Graduation Rates in Arkansas

In April 2014, the National Center for Education Statistics published a national report on state-level graduation rates in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The news was positive for the nation, as the national rate reached 80% for the first time, and for Arkansas, as students in the Natural State boasted higher than average rates in both years. While the statewide news was good, Arkansans may well be interested in the graduation rates of particular schools across the state

Mammals of Southwestern Arkansas Part II. Rodents

This study investigated the composition and habitat affinities of the mammalian fauna of southwestern Arkansas. The study area was comprised of the 21 counties located south and/or west of and including Pulaski County. The previously existing data set pertaining to the mammals of Arkansas was notably incomplete and this study area in particular, was poorly known mammalogically. Specimens were collected by standard trapping and salvage methods throughout the study area. The mammals considered during this study were limited to those species meeting a set of criteria designed to eliminate species that had been introduced or artificially maintained. This study has accumulated records of 25 species of rodents; over 1500 specimens have been recorded; and a total of 95 new county records have been documented

An innovative approach to compensator design

The design is considered of a computer-aided-compensator for a control system from a frequency domain point of view. The design technique developed is based on describing the open loop frequency response by n discrete frequency points which result in n functions of the compensator coefficients. Several of these functions are chosen so that the system specifications are properly portrayed; then mathematical programming is used to improve all of these functions which have values below minimum standards. To do this, several definitions in regard to measuring the performance of a system in the frequency domain are given, e.g., relative stability, relative attenuation, proper phasing, etc. Next, theorems which govern the number of compensator coefficients necessary to make improvements in a certain number of functions are proved. After this a mathematical programming tool for aiding in the solution of the problem is developed. This tool is called the constraint improvement algorithm. Then for applying the constraint improvement algorithm generalized, gradients for the constraints are derived. Finally, the necessary theory is incorporated in a Computer program called CIP (compensator Improvement Program). The practical usefulness of CIP is demonstrated by two large system examples

Spreading the News about Hydropathy: How Did Americans Learn to Stop Worrying and Trust the Water Cure?

This paper was delivered at the 2012 annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic in Baltimore. It was included in a panel on information networks in the early republic and explores the question of how some Americans decided to trust information about the water cure, a nineteenth-century health reform movement also known as hydropathy

Anthropology in a Rural Archive: A Study That Moves Along and Against the Archival Grain

Anthropologists have long engaged with archival materials in order to provide historically accurate information that might assist in the production of ethnographic projects. Archives are unique institutions where historical data can be found that contributes valuable information about particular groups of people; however, archives themselves are again and again being controlled by a higher power, particularly that of the State, and this act of ownership contributes to acts of omission that misconstrue historical narratives as well as descriptions of the people and places depicted within an archive. In this project, I engage with an archive located in a rural town in Appalachia in order to determine what information can be revealed about the history of individuals and communities living in said space. Materials found from within the archive are examined along and against the archival grain in order to develop an understanding of the ways in which historical narratives about people in rural Appalachia are presented and why they are presented as such. As a critical engagement with archival material, this project points out historical absences from the archive and critically examines what can be found from archival material when it is analyzed directly without other sources. The goal of this project is to contribute to various literatures that examine rural lifeways in Appalachia and urge anthropologists to follow in a critical pursuit of archival materials when developing a broader ethnographic project about groups of people, particularly those living in rural areas. As was found in this project, the Hamblen County Archive contains a several historical silences. When archival material is analyzed alone, it presents inaccurate descriptions about the people living in Morristown, Tennessee, and their associated histories. In addition, I argue that anthropologists and community should engage in the processes of building archives that exist as entities separated from the state apparatus, as state power can have impact on the process of knowledge production that takes place within the walls of an archive. Community-based archives are already being developed throughout Appalachia and these are sites where more holistic knowledges can be preserved and presented to audiences of researchers and the general public, as well as future generations of people who seek information about the past

Implementing Personal Devices in Math

This study examined the effect of implementing personal devices into a fifth grade mathematics classroom. Thirty-eight fifth graders participated in this eight-week project with a focus on six students to track their growth. During the study, students engaged in technology based stations that pertained to our geometry unit and coordinate unit. Students took pre and post test on paper to track progress. In addition, students completed online assessments within their practice websites and apps to track comprehension and growth of the content. Furthermore, students were interviewed to ensure they were staying engaged in the online activities and to track student engagement about using personal devices within math

Making Slavery History: Abolitionism and the Politics of Memory in Massachusetts

Exploring the Intersection of Memory and History On October 4, 1859, abolitionist lecturer Wendell Phillips came not to praise Daniel Webster, but to bury him again. Though Webster had died in 1852, he still lived in infamy among abolitionists for having endorsed the Fugitive Slave Law ...

The Valuation Effects of Private Placements of Public Corporations\u27 Common Stock

Outside shareholders should benefit when the firm issues common stock through a private placement. Our propositions are (1) that the private issue of common equity creates a value-maximizing insider that has the incentive and ability to monitor and discipline, and thereby reduce agency costs and (2) investors can reduce uncertainty about the value of thinly traded stock by observing the share price negotiated by the well-informed buyer. Both of these benefits are especially applicable to small firms. Our empirical evidence supports hypotheses based on these propositions