The recent focus on transition from school to working life has created a growing concern in Oregon about teachers with elementary certification as their initial certification who earn a special education certificate and teach students with disabilities in secondary settings. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among initial certifications (elementary, secondary, and K-12), where Oregon high school special education teachers received the major part of their transition skills training, and their self-perceived needs for further transition skills training. The population for the study consisted of 213 secondary special education teachers of students with mild disabilities from throughout Oregon. The instrument was a survey-type questionnaire that included 14 transition skill competencies for teachers. Subjects were first asked where they received the major part of their training in each of the transition competency skills. Next, they were asked to rate their self-perceived needs for further training in each of the transition skills. The instrument design was validated through a Delphi procedure. Data were collected during the spring of 1987 and the fall of 1988. No significant statistical relationships were found between initial certification and where teachers received the major part of their transition skills training, or their self-perceived needs for further training. However, three major implications became apparent from the data. First, decisions regarding coursework could be examined at the preservice level. Next, opportunities for preservice teachers to participate in team decision-making activities should be examined. Lastly, personnel inservice preparation programs at the district level should be examined to ensure that transition skill competencies for teachers are included. Recommendations included follow-up studies to find out if the size of school, type and level of endorsement, major and minor fields of study and years of teaching may have an effect on transition skills training of secondary teachers. / Graduation date: 1992

Major disasters are taking an ever-increasing toll on American communities. To cope with this growing problem, Benton County is seeking to adopt an alternative approach known as Community- Based Emergency Preparedness. Its goal is to improve collaboration among governmental agencies and the public to gain greater flexibility in decision-making and implementation. Increased community participation is intended to produce not only improved emergency readiness, but also preparations in the home, school, and workplace to reduce the effects of disaster when it strikes. This case study describes strategies Benton County officials have used to involve citizens in planning and preparing for disasters during a twelve-month period from April, 1994 to April, 1995. A recently formed citizen-initiated community coalition meets regularly to organize public education forums and emergency exercises. This is different from the past, when disaster planning was undertaken only by professionals and specialists who tended to leave the public out of the process. Public, private, and volunteer groups at the community level are now seeking to create a dynamic disaster planning process that reflects community values and accountability. Included in this case study is the development of digital maps of multiple hazards to aid experts in communicating risks to the public. Disaster planning is complicated because the community and the experts perceive risks differently. To facilitate the program in a systematic fashion, six process characteristics have been identified. Because this approach is new, the process of disaster planning is still under development. / Graduation date: 1996

In Oregon, sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) were common in the eastern portion of the state. Since 1940 populations declined because of decreased productivity. The western subspecies (C. u. phaios) was listed as a candidate for threatened and endangered status in 1985 because of declines in Oregon and Washington and extirpation from British Columbia. Habitat availability and habitat condition were factors associated with impaired productivity. Stand structure and forb availability were characteristics most associated with habitat selection by hens with broods. The objectives of this study were to determine habitat use and selection by hens with broods and the relationship between food availability, habitat use by hens, and diets of juvenile sage grouse. Of the 2 study areas used, Hart Mountain had greater long term productivity and abundance than Jackass Creek. Use of cover types and habitat components were compared within and between study areas. In this study, sage grouse hens selected low sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) cover types during early brood-rearing then switched to use of big sagebrush cover types during late brood-rearing. In general, cover types used selectively had greater availability of forbs, and changes in forb availability within cover types from early to late brood-rearing corresponded to changes in cover type use. Differences in forb availability between study areas may have affected productivity. Hens at Jackass Creek selected sites with forb cover similar to that available to broods at Hart Mountain and home ranges were larger at Jackass Creek. Furthermore, diets of juvenile sage grouse were higher in forbs and insects at Hart Mountain. Larger home ranges and less nutritious diets were potentially responsible for lower productivity at Jackass Creek. Results indicated that management to improve brood habitat should focus on maintenance of cover type diversity and availability of forbs. / Graduation date: 1993

This research focuses on events surrounding the activities of Battery Freeman, a coastal defense facility constructed within the earthworks of "old" Fort Stevens near Astoria, OR, in 1900 and destroyed in 1939. Archival data are used in conjunction with nearly 5,000 artifacts that were recovered from archaeological excavations in 1989 by the Oregon State University Field School, to reconstruct the history of the facility. Archival information provided a detailed representation of the spatial setting of Battery Freeman with respect to the original earthworks of Old Fort Stevens. In addition, this information detailed the timing and progress of and materials used in the construction of the battery. Spatial, temporal, and typological analyses were conducted on the artifacts. The great majority of the artifacts are associated with Battery Freeman architecture. Many of these artifacts were homogenously distributed throughout a "fill unit" reflecting the leveling and bulldozing of the site. However, several primary features were preserved, including a remnant of the east bulkhead wall of the pre-1900 structure and an incinerator feature apparently used in the battery. The spatial context of artifacts associated with these features could be interpreted with greater confidence. / Graduation date: 1994

Graduation date: 1993

This study was designed to determine the differences and similarities among first-year accounting curricula in high schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges in Oregon. The areas studied were teaching methods, testing methods, communication skills, evaluation methods used in the communication skills, inclusion of necessary computer application skills, and the testing methods used for computer application skills. Survey instruments were developed and were administered to a random sample of 432 business education teachers in the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges in Oregon; 200 (46.3%) responded. The results of the survey were statistically analyzed by ANOVA and Chi-square, and percentages were used to analyze the data. From this study, the following observations were made: The teaching methods used in the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges were similar; however, they differed on programmed instruction, computer assisted instruction, computer augmented instruction, games, practice sets, workbooks, and seminars. The testing methods used in the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges were different in the following areas: multiple choice, true and false, and matching; other testing methods were similar. The communication skills used in the secondary schools, community colleges, and fouryear colleges were similar. In evaluating students' communication skills, readability was considered to be the most important criterion in grading students' writing skills, and listening was considered to be the most important criterion in grading students' speaking skills. The following criteria used to select first-year accounting textbooks were different among the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges: readability level of the textbooks, reading level of the students, supplementary materials given, content validity and content arrangements. Although the secondary schools and community college participants considered readability levels of the textbooks and the students' reading levels to be important, the estimated reading level of the first-year accounting textbooks were greater than the estimated reading level of the first-year accounting students. There were differences in the types of computer applications included in the first-year of accounting among the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges: computer assisted instruction and computer augmented instruction. The following evaluation methods used for computer assignments in first-year accounting were different among the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges: observation of students and demonstration of use by students. One of the reasons indicated by participants for not including computer applications in the first-year of accounting was lack of knowledge. There were differences in the ratings on "lack of Knowledge" given by the three groups. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that communication skills be integrated in first-year accounting curriculum and in accounting methods courses, and more computer application skills (not tutorial computer applications) be implemented in first-year accounting curriculum and in accounting methods courses in Oregon. / Graduation date: 1992

Seasonal trends in forage production and environmental parameters for five plant community types within a northeastern Oregon riparian zone were described and modeled using correlation and path analysis. Wet meadows produced the greatest amount of herbage biomass, followed by moist bluegrass meadows, gravel bars, forests and dry bluegrass meadows. Trends in soil moisture generally increased and then declined from spring to fall. Depth to the water table declined and then increased. Soil temperatures steadily increased. Variables driving seasonal forage production varied by community type. Soil moisture was most important in dry bluegrass meadows and least important in wet meadows. Depth to the water table was most important in wet meadows and least important in dry bluegrass meadows. The amount of herbage production which had already occurred was also an important variable in describing biomass production. Streamflow levels and the amount of production having occurred were driving variables in the gravel bar communities. Preference for grazing different riparian vegetation community types and forage intake by cattle was monitored over a three-week grazing period occuring at the end of summer. Concurrent to preference and intake, vegetative and nutritional characteristics of the forage available for grazing were monitored and relationships between these variables and both community preference and intake described through correlation and path analyses. Grazing cattle initially favored communities with highly digestibile forage, hence communities dominated by Kentucky bluegrass were most preferred. Late in the grazing period community preference was best associated with community abundance, indicating that cattle were grazing communities in proportion to their abundance in the pasture. Intake levels were greater during the first year of the study than the second (2.15 versus 1.81 percent of body weight). Daily grazing time declined as livestock neared the end of the grazing period. Intake was correlated with in vitro dry matter digestibility and the amount of time spent grazing, but poorly related to the amount of forage available. The indirect effect of the amount of forage available on intake was greater than the direct effect and functioned through increases in grazing time as a result of increased availability of highly digestible forage. / Graduation date: 1992

A study investigating the effect of sheep stocking density and grazing duration on forage intake, grazing efficiency, dietary selectivity and subsequent forage accumulation in tall fescue(Festuca arundinacea)- subclover(Trifolium subtaranium) pastures was conducted near Corvallis, Oregon during early and late spring in 1988 and 1989. Grazing treatments were 2, 6, and 10-day duration and corresponding stocking densities 380, 130, 78 and 1390, 460 and 280 ewes/ha during early and late trials each year, respectively. Average daily intake and grazing efficiency were highest (P< 0.05) in the 10-day duration and lowest in the 2-day duration. During the first 2 days of all duration treatments, average daily intake decreased as stocking density increased (P< 0.05). Manure cover and crowding stress may explain lower average daily intake under the shorter duration/high density treatments. However, stocking density had little effect on grazing efficiency. This was largely due to the high amount of forage destroyed under the low density treatments which offset the effect of higher forage intake of that treatment. Within the 10-day duration treatment, average daily intake was the same over time (P> 0.05), while grazing efficiency decreased as grazing progressed (P< 0.05). The low grazing efficiency during the early stages of grazing reflected high initial forage destruction probably caused by the movement of animals at the start of grazing to establish bedding and habitual use areas. Growth rate of forage after grazing was highest in the longer duration paddocks and lowest in the shorter duration paddocks (P< 0.05), but the yield was similar under all treatments (P> 0.05). Although short duration/high density grazing is considered to be non-selective, sheep were equally or more selective under very short duration/very high density compared to longer duration/lower density treatments in this study. The 2 days duration was not an attractive management option since the intake and grazing efficiency were low, and the animals were selective. / Graduation date: 1993

Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) are threatened seabirds that are prone to disturbance both at sea and at old-growth forest nesting areas. I examined murrelet behavior and activity patterns in forest and marine ecosystems of Oregon. Diving behavior was studied during the 1995 and 1996 breeding seasons and was compared to predictions from optimal breathing models, which predicted a strong relationship between dive times and preceding pause times. Diving patterns appeared to fit these predictions more in 1996 than 1995 suggesting that diving behavior was affected more by annual changes in environmental conditions than by physiological constraints on breathing and diving as predicted by optimal breathing models. Activity patterns at inland nest sites were monitored on a near-daily basis during three breeding seasons to assess the relationships between activity and both weather and date. Daily activity was highly variable within and among sites and years and I observed greater variability in activity levels than has been previously reported for this species. Activity varied greatly during all portions of the breeding season and analyses revealed that weather and date variates explained little of the variability present. It also appeared that variability in activity during the breeding season was not due entirely to breeding phenology; however, activity of nonbreeding birds attending nesting stands may contribute to daily variability. Inland activity data also were used to assess the feasibility of developing long-term monitoring strategies based on counts of daily detections. I determined how effectively various survey strategies estimated measures of daily mean and standard deviation of detection counts of murrelets within a breeding season. Results indicated that it would be difficult to obtain reliable estimates of murrelet detections with sampling efforts up to 14 days/season. However, estimates of mean and standard deviation for daily detections during a breeding season may be reliably estimated to within ± 50% with similar or less effort. The power of survey strategies to detect annual declines in detections of 25% and 50% were very low and moderate, respectively, except when variability was quite low. / Graduation date: 1999

The herbicide, Dacthal (dimethyl 2,3,5,6,-tetrachloroterephthalate) is hydrolyzed to give the corresponding diacid and this derivative is a common contaminant in ground water. In the Ontario region of eastern Oregon the use of this herbicide on onions has resulted in the contamination of an aquifer with this derivative. Since movement to groundwater is determined by the hydrolysis of the parent compound to a more soluble derivative. The rate at which this hydrolysis reaction occurs and the stability of the metabolite must be defined. These parameters have been determined using soils from Ontario in which onions had been raised. At room temperature and 50% field capacity, the parent was hydrolyzed rapidly (half-life 16 days) to the diacid derivative. An increase of the incubation temperature to 38°C reduced the hydrolysis rate significantly (half-life 86.8 days). It is assumed that this response reflects reduced microbial activity at the higher temperature. At both temperatures only small amounts of the monoacid intermediate were detected suggesting that the Dacthal monoacid was being hydrolyzed at a faster rate than the parent. It was established that at room temperature, the half-life of the monoacid was only 2.8 days. Over the 300 days the experiments were carried out, little if any degradation of the diacid metabolite could be detected. There was virtually no degradation of the parent over a 60 day period in sterilized soil, suggesting that microbial activity is primarily responsible for this step. By contract, the monoacid was hydrolyzed at comparable rates in sterilized and nonsterilized soil. This study explains why the Dacthal metabolite is a common contaminant in groundwater. The parent is rapidly hydrolyzed to the diacid which is much more water soluble. More important, however, is the persistence of the diacid metabolite in the environment. / Graduation date: 1992