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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Anti-Speculation Doctrine And Its Implications For Collaborative Water Management, Sandi Zellmer
The Anti-Speculation Doctrine And Its Implications For Collaborative Water Management, Sandi Zellmer
Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications
From Texas tycoon T. Boone Pickens to former corporate conglomerate Enron, grandiose schemes to profit from large-scale, transbasin water transfers have proliferated in the past decade. Reactions range from outrage at the commoditization of this precious resource to support for letting the market and its pricing signals move water to the most efficient use. The long-standing prohibition against speculation in water is an impediment to commoditization and, consequently, water marketing in the western United States. By contrast, acquiring real estate, grain, art, and other types of property in hopes of profiting from future market fluctuations is not at all unusual. …
Legal Tools For Lnstream Flow Protection, Sandi Zellmer
Legal Tools For Lnstream Flow Protection, Sandi Zellmer
Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications
Across North America, flow alterations and diversions have led to the depletion of stream flow-reliant ecosystems and ecosystem services. In western states and provinces, the law historically considered water left in the stream to be wasted. Western state laws encouraged full appropriation of rivers and streams, primarily to satisfy the need to divert water to arid areas for economic and domestic purposes. In Eastern states and provinces, stream flows have been altered and depleted through channelization, dams, levees and other structural changes. By the 1970s, "salmon populations were crashing, riparian habitat was being lost, and . . . legendary rivers …
Protecting Whistleblowers By Contract, Richard E. Moberly
Protecting Whistleblowers By Contract, Richard E. Moberly
Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications
Numerous statutes and the tort of wrongful discharge purport to prohibit companies from retaliating against employee whistleblowers. However, whistleblowers often lose retaliation lawsuits because these statutory and common law tort protections depend upon a variety of nuanced factors, such as the employer for whom the whistleblower works, the kind of wrongdoing reported, the way in which the employee blew the whistle, and, under some laws, the willingness of an administrative agency to investigate the whistleblower's claim. Given these difficulties, this Article explores an alternate route for whistleblower protection: enforcing the existing contract protections that private employers currently provide employees when …
Participant Perceptions And Decision-Making Concerning Retirement Benefits, Colleen E. Medill
Participant Perceptions And Decision-Making Concerning Retirement Benefits, Colleen E. Medill
Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications
From 1964 until 2002, the State of Nebraska sponsored a defined contribution plan for its employees. During this period, the plan was unique among state pension plans because it was an individual account-type plan that offered participants the choice of a lump sum or annuity distribution upon retirement. Such a choice presents the opportunity to learn more about how individuals perceive financial risks and weigh various factors when deciding how to access their retirement benefits. This study reports the results of a new survey of Nebraska state workers who retired or terminated employment in 1997. The results offer a perspective …
The Retirement Distribution Decision Ten Years Later: Results From An Empirical Study, Colleen E. Medill
The Retirement Distribution Decision Ten Years Later: Results From An Empirical Study, Colleen E. Medill
Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications
From 1964 until 2002, the State of Nebraska sponsored a defined contribution plan for its employees. During this period, the plan was unique among state pension plans because it was an individual account-type plan that offered participants the choice of a lump-sum or annuity distribution upon retirement. Such a choice presents the opportunity to learn more about how individuals perceive financial risks and weigh various factors when deciding how to access their retirement benefits. This study reports the results of a new survey of Nebraska state workers who retired or terminated employment in 1997. The results offer a perspective on …
Boom And Bust On The Great Plains: Déjà Vu All Over Again, Sandra Zellmer
Boom And Bust On The Great Plains: Déjà Vu All Over Again, Sandra Zellmer
Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications
Two books published in 2006 provide a compelling portrait of the "boom and bust" cycles that have plagued the Great Plains since European settlement. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl and Ogallala Blue: Water and Life on the High Plains stand beside Mark Reisner's classic study of western water resources, Cadillac Desert, and Wallace Stegner's tribute to one of America's greatest conservationists, Crossing the Next Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West, as "must read" books for anyone who cares about the future of …