Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Teachers' Expectations About The Timing Of Developmental Skills: A Cross-Cultural Study, Carolyn P. Edwards, Lella Gandini

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Today, in the United States, teachers often need to understand what behaviors are normal in terms of children's cultural background. To understand children, teachers of course must have authentic respect for cultural diversity. But they also need something more: depth of knowledge about child development so they know what to expect of children of a given age. Teachers hold internal guidelines regarding many behaviors, but to what degree are they objective standards that can be applied to all children? How much, instead, do they reflect unconscious cultural biases? In recent years, we have begun to find out more about people’s …

Agribusiness Skills Required By Agriculture Students As Perceived By Nebraska Vocational Agriculture Instructors And Agribusiness Managers, David R. Spotanski, Richard M. Foster

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Agribusiness instruction in vocational agriculture programs can help prepare employees for service related job opportunities in agriculture. Many employment opportunities can be found in occupations related to food and fiber production, transportation, processing, packaging, storing, advertising, and distributing. These jobs are numerous and diverse, strengthening the link between farm products and the consumer (Steward, 1987).

The need for trained employees in non-farm agricultural occupations has been well documented in the decade of the 1960's (Williams, 1971). Cooper (1985), reported there is a need for continuous expansion and revision of competencies for employment in agriculture/agribusiness occupations. Birkenholz and Stewart (1986), found …

Attitudes Of Nebraska Superintendents, Principals And Vocational Agriculture Instructors Regarding The Delivery Of Adult Education Through Secondary Programs, Michael F. Adelaine, Richard M. Foster

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Rapid changes in agricultural technology, coupled with an increasingly older agricultural population, make adult education in agriculture a must (Drueckhammer & White, 1984). In order to facilitate the process of incorporating adult vocational agriculture education into traditional secondary programs, the individuals most directly involved in organizing, funding, and conducting adult programs need to be encouraged to do so.
Viterna (1973) concluded that school administrators were directly responsible for program development. Viterna also found that the same administrators were willing to support young farmer classes in Nebraska. In studying the attitudes of superintendents of comprehensive high schools in Ohio, Miller and …

Farm Credit Competencies Needed And Possessed By Selected Nebraska Young Farmers/Ranchers, Allen G. Blezek, Daniel H. Post

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Agriculture has changed a great deal, particularly during the past five years. Lower prices for commodities and higher production costs, including higher interest rates, have made it necessary for farmers to become better financial managers. "The farm of the future will be treated financially like any other business--it will have to demonstrate profitability before a bank will finance its operations" (Congress of the United States, 1986).

The Iowa Department of Agriculture (1985) and others concluded that rapid economic and social change is not a new phenomenon in agriculture. Agriculture has in fact been adjusting to conditions of greater efficiency since …

Wolf Population Survival In An Area Of High Road Density, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Wolf mortality in a high-road-density area of Minnesota exceeds that in an adjacent wilderness, and is primarily human-caused. The wolf population there is maintained primarily by ingress from the adjacent wilderness areas. A road density of 0.58 km/km² can be exceeded and the area still support wolves if it is adjacent to extensive roadless areas.

Wpa News 23 (1989), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (February 1989), number 23

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Silica Exposure And Silicosis Among Ontario Hardrock Miners: Ii. Exposure Estimates, D. K. Verma, A. Sebestyen, J. A. Julian, D. C. F. Muir, H. Schmidt, Charles D. Bernholz, H. S. Shannon

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

An epidemiological investigation was carried out to determine the relationship between silicosis in hardrock miners in Ontario and cumulative exposure to silica (free crystalline silica-α quartz) dust. This second report describes a side-by-side air-sampling program used to derive a konimeter/gravimetric silica conversion curve. A total of 2,360 filter samples and 90,000 konimeter samples were taken over 2 years in two mines representing the ore types gold and uranium, both in existing conditions as well as in an experimental stope in which dry drilling was used to simulate the high dust conditions of the past. The method of calculating cumulative respirable …

Silica Exposure And Silicosis Among Ontario Hardrock Miners: Iii. Analysis And Risk Estimates, D. C. F. Muir, J. A. Julian, H. S. Shannon, D. K. Verma, A. Sebestyen, Charles D. Bernholz

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

An epidemiological investigation was undertaken to determine the relationship between silicosis in hardrock miners in Ontario and cumulative exposure to silica (free crystalline silica—α quartz) dust. This report describes the analytic method and presents the risk estimates.

Silica Exposure And Silicosis Among Ontario Hardrock Miners: I. Methodology, D. C. F. Muir, H. S. Shannon, J. A. Julian, D. K. Verma, A. Sebestyen, Charles D. Bernholz

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

An epidemiological investigation was undertaken to determine the relationship between silicosis in hardrock miners in Ontario and cumulative exposure to silica (crystalline silica—α quartz) dust. This first report describes the cohort, the method of classifying the radiographs, and the identification of a case of silicosis.

Shooting Yourself In The Foot With Due Care: Psychotherapists And Crystallized Standards Of Tort Liability, Robert F. Schopp, David B. Wexler

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Professional organizations sometimes promulgate guidelines intended to inform their members' practice. These standards may be designed to guide practitioners under ordinary conditions, or they may define an ideal toward which to strive. If courts adopt idealized standards as criteria of responsible practice for the purpose of establishing tort liability, professional organizations might respond by refraining from developing such guidelines or by framing them with an eye toward preventing liability rather than strictly for the purpose of enhancing patient care. In either case, the courts' actions and the organizations' responses might hinder, rather than enhance, the therapeutic project of the mental …

The Comparative Effectiveness Of Systematic Desensitization And An Integrative Approach In Treating Public Speaking Anxiety: A Literature Review And A Preliminary Investigation, Ana M. Rossi, William J. Seiler

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An analysis of the literature related to public speaking anxiety (PSA) and various treatments of it are discussed. PSA is a state or situational type of anxiety which can have tremendous effects on those who suffer from it. Two of the major treatments—systematic desensitization (SD) and the integrative approach (IA)—are reviewed and then experimentally tested to determine which is the more effective in treating PSA. The results are somewhat inclusive, but there is strong evidence to suggest that both SD and IA reduce trait and state anxiety. It was found, however, that IA is more effective in decreasing the symptoms …

Nebraskans And Educational Pluralism, Helen A. Moore

Center for Public Affairs Research (UNO): Publications

Equality of educational opportunity continues to be a goal of public education and of the communities served. To meet the diverse needs of racial and ethnic minorities and female students, policy makers must untangle layers of government guidelines, while attending to the goals of local constituents.

The under-representation of minorities among public school graduates, and gender and race inequality in school teaching and administrative staffs, are discussed in this chapter. Community attitudes toward pluralistic goals and integration in education are highlighted, and suggestions are made for coordinating the diverse needs of all students.

Accumulation Of Lead And Organochiorine Residues In Captive American Kestrels Fed Pine Voles From Apple Orchards, Rey C. Stendell, W. Nelson Beyer, Robert A. Stehn

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Pine voles (Microtus pinetorum) were collected from pesticide-treated orchards in New York (USA) and fed to three captive American kestrels (Falco sparverius) for 60 days to evaluate potential hazards from soil-borne persistent insecticides. Three control kestrels were fed uncontaminated laboratory mice (Mus musculus). The pine voles contained an average of 38 ppm lead, 48 ppm DDE and 1.2 ppm dieldrin (wet weight). The kestrels accumulated sublethal amounts of lead (1 ppm lead wet weight) in their livers. In contrast, DDE and dieldrin accumulated in the tissues and brains of kestrels to toxicologically significant concentrations. …

Desert Explorations - A Videodisc Exhibit Designed For Flexibility, Judy Diamond, Alan B. Bond, Atsusi Hirumi

Alan Bond Publications

Using an interactive exhibit does not provide the same experience for everyone. How visitors understand an exhibit, what associations it evokes, and even how it is physically utilized may differ widely. This article describes an exhibit that was designed to let visitors tailor their explorations to their own interests and motivation. The exhibit, called Desert Explorations, gives visitors choices of what to see and how to learn about what they see. This exhibit also is an example of a way of developing interactive videodisc exhibits that is relatively inexpensive yet may be tailored to a particular topic or hall. This …

Breeding Bird Populations Of A Floodplain Tallgrass Prairie In Kansas, Calvin Cink, Peter Lowther

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Breeding birds were censused yearly from 1974-1988 on a 10.1 ha floodplain tallgrass prairie, a portion of the Baker Wetlands Research Area on the south edge of Lawrence, Kansas. Dickcissels (Spiza americana) were the most abundant species, with densities about six times greater than in the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie (149 territorial males/km² VS. 25/ km²). This may be due to availability of moisture and associated density of grass stems and insect production. The bird community in the floodplain prairie however, is less diverse (5 species VS. 10 species). Grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) …

Bluestem Seed Midge Influence On Sexual Reproduction Of Big Bluestem: A Review, K. P. Vogel, G. R. Manglitz

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

A Cecidomyiid midge (Contarinia wattsi Gagne') has been identified as a significant parasite of big bluestem [Andropogon gerardii Vitman var. gerardii] by adversely affecting the production of viable seeds. The midge was first identified from specimens collected from big bluestem racemes in 1983 in eastern Nebraska. Subsequent collections and studies have shown that it is widespread in the Great Plains, and that it can reduce seed yields of big bluestem by over 40%. The midges apparently over winter as diapausing larvae in disarticulated spikelets, emerge as adults at the time of early panicle emergence, and lay their …

Blowouts In The Nebraska Sandhills: The Habitat Of Penstemon Haydenii, James Stubbendieck, Theresa R. Flessner, Ronald Weedon

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The Nebraska Sandhills is the largest area of sand dunes in the Western Hemisphere, occupying over 5 million ha in northcentral Nebraska. The rolling to steep dunes range in height from a few meters to over 60 m. Soils are poorly developed in wind deposited sand. The continental climate is characterized by 425 to 625 mm of annual precipitation, an average annual temperature of 10 C, and a frost-free period of 130-155 days. Upland vegetation is primarily tall grasses and midgrasses such as sand bluestem [Andropogon gerardii var. paucipilus (Nash) Fern.], prairie sandreed [CaLamovilfa Longifolia (Hook.) Scribn.], little bluestem …

Blowout Penstemon: Description And Present Situation, Joyce Phillips Hardy, Ronald R. Weedon, William R. Bowlin

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Blowout penstemon (Penstemon haydenii S. Wats.) appears to be the rarest flowering plant species endemic to Nebraska. It has received a great deal of attention, for endemism is rare in Great Plains states. This attractive species is confined to a small number of active blowout areas in the Nebraska Sandhills, often in relatively small colonies that are many kilometers apart in a relatively vast grassland. Blowout penstemon, thus, is confined to particular habitats which have distinct boundaries in space. It is also successional in nature, which places individual colonies in distinct and, perhaps, limited boundaries in time. It is …

Establishing Warm-Season Grasses And Forbs Using Herbicides And Mowing, Thomas B. Bragg, David M. Sutherland

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The objective of this study was to provide a preliminary assessment of the use of selected herbicides in establishing a diverse stand of prairie grasses and forbs. An upland and a lowland site in eastern Nebraska, consisting of well-drained, fine-silty clay, loess-derived soils, were seeded with 23 native prairie grass and forb species and subsequently mowed or treated at rates of 0.6, 1.1, 1.7, and 2.2 kg/ha with atrazine [6-chloro-Nethyl- N' -(l-methylethyl)-l ,3,S-triazine-2,4-diamine] or 2,4-0 (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). Treatments were applied at one and two-year intervals. Canopy cover in unreplicated treatment areas (12 x 30 m) was evaluated in ten randomly …

Effect Of Two Cutting Treatments On Aspen In Prairie, Virginia M. Kline

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Two cutting treatments were tested for aspen control in two southern Wisconsin prairies: Pasque Flower Hill (PFH) , a steep hillside remnant, and Greene Prairie (GP), a restored prairie on sandy soil. The treatments, applied 25-26 June 1984, were: (1) A single cut at the base of the stem and (2) A cut that removed about one-third of the stem, followed 20-24 hours later by a basal cut. In 1986, both sites were burned in early spring, the usual management procedure for these prairies. At GP, aspen stem densities at the end of the experiment were similar in the control …

Effect Of Eastern Red Cedar On Seedling Establishment Of Prairie Plants, Dan J. Stipe, Thomas B. Bragg

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

To test the hypothesis that eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is allelopathic, seedling establishment of five herbaceous prairie species was evaluated by growing seeds in soil collected beneath and adjacent to a stand of this tree species. While four species showed no significant effect, the germination of one species, finger coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata Nutt.), was significantly reduced. Since eastern red cedar is an early invader of unburned prairie, such an allelopathic effect, even on only a few species, is of particular concern in that it has the potential to hasten degradation of invaded prairie sites.

Distribution Of Flodman's Thistle And Its Response To Different Disturbances, Charles E. Umbanhowar Jr.

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The importance of disturbance in prairie has long been recognized. Increasingly interest and research have focused on the action and interaction of multiple disturbances. The distribution of Flodman's thistle [Cirsium flodmanii (Rydb.) Arthur] on ant mounds, badger mounds, buffalo wallows, and potholes and in a lightly and a moderately grazed pasture was compared at the Nature Conservancy's S. H. Ordway Jr. Memorial Prairie in northcentral South Dakota. In the lightly grazed pasture, Flodman's thistle occurred most frequently on hilltops and ridges, but in the moderately grazed pasture it occurred with equal frequency on hilltops and ridges, and low areas …

Determining Federally Listed Endangered And Threatened Species, Emphasizing Blowout Penstemon, Wallace G. Jobman

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Blowout penstemon (Penstemon haydenii S. Wats.) was federally listed as an endangered species on 1 September 1987. This pap"!r describes the process by which species, emphasizing blowout penstemon, are listed. The five listing factors described in Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act, candidate species, and the listing process are discussed. The blowout penstemon listing process progressed as follows: 1) petition to list; 2) designation as Category 2 Candidate Species; 3) status survey; 4) designation as Category 1 Candidate Species; 5) proposed rule to list; and 6) the final listing rule. The primary reasons for listing were the stabilization …

Designing With Prairie: A Heideggerian Hermeneutical Analysis, Evelyn A. Howell, Dave Egan

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Landscape architects have been advocating the use of native species in designs for over 100 years. This Heideggerian hermeneutical analysis of the work of authors from 1919 to 1929 yields several underlying themes regarding the use of native species: 1) biological conservation (preservation), 2) possession (control of human-ordered world), 3) promotion of national and regional identity, 4) spirituality, and 5) aesthetics. The prairie-inspired designs of Jens Jensen, Darrel Morrison, and John Diekelmann illustrate the ways in which the emphasis placed on these themes and different assumptions about "prairie" influence the resultant plantings. Jensen's works are meant to evoke the relationship …

Correlations Between Insects And Birds In Tallgrass Prairie Riparian Habitats, Lawrence J. Gray

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Previous observations in riparian habitats of Kings Creek, Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, Kansas indicated that emerging aquatic insects represent a concentrated source of food for insectivorous birds, particularly the flycatcher and gleaner guilds. This hypothesis was tested by concurrent measurements of net insect emergence (total emergence minus adults returning to the stream) and densities of birds at six sampling sites from June to August 1987 and May to June 1988. Significant positive correlations with emergence were found for flycatchers (r = 0.93) and gleaners (r = 0.91), the two insectivore guilds containing the majority of individuals along Kings Creek. …

Seasonal Activity Of Snakes On A Sand Prairie, Dwight R. Platt

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Snakes were caught in drift fence traps throughout the season of activity on a 32 ha sand prairie in Harvey County, Kansas, from 1966 through 1974. In these nine seasons, 128,281 trap station days yielded 6,412 captures of the six most common species of snakes: Pituophis melanoleucus sayi, Coluber constrictor jlaviventris, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis. Thamnophis radix haydeni, Heterodon nasicus, and Heterodon platirhinos. Seasonal activity patterns, although variable from year to year, had a bimodal pattern with a period of low activity in late July or late August. Increases in snake activity resulted from increases in population size due …

Rodents And Shrews In Un-Grazed Tallgrass Prairie Manipulated By Fire, Donald W. Kaufman, Glennis A. Kaufman, Elmer J. Finck

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Natural prairie was a mosaic of patches of depths of plant litter due to topoedaphic conditions and to spatial-temporal variation in fire and grazing. Such variation in litter depth undoubtedly influenced the distribution and abundance of small mammals. To examine this issue, small mammals were censused and plant litter depth was measured during autumn from 1981 to 1984 on the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area near Manhattan, Kansas. Five to 11 sites subjected to fire at different times from 1967 to 1984 were sampled during each of the four years of the study. Relative densities of deer mice (Peromyscus …

Rhizome And Tiller Development Of Three Nebraska Sandhills Warm-Season Grasses, John J. Brejda, Lowell E. Moser, Steven S. Waller

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Rhizome and tiller development of ungrazed switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), prairie sandreed [Calamolvilfa longifolia (Hook) Scribn.], and sand bluestem [Andropogon gerardii var. paucipilus (Nash) Fern.] were studied for two years in the Nebraska Sandhills. Rhizome growth of switchgrass began at the 4- to 5-leaf stage. Following tiller elongation, no new rhizomes developed but rhizome elongation continued. Many of the prairie sandreed tillers were biennial similar to those of indiangrass [Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash]. Spring tiller development on prairie sandreed came from both vertical and horizontal rhizomes and continuing growth of late emerging tillers from the previous year. …

Remnant And Restored Prairie Response To Fire, Fertilization, And Atrazine, Robert A. Masters, Kenneth P. Vogel

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The effect of spring burning, fertilization, and atrazine on herbage yield of warm- and cool-season grasses, flowering stalk density, and seed yield of selected warm-season grasses was determined on a remnant prairie and a restored prairie located near Lincoln and Center, Nebraska, respectively. Sites were burned in mid-April 1987 and followed by application of fertilizer (112 kg N/ha at the remnant prairie and 112-22 kg N-P/ha at the restored prairie) and atrazine (2.2 kg active ingredient/ha). Herbage yield of warm-season grasses increased more than 100% following burning in combination with fertilization at both sites and atrazine application alone at the …

Propagation Of Blowout Penstemon (Penstemon Haydenii S. Wats.), Theresa R. Flessner, James L. Stubbendieck

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Propagating and developing plants for successful transplanting will be important for the recovery of Nebraska's only endangered plant species, blowout penstemon (Penstemon haydenii S. Wats.). Therefore, the effect of various cultural treatments on seedling growth was examined in a greenhouse study. Young blowout penstemon seedlings, fertilized with both nitrogen and phosphorus, exhibited significantly greater weekly growth rates than seedlings fertilized with one or no nutrient. After removal of the upper part of the shoot to the third pair of true leaves, only those seedlings fertilized with both nutrients exhibited a temporary increase in weekly growth rate and more axillary …