Impacts of Plant Size, Density, Herbivory, and Desease on Native Platte Thistle (Cirsium Canescens)

Abstract. Based on prior field observations, we hypothesized that individual and interacting effects of plant size, density, insect herbivory, and especially fungal disease, influenced seedling and juvenile plant growth in native Platte thistle populations (Cirsium canescens Nutt.). We worked at Arapaho Prairie in the Nebraska Sandhills (May - August 2007), monitoring plant growth, insect damage, and fungal infection within different density thistle patches. In the main experiment, we sprayed half of test plants in different density patches with fungicide (Fungonil© Bonide, containing chlorothalonil) and half with a water control. Fungal infection rates were very low, so we found no difference in fungal attack between these treatments. However, plants that received the fungicide treatment had significantly faster growth over the season than did the control plants. At the same time, plants in the fungicide treatment had significantly reduced insect herbivory. These results strongly suggest that the fungicide had insecticidal effects and that insect herbivory significantly decreases juvenile Platte thistle growth. Further, damage by insect herbivores tended to be higher for larger plants, and herbivory was variable among different patches. However, plant density did not appear to have a large effect on the amount of insect herbivory that individual juvenile Platte thistle plants received. In the second experiment, we examined germination and survival success in relationship to seed density, and found that germination success was higher in areas of lower seed density. In the third experiment, we tested germination for filled seeds categorized primarily by color variation and size, and found no difference in germination related to either color or seed weight. We conclude that seed density, but not seed quality as estimated by color or size, affects germination success. Further, although herbivory was not significantly affected by plant density at any of the scales examined, insect herbivory significantly reduces the growth and success of juveniles of this characteristic native sand prairie plant.

The Probe, Issue 189 – June 1998

When Deer Are Too Dear and Elk Are Too Elegant -- Gary W. Witmer, NADCA Regional Director, Southern Rockies Region, Region 2 Understanding Home Range -- Jeff Jackson, Extension Wildlife Specialist, School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia Notes from Nigeria: Wildlife Crop Interactions in Threatened Sahelian Wetland -- Augustine U. Ezealor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, and Robert H. Giles, Jr., Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0321. Two Women Animal Rights Activists Protest Prairie Dog Control Rats on the Rise-Urban Wildlife Control Proves to Be Bonanza for Florida Man Wildlife Up Close and Personal for Suburbanites An ADC Story from the Internet Stray Cats Pose Expensive Problem

SCWDS BRIEFS: Volume 18, Number 3 (October 2002)

• Chronic Wasting Disease Update: Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Colorado; National CWD Management – USDA & USDI National Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-ranging and Captive Cervids • West Nile virus (WNV) reaches the Pacific coast • West Nile Virus in Blue Jays • Idaho Brucellosis Linked to Wildlife: All of the epidemiological and laboratory information clearly indicates that brucellosis-infected elk transmitted the disease to the cattle herd. • Tularemia caused a die-off of captured wild prairie dogs this summer at a Texas commercial exotic animal facility that distributes the animals for sale as pets. • Raptors can acquire avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM) via ingestion of other affected birds. • House Finch Mycoplasmosis: bacterial eye disease of house finches • Raccoon Rabies report • Toxoplasmosis – The newest finding regarding sea otters in California is the importance of toxoplasmosis as a mortality factor. Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that can invade visceral organs and the central nervous system to cause acute, disseminated tissue necrosis and fatal meningoencephalitis in susceptible animals. In recent years, 36% of dead sea otters examined have been infected. Another tissue-invading protozoan, Sarcocystis neurona, also was found in 4% of the otters. • Recovery of remnant populations of the endangered black-footed ferret have been hampered by sylvatic plague, which is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. • Dr. Samantha Gibbs received the Wildlife Disease Association’s Student Research Recognition Award. Dr. Cynthia Tate was selected by the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists to receive the Best Student Presentation Award. Dr. Andrea Varela won second place in the Student Presentation Award for her presentation at the meeting of the American Association Veterinary Parasitologists. Mr. Michael Yabsley received the Wildlife Disease Association Student Scholarship and the S.A. Ewing Vectorborne Parasitology Award from the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

SOCIAL MONOGAMY AND BIPARENTAL CARE OF THE NEOTROPICAL SOUTHERN BAMBOO RAT (KANNABATEOMYS AMBLYONYX)

We analyzed social patterns indicative of the mating system and parental care in a population of the southern bamboo rat (Kannabateomys amblyonyx). This arboreal rodent feeds exclusively on bamboo stems and leaves. We conducted fieldwork from August 2003 to October 2004 in southern Brazil (30 degrees 20`-30 degrees 27`S, 50 degrees 50`-51 degrees 05`W), in patches of introduced Chinese bamboo (Bambusa tuldoides). We captured 18 individuals, 7 of which were adults that received radiotransmitters and were followed from 1 to 12 months. Another 5 animals (adults or subadults) received colored collars. We observed paternal care, delayed juvenile dispersal, and reduced degree of sexual dimorphism, all of which are traits typical of social monogamy. Mated males showed a direct parental behavioral repertoire similar to that of females (with the obvious exception of nursing), including grooming, huddling, and food provisioning. Potential monogamy in this species seems to be a flexible strategy linked to low density of bamboo patches. Females were confined to widely spaced., small home ranges, decreasing the possibility of male defense of and access to > 1 female. The arboreal habits of the species possibly increase the risk of inexperienced young falling from trees or else being depreciated when moving exposed through branches. This risk is probably reduced by the extensive biparental care observed, including the providing of low-energy plant food to young in the nest.

Stratigraphy and Palaeontology of the Late Cretaceous Wapiti Formation, west-central Alberta, Canada

A complete stratigraphic assessment and revision of the middle Campanian to upper Maastrichtian Wapiti Formation in north-western Alberta and north-eastern British Columbia is the main aim of this research project. The study area encompasses an area of approximately 200X180 km in the Grande Prairie County (west-central Alberta) and easternmost British Columbia, Canada. Results presented here indicate that the 1300m thick succession currently reported in the literature as “undifferentiated lithostratigraphic unit”, consists of five lithostratigraphic units and four unconformity-bounded depositional sequences; their study and description have been documented integrating several geological disciplines, including sequence stratigraphic methods, well-log signatures, facies analysis, and fossil associations. On the whole, particular attention has been given to 1) age and nature of both basal and upper contacts of the Wapiti Formation, 2) effective mappability of lithostratigraphic units and depositional sequences in western Alberta, and 3) the identification of previously undetermined maximum flooding surface of the Bearpaw seaway and Drumheller Marine Tongue, which are reference marine unit in central and southern Alberta. A second, but not less important, guideline for the project has been the rich paleontological record of the Wapiti deposits. Detailed paleoenvironmental and taxonomical information on old and new finds have been the base for correlation with well known associations of Alaska, southern Alberta, and Montana. Newly discovered rich fossil localities documented an extraordinarily diverse fauna during the latest Cretaceous, including dinosaurs, squamates, and fresh-water fishes and reptiles. Lastly, in order to better characterize the Wapiti Formation, major marker beds were described: these include several bentonites (altered volcanic ash deposits) which have been documented over an area of almost 30.000 km2, as well as four major coal zones, characterized by tabular coal seams with an overall thickness of 2 meters. Such marker beds represent a formidable tool for high-resolution chronology and regional correlations within the Late Cretaceous Alberta foreland basin.

La traduzione del romanzo per ragazzi Apache - Girl Warrior di Tanya Landman: Un incontro tra storia, genere e culture.

This dissertation deals with the translation into Italian of selected passages from the Young Adult historical novel Apache – Girl Warrior by English author Tanya Landman. The book was chosen after contacting Italian publisher Settenove, dedicated to preventing gender-based violence through children's books and essays. The novel, set in the second half of the Nineteenth Century, tells the story of Siki, a fourteen years old Native American girl who decides to become a warrior in order to avenge her family, killed by the Mexicans. The story also deals with the contact and conflict between Native Americans and white settlers during the so-called Apache Wars. Chapter I deals with Apache's genre; it consists in an overview of the historical novel form and its diffusion, both in Italy and in the English-speaking world. Typical features and themes are also dealt with in this chapter. Chapter II is dedicated to Apache's author. Landman's other works and her mission as a writer are taken into account, as well as the inspirations that led her to writing the novel and the process of research on American history it involved. This chapter also includes a comparison between Tanya Landman's and Louise Erdrich's works. In chapter III, Apache is compared to two well-known novels for children and young adults, The little house on the prairie and Caddie Woodlawn; the aim of this is to demonstrate how widespread misrepresentations about Native Americans are in mainstream literature. Chapter IV analyzes the novel and serves as an introduction to its translation, focusing on its plot, themes, characters and language, while chapter V presents the passages I've chosen to translate; their translation can be found later in the same chapter. In chapter VI, I comment on the choices made during the translation process; translation problems are divided into culture-specific, stylistic, semantic and linguistic.

Resistive-Polymer Versus Forced-Air Warming: Comparable Efficacy in Orthopedic Patients

BACKGROUND: Several adverse consequences are caused by mild perioperative hypothermia. Maintaining normothermia with patient warming systems, today mostly with forced air (FA), has thus become a standard procedure during anesthesia. Recently, a polymer-based resistive patient warming system was developed. We compared the efficacy of a widely distributed FA system with the resistive-polymer (RP) system in a prospective, randomized clinical study. METHODS: Eighty patients scheduled for orthopedic surgery were randomized to either FA warming (Bair Hugger warming blanket #522 and blower #750, Arizant, Eden Prairie, MN) or RP warming (Hot Dog Multi-Position Blanket and Hot Dog controller, Augustine Biomedical, Eden Prairie, MN). Core temperature, skin temperature (head, upper and lower arm, chest, abdomen, back, thigh, and calf), and room temperature (general and near the patient) were recorded continuously. RESULTS: After an initial decrease, core temperatures increased in both groups at comparable rates (FA: 0.33 degrees C/h +/- 0.34 degrees C/h; RP: 0.29 degrees C/h +/- 0.35 degrees C/h; P = 0.6). There was also no difference in the course of mean skin and mean body (core) temperature. FA warming increased the environment close to the patient (the workplace of anesthesiologists and surgeons) more than RP warming (24.4 degrees C +/- 5.2 degrees C for FA vs 22.6 degrees C +/- 1.9 degrees C for RP at 30 minutes; P(AUC) <0.01). CONCLUSION: RP warming performed as efficiently as FA warming in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery.

Resistive polymer versus forced-air warming: comparable heat transfer and core rewarming rates in volunteers

BACKGROUND: Mild perioperative hypothermia increases the risk of several severe complications. Perioperative patient warming to preserve normothermia has thus become routine, with forced-air warming being used most often. In previous studies, various resistive warming systems have shown mixed results in comparison with forced-air. Recently, a polymer-based resistive patient warming system has been developed. We compared the efficacy of a standard forced-air warming system with the resistive polymer system in volunteers. METHODS: Eight healthy volunteers participated, each on two separate study days. Unanesthetized volunteers were cooled to a core temperature (tympanic membrane) of 34 degrees C by application of forced-air at 10 degrees C and a circulating-water mattress at 4 degrees C. Meperidine and buspirone were administered to prevent shivering. In a randomly designated order, volunteers were then rewarmed (until their core temperatures reached 36 degrees C) with one of the following active warming systems: (1) forced-air warming (Bair Hugger warming cover #300, blower #750, Arizant, Eden Prairie, MN); or (2) polymer fiber resistive warming (HotDog whole body blanket, HotDog standard controller, Augustine Biomedical, Eden Prairie, MN). The alternate system was used on the second study day. Metabolic heat production, cutaneous heat loss, and core temperature were measured. RESULTS: Metabolic heat production and cutaneous heat loss were similar with each system. After a 30-min delay, core temperature increased nearly linearly by 0.98 (95% confidence interval 0.91-1.04) degrees C/h with forced-air and by 0.92 (0.85-1.00) degrees C/h with resistive heating (P = 0.4). CONCLUSIONS: Heating efficacy and core rewarming rates were similar with full-body forced-air and full-body resistive polymer heating in healthy volunteers.

A PETROPHYSICAL EVALUATION OF THE TRENTON-BLACK RIVER FORMATION OF THE MICHIGAN BASIN

This work is conducted to study the geological and petrophysical features of the Trenton- Black River limestone formation. Log curves, crossplots and mineral identification methods using well-log data are used to determine the components and analyze changes in lithology. Thirty-five wells from the Michigan Basin are used to define the mineralogy of Trenton-Black River limestone. Using the different responses of a few log curves, especially gamma-ray, resistivity and neutron porosity, the formation tops for the Utica shale, the Trenton limestone, the Black River limestone and the Prairie du Chien sandstone are identified to confirm earlier authors’ work and provide a basis for my further work. From these, an isopach map showing the thickness of Trenton-Black River formation is created, indicating that its maximum thickness lies in the eastern basin and decreases gradually to the west. In order to obtain more detailed lithological information about the limestone formations at the thirty-five wells, (a) neutron-density and neutron-sonic crossplots, (b) mineral identification methods, including the M-N plot, MID plot, ϱmaa vs. Umaa MID plot, and the PEF plot, and (c) a modified mineral identification technique are applied to these wells. From this, compositions of the Trenton-Black River formation can be divided into three different rock types: pure limestone, partially dolomitized limestone, and shaly limestone. Maps showing the fraction of dolomite and shale indicate their geographic distribution, with dolomite present more in the western and southwestern basin, and shale more common in the north-central basin. Mineral identification is an independent check on the distribution found from other authors, who found similar distributions based on core descriptions. The Thomas Stieber method of analysis is best suited to sand-shale sequences, interpreting hree different distributions of shale within sand, including dispersed, laminated and structural. Since this method is commonly applied in clastic rocks, my work using the Thomas Stieber method is new, as an attempt to apply this technique, developed for clastics, to carbonate rocks. Based on the original assumption and equations with a corresponding change to the Trenton-Black River formation, feasibility of using the Thomas Stieber method in carbonates is tested. A graphical display of gamma-ray versus density porosity, using the properties of clean carbonate and pure shale, suggests the presence of laminated shale in fourteen wells in this study. Combined with Wilson’s study (2001), it is safe to conclude that when shale occurs in the Trenton-Black River formation, it tends to be laminated shale.

Biochemical Conversions of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Sustainable Fuel-Ethanol Production in the Upper Midwest

Biofuels are an increasingly important component of worldwide energy supply. This research aims to understand the pathways and impacts of biofuels production, and to improve these processes to make them more efficient. In Chapter 2, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is presented for cellulosic ethanol production from five potential feedstocks of regional importance to the upper Midwest - hybrid poplar, hybrid willow, switchgrass, diverse prairie grasses, and logging residues - according to the requirements of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Direct land use change emissions are included for the conversion of abandoned agricultural land to feedstock production, and computer models of the conversion process are used in order to determine the effect of varying biomass composition on overall life cycle impacts. All scenarios analyzed here result in greater than 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions relative to petroleum gasoline. Land use change effects were found to contribute significantly to the overall emissions for the first 20 years after plantation establishment. Chapter 3 is an investigation of the effects of biomass mixtures on overall sugar recovery from the combined processes of dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Biomass mixtures studied were aspen, a hardwood species well suited to biochemical processing; balsam, a high-lignin softwood species, and switchgrass, an herbaceous energy crop with high ash content. A matrix of three different dilute acid pretreatment severities and three different enzyme loading levels was used to characterize interactions between pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Maximum glucose yield for any species was 70% oftheoretical for switchgrass, and maximum xylose yield was 99.7% of theoretical for aspen. Supplemental β-glucosidase increased glucose yield from enzymatic hydrolysis by an average of 15%, and total sugar recoveries for mixtures could be predicted to within 4% by linear interpolation of the pure species results. Chapter 4 is an evaluation of the potential for producing Trichoderma reesei cellulose hydrolases in the Kluyveromyces lactis yeast expression system. The exoglucanases Cel6A and Cel7A, and the endoglucanase Cel7B were inserted separately into the K. lactis and the enzymes were analyzed for activity on various substrates. Recombinant Cel7B was found to be active on carboxymethyl cellulose and Avicel powdered cellulose substrates. Recombinant Cel6A was also found to be active on Avicel. Recombinant Cel7A was produced, but no enzymatic activity was detected on any substrate. Chapter 5 presents a new method for enzyme improvement studies using enzyme co-expression and yeast growth rate measurements as a potential high-throughput expression and screening system in K. lactis yeast. Two different K. lactis strains were evaluated for their usefulness in growth screening studies, one wild-type strain and one strain which has had the main galactose metabolic pathway disabled. Sequential transformation and co-expression of the exoglucanase Cel6A and endoglucanase Cel7B was performed, and improved hydrolysis rates on Avicel were detectable in the cell culture supernatant. Future work should focus on hydrolysis of natural substrates, developing the growth screening method, and utilizing the K. lactis expression system for directed evolution of enzymes.

Past is Prologue: Montana’s Historic Women’s Movement Re-emerges in the Progressive 1970s -- Dorothy Bradley, Marilyn Wessel & Jane Jelinski “In the Crucible of Change”

One-hundred years ago, in 1914, male voters in Montana (MT) extended suffrage (voting rights) to women six years before the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified and provided that right to women in all states. The long struggle for women’s suffrage was energized in the progressive era and Jeanette Rankin of Missoula emerged as a leader of the campaign; in 1912 both major MT political party platforms supported women suffrage. In the 1914 election, 41,000 male voters supported woman suffrage while nearly 38,000 opposed it. MT was not only ahead of the curve on women suffrage, but just two years later in 1916 elected Jeanette Rankin as the first woman ever elected to the United States Congress. Rankin became a national leader for women's equality. In her commitment to equality, she opposed US entry into World War I, partially because she said she could not support men being made to go to war if women were not allowed to serve alongside them. During MT’s initial progressive era, women in MT not only pursued equality for themselves (the MT Legislature passed an equal pay act in 1919), but pursued other social improvements, such as temperance/prohibition. Well-known national women leaders such as Carrie Nation and others found a welcome in MT during the period. Women's role in the trade union movement was evidenced in MT by the creation of the Women's Protective Union in Butte, the first union in America dedicated solely to women workers. But Rankin’s defeat following her vote against World War I was used as a way for opponents to advocate a conservative, traditionalist perspective on women's rights in MT. Just as we then entered a period in MT where the “copper collar” was tightened around MT economically and politically by the Anaconda Company and its allies, we also found a different kind of conservative, traditionalist collar tightened around the necks of MT women. The recognition of women's role during World War II, represented by “Rosie the Riveter,” made it more difficult for that conservative, traditionalist approach to be forever maintained. In addition, women's role in MT agriculture – family farms and ranches -- spoke strongly to the concept of equality, as farm wives were clearly active partners in the agricultural enterprises. But rural MT was, by and large, the bastion of conservative values relative to the position of women in society. As the period of “In the Crucible of Change” began, the 1965 MT Legislature included only three women. In 1967 and 1969 only one woman legislator served. In 1971 the number went up to two, including one of our guests, Dorothy Bradley. It was only after the Constitutional Convention, which featured 19 women delegates, that the barrier was broken. The 1973 Legislature saw 9 women elected. The 1975 and 1977 sessions had 14 women legislators; 15 were elected for the 1979 session. At that time progressive women and men in the Legislature helped implement the equality provisions of the new MT Constitution, ratified the federal Equal Rights Amendment in 1974, and held back national and local conservatives forces which sought in later Legislatures to repeal that ratification. As with the national movement at the time, MT women sought and often succeeded in adopting legal mechanisms that protected women’s equality, while full equality in the external world remained (and remains) a treasured objective. The story of the re-emergence of Montana’s women’s movement in the 1970s is discussed in this chapter by three very successful and prominent women who were directly involved in the effort: Dorothy Bradley, Marilyn Wessel, and Jane Jelinski. Their recollections of the political, sociological and cultural path Montana women pursued in the 1970s and the challenges and opposition they faced provide an insider’s perspective of the battle for equality for women under the Big Sky “In the Crucible of Change.” Dorothy Bradley grew up in Bozeman, Montana; received her Bachelor of Arts Phi Beta Kappa from Colorado College, Colorado Springs, in 1969 with a Distinction in Anthropology; and her Juris Doctor from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1983. In 1970, at the age of 22, following the first Earth Day and running on an environmental platform, Ms. Bradley won a seat in the 1971 Montana House of Representatives where she served as the youngest member and only woman. Bradley established a record of achievement on environmental & progressive legislation for four terms, before giving up the seat to run a strong second to Pat Williams for the Democratic nomination for an open seat in Montana’s Western Congressional District. After becoming an attorney and an expert on water law, she returned to the Legislature for 4 more terms in the mid-to-late 1980s. Serving a total of eight terms, Dorothy was known for her leadership on natural resources, tax reform, economic development, and other difficult issues during which time she gained recognition for her consensus-building approach. Campaigning by riding her horse across the state, Dorothy was the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1992, losing the race by less than a percentage point. In 1993 she briefly taught at a small rural school next to the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. She was then hired as the Director of the Montana University System Water Center, an education and research arm of Montana State University. From 2000 - 2008 she served as the first Gallatin County Court Administrator with the task of collaboratively redesigning the criminal justice system. She currently serves on One Montana’s Board, is a National Advisor for the American Prairie Foundation, and is on NorthWestern Energy’s Board of Directors. Dorothy was recognized with an Honorary Doctorate from her alma mater, Colorado College, was named Business Woman of the Year by the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce and MSU Alumni Association, and was Montana Business and Professional Women’s Montana Woman of Achievement. Marilyn Wessel was born in Iowa, lived and worked in Los Angeles, California, and Washington, D.C. before moving to Bozeman in 1972. She has an undergraduate degree in journalism from Iowa State University, graduate degree in public administration from Montana State University, certification from the Harvard University Institute for Education Management, and served a senior internship with the U.S. Congress, Montana delegation. In Montana Marilyn has served in a number of professional positions, including part-time editor for the Montana Cooperative Extension Service, News Director for KBMN Radio, Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications at Montana State University, Director of University Relations at Montana State University and Dean and Director of the Museum of the Rockies at MSU. Marilyn retired from MSU as Dean Emeritus in 2003. Her past Board Service includes Montana State Merit System Council, Montana Ambassadors, Vigilante Theater Company, Montana State Commission on Practice, Museum of the Rockies, Helena Branch of the Ninth District Federal Reserve Bank, Burton K. Wheeler Center for Public Policy, Bozeman Chamber of Commerce, and Friends of KUSM Public Television. Marilyn’s past publications and productions include several articles on communications and public administration issues as well as research, script preparation and presentation of several radio documentaries and several public television programs. She is co-author of one book, 4-H An American Idea: A History of 4-H. Marilyn’s other past volunteer activities and organizations include Business and Professional Women, Women's Political Caucus, League of Women Voters, and numerous political campaigns. She is currently engaged professionally in museum-related consulting and part-time teaching at Montana State University as well as serving on the Editorial Board of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and a member of Pilgrim Congregational Church and Family Promise. Marilyn and her husband Tom, a retired MSU professor, live in Bozeman. She enjoys time with her children and grandchildren, hiking, golf, Italian studies, cooking, gardening and travel. Jane Jelinski is a Wisconsin native, with a BA from Fontbonne College in St. Louis, MO who taught fifth and seventh grades prior to moving to Bozeman in 1973. A stay-at-home mom with a five year old daughter and an infant son, she was promptly recruited by the Gallatin Women’s Political Caucus to conduct a study of Sex-Role Stereotyping in K Through 6 Reading Text Books in the Bozeman School District. Sociologist Dr. Louise Hale designed the study and did the statistical analysis and Jane read all the texts, entered the data and wrote the report. It was widely disseminated across Montana and received attention of the press. Her next venture into community activism was to lead the successful effort to downzone her neighborhood which was under threat of encroaching business development. Today the neighborhood enjoys the protections of a Historic Preservation District. During this time she earned her MPA from Montana State University. Subsequently Jane founded the Gallatin Advocacy Program for Developmentally Disabled Adults in 1978 and served as its Executive Director until her appointment to the Gallatin County Commission in 1984, a controversial appointment which she chronicled in the Fall issue of the Gallatin History Museum Quarterly. Copies of the issue can be ordered through: http://gallatinhistorymuseum.org/the-museum-bookstore/shop/. Jane was re-elected three times as County Commissioner, serving fourteen years. She was active in the Montana Association of Counties (MACO) and was elected its President in 1994. She was also active in the National Association of Counties, serving on numerous policy committees. In 1998 Jane resigned from the County Commission 6 months before the end of her final term to accept the position of Assistant Director of MACO, from where she lobbied for counties, provided training and research for county officials, and published a monthly newsletter. In 2001 she became Director of the MSU Local Government Center where she continued to provide training and research for county and municipal officials across MT. There she initiated the Montana Mayors Academy in partnership with MMIA. She taught State and Local Government, Montana Politics and Public Administration in the MSU Political Science Department before retiring in 2008. Jane has been married to Jack for 46 years, has two grown children and three grandchildren.

Razor Thin Win: The 1972 Constitution Ballot, Campaign, Ratification & the Courts -- Mae Nan (Robinson) Ellingson & Mick McKeon “In the Crucible of Change”

Beyond the challenge of crafting a new state Constitution that empowered the people and modernized and opened up state and local government in Montana, the Constitutional Convention delegates, as they signed the final document, looked forward to the arduous task of getting it ratified by the electorate in a short ten week period between the end of the convention on March 24 and the ratification election of June 6, 1972. While all 100 delegates signed the draft Constitution, not all supported its adoption. But the planning about how to get it adopted went back to the actions of the Convention itself, which carefully crafted a ballot that kept “hot political issues” from potentially killing the entire document at the polls. As a result, three side issues were presented to the electorate on the ballot. People could vote for or against those side issues and still vote to ratify the entire document. Thus, the questions of legalizing gambling, having a unicameral legislature and retaining the death penalty were placed separately on the ballot (gambling passed, as did the retention of the death penalty, but the concept of a one-house legislature was defeated). Once the ballot structure was set, delegates who supported the new Constitution organized a grassroots, locally focused effort to secure ratification – thought hampered by a MT Supreme Court decision on April 28 that they could not expend $45,000 in public monies that they had set aside for voter education. They cobbled together about $10,000 of private money and did battle with the established political forces, led by the MT Farm Bureau, MT Stockgrowers’ Assn. and MT Contractors Assn., on the question of passage. Narrow passage of the main document led to an issue over certification and a Montana Supreme Court case challenging the ratification vote. After a 3-2 State Supreme Court victory, supporters of the Constitution then had to defend the election results again before the federal courts, also a successful effort. Montana finally had a new progressive State Constitution that empowered the people, but the path to it was not clear and simple and the win was razor thin. The story of that razor thin win is discussed in this chapter by the two youngest delegates to the 1972 Constitutional Convention, Mae Nan Ellingson of Missoula and Mick McKeon, then of Anaconda. Both recognized “Super Lawyers in their later professional practices were also significant players in the Constitutional Convention itself and actively participated in its campaign for ratification. As such, their recollections of the effort provide an insider’s perspective of the struggle to change Montana for the better through the creation and adoption of a new progressive state Constitution “In the Crucible of Change.” Mae Nan (Robinson) Ellingson was born Mae Nan Windham in Mineral Wells, TX and graduated from Mineral Wells High School in 1965 and Weatherford College in Weatherford, TX in 1967. Mae Nan was the youngest delegate at the 1972 Convention from Missoula. She moved to Missoula in 1967 and received her BA in Political Science with Honors from the University of MT in 1970. She was a young widow known by her late husband’s surname of Robinson while attending UM graduate school under the tutelage of noted Professor Ellis Waldron when he persuaded her to run for the Constitutional Convention. Coming in a surprising second in the delegate competition in Missoula County she was named one of the Convention’s “Ten Outstanding Constitutional Convention Delegates,” an impressive feat at such a young age. She was 24 at the time, the youngest person to serve at the ConCon, and one of 19 women out of 100 delegates. In the decade before the Convention, there were never more than three women Legislators in any session, usually one or two. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, a Pi Sigma Alpha political science honorary, and a Phi Alpha Theta historical honorary. At the Convention, she led proposals for the state's bill of rights, particularly related to equal rights for women. For years, Ellingson kept a copy of the preamble to the Constitution hanging in her office; while all the delegates had a chance to vote on the wording, she and delegate Bob Campbell are credited with the language in the preamble. During the convention, she had an opportunity that opened the door to her later career as an attorney. A convention delegate suggested to her that she should go to law school. Several offered to help, but at the time she couldn't go to school. Her mom had died in Texas, and she ended up with a younger brother and sister to raise in Missoula. She got a job teaching, but about a year later, intrigued with the idea of pursuing the law as a career, she called the man back to ask about the offer. Eventually another delegate, Dave Drum of Billings, sponsored her tuition at the UM School of Law. After receiving her JD with Honors (including the Law Review and Moot Court) from the UM Law School Ellingson worked for the Missoula city attorney's office for six years (1977-83), and she took on landmark projects. During her tenure, Missoula became the first city to issue open space bonds, a project that introduced her to Dorsey & Whitney. The city secured its first easement on Mount Sentinel, and it created the trail along the riverfront with a mix of playing fields and natural vegetation. She also helped develop a sign ordinance for the city of Missoula. She ended up working as bond counsel for Dorsey & Whitney, and she opened up the firm's full-fledged Missoula office after commuting a couple of years to its Great Falls office. She was a partner at Dorsey Whitney, working there from 1983 until her retirement in 2012. The area of law she practiced there is a narrow specialty - it requires knowledge of constitutional law, state and local government law, and a slice of federal tax law - but for Ellingson it meant working on great public projects – schools, sewer systems, libraries, swimming pools, ire trucks. At the state level, she helped form the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority, a pooled insurance group for cities. She's shaped MT’s tax increment law, and she was a fixture in the MT Legislature when they were debating equal rights. As a bond lawyer, though, Ellingson considers her most important work for the state to be setting up the Intercap Program that allowed local governments to borrow money from the state at a low interest rate. She has been a frequent speaker at the League of Cities and Towns, the Montana Association of Counties, and the Rural Water Users Association workshops on topics related to municipal finance, as well as workshops sponsored by the DNRC, the Water and Sewer Agencies Coordination Team, and the Montana State University Local Government Center. In 2002, she received an outstanding service award from the Montana Rural Water Users Association. In addition to being considered an expert on Montana state and constitutional law, local government law and local government finance, she is a frequent teacher at the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law Seminar and the NABL Bond Attorney’s Workshop. For over 30 years Mae Nan has participated in the drafting of legislation in Montana for state and local finance matters. She has served on the Board of Directors of NABL, as Chairman of its Education Committee, was elected as an initial fellow in 1995 to the American College of Bond Counsel, and was recognized as a Super Lawyer in the Rocky Mountain West. Mae Nan was admitted to practice before the MT and US Supreme Courts, was named one of “America’s Leading Business Lawyers” by Chambers USA (Rank 1), a Mountain States Super Lawyer in 2007 and is listed in Best Lawyers in America; she is a member and former Board Member of NABL, a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel and a member of the Board of Visitors of the UM Law School. Mae Nan is also a philanthropist who serves on boards and applies her intelligence to many organizations, such as the Missoula Art Museum. [Much of this biography was drawn from a retirement story in the Missoulian and the Dorsey Whitney web site.] Mick McKeon, born in Anaconda in 1946, is a 4th generation Montanan whose family roots in this state go back to the 1870’s. In 1968 he graduated from Notre Dame with a BA in Communications and received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Montana Law School in 1971. Right after graduating from law school, Mick was persuaded by his father, longtime State Senator Luke McKeon, and his uncle, Phillips County Attorney Willis McKeon, to run for delegate to Montana’s Constitutional Convention and was elected to represent Deer Lodge, Philipsburg, Powell, and part of Missoula Counties. Along with a coalition of delegates from Butte and Anaconda, he fought through the new Constitution to eliminate the legal strangle hold, often called “the copper collar,” that corporate interests -- the Anaconda Company and its business & political allies -- had over state government for nearly 100 years. The New York Times called Montana’s Constitutional Convention a “prairie revolution.” After helping secure the ratification of the new Constitution, Mick began his practice of law in Anaconda where he engaged in general practice for nearly 20 years. Moving to Butte in 1991, Mick focused has practice in personal injury law, representing victims of negligence and corporate wrongdoing in both Montana district courts and federal court. As such, he participated in some of the largest cases in the history of the state. In 1992 he and his then law partner Rick Anderson obtained a federal court verdict of $11.5 million -- the largest verdict in MT for many years. Mick’s efforts on behalf of injured victims have been recognized by many legal organizations and societies. Recently, Mick was invited to become a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers - 600 of the top lawyers in the world. Rated as an American Super Lawyer, he has continuously been named one of the Best Lawyers in America, and an International Assn. of Trial Lawyers top 100 Trial Lawyer. In 2005, he was placed as one of Montana’s top 4 Plaintiff’s lawyers by Law Dragon. Mick is certified as a civil trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has the highest rating possible from Martindale-Hubble. Mick was awarded the Montana Trial Lawyers Public Service Award and provided pro bono assistance to needy clients for his entire career. Mick’s law practice, which he now shares with his son Michael, is limited to representing individuals who have been injured in accidents, concentrating on cases against insurance companies, corporations, medical providers and hospitals. Mick resides in Butte with his wife Carol, a Butte native. Mick, Carol, Michael and another son, Matthew, who graduated from Dartmouth College and was recently admitted to the Montana bar, enjoy as much of their time together in Butte and at their place on Flathead Lake.

Iowa State Daily (December 7, 2011)

ContentsExpo displays talentsLow student turnout plagues runoff electionSeasonal disorder hits hard in winterSzopinski wins seat on Ames City CouncilCyclones seek revenge in Cy-Hawk seriesIowa State gets big win against Prairie View A&MNo justification for ignorance

Pollen and macrofossils profiles and age determination from three cores in Northeastern Kansas, U.S.A.

Two marshes near Muscotah and Arrington, Atchison County, northeastern Kansas, yielded a pollen sequence covering the last 25,000 yrs of vegetation development. The earliest pollen spectra are comparable with surface pollen spectra from southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Manitoba and might indicate a rather open vegetation but with some pine, spruce, and birch as the most important tree species, with local stands of alder and willow. This type of vegetation changed about 23,000 yrs ago to a spruce forest, which prevailed in the region until at least 15,000 yrs ago. Because of a hiatus, the vegetation changes resulting in the spread of a mixed deciduous forest and prairie, which was present in the region from 11,000 to 9,000 yrs ago, remain unknown. Prairie vegetation, with perhaps a few trees along the valleys, covered the region until about 5,000 yrs ago, when a re-expansion of deciduous trees began in the lowlands.