Havana, Moscow and Washington : Triangular Relationship at a Time of Change?

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Creating Change One Step at a Time: Efforts to Improve College Access and Success in Indiana

Offers lessons learned and best practices from the state's successful efforts to raise access to and attainment of higher education through academic preparation, affordability, and a differentiated higher education system and by addressing student needs

Bonjour Canada: a case study of the 1995-2000 Louisiana public relations campaign to attract Canadian visitors to Louisiana

The research undertaken in this study explores five years of the Louisiana Office of Tourism\u27s public relations campaign to attract Canadian visitors to Louisiana. The study considers how the campaign\u27s organizers used the cultural bond between French-speaking Canadians and Louisiana to attract Canadians to Louisiana. The study also examines how important the public relations strategy of highlighting the cultural bond between host and tourist was in attracting Canadian visitors to the state. In addition, the study uncovers whether or not campaign organizers considered the impact their campaign would have on Louisiana\u27s Cajun citizenry. The research method employed was the case study method. Interviews were conducted with campaign organizers, and a case description was used to organize and analyze the data. The findings of the study show that the campaign\u27s planners segmented the Canadian market into two distinct demographics, French-speaking Canadians and English-speaking Canadians. In its campaign to attract French-speaking Canadians to the state, highlighting the cultural bond between the two regions was vital to the campaign\u27s success. The strategy included the hosting of a year-long celebration of the state\u27s French heritage as well as a mammoth Cajun family reunion and event sponsorships throughout French-speaking Canada. Ultimately, the Louisiana Office of Tourism concluded that its campaign positively impacted the state\u27s Cajun community, both economically and culturally. For their part, representatives of the Cajun community expressed concern about the campaign. Specifically, they said they believed the way in which Cajuns were sometimes portrayed in the campaign served to perpetuate stereotypes. Lastly, the study shows that the campaign jibed with one of the four tourism public relations models developed by prominent tourism public relations scholar, Don Stacks. Stacks translated the four historic models of public relations developed by J. Grunig for application to the tourism industry. The campaign is a clear example of Stacks\u27 two-way asymmetric model, the research shows

Measurement of ammonia emissions from three ammonia emission reduction systems for dairy cattle using a dynamic flux chamber

There is increasing interest among dairy farmers in The Netherlands for animal friendly housing systems that at the same moment reduce the ammonia emission compared to currently available systems. Therefore, there is a need for a relatively cheap and easy measuring method to investigate the potential effect of new emission reduction systems. In 2008 and 2009 Wageningen UR Livestock Research preformed emission measurements on 3 different ammonia emission reduction systems using a dynamic flux chamber. All systems were meant for use in a free stall housing system for dairy cows. Two of the emission reduction systems were concrete floors and one was an emission reduction system covering the slurry in the pits. The experiments were conducted at three different practical dairy farms in the Netherlands, one for each system. Emission of the reduction system was related to emission of a references floor. In all cases a concrete slatted floor with slurry pits was used as a reference. Emission levels ranged from 39% to 71% of the emission of the reference system. The two systems based on reduction of floors emissions seemed to have more perspective than the system based on reduction of pit emissions. A complete closing of the pits is however an important condition. Because of the case-control character of the flux chamber measurements the results can not be translated directly to full scale emission factors for dairy housing neither can they be used for between farms comparison

Nitrogen, soils and environment

The article discusses the risk of damaging the environment brought by nitrogen fertilisers which are used for increasing agricultural productivity. The oxidation of ammonium allows for the formation of nitrate. Troposphere ozone and aerosols are produced through the increase of reactive nitrogen in the atmosphere

Russia, Cuba and colonial legacies in the twenty-first century

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