Digital Commons Network^™

Removing Development Incentives In Risky Areas Promotes Climate Adaptation, Hannah Druckenmiller, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, Sophie Pesek, Margaret Walls, Shan Zhang

Economics Faculty Publications

As natural disasters grow in frequency and intensity with climate change, limiting the populations and properties in harm’s way will be key to adaptation. This study evaluates one approach to discouraging development in risky areas—eliminating public incentives for development, such as infrastructure investments, disaster assistance and federal flood insurance. Using machine learning and matching techniques, we examine the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS), a set of lands where these federal incentives have been removed. We find that the policy leads to lower development densities inside designated areas, increases development in neighbouring areas, reduces flood damages and alters local demographics. Our …

Impact On Abortion Rates: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis Of Planned Parenthood’S Refusal Of Title X Family Planning Funding, Carrissa Griffing

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) decided to reject federal family planning funds when faced with a “gag rule” that would prevent PPFA from providing abortion services. The economic theory of scarcity and everyday human experience teach that a reduction in available resources or means will necessarily impact the ends to which those means are expended. This dissertation tests the prediction of economic theory that a reduction in available means results in a sacrifice in given ends, like a paycheck reduction might result in less food on a family dinner table. Planned Parenthood’s behavior is examined in light of this …

Pricing, Decarbonization, And Green New Deals, David M. Driesen, Michael A. Mehling

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Article evaluates an emerging literature claiming that carbon pricing (emissions trading or carbon taxes) has not performed very well and therefore cannot be the basis for the sort of transformative change now required to address the climate crisis. This is an important claim, as carbon pricing has been viewed as being at the heart of global efforts to address one of our most important contemporary problems.

We provide theoretical and empirical support for these critics’ claim that carbon pricing by itself cannot catalyze the technological transformation now required, and that other approaches have done and will likely do better. …

Exploring The Factors That Influence Female Offending In The U.S. And Mexico, Dana Villasenor

CMC Senior Theses

Hollywood has painted a picture of the criminal woman as a sexy, sneaky, and often psychotic female fatale. This is because men run Hollywood. Much like movies, research on why women offend had historically focused on men as their stellar. However, towards the turn of the century and with the disproportionate rise in female incarceration, literature caught up to the fact that women and men do not experience the same socialization, standards, or reality and, therefore, have different reasons for and ways of offending. This research explores those reasons for women in the U.S. and Mexico and paints the picture …

Emerging From Behind The Curtain: A Comparative Analysis Of Polish And Czech Reforms Based On Quality Of Life Improvements, Summer Ellis

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the economic reforms undertaken by Poland and the Czech Republic during the 1990s transition period. It seeks to ultimately differentiate reform quality between the Czech Republic and Poland in terms of well-being. The basis of reform success is determined using a quality of life scale that spans economic, health, and environmental indicators. Reform quality is then assessed based on improvements in well-being, instead of high-level economic metrics that often evaluate in a manner that fails to capture individual citizen sentiment. From this point, it is possible to determine which transitioning country underwent the most optimal reform process …

Redefining Rehabilitation: Evaluating The Washtenaw County Pre-Plea Diversion Program, William Ellsworth

CMC Senior Theses

The Washtenaw County (MI) Prosecutor’s Office’s Pre-Plea Diversion Program (PPDP) aims to divert eligible misdemeanor defendants from the criminal justice system, offering rehabilitative programming to reduce reoffending and minimize the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction with case dismissal. This research assessed whether PPDP participants were less likely to be re-arrested in the six months following program completion compared to a sample of defendants facing similar charges within the same court. It was hypothesized that the PPDP would effectively reduce re-arrest, with community service and mental health counseling proving particularly impactful. Employing a quasi-experimental design, data from 90 successfully diverted …

Speed And Judgment: The Effect Of Caseload On Florida’S District Courts Of Appeal, Isabella C. Johnston

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Florida District Courts of Appeal have undergone many changes over the last three years, including the adoption of video conferencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the creation of a brand-new district for the first time since 1979. Included in this series of changes was a new rule that moves most of the circuit court’s appellate jurisdiction into the jurisdiction the District Courts of Appeals (DCAs). This change has added to the systemic pressures of the Florida DCAs. While the creation of a new district is a step in the right direction to protect the effectiveness and perception of …

Ngo Navigators, Information Support, And Parental Assistance With Pk-12 School Decisions, Jason E. Saltmarsh

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study provides empirical insights into the perceptions and agency of navigators who provide school selection assistance and this NGO’s unique insider–outsider status. As semi-private actors, navigators offer an important bridge between two kinds of social capital: the informal types of trust and legitimacy that families rely on, and the skills, knowledge, and networks necessary to access higher-quality schools in choice policy contexts. Data for this study are derived from an exploratory case study, including 13 in-depth interviews, documentary and social media analysis, and informal conversations. The findings illustrate the benefits and shortcomings of NGO information support in choice policy …

Nursing Care During Natural Disasters, War Zones, And Mass Casualty Incidents: Implications For An Educational And Professional Overhaul, Erin N. White

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Emergency situations around the world are inevitable. Any nurse who practices for any period of time is sure to encounter situations like these. Their hospital may be flooded with traumatic and severely life-threatening patient cases where supplies can become scarce. In these situations, a nurse and all other healthcare personnel are expected to act effectively, efficiently and in a highly organized way. Despite this need, many hospitals fail to implement effective disaster preparedness programs and plans. This leaves healthcare workers at a loss for how to treat patients, communicate within and outside of the hospital, coordinate transport, and all the …

Animal Adoption Experiences In Hong Kong, Suet Ying, Coco Cheung

Bachelor of Social Sciences – Senior Theses

This study explores how the different aspects and variables will affect the experiences of animal adoption. Animal adoption is the process of adopting strays or abandoned animals, which is also an alternative to obtaining pets. The research provides a theoretical framework to further understand the dynamics of animal adoption in various dimensions, such as the drivers of animal adoption, the role of animal adoption organizations, and the normative expectations of animal adopters. This research attempts to empirically fill this topic's research gap to explain the relationship between the variables and adoption experiences. In this study, the adoption experiences will be …

The Association Of Skin Cancer Prevention Knowledge, Sun-Protective Attitudes, And Sun-Protective Behaviors In A Navy Population, Rachel Newnam, Uyen Le-Jenkins, Carolyn Rutledge, Craig Cunningham

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Introduction: U.S. Navy service members are primarily between the ages of 18 and 30 years and often required to be outside for extended periods of time in geographical locations with increased and often unfamiliar ultraviolet indexes that collectively increase their risk for skin cancer. Skin cancer is the country's most common form of cancer, yet there is a paucity of skin cancer prevention literature, especially within the U.S. Navy. The purpose of this study was to describe skin cancer risk and skin cancer prevention "cues-to-action" and to determine if skin cancer prevention knowledge was associated with sun-protective attitudes (e.g., prevention …

Caregivers' Perceptions Of Covid-19 Educational Disruptions On Children With Developmental Language Disorder And Typically Developing Peers, Katherine Radville, Danika Pfeiffer, Karynn Sheranian, Julie Wolter, Jessie Ricketts, Tiffany L. Hogan

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Purpose: Understanding the experiences of families of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) during COVID-19 educational disruptions is essential for designing responsive supports during pandemic recovery efforts and beyond. This qualitative study describes the experiences of families of first-and second-grade children with DLD during the pandemic as compared to the experiences of families of typically developing (TD) peers.

Method: A conventional content analysis approach was used to analyze caregivers’ written responses to open-ended questions regarding their perceptions of COVID-19 educational disruptions. Responses were analyzed separately by group: caregivers of children with DLD (n= 23) and caregivers of TD children (n= …

The Impact Of Biochar's Physicochemical Properties On Sorption Of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (Pfoa), Karen Ane Skjennum, Katinka M. Krahn, Erlend Sørmo, Raoul Wolf, Aleksandar I. Goranov, Patrick G. Hatcher, Thomas Hartnik, Hans Peter H. Arp, Andrew R. Zimmerman, Yaxin Zhang, Gerard Cornelissen

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

To better characterize properties governing the sorption of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to biochar, twenty-three diverse biochars were characterized and evaluated as sorbents for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). Biochars were produced at various temperatures, using two different technologies, and made from sewage sludge, food waste reject, wood wastes, and one reference substrate (wood pellets). The biochars were characterized in terms of surface area, pore volume and pore size distributions, elemental composition, leachable elements, ash content, pH, zeta potential, condensed aromatic carbon (ConAC) content (determined by benzenepolycarboxylic acid (BPCA) markers), and their -OH functional group content (infrared spectroscopy). PFOA sorption isotherms …

Towards Inclusive Public Administration Systems: Public Budgeting From The Perspective Of Critical Race Theory, Juan Pablo Martínez Guzmán, Meagan M. Jordan, Philip G. Joyce

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

While there is a developing consensus that governments need to address systemic racism, public administration scholarship has not played a large role in supporting policymakers who want to achieve that end. To institutionalize that effort, we analyze the budget process as a setting to identify inequities and incorporate social equity given its overarching reach across all programs and policies. This article uses the tenets of critical race theory to illustrate how to use the budget process to incorporate equity. The resulting racial equity budgeting (REB) framework has three tenets: acknowledging and correcting historic biases, increasing the voice of nondominant groups, …

A Polyphonic Debate On Social Equity Budgeting, Bruce D. Mcdonald Iii, Laurence Ferry, Sean A. Mccandless, Meagan M. Jordan, Ileana Steccolini, John R. Bartle, Thomas Ahrens, Jim Haslam, Philip G. Joyce, Tobias Polzer

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This paper is polyphonic (i.e., a debate involving multiple perspectives) and highlights emerging interdisciplinary thoughts on past, current, and future social equity budgeting (SEB). We present a vision for the field and emphasize the potential impact of this paper. We hope to enliven debates regarding context, underpinning philosophies, and methods, thus fostering a greater theoretical and practical reconsideration of SEB. The impact of this paper is significant, as it leads to a fundamental rethinking of SEB and related research, profoundly influencing the field. To do so, this paper has brought together 10 international scholars to foster an interdisciplinary approach regarding …

Beyond The Game: Gamification, Sports Betting, And Fantasy Sports In Modern Sports, Kyler A. Ripley

Soaring: A Journal of Undergraduate Research

The gamification of fantasy sports and sports betting is real in our society today and has become incredibly useful, but policymakers need to create laws to protect consumers.

The New Straightjackets: How Prisons Have Come To Be The Mental Illness Solution, Parker A. Wolfe

Soaring: A Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper examines the current mental health resources that are available in prisons, as well as the correlation between deinstitutionalization and the rise of individuals struggling with mental illness within prison walls.

Patterns Into Pathways For Improving Safety Culture: Refined Latent Class Analysis Informs Tailored Decision Support For South Carolina Dss Safety Culture Improvements, Michaela Voit

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The rising prevalence of exposures to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) demands a coordinated public health response, as a significant body of research details the cumulative impact of ACEs on chronic morbidities contributing to reduced life expectancy. Child welfare workers (CWW) are embedded in this public health effort, tasked with preventing and mitigating the impacts of ACEs through family and prevention services. The National Partnership for Child Safety (NPCS) may improve the wellbeing of CWWs and the effectiveness of Child Welfare (CW) services by improving the quality of safety culture within CW organizations. To inform NPCS quality improvement efforts, our project …

Financial Monitoring And Oversight Of Public Higher Education Institutions By States A Descriptive Case Study Analysis, Ryan Kaffenberger

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Higher education in America is at an inflection point with numerous challenges threatening the traditional business model relied on by institutions across the country. These forces include, but are not limited to: 1) A decrease in the number of high school graduates due to historical declines in birth rates (Grawe, 2018; Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, 2020) 2) Sustained disinvestment by many states in their higher education institutions which has effectively shifted the cost of education to students and families (Kunkle & Laderman, 2023) 3) Increasing skepticism among Americans of the value of higher education, particularly given its rising …

Lfcug's Utilization Of 2022 Opioid Settlement Funds For Recovery Housing, Emily Wiley, Ken Britton Jr, Madelaine Coy

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Following national settlements to combat the opioid epidemic, Kentucky and its local governments received a collective $842 million to invest in prevention and treatment. To employ these dollars most effectively, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) aims to become “recovery ready” as a part of Kentucky’s Recovery Ready Communities (RRC) certification program. This mixed methods comparative case study determined the following high-priority variables that align with RRC certification requirements: recovery housing infrastructure, certification disclosure, and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) services. To provide additional insight into Fayette County’s recovery housing landscape, we analyzed the following supplemental variables: vulnerable populations served, …

Sports Betting In Kentucky: An Analysis Of Kentucky’S Sports Wagering Legislation Through Local And Regional State Budgetary Revenue Trends, Brett Gillispie

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Kentucky’s legislation legalizing sports wagering in the Commonwealth and delineating its taxation, HB551 of the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly, has been implemented and posted numbers in its early months that suggested it will exceed revenue projections for the Commonwealth. Researchers have raised concerns, particularly in studying West Virginia, which implemented similar legislation in 2019, that sports betting may be cannibalizing existing gambling revenue for states that implement it. However, this was not conclusive. While evidence from West Virginia suggests that sports betting may be cannibalizing existing revenue, evidence from Kentucky and the individual and broader regional trends …

The Impact Of Actuarial Valuation Reporting On State Pension Funds, Samantha Montgomery

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The U.S. is currently experiencing a public pension funding crisis that has become the topic of news outlets around the country and political talking points for legislators. It is estimated at the end of fiscal year 2023 that the average funded ratio for a public pension program is 78.1%, which equates to total unfunded pension liabilities for state retirement systems being approximately $1.4 trillion (Pension Plan Funded Ratio Rankings 2023, 2024). Pension systems across the U.S. are managed by boards and pension agencies that are charged with fiduciary responsibility to manage the pension funds in a manner that focuses on …

Evaluating The Impact Of Patient Acuity On Nursing Productivity: A Case Study At Uk Healthcare Chandler Hospital, Kara Klein

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

This study examines the relationship between patient acuity and nursing productivity at UK HealthCare (UKHC) Chandler Hospital from June 2022 to April 2024. Patient acuity, characterized by the complexity and intensity of nursing care required by patients (Juvé-Udina et al., 2020), is crucial in determining staffing needs and operational efficiency. The primary objective of this research is to investigate how variations in patient acuity levels impact Full-Time Equivalents (FTE), a key metric for assessing nursing productivity. The study utilized hospital data and applied descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and regression models to assess the impact of patient acuity on FTE. The …

Enhancing Equity And Economic Growth: A Strategic Review Of Procurement Practices In Prince George’S County, Andrew Stover

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Procurement represents a substantial portion of public spending in state and local governments, and thus is an essential element of responsible public financial management. This paper explores the procurement process on the local government level and provides research into best practices that are conducive to equity and economic development. It takes a look specifically at Prince George’s County, Maryland and analyzes its procurement function in relation to these best practices. An analysis of the County finds that despite its strides in implementing equitable procurement policies, significant gaps remain in the engagement of disadvantaged classes of businesses. To tackle these challenges, …

From Local Income Tax To Local Sales Tax In Kentucky: An Examination Of Lfucg, Zachary Vogl

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Property tax revenue is widely known as the largest own source revenue for local governments. However, other taxes such as local sales taxes (LST) and local incomes taxes (LIT) also provide significant revenue streams for local governments. For example, in Kentucky, “[e]xcluding Fayette and Jefferson, counties collected a total of $353.5 million in occupational license fees on payroll and net profits in FY 2022, making up 42.7 percent of all tax revenue” (Smith 2024).

The use of LST and LIT, in addition to property taxes, by local governments allows for flexibility and revenue diversification; but, these taxes also come with …

Administering A Democratic Industrial Policy, Joel Michaels, Amy Kapczynski

Center for Law and the Economy

In Washington today, we are witnessing what many call the “return of industrial policy.” Some argue that a new political economic paradigm is emerging, departing from the neoliberal order of the last several decades. High-stakes questions about how to administer industrial policy have followed, for good reason: industrial policy necessarily involves a great deal of administrative discretion. Yet we have no adequate literature discussing how that discretion should be deployed. Administrative law scholarship has largely ignored the distinctive tools of industrial policy, such as grantmaking, lending, government contracts and ownership stakes. These tools require flexibility and discretion, and often cannot …

Tax Streams, Land Rents, And Urban Land Allocation, Yugang Tang, Zhihao Su, Yilin Hou, Zhendong Yin

Center for Policy Research

This paper examines the fiscal motives behind municipal governments' decisions to allocate commercial and residential land when two categories of land use are subject to different fiscal revenue alternatives: business-related tax and/or land rent. We use urban parcel-level land transfers during China’s peak period of urbanization, match commercial parcels with residential parcels, and find significant price discounts on commercial parcels relative to adjacent residential parcels. The observed discounts arise from the future tax flows from commercial use, i.e., expected taxes from developed commercial land reduce its transfer price. We conduct a structural estimation to examine the implications on land use …

A Review Of Emerging Sensor Technologies For Tank Inspection: A Focus On Lidar And Hyperspectral Imaging And Their Automation And Deployment, Sergio Pallas Enguita, Chung-Hao Chen, Samuel Kovacic

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper reviews various sensor technologies for tank inspection, focusing on Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) as advanced solutions for corrosion detection. These technologies are evaluated alongside traditional methods such as ultrasonic, electromagnetic, and thermographic inspections. This review highlights their potential to enhance inspection accuracy, reduce the limitations of manual inspection, and support integrated data analysis for comprehensive asset management. Additionally, this paper proposes a pathway for automating these techniques to streamline inspection processes and improve implementation in practical applications.

Predictors Of Identity Crime Victimization Of Adolescent Youth In Foster Care, John Gyourko, Greg Ridgeway

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

Identity crimes pose serious risks and challenges for youth in foster care. As young people move through various out-of-home placements and schools, their personal data are often widely disseminated, difficult to secure, and thus vulnerable to theft and misuse. When they transition from foster care to adulthood, identity crime victims with compromised credit histories may be denied loans, employment, and/or housing during the already-precarious period of emerging adulthood. Even though federal law requires state child welfare agencies to conduct annual credit checks for adolescent youth in foster care, little is known about the factors contributing to risk of identity crime …

Government Grant Receipts And Revenue Volatility: A Correlational Investigation Of Medium-Sized Arts Organizations, Carly Colvin

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Minimal revenue volatility has been shown to enable more accurate planning by nonprofit managers and contribute to nonprofit financial sustainability. The volatility of government revenues, a major income source for nonprofit organizations, is not a well-researched topic. This capstone presents correlational tests to study the relationship between government grant receipts and revenue volatility within medium-sized nonprofit arts organizations in California. In addition, a data compilation methodology is tested and documented to enable future research. The results do not show a correlation between receipt of government grants and revenue volatility. The ensuing considerations for nonprofit managers along with areas for future …