Gary Snyder\u27s Path

Early in Gary Snyder\u27s life, he lived a rootless existence in pursuance of gaining spiritual satisfaction through a more harmonious relationship with nature. This rootlessness that dominated this period of Snyder\u27s life originated in Snyder\u27s European ancestors lifestyle, which valued exploiting the natural world for a profit. Through exposure to Chinese landscape paintings, Snyder found Buddhism and began to practice it as a means to reconcile his own humanity with the natural world, which his cultural heritage has alienated himself from. Through Buddhism, Snyder realizes the importance of reuniting humanity with the natural world. Upon gaining this knowledge, Snyder assumes the role of shaman and attempts to help humanity reconnect with the natural world. Snyder withdrew from the human realm and immersed himself in the natural in shamanistic ritual in order to focus his thoughts on how to reunite humanity to the old ways. The goal is to reestablish a relationship between earlier cultures and modem American culture that would ultimately harmonize the natural world with the human world, and through his poems, Snyder establishes a path that shows the way to do so. In order to fully reconnect humanity with the natural world, Snyder urges a deep ecology stance; he urges all humans to settle down and root themselves in one place. Rooting oneself in one place will help to create a community, which will include the natural world, and an equal relationship will grow between the human inhabitants and the natural. Without a relationship with the land one lives on, one is unable to fully understand him/herself and will be unable to live life to the degree that one is who roots him/herself and fully understands what occurs in that one area on a daily basis

Taking The Students Lead In Teaching Tax

Business education, as a discipline and profession, is evolving in response to changes in our domestic and global environment, technology, subject matter content, and needs of the end-user.  In response to these changes, business educators continue to evaluate and refine their instructional methodologies and other components of delivery systems within the learning environment.  As with courses, such as individual and corporate income tax, instructors for years have relied on the use of published course lecture materials, forms of media, and packaged supplements, such as tax software.  The delivery of information in the form of lectures or other conveyances is often followed up by open-ended and short-response questions, but this is only the beginning for one wishing to meet the needs and expectations of employers and students.  Seasoned teachers learn to modify the learning environment to meet the learning styles and special needs of their students.  The way in which this is accomplished can make the teaching and learning environment exciting and rewarding.  This article incorporates ways in which the teacher can build a successful learning environment while meeting the academic goals and objectives of the course

The Controlled Oxidation of Lignite in a Fixed Bed

The use of cooling coils or pipes to control the reaction zone temperatures when oxidizing lignite in a fixed bed was studied. The experimental procedures involved passing heated air through a bed of lignite to initiate spontaneous heating and then removing the heat generated using a water cooled coil. Variables investigated included the lignite moisture content, prior oxidation history, and lignite source. Spontaneous heating was initiated in lignite from three different mines, and at initial moisture contents from bed moisture down to 10 percent by heating the lignite to 250-260 °F while passing air slowly through the bed. At moisture contents below 10 percent or after severe oxidation the temperature necessary to initiate spontaneous heating rose to over 300 °F. The low thermal conductivity of the lignite bed was found to prevent adequate heat removal from the bed to permit satisfactory control of the oxidation of lignite. An equation describing the temperature distribution in the lignite between cooling pipes embedded in the oxidizing lignite was developed

A Comparison of the Maximal Torque Production of the Quadriceps Muscle during Morning and Afternoon Strength Assessment

The purpose of this study was to compare maximal quadriceps torque production between morning (AM) and afternoon (PM) hours. Thirty healthy male subjects between the ages of 21 and 43 were tested during an AM and PM session on the Kin-Com dynamometer. Six concentric isokinetic contractions of the right quadriceps were tested at a speed of 60° Is. The maximal peak torque measurements were compared between the AM and PM sessions to establish the validity of results taken at differing times of day. No significant difference in strength assessment due to time of day was found. The data collected in this study suggest clinical assessments of maximal peak torque production are not biased by time of day

Special Taxing Districts: An Analysis of States’ Oversight & Accountability Practices and How Kentucky Could Adopt Best Practices for More Accountability

Special districts are forms of government that were initially developed from the need to provide specialized services to a growing population with limited tax abilities. Local governments were faced with increasing populations and increasing needs such as health and human services, conservation, sanitation and water, and fire protection to name a few. With the states’ limitations on the tax rate changes, local governments were finding it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of the taxpayers. In many states, legislators recognized this issue and allowed single purpose government-like entities to be created and if they qualified, gave them taxing power. Despite being public entities that provide public services, many special districts are unknown to the taxpayers, and many do business without the constraints of government budget rules or spending transparency (Cross, 2017). Regardless of a special district’s legislative origin or the services provided, its budget is not reviewed by the legislature and its spending and debt are not reported as part of other government budgets. “The potential for special districts to be used to evade normal forms of governance and established fiscal limitations makes transparency and accountability in their spending and operations particularly important” (Cross, 2017 para 5). In recent years, states have started to bring to light the issue of special districts’ (some of which have taxing power) oversight and accountability to minimize the tax stress they are placing on local taxpayers as the fastest growing form of local government. Texas, Illinois, and Kentucky have all taken steps to improve transparency and in the 2020 legislative session, Kentucky took steps to address oversight in passing Kentucky Revised Statute 65A.110. This paper addresses the most current status of special districts, most notably, those with taxing powers, in ten different states and what transparency, oversight, and accountability measures are in place to ensure these entities are taxing and spending responsibly. As well, it highlights the state of Kentucky and makes recommendations for both administrative and legislative oversight of special districts for better accountability to the taxpayers resulting in specific “best practices” for state governments to consider

Motivation in Male Adolescent Readers

The purpose of this study was to determine if weekly one on one conferring with male students was effective in increasing motivation in adolescent male readers. The study began by collecting data on individual reading habits by having students complete a comprehensive questionnaire on their habits and attitudes towards reading. Male students then meet with their instructor on a weekly basis to orally outline their past reading habits, discuss current reading habits, and make goals for future reading habits. The study concluded by having students take the questionnaire a second time to determine if conferring had any impact on their habits and perception of independent reading

An International Service-Learning Experience for Physical Therapy Students: Its Meaning and Effect on Civic Engagement and Leadership Skills

The purpose of this 2-part study was to investigate the impact of an international service-learning experience (SOLE) on physical therapy (PT) students. The quantitative component compared outcomes relating to civic attitude, interpersonal and problem-solving skills, political awareness, leadership skills, social justice attitudes, and diversity attitudes of PT students who participated in the SOLE to PT students who did not participate. The qualitative portion asked the following questions: 1) What beliefs and attitudes did PT students gain from an international service-learning experience? and 2) Did an international service-learning experience assist the PT student in assuming the role of a servant leader? The subjects were 25 PT students in their second year of a professional master’s degree program. Of the 25 students, 12 volunteered for the optional international SOLE in Guatemala and 13 elected to stay on campus and participate in a non-service-learning class (CRHC). All students completed the Civic Attitudes and Skills Questionnaire at the beginning of the spring semester and upon completion of either the SOLE or the CRHC class. The qualitative portion triangulated the information by coding data gathered from a post-SOLE focus group, student journal entries, and researcher observations. Students involved in the SOLE showed improvements in the sub-scale measuring social justice attitudes. Students not involved in the SOLE showed increases in the sub-scales measuring both social justice attitudes and leadership skills. Both groups of students showed a decrease in the sub-scale measuring interpersonal and problem solving skills. Data analysis of the focus group and journal entries resulted in the identification of five major themes and 8 subthemes: 1) students need to have their basic physiological needs met (food, sleep, shopping, living arrangements, contact home); 2) students’ perception of the characteristics of the people of Guatemala; 3) students’ sense of frustration (frustration with the injustices of the healthcare system and living conditions, feelings of helplessness, and frustration with the communication barriers); 4) students’ ability to make a difference; and 5) self-actualization. The results of this study support the use of service-learning as a pedagogical method in PT education if students are well-prepared and receive guidance in setting realistic goals

Optimal Designs for the Hill Model with Three Parameters

Optimal designs specify design points to use and how to distribute subjects over these design points in the most efficient manner. The Hill model with three parameters is often used to describe sigmoid dose response functions. In our paper, we study optimal designs under the Hill model. The first is D-optimal design, which works best to study the model to fit the data. Next is c-optimal design, which works best to study a target dose level, such as ED50 - the dose level with 50% maximum treatment effect. The third is a two-stage optimal design, which considers both D-optimality and c-optimality. In order to compare the optimal designs, their design efficiencies are compared