Oil and Natural Gas and Rural Local Government Finances in the Gulf of Mexico Region

National energy policy is focused on increasing production and exploration of existing energy sources (particularly oil and natural gas). What impact this might have on local institutions, particularly local governments who are often responsible for providing the infrastructure necessary to sustain production and exploration, is a relatively unexplored but important question. Sociological theory predicts that the effect will be most felt in nonmetropolitan communities that specialize in oil and gas production. We pursue this issue by examining the impact of the oil and gas industry boom and bust period of the 1970s and 1980s on local government finances in oil and gas intensive nonmetropolitan counties/parishes in the five states in the Gulf of Mexico region. We find that the 1977-82 boom in the oil and gas industry created more non-governmental revenue growth for local governments, and that the 1982-87 bust led to less non-governmental revenue growth for that period. We also find that in oil and gas counties/parishes revenue growth did not keep pace with expenditure growth during that period. We found similar results for expenditure growth for the boom and bust period. Mixed evidence was discovered to support the proposition that the bust cycle had long-term effects on local government revenue and expenditure growth in oil and gas counties/parishes

Rhys Matters: New Critical Perspectives

Nicole Flynn is a contributing author, Clockwork Women: Termporality and Form in Jean Rhys\u27s Interwar Novels. , pp.41-65. Rhys Matters, the first collection of essays focusing on Rhys\u27s writing in over twenty years, encounters her oeuvre from multiple disciplinary perspectives and appreciates the interventions in modernism, postcolonial studies, Caribbean studies, and women\u27s and gender studies.https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/english_book/1011/thumbnail.jp

Marginal Employment in the United States: 1971-1993.

In this dissertation, I examine trends in production and the concomitant demographic transformation of the labor force, in the context a series of economic cycles since 1969. Using these three forces as a backdrop, I first consider changes in employment hardship and the forces contributing to underemployment during periods following economic recessions. Then, I examine differences between men and women for employment outcomes. Next, to explain hardship during these periods, I include important demographic and geographic factors related to underemployment. Finally, I examine the impact of labor market context on individual outcomes. Based on the transformation of work, I explain changes in employment inequality and how these changes affect men and women. Using data from four time periods following recessions since 1971, I compute a series of logistic regression analyses to estimate the effect of time period of employment hardship. Then I examine period effects again, while controlling for theoretically meaningful correlates of marginal employment. Next, I compare chances of being in a low quality job versus being unemployed. Finally, I estimate multilevel models, controlling for labor market qualities related to employment. Findings from these models suggest that marginal employment has become institutionalized for men and women by the early 1990s. In addition, although the effect of period was different by sex in circa 1978 and 1988, by the final time period, men and women were comparable in the effect of period on marginal employment. Results from multi-level models show that although both sexes receive similar returns for individual level attributes, women are worse off in labor markets with high levels of occupational sex-segregation

Older Adults’ Consumption of Fake News – An Interoceptive Perspective

In an era dominated by social media, the spread of fake news and disinformation presents a distinct peril for those aged 50 and above, who are active and more likely to share it on platforms like Twitter and Facebook. This misinformation could jeopardize the mental and physical well-being of those older adults who are most likely to share health-related fake news. While cognitive decline has traditionally been blamed for older adults\u27 vulnerability to fake news, recent research underscores the role of accumulated knowledge, suggesting cognitive deficits alone cannot fully explain their susceptibility. This research investigates how emotional appeals contained in fake news influence older adults through socio-emotional processing, particularly as older individuals increasingly rely on surface-level analytical reasoning. As such, we may be in a better position to understand how these factors ultimately affect older adults consumption behavior of health-related information

IM toolbox for the present and future to support data synthesis activities, An

The SGS-LTER research site was established in 1980 by researchers at Colorado State University as part of a network of long-term research sites within the US LTER Network, supported by the National Science Foundation. Scientists within the Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Biology Department at CSU, California State Fullerton, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Wyoming, among others, have contributed to our understanding of the structure and functions of the shortgrass steppe and other diverse ecosystems across the network while maintaining a common mission and sharing expertise, data and infrastructure.This poster displays four examples of topics and tools currently being implemented and developed by information management staff at the Shortgrass Steppe LTER, across the LTER Network and within USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS). These tools are necessary in order to synthesize similar data sets from different researchers, agencies, and institutions. These tools were designed provide to support to Principal Investigators, educators, students, and policy makers that need to synthesize information to make better decisions about planning their research, coursework and land management strategies. The four areas to be presented are Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing, standardization of metadata using Ecological Metadata Language (EML), integration of relational database management systems for different agencies, and the creation of useful dynamic web pages. GIS and Remote Sensing are powerful tools that allow researchers to analyze, model, and predict ecological factors and outcomes that shape the shortgrass steppe by integrating spatial and non-spatial data collected at the field site. EML consists of a number of modules that define an extensible mark-up language (XML) that creates a standard syntax for ecological metadata. This concept allows for sharing of standard metadata and data across not only the LTER Network, but throughout the broader ecological community. SGS is researching new database technologies to managing the growing amount of standard non-spatial data from the ARS and LTER as well as GIS and Remote Sensed data. This also will address the need for multi-user data access and database integration with the SGS website. An SGS Website was launched 8 years ago to provide general site information as well as detailed research information. The web site will be enhanced over the next year to improve query tools, submit metadata online, improve integration with various ecological research databases, and implement the EML standards

Beyond the Checklist Approach: A Librarian-Faculty Collaboration to Teach the BEAM Method of Source Evaluation

Evaluating information is an essential skill, valued across disciplines. While librarians and instructors share the responsibility to teach this skill, they need a common framework in order to collaborate to design assignments that give students multiple opportunities to learn. Librarians and First Year Seminar faculty at Belmont University collaborated to design a unit of instruction on source evaluation using the BEAM method. BEAM requires students to apply a use-based approach to evaluation, to read and engage with sources more closely, and to think about how they might use a source for a specific purpose. Structured annotated bibliographies that included BEAM were assessed, along with student, instructor, and librarian feedback. The BEAM method may be an effective method for teaching information evaluation when paired with other sequenced assignments that guide students through the research and writing process

Through the looking glass: what do we see, what have we learned, what can we share? Information management at the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research site

The SGS-LTER research site was established in 1980 by researchers at Colorado State University as part of a network of long-term research sites within the US LTER Network, supported by the National Science Foundation. Scientists within the Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, and Biology Department at CSU, California State Fullerton, USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Northern Colorado, and the University of Wyoming, among others, have contributed to our understanding of the structure and functions of the shortgrass steppe and other diverse ecosystems across the network while maintaining a common mission and sharing expertise, data and infrastructure.This poster displays the development of a successful information management system at a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site that has a rich history of data collection and management. Over sixty years of data from three separate projects are incorporated into the Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) LTER information management system and databases. People with different strengths and expertise ranging from clerical administrator, programmer, to ecologist, have filled the role of Information Manager (IM) at the SGS-LTER. Today the information management needs of the SGS are provided by a team of IMs with various levels of expertise in a wide variety of domains from information technology administration to education and outreach. It is critical for IMs at any long-term research site to understand how information and data were managed in the past and what recent changes have been added to the system, in order to effectively implement a management plan for the future. We are able to evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches to information management and have a commitment to share our successes with the information management community

Children\u27s experiences of companion animal maltreatment in households characterized by intimate partner violence

Cruelty toward companion animals is a well-documented, coercive tactic used by abusive partners to intimidate and control their intimate partners. Experiences of co-occurring violence are common for children living in families with intimate partner violence (IPV) and surveys show that more than half are also exposed to abuse of their pets. Given children\u27s relationships with their pets, witnessing such abuse may be traumatic for them. Yet little is known about the prevalence and significance of this issue for children. The present study examines the experiences of children in families with co-occurring pet abuse and IPV. Using qualitative methods, 58 children ages 7–12 who were exposed to IPV were asked to describe their experiences of threats to and harm of their companion animals. Following the interviews, template analysis was employed to systematically develop codes and themes. Coding reliability was assessed using Randolph\u27s free-marginal multirater kappa (kfree = .90). Five themes emerged from the qualitative data, the most common being children\u27s exposure to pet abuse as a power and control tactic against their mother in the context of IPV. Other themes were animal maltreatment to discipline or punish the pet, animal cruelty by a sibling, children intervening to prevent pet abuse, and children intervening to protect the pet during a violent episode. Results indicate that children\u27s experiences of pet abuse are multifaceted, potentially traumatic, and may involve multiple family members with diverse motives