Thinking in/of/with the book: the role of the book as the medium for philosophy in Deleuze, Derrida, and Smith

In this Thesis, I explore the role of the book as a medium for philosophy in Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida. I begin by framing the debate in terms of the role of media in affecting the message. I then claim that while both Deleuze and Derrida must attempt to separate their own work from the traditional role of the book, they both fail to take the book itself into consideration. I claim that both Deleuze and Derrida accept the book as medium which reinforces a particular form of thought, and that their philosophies require a break from this form. However, they do not take the medium of the book itself seriously. Deleuze is only concerned with the text within the book, and Derrida treats the book as a metaphor for total knowledge. Against both these thinkers I juxtapose the artist Keith Smith, who does offer examples of thinking in terms of the book itself, and how doing so can affect the text within, and thus thinking. The failure on the part of Deleuze and Derrida are particularly striking given the emphasis they place on the need to separate their philosophies from the modes of thought books traditionally enforce. Due to their understanding of the importance of the book in the tradition of philosophy, I claim this investigation of the specific use and ability of the book is of vital importance

Sexual Dysfunction with Stroke

A cerebral vascular accident (CVA) or stroke is one of the most common traumatic diseases in the world today that can lead to death or long-term physiological or psychological disability. The level of disabling features that each person experiences following a CVA can range from barely noticeable signs to the extreme loss of functional ability. Sexual functioning in stroke survivors is an area in the rehabilitation program that has often been overlooked or neglected. Available information and research regarding sexual dysfunction in stroke survivors are also very limited. The purpose of this study is to examine the problem of sexual dysfunction within the stroke patient population. The procedure being used to perform this study will be a review of the literature focusing on the epidemiology of a stroke, the physiological changes in sexuality with aging, the probable causes of sexual dysfunction with stroke, sexual functioning in post-stroke patients, and prevention and treatment for sexual dysfunction. The desired outcome is to increase the cognizance of healthcare providers to the problem of sexual dysfunction with stroke

More than a Pretty Interface: The Louisiana Digital Library as a Data Hub

The Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) is an online platform for libraries, museums, archives, and historical organizations across the state. The books, manuscripts, oral histories, maps, and photographs held in the LDL showcase the cultural resources of Louisiana. The metadata about these items is also a great asset. When explored in their entirety, the data held in the LDL is as valuable as the digital facsimiles. This talk will explore the LDL as a data hub, a place to gather and share the metadata of the participating institutions. Open data is a growing trend in archives and special collections, enabling new types of interactions with collection material. We will contextualize the field of open data in historical institutions, and explore uses for downloaded metadata from the LDL

Hops Weed Management Trial

As the acreage of hops continues to grow in the northeast, there is increasing need for regionally specific agronomic information. The majority of hop production and research is conducted in the Pacific Northwest, a region that has a much drier climate than our own. The University of Vermont (UVM) Extension has carried out a number of trials to build relevant experience on small scale hop production in our wet and cool climate

Hops Crowning Trial

As the acreage of hops continues to rapidly expand in the northeast, there is a great need for production knowledge specific to our region. Downy mildew has been identified as the primary pathogen plaguing our hop yards. This disease causes reduced yield, poor hop quality, and can cause the plant to die. Control measures that reduce disease infection and spread while minimizing the impact on the environment are desperately needed for the region. Mechanical control is one means to reduce downy mildew pressure in hop yards. Scratching is a practice initiated in the early spring when new growth has just emerged from the soil. The first shoots have an irregular growth rate and are not the most desirable for producing hop cones later in the season. Removal of this new growth through mechanical means helps to remove downy mildew inoculum that has overwintered in the crown. The top of the crown itself can be removed to further eliminate overwintering downy mildew. This practice is typically referred to as “Crowning”. While crowning is known to be effective in the Pacific Northwest, there is no established time frame for crowning in the Northeast. The goal of this project was to evaluate the impact of crowning/scratching at two different time periods on hop downy mildew pressure as well as hop yield and quality

Hop Variety Trial: Results from Year Four

Great interest has been kindled in producing hops in the Northeast. While hops were historically grown in the Northeast, they have not been commercially produced in this region for over a hundred years. With this loss of regional production knowledge, the advancements of cropping science, and the development of new varieties over the last few decades, a great need has been identified for region-specific, science-based research on this reemerging crop. The vast majority of hops production in the United States occurs in the arid Pacific Northwest on a very large scale in a dry climate. In the Northeast, the average hop yard is well under 10 acres and the humid climate provides challenges not addressed by the existing hops research. Knowledge is needed on how to produce hops on a small-scale in our region. With this in mind, in August of 2010, the UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program initiated an organic hops variety trial at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont. The UVM Extension hop yard is trialing 22 publicly-available hop varieties and 3 additional varieties from Dr. John Henning’s breeding program in Oregon. The goals of these efforts are to find hop varieties that demonstrate disease and pest resistance, high yields, and present desirable characteristics to brewers. Hops are a perennial crop – most varieties reach full cone production in year three

Hop Crowning Trial

Downy mildew has been identified as the primary pathogen plaguing our northeastern hop yards. This disease causes reduced yield, poor hop quality, and can cause the plant to die in severe cases. Control measures that reduce disease infection and spread while minimizing the impact on the environment are desperately needed for the region. Mechanical control is one means to reduce downy mildew pressure in hop yards. Scratching, pruning, or crowning is a practice initiated in the early spring when new growth has just emerged from the soil

Organic Hop Variety Trial: Results from Year Five

Hops production continues to increase throughout the the Northeast. While hops were historically grown in the Northeast, they have not been commercially produced in this region for over a hundred years. With the lack of regional production knowledge, a great need has been identified for region-specific, science-based research on this reemerging crop. The vast majority of hops production in the United States occurs in the arid Pacific Northwest on a very large scale. In the Northeast, the average hop yard is well under 10 acres and the humid climate provides challenges not addressed by the existing hops research. Knowledge is needed on how best to produce hops on a small-scale in our region. With this in mind, in August of 2010, the UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program initiated an organic hops variety evaluation program at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont. Since this time, UVM Extension has been evaluating 22 publicly-available hop varieties. The goals of these efforts are to find hop varieties that demonstrate disease and pest resistance, high yields, and present desirable characteristics to brewers in our region. Hops are a perennial crop – most varieties reach full cone production in year three. The following are the results from the fifth year of production

Organic Hop Variety Trial Final Report

Hops production has increased steadily throughout the Northeast over the past 6 years. While hops were historically grown in the Northeast, they have not been commercially produced in this region for over a hundred years. With this large gap in regional production knowledge, we have a great need for region-specific, science-based research on this reemerging crop. The vast majority of hop production in the United States occurs in the arid Pacific Northwest on a very large scale. In the Northeast, the average hop yard is well under 10 acres and the humid climate provides challenges not addressed by existing hops research. Knowledge is needed on how best to produce hops on a small-scale in our region. With this in mind, in August of 2010, the UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Program initiated an organic hops variety evaluation program at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont. Since then, UVM Extension has been evaluating 22 publicly available hop varieties and 2 experimental varieties. The goal of these efforts is to find hop varieties that demonstrate disease and pest resistance, high yields, and desirable characteristics to brewers in our region. The UVM hop variety trial was initiated in 2010 and completed with a final harvest in 2016. This seven year trial helped us learn whether we could grow hops in the Northeast. The results and observations from each of the years the variety trial was conducted can be found online on the UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils Hops web page: www.uvm.edu/ extension/cropsoil/hops. This document provides a summary of the knowledge gained in growing hops over the duration of this study

Hop Weed Management Trial

As the acreage of hops continues to grow in the northeast, there is increasing need for regionally specific agronomic information. The majority of hop production and research is conducted in the Pacific Northwest, a region that has a much drier climate than our own. The University of Vermont (UVM) has carried out a number of trials to build relevant experience on small scale hop production in our wet and cool climate. The results and observations from our hops research can be found on the UVM Extension Northwest Crops and Soils website: www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/hops. As for any perennial crop, managing weeds can require significant time and resources. Growers are looking for weed management methods that are effective, quick, and affordable. There are few herbicides labeled for use in hop production for VT and the region. Hence, growers are looking for alternative strategies to control weeds in hops. The main methods of control for weeds in the UVM hop yard have been hand weeding and mulch applications. While relatively effective, hand weeding has taken as much as 200 cumulative hours of labor per acre per year. In 2015, four alternative weed management methods were compared in the UVM hop yard including steam weeding, mulching, tilling, and applying a certified organic citrus-based herbicide