ESTABLISHING AN AGRIBUSINESS STUDY ABROAD COURSE IN MEXICO: A PROJECT IN INTERNATIONALIZING THE CURRICULUM

Study abroad provides students with a cross-cultural experience and a new perspective on the global market place. Seven students from the University of Georgia enrolled in an initial course entitled , International Agribusiness Marketing and Management: Focus on Mexico, at the University Veracruzana in Xalapa during the Maymester 2000. Their curriculum included field trips to agribusinesses, Spanish classes and lectures on Mexican business culture, and NAFTA. As a result, students became more comfortable in cross-cultural environments and confident in their abilities.Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Chopper-controlled discharge life cycling studies on lead-acid batteries

State-of-the-art 6 volt lead-acid golf car batteries were tested. A daily charge/discharge cycling to failure points under various chopper controlled pulsed dc and continuous current load conditions was undertaken. The cycle life and failure modes were investigated for depth of discharge, average current chopper frequency, and chopper duty cycle. It is shown that battery life is primarily and inversely related to depth of discharge and discharge current. Failure mode is characterized by a gradual capacity loss with consistent evidence of cell element aging

ESTABLISHING AN AGRIBUSINESS STUDY-ABROAD COURSE IN MEXICO: A PROJECT IN INTERNATIONALIZING THE CURRICULUM

Study abroad provides students with a cross-cultural experience and a new perspective on the global marketplace. Seven students from the University of Georgia enrolled in the first agribusiness study-abroad course, entitled "International Agribusiness Marketing and Management: Focus on Mexico," at the Universidad Veracruzana in Xalapa during the Maymester 2000. Their curriculum included field trips to agribusinesses, Spanish classes and lectures on Mexican business culture, and NAFTA. As a result, students became more comfortable in cross-cultural environments and more confident in their academic and professional abilities.agribusiness, curriculum development, study abroad, Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Discrete Mechanics and Optimal Control Applied to the Compass Gait Biped

This paper presents a methodology for generating locally optimal control policies for simple hybrid mechanical systems, and illustrates the method on the compass gait biped. Principles from discrete mechanics are utilized to generate optimal control policies as solutions of constrained nonlinear optimization problems. In the context of bipedal walking, this procedure provides a comparative measure of the suboptimality of existing control policies. Furthermore, our methodology can be used as a control design tool; to demonstrate this, we minimize the specific cost of transport of periodic orbits for the compass gait biped, both in the fully actuated and underactuated case

A review of California sea otter, Enhydra lutris, surveys

Recent surveys (1977 to 1983) of the sea otter, Enhydra lutris, in California were summarized and compared to past surveys, to evaluate the adequacy of current survey design and to-make inferences about current population status. Ground counts within selected index areas provided the best indicator of population trends. These data suggest a rather remarkable stability in the long-term occupied range. Rangewide aerial surveys with ground truth stations provided the best available data for estimating total population size. The most recent (1979) survey yielded a population estimate of approximately 1500 sea otters. Comparisons with past surveys suggest there have been no demonstrable changes in population size since at least 1976. (34pp.

The genus Sipha Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in North America

Five species of the aphid genus Sipha Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae) are reported in North America and are reviewed herein. Of these species, three are adventive species and include: Sipha elegans del Guercio, Sipha glyceriae (Kaltenbach), and Sipha maydis Passerini. Sipha maydis was discovered in California in 2007 and now has been found in Georgia. The genus also includes two native species: Sipha agropyronensis (Gillette) and Sipha flava (Forbes). Sipha maydis can be distinguished easily from all the other species in the genus that occur in North America because it is black. All the species except S. agropyronensis have been implicated in damage to crop plants. A key to the apterae and alatae of Sipha found in North America is included

A simulated translocation of sea otters, Enhydra lutris, with a review of capture, transport and holding techniques

A number of techniques and pieces of equipment judged necessary for the translocation of sea otters were field tested. Captures were accomplished with either a scuba diver operated capture device (Wilson trap), a surface set tangle net or a dip net. A portable floating pen proved very satisfactory for simultaneously holding at least ten otters for several days. Commercially available pet transport kennels, with the capability of holding water, were adequate for maintaining the otter's pelage in good condition during a transport of approximately five hours duration. Subsequent observations indicated no apparent stress related dispersal. (17pp.

U.S.-EU BANANA WAR: IMPLICATIONS OF RETALIATORY TARIFFS ON PECORINO CHEESE

This paper illustrates the economic impact of the U.S. countervailing trade policy because of the European Union's failure to adhere to the dispute panel findings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the banana dispute. The United States subsequently imposed prohibitive tariffs (100% ad valorem) on imports of selected EU products as countervailing policy. The estimated loss in consumer surplus for Pecorino cheese was $4.96 million per year as a result of the U.S. retaliatory trade policy. Tariff revenue and deadweight losses were$1.86 and $3.10 million, respectively. Italian producers are expected to lose$8.55 million in revenue due to reduced exports to the United States. Thus, the estimated welfare loss for Italian producers is nearly twice that for U.S. consumers.International Relations/Trade,

Impacts of the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) on U.S. Fruit Exports - the Apple Case

The U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) levels the playing field of trade between the United States and the six CAFTA-DR partner countries. Half of U.S. farm products gain immediate tariff-free access to the markets of the CAFTA-DR region. All Tariffs will be eliminated in 20 years. Under CAFTA-DR, tariffs on an important U.S. fresh fruit export to the region, fresh apples, declined from an initial base of 15%-25% in CAFTA-DR countries to zero immediately upon enforcement. The specific objective of this research is to analyze the impact of tariff elimination under CAFTA-DR on the trade of U.S. fresh apples. Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) is used for the analysis involving an excess-supply-excess-demand model with monthly trade data from January 2000 to December 2010. The more telling empirical results indicate that for each of the six CAFTA-DR countries, tariff elimination positively promotes U.S. apple exports to this region.CAFTA-DR, trade liberalization, tariff elimination, Generalized Method of Moments(GMM), Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Q17, F13, F15,

AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF IMPORT DEMAND FOR CANOLA OIL IN THE UNITED STATES

The study analyzes the impacts of economic and noneconomic factors on import demand for canola oil. The import demand pattern for canola oil in the United States is influenced by changes in the world's oilseeds market and government oilseeds programs and policies, including tariffs and subsidies. The U.S. import demand for canola oil was specified as a function of its own import price, prices of substitute edible vegetable oils (soybean oil and palm oil), disposable personal income, the Canadian-U.S. (Missing one table)canola oil, demand, Demand and Price Analysis, International Relations/Trade,