MF2180

Deanna M. Munson, Preserving damaged family treasures, Kansas State University, February 1996

MF2410

Deanna Munson, Fry now, pay later, Kansas State University, October 1999

The Determination of Thermal Neutron Density from the Absolute Measurement of the Activity Induced in Gold Foils

The interaction of thermal neutrons with a coin shaped detector is discussed in terms of the reaction rate in an infinite sheet of pure absorber irradiated in a void by an isotropic, Maxwell distribution of thermal neutrons. A coincidence method for the evaluation of the decay rate of the neutron induced activity in gold is examined in detail and utilized to measure the relative specific activity of gold foils exposed to neutrons in the graphite thermal column of the Water Boiler Reactor. The relative specific activity was obtained for 3/4 and 1/4 diameter foils as a function of thickness for values of the thickness from 1.5 mg/cm2 to a nominal thickness of .010 . From the activity of the thinnest foils, the neutron density in the thermal column was obtained relative to the reactor power and the counting rate of a parallel plate fission chamber

MF2411

Deanna Munson, Fry now, pay later: teaching guide, Kansas State University, October 1999

Plant community and ecosystem change on conservation reserve program lands in northeastern Colorado

2009 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is an important transitional land use that converts formerly cultivated land to perennial vegetation across the U.S. In the shortgrass steppe region of eastern Colorado, CRP currently includes nearly 1million hectares of land seeded with native and introduced perennial grasses. Establishment of perennial grasses encourages the recovery of plant community and ecosystem properties altered by tillage and crop production practices. The objective of my dissertation was to determine how time since CRP enrollment, seed mix, and environmental variability affect plant community composition, vegetation structure, net primary production, and soil carbon and nitrogen relative to undisturbed shortgrass steppe. As time since CRP enrollment increased, CRP fields transitioned from a species rich annual forb and grass community to a perennial grass dominated community with low species richness. Seed mix determined which perennial grasses increased in dominance, but slow and variable recovery allowed for a dynamic plant community composed of species with different life forms, photosynthetic pathways, and origins. Patterns of precipitation and interactions among species affected the relative differences in canopy cover between functional types. Vegetation structure was indirectly influenced by time since CRP enrollment and seed mix through plant community composition. There was an increase in plant basal cover and height, and decrease in plant density as perennial grasses replaced annual grasses and forbs. These structural attributes constrained aboveground net primary production (ANPP), but only when water was not limiting. CRP fields had the potential to support twice as much ANPP as undisturbed shortgrass steppe in years above mean annual precipitation. However, belowground biomass and belowground net primary production (BNPP) were significantly lower in CRP fields than undisturbed shortgrass steppe, which has implications for their long-term survival in a water limited region. Soil organic carbon was correlated to carbon input through BNPP from perennial grasses and increased at the plant scale as time since CRP enrollment increased. At the field scale, the carbon storage resulting from this increase was low in CRP fields compared to undisturbed shortgrass steppe. Nitrogen was closely linked to carbon in plants and soil and its availability was correlated to soil organic nitrogen, quantity an quality of belowground inputs, and precipitation

MF2410a

Deanna Munson, Contract to reduce sun exposure, Kansas State University, October 1999

RACE, HEALTH, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT ON CAMPUS: AN EXPLORATION OF DISCRIMINATION ON HEALTH AND FRATERNITY/SORORITY MEMBERSHIP FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS

African American college students face a myriad of unique race related stressors on campus, yet there is a gap of knowledge on how these experiences may impact overall health as well as what may mediate these effects. The goal of the current study was threefold. First, it was to better understand the relationship between health outcomes and the experience of discrimination on college campuses for African American students. Second, it further investigated the research of Pieterse & Carter (2007), to explore if perceived discrimination influences health outcomes above and beyond general life stress in the emerging adult population. Lastly, it explored potential protective factors by examining if the relationship between health outcomes and the experience of discrimination is mediated by socio-cultural group involvement in the form of fraternities and sororities. 133 African American college students from a south eastern predominantly White university completed the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment to explore these research aims. Racial discrimination was positively correlated with negative health outcomes, however experience of discrimination did not influence health outcomes above and beyond general life stress. Additionally, belonging to a fraternity or sorority did not mediate the relationship between the experience of discrimination and negative health outcomes. The results suggest that the discrimination African American college students face on predominantly white campuses are harmful to overall health, yet more needs to be explored to find adequate interventions to these negative health outcomes

A Straitjacket for Employment At-Will: Recognizing Breach of Implied Contract Actions for Wrongful Demotion

For over a century, employment at-will has been the law in almost all American jurisdictions.\u27 As a result, employers can fire their employees, and employees can quit, with or without reason. In addition, employers have the authority under the at-will rule to regulate all terms and conditions of employment. During the past two decades a series of judicial exceptions to the at-will rule that prohibit termination of an employee for a variety of reasons have eroded the at-will doctrine. These exceptions fall into two categories. First, an employer may not terminate an employee for reasons that violate public policy Second, an employer may not terminate an employee Who received an explicit or implied promise that termination would only occur for good cause. Until recently, judicial exceptions to the at-will doctrine were limited to actions for wrongful discharge. The terms and conditions of employment, such as demotion, reprimand, fringe benefits, promotion, or any other employer action short of termination, remained subject to the employer\u27s complete discretion under the at-will doctrine. In Scott v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, however, the California Supreme Court recognized two employees\u27 wrongful demotion claim. This recognition of wrongful demotion indicates a willingness by one of the country\u27s leading employment jurisdictions to expand the implied contract exception beyond wrongful discharge. Moreover, since demotion is just one aspect of the terms and conditions of employment, a recognition of wrongful demotion indicates that the implied contract exception is applicable to all the terms and conditions of employment. The implied contract may now govern all phases of the employment relationship. This approach is a radical expansion of settled law and has the potential to reshape American employment law by relegating the at-will doctrine to those few and unimportant portions of unemployment law not subject to an implied contract. In Part II, this Note will examine the impact of the Scott decision on the employment at-will doctrine by providing a brief back- ground of the events leading to the Scott decision, an overview of the Scott decision and its reasoning, and the position of jurisdictions other than California. This Note will then demonstrate, in Part III, that recognition of wrongful demotion creates a cause of action encompassing almost all terms and conditions of employment. Wrongful demotion will cover almost all terms and conditions of employment because wrongful demotion has no intrinsic doctrinal limitations and extrinsic limitations prove to be inadequate or unsupported by policy. Part IV will consider the policies underlying wrongful demotion and analyze possible employer responses to its recognition. Finally, Part V will conclude that recognizing wrongful demotion reduces an employer\u27s at-will discretion to the point at which the at-will doctrine is completely circumscribed by an implied contract straitjacket that relegates the at-will rule to regulation of the most minor terms and conditions of employment