Survey of Energy Literacy in Lincoln, NE Households

Energy consumption results in increased greenhouse gas emissions, a significant contributing factor to climate change and the rise of global temperatures. The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of energy literacy in Lincoln, Nebraska households, hypothesizing that a more informed public will result in a reduction of energy use and improvements in emission rates, positively impacting climate change. The study engaged private citizens through surveys in Lincoln, Nebraska to gain data on the level of energy literacy in Lincoln households. Electronic surveys were distributed through local neighborhood associations to understand the gaps in residential energy conservation in Lincoln, Nebraska. DeWaters and Powers have outlined criteria and measurable objectives for measuring energy literacy (2013). An energy literate public will make responsible energy decisions. Survey questions were classified in categories of cognitive, affective, and behavior to get baseline data of household energy literacy. Survey distribution was conducted in cooperation with Neighborhood Associations across Lincoln. Twelve of 45 (approximately 26 percent) neighborhood associations had a total of 74 respondents. Findings suggest Lincoln residents are 70 percent energy literate. Data does not suggest any correlation between average neighborhood income levels and energy literacy. Future research is needed to establish comprehensive findings on energy literacy in Lincoln, Nebraska

Changing Perceptions of the Bus with Branded Services

Branded bus services have been implemented in many cities to make the bus network more legible, to improve the image of bus transit and to increase the awareness of bus services for greater patronage. Branded bus services have been classified into three broad categories for local or CBD shuttles, radial routes to the CBD from suburban areas and orbital or crosstown connector routes. The key attributes of these types of branded bus services, such as the vehicle livery, route design, service frequency, infrastructure, signage, information and promotion, are examined with examples from cities in Australia, New Zealand and North America. The recent experience with branded bus services in various major cities was investigated and described, including examples from Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Vancouver and York Region in Canada, and Washington, DC and Los Angeles, California in the USA. A basic assessment method with criteria under the headings of branding image and livery, route legibility, service frequency, infrastructure and information was used to rate the quality of these branded bus routes. Based on this evaluation, the factors that make a successful branded bus route are identified and discussed. Guidelines for implementing high quality branded bus services are proposed. Branded bus routes must be planned carefully with the objective of creating a more simplified and legible network. A critical element for success is to keep the branding concept simple to make it easy for the public to recognise and understand

Carbon Capture is not Climate Action

A new technology is being brought to Western Nebraska in the form of Carbon Capture and Storage in the name of climate action, but the health of Nebraska’s environment and people are being ignored. Bridgeport Ethanol Plant announced this fall that they plan to begin building technology that will capture and store “175,000 tons/yr” which is a small percentage of the 4,577 million tons emitted by the US in 2020. Carbon can be captured from the atmosphere itself or in the Ethanol Plant’s case from the point of the CO2 production. After carbon is captured from the plant’s smokestack, it can either be 1. Stored underground in underground rock formations or 2. Re-used in industrial processes

Sensitivity of tropical seabirds to El Nino precursors

Intense El Niño events severely impact seabird populations, often months in advance of peak temperature anomalies. The trophic mechanisms responsible for these impacts are unknown but are assumed to operate at seasonal scales and to be linked to ocean productivity changes. Precursors to El Niño events include changes in both sea-surface temperature and the depth of the 20°C thermocline. Foraging piscivorous seabirds are known to be sensitive to both thermocline depth and sea-surface temperature change, but the potential influence of these phenomena on breeding dynamics is unknown. Using 18 years of data on three seabirds of the western tropical Pacific, we show that pelagic seabird breeding participation is directly and independently related to changes in both surface chlorophyll concentration and thermocline depth that occur well in advance of El Niño generated sea-surface temperature anomalies. In contrast, breeding in an inshore foraging species is not correlated with any environmental/biological parameters investigated. These findings demonstrate that El Niño related phenomena do not affect seabird prey dynamics solely via productivity shifts at seasonal scales, nor in similar ways across different seabird foraging guilds. Our results also suggest that population declines observed in the western tropical Pacific may be directly related to the frequency and intensity of El Niño anomalies over the study period

Görme Engelli Kullanıcılar İçin Erişilebilir Kütüphaneler: Kütüphanecilere Yönelik Pratik Öneriler

This article provides an introduction to making university libraries accessible to visually impaired users. It includes a summary of how visually impaired students access information and how libraries can provide access to materials, devices and software, and staff support to ensure visually impaired students ’ equal opportunity to use the library. The practical advice for librarians are based on interviews with 18 visually impaired university students and professionals who specialize in media, library services and information retrieval.Bu makale, üniversite kütüphanelerindeki bilgi kaynaklarının görme engelli kul­lanıcılar için erişilebilir hale getirilmesine ilişkin temel bilgi sunmaktadır. Maka­lede, görme engelli kullanıcıların bilgiye erişim yöntemleri; diğer kullanıcılarla eşit haklara sahip olmalarına imkan verecek şekilde bilgi hizmeti sunmak için gereken malzeme, donanım, yazılım ve personel desteği konu edilmiştir. Çalışma­da yer verilen kütüphanecilere yönelik pratik öneriler, 18 görme engelli kullanıcı ile medya, kütüphane hizmetleri ve bilgi erişim konusunda uzman kişilerle yapılan görüşmelere dayanmaktadır

Plasticity of Noddy Parents and Offspring to Sea-Surface Temperature Anomalies

Behavioral and/or developmental plasticity is crucial for resisting the impacts of environmental stressors. We investigated the plasticity of adult foraging behavior and chick development in an offshore foraging seabird, the black noddy (Anous minutus), during two breeding seasons. The first season had anomalously high sea-surface temperatures and ‘low’ prey availability, while the second was a season of below average sea-surface temperatures and ‘normal’ food availability. During the second season, supplementary feeding of chicks was used to manipulate offspring nutritional status in order to mimic conditions of high prey availability. When sea-surface temperatures were hotter than average, provisioning rates were significantly and negatively impacted at the day-to-day scale. Adults fed chicks during this low-food season smaller meals but at the same rate as chicks in the unfed treatment the following season. Supplementary feeding of chicks during the second season also resulted in delivery of smaller meals by adults, but did not influence feeding rate. Chick begging and parental responses to cessation of food supplementation suggested smaller meals fed to artificially supplemented chicks resulted from a decrease in chick demands associated with satiation, rather than adult behavioral responses to chick condition. During periods of low prey abundance, chicks maintained structural growth while sacrificing body condition and were unable to take advantage of periods of high prey abundance by increasing growth rates. These results suggest that this species expresses limited plasticity in provisioning behavior and offspring development. Consequently, responses to future changes in sea-surface temperature and other environmental variation may be limited

Boundary-Brokering in Arts Marketing Strategy Exploring Audience Development through Relational Approaches

Arts marketing as a practice is facing a dilemma of target-led and product-led marketing. Audience Development offers a research focus on the collaborative practices of in-house marketers and agency experts. Using Wenger’s (2000) communities of practice as a theoretical lens, an ethnography of practice is underway to assess the degree to which the relational approach is currently being used and its effectiveness

Factors Associated to Teacher Longevity in a Title I Elementary School A Qualitative Narrative Inquiry Study

The potential of our nation is hinged upon the strength of our educational system across all 50 states. Public education is the backbone of our country and continues to be a spotlight of focus for many. In 1983, President Ronald Regan shared the “Nation at Risk” report, based on the findings from the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The report claimed a level of mediocrity permeated the public education system and children were lagging behind compared to children in other first world countries. This landmark report put a level of accountability on school officials to create higher performing students in every classroom. In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the Goals 2000 Act, which began to create standards of educational reform. As the presidential office turned over, the focus on education in America did not lessen. President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind act in 2002, which continued a string of accountability factors, including requirements for staffing practices. Even with increased government policies and reform efforts related to teacher staffing, research continues to reveal challenges related to teacher recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining quality teachers across the country. “Over a decade ago we estimated that between 40 to 50% of those who enter teaching leave teaching within 5 years. This figure has been widely reported since, but it was only a rough estimate using cross-sectional national data. Recently, using national longitudinal data, Perda (2013, in Ingersoll, Merrill, & Stuckey, 2014, p. 24) was able to more accurately document rates of cumulative beginning attrition. He found that more than 41% of new teachers leave teaching within 5 years of entry. Moreover, we have also found that these already high levels have been going up since the late 1980’s” (Ingersoll et. al., 2014 p. 24). This narrative inquiry qualitative study explores the topic of teacher longevity by conducting in-depth interviews of four teachers who defied the national statistics by teaching in the same Title I elementary school for 30 or more years. This study will capture the stories of each teacher and their rationale for staying in the same school for 30 years or more