THE VALUE ADDED TAX: A PRELIMINARY LOOK AT EFFECTS ON THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Public Economics,

Linkages Between Grade Point Average and Student Ratings

In order to better understand the potential influence of high school students’ grades on how they rate their teachers and schools, we explored the relationship between student grade point average and student ratings of teacher and school effectiveness in 370 classes taught by 230 instructors with over 6,000 students in grades 9–12 in an Intermountain West school district. Teachers were evaluated with an 18-item student survey. Students also rated their schools with six additional items. The performance measure was the grade point average (GPA) for the quarter in which students evaluated their teachers and schools. ANOVAs showed that both year in school and GPA were positively linked with ratings of teacher effectiveness and ratings of school experiences. Seniors were more positively disposed toward their teachers and school experiences than students at lower grade levels. Most of the ratings of specific items on the teacher effectiveness and school-experience scales were significantly, though not strongly, correlated with GPAs. We discuss implications and suggestions for future research

Contribution of Non-Timber Forest Products to Rural Household Income in Zambia

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) play an important role in supporting rural livelihoods and food security in Zambia. NTFP-dependent households are poorer, have younger household heads with lower levels of education, and are located closer to district towns than other rural households are. NTFPs are a particularly important source of income in Luapula, Northwestern and Western provinces. • Income from woodfuel represented the greatest share of income for households that participated in NTFPs, and it was the most commonly reported business activity, with 68% of NTFP households reporting income from charcoal and firewood. NTFPs contribute an average of 32% to total household income among participants, with the poorest being more dependent on these sources. • Given the widespread demand for woodfuel and other forest products, it is likely that rural households will continue to engage in the extraction and trade of NTFPs as a business activity. However, charcoal production, if left unchecked, could compromise the integrity of forests and adversely affect the availability of other NTFPs. In order to reduce households’ reliance on charcoal/firewood as an income source, outreach efforts could promote other NTFPs such as wild honey, ants, and mushrooms as business activities. Mushrooms, ants, and caterpillars may particularly be important activities for female-headed households, as more female-headed households derived income from these sources.NON-TIMBER FOREST, ZAMBIA, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics,

FARM LEVEL CONSEQUENCES OF CANADIAN AND U.S. DAIRY POLICIES

Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Sexual Dimorphism and Intersexual Differences in Resource Allocations of a Dioecious Shrub, Lindera melissifolia (Walt.) Blume

Morphometric data were gathered to make intersexual comparisons on the morphology and reproductive resource allocation patterns of the rare, dioecious shrub, Lindera melissifolia. Females produced significantly fewer flowers and leaves than did males. No other significant differences could be detected in morphology. Female clones exhibit low area coverage and low stem density, which suggests higher costs of reproduction. If this is the case, the deficits produced in resource allocations directed toward sexual reproduction seem to result in increased mortality and/or reduced vegetative reproduction

Movements and spawning of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) and blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) off Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

With a focus on white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus), a concurrent electronic tagging and larval sampling effort was conducted in the vicinity of Mona Passage (off southeast Hispaniola), Dominican Republic, during April and May 2003. Objectives were 1) to characterize the horizontal and vertical movement of adults captured from the area by using pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs); and 2) by means of larval sampling, to investigate whether fish were reproducing. Trolling from a sportfishing vessel yielded eight adult white marlin and one blue marlin (Makaira nigricans); PSAT tags were deployed on all but one of these individuals. The exception was a female white marlin that was unsuitable for tagging because of injury; the reproductive state of its ovaries was examined histologically. Seven of the PSATs reported data summaries for water depth, temperature, and light levels measured every minute for periods ranging from 28 to 40 days. Displacement of marlin from the location of release to the point of tag pop-up ranged from 3l.6 to 267.7 nautical miles (nmi) and a mean displacement was 3.4 nmi per day for white marlin. White and blue marlin mean daily displacements appeared constrained compared to the results of other marlin PSAT tagging studies. White marlin ovarian sections contained postovulatory follicles and final maturation-stage oocytes, which indicated recent and imminent spawning. Neuston tows (n=23) yielded 18 istiophorid larvae: eight were white marlin, four were blue marlin, and six could not be identified to species. We speculate that the constrained movement patterns of adults may be linked to reproductive activity for both marlin species, and, if true, these movement patterns may have several implications for management. Protection of the potentially important white marlin spawning ground near Mona Passage seems warranted, at least until further studies can be conducted on the temporal and spatial extent of reproduction and associated adult movement

Representative Farms Economic Outlook for the November 2002 FAPRI/AFPC Baseline

The farm level economic impacts of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 on representative crop and livestock operations are projected in this report. The analysis was conducted over the 2001-2007 planning horizon using FLIPSIM, AFPC’s whole farm simulation model. Data to simulate farming operations in the nation’s major production regions came from two sources: - Producer panel cooperation to develop economic information to describe and simulate representative crop, livestock, and dairy farms. - Projected prices, policy variables, and input inflation rates from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) November 2002 Baseline. The FLIPSIM policy simulation model incorporates the historical risk faced by farmers for prices and production. This report presents the results of the November 2002 Baseline in a risk context using selected simulated probabilities and ranges for annual net cash farm income values. The probability of a farm experiencing annual cash flow deficits and the probability of a farm losing real net worth are included as indicators of the cash flow and equity risks facing farms through the year 2007.Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

Constraining the pickup ion abundance and temperature through the multifluid reconstruction of the Voyager 2 termination shock crossing

Voyager 2 observations revealed that the hot solar wind ions (the so‐called pickup ions) play a dominant role in the thermodynamics of the termination shock and the heliosheath. The number density and temperature of this hot population, however, have remained unknown, since the plasma instrument on board Voyager 2 can only detect the colder thermal ion component. Here we show that due to the multifluid nature of the plasma, the fast magnetosonic mode splits into a low‐frequency fast mode and a high‐frequency fast mode. The coupling between the two fast modes results in a quasi‐stationary nonlinear wave mode, the “oscilliton,” which creates a large‐amplitude trailing wave train downstream of the thermal ion shock. By fitting multifluid shock wave solutions to the shock structure observed by Voyager 2, we are able to constrain both the abundance and the temperature of the undetected pickup ions. In our three‐fluid model, we take into account the nonnegligible partial pressure of suprathermal energetic electrons (0.022–1.5 MeV) observed by the Low‐Energy Charged Particle Experiment instrument on board Voyager 2. The best fitting simulation suggests a pickup ion abundance of 20 ± 3%, an upstream pickup ion temperature of 13.4 ± 2 MK, and a hot electron population with an apparent temperature of ~0.83 MK. We conclude that the actual shock transition is a subcritical dispersive shock wave with low Mach number and high plasma β.Key PointsFirst multifluid MHD reconstruction of the termination shockThe termination shock is a high‐β low–Mach number dispersive shock waveObservational constraint on the pickup ion abundance and temperaturePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116003/1/jgra52059_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116003/2/jgra52059.pd