Equity and Efficiency of Community College Appropriations: The Role of Local Financing

The study analyzes the equity of community college financing and demonstrates intrastate variations in appropriations to community colleges. The ratio of 90th to 10th percentile values ranges from 2.0 to 2.8 in half the states analyzed, levels which are considered high in comparison to K-12 finance inequities. In 10 states with high revenue disparities, the direction of revenue deviations is more often progressive in state-funded than in local-share states, suggesting the local role may undermine equity. Differences in economies of scale, geographic costs, and program costs are explored as factors determining funding disparities

Mountain Fork Archaeology: A Preliminary Report on the Ramos Creek Site (34MC1030)

In May-June of 2010, the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Archeological Survey co-sponsored a field school at the Ramos Creek site (34MC1030) in southeastern Oklahoma. Ramos Creek is located in the Ouachita Mountains along the Mountain Fork, a tributary of the Little River. Recently identified by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), this site is the northernmost known site with a Caddo component along this stream (Figure 1). The best-known Caddo sites identified for this drainage were tested during the Oklahoma River Basin Survey project of the 1960s and today are covered by the man-made Broken Bow Lake. Archaeological investigations along the Mountain Fork have been conducted by Wyckoff, Klinger and Cande, Perttula, and Perttula and Nelson. This past summer’s work at Ramos Creek is part of a broader research program addressing several questions: What was the relationship of Ramos Creek to sites further downstream, including the multimound Woods Mound Group? How were the Caddo sites in this drainage organized politically and what social dynamics shaped their history? Is there a better way of understanding the socio-political organization of these communities than applying models used in other parts of the Caddo area and the wider Southeast? How were these communities related to those living in other parts of the Caddo archaeological area, including the rest of the Ouachita Mountains, the Little River Valley, the Red River Valley, and the Arkansas Valley

Sourcing Red River Jasper: An Archaeological and Geological Investigation of a Gravel Chert in the Red River Drainage

Red River Jasper, a lithic material found in the Red River drainage, is an understudied chert that was widely used by prehistoric populations in this region from the Archaic to late prehistoric (Caddo) periods. Despite its common occurrence at sites along the Red River, this tabular chert has received little attention compared to other raw materials on the eastern margin of the Southern Plains. Although the material is macroscopically diverse, ranging in color from brown to yellow to red, microscopic analysis indicates that the material is relatively homogeneous and likely came from a limited set of sources. The archaeological distribution of Red River Jasper, geological evidence, and a stream survey of gravels demonstrate that the primary bedrock source was located in the Johns Valley Formation of the Ouachita Mountains and was carried downstream by the Kiamichi River into the Red River

Coyote Diet and Movements in Relation to Winter Recreation in Northwestern Wyoming: Implications for Lynx Conservation

Increased snowmobile use in mountainous terrain has been highlighted as a conservation concern for some Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) populations. Snow compaction resulting from winter recreation may potentially facilitate access by coyotes (Canis latrans) to habitats used by lynx during winter. Increased interactions could result in either exploitation or interference competition between the two species. Two recent, yet geographically distinct, studies showed contrasting findings regarding coyote movements and their use of snow-compacted trails during the winter. These findings suggest coyote association with snow-compacted trails may be regionally specific and dependent upon ecosystem dynamics and snow characteristics. The objectives of this study were to document diet, space use, and movements of coyotes occupying deep snow regions and explore whether a potential existed for increased interactions between coyotes and lynx due to snowmobile activity. We documented seasonal variation in coyote diets using scat collections to assess dietary overlap with lynx. Coyote resource use within and among habitats containing snowmobile activity was examined using coyote backtrack surveys during two consecutive field seasons in northwestern Wyoming. Although scat analysis findings suggest dietary overlap was not significant between coyotes and lynx during the winter or overall (all seasons combined), we lacked adequate sample size of lynx scats to determine if dietary overlap occurred during the fall, when coyote use of snowshoe hare peaked (24.1 % of all fall occurrences). Coyote backtrack surveys revealed that coyotes not only persisted in habitats used by lynx throughout the winter, but that snow compaction resulting from winter recreation use appeared to influence coyote movements during the winter months. Microhabitat analysis revealed that snow conditions influenced coyote behaviors and habitat use. This research provided insight into the impacts of winter recreation on coyote diet and habitat use during the winter months in northwestern Wyoming. In addition, these results have implications for local lynx populations in the southern periphery of their natural range. These results may assist land management agencies in planning and implementing management strategies to enhance lynx recovery, and may be used to guide decisions regarding areas designated for winter recreation and areas proposed for expansion of winter activities

Masculinity and men's health disparities: conceptual and theoretical challenges

In the field of men’s health, including the important emerging area of men’s health disparities, conceptual and theoretical assumptions and challenges are omnipresent. These assumptions and challenges come from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. Biological, sociobiological, psychological, and sociological explanations are all found as either implicit or explicit explanations for understanding men’s health practices and outcomes. At the forefront of many of these assumptions and challenges have been discussions around how masculinities—differing ways of being a man—influence men’s practices and subsequent health outcomes. Many of these discussions have also included exchanges on how masculinities interact with other identity issues—including class, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, and age—to influence men’s varied health and social practices

“Let’s duck out of the wind”: operationalising intersectionality to understand elderly men’s caregiving experiences

This paper aims is to demonstrate how Bourdieu’s conceptual tools of habitus, capital and field can facilitate the operationalisation of intersectionality. Following an appreciation of the methodological issues arising from the practical application of intersectionality, we introduce data from an Australian study of husbands caring for wives with dementia. With care often being constructed as a feminine practice, men’s caregiving experiences are frequently said to be in tension with many hegemonic masculine practices. However, men are not homogenous, rather their experiences are shaped by intersections of gender, age, class and other identity-defining categories. To help explore some of these intersections, 16 interviews, six of which were enhanced by photo-elicitation methods, were undertaken with a purposive sample of retired husbands caring for a spouse with dementia. Thematic analysis was then employed. In this paper, we present data and themes relating to the husband’s experiences around independence and self-sufficiency and coping strategies and emotional autonomy. However, the main purpose of the paper is not to focus on these empirical findings per se. Rather, we draw on these data to illustrate how Bourdieu’s work was utilised to help address some of the concerns that have been encountered when applying intersectional theory to empirical research; that is to say, this is primarily a methodological paper. The empirical findings highlight the complex and class influenced ways that husband carers look to sustain independence and autonomy. They further illustrate how the cultural capital accrued through past experiences facilitates or restrains coping mechanisms and associated emotional autonomy during their caregiving journeys. Methodologically, we use these empirical data to demonstrate how Bourdieu’s notions of habitus, capital and field can overcome three specific criti-cisms when applying intersectionality in research studies: (1) its supposed inability to adequately address agency and privilege; (2) its apparent lack of a heuristic device illustrating how time, location and context constrain and empower social actors; and (3) an alleged lack of methodological tools to illustrate the interrelated and generative nature of structure and agency

Environment-Driven Shifts in Inter-Individual Variation and Phenotypic Integration within Subnetworks of the Mussel Transcriptome and Proteome

The environment can alter the magnitude of phenotypic variation among individuals, potentially influencing evolutionary trajectories. However, environmental influences on variation are complex and remain understudied. Populations in heterogeneous environments might exhibit more variation, the amount of variation could differ between benign and stressful conditions, and/or variation might manifest in different ways among stages of the gene-to-protein expression cascade or among physiological functions. Here, we explore these three issues by quantifying patterns of inter-individual variation in both transcript and protein expression levels among California mussels, Mytilus californianus Conrad. Mussels were exposed to five ecologically relevant treatments that varied in the mean and inter-individual heterogeneity of body temperature. To target a diverse set of physiological functions, we assessed variation within 19 expression subnetworks, including canonical stress-response pathways and empirically derived co-expression clusters that represent a diffuse set of cellular processes. Variation in expression was particularly pronounced in the treatments with high mean and heterogeneous body temperatures. However, with few exceptions, environment-dependent shifts of variation in the transcriptome were not reflected in the proteome. A metric of phenotypic integration provided evidence for a greater degree of constraint on relative expression levels (i.e., stronger correlation) within expression subnetworks in benign, homogeneous environments. Our results suggest that environments that are more stressful on average – and which also tend to be more heterogeneous – can relax these expression constraints and reduce phenotypic integration within biochemical subnetworks. Context-dependent \u27unmasking\u27 of functional variation may contribute to inter-individual differences in physiological phenotype and performance in stressful environments

Opportunities for Public Aquariums to Increase the Sustainability of the Aquatic Animal Trade

The global aquatic pet trade encompasses a wide diversity of freshwater and marine organisms. While relying on a continual supply of healthy, vibrant aquatic animals, few sustainability initiatives exist within this sector. Public aquariums overlap this industry by acquiring many of the same species through the same sources. End users are also similar, as many aquarium visitors are home aquarists. Here we posit that this overlap with the pet trade gives aquariums significant opportunity to increase the sustainability of the trade in aquarium fishes and invertebrates. Improving the sustainability ethos and practices of the aquatic pet trade can carry a conservation benefit in terms of less waste, and protection of intact functioning ecosystems, at the same time as maintaining its economic and educational benefits and impacts. The relationship would also move forward the goal of public aquariums to advance aquatic conservation in a broad sense. For example, many public aquariums in North America have been instrumental in working with the seafood industry to enact positive change toward increased sustainability. The actions include being good consumers themselves, providing technical knowledge, and providing educational and outreach opportunities. These same opportunities exist for public aquariums to partner with the ornamental fish trade, which will serve to improve business, create new, more ethical and more dependable sources of aquatic animals for public aquariums, and perhaps most important, possibly transform the home aquarium industry from a threat, into a positive force for aquatic conservation. Zoo Biol. 32:1-12, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc