STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Major changes affecting Agricultural Economics include: level and sources of funding, increased accountability, a renewed emphasis on teaching, increasing university and college linkages, an evolving student base, and the continuing adoption of educational technology. Major implications include: broader faculty teaching involvement, agribusiness program development, expanding multidisciplinary majors, Ph.D program modifications for teacher preparation, expanding professional M.S. degrees, graduate program size and specialization reductions, alternative financing of graduate education, and faculty training in teaching methods. Teaching represents a major growth opportunity for Agricultural Economics, but it remains to be seen whether the discipline takes advantage of this opportunity.Agribusiness, Accountability, Funding, Environmental, Undergraduate, Graduate, Multidisciplinary, Portfolio, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

DEPARTMENT VALUES IN THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

Any academic department should place a high value on excellence. Regardless of the area or nature of the department, the age of the faculty, availability of funds, or particular administrator, excellence should be the paramount pursuit of all faculty. It is necessary to distinguish between individual and departmental excellence. Both are important. However, departmental excellence is more than merely the aggregation of program excellence of individual faculty. There is a considerable difference between "a community of scholars" and a "collection of individual scholars."Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Potential Long-Run Adjustments for Oklahoma Panhandle Farms

The Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Short-Run Adjustment Opportunities for Oklahoma Panhandle Farmers

The Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311

Airborne Aerosol in Situ Measurements during TCAP: A Closure Study of Total Scattering

We present a framework for calculating the total scattering of both non-absorbing and absorbing aerosol at ambient conditions from aircraft data. Our framework is developed emphasizing the explicit use of chemical composition data for estimating the complex refractive index (RI) of particles, and thus obtaining improved ambient size spectra derived from Optical Particle Counter (OPC) measurements. The feasibility of our framework for improved calculations of total scattering is demonstrated using three types of data collected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) aircraft during the Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP). Namely, these data types are: (1) size distributions measured by a suite of OPC’s; (2) chemical composition data measured by an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer and a Single Particle Soot Photometer; and (3) the dry total scattering coefficient measured by a integrating nephelometer and scattering enhancement factor measured with a humidification system. We demonstrate that good agreement (~10%) between the observed and calculated scattering can be obtained under ambient conditions (RH < 80%) by applying chemical composition data for the RI-based correction of the OPC-derived size spectra. We also demonstrate that ignoring the RI-based correction or using non-representative RI values can cause a substantial underestimation (~40%) or overestimation (~35%) of the calculated scattering, respectively

St. Louis Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project: Seismic and Liquefaction Hazard Maps

We present probabilistic and deterministic seismic and liquefaction hazard maps for the densely populated St. Louis metropolitan area that account for the expected effects of surficial geology on earthquake ground shaking. Hazard calculations were based on a map grid of 0.005°, or about every 500 m, and are thus higher in resolution than any earlier studies. To estimate ground motions at the surface of the model (e.g., site amplification), we used a new detailed near-surface shear-wave velocity model in a 1D equivalent- linear response analysis. When compared with the 2014 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model, which uses a uniform firm-rock-site condition, the new probabilistic seismic-hazard estimates document much more variability. Hazard levels for upland sites (consisting of bedrock and weathered bedrock overlain by loess-covered till and drift deposits), show up to twice the ground-motion values for peak ground acceleration (PGA), and similar ground-motion values for 1.0 s spectral acceleration (SA). Probabilistic ground-motion levels for lowland alluvial floodplain sites (generally the 20-40-m-thick modern Mississippi and Missouri River floodplain deposits overlying bedrock) exhibit up to twice the ground-motion levels for PGA, and up to three times the ground-motion levels for 1.0 s SA. Liquefaction probability curves were developed from available standard penetration test data assuming typical lowland and upland water table levels. A simplified liquefaction hazard map was created from the 5%-in-50-year probabilistic ground-shaking model. The liquefaction hazard ranges from low (\u3c40% of area expected to liquefy) in the uplands to severe (\u3e60% of area expected to liquefy) in the lowlands. Because many transportation routes, power and gas transmission lines, and population centers exist in or on the highly susceptible lowland alluvium, these areas in the St. Louis region are at significant potential risk from seismically induced liquefaction and associated ground deformation

Production Costs and Expected Returns; Alternative Crop and Livestock Enterprises; Clay Soils in the Northern Portion of the Rolling Plains of Texas.

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