Adoption of Environmental Best Practice Amongst Dairy Farmers

The adoption of environmental management practices is addressed in this paper. The use of consumer behaviour theory and a market research approach is discussed by describing how it was used in the study. Qualitative methods were used to gather data from dairy farmers in four New Zealand catchments. The environmental practices explored were; excluding stock from waterways, reducing phosphorus use, improving soil macroporosity, managing effluent and improving the efficiency of border-dyke irrigation. The findings are discussed, highlighting that farm contextual factors influenced farmers’ decision making in terms of adopting environmental management practices. The results suggest that environmental practices need to be linked to farm context. This should provide practical solutions that farmers’ will be more likely to adopt.Environment, adoption, dairy farms, context, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

Self-organized critical & complex adaptive systems in a simulated manufacturing environment

The application of this thesis compares three different manufacturing theories, varying on resource allocation, to decide which performs best. Three Resource Allocation methods are analyzed including a static resource allocation method, a semidynamic resource allocation method, and a dynamic resource allocation method. The last methodology used in this thesis develops a resource allocation method intended to display complex behavior. A Base Case manufacturing simulation is developed to represent a static resource allocation system. A Theory of Constraints manufacturing model using the Theory of Constraints process represents a semi-dynamic resource allocation system. A Complex Adaptive System manufacturing model using autonomous agents represents a dynamic resource allocation system. The systems were analyzed at multiple stress levels for system to system performance, as well as for complex behavior. Dynamic resource allocation outperformed the semi-dynamic allocation and static allocation systems unilaterally. Some complex behavior was displayed for elements of some models, but as a whole, a trend of increasing complexity did not emerge as the models were analyzed from the Base Case, to Theory of Constraints, to the Complex Adaptive System

Veteran\u27s Law Symposium: Keynote Address Delivered November 8, 2013

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine delivered this keynote address at the 2013 Journal of Law and the Public Interest Symposium. In this transcript of his speech, Senator Kaine discusses the importance of improving service for veterans disability claims, how the changing nature of society affects military and veterans issues, fundamental questions about 21st century warfare, and concludes by answering questions form the audience

Veteran\u27s Law Symposium: Keynote Address Delivered November 8, 2013

d it is good to be back here Friday to talk to this Veterans Law Symposium. The initial symposium on veterans law here at the law school and what an appropriate thing to do on an appropriate weekend as we get ready to celebrate Veteran\u27s Day and I was honored to be asked to come and offer some thoughts. I want to talk about, just sort of current issues we are really grappling with, that are legal issues, in Congress, that might affect the practice that you would hope to do, that certainly affect the lives of our veterans and then I want to take some questions and answers

Bullying, Victimization, Associated Distress & Transition Among Intellectually Gifted Children

This cross-sectional study examined the prevalence of bullying and victimization among children identified as gifted who are in the last grade of elementary school (4th grade) and first two grades of middle school (5th and 6th grades). Additionally, I investigated if the children experienced distress associated with bullying and victimization and if the distress varied systematically across the three grades. The study took place at one elementary school and two middle schools located in Tennessee. There were a total of 35 participants [4th grade (n = 15), 5th grade (n = 13), and 6th grade (n =7)]. The results indicated that the 4th graders reported a significantly higher prevalence of bullying compared to the 5th graders. Furthermore there were significant, strong correlations between victimization and level of total distress; bullying and level of externalizing distress; and victimization and level of internalizing distress. The principal limitation of the study was the small sample size (N = 35). Additional studies investigating this topic should be conducted to help educators become more aware of the prevalence of bullying and victimization during the elementary-middle school transition period among children who are gifted. Such studies can also potentially shed light on the manner in which children who are gifted handle bullying and victimization

The Path to Persistence: How Highly-At-Risk Students Persevere to Graduation Day

This phenomenological study looked at highly-at-risk college seniors who exhibited four out of the eight risk factors defined by the institution where the study took place. The purpose was to gain insight into how highly-at-risk college seniors persist to graduation by discovering what protective factors they utilized in their college career as well as the role resiliency and/or grit may have played. The participants were five undergraduate students who were enrolled at a mid-sized, public university in the rural Midwest. They responded to questions in one semi-structured interview designed to capture their experiences about college starting from high school until their anticipated graduation date. The findings confirm previous research which found that highly-at-risk students adequate support from a variety of sources in order to be a successful college student. In addition, these supports are most effective when they are unyielding. Furthermore, these ‘persisters’ often exhibit intrinsic motivation, grit, and resiliency -- the spirit of getting back up after setbacks. The findings also demonstrated that there is still more to be done to help highly-at-risk students to persist

Annual Survey of Virginia Law: Professional Responsibility

This year, like many years, has been marked by increasing public concern over legal ethics. Public attention has been drawn to lawyers\u27 participation in scandals such as the misuse of funds by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the collapse of the savings and loan industry, and numerous ethical breaches by members of Congress