Five-year financial analysis of two commercial farms converting to organic: 2000-2005

The financial performance including input and output costs were analysed for two commercial Scottish farms converting to organic production. A comparative analysis for a five year period is provided using data from the Scottish Farm Accounts scheme, and demonstrates that both conversions had positive financial outcomes. Both farms applied strategic changes to their businesses

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Soil-Geosynthetic Composite for a Geosynthetic-Reinforced Roadway System

The present research conducted tests to evaluate the reinforcing performance of geosynthetics including three geogrids (GG1, GG2, and GG3) and one geotextile (GT) for three different soil types – sand, clay, and red shale. All geosynthetics showed great improvement under the lowest confining pressure. The report concluded that between the Large-Scale Direct Shear test, the Large-Scale Pullout Box, and the FLAC simulation, the three geogrids showed the greatest improvement when conducted with sand. The sand could withstand a much greater normal pressure than either clay or red shale. The biaxial geogrids, GG1 and GG3, had ideal results for lower stress application. The clay showed that while not one geosynthetic was clearly better than another, the geotextile produced the best results at low pressure. The red shale showed that generally the three geogrids worked better, specifically GG2 and GG3 with their smaller aperture size. Advisors: Jongwan Eun and Seunghee Ki

Educator Supply, Demand, Attrition, and Out-of-Field Teaching in Utah

This monograph reports the results of a comprehensive study of teacher supply and demand conditions in Utah. This research was conducted under contract with the Utah State Office of Education. The objectives of this research were as follows: (a) analyze year 2000 staffing patterns of Utah schools and estimate the potential effects of future retirement on current teacher pools; (b) use enrollment projections and base-year pupil-teacher ratios to predict teacher need for each geographic area and content area; (c) assess the supply of educators from Utah colleges of education and identify reasons why newly prepared teachers do not teach in Utah; (d) assess rates of early attrition among new teachers and identify reasons why new teachers leave; (e) assess the extent of unqualified teaching in Utah schools; (f) compare results from this study with results of nationally representative research; (g) make recommendations for future data collection. Information for this study was obtained from the deans of Utah\u27s colleges of education, the Utah State Office of Education teacher licensure database (CACTUS), Utah State Office of Education enrollment projections, Utah Governor\u27s Office of Planning and Budget demographic projections, and two opinion surveys. Results indicate that between 2001 and 2005 teacher need from enrollment growth will be greatest in elementary teaching and special education assignments; that approximately 50% of new teachers educated in Utah between 1995 and 1998 did not teach in Utah within 3 years, and that most of these graduates either did not seek a teaching position or sought but did not obtain a teaching position in Utah; that 40% of new Utah teachers leave their positions during the first five years of employment, but that few leave because of dissatisfaction with teaching; that most former teachers and nonteaching graduate s would consider teaching in Utah in the future; and that nearly 5% of teachers statewide have not been formally qualified for their assignments. Comparisons with findings from nationally representative studies reveal that the reasons for attrition among Utah educators are very similar to those of educators in other parts of the nation. This report concludes with a set of recommendations for making ongoing assessments of Utah teacher supply and demand conditions

History of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation.

Farming is big business in Louisiana and the Nation. It is essential for the well-being of the United States. The Farm Bureau Federation is the largest voluntary farm organization in the world and has guarded the farming community\u27s welfare during the last sixty years. The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation was started in 1921 on the Dodson farm near Baton Rouge, Louisiana by a handful of dedicated farmers. Today it has grown into an organization with over 64,000 member families. The purpose of this study was to record as completely as possible the History of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. The objective of this study was accomplished by taping personal interviews with Farm Bureau leaders and other leaders in Louisiana agriculture. Secondary resource information such as newspapers, reference books, and annual reports from Extension files also provided information. The organization of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation was brought about in the early 1920\u27s due to a need for farmer representation and the need to improve market conditions. For the first twenty years the organization was primarily a marketing organization. From the early 1940\u27s through the early 1960\u27s the L.F.B.F. served primarily as an educational and legislative organization. In 1963 James D. Graugnard was elected L.F.B.F. president and serves to the present in that capacity. The organization now serves its members not only in education and legislative areas but also in areas of marketing, insurance, safety, commmodities, supplies and other vital areas. L.F.B.F. now has millions of dollars in assets. The growth and success of L.F.B.F. is primarily due to the hard work of its members and the fact that the organization is member controlled. Policies that represent the views of L.F.B.F. are developed from the grass roots farmer. This is one reason for the great success enjoyed by Farm Bureau. It is a work that was very difficult to research and prepare, however, the growth and success of L.F.B.F is one of the great success stories in agriculture

INTERGROUP PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE: FEAR OF REJECTION AMONG INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC STUDENTS

International student enrolment is increasing worldwide. While both international and domestic students stand to benefit from greater levels of contact these groups seem to have difficulties integrating. One barrier to contact in this context may be due to intergroup pluralistic ignorance whereby both groups express interest in contact but fear rejection, while believing it is the outgroup that is disinterested. In Study 1, international students reported being more interested in domestic student friends than they felt domestic students were interested in them. Domestic students, on the other hand, perceived international students’ level of interest in friendship to match their own level of interest. In response to a vignette of an intergroup scenario, there was a significant statistical interaction for both groups whereby participants perceived their own behaviour as resulting from fears of rejection while assuming that the outgroup’s behaviour was more due to lack of interest. Additional analyses revealed that national identity for both groups of students was related to wanting more ingroup friends and, in the case of domestic students, stronger Canadian identity was related to wanting less international friends. Multicultural attitudes were the strongest predictor for domestic students wanting to have more international student friends. Study 2 investigated fear of rejection by showing photographs of an outgroup member paired with either another outgroup member or with an ingroup member. In one condition, the outgroup member was racially ambiguous whereas in the other condition the outgroup member had more ostensible racial features. All students expressed more interest in the outgroup person than they believed the outgroup person would have in them, and this effect was amplified when race was salient. Rejection concerns were greater when the photograph showed two outgroup members in the racially ambiguous conditions only. A number of the effects found were qualified by interactions of ethnicity and gender. For domestic students, the strongest negative predictor of rejection concerns was multicultural attitudes. Explanations for the partial replication of the findings of previous research are discussed. Overall, the results suggest that pluralistic ignorance is present in the meta-perceptions of students. Increasing multicultural engagement would be beneficial for both groups, and these interventions should be facilitated by post-secondary institutions

The Social Psychological Dimensions of Immigrant Entrepreneurship

Immigrant entrepreneurship is increasingly becoming part of the business landscape in Canada and, as a result, is gaining scientific attention. Nonetheless, the phenomenon of immigrant entrepreneurship has been scarcely addressed through the lens of social psychology. The objective of the present study, thus, was to examine the experiences of immigrant entrepreneurs from a Social Identity Theory perspective. It was predicted that social identification would be related to the source of social capital that was used, perceptions of discrimination and the entrepreneurs’ intentions to stay in Canada. Additionally, based on the literature, reasons for starting a business, level of acculturation and predictors of ethnic business were also explored. One hundred twenty one immigrant entrepreneurs from across Canada completed a questionnaire about their experiences as an immigrant business owner in Canada. The results showed that relying on coethnic social capital was related to a stronger cultural identity, but that non-coethnic social capital was unrelated to Canadian identity. Perceived discrimination was not associated with using coethnic social capital, but perceived discrimination was related to a stronger cultural identity and weaker Canadian identity. Consistent with the literature on sojourners, intentions to stay were positively related to Canadian identity and negatively related to cultural identity. As for explored relationships, reasons for entrepreneurship were a combination of both push and pull factors and regression analyses revealed that Canadian identity is a significant predictor of staying in Canada and dealing with disadvantage in the labour market. Lastly, feeling disadvantaged and being less acculturated were predictors of pursuing an ethnic business strategy. Overall, identity plays a considerable role in immigrant entrepreneurs’ behavior and business decisions and it deserves further attention in research. The findings are relevant to develop theory on immigrant entrepreneurship and have implications for immigrant serving agencies and policy makers