Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad: 1997

Approximately twenty-five years ago, a majority of the railroads in the industry were either in or near bankruptcy. As a partial cure, a series of federal and state legislation was enacted which freed the industry from archaic laws passed in the days railroads enjoyed a virtual monopoly in U.S. transportation. One of the outcomes of this new legislation was the freedom granted major railroads to abandon or sell off excess trackage to entrepreneurs. The Dakota Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E) is a regional railroad that was spun off from the Chicago and North Western(C&NW) Railroad in 1986 and purchased by a group of entrepreneurs. The railroad’s mainline extends from the Mississippi River at Winona, Minnesota across southern Minnesota and central South Dakota to Rapid City. In 1996, the DM&E acquired more than 200 miles of track from Union Pacific Railroad, extending from Colony, Wyoming through Rapid City to Crawford, Nebraska. Grain currently accounts for more than 40 percent of the railroad’s 60,000 annual carloadings, which have increased more than 40 percent since 1987—DM&E’s first full year of operation. The DM&E began operations with 130 employees, 37 locomotives and no freight cars. The DM&E now employs 350 people, and owns or leases 70 locomotives and almost 30,000 freight cars. The case traces DM&E’s first eleven years of operations from its chaotic beginnings to its development as a profitable railroad, to its recent apparent unraveling. (Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Strategic Mgmt, Regional Railroads

Private Moments

In October, 1996 Private Moments, an adult novelty store, opened for business in Huntsville, Texas. Huntsville had no ordinances in place to prevent the opening of this type of business. In fact, the local Small Business Development Center provided guidance and assistance to Edward Delagarza, the founder and owner of Private Moments. Many of the Huntsville citizens, unhappy with the opening of Private Moments, approached the City Council requesting that it be closed immediately and asked for legislation to prevent other Sexually Oriented Businesses (S.O.B.) from locating in Huntsville. After a hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission to review alternative zoning restrictions, City Council passed an ordinance that outlined the process for obtaining a permit to operate as a S.O.B. and placed severe limitations on places a S.O.B. could locate. Private Moments, in existence when the ordinance was passed, was grandfathered. Sales at Private Moments have grown slowly, but business has been profitable. Since opening Private Moments, Mr. Delagarza has begun operating two other businesses: a tattoo parlor, which is adjacent to Private Moments, and a bar, located some distance away. He must now decide whether to remain in his current location and expand his operations by selling adult novelty items to other markets in other locations, redirect his effects toward internet sales or the wholesale distribution of S.O.B. products, or devote his time to his other two businesses. (Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Small Busn Mgmt, Regulations

Grace Lutheran Church

Grace Lutheran Church, formed in 1963, has enjoyed stable growth. It is financially healthy and has a close-knit church community. In an effort to pro-actively plan, a long-term planning committee of approximately 50 members was formed. They chose the publication and workbook, Twelve Keys to an Effective Church by Kennon L. Callahan to guide them. Constrained by a book written by a Methodist and not always a good "fit" for their Lutheran denomination, they are sometimes frustrated with the planning process. They are further constrained by the admonition of the book to focus exclusively on "strengths to exploit and objectives to develop." Discouragement of any mention of weakness, problems, shortcomings or threats hindered their discussion. The work of the planning committee centered on the twelve keys to an effective church, as identified in the book. Focusing on the positive, they were able to identify many things they are doing well, and are determined to build on these strengths. By downplaying the negative, however, they find themselves questioning whether focusing on their strengths alone is enough. (Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Strategic Mgmt, Non for profit org

‘Future Bathroom’, What to make? Or How to Make? Challenges in meeting sustainable needs.

This paper is a case study that describes a design research programme, ‘the future bathroom’, undertaken by the authors which illuminates both challenges and solutions for inclusive and sustainable design. A co-design research methodology was adopted and engaged older users and community lay researchers to help overcome the barriers of developing a comprehensive understanding of the issues related to highly personal, private and intimate activities. We adopt the term co-design to describe an approach to design that encourages both user involvement and interdisciplinary design. Our challenge has been to provide an environment where an exchange of ideas between stakeholders could take place and to foster what Manzini (1) has referred to as a ‘creative community’. From the project emerged both insight and understanding of age related disability and bathroom use and potential design solutions to support these needs. Adopting an inclusive approach to design research we have developed flexible, durable and sustainable solutions that meet the diverse and changing needs of bathroom usage The paper discusses how sustainability in the context of inclusive design might need to consider more ‘what we should make’ rather than ‘how we should make’

Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

Bridal Gallery

The Bridal Gallery is in the business of pampering its clients with a full range of bridal products and services, from gowns to garters, shoes to jewels. Located in Huntsville, TX, this small business enjoys a well deserved reputation for offering high quality, competitively priced products. In addition, free one-on-one consultation services are provided to every client. One of the company’s flyers indicates that the Bridal Gallery is “Where expert advice saves you time and money.” Although the company is run by a very knowledgeable owner who is passionate about her business, the financial picture has been very mixed. The owner has not drawn a regular paycheck during the entire eight year history of the business, and the past year resulted in a record net loss. An expanded bridal product line plus diversifying into a prom dress line might generate additional revenue, but due to space constraints, a potentially cost prohibitive move into a larger building might be necessary.(Contact author for a copy of the complete report.)Small Business Mgmt

Cruise Report 62-S-3 - Trawl

(PDF contains 2 pages.

Prosodic Variation and Rootedness in Appalachian English

In his description of the speech of residents of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, Hall (1942) made some tantalizing references to prosodic variation that he claims to be characteristic of the Appalachian region. He observed, \u27the great force with which the stressed syllables are uttered results in an abnormal weakening of the unstressed syllables\u27 (44). This observation suggests that rhythm and prosody could be sources of social variation among Southern varieties of American English. Building upon this suggestion, Reed (2018) found that Appalachian rhythm was distinct from a non-Appalachian Southern variety in that it was more stress-timed. Thus, the present paper seeks to determine if there is prosodic variation within this Appalachian variety. Prosodic rhythm differences have been noted in many national, regional, and social varieties of English. In varieties of North American English, Thomas and Carter (2006) found that prosodic rhythm distinguished several varieties of English spoken in North Carolina, with Hispanic English and Jamaican English more syllable-timed than European American or African American Englishes. However, early African American English from ex-slave recordings was more syllable-timed than later varieties. Coggshall (2008) found that the English spoken by the Eastern Cherokee in North Carolina was more syllable-timed than their European American cohorts. Clopper and Smiljanic (2015) found differences in rhythm between Southern speakers and Northern and Western speakers. Thus, prosodic rhythm can be a fruitful area for variation. The present study analyzes the prosodic rhythm from 24 (12 male and 12 female) Appalachian English speakers from northeastern Tennessee, balanced for age and education level (college vs. non-college). The data are comprised of reading passages collected during sociolinguistic/oral history interviews. Each passage was orthographically transcribed and then force-aligned. The durations of adjacent syllables were calculated using the normalized Pairwise Variability Indices (nPVI) adapted from the procedure outlined in Grabe and Low (2002). This measure provides a quantifiable measure of the durational variability (what was once called stress-timed versus syllable- timed). Greater variability in adjacent syllables indicates more stress-timing, or a greater difference in stressed and unstressed syllables. Preliminary results suggest that the Appalachian speakers are distinct from a cohort of Southern speakers from Clopper and Pisoni (2006). Further, preliminary findings indicate that speakers with a greater attachment to place, what I term \u27rootedness\u27, have a greater nPVI than that of less rooted speakers. These results suggest that prosodic rhythm might be a productive means to \u27sound Appalachian\u27, differentiating from other Southern American English varieties in being more stress-timed. Further, these results indicate that rhythm might also be a dynamic means of signaling one\u27s attachment to the local Appalachian area, highlighting one\u27s rootedness within the region, as those speakers with greater rootedness had a greater nPVI. Thus, prosodic rhythm can serve to distinguish regional varieties, even closely related ones such as Appalachian and Southern Englishes. Further, rhythm can be used within communities to reflect meaningful social categories

The kinetics of the reduction of perchlorate ion in dilute solution

The kinetics of the reduction of perchlorate ion by Ti+3 in dilute solutions has been studied. The rate of reaction has been determined at various concentrations H+, ClO4- , and Cl-. The pseudo first order rate constants were calculated from plots of ln[TTi+3] vs. time and the nature of the H+, ClO4-, and Cl- dependences was also determined;The reaction appears to proceed by more than one path. There is a reaction which is independent of both H+ and Cl-. The reaction was also found to be first order in H+ and to be retarded considerably by addition of chloride. No Ti+3-ClO 4- complexes ware found to exist even at high concentrations of ClO4-;The rate of disappearance of total titanium was found to follow the rate expression, -dTTi+3 dt= k1+k2K1 Cl+k3H+ +k4K1 Cl- H+1+K1 Cl- ClO4 TTi+3. The rate constants were determined at two temperatures and the activation energies and entropies were calculated. The most favorable mechanisms appear to be those which involve perchlorate ion reacting with hydrated Ti+3 and the complex TiCl++;The following kinetic mechanisms have been proposed: Ti+3+ClO4 -&rlhar2;complex →ClO3+TiO++, Ti+3+ClO4-+ H+&rlhar2;complex →ClO3+TiOH +3, TiCl+2+ClO4- &rlhar2;complex→ ClO3-TiO+++Cl- orTiOCl +, TiCl+2+ClO4-+H+ &rlhar2;complex→ ClO3+TiOH+ 3+Cl- orTiOHC l+. In each case the rate determining step is the disproportionation of the coordinated complex. The radical ClO3 reacts further in a series of rapid one electron transfer reactions to the final product, Cl -