Digital Commons Network^™

An Affordable, Practical Eco-House, Dave Fitzpatrick

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

An eco-house or zero-energy house is not a new concept- houses with extremely low impact on their surroundings and good use of local resources have been around for centuries. This particular eco-house is designed to offer full modern services and comforts while consuming very low energy and few expensive building materials. Ideally, someone would be able to use this thesis as a blueprint for actual construction.

Sozialpolitik Nach Verursacherprinzip : Beispiele Der Anwendung Aus Arbeit, Gesundheit, Sucht, Schule Und Wohnen, Isidor Wallimann

Books

Sozialpolitik nach Verursacherprinzip explores the application of the polluter pays principle to a variety of social policies. It specifically examines possibilities in labor, health, addiction, education, and housing policies.

101 Ideas For Combining Service & Learning, Florida International University

Service Learning, General

Opportunities within the following areas are discussed: anthropology, accounting, art, biology, business, liberal studies, computers, education, English, environment, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology,

The Power Of One, Curtis Baffico

SWITCH

In this article, Baffico shares his personal story of leaving the corporate world to create One Buck for the Planet, a donation-based social network that helps support environmental organizations. Baffico encourages individuals to give just $1 and spread the word, creating a ripple effect of global giving.

Architectural Sustainability, Mike Lowell

SWITCH

This article explores how architecture is evolving to be more sustainable, responsive, and integrated with the environment. Contemporary architects consider local communities, ecological impact, and energy efficiency. The author discusses examples like Morphosis, Herzog + Partner, and MVRDV, who design with environmental and social responsibility in mind.

Inside Unlv, Shane Bevell, David Ashley, Tony Allen, Mamie Peers, Allison Miller

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Deliberation And Dialogue In The Pracademic Commons, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

There is a strong connection between deliberation and dialogue and commons theory Deliberative activity generally takes place within group settings that approximate the defining conditions of a commons. In addition, social capital, in the form of trust and a sense of mutuality, and construction of a new or reconstituted normative outlook typically result from successful deliberation and dialogue efforts. This poses several lessons for the practice of the practice of such discussions.

“How To Change The World”: Writing An Online Sustainability Leadership Manual For Young Australians, Nina Sherburne

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Under the direction of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership (CSL) in downtown Melbourne, VIC, three articles were written for the CSL online manual entitled “How to Change the World”. These articles contain straightforward, easy-to-read answers to questions young people have regarding sustainability and leadership in their community. The three questions include: “Should I register my not-for-profit? If so, how do I?”, “How do I fundraise for my organization? And do I need to register as a Fundraiser?”, and “How to I sell the idea of sustainability (or change in general) to my boss?”.

This online manual will remove the barriers …

An Eco-Philosophical Ecofeminist Critique Of Victimology: Examining The Anthropocentric And Speciesist Borders And Boundaries Of Victimology, Angela K. Simon

Masters Theses

This work is a critique of the anthropocentric and speciesist borders and boundaries of victimology. Essentially I challenge victimology for failing to incorporate the victimizations of non-human animals and the environment, and instead focusing narrowly on only specific forms of human victimization. I do this by examining the history of victimology and exploring how its boundaries became what they are today. Focusing on the role criminology has had in the general development of victimology. I then go on to juxtapose the limited presence of animals and the environment within criminology with their relative absence in victimology. In conjunction with this …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Shane Bevell, Grace Russell

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Session 7 - Technology And The Creation Of Wilderness: The Making Of Quabbin Reservoir, Timothy J. Farnham

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Large dams in the United States have frequently been the targets of attacks by environmentalists who believe that the dams and the reservoirs they create are violations of wilderness. There are currently numerous proposals to dismantle some dams in order to restore river ecosystems to their pre-dam conditions, including Hetch Hetchy Reservoir’s O’ Shaunnessy Dam. Less attention has been paid to those dams and reservoirs that have arguably created protected areas that otherwise may have been subject to degradation from development. The Quabbin Reservoir, the primary water source for metropolitan Boston, serves as a prime example. Viewed as an engineering …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Shane Bevell, David Ashley, Mamie Peers, Grace Russell, Lisa Shawcroft

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending April 05, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Don’t Trash Nevada website traffic increased by 144% over the previous quarter.

• Project Manager Douglas Joslin made a presentation about the Take Pride in America in Southern Nevada program to the Executive Committee on February 7, 2007.

• 20 Don’t Trash Nevada advertisements ran during February and March.

• A billboard has been in place on US95 and Russell Road throughout this quarter.

• Don’t Trash Nevada purchased radio spots on Metro Networks in February and March.

• 137 people have taken the on-line anti-litter and dumping pledge.

• The anti-litter team received a $10,000 dollar donation from …

Review Of Restoring The Connection To The Natural World: Essays On The African American Environmental Imagination, Uwe Küchler

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

In her introduction to The Ecocriticism Reader from 1995, a landmark in the short and dynamic development of this new field of knowledge, Cheryl Glotfelty anticipated that "Ecocriticism has been predominantly a white movement. It will become a multi-ethnic movement when stronger connections are made between the environment and issues of social justice, and when a diversity of voices are encouraged to contribute to the discussion" (Glotfelty 1996, xxv). The collection of essays reviewed here, published in 2003, fills this gap in ecocritical research. The nine contributors to Sylvia Mayer's edition have critically evaluated various aspects of African …

Greening The Campus: Contemporary Student Environmental Activism, Ashley Dawson

Publications and Research

In November 1992, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) issued a report entitled "World Scientists' Warning to Humanity." Written by UCS Chair Henry Kendall and signed by 1,700 of the worlds leading scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates in the sciences, the report's admonition was conveyed in the strongest terms.

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships: Cultural Site Stewardship Program: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending March 31, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Cultural Site Stewardship Program

• The Cultural Site Stewardship Program now has 269 enrolled site stewards, an increase of 24% since March of 2006.

• Two training classes were held in 2007, adding 53 new stewards.

• Site Stewards reported 31 significant impacts during fiscal year 2007 compared to 25 impacts during the same period last year.

The Allure Of Technology: How France And California Promoted Electric And Hybrid Vehicles To Reduce Urban Air Pollution, David Calef, Robert Goble

Sustainability and Social Justice

All advanced industrialized societies face the problem of air pollution produced by motor vehicles. In spite of striking improvements in internal combustion engine technology, air pollution in most urban areas is still measured at levels determined to be harmful to human health. Throughout the 1990s and beyond, California and France both chose to improve air quality by means of technological innovation, adopting legislation that promoted clean vehicles, prominently among them, electric vehicles (EVs). In California, policymakers chose a technology-forcing approach, setting ambitious goals (e.g., zero emission vehicles), establishing strict deadlines and issuing penalties for non-compliance. The policy process in California …

Un Proyecto De Educacion Ambiental En Torno A La Sequia En Chihuahua: Proceso, Resultados Y Aplicaciones Ulteriores (An Environmental Education Project In The Context Of Drought In Chihuahua: Process, Results And Ulterior Applications), Sara Soledad Garcia, V. Reyes, P. Ocha Tovar

Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

What Students Do When They Study In The Library: Using Ethnographic Methods To Observe Student Behavior, Doug Suarez

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Abstract

How do we know what students are really doing in the library when they are studying? This paper reports on a study that used qualitative methods to assess what students were doing during the winter term at Brock University. The goals were to try and establish if they were engaged in their studies when using the library and to see if the library nurtured academic engagement in its study areas.

Obtaining More Accurate And Reliable Information From Adolescents Regarding Sti/Hiv Risk Behaviors, Barbara Mensch, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

To investigate the quality of self-reported data on sexual behavior, Population Council researchers conducted a study in a rural district of Malawi. They implemented a randomized experiment to assess whether audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) produces more valid data on sexual behavior than face-to-face interviews. The Malawi study builds on an experiment conducted as part of a household-based survey of Kenyan adolescents. In Kenya and Malawi, there is clear evidence that mode of interviewing and probing of various sexual partnerships affect the reporting of sexual activity. According to Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief No. 25, ACASI is …

Impacts Of Organized Sport On Family Life And Travel Demand, Jodi Murray

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In response to the rise in popularity of children’s organized sport there is a need to further our understanding of its impacts, both on family-life and on travel demand. Sport participation has become an integral part of raising children, and its typically rigid structure has significant impacts on many aspects of daily life and management. In order to meet the deamnds of a sport lifestyle, families depend on the “family van” as the main mode of transportation; thus increasing recreation travel. This thesis utilized mixed quantitative/qualitative methods to explore the relationship between youth hocky participation, family life and travel demand. …

Multifunctional Rural Landscapes: Economic, Environmental, Policy, And Social Impacts Of Land Use Changes In Nebraska, Twyla M. Hansen, Charles A. Francis, J. Dixon Esseks, J. Allen Williams Jr.

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The conversion of farmland near cities to other human uses is a global trend that challenges our long-term capacity to provide food, fiber, and ecosystem services to a growing world population. If current trends continue in the United States, the population will reach 450 million by the year 2050. At the same time, an accelerating change in land use will reduce today’s two acres per person of farmland to less than one acre per person. This is scarcely enough to produce food for our domestic population, without any food available for export – even assuming advances in technology. We need …

An American Mosaic: Service Learning Stories, Carol Lester, Gail Robinson

Higher Education

The goals of Community Colleges Broadening Horizons through Service Learning, supported by the Learn and Serve America program of the Corporation for National and Community Service and administered by the American Association of Community Colleges, are to build on established foundations to integrate service learning into the institutional climate of community colleges and to increase the number, quality, and sustainability of service learning programs in colleges nationwide.

Service learning combines community service with classroom instruction, focusing on critical, reflective thinking as well as personal and civic responsibility. Service learning programs involve students in activities that address local needs while developing …

Premarital Sex And Schooling Transitions In Four Sub-Saharan African Countries, Ann E. Biddlecom, Richard Gregory, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara Mensch

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Using data from the 2004 National Survey of Adolescents conducted in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda, this Population Council working paper investigates the timing of two key transitions in adolescence—school exit and premarital sex—among those who remain enrolled in school at the beginning of adolescence (age 12). Girls appear more vulnerable to dropout once they become sexually mature and once they engage in premarital sex. While girls were found to be less likely than boys, at any given age and controlling for other covariates, to have had premarital sex (except in Ghana), school enrollment and the timing of school …

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Cate Weeks, Shane Bevell, Mamie Peers, Lori Bachand

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Social Environment And Depression Among Pregnant Women In Urban Areas Of Pakistan: Importance Of Social Relations., Ambreen Kazi, Zafar Fatmi, Juanita Hatcher, Muhammad Masood Kadir, Unaiza Niaz, Gail A. Wasserman

Community Health Sciences

Aspects of the social environment, including social conditions (socio-economic status, household situations, chronic illnesses) and social relations (attitude and behaviors of relations) are major determinants of depression among women. This study evaluates the relative power of social relations and social conditions in predicting depression among pregnant women in Pakistan. In the qualitative phase of the study, social environmental determinants were identified through literature search, and experts' opinions from psychologists, psychiatrists, gynecologists, sociologists and researchers. Along with this, 79 in-depth interviews were conducted with pregnant women drawn from six hospitals (public and private) and two communities in Karachi, Pakistan. Identified determinants …

On Roxana Robinson's Sweetwater, Bradley John Monsma

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

When Huck lights out for the territories at the end of his hopeless float down the river with Jim, it's already clear that his escape will solve nothing. The story he will become part of in the West is already one of multiple displacements moving fast toward the environmental catastrophe of the dust bowl. Yet long before the frontier was "closed," it inspired myths that would prove to be more persistent than its reality. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the West still represents the pure possibility to remake identity and to leave behind the corruption of Huck's …

Who Participates In Today's Environmental Movement? Not The Rich Or The Educated, Jessica Schaum

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Inside Unlv, Diane Russell, Shane Bevell, Carol C. Harter, Lori Bachand, Cate Weeks, Mamie Peers

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Service With Friends: The Influence Of Peer Interactions And Emotions In Community Service Experiences, Jennifer Jill Kidd

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Community service has increasingly become part of students' educational experience. It is seen both as a stand alone requirement and as a core component integrated into course objectives. Much has been learned about the effects of community service on students, but there remain unanswered questions. This study compares four structures of mandatory community service differing in the amount of peer and faculty interaction. It also examines the influence of students' emotional reactions to community service experiences. The participants for the study are college freshmen enrolled in a required environmental course. Hierarchical regressions are utilized to explore the influences of community …