The moderate voice of John Sherman and the Republican agenda 1855-1898

Republican John Sherman, United States Congressman, Senator, Treasury Secretary, and Secretary of State had a political career of major importance from 1855 to 1898, yet there have been only casual references by historians and only two biographies of him, with the most recent published in 1902. From a strong Whig Party background, he was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1854; switching to the Republicans that same year. Then elevated to the Senate in 1861, he served in that body throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction when he was the most important voice of party unity and moderation. In 1877, the new President Rutherford Hayes appointed Sherman Secretary of the Treasury. He returned to the Senate after the Hayes administration where he sat for the following 15 years. In this particularly notable period, he not only led the upper house, but he engineered more bills in Congress which bore his name than any other member of either house. These included the critically important Sherman Silver Purchase Act, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and Sherman Inter-State Commerce Act. In 1897 he left the Senate finally when William McKinley appointed him Secretary of State. ^ Through this long, distinguished career, Sherman was involved in all the important legislation that brought the country through the Civil War and Reconstruction and into the post-war world of the Gilded Age of rapid industrialization, and urban growth, Politically, he never strayed far from the nationalistic and economic principles of the Whig Party, and brought both these values to bear in the Republican Party that dominated American political life from 1860 to 1900. Similarly, party loyalty and loyalty to the President always characterized his service. He was indeed, an exemplar of political and statesmanship. ^ While research for this dissertation included review of both journal and monographic literature, its basis lies more critically in primary research in unpublished archival material in repositories from Maine to Ohio, in particular the Library of Congress. ^

Ecosystem structure in disturbed and restored subtropical seagrass meadows

Shallow seagrass ecosystems frequently experience physical disturbance from vessel groundings. Specific restoration methods that modify physical, chemical, and biological aspects of disturbances are used to accelerate recovery. This study evaluated loss and recovery of ecosystem structure in disturbed seagrass meadows through plant and soil properties used as proxies for primary and secondary production, habitat quality, benthic metabolism, remineralization, and nutrient storage and exchange. The efficacy of common seagrass restoration techniques in accelerating recovery was also assessed. Beyond removal of macrophyte biomass, disturbance to seagrass sediments resulted in loss of organic matter and stored nutrients, and altered microbial and infaunal communities. Evidence of the effectiveness of restoration actions was variable. Fill placement prevented additional erosion, but the resulting sediment matrix had different physical properties, low organic matter content and nutrient pools, reduced benthic metabolism, and less primary and secondary production relative to the undisturbed ecosystem. Fertilization was effective in increasing nitrogen and phosphorus availability in the sediments, but concurrent enhancement of seagrass production was not detected. Seagrass herbivores removed substantial seagrass biomass via direct grazing, suggesting that leaf loss to seagrass herbivores is a spatially variable but critically important determinant of seagrass transplanting success. Convergence of plant and sediment response variables with levels in undisturbed seagrass meadows was not detected via natural recovery of disturbed sites, or through filling and fertilizing restoration sites. However, several indicators of ecosystem development related to primary production and nutrient accumulation suggest that early stages of ecosystem development have begun at these sites. This research suggests that vessel grounding disturbances in seagrass ecosystems create more complex and persistent resource losses than previously understood by resource managers. While the mechanics of implementing common seagrass restoration actions have been successfully developed by the restoration community, expectations of consistent or rapid recovery trajectories following restoration remain elusive.

Marketing A Hospitality Program And Its Product

In his dialogue entitled - Marketing A Hospitality Program and Its Product - Jürgen Chopard, Dr. es Sciences (Economics) Director, Centre International de Glion, Glion, Switzerland, Dr. Chopard initially offers: “The recruitment of qualified personnel is extremely difficult in an industry with a poor image; where career paths are not well defined. The author discusses the employment of marketing management techniques to improve the positioning of hospitality education and create a more attractive perception of the hotel industry.” As outlined in the above paragraph, Dr. Chopard vectors-in on marketing strategies from two standpoints; the educational side with its focus on curriculum, and the larger, industry side with its emphasis on public perception and service. These are not necessarily, nor should they be viewed as disparate elements. “ Although some professionals may see schools of hospitality education catering to two markets, students on one hand and industry on the other, in fact, their needs should be viewed as the same and hence a single market,” Dr. Chopard says to bolster his assertion. “The marketing concept is a management orientation that holds that the key task of the organization is to determine the needs and wants of target markets and to adapt the organization to delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than its competitor,” the author confides, with an attribution. From these information/definition leanings, Dr. Chopard continues on a path that promotes the Centre International de Glion, Glion, Switzerland, which he is affiliated with. Why, because they endorse the same principles he is explaining to you. That’s not a bad thing. Essentially, what Dr. Chopard wants you to know is, education and business management are synonymous and therefore should share the same marketing designs and goals. “It is hard to believe that as critically important a sector as education does not use for its own management the techniques which it teaches and which have largely been proved in other fields,” the author provides as counterpoint. Since pedagogical needs so closely relate to the more pragmatic needs of the industry in general, these elements should seek to compliment and engage each other, in fact, collaboration is imperative, Dr. Chopard expresses a priori. “The cooperation of future employers is indispensable in the preparation of the product, so that it is capable of providing the expected services. The need for close relations between training establishments and the hotel and catering industry seems obvious,” Dr. Chopard says. The author reveals some flaws in hospitality marketing strategy, and then contrasts these against how a successful strategy could/should be implemented.

Risk Management Strategies for the Hospitality Industry

Does your organization integrate the management of risk and opportunity Have you evaluated non-traditional risk exposures? These are critically important questions as today's increasingly complex business environment exposes hospitality companies to numerous risks.

Treatment attrition among racial /ethnic minority adolescents participating in a brief motivational intervention for substance use problems: The influence of individual, social, cultural, and treatment factors

The present study has the primary aim of examining the predictors of treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents with substance use problems. This study explores the potential differential influence of specific individual, social, cultural, and treatment factors on treatment attrition within three racial/ethnic subgroups of adolescents. Participants: A unique feature of the study is the use of a racial/ethnic minority sample (N=453), [U.S.-born Hispanics (n = 262), Foreign-born Hispanics (n = 117), and African-Americans (n = 74)]. Multivariate logit analyses were used to examine the influence of specific factors on treatment attrition among the full sample of adolescents, as well as within each racial/ethnic subgroup. Consistent with expectations, multivariate logit analyses reveal that, the specific factors associated with attrition varied across the three racial/ethnic subgroups. Having parents with problem substance use, being on the waitlist, and being court mandated to treatment emerged as predictors of attrition among the US-born Hispanics, while only Conduct Disorder was significantly associated with greater attrition among foreign-born Hispanics. Finally, among African-Americans, parental crack/cocaine use, parental abstinence from alcohol, and being on the waitlist were predictive of attrition. Multiple factors were associated with treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents with specific factors differentially predicting attrition within each racial/ethnic subgroup. African-American youth were more than twice as likely as their Hispanic counterparts to leave treatment prematurely. It is critically important to understand the predictors of attrition among racial/ethnic minority youth in order to better meet the needs of youth most at risk of dropping out. ^

Treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents participating in a brief motivational intervention for substance use problems : the influence of individual, social, cultural, and treatment factors

The present study has the primary aim of examining the predictors of treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents with substance use problems. This study explores the potential differential influence of specific individual, social, cultural, and treatment factors on treatment attrition within three racial/ethnic subgroups of adolescents. Participants: A unique feature of the study is the use of a racial/ethnic minority sample (N=453), [U.S.-born Hispanics (n = 262), Foreign-born Hispanics (n = 117), and African- Americans (n = 74)]. Multivariate logit analyses were used to examine the influence of specific factors on treatment attrition among the full sample of adolescents, as well as within each racial/ethnic subgroup. Consistent with expectations, multivariate logit analyses reveal that, the specific factors associated with attrition varied across the three racial/ethnic subgroups. Having parents with problem substance use, being on the waitlist, and being court mandated to treatment emerged as predictors of attrition among the US-born Hispanics, while only Conduct Disorder was significantly associated with greater attrition among foreign-born Hispanics. Finally, among African-Americans, parental crack/cocaine use, parental abstinence from alcohol, and being on the waitlist were predictive of attrition. Multiple factors were associated with treatment attrition among racial/ethnic minority adolescents with specific factors differentially predicting attrition within each racial/ethnic subgroup. African-American youth were more than twice as likely as their Hispanic counterparts to leave treatment prematurely. It is critically important to understand the predictors of attrition among racial/ethnic minority youth in order to better meet the needs of youth most at risk of dropping out.

Ecosystem structure in disturbed and restored subtropical seagrass meadows

Shallow seagrass ecosystems frequently experience physical disturbance from vessel groundings. Specific restoration methods that modify physical, chemical, and biological aspects of disturbances are used to accelerate recovery. This study evaluated loss and recovery of ecosystem structure in disturbed seagrass meadows through plant and soil properties used as proxies for primary and secondary production, habitat quality, benthic metabolism, remineralization, and nutrient storage and exchange. The efficacy of common seagrass restoration techniques in accelerating recovery was also assessed. Beyond removal of macrophyte biomass, disturbance to seagrass sediments resulted in loss of organic matter and stored nutrients, and altered microbial and infaunal communities. Evidence of the effectiveness of restoration actions was variable. Fill placement prevented additional erosion, but the resulting sediment matrix had different physical properties, low organic matter content and nutrient pools, reduced benthic metabolism, and less primary and secondary production relative to the undisturbed ecosystem. Fertilization was effective in increasing nitrogen and phosphorus availability in the sediments, but concurrent enhancement of seagrass production was not detected. Seagrass herbivores removed substantial seagrass biomass via direct grazing, suggesting that leaf loss to seagrass herbivores is a spatially variable but critically important determinant of seagrass transplanting success. Convergence of plant and sediment response variables with levels in undisturbed seagrass meadows was not detected via natural recovery of disturbed sites, or through filling and fertilizing restoration sites. However, several indicators of ecosystem development related to primary production and nutrient accumulation suggest that early stages of ecosystem development have begun at these sites. This research suggests that vessel grounding disturbances in seagrass ecosystems create more complex and persistent resource losses than previously understood by resource managers. While the mechanics of implementing common seagrass restoration actions have been successfully developed by the restoration community, expectations of consistent or rapid recovery trajectories following restoration remain elusive.