Development and status of business education in North Carolina

The Problem. The purpose of this study is: first, to briefly trace the development of business education through its most important agencies in such a way that interesting and valuable material may be available to those who do not care to do extensive reading of a number of scattered articles of considerable length, and to present a kind of comparative introduction for the major part of this study—the status of business education in North Carolina; second, to gather and record data of a historical nature showing the development of business education in North Carolina; and third, to show the status of the business departments in the high schools and the status of the training and experience of the business teachers in this state

The vascular flora of Boiling Spring Lakes Preserve, Brunswick County, North Carolina

The vascular plants of Boiling Spring Lakes Preserve (BSLP) in Brunswick County, North Carolina were collected and catalogued during the growing seasons of 2005 through 2007. The 2,400 ha tract is comprised of Coastal Fringe Sandhills, Wet Pine Flatwoods, Pine Savannas, Small Depression Ponds, and Pond Pine Woodlands. The variety of ecosystems and relatively low disturbance has resulted in the designation of BSLP as a nationally significant ecological site. Brunswick County has the highest concentration of rare plants in North Carolina, but few floristic surveys from the region have been published. This study is the first comprehensive floristic survey of BSLP. A total of 403 species from 88 families were found in the survey. Families with greatest representation of individual species were Asteraceae (61), Cyperaceae (46), Poaceae (44), Fabaceae (20), and Ericaceae (14). Two new state records, Croton michauxii and Rubus discolor, and 40 new county records were added to the state and county floras. Further conservation implications and management suggestions were suggested based on observations made in several powerline clearcuts that transect the site. Longleaf pine ecosystems are characterized by high groundcover species richness, but the intent of most commercial pine plantation management techniques is to reduce understory competition. In areas where pine plantations are the focus of longleaf pine restoration efforts, questions arise as to the negative impact of intensive management practices on the native groundcover. The objective of this study was to examine plant associations in a loblolly (Pinus taeda) pine plantation and determine some of the abiotic variables driving the associations. Such information provides insight into restoration techniques that will best address current problematic site issues (erosion, low soil organic material (SOM)) that hamper restoration efforts. Thirty-one North Carolina Vegetation Survey (NCVS) plots were established in the summer of 2006 to classify the vegetation in a 57 ha loblolly pine plantation within the Boiling Spring Lakes Preserve in Brunswick County, North Carolina. Abiotic variables measured were soil organic carbon (SOC) in the A, E, and B horizons, elevation, and the depth to the B horizon (DBTH). Water availability is one of the main limiting resources in longleaf pine systems and is critical to the storage of SOC, therefore, SOC from the A, E, and B horizons were used as proxies for moisture content. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) was used to classify and ordinate the herbaceous plots into two consistent groups, hydrophytic and xerophytic, based on a soil moisture gradient along the first axis. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) grouped plots along gradients of the abiotic variables with xerophytic plots being positively correlated with elevation and DBTH. This is reasonable because increasing DBTH with increasing elevation results in decreased proximity to perched water tables, favoring the establishment of xeric adapted species. This study demonstrated that moisture availability structures plant associations and early restoration efforts should focus on increasing SOM as a means to maintain the water balance and reduce the effects of erosion, providing conducive conditions for restoration planting

The role of intercollegiate athletics in the retention of first-time, first-year students at NCAA Division III institutions with football

The retention of first-time, first-year students to their sophomore year is important to institutions of higher education because this retention predicts the students' persistence through graduation at their institutions (Bean, 1990; Tinto, 1993). Tinto (1993) suggested that academic integration and social integration lead students to persist. One aspect of the social milieu that has received little attention in retention research is intercollegiate athletics. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of intercollegiate athletics in the retention of first-time, first-year students and to determine how intercollegiate athletics are incorporated in the retention practices of institutions with NCAA Division III athletic programs with football. Within the social milieu of an institution are practices that foster a sense of community in the institution (Braxton & Hirschy, 2004); a sense of belonging to the institution (Freeman, Anderman, & Jensen, 2007; Hausmann, Schofield, & Woods, 2007; Tinto, 1987, 1993); a social support system within the institution (Tinto, 1993); student interactions with faculty (Tinto, 1993); student interactions with staff (Tinto, 1993); and student interactions with peers (Tinto, 1993). Through an online questionnaire, student affairs professionals from NCAA Division III institutions with football rated the extent to which intercollegiate athletics contribute to the social integration of first-time, first-year students and to the six variables that lead to social integration using a 5-point rating scale. Respondents described how intercollegiate athletics contribute to the six variables on their campuses. The respondents described retention practices of their institutions that intentionally incorporate intercollegiate athletics and rated the effectiveness of those practices using a 5-point rating scale. Respondents rated the effectiveness of their overall intercollegiate athletics programs and ten sports in retaining students. Findings indicated that the role of intercollegiate athletics in the retention of first-time, first-year students at institutions sponsoring Division III athletics with football is focused on the athletes. Most of the described retention practices were focused on assisting the athletes with their social integration on their campuses. Athletes at the respondents' institutions made up as much as 59% of the total enrollment; thus, specific retention practices focused on athletes at these institutions may influence the overall retention of first-time, first-year students at the institutions. Effective retention practices incorporating intercollegiate athletics are discussed and recommended

The relationship between personal growth group experiences in multicultural counseling courses and counseling students' ethnic identity development

" Much has been written in the counseling literature on the importance of training counselors to respond to the needs of culturally diverse individuals. The multicultural counseling education literature reflects a vast amount of work involving ethnic identity development. Many counselor education programs offer counselor students opportunities to raise self-awareness through reflection, introspection, and feedback. This process is considered particularly important in helping counseling students understand their own ethnic identity and its effects on counseling relationships. Counselor education is replete with methods of encouraging self-awareness and ethnic identity development. Furthermore, the advent of multicultural counseling competencies has provided counselor education programs with guidelines for training. Developing multicultural competence is complicated because counseling students must first face their own biases, prejudices, attitudes, and worldview perceptions. This process also involves raising awareness, increasing multicultural knowledge, and building a repertoire of counseling skills. Additionally, ethnic identity development has been correlated with multicultural counseling competency. Counselor education is replete with methods of encouraging self-awareness and ethnic identity development. Furthermore, the advent of multicultural counseling competencies has provided counselor education programs with guidelines for training. Developing multicultural competence is complicated because counseling students must first face their own biases, prejudices, attitudes, and worldview perceptions. This process also involves raising awareness, increasing multicultural knowledge, and building a repertoire of counseling skills. Additionally, ethnic identity development has been correlated with multicultural counseling competency. The use of group process as a method of promoting ethnic identity development is important as groups offer an interpersonal component to personal growth. Groups present an opportunity for counseling students to understand their relational problems and receive feedback from others. The use of groups as a means of promoting and supporting ethnic identity growth is a growing trend in counselor education. Personal growth groups seem particularly suited to stimulate this type of reflection, which may lead to positive ethnic identity development. A review of related literature found no study conducted on the efficacy of using personal growth groups in multicultural counseling courses to stimulate counseling students' ethnic identity development. This research was designed to examine the relationship between personal growth group experiences in multicultural counseling courses and counseling students' ethnic identity development. Differences in ethnic identity development between 83 counseling students involved in a personal growth group experience as part of a multicultural counseling course and 98 students not involved in such a group were compared. This study revealed that counseling students participating in personal growth groups as part of a multicultural counseling course experienced significantly greater ethnic identity development than did students not involved in such a group."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

Corn Yields and No-Tillage Affects Carbon Sequestration and Carbon Footprints

The corn (Zea mays L.)–based ethanol carbon footprint is impacted by many factors including the soil\u27s C sequestration potential. The study\u27s objective was to determine the South Dakota corn-based ethanol surface SOC sequestration potential and associated partial C footprint. Calculated short-term C sequestration potentials were compared with long-term sequestration rates calculated from 95,214 producer soil samples collected between 1985 and 2010. National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) grain yields, measured root/shoot ratios and harvest indexes, soil organic C (SOC) and nonharvested C (NHC) first-order rate constants, measured SOC benchmarks [81,391 composite soil samples (0–15 cm) collected between 1985 and 1998], and 34,704 production surveys were used to calculate the short-term sequestration potentials. The SOC short-term, area weighted sequestration potential for the 2004 to 2007 time period was 181kg C (ha × yr)−1. This relatively low rate was attributed to a drought that reduced the amount of NHC returned to soil. For the 2008 to 2010 time period, the area weighted short-term sequestration rate was 341 kg (ha × yr)−1. This rate was similar to the long-term measured rate of 368 kg C (ha × yr)−1. Findings from these independent SOC sequestration assessments supports the hypothesis that many of the regions surface soils are C sinks when seeded with corn. Based on short-term C sequestration rates, corn yields, and the corn conversion rate to ethanol, the area weighted surface SOC footprints for the 2004 to 2007 and 2008 to 2010 time periods was –10.4 and –15.4 g CO2 equ MJ−1, respectively