The importance of community colleges to the Tenth District economy

The recent recession and now the recovery have caused enrollment at many community colleges to soar as unemployed workers retrain for new occupations and students who might otherwise attend a four-year college choose to save money. In the Tenth District, the importance of community colleges is likely to rise even further as the economy continues to evolve and industries demand workers with new skills. ; Labor market projections over the next decade suggest that new jobs in the district will be filled more by workers with an associate’s degree or some college than by those with any other type of education. In the short run, with state and local government funding still falling, many community colleges will be challenged to educate a growing number of students. In the long run, evolving industries will likely further challenge community colleges to produce even more workers with newer skills--both nationwide and in the Tenth District. ; Felix and Pope describe how community colleges contribute to economic development in the Tenth District and the challenges they face in economic downturns. They then examine the implications of long-run job projections in district states for the demand for community colleges graduates--and whether the states’ current level of provision of community college education appears adequate.

The impact of fire suppression tasks on firefighter hydration: A critical review with consideration of the utility of reported hydration measures

BACKGROUND: Firefighting is a highly stressful occupation with unique physical challenges, apparel and environments that increase the potential for dehydration. Dehydration leaves the firefighter at risk of harm to their health, safety and performance. The purpose of this review was to critically analyse the current literature investigating the impact of fighting ‘live’ fires on firefighter hydration. METHODS: A systematic search was performed of four electronic databases for relevant published studies investigating the impact of live fire suppression on firefighter hydration. Study eligibility was assessed using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The included studies were critically appraised using the Downs and Black protocol and graded according to the Kennelly grading system. RESULTS: Ten studies met the eligibility criteria for this review. The average score for methodological quality was 55 %, ranging from 50 % (‘fair’ quality) to 61 % (‘good’ quality) with a ‘substantial agreement’ between raters (k = .772). Wildfire suppression was considered in five studies and structural fire suppression in five studies. Results varied across the studies, reflecting variations in outcome measures, hydration protocols and interventions. Three studies reported significant indicators of dehydration resulting from structural fire suppression, while two studies found mixed results, with some measures indicating dehydration and other measures an unchanged hydration status. Three studies found non-significant changes in hydration resulting from wildfire firefighting and two studies found significant improvements in markers of hydration. Ad libitum fluid intake was a common factor across the studies finding no, or less severe, dehydration. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence confirms that structural and wildfire firefighting can cause dehydration. Ad libitum drinking may be sufficient to maintain hydration in many wildfire environments but possibly not during intense, longer duration, hot structural fire operations. Future high quality research better quantifying the effects of these influences on the degree of dehydration is required to inform policies and procedures that ensure firefighter health and safety

Taxation Maximaztion: Why States Tax the Way They Do

This paper examines state tax systems and provides an explanation for their structure. The results of this study show that states maximize the value of a tax by increasing its use based on the demographic makeup of the state. Furthermore, this paper provides some evidence that groups are not successful in lobbying state legislatures to protect themselves from taxation

Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in Technical and Professional Writing

This book presents technical writing as an approach to researching and carrying out writing that centers on technical subject matter. Each and every chapter is devoted to helping students understand that good technical writing is situationally-aware and context-driven. Technical writing doesn’t work off knowing the one true right way of doing things—there is no magic report template out there that will always work. Instead, the focus is on offering students a series of approaches they can use to map out their situations and do research accordingly.https://scholarworks.uark.edu/oer/1003/thumbnail.jp

Marine protected areas of the Flinders and Twofold Shelf bioregions

Along Victoria&rsquo;s coastline there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been established to protect the state&rsquo;s significant marine environmental and cultural values. These MPAs include 13 Marine National Parks (MNPs), 11 Marine Sanctuaries (MSs), 3 Marine and Coastal Parks, 2 Marine Parks, and a Marine Reserve, and together these account for 11.7% of the Victorian marine environment. The highly protected Marine National Park System, which is made up of the MNPs and MSs, covers 5.3% of Victorian waters and was proclaimed in November 2002. This system has been designed to be representative of the diversity of Victoria&rsquo;s marine environment and aims to conserve and protect ecological processes, habitats, and associated flora and fauna. The Marine National Park System is spread across Victoria&rsquo;s five marine bioregions with multiple MNPs and MSs in each bioregion, with the exception of Flinders bioregion which has one MNP. All MNPs and MSs are &ldquo;no-take&rdquo; areas and are managed under the National Parks Act (1975) - Schedules 7 and 8 respectively.This report updates the first Marine Natural Values Study (Plummer et al. 2003) for the MPAs in the Flinders and Twofold Shelf bioregions on the east coast of Victoria and is one of a series of five reports covering Victoria&rsquo;s Marine National Park System. It uses the numerous monitoring and research programs that have increased our knowledge since declaration and aims to give a comprehensive overview of the important natural values of each MNP and MS.<br /

Marine protected areas of the Otway bioregion

Along Victoria&rsquo;s coastline there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that have been established to protect the state&rsquo;s significant marine environmental and cultural values. These MPAs include 13 Marine National Parks (MNPs), 11 Marine Sanctuaries (MSs), 3 Marine and Coastal Parks, 2 Marine Parks, and a Marine Reserve, and together these account for 11.7% of the Victorian marine environment. The highly protected Marine National Park System, which is made up of the MNPs and MSs, covers 5.3% of Victorian waters and was proclaimed in November 2002. This system has been designed to be representative of the diversity of Victoria&rsquo;s marine environment and aims to conserve and protect ecological processes, habitats, and associated flora and fauna. The Marine National Park System is spread across Victoria&rsquo;s five marine bioregions with multiple MNPs and MSs in each bioregion, with the exception of Flinders bioregion which has one MNP. All MNPs and MSs are &ldquo;no-take&rdquo; areas and are managed under the National Parks Act (1975) - Schedules 7 and 8 respectively.This report updates the first Marine Natural Values Study (Plummer et al. 2003) for the MPAs in the Otway bioregion on the west coast of Victoria and is one of a series of five reports covering Victoria&rsquo;s Marine National Park System. It uses the numerous monitoring and research programs that have increased our knowledge since declaration and aims to give a comprehensive overview of the important natural values of each MNP and MS.<br /