars, and non-Natives need to critique, challenge, and even reject dominant modes of thought that have been applied to indigenous populations for years. Grande provides sol id evidence that some Native scholars are currently challenging older paradigms. For example, Taiaiake Alfred, a Mohawk political scientist, questions the modern-day usage and practice of …