On the Margins of Friendship: Aggression in an Elementary School Peer Group

This article uses qualitative data from a larger study of two elementary schools in a rural city of about 15,000 people in the Midwestern United States. Here, I focus on a single peer group and those who are on its margins to provide insight into the intersection of friendship, aggression, and masculinity. In doing so, I address the lack of research examining how aggression functions within peer groups and why those who are victimized choose to remain in these groups

Evaluation of Rural Intersection Treatments - TR-695

Because crashes at rural intersections frequently result from failure to yield, agencies attempt to find countermeasures that encourage drivers to stop and yield appropriately. In this research, two promising low-cost rural intersection countermeasures were selected and evaluated for their impact on safety: post-mounted beacons and retroreflective strips on stop sign posts. The post-mounted beacons were set to activate only when an approaching vehicle’s speed surpassed a predetermined threshold. High-crash rural stop-controlled intersections were identified using in-house crash and roadway data and then filtered for suitability via site visits. The retroreflective strips were installed on stop signs at 14 intersections on both minor street approaches. The post-mounted beacons were installed on stop signs at 10 approaches at 6 intersections. Driver behavior was used to assess the countermeasures. Because the post-mounted beacon was expected to noticeably impact driver behavior while the retroreflective strips were not, driver behavior data were only collected at locations where post-mounted beacons were installed. Video data were collected using trailer-mounted cameras at all 10 approaches where post-mounted beacons were installed 1 month before and 1 month after installation. For 6 of the 10 approaches, data were also collected 12 months after installation. Several driver behavior metrics, including type of stop, stopping position, braking point, and number of times braking, were reduced for a random sample of vehicles for each approach in each evaluation period and were compared before and after installation. Overall, the post-mounted beacon had an overwhelmingly positive safety benefit, as measured by several changes in driver behavior. Most approaches where the countermeasure was installed experienced increases in the number of drivers making full stops, braking within 450 to 500 ft of the intersection, stopping at or before the stop bar, and braking only once. Ideally, these improvements in driver behavior will result in reduced crashes at the study intersections. Because the retroreflective strips were not evaluated, the researchers propose to conduct a crash analysis when at least three years have elapsed after installation

“If only I get enough money for a bicycle!” A study of childhoods, migration and adolescent aspirations against a backdrop of exploitation and trafficking in Burkina Faso

This paper focuses on adolescent children’s independent migration to rural towns and urban areas in search of work. International and national agencies tend to see this migration through the lens of crisis, whether as a result of parental ignorance or youngsters’ unruliness. Here, the author explores, on the one hand, how these perceptions correspond with the common perceptions of childhood and youth in rural areas, and on the other, how rural adolescents describe their mobility. In the intersection between different notions of childhood and youth that give rise to conflicting ideas about adolescents’ work and migration, the author draws attention to the adolescents’ own rationales, choices and strategies to pursue their quest for money and meet intergenerational expectation

In-depth research into rural road crashes

This report was produced under an agreement between Transport SA and the Road Accident Research Unit formed in the late 1990s. Due to various delays in the publication of this report, Transport SA has since become the Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure and the Road Accident Research Unit has become the Centre for Automotive Safety Research. The report describes a series of 236 rural road crashes investigated between 1 March 1998 and 29 February 2000 in South Australia. Investigations began with immediate attendance at the scene of the crash. The information collected for each crash included: photographs of the crash scene and vehicles involved, video record of the crash scene and vehicles in selected cases, examination of the road environment, a site plan of the crash scene and vehicle movements in the crash, examination and measurements of the vehicles involved, interviews with crash participants, interviews with witnesses, interviews with police, information on the official police report, information from Coroner’s reports, and injury data for the injured crash participants. The report provides an overall statistical summary of the sample of crashes investigated, followed by a detailed examination of the road infrastructure issues contributing to the crashes. This is done on the basis of crash type, with separate sections concerned with single vehicle crashes, midblock crashes and crashes at intersections. A section is also provided that examines the role of roadside hazards in the crashes.Baldock MRJ, Kloeden CN and McLean A

Road Safety Audit for the Intersection of US 59 and IA 9 in Osceola County, Iowa Final Report, March 2012

The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) requested a road safety audit (RSA) of the US 59/IA 9 intersection in northwestern Iowa, just south of the Minnesota border, to assess intersection environmental issues and crash history and recommend appropriate mitigation to address the identified safety issues at the intersection. Although the number of crashes at the location has not been significantly higher than the statewide average for similar intersections, the severity of these crashes has been of concern. This RSA was unique in that it included intersection video observation and recorded traffic conflict data analysis, along with the daylight and nighttime field reviews. This report outlines the findings and recommendations of the RSA team for addressing the safety concerns at this intersection

Methodology for development of drought Severity-Duration-Frequency (SDF) Curves

Drought monitoring and early warning are essential elements impacting drought sensitive sectors such as primary production, industrial and consumptive water users. A quantitative estimate of the probability of occurrence and the anticipated severity of drought is crucial for the development of mitigating strategies. The overall aim of this study is to develop a methodology to assess drought frequency and severity and to advance the understanding of monitoring and predicting droughts in the future. Seventy (70) meteorological stations across Victoria, Australia were selected for analysis. To achieve the above objective, the analysis was initially carried out to select the most applicable meteorological drought index for Victoria. This is important because to date, no drought indices are applied across Australia by any Commonwealth agency quantifying drought impacts. An evaluation of existing meteorological drought indices namely, the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI), the Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) and Deciles was first conducted to assess their suitability for the determination of drought conditions. The use of the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) was shown to be satisfactory for assessing and monitoring meteorological droughts in Australia. When applied to data, SPI was also successful in detecting the onset and the end of historical droughts. Temporal changes in historic rainfall variability and the trend of SPI were investigated using non-parametric trend techniques to detect wet and dry periods across Victoria, Australia. The first part of the analysis was carried out to determine annual rainfall trends using Mann Kendall (MK) and Sen’s slope tests at five selected meteorological stations with long historical records (more than 100 years), as well as a short sub-set period (1949-2011) of the same data set. It was found that different trend results were obtained for the sub-set. For SPI trend analysis, it was observed that, although different results were obtained showing significant trends, SPI gave a trend direction similar to annual precipitation (downward and upward trends). In addition, temporal trends in the rate of occurrence of drought events (i.e. inter-arrival times) were examined. The fact that most of the stations showed negative slopes indicated that the intervals between events were becoming shorter and the frequency of events was temporally increasing. Based on the results obtained from the preliminary analysis, the trend analyses were then carried out for the remaining 65 stations. The main conclusions from these analyses are summarized as follows; 1) the trend analysis was observed to be highly dependent on the start and end dates of analysis. It is recommended that in the selection of time period for the drought, trend analysis should consider the length xvi of available data sets. Longer data series would give more meaningful results, thus improving the understanding of droughts impacted by climate change. 2) From the SPI and inter-arrival drought trends, it was observed that some of the study areas in Victoria will face more frequent dry period leading to increased drought occurrence. Information similar to this would be very important to develop suitable strategies to mitigate the impacts of future droughts. The main objective of this study was the development of a methodology to assess drought risk for each region based on a frequency analysis of the drought severity series using the SPI index calculated over a 12-month duration. A novel concept centric on drought severity-duration-frequency (SDF) curves was successfully derived for all the 70 stations using an innovative threshold approach. The methodology derived using extreme value analysis will assist in the characterization of droughts and provide useful information to policy makers and agencies developing drought response plans. Using regionalisation techniques such as Cluster analysis and modified Andrews curve, the study area was separated into homogenous groups based on rainfall characteristics. In the current Victorian application the study area was separated into six homogeneous clusters with unique signatures. A set of mean SDF curves was developed for each cluster to identify the frequency and severity of the risk of drought events for various return periods in each cluster. The advantage of developing a mean SDF curve (as a signature) for each cluster is that it assists the understanding of drought conditions for an ungauged or unknown station, the characteristics of which fit existing cluster groups. Non-homogeneous Markov Chain modelling was used to estimate the probability of different drought severity classes and drought severity class predictions 1, 2 and 3 months ahead. The non-homogeneous formulation, which considers the seasonality of precipitation, is useful for understanding the evolution of drought events and for short-term planning. Overall, this model predicted drought situations 1 month ahead well. However, predictions 2 and 3 months ahead should be used with caution. Many parts of Australia including Victoria have experienced their worst droughts on record over the last decade. With the threat of climate change potentially further exacerbating droughts in the years ahead, a clear understanding of the impact of droughts is vital. The information on the probability of occurrence and the anticipated severity of drought will be helpful for water resources managers, infrastructure planners and government policy-makers with future infrastructure planning and with the design and building of more resilient communities

Shacklefords Commercial Development Analysis

King and Queen County believes that economic development is crucial to ensuring a stable economy and high quality of life for residents of the county. With an out-commuting rate of 71% for the entire Middle Peninsula region, residents and businesses are spending their money outside of the region due to a lack of job opportunities and commercial development. However, the intersection of Route 33 and The Trail at Shacklefords within King and Queen County provides a major economic development opportunity for King and Queen County and the Middle Peninsula region. Through a one-semester research project, students in a VCU Commercial Revitalization course were invited by King and Queen County Administrator, Thomas Swartzwelder, to complete research on King and Queen County’s opportunity to attract the commuting traffic passing Shacklefords each day, as well as meet the desires of the community and the existing plans for this site. A VDOT Smart Scale funded development, currently in the design phase, will create a telecommuting center at the Shacklefords site, and relocate the offices of the Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission (PDC) to the same development. On a separate site at the same intersection, a privately established craft brewery site represents a convergence of new development that could spur additional commercial opportunities

Enabling Data-Driven Transportation Safety Improvements in Rural Alaska

Safety improvements require funding. A clear need must be demonstrated to secure funding. For transportation safety, data, especially data about past crashes, is the usual method of demonstrating need. However, in rural locations, such data is often not available, or is not in a form amenable to use in funding applications. This research aids rural entities, often federally recognized tribes and small villages acquire data needed for funding applications. Two aspects of work product are the development of a traffic counting application for an iPad or similar device, and a review of the data requirements of the major transportation funding agencies. The traffic-counting app, UAF Traffic, demonstrated its ability to count traffic and turning movements for cars and trucks, as well as ATVs, snow machines, pedestrians, bicycles, and dog sleds. The review of the major agencies demonstrated that all the likely funders would accept qualitative data and Road Safety Audits. However, quantitative data, if it was available, was helpful