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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Municipal Recycling In Waterville: A Choice Experiment, Alexander Finigan, Katharine Eddy
Municipal Recycling In Waterville: A Choice Experiment, Alexander Finigan, Katharine Eddy
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
The Waterville, Maine community has experienced many struggles with establishing an economically and socially beneficial method for collecting recyclables from residents. In 2006, the town made the choice to terminate its curbside recycling pickup and open the Skills facility, where residents were able to transport there recyclables and dispose of them at the facility. This proved to also not be economically beneficial and the town ended this option for residents in 2012. The motivation behind establishing a new recycling program in Waterville is making Waterville more environmentally friendly, the creation of jobs for residents in the trash collecting business, moral …
Pseudoephedrine Scheduling And Violent Crime, Alexander Morris, Quinn Ziegler, Lily Tilton
Pseudoephedrine Scheduling And Violent Crime, Alexander Morris, Quinn Ziegler, Lily Tilton
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
In this paper we seek to explore the relationship between methamphetamine usage and violent crime in the United States. As a drug produced from readily available ingredients, methamphetamines presence is felt across the country, and it is often anecdotally linked with both violent crime and property crime. Through the analysis of state-level data, we hope to determine whether or not methamphetamine availability is a useful predictor of crime. Methamphetamine usage is difficult to measure, as its production and consumption is not reliably tracked by virtue of its illicit nature. However, we can approximate methamphetamine usage by state using other metrics, …
The Color And Value Of Art, Leilani S C Pao
The Color And Value Of Art, Leilani S C Pao
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
There has been research in psychology, marketing and economics about the impact of color on peoples behavior, in particular peoples consumer behavior. My project examines the relationship between the value of art and color. I am interested to find out whether the solid background a painting is placed on, its environmental color, has an influence on the amount a person values the painting. My experimental survey to the Colby College community and visitors of the Colby College Museum of Art consists of two parts. In the first part of the survey, I ask the participants to come up with the …
Individuals Willingness To Pay For Health And Wellness Improvements Within The Built Environment, Max Pollinger
Individuals Willingness To Pay For Health And Wellness Improvements Within The Built Environment, Max Pollinger
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Improving biological sustainability through health and wellness improvements in the built environment is currently being applied to high-end real estate development in both the residential and commercial environment in the United States. However, the market for health and wellness extends well beyond the top income bracket. This study adopts a choice experiment (CE) approach to investigate individuals willingness to pay for health and wellness improvements within their homes. The results suggest that individuals value health as an inelastic good independent of income, and they are willing to pay significant premiums to ensure biological sustainability within their homes. In addition, individuals …
Financial Crisis And Its Impact On Institutional College Financial Aid, Salome Giorgadze, Lillian Liang
Financial Crisis And Its Impact On Institutional College Financial Aid, Salome Giorgadze, Lillian Liang
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
The 2008 financial crisis impacted almost everyone in the world, particularly US households that have lost on average in income. A common problem that currently plagues the minds of college students is the cost of education. Households are still recovering from the monetary impacts of the financial crisis. We recognize that college grants and scholarships are important to students who wish to pursue higher education, and so do the colleges. Majority of the colleges have carefully designed institutional financial aid options, which usually consist of institutional grants, scholarships, work studies, and loans. Around 75% of full-time undergraduate students in the …
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Grade Inflation V. Grade Compression At Colby College, Emma Murphy, Ilanna Fricks, Yana Mayayeva
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Grade Inflation V. Grade Compression At Colby College, Emma Murphy, Ilanna Fricks, Yana Mayayeva
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Grade point averages are supposed markers of our collegiate intellectual ability and drive for success. But as an "A" increasingly becomes a stand-in for "average," the credibility of our GPAs may be in question in the professional world. The goal of this paper is to assess whether grading at Colby College has fallen in line with the national trend toward inflation. Our regression analyses examine whether GPAs have risen at Colby over the past 15 years across a variety of disciplines and indicators such as gender, athlete status, and international student status. This study also considers whether grade compression, rather …
The Effects Of Marijuana Decriminalization On Alcohol Consumption: Compliments Or Substitutes?, Alex Sisto, Hib Schenck, Fabrice Charles, Zach Padula
The Effects Of Marijuana Decriminalization On Alcohol Consumption: Compliments Or Substitutes?, Alex Sisto, Hib Schenck, Fabrice Charles, Zach Padula
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
What is the effect of decriminalization of marijuana on alcohol consumption in the United States? We hypothesize that consumption of alcohol and marijuana are substitute goods. More specifically, we hypothesize that decriminalization will be negatively correlated with alcohol consumption, meaning that demand for alcohol will fall in the years following decriminalization.
Do Public Libraries Reduce Crime Rate Among Juveniles?, Chen Li, Jingyan Guo, Jozef Moffat
Do Public Libraries Reduce Crime Rate Among Juveniles?, Chen Li, Jingyan Guo, Jozef Moffat
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Juvenile arrest rates have been at their lowest since 1980 in the United States after peaking around 1994. There are many factors that affect the juvenile crime rate and our aim is to determine the impact of those factors on the crime rate. For example, the environment that the juveniles live in and the income of their parents could influence their behavioral patterns. Cities build libraries to provide recreational services to the public, especially the youth, where they can spend their spare time usefully, in hope that they could avoid delinquent activities.
Economic Analysis: Sustainable Seafood Choice Experiment, Dylan Cowley, Jesse Coulon
Economic Analysis: Sustainable Seafood Choice Experiment, Dylan Cowley, Jesse Coulon
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
The sustainable seafood choice experiment is a co-discipline study run by Tierney Dodge (Environmental Studies), along with Jesse Coulon and Dylan Cowly (Economics). The purpose of the study is to better understand how sustainable seafood labeling is correlated with accepting higher prices at restaurants. Specifically, we are looking at how much people are willing to pay for dishes that have certified seafood labeling, such as Marine Stewardship Counsel Certified, compared to the simple label of sustainable seafood, which is a more arbitrary term with no outside body of regulation. We will then focus our study to see how these results …
Wind Energy Choice Experiment, William Scott, Carlton Reed
Wind Energy Choice Experiment, William Scott, Carlton Reed
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Many surveys have shown that public acceptance of wind energy is high in general; however there always seems to be concerns at the local level during the siting and permitting process. This shows that people understand that clean wind energy is an essential need, however people do not normally want to have turbines in their own community. The goal of this choice experiment is to see which benefits people prefer and which trade-offs people are willing to make in order to host a wind farm in their community.We will analyze the effectiveness of several attributes, and their ability to rid …
How Effectively Do Law Enforcement And Socioeconomic Improvements Aid To Deter Violent Crimes And Property Crimes In The Usa?, Papa Loum, Chowdhury Farabee
How Effectively Do Law Enforcement And Socioeconomic Improvements Aid To Deter Violent Crimes And Property Crimes In The Usa?, Papa Loum, Chowdhury Farabee
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
According to a government survey released in October 2013, violent crime in the United States increased by 15 percent last year, and property crime was up by 12 percent. If violent crime keeps increasing at this rate, it will approximately double in just six years. To effectively allocate resources (money, police, courts, prisons), specialists in the economics of crime should fully understand the most pivotal determinants of each type of crime. Our study finds the extent to which some socioeconomic factors and regulatory measures (high school dropout rate, median income, unemployment rates, imprisonment rate, number of police officers, and the …