Digital Commons Network^™

Race, Religion, And Law: The Tension Between Spirit And Its Institutionalization, George H. Taylor

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

San Jacinto Center For Environmental Education, Susanna Catherine Hamilton

Theses Digitization Project

The author sets out to find what the characteristics of a functional and successful nature center includes. In doing so, she helps to create the San Jacinto Center for Environmental Education. The desire behind this is to bring more school-age children and university students to the site as well as to manage and expand the public walks on the San Jacinto Wildlife Area.

Environmental Justice And The Role Of Social Capital In An Underserved Urban Community, Lorraine Ann Dillon

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate a community's beliefs, attitudes, and experiences regarding their neighborhood's environmental health issues and the ways in which individuals utilize social capital (the degree to which a community collaborates and cooperates) to improve their environmental health. Research correlating social capital with health status shows that the higher the level of social capital in a community, the better the health. An understanding of why some groups exhibit more social capital than others is important in improving the public health system. The study was accomplished by comparing a convenience sample of two specific groups …

Guide To Social Change Led By And With Young People, Adam Fletcher, Joseph Varvus

Guides

THE FREECHILD PROJECT HAS BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WHILE. In the five years since we began, The Freechild Project has identified three powerful trends in social change led by and with young people:

1. Social change led by young people is not all about young people. Instead, children and youth are working for their communities, their families, their cities, and their world. Action that is focused on youth issues often addresses young people as a whole, not isolating other youth because of race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

2. More action has led to more sophistication, creating more sustainable …

From The Forest To The River: Citizens' Views Of Stakeholder Engagement, Gregg B. Walker, Susan L. Senecah, Steven E. Daniels

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Since the early 1990s collaboration and consensus processes have become associated with success in the environmental policy and natural resource policy arenas. Interest in collaboration and consensus processes have emerged, in part, out of a frustration with more conventional efforts used to involve stakeholders, to work though conflicts, and to make decisions in the environmental and natural resource policy arenas. Collaboration and consensus processes, when designed well and applied appropriately, provide opportunities for meaningful stakeholder engagement. This essay features aspects of two government-led or agency-based (Koontz et al. 2004; Moore and Koontz 2003) planning efforts that consider collaboration and citizens/stakeholder …

Importing Extended Producer Responsibility For Electronic Equipment Into The United States, Chad Raphael, Ted Smith

Communication

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach that holds manufacturers accountable for the full costs of their products at every stage in their life cycle. EPR typically involves requiring that producers take back their products at the end of their useful lives, or pay a recycling contractor to do so, thereby internalizing the costs of recycling or disposal in a manufacturer’s bottom line. When companies know that they will bear the costs of product return and recycling, they are more likely to redesign their products for easier and safer handling at each step in the life cycle. This approach …

The Social Ecology Of Hurricane Katrina Re-Writing The Discourse Of “Natural” Disasters, Yoosun Park, Joshua Miller

School for Social Work: Faculty Publications

It is increasingly difficult to distinguish natural events from those influenced by human actions. Furthermore, researchers in various fields have established that the level of devastation and the predicted likelihood of recovery of neighborhoods and communities correspond with the amount of political and socioeconomic capital held by neighborhoods and communities prior to disasters such as the Hurricane Katrina. In this paper we analyze the significance of the discourse of “natural disasters” through the framework of social ecology. We contest the neutralist discourse of “natural disasters” by underscoring the numerous interdependent sociopolitical forces, which shape the context in which disasters occur.

Race And Ethnicity In Leisure Behavior: Where Havewe Been And Where Dowe Need To Go?, Dan K. Hibbler Ph.D.

School of Continuing and Professional Studies Faculty and Staff Works

No abstract provided.

The Boston Mpo Planning Process And Low-Income Suburban-To-Suburban Transportation Needs, Phillip Granberry, Michael Landon, David Terkla

Economics Faculty Publication Series

The rapid evolution in the Boston MPO transportation planning process is discussed as well as its particular application to the suburban-suburban transportation needs of low income individuals. The results of two experiments designed to improve access to transportation for low income suburban individuals are discussed and policy suggestions are made for improving such access.

The Technical Fix Or The Systemic Solution For Urban Water Quality? A Case Study Of Grassroots Activism On Behalf Of New York City's Drinking Water, Mirele B. Goldsmith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This case study examines the activities of the Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition from 1996 until 2004. The Coalition opposed construction of a filtration plant for the Croton water supply. The study traces the Coalition’s campaign against filtration, which took place in the context of the widely heralded New York City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (1997). Although the Agreement permitted New York City to avoid filtration for its Catskill and Delaware water supplies, plans were laid for filtration of the Croton supply.

My study is informed by political ecology which provides a framework for understanding politics, practices and contradictions involved …

Environment And The Quality Of Life In Nevada, Robert Futrell

Social Health of Nevada Reports

When the first environmental decade was launched in the U.S. more than thirty years ago with the inaugural Earth Day, protecting our air, water, land and other natural resources seemed a relatively simple task. Environmental polluters and exploiters would be brought to heel by tough laws. The U.S. and other industrialized nations responded to quality of life concerns associated with the degradation of the natural environment by adopting dozens of major environmental and resource policies and creating new institutions such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to manage environmental programs. With a sense of urgency Congress passed the Clean Air …

Activist Training In The Academy: Developing A Master's Program In Environmental Advocacy And Organizing At Antioch New England Graduate School, Steve Chase

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This curriculum action research study begins by raising the question of whether environmental studies programs within higher education should launch activist training programs for public interest advocates and grassroots organizers working for nonprofit organizations focused on environmental protection, corporate accountability, and social justice. Answering that question in the affirmative, the study then focuses on the theoretical issues underlying the creation of activist training programs within the academy, specifically within environmental studies programs, and reports on a case study of the successful development of a master’s program in Environmental Advocacy and Organizing. The first section on theoretical issues focuses first on …

“Peace Is More Than The End Of Bombing”: The Second Stage Of The Vieques Struggle, Sherrie Baver

Publications and Research

The nature of colonialism in Puerto Rico has caused most political issues to be viewed within the framework of status politics. In the first stage of the struggle to expel the U.S. Navy from the island (1999–2003), civil society in Puerto Rico united when the issues were reframed with links not to status politics but to human rights and social justice. Viequenses symbolized for Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico, on the mainland, and in the world at large the costs of military colonialism. In the second stage of the struggle, since the military’s departure, Viequenses have struggled to control the …

The Heart Of The Matter: Aligning Curriculum, Pedagogy And Engagement In Higher Education, Kevin Kecskes, Seanna Kerrigan, Judy Patton

Public Administration Faculty Publications and Presentations

This essay explores the themes of curriculum and pedagogy, as outlined by the editors of this special edition, in the context of Portland State University's institutional transformation. We elucidate select mechanisms that support curricular-community interactions, known at PSU as "community-based learning." In doing so we discuss how CBL and other civic engagement strategies relate to the disciplines, departments, and interdisciplinary work as well as how these various collaborative approaches affect pedagogy and epistemology at PSU.

From Self-Sufficiency To Personal And Family Sustainability: A New Paradigm For Social Policy, Robert Leibson Hawkins

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Current social policy that affects welfare recipients focuses on the concept of "self-sufficiency" where leaving welfare for work is the goal. While this approach has reduced welfare rolls, it has not necessarily helped low-income people improve their economic, educational, or social outlook. This paper suggests that the concept of Personal and Family Sustainability (PFS) may be a better way to evaluate and direct social policy. A definition of PFS is developed from the environmental and community development roots of sustainability and four domains for creating PFS indicators are introduced.

An Evaluation Of The Oregon Department Of Transportation’S (Odot) Environmental Streamlining Efforts: A Focus On Cetas, Connie P. Ozawa, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Oregon Department of Transportation responded to the federal call in the late 1990s to streamline the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by (1) implementing organizational and procedural changes internal to the agency, (2) funding ODOT-dedicated staff positions in state and federal resource agencies, and (3) convening regular meetings with state and federal agencies with NEPA-related regulatory responsibilities. This latter effort evolved into the CETAS (Collaborative Environmental and Transportation Agreement for Streamlining) process that includes a management and a technical team element. This document reports an assessment of the effectiveness of these efforts. Phase I of the study was designed …

Southeastern Law Librarian Fall 2005, Seaall

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Weaver’S Cove Energy Versus The City Of Fall River, Massachusetts: An Experience In The Concepts Of Stakeholders, Economic Impact, And Social Obligation/Social Responsibility, Susan M. Bosco, W. Brett Mckenzie, Kathleen S. Micken

Organization Management Journal

This experiential exercise, designed for our introductory business course, uses a classroom debate to teach the concepts of stakeholders, social obligation/social responsibility, and ethical frameworks for decision-making. The basis for the debate is the request by Weaver’s Cove Energy to construct and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Fall River, Massachusetts. Weaver’s Cove has proposed the facility for an abandoned industrial site on the waterfront. The exercise addresses the three learning goals listed above through readings, position construction, and the debate itself. The rationale for the assignment and the chosen pedagogy are presented. Additionally, the materials used to …

Day 2: Thursday, 18 August 2005: Canada Lynx Reintroduction, Gary Skiba, Rob Edward, Bonnie Kline

Endangered Species Act Congressional Field Tour (August 17-19)

5 pages (includes some color illustrations and maps).

Contains references.

Water Justice In South Africa: Natural Resources Policy At The Intersection Of Human Rights, Economics, & Political Power, Rose Francis

ExpressO

This paper analyzes water as a social justice issue in South Africa, a nation that has undergone tremendous political and legal transformations over the last fifteen years, but whose population nonetheless continues to suffer from severe inequities in access to freshwater resources. In light of growing water scarcity worldwide, this paper highlights that legal treatment of water resources has significant socioeconomic and distributive justice impacts, even in progressive constitutional democracies that have embraced principles of human rights and international legal norms. The paper explores historical changes in South African water law and evaluates the current political and legal status of …

Spartan Daily, February 22, 2005, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily (School of Journalism and Mass Communications)

Volume 124, Issue 18

Public Participation In Transportation: An Emperical Test For Authentic Participation, Jorge Cesar Figueredo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the public participation activities of State Departments of Transportation (SDOTs) in the United States. A review of existing literature and legal frameworks suggests that an "authentic" public participation results when dimensions of representativeness, use of public inputs, interactiveness, and quality of citizen inputs have been achieved. The study sought to identify conditions that serve as measurements that must presumably be satisfied for authenticity to exist in public participation. The result was a Model of Authentic Public Participation that served as the basis for creation of a new four-tiered methodology to assess the performance of these districts relative …

Participation: A Model Of Individual Willingness To Participate In The Transportation Planning Process, Michael Neidhart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to identify the key determinants that lead individuals to participate in the transportation planning process. Two models of participation, one for the short-term and another for the long-term, were developed to test whether the key internal and external determinants are responsible for influencing a person's willingness to participate. The data for this study came from a mail-back survey that was administered to a random sample of 570 individuals throughout the State of Florida for a response rate of 37.37 percent. The results indicate that the internal motivational determinants exert more influence on a person's short-term willingness to …

Legitimacy, Justice, And The Future Of Africa, J. Peter Pham

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Development in Africa edited by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza and Philip J. McConnaughay. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004. 308 pp.

Christians Against Globalization In The Philippines, Kathy Nadeau

Anthropology Faculty Publications

This paper focuses on the Basic Christian Communities in the Philippines that work to counter human and environmental rights violations resulting from macro-economic development processes. While not every activist-led and mass-based people's movement includes critical environmental issues on their agendas for social change, this paper directs its attention to the progressive Basic Christian Community movement that incorporates an environmentally concerned and team-oriented approach to problem solving at the local level. This movement is part of an international bottom-up effort to counteract some of the negative effects of global capitalism (e.g., the fragmentation of close-knit communities that were once based on …

Physical Activity And Use Of Suburban Train Stations: An Exploratory Analysis, John L. Renne

Planning and Urban Studies Faculty Publications

Physical inactivity contributes to a growing proportion of illness and premature death in the United States. Only about 45 percent of Americans meet the recommended national standard for physical activity. Yet, analysis of 300 surveys collected from train riders at three walkable New Jersey suburban train stations showed that 78 percent met the activity guidelines. A new train station that allows these riders to save time in their commute has attracted new riders and has led existing commuters to change their commute. One-third of those surveyed reported additional physical activity primarily because they walked more after leaving the train in …

57th & Division Street Community Ownership Project, Brendan Buckley, Clark Henry, Stephen Shane, Simone C. Wolter

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

HBU Consultants identify available resources in the region that could assist the clean up and redevelopment of the SE 57th and SE Division site, ascertained what kind of future use the community desires on this site, and evaluated sources of data to develop recommendations on how the DCOP could proceed. This project was conducted under the supervision of Deborah Howe, Sy Adler, and Connie Ozawa.

Mapping The Other Truth In The Shintech Case: Emancipatory Mapping For Environmental Justice In South Louisiana, Charles Allen Flanagan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents an alternative mapping approach which challenges the hegemony of abstract space and instrumental reason propagated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its 1998 study of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) permitting process. The "other truth" is presented through application of concepts from critical theory, critical geography, and the works of Henri Lefebvre to a specific environmental justice struggle in St. James Parish, Louisiana. In 1996 Shintech, Inc. proposed building a polyvinyl chloride facility in St. James Parish, Louisiana. The community, concerned about the considerable toxic burden already present in the area, formed a …

Agenda: Introduction To The Legal Foundation Of Federal Land Management, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Introduction to the Legal Foundation of Federal Land Management (December 1-3)

Materials prepared for the course held at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado on December 1-3, 2004

Course instructors: Charles Wilkinson; Sarah Krakoff; Kathryn Mutz; Ann Morgan; Maggie Fox

Contents:

Introduction -- Agenda -- Summaries of laws -- Case studies. Travel management; Oil and gas development; Timber/fuels reduction -- How to influence agency decision makers -- Natural resource related legal and policy resources for the non-legal professional

Introduction To The Legal Foundation Of Federal Land Management, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Introduction to the Legal Foundation of Federal Land Management (December 1-3)

1 v. (various pagings) : ill., maps ; 28 cm

Materials prepared for the course held at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado on December 1-3, 2004

Course instructors: Charles Wilkinson; Sarah Krakoff; Kathryn Mutz; Ann Morgan; Maggie Fox

Contents:

Introduction -- Agenda -- Summaries of laws -- Case studies. Travel management; Oil and gas development; Timber/fuels reduction -- How to influence agency decision makers -- Natural resource related legal and policy resources for the non-legal professional