Book Review of Improved Earth: Prairie Space as Modern Artefact, 1869-1944 by Rod Bantjes

In this short but suggestive study, sociologist Rod Bantjes examines how contending visions of modernity shaped the social and physical landscapes of the Canadian prairies. "[B]oth statesmen and prairie farmers were infused with the modernist spirit of innovation, the will creatively (and destructively) to transform their worlds," Bantjes argues. His provocative view of farmers as agents of modernity reflects recent scholarship that seeks to explore "multiple modernities," or the notion that ideas and practices of modernism must be regarded not as monolithic but rather as contested and multivocal, and must be examined in their historical and geographical contexts.

Tribute to Rod Gangwish and Mark Gustafson

President Williamson, honored guests and friends, it is such a pleasure to be here with you tonight, and such a privilege to deliver this tribute to our 2004 Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement honorees, Rod Gangwish and Mark Gustafson.

A note on the unprecedented strandings of 56 deep-diving whales along the UK and Irish coast

In the first seven months of 2008, eighteen Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), four Sowerby’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens), five unidentified beaked whales and twenty-nine long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) were reported stranded in the UK and Ireland. Decomposition of those animals investigated puts the predicted time of death at mid-January. Concerns that an unusual mortality event had taken place prompted further investigations. Most carcasses were too decomposed for necropsy. A summary of findings is presented here. Although the initial stranding of five Cuvier’s beaked whales in Scotland shared some similarities with atypical mass stranding events linked in time and space to mid-frequency naval sonars, there were two important differences with the remaining strandings during this period. First, the geographical range of the event was very wide and second, the strandings occurred over a prolonged period of several months. Both of these factors could be related to the fact that the mortalities occurred offshore and the carcasses drifted ashore. The cause(s) of this high number of strandings of mixed offshore cetacean species during this period remain undetermined.