Digital Commons Network^™

Food Insecurity At A Four-Year College Campus, Danielle Corrado

School of Public Policy Capstones

This paper, through an adaption of the United States Department of Agriculture Adult Food Security survey tool, aims to identify food insecurity rates at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the demographic characteristics associated with food insecurity, potential financial factors that contribute and predict food insecurity rates, and the relationship between food insecurity and academic performance. Lastly, this paper examines on and off campus resources available to students and students perception of food insecurity before college as compared to actual food security status in college.

Massachusetts School Discipline Policy Change: Exclusion, Alternatives, And Inequality In Public District And Charter Schools, Aster Richardson

School of Public Policy Capstones

School discipline reform is of growing interest to policymakers as ongoing research reveals the negative effects of current school discipline policies. In the U.S., the most popular models of school discipline use exclusionary practice, which includes suspension and expulsion. Studies have shown that exclusionary discipline contributes to undesired social outcomes such as poor academic performance, school drop out, unemployment, and even incarceration. Additionally, exclusionary discipline and its negative consequences disproportionately affect racial minorities and other vulnerable groups of students. Reform of current state policy is a necessary first step toward implementing alternative discipline practice in schools. In 2012 Massachusetts legislature …

Promoting Healthy Diets: Challenges And Opportunities Of Nutrition Policy Implementation In Food Banks, Sarah Brown-Anson, Elizabeth Leibinger, Hadassah Masudi Minga

School of Public Policy Capstones

In recent years, food banks have grown increasingly aware of the role diet plays in wide-spread public health issues such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Food banks already purchase healthy foods directly and select nutritious items distributed by government programs such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Recently, some banks have implemented nutrition policies to regulate donations made by businesses and individuals to further decrease the volume of less healthy options in their warehouses.

This study explores the challenges and opportunities associated to the implementation of nutrition policies for donated food items by Food Banks in the USA. …

Alcohol Policy Best Practices In Franklin And Hampshire Counties, Massachusetts, Lauren Coakley, Reily Connaughton, Ghida El-Banna

School of Public Policy Capstones

Research question: What are "efficient" policies and best practices to reduce youth alcohol consumption in Franklin and Hampshire counties, Massachusetts?

Motivation: Excessive alcohol consumption leads to monetary and societal costs.

Methodology: A hybrid of quantitative (multiple linear regression) and qualitative (policy evaluation, case studies, phone and in-person interviews) methods.

Access To Technology And Student Academic Achievement: Empirical Evidence From Nepal, Palista Kharel

School of Public Policy Capstones

My research explores the linkage between access to technology and student academic achievement in Nepal. I measure access to technology using four proxies: availability of electricity, radio, TV and computer at home. I measure academic achievement using student test scores in the Grade 10 national level examinations.

My results indicate that students with access to electricity, radio, TV and computer at home, have higher average test scores overall. Particularly, access to a computer has the largest positive effect on a student’s academic achievement. Simple OLS regression results suggest that those with access to a computer score 64 points higher than …

The Abandoned Shipwrecks Act In Florida, Tyler Wolanin

School of Public Policy Capstones

The Abandoned Shipwrecks Act is a 1988 federal law that grants states jurisdiction over abandoned shipwrecks in their territorial waters. The intention of the law is to allow states to form historic preservation regimes to protect historic shipwrecks from looters and salvagers. One of the most important beneficiaries of this law is the state of Florida, with the longest coastline in the continental United States and a history of attempts to protect historic shipwrecks.

This law has been criticized since inception for removing the profit incentive for salvors to discover new shipwrecks. The Act has been subjected to a considerable …

Adolescents’ Soda Consumption In Mexico Before And After The Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax: Results From National Health And Nutrition Surveys, Estefania Martí Malvido

School of Public Policy Capstones

In 2014 Mexico implemented a national tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) as a public health strategy. Over the last decades, obesity has significantly increased among adolescents (12-19 years). In addition, the consumption of high-energy beverages among adolescents more than doubled from 1999 to 2006. The current study investigates the relationship between the SSBs tax and the caloric soda consumption in the Mexican adolescent population utilizing cross-sectional data from two nationally representative nutrition surveys. One from 2012 which took place before the tax was implemented and one conducted in 2016, two years after tax implementation.

Results show a positive association between …

Syllabus: Social Mission Enterprises, Betsy Schmidt

Sustainability Education Resources

This course is for students who dream of starting, running, or working for a social mission enterprise---an organization that meets a specific social mission, makes a financial profit, and considers the environmental and personal impacts of its actions. In this class, students will take initial steps towards creating a fictional social mission enterprise, with practicing social entrepreneurs acting as mentors. Students will also complete a project that will help solve an issue facing the social enterprise with which their mentor is affiliated. The course begins with a discussion of the issues around which students hope to pursue change and of …

Syllabus: Social And Environmental Enterprises, Betsy Schmidt

Sustainability Education Resources

Social and Environmental Enterprises examines organizations that place a social mission ahead of or on par with their financial mission. While studying real and fictionalized social enterprises, we discuss the structures within which social enterprises can thrive, potential sources for funding, the best governance structures, compensation, issues that arise when the organization scales and faces transitions, and tax considerations. We consider the current business, legal, and public policy context for social enterprises, as well as the public policy measures that could foster a healthier social sector.

Motherwoman And The Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act: The Role Of Community Organizations In Education And Outreach For State Employment Laws, Christoph Demers, Laura Sylvester

School of Public Policy Capstones

Since 2013, MotherWoman has been leading the drive to pass the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which is likely to be voted on within the current legislative session. While a full vote on the bill has not yet been scheduled, there appears to be significant support for the bill from legislators, coalition members, and the general public, and little public pushback from potential opponents. While MotherWoman continues to help move the legislation through the legislature, they must look to the next phase: implementation. Once passed, it will be up to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) to implement and …

The Financial Health Of Massachusetts Nonprofit Arts Organizations (2009-2014), Derek Krevat

School of Public Policy Capstones

This report analyzes the extent to which nonprofit arts organizations in Massachusetts have recovered from the financial recession of 2009. There are a number of ways to measure financial health, but amid recent concerns surrounding the diversification of revenue streams, long-term financial stability, and the availability of cash on hand among nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts, the analysis focuses primarily on these factors. Specifically, it uses four overarching measures to gauge financial health and recovery: surplus margins (as an indication of profitability), diversification of revenue streams, asset mixes, and months cash on hand (as an indication of liquidity).

Best Practices For Creating And Sustaining Engagement With Urban Communities: Recommendations For The U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service, Mimi Kaplan

School of Public Policy Capstones

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service launched its Urban Wildlife Conservation Program in 2012 in order to increase the relevancy of the service to urban communities, as well as to connect urban communities with nature and environmental conservation. As part of this initiative, the USFWS has designated certain urban centers as Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership Areas. The main goal of the Urban Wildlife Refuges is to engage urban communities in wildlife conservation, often with the help of community partners. These are eight "Standards of Excellence" that serve as a framework to support this goal. While these Standards of Excellence are …

“Social And Economic Impacts Of Labor Migration On Migrants’ Households In Tajikistan: Working Out Policy Recommendations To Address Its Negative Effects”, Gulchekhra Khuseynova

School of Public Policy Capstones

The limited employment opportunities and low labor costs in the middle of 1990s –beginning 2000s that caused increased unemployment among population were main driving factors encouraging a high scale labor migration of Tajik citizens abroad. The labor migration from Tajikistan which, according to different sources, composes one third of the employable population of the country is probably the most dominant social feature of contemporary Tajikistan having its both positive and negative effects on communities, especially migrants’ households. During hard economic times and post-war recovery period the labor migration had tremendously contributed in reducing the poverty among population and decreasing unemployment …

Can A Default Option Reduce Default Rates?, Vanessa Joyce Megaw

School of Public Policy Capstones

Starting in 2008, major changes to the federal student loan system have increased the generosity and flexibility of repayment options. In theory, these efforts should reduce the effect of the business cycle on default patterns. However, since 2007, student loan default rates have persisted in rising. In response, several student loan advocates have proposed replacing the standard program with the income-based repayment program as the automatic repayment option. This stakeholder analysis explores the potential of this proposal from the perspective of borrowers, academic institutions, and student loan servicers through a literature review of empirical research of student loan default behaviors, …

Civic Engagement In Local Arts Agencies, Maya Kumazawa

School of Public Policy Capstones

Local arts agencies (LAAs), which support, promote, and develop the arts at a local level, can meet a community’s needs for engaging its citizens by using the arts in creative and strategic ways. In this capstone project, I explore how LAAs’ programs perceive and define civic engagement in order to understand how they seek to create civic competencies, and engage communities in crucial activities of local public life. Further, I analyzed current trends, practices, and program outcomes of LAAs that promote or integrate the arts in other civic activities to develop a resource for community leaders wanting to create a …

Evaluating Governance And Market Of Country Code Top Level Domain (Cctld): Lessons For Indonesia’S Cctld .Id, Dwi Elfrida Martina Simanungkalit

School of Public Policy Capstones

Domain name in this term refers to the Internet Domain Name System (DNS), the hierarchical naming system of Internet Protocol (IP) resources. One of the Top Level Domains (TLDs) of this structure is the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), which identifies the location of each nation on the Internet, such as .fr, .us, .id.

Country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) are not just simple identifiers on the Internet but Internet entities that enable people and institutions to exist in virtual countries and space. Moreover, ccTLDs as one of the Internet’s resources have become a business that fosters utilization of …

Encouraging Spanish-Speaking Parent Involvement: Overcoming The Barriers At Crocker Farm Elementary School, Krista Solie

School of Public Policy Capstones

The average student spends between six and seven hours in the classroom each day. However, children need educational support that exceeds the traditional school day in order to develop to their full potential, so parents play a vital role in a child’s ability to succeed. Parent involvement can take a variety of forms both formally in schools and informally at home, yet Spanish-speaking parents often face a variety of barriers that limit their ability to actively participate in their child’s education. While these problems typically occur in urban districts, Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley in particular have a growing proportion …

Social Enterprise In Latin America: Dimensions Of Collaboration Among Social Entrepreneurs, Kevin Moforte Madsen

School of Public Policy Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Non-­Federal Match Requirement For Head Start: Why Does It Exist And How Does It Affect A Local Head Start Program?, Alan Dallmann

School of Public Policy Capstones

This paper looks at the relationship between the non--‐federal match requirement for Head Start Programs and program operations with regard to parent engagement. It argues that the purpose of non--‐federal match is perceived differently depending on the position of the person asked, and an exploratory case study is conducted to identify these differences. Non--‐federal match requirements are compared to practices of capturing this match from parent engagement at a local Head Start program and managers are interviewed from the site, program and federal level. The purpose of the non--‐federal match requirement, its burden on program operations, and the relationship of …

Fostering Connections: A Potential Game Changer For Connecticut To Ease Kids’ Transition From Dcf To Adulthood, Rose Egan

School of Public Policy Capstones

This paper examines how Connecticut can best utilize the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008: H.R. 6893 / P.L 110-351 (Fostering Connections Act). As of October 1, 2010, the legislation was amended to expand foster care services using Title IV-E funds. Title II, sec.201 of the Act provides states the option to extend foster care to youth through the age of 21. Connecticut already extends care to youth committed to DCF through age 21, and in some cases through age 23, yet it has one of the highest rates of youth exiting care at age 18. …

The Education Of A Farmer, Matthew D. Kushi

School of Public Policy Capstones

As the history of human civilization has unfolded, it has become clear that providing food security for fellow humans is one of the great moral issues of current times. One way to make food security sustainable is by having adequately trained farmers to take over from the retiring workforce of farmers in order to provide food and resources to people. National studies have found that fewer youth are educated as farmers by growing up on a farm. This has resulted in there being more responsibility put upon the private and public sectors to educate/train farmers, including colleges and universities.

This …

Collaborative Decision-Making Processes In Planning: Opportunities And Challenges In The City Of Rafaela, Argentina, Maria Belen Alfaro

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

There is a large body of literature in the planning field on the topic of collaborative processes of decision-making, particularly in the United States and Europe. However, there appears to be less debate on the subject of complementing these ideas with contributions from urban governance. This research aims to contribute to that complementary work. In order to accomplish that, this thesis presents first a theoretical analysis of collaborative rationality and urban governance contributions. This analysis focuses on the articulation of those aspects that can offer a more holistic framework for addressing urban issues in a more inclusive way. Second, it …

A Study Of The Video Game Industry In U.S Metropolitan Areas Using Occupational Analysis, Hinlan Wong

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The video game industry is a billion dollar industry with an ever-growing fan base. Massachusetts, along with other states, has begun to take an interest in further developing this dynamic industry. A problem facing many policy makers and economic developers is accurately defining the video game industry, determining the types of workers that form of human capital within its workforce and where these businesses are located. This study helps to solve this problem by converting video game credits, found in all video games, into Standard Occupational Codes to identify the types of workers who comprise the industry and by conducting …

Evaluating Strategies To Create Successful Business Incubators In Massachusetts Gateway Cities, Sonya C. Smith

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis evaluates economic development, planning, public policy, and business strategies to create successful business incubators in Massachusetts’ post-industrial cities. These post-industrial cities in Massachusetts are dubbed “Gateway Cities” because they were once the economic engines of the region as well as areas of entry for many foreign-born residences to live and work. These cities have been recently plagued by high unemployment, poverty, and low business investment as many businesses, especially manufacturing, have located elsewhere. Legislation and policies involving redistribution of wealth to these Gateway Cities has recently been enacted to strengthen these communities. Although there currently isn’t a cohesive …

Environmental Justice And Roma Communities In Central And Eastern Europe, Krista Harper, Tamara Steger, Richard Filcak

Anthropology Department Faculty Publication Series

Environmental injustice and the social exclusion of Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has roots in historical patterns of ethnic exclusion and widening socioeconomic inequalities following the collapse of state socialism and the transition to multi-party parliamentary governments in 1989. In this article, we discuss some of the methodological considerations in environmental justice research, engage theoretical perspectives on environmental inequalities and social exclusion, discuss the dynamics of discrimination and environmental protection regarding the Roma in CEE, and summarize two case studies on environmental justice in Slovakia and Hungary. We argue that when some landscapes and social groups are …

Across The Bridge: Using Photovoice To Study Environment And Health In A Romani Community., Krista Harper, The Sajó River Association For Environment And Community Development, Hungary

Anthropology Department Faculty Publication Series

This photo essay is the product of a partnership between Prof. Krista Harper, the Sajó River Association for Environment and Community Development, and community organizer Judit Bari. The project took place in a small city in northeastern Hungary hit hard by factory closings since the collapse of state socialism in 1989. The Roma community, about 20% of the town’s population, has been especially vulnerable. A team of six young people participated as photographers and discussion participants, working closely with Harper and Bari. Other community members joined discussions of the images. The team held a photo exhibition in the neighborhood where …

Modes, Means And Measures: Adapting Sustainability Indicators To Assess Preservation Activity's Impact On Community Equity, Mackenzie M. Greer

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Preservation of and reinvestment in the built environment as a redevelopment tool has been used by cities and towns across the country, in many cases providing significant social, economic and environmental benefits. Potential social effects have often been the least explored aspect of sustainable development, especially with regard to preservation, yet they are often the most challenging, particularly given the potential for displacement.

This thesis reviews literature where the issues of preservation, redevelopment and sustainability intersect. A set of best practices was developed that can be applied to other cities and towns to help balance preservation- and equity- enhancing activities. …

Parking Regulation Strategies And Policies To Support Transit-Oriented Development, Ryan W. Lundergan

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis identifies and explores the effects that new parking strategies and policies could have on transit-oriented development (TOD) success levels. Additionally, it makes the case for TOD parking regulation reform, and is designed to educate planners and stakeholders on how to successfully and responsibly shape parking regulation in the planning and implementation process, so that land use in the region allows the synergistic provision of sustainable transportation specifically to the Boston region.

Transit-Oriented Development is viewed and defined differently throughout research and literature, with its most common traits being compact, mixed use development near transit facilities and high-quality walking …

From Democratization To Globalization To Justice: Political Generations In Hungarian Environmentalism From The 1980s To The 2000s, Krista Harper

Anthropology Department Faculty Publication Series

This presentation applies sociologist Nancy Whittier's concept of "political generations" to explore political identities and strategies appearing over time in the Hungarian environmental movement. I discuss the rise of democratic environmentalism in the 1980s, the shift to a more professionalized and globally oriented activist stance in the 1990s, and the emergence of social justice frames associated with the newest cohort of environmental activists of the 2000s.

Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activism And Postsocialist Political Ecology In Hungary, Krista Harper

Anthropology Department Faculty Publication Series

"Wild Capitalism" examines environmental issues in the "New Europe" of the twenty-first century. Specifically, it looks at how the meanings of "civil society" and "environment" have changed as environmentalists encounter the political and ecological realities of life after state socialism. Although environmentalism is a global social movement, environmental politics is a grassroots process in which activists creatively translate environmental issues into cultural idioms and political processes.