A Mississippi Opinion Poll A Study of Polling and Its Application to an Experimental Statewide Poll in Mississippi

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Water availability, carbon-based plant defenses, and the outcome of tritrophic interactions in an ant-plant mutualism

There have been few studies that examine the influence of soil water content on the outcome of interactions between ants, insect herbivores, and extrafloral nectary (EFN)-producing plants despite the potential of soil water to alter such interactions. Here I asked two questions: 1) Does water availability mediate the phenotypic expression of EFN, chemical and physical defenses? 2) Does water availability influence the outcome of tritrophic interactions between ants, herbivores, and EFN producing plants? Plants of Chamaecrista fasciculata (Fabaceae) growing naturally in a remnant prairie were randomly assigned to water addition or control and ant removal or control in a two factorial crossed design. Rainfall was below the 95% confidence interval for a 16-year average throughout the season resulting in low water availability for control plants. Plants subjected to ambient water conditions produced a higher concentration of hydrolyzable tannins in leaves than plants in the water addition treatment. There were no other differences in EFN, chemical, or physical defenses among treatments, either water addition or ant exclusion, or their interaction. Plants subject to ambient water had fewer herbivores, greater leaf area per plant, and produced more fruit and seeds than plants in the water addition group. Herbivores in the control for water addition ingested more leaf area per plant and per individual insect than those plants in the water addition treatment yet this did not reduce fruit or seed production. Ant presence alone increased plant survivorship early in the season but had no significant impact on leaf damage, leaf production or fruit and seed production of the survivors. Among all experimental plants with ants present, synergy between chemical defense and ant defense may have lowered leaf area lost to herbivores and increased seed production suggesting possible synergy between chemical and ant defenses. Overall these results demonstrate the potential for a direct influence of water availability on chemical defense and an indirect effect of water availability on tritrophic interactions between ants, herbivores, and plants

E Pluribum Una Ecclesia: Addressing Ideologically Driven Disunity Through a Multifaceted Approach

Pastors and church leaders within the Rocky Mountain Church Network, an association of 48 churches, face difficulty caused by ideologically driven disunity (IDD). Current polling shows IDD\u27s negative effect on pastors, church leaders, and congregations. Due to the foundational nature of ideologies, attempts to alleviate IDD have typically worsened the situation. This action research project seeks to identify the presence and impact of IDD as well as provide a strategy and tools to address IDD in a congregation. Using surveys, focus groups, and personal interviews, the researcher acquired quantitative and qualitative data from 22 project participants that affirmed the data revealed and discussed in the current literature. The researcher created three primary tools for addressing IDD: a three-week devotional detailing the relationship between the Great Commission and congregational unity, a three-week sermon series, and a presentation that gave research results, conclusions from the data, and the strategy for addressing IDD. As ideologically driven disunity is present in many churches and other scenarios, this research project has the potential to assist leaders in various settings address IDD. By understanding the nature of ideologies, possessing tools to address IDD, and focusing on the mission of the organization, organizational leaders in churches inside and outside the Rocky Mountain Church Network, as well as in secular settings, can help the groups they lead to be more effective and minimize stress in their own lives

Making as Pedagogical Practice in HCI: From Artefacts to Theory Building

This paper introduces the notion of making as a pedagog-ical practice in HCI education. Our focus is on generative design teaching in HCI that prioritizes collaborative en-gagements across a wide range of material encounters. We take the view that HCI education without a critical view of the relationship between people and objects results in abstract reasoning that runs the risk of an impoverished ba-sis in praxis. To support this position, we provide a series of examples from our own teaching. Through these exam-ples we locate our work in the field of new materiality and post-human design asking the question: How can HCI edu-cation account for the material turn? We observe that there is important theory-building work to be done in this area and propose some methods and a direction this work could take. HCI education remains dominated by an instrumen-talist, problem-solving, evaluative approach. We suggest meaning making through material exploration can invigorate the discipline with a new design praxis

The Larva, Pupa and Female of Agapetus jocassee Morse (Trichoptera: Glossosomatidae)

Agapetus jocassee is a Species of Concern on the lists of the U.S.D.I. Fish and Wildlife Service because it is known from only three streams of the Lake Jocassee catchment in Oconee and Transylvania counties, South and North Carolina. To assist in solving identification problems and to contribute to knowledge of the distribution of this species, larvae and pupae of A. jocassee were collected from mountain streams in North and South Carolina, reared to adulthood and identified. The larva, pupa, and female of the species are described for the first time. Characters were found in those ontogenetic stages that distinguish this species from other Agapetus species whose immature stages and females are known. The species was collected from two streams other than the type localities, suggesting that it may be more widely distributed in streams of the Blue Ridge Escarpment than previously thought