To Require That a Majority of the Supreme Court Determine the Outcome of Any Case Before It

Working within the authorization of Legislative Bill 244 of the 1969 Legislature, the Nebraska Constitutional Revision Commission drafted a proposed Nebraska Constitution which it submitted to the people, the governor, and the legislature on September 24, 1970. One of the major recommendations concerning the judicial article was to eliminate the requirement that five judges (one more than a majority) must concur to declare an act of the legislature unconstitutional. Under the proposed constitution, a majority of the members sitting would pronounce a decision in all cases. The commission could find no good reason to keep the extraordinary majority provision. After almost forty-seven years of dormancy, Nebraska\u27s five judge rule has determined the outcome in three significant series of appeals: State v. Cavitt; DeBacker v. Brainard and DeBacker v. Sigler; State ex rel. Belker v. Board of Educational Lands and Funds and State ex rel. Bessey v. Board of Educational Lands and Funds. Following an analysis of the history of the present judicial article and a consideration of the constitutionality of the five judge rule, these recent Nebraska cases are examined along with cases from other states that have felt the thrust of a similar constitutional restriction. Finally, a balance sheet of the advantages and disadvantages of such a restraint on judicial authority is drawn and appraised

FUEL-INSULATION TRADEOFFS FOR ARKANSAS BROILER HOUSES

Livestock Production/Industries,

To Require That a Majority of the Supreme Court Determine the Outcome of Any Case Before It

Working within the authorization of Legislative Bill 244 of the 1969 Legislature, the Nebraska Constitutional Revision Commission drafted a proposed Nebraska Constitution which it submitted to the people, the governor, and the legislature on September 24, 1970. One of the major recommendations concerning the judicial article was to eliminate the requirement that five judges (one more than a majority) must concur to declare an act of the legislature unconstitutional. Under the proposed constitution, a majority of the members sitting would pronounce a decision in all cases. The commission could find no good reason to keep the extraordinary majority provision. After almost forty-seven years of dormancy, Nebraska\u27s five judge rule has determined the outcome in three significant series of appeals: State v. Cavitt; DeBacker v. Brainard and DeBacker v. Sigler; State ex rel. Belker v. Board of Educational Lands and Funds and State ex rel. Bessey v. Board of Educational Lands and Funds. Following an analysis of the history of the present judicial article and a consideration of the constitutionality of the five judge rule, these recent Nebraska cases are examined along with cases from other states that have felt the thrust of a similar constitutional restriction. Finally, a balance sheet of the advantages and disadvantages of such a restraint on judicial authority is drawn and appraised

Initial Assessment of the Consolidation of Chalcogels into a Viable Waste Form

This report provides some preliminary data for the consolidation of chalcogen-based aerogels. The chalcogels tested to date at PNNL show great promise as iodine sorbents and preliminary consolidation research shows that they can be melted into a phase-pure glass at moderate temperatures. The preliminary consolidation experiments show that these materials might attack fused quartz so an alternative crucible material will likely need to be used to prevent this. The next steps will be to • Consider melting other chalcogel chemistries, e.g., Sn-Sb-S, Ge-Sn-S chalcogels • Consider melting chalcogels with adsorbed iodine to monitor iodine loss during melting • Optimize the consolidation temperatures to minimize the iodine loss and volatilizatio

Aeroheating Predictions for X-34 Using an Inviscid-Boundary Layer Method

Radiative equilibrium surface temperatures and surface heating rates from a combined inviscid-boundary layer method are presented for the X-34 Reusable Launch Vehicle for several points along the hypersonic descent portion of its trajectory. Inviscid, perfect-gas solutions are generated with the Langley Aerothermodynamic Upwind Relaxation Algorithm (LAURA) and the Data-Parallel Lower-Upper Relaxation (DPLUR) code. Surface temperatures and heating rates are then computed using the Langley Approximate Three-Dimensional Convective Heating (LATCH) engineering code employing both laminar and turbulent flow models. The combined inviscid-boundary layer method provides accurate predictions of surface temperatures over most of the vehicle and requires much less computational effort than a Navier-Stokes code. This enables the generation of a more thorough aerothermal database which is necessary to design the thermal protection system and specify the vehicle's flight limits

Analysis of Local Health Department Factors that Accelerate Population-based Intervention Strategies: Preliminary Findings

Introduction: This practice-based research study capitalized on the statewide implementation of a comprehensive, locally-driven initiative to implement evidence-based policy, system and environmental changes related to obesity and tobacco use. The study examined local health department (LHD) performance and factors such as organizational quality improvement (QI) maturity, structure and governance. Methods: State health department staff reviewed grant reports and documentation pertaining to all LHD grantees, which collectively represented all 87 counties and 4 cities in Minnesota (MN), in order to designate grantees as either: “Exceeds Expectations,” “Meets Expectations” or “Approaching Expectations.” A study team of state, local and academic partners then used select measures from the QI Maturity Tool to calculate a QI Maturity Score, and subsequently place grantees into three levels of QI maturity: low, medium and high. Multivariate regression was performed to examine the potential relationship between grantee performance and QI maturity, as well as other covariates. Results: Of the final sample of 91 counties/cities, 87 had complete data for multivariate analysis. The distribution of grantee performance was: exceeds expectations (29.7%), meets expectations (55.0%) and approaching expectations (15.3%). Organizational QI maturity was strongly, positively associated with grantee performance comparing the “exceeds expectations” to those who “met or approached expectations” (OR=4.29, 95 % CI: 1.90-9.73, p=0.0005). Implications: Organizational QI maturity was strongly associated with LHD performance. More research is needed to determine whether a more mature approach to quality improvement is merely a marker for overall LHD capacity or has its own unique contribution to performance. Findings have been used to inform the next funding cycle of this initiative and provide support to implementing annual assessment of QI maturity in MN

Quantitative shape measurements of distal volcanic ash

Large-scale volcanic eruptions produce fine ash (\u3c 200 μm) which has a long atmospheric residence time (1 hour or more) and can be transported great distances from the volcanic source, thus, becoming a hazard to aircraft and public health. Ash particles have irregular shapes, so data on particle shape, size, and terminal velocities are needed to understand how the irregular-shaped particles affect transport processes and radiative transfer measurements. In this study, a methodology was developed to characterize particle shapes, sizes , and terminal velocities for three ash samples of different compositions. The shape and size of 2,500 particles from 1) distal fallout (~100 km) of the October 14, 1974 Fuego eruption (basaltic), 2) the secondary maxima (~250 km) of the August 18, 1992 Spurr eruption (andesitic), and 3) the Miocene Ash Hollow member, Nebraska (rhyolitic) were measured using image analysis techniques. Samples were sorted into 10 to 19 terminal velocity groups (0.6-59.0 cm/s) using an air elutriation device. Grain size distributions for the samples were measured using laser diffraction. Aspect ratio, feret diameter, and perimeter measurements were found to be the most useful descriptors of how particle shape affects terminal velocity. These measurement values show particle shape differs greatly from a sphere (commonly used in models and algorithms). The diameters of ash particles were 10-120% larger than ideal spheres at the same terminal velocity, indicating that irregular particle shape greatly increases drag. Gas-adsorption derived surface areas are 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher than calculated surface areas based on measured dimensions and simple geometry, indicating that particle shapes are highly irregular. Correction factors for surface area were derived from the ash sample measurements so that surface areas calculated by assuming spherical particle shapes can be corrected to reflect more realistic values

An Energy Accounting Evaluation of Several Alternatives for Hydropower and Geothermal Development

Alternative management strategies for hydropower and geothermal development are myriad. This study does not attempt to evaluate or even summarize the many schemes which are possible. In an era of plentiful natural resources, economic analysis procedures for selecting a particular alternative have been developed which traditionally have tended to optimize on the basis of capital and labor. The approach taken in this study is based on the notion of optimum deployment of finite resources. A legitimate question which this study has attempted to address is: Does the construction of large water management facilities, such as hydropower dams, which involve huge amounts of energy, concrete, and steel, constitute an efficient use of basic resources? An energy accounting analysis technique is proposed, and using this procedure energy resource inputs are examined and compared for specific hydropower dams and geothermal power plants. The technique, though promising, still contains certain problems, and further development is needed in order to establish a consistent and uniform methodology. The energy accounting technique indicates that construction of hydropower facilities is a relatively efficient use of basic energy resources. However, because of large evaporation losses from storage reservoirs, water consumption per unit of power produced tends to be high. An analysis subsequent to the energy accounting approach suggests that combining once-through cooling of thermal power plants with pumped storage hydropower facilities could produce large water savings per unit of generated power. Further study of this configuration is recommended. The energy accounting technique also clearly identifies the high efficiency of geothermal power plants in terms of resource deployment. However, warm water geothermal resources of the type generally available in the intermountain region present formidable problems in utilization. The report proposes a he at exchange r system design which is capable of utilizing warm and highly mineralized waters, and recommends that the design be constructed and tested on a demonstration basis