The Lodge Question as Viewed by the Churches Affiliated with the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America

These churches are therefore not now concerned about the lodge question. · But they will be when they are awakened to the inroads secret fraternal societies have made into their ranks just as the church of England was awakened by Mr. Hannah. The purpose of this study, then, is to show the position of the churches belonging to the National Council of Churches on the lodge question. To each statement of position I am adding a brief history and statistical report of the respective church since this information may in part reflect the position on the lodge question which the several churches take

Energy production advantage of independent subcell connection for multijunction photovoltaics

Increasing the number of subcells in a multijunction or “spectrum splitting” photovoltaic improves efficiency under the standard AM1.5D design spectrum, but it can lower efficiency under spectra that differ from the standard if the subcells are connected electrically in series. Using atmospheric data and the SMARTS multiple scattering and absorption model, we simulated sunny day spectra over 1 year for five locations in the United States and determined the annual energy production of spectrum splitting ensembles with 2–20 subcells connected electrically in series or independently. While electrically independent subcells have a small efficiency advantage over series-connected ensembles under the AM1.5D design spectrum, they have a pronounced energy production advantage under realistic spectra over 1 year. Simulated energy production increased with subcell number for the electrically independent ensembles, but it peaked at 8–10 subcells for those connected in series. Electrically independent ensembles with 20 subcells produce up to 27% more energy annually than the series-connected 20-subcell ensemble. This energy production advantage persists when clouds are accounted for

Cost Analysis of Cattle Feedlot Designs

A cost analysis of fixed and non-fixed costs of gain was conducted on 3 cattle feedlot designs. The three facility designs compared were conventional open pens (OPN), open pens with shelter over the feeding area (OS), and a monoslope confinement barn (MON). The OPN design was the least expensive facility to build and operate. However, because of poorer cattle performance (P \u3c 0.05), it was not the most cost effective. The MON design had significantly higher operating costs when compared to the OPN or OS designs, especially for the tractor/spreader (P \u3c 0.05), skid loader (P \u3c 0.10), labor (P \u3c 0.05), and straw (P \u3c 0.05). The operating and fixed costs, combined, made the MON design the most expensive cost of gain design (P \u3c 0.05). The OS design was the most expensive facility to build but with current feed prices and the cattle performance, it was the most cost effective cattle feeding design

“Why Are You Still Out There?” Persistence among Deep Rural Communities in the Northern Plains

In the face of on-going population loss and despite all dire warnings to the contrary, the clear persistence of certain rural communities continues in unexpected areas of the Great Plains. It is this persistence that is becoming the most difficult element to explain. Thus, this paper turns the traditional research question on its head and asks why some deep rural communities endure. As a result, we introduce a new concept in rural studies-community persistence-and, consequently, we advance a theoretical model to explain why some communities survive without natural amenities or adjacency to a metropolis. Our concept of persistence attempts to answer the question, why are you still out there? when most of society has given up on deep rural populations. We offer a sharp distinction between community persistence and the much-discussed concept of community sustainability. Moreover, our theory incorporates place-based sociological, economic and political factors associated with community persistence. In particular, our integrated theory suggests that persistent communities develop dense social networks, high human capital and deliberative civic engagement so that these towns stood out from the crowded field of contenders for sub-regional prominence. Since we are embarking on a long-term investigation about deep rural communities, this paper offers a preliminary analysis using existing data sources. Our unit of analysis is the county and our sample includes all deep rural counties in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. We employ two measures of persistence: per capita income and civilian labor force. Both our initial analysis of the ten most persistent counties and a more rigorous test of the entire sample indicate a high proportion of college graduates, high population density, and competitive political parties are most closely associated with persistent communities. Our findings suggest that a broad mix of social, economic, and political factors are essential to community persistence in deep rural areas. We connect our findings to rural development policy efforts and also discuss avenues for future studies that build on our theory