OJS at Oregondigital.org (Oregon State University / University of Oregon)
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Douglas County’s ‘Long and Winding Road’
Get PDFThe Douglas County Library System (DCLS) formed in 1953 with the main library located in the courthouse in Roseburg, eight branches located in the several small communities, and a bookmobile. The benefits included the economy of scale, access to a wider collection, and shared functions with greater internal support. Today the DCLS includes the main library in Roseburg, completed in 1994, and 10 branches located throughout the county. Winston and Riddle got their libraries after the system was formed, in 1964 and 1966 respectively.
In a county that has historically relied on timber sale taxes, budget reductions began as early as 1982. This became a frequent if not an annual occurrence over the years since. Next year will be our capstone. Our budget direction given to the library system for the fiscal year 2016/17 was to cut $495,000 dollars from last year’s budget, a 42 percent reduction. This decades long and winding road has led us to a fork in the road with the future of the library up in the air. Rest assured, we have not been sitting around waiting and hoping
Communicating with Library Donors
Get PDFHow do you communicate effectively with donors and potential donors? What does that communication look like? Libraries often envision donor communications as including only direct fundraising requests. Communications with donors, however, encompass a wide range of activities, is ongoing, and may even span decades with an individual donor. Library staff not directly involved with fundraising may not even think about donors as part of their user audience, but almost everyone who works in a library has a potential role in communicating with donors
Airline Fuel Hedging: Do Hedge Horizon and Contract Maturity Matter?
Get PDFLarge and unpredictable swings in fuel prices create financial uncertainty to airlines. While there are the risks for going unhedged, airlines that hedge to mitigate fuel price risk face the basis risk. This paper examines whether the length of hedge horizon and distance to contract maturity affect the effectiveness of jet fuel cross hedging. Understanding the effects of hedge duration and futures contract maturity helps improve airline’s fuel hedging strategies. We find that (1) regardless of the distance to contract maturity, weekly hedge horizon has the highest effectiveness for jet fuel proxies like heating oil, Brent, WTI, and gasoil; (2) heating oil is the best jet fuel proxy for all hedge hori-zons and contract maturities; and (3) the hedge effectiveness of heating oil is higher for one-month and three-month contracts
Impacts of Highway Infrastructure Investment Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Get PDFThis study evaluated the impact on highway demand of highway disbursements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Vehicle miles traveled were used to estimate a highway demand equation employing a spatial Durbin model for the 48 contiguous U.S. states during 1994-2008. Estimates from the equation were used to test the hypothesis that highway disbursements caused different upward shifts in the highway demand curves of states. We estimated 27.2 billion in ARRA highway disbursements, yielding an average net benefit of $0.30 per dollar spent
Hazardous Materials Transportation with Multiple Objectives: A Case Study in Taiwan
Get PDFHazardous material (hazmat) transportation has been an important issue for handling hazardous materials, such as gases and chemical liquids. In the past, researchers have made great efforts to develop policies and route planning methods for hazmat transportation problems. In 2014, Kaohsiung City in Taiwan suffered a gas pipeline explosion at midnight; 32 people were killed, and hundreds of people were injured. After the incident, policies and routing strategies for hazardous materials (hazmat) transportation in Kaohsiung were initiated to avoid pipeline transportation. Although methodologies for hazmat transportation have been proposed and implemented to minimize potential risks, multiple objectives need to be considered in the process to facilitate hazmat transportation in Taiwan. In order to consider both government and operators’ aspects, a multi-objective formulation for the hazmat problem is proposed and a compromise programming method is applied to solve the problem with two objectives: travel cost and risk. The path risk is defined based on risk assessment indexes, such as road characteristics, population distribution, link length, hazardous material characteristics, and accident rates. An aggregate risk indicator is proposed for roadway segments. The compromise programming approach is developed from the concept of compromise decision and the main idea is to search the compromise solution closest to the ideal solution. The proposed method is applied to Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. The results show that two conflicting objectives keep making trade-offs between each other until they finally reach a compromise solution
Sturdy Inference: A Bayesian Analysis of U.S. Motorcycle Helmet Laws
Get PDFMotorcycle related fatalities continue to be a major concern for public health officials, economists, and policy makers interested in such matters. In 2006, 3% of all motor vehicles registered in the United States were 2-3 wheelers (motorcycle type vehicles), while riders of these vehicles accounted for 11% of vehicle related deaths. Such a disproportionate number of fatalities associated with motorcycles is certainly grounds for concern.Most studies of motorcycle fatalities attribute deaths to the avoidance of wearing helmets and the lack of helmet laws, speed, and alcohol usage. This study makes use of a rich panel data set for the period 1980 to 2010 by state and the District of Columbia to examine these factors and others. It is the first study to differentiate between the effects of universal and partial helmet laws on motorcycle fatalities. It also accounts for the effects of cell phone use, alcohol consumption, and suicidal propensities on these crashes after adjusting for a whole host of socioeconomic and driving related factors. The analysis is conducted using a new Bayesian technique, which examines the sturdiness of regression coefficients. This new method uses statistics referred to as S-values that addresses both estimation and model ambiguity. Results indicate that the variables we focus on, i.e., cell phones, alcohol consumption, and helmet laws affect motorcycle fatalities. Further, universal helmet laws appear to have a larger effect on such fatalities than partial helmet laws
Imitation Amber Beads of Phenolic Resin from the African Trade
Get PDFExamination of contemporary beads with African provenance reveals large quantities of imitation amber beads made of phenol-formaldehyde thermosetting resins (PFs). This article delves into the early industrial history of PFs and their use in the production of imitation amber and bead materials. Attempts to discover actual sources that manufactured imitation amber beads for export to Africa and the time frame have not been very fruitful. While evidence exists that PFs were widely used as amber substitutes within Europe, only a few post-WWII references explicitly report the export of imitation amber PF beads to Africa. However they arrived in Africa, the durability of PF beads gave African beadworkers aesthetic freedom not only to rework the original beads into a variety of shapes and sizes, and impart decorative elements, but also to apply heat treatment to modify colors. Some relatively simple tests to distinguish PFs from other bead materials are presented
Local Sensitivity Analysis of Forecast Uncertainty in a Random-Utility-Based Multiregional Input-Output Model
Get PDFTransportation systems are critical to regional economies and quality of life. The Random-Utility-Based Multiregional Input-Output Model (RUBMRIO) for trade and travel choices is used here to appreciate the distributed nature of commodity flow patterns across the United States’ 3,109 contiguous counties and 12 industry sectors, for rail and truck operations. This paper demonstrates the model’s sensitivity to various inputs using the method of local sensitivity analysis with interactions (LSAI). This work simulates both individual effects as well as interaction effects of model inputs on outputs by providing sensitivity indices of model outputs to variations of inputs under two scenarios. Model outputs include predictions of domestic and export trade flows, value of goods produced, labor expenditures, and household and industry consumption levels across the counties in the United States. The LSAI technique allows transportation system operators to appreciate the roles of any model input and the associated uncertainty of outputs
Shippers’ Changing Priorities in Port Selection Decision – A Survey Analysis Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)
Get PDFThis paper analyzes different criterion that shippers employ in their port selection process. It uses results from a survey conducted on regional shippers from the chemical and life sciences industries that ship full container and LCL cargo of hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals westbound (from U.S. east coast to Asia). Using an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework and participants’ comparative scores, factors affecting a shipper’s port choice are prioritized. Findings suggest that port congestion and delays on the west coast ports in the U.S. and its effect on shippers’ supply chains have changed their priorities; price and port characteristics are no longer their primary decision factors
