This descriptive research was undertaken to investigate the preferred channels of communication used in the adoption of livestock production practices by ranchers in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo Le??n. The study builds on previous research by Freund (1999). Freund??s study concluded that ranchers in Nuevo Le??n preferred the Uni??n Ganadera as their primary source. However, the producers indicated some communication preferences that resulted in the Uni??n adjusting some of their efforts to reach out to their membership. This study was designed to revisit those livestock producers to investigate what changes had occurred in their preferences for communication since the Freund (1999) study. This research was conducted in the state of Nuevo Le??n, Mexico. The methodology used was a survey employing a questionnaire to collect data. The convenience sample consisted of 273 active members of the Uni??n Ganadera Regional de Nuevo Le??n (UGRNL) who attended regularly scheduled association functions. A principal objective of the research was to describe the communication infrastructure used in the state of Nuevo Le??n by UGRNL livestock producers. Another objective of the research was to describe preferred formal and informal channels of communication that livestock producers use to get information about ranching practices. Yet another objective was to describe what UGRNL livestock producers use as primary sources of information when choosing to adopt or reject agricultural practices, as well as investigating what secondary and feedback channels they prefer. Another objective was to determine which husbandry practices UGRNL livestock producers want more information about. Finally, an emphasis of the study was on what communication channels smaller stakeholders prefer, because the Uni??n wants to use that information to improve its diffusion of technology to that particular group of producers.

This dissertation describes the results of archaeological survey and excavationsundertaken on the Mesa el Chaparral in the county of Mina in Nuevo Leon, Mexicoduring 2001. Sixty-six previously undocumented archaeological sites were discovered onthe arid surface. Excavations found no intact subsurface deposits, but a wealth of surfacedata was collected. Subsequent analyses demonstrated a forager lifeway for the majorityof the Holocene human occupation of the region in a remarkably stable pattern.To understand sites found on the deflated modern surface necessitatedcontemplation of the basic theories and models used in hunter-gatherer research. Thisallowed for the construction of new diagrams designed to hypothesize fundamentalrelationships between general aspects of the lifeway including environmental factors, sitesize and visibility issues, and human mobility patterns. From some basic continuums,more detailed diagrams were created that allow understanding and prediction of humanbehavior based upon data found from artifacts and features. After testing their salience,the models were dynamically combined with the site data and ethnographic analogies toarrive at an understanding of the human lifeways represented by the recoveredarchaeological data. This provided a fascinating look into the day-to-day lives of thegeneralized mobile foragers of prehistoric northeastern Mexico.Included in the recovered data are hearth features, lithic debitage and artifacts,and basic site descriptions. Archaeological locations ranged from small with a singlefeature to over a square kilometer with over 100 features, all located on the surface wherethey are subject to wind deflation and water erosion. Most of the sites containeddiagnostic artifacts from the entire Holocene, further compounding the analyticcomplexity of the project. Understanding the context of the data and making use of themodels and ethnographic analogies, it was estimated that every site represented anoccupation by a small band of mobile forgers making generalized use of the resourcesavailable in the region. Making residential moves often allowed people to survive in theharsh environment. Few lifeway changes were noted prior to Spanish influence in theregion from the time the environment became arid at the end of the Pleistocene.