Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad: 1997

Approximately twenty-five years ago, a majority of the railroads in the industry were either in or near bankruptcy. As a partial cure, a series of federal and state legislation was enacted which freed the industry from archaic laws passed in the days railroads enjoyed a virtual monopoly in U.S. transportation. One of the outcomes of this new legislation was the freedom granted major railroads to abandon or sell off excess trackage to entrepreneurs. The Dakota Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E) is a regional railroad that was spun off from the Chicago and North Western(C&NW) Railroad in 1986 and purchased by a group of entrepreneurs. The railroad’s mainline extends from the Mississippi River at Winona, Minnesota across southern Minnesota and central South Dakota to Rapid City. In 1996, the DM&E acquired more than 200 miles of track from Union Pacific Railroad, extending from Colony, Wyoming through Rapid City to Crawford, Nebraska. Grain currently accounts for more than 40 percent of the railroad’s 60,000 annual carloadings, which have increased more than 40 percent since 1987—DM&E’s first full year of operation. The DM&E began operations with 130 employees, 37 locomotives and no freight cars. The DM&E now employs 350 people, and owns or leases 70 locomotives and almost 30,000 freight cars. The case traces DM&E’s first eleven years of operations from its chaotic beginnings to its development as a profitable railroad, to its recent apparent unraveling. (Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Strategic Mgmt, Regional Railroads

Entrepreneurial Activity by Women in Rural South Dakota

Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital,

Grace Lutheran Church

Grace Lutheran Church, formed in 1963, has enjoyed stable growth. It is financially healthy and has a close-knit church community. In an effort to pro-actively plan, a long-term planning committee of approximately 50 members was formed. They chose the publication and workbook, Twelve Keys to an Effective Church by Kennon L. Callahan to guide them. Constrained by a book written by a Methodist and not always a good "fit" for their Lutheran denomination, they are sometimes frustrated with the planning process. They are further constrained by the admonition of the book to focus exclusively on "strengths to exploit and objectives to develop." Discouragement of any mention of weakness, problems, shortcomings or threats hindered their discussion. The work of the planning committee centered on the twelve keys to an effective church, as identified in the book. Focusing on the positive, they were able to identify many things they are doing well, and are determined to build on these strengths. By downplaying the negative, however, they find themselves questioning whether focusing on their strengths alone is enough. (Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Strategic Mgmt, Non for profit org

Why Do We Need To Study This? Computer Simulations as a Bridge Between Theory and Application

Computer assisted simulations provide experiential learning opportunities for the student of strategic management. Benefits and challenges related to simulation usage are discussed. Approaches to incorporating a simulation into the classroom are explored

Private Moments

In October, 1996 Private Moments, an adult novelty store, opened for business in Huntsville, Texas. Huntsville had no ordinances in place to prevent the opening of this type of business. In fact, the local Small Business Development Center provided guidance and assistance to Edward Delagarza, the founder and owner of Private Moments. Many of the Huntsville citizens, unhappy with the opening of Private Moments, approached the City Council requesting that it be closed immediately and asked for legislation to prevent other Sexually Oriented Businesses (S.O.B.) from locating in Huntsville. After a hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission to review alternative zoning restrictions, City Council passed an ordinance that outlined the process for obtaining a permit to operate as a S.O.B. and placed severe limitations on places a S.O.B. could locate. Private Moments, in existence when the ordinance was passed, was grandfathered. Sales at Private Moments have grown slowly, but business has been profitable. Since opening Private Moments, Mr. Delagarza has begun operating two other businesses: a tattoo parlor, which is adjacent to Private Moments, and a bar, located some distance away. He must now decide whether to remain in his current location and expand his operations by selling adult novelty items to other markets in other locations, redirect his effects toward internet sales or the wholesale distribution of S.O.B. products, or devote his time to his other two businesses. (Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Small Busn Mgmt, Regulations

Various Black Virginians as Told to Daryl Cumber Dance

Shuckin\u27 and Jivin\u27: Folklore from Contemporary Black Americans, published in 1978, derived from fieldwork done far a doctoral dissertation at Virginia Commonwealth University by Daryl Cumber Dance (the only woman named Daryl I have heard of aside from Daryl Hannah). She gathered stories and verses from black Virginians in colleges, senior citizens\u27 centers, and a penitentiary. Though she doesn\u27t bring to the party an editorial touch as enlivening as Zora Neale Hurston\u27s, she has an ear and-unlike far, far too many assiduous collectors of folktales - knows how to capture vocal rhythms on a page

Tuning in the Boiler Room and the Cotton Patch: New Directions in the Study of Afro-American Folklore

One of the first problems in the study of folklore is, of course, the collection of materials. In almost every area of Black folklore, the collecting was initiated by whites. As I have noted elsewhere, Black folk forms seem to thrive quietly and abashedly in the Black community as items of private enjoyment and public shame until they are \u27 discovered \u27 by whites who legitimize them for the American public-Black and white. Such has been the case with the general folk tales (the animal tales, the etiological myths, the Slave John tales, etc.), the spirituals, and the blues. The latest discovery made by white Americans has been that most obscene, perverse, and militant and roost carefully concealed-of all Black folk expressions the toast. Many of the collections of Black folk materials are not representative of the prevalent popular lore, either because the collectors sought only certain types of material or because the informants related to them only selected materials, because of their race

\u3ci\u3eThe Zea Mexican Dairy: 7 Sept 1926 - 7 Sept 1986.\u3c/i\u3e by Kamau Brathwaite (Book Review)

I may be hard put to classify the latest work of noted poet, historian, literary critic, linguist, and Africanist Kamau (Eddie) Brathwaite, but I have no problem describing it - compelling, riveting, unforgettable! Begun when Brathwaite received the devastating news that his wife Doris (his Zea Mexican) was dying of cancer, it is a paean to her, a record of his efforts to deal with her dying, death, and absence, an account of their relationship, and an autobiographical confessional. The Zea Mexican Diary includes diary entries, letters, memorates, an epigraph, expressions of sympathy, confessions, autobiographical narrative, poems - but whatever one calls it, I found it to be the most poetic, most beautifully rendered, most extraordinary expression of love for a Black woman that I have ever read. The grief that the reader experiences at the tragic and premature death of the beautiful and talented and productive Doris Brathwaite is balanced by the joy of knowing that she was so passionately loved. We cannot help but be moved by the eloquent expression of his love and adoration of his wife; rare in our literature is such a total devotion, admiration, appreciation, and passion for a wife, especially one of color. Black women readers, in particular, will be touched by some of these affective, poignant passages