Management Intensive Grazing of Stockers at the Andrew Jackson Demonstration Farm (1996 – 1998)

The Andrew Jackson Demonstration Farm (AJDF) is located in central Jackson County in east central Iowa. A board of directors operates the farm for the purpose of demonstrating different production practices and management strategies. From 1996 to 1998 management intensive grazing practices and the grazing of stockers on a combination of permanent and tillable pasture have been demonstrated. Grazing strategies or practices demonstrated during these years included establishment of Eastern Gamagrass and Big Bluestem, variable density grazing, measuring forage on-offer, estimating dry matter intake, grazing corn, pasture renovation, and fencing and water systems. Production performance data were gathered for the three years stockers that were grazed. During this time the stockers averaged 121 animal days of grazing, a 1.1 head per acre stocking rate, a 1.85 pound average daily gain, and 228 pounds of gain per acre. The financial measures evaluated the value of gain on pasture and the pasture cost of the gain. The value of gain per pound was positive for 1996 and 1997 at $.58 and $.52 whereas in 1998 it was a -$.04. Pasture costs per pound of gain ranged from $.12 to $.16. Production performance is only one part of the profit picture when evaluating a stocker operation. Buysell margins are the other significant part that can greatly impact the profit potential of a summer grazing program.

Voter Participation in the 1998 Bundestag Elections: A Theoretical Modification and Empirical Application of Downs’ Theory of Voter Participation

This article seeks to contribute to the illumination of the so-called 'paradox of voting' using the German Bundestag elections of 1998 as an empirical case. Downs' model of voter participation will be extended to include elements of the theory of subjective expected utility (SEU). This will allow a theoretical and empirical exploration of the crucial mechanisms of individual voters' decisions to participate, or abstain from voting, in the German general election of 1998. It will be argued that the infinitely low probability of an individual citizen's vote to decide the election outcome will not necessarily reduce the probability of electoral participation. The empirical analysis is largely based on data from the ALLBUS 1998. It confirms the predictions derived from SEU theory. The voters' expected benefits and their subjective expectation to be able to influence government policy by voting are the crucial mechanisms to explain participation. By contrast, the explanatory contribution of perceived information and opportunity costs is low.

Determinanten der Studierbereitschaft in Ostdeutschland. Eine empirische Anwendung der Humankapital- und Werterwartungstheorie am Beispiel sächsischer Abiturienten in den Jahren 1996 und 1998

Ausgangspunkt der empirischen Untersuchung ist die seit dem Zusammenbruch der DDR rückläufige Studierneigung ostdeutscher Abiturienten. Diese Entwicklung wird anhand der Humankapital- und Werterwartungstheorie zu erklären versucht. Demnach hängt die Studierneigung eines Individuums vom antizipierten Nutzen eines Studiums, von den erwarteten Kosten und der subjektiv eingeschätzeten Wahrscheinlichkeit, aufgrund eigener schulischer Leistungen erfolgreich studieren zu können, ab. Daraus wird die These abgeleitet, dass die Studierneigung wegen subjektiv wahrgenommener sinkender Bildungsnutzen und gleichzeitig antizipierter steigender Bildungskosten in der Zeit abgenommen hat. Für die empirische Überprüfung dieser These werden Querschnittsinformationen über sächsische Abiturienten der beiden Abschlussjahrgänge 1996 und 1998 herangezogen. Bei Kontrolle der sozialen Herkunft und des Geschlechts dieser befragten Abiturienten bestätigen die empirischen Befunde die These über die Veränderung in den subjektiv bewerteten Kosten-Nutzen-Relationen für oder gegen ein Studium nur teilweise. Ausschlaggebend für die abnehmende Studierwilligkeit ist die zunehmend ungünstige Einschätzung der beruflichen Verwertbarkeit eines Studiums. Offensichtlich lassen sich einerseits Abiturienten aus unteren und zunehmend auch aus mittleren Sozialschichten und andererseits Abiturientinnen wegen ungünstiger Arbeitsmarktentwicklungen vom Studium abschrecken.

Family Preservation Journal, 1998, Volume 3, Issue 1. (Entire issue)

Entire issue (large pdf file) Articles include: The Role of Consistency and Diversity in Building Knowledge in Family Preservation. Debora J. Cavazos Dylla and Marianne Berry The Weekly Adjustment Indicators Checklist: An Application in the Child Welfare Field. Michael H. Epstein, Madhavi Jayanthi, Janet McKelvey, Deborah Holderness, Erin Frankenberry, Cassandra Lampkin, Molly McGrath, and Kari White Intensive Family Preservation Services: a Short History but a Long Past. Kellie B. Reed and Raymond S. Kirk Collaborative Conversations for Change: A Solution-Focused Approach to Family Centered Practice. Donald F. Fausel

Family Preservation Journal, 1998, Volume 3, Issue 2. (Entire issue)

Entire issue (large pdf file) Articles include: Getting to Know You: Psychoeducational Groups to Counter Social Isolation of Neglectful Mothers. Marianne Berry Intensive Family Preservation in Children's Mental Health: Predictors of Placement. Cathryn C. Potter An Innovative Family Preservation Program in an African American Community: Longitudinal Analysis. Patricia Ciliberti Chipping Away at the Monolith: Dispelling the Myth of Father Noninvolvement in Children's Early Literacy Development. Robert W. Ortiz

The Olive Tree, Vol. 6 Number 1, 1998

The Spring 1998 issue of The Olive Tree features articles about library projects, collections, technological innovations, and events at Fogler Library, University of Maine.