Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Changing Faces Of New Hampshire: Recent Demographic Trends In The Granite State, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

New Hampshire, with a total population of 1.3 million, gained 79,000 residents between 2000 and 2006. Most of this growth (51,000 residents) came from migration. The migration also brought economic gains: New Hampshire gained at least $1.4 billion in income from migration between 2001 and 2005, and households moving in earned nearly $9,000 more than those leaving.

Ski Areas, Weather And Climate: Time Series Models For New England Case Studies, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Cliff Brown, Barry D. Keim

Sociology

Wintertime warming trends experienced in recent decades, and predicted to increase in the future, present serious challenges for ski areas and whole regions that depend on winter tourism. Most research on this topic examines past or future climate-change impacts at yearly to decadal resolution, to obtain a perspective on climate-change impacts. We focus instead on local-scale impacts of climate variability, using detailed daily data from two individual ski areas. Our analysis fits ARMAX (autoregressive moving average with exogenous variables) time series models that predict day-to-day variations in skier attendance from a combination of mountain and urban weather, snow cover and …

Climate, Fishery And Society Interactions: Observations From The North Atlantic., Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

Interdisciplinary studies comparing fisheries-dependent regions across the North Atlantic find a number of broad patterns. Large ecological shifts, disastrous to historical fisheries, have resulted when unfavorable climatic events occur atop overfishing. The "teleconnections" linking fisheries crises across long distances include human technology and markets, as well as climate or migratory fish species. Overfishing and climate-driven changes have led to a shift downwards in trophic levels of fisheries takes in some ecosystems, from dominance by bony fish to crustaceans. Fishing societies adapt to new ecological conditions through social reorganization that have benefited some people and places, while leaving others behind. Characteristic …

The State Of Working New Hampshire 2007, Allison Churilla

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

The author of this annual update on the state's workforce finds that wage growth in the state has not kept up with the rising cost of living in New Hampshire. This negative impact exists despite the state's low unemployment rates and high labor force participation rates. This brief was prepared in cooperation with the Economic Policy Institute.

Toward Understanding The Human Dimensions Of The Rapidly Changing Arctic System: Insights And Approaches From Five Harc Projects, Henry P. Huntington, Lawrence C. Hamilton, Craig Nicolson, Ronald Brunner, Amanda Lynch, Astrid E. J. Oglivie, Alexey Voinov

Sociology

Human dimensions research focuses on the interrelationships between humans and the environment. To date, human dimensions research in arctic regions has concentrated primarily on local events and contexts. As such, it complements analysis elsewhere of adaptation and sustainable development within broad institutional, social, and environmental contexts. This paper reviews five projects from the Human Dimensions of the Arctic System (HARC) initiative, established by the US National Science Foundation in 1997. Common themes and findings are highlighted: climatic variations or change affect societies through interactions with human activities; population dynamics provide key quantitative indicators of social impacts and well being; and …

Which Sexual Abuse Victims Receive A Forensic Medical Examination? : The Impact Of Children's Advocacy Centers, Wendy A. Walsh, Theodore P. Cross, Lisa M. Jones, Monique Simone, David Kolko

Sociology

Abstract

Objective

This study examines the impact of Children's Advocacy Centers (CAC) and other factors, such as the child's age, alleged penetration, and injury on the use of forensic medical examinations as part of the response to reported child sexual abuse.

Methods

This analysis is part of a quasi-experimental study, the Multi-Site Evaluation of Children's Advocacy Centers, which evaluated four CACs relative to within-state non-CAC comparison communities. Case abstractors collected data on forensic medical exams in 1,220 child sexual abuse cases through review of case records.

Results

Suspected sexual abuse victims at CACs were two times more likely to have …

Eitc Is Vital For Working-Poor Families In Rural America, William P. Colnes, Elizabeth Kneebone

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In the 2004 tax year, tax filers claimed almost $40 billion through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), making the EITC one of the largest federal programs that provides cash supports to low-income working families in the United States. The EITC is especially important to rural families throughout the United States. Among poor and near-poor families, those in rural areas are more likely to be working, and they are more likely to be working in low-wage jobs.

Employment Rates Higher Among Rural Mothers Than Urban Mothers, Kristin Smith

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

As men's jobs in traditional rural industries, such as agriculture, natural resource extraction, and manufacturing disappear due to restructuring of rural labor markets, the survival of the family increasingly depends on women's waged labor. Rural mothers with children under age 6 have higher employment rates than their urban counterparts but have higher poverty rates, lower wages, and lower family income, placing rural mothers and their children in a more economically vulnerable situation than urban mothers.

Rural America In The 21st Century: Perspectives From The Field , Andrea Colnes, Curt D. Grimm, Amy Seif Hattan, Nena F. Stracuzzi

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Rural America in the twenty-first century must develop new relationships and new ways of doing things to ensure an economically prosperous, socially just, and environmentally healthy future. Tapping into the resourcefulness and creativity of rural people will be essential in addressing this challenge. However, they cannot do it alone. Rural communities need critical infrastructure, investment, capital, and services. The overlapping forces shaping rural America–demographic transitions, economic changes, the legacy of chronic underinvestment in community institutions, and environmental factors—present challenges and opportunities. With the voices and strategies of rural Americans in hand, the Rural Assembly can now move forward toward this …

New Faces At The Polls In The New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

New Hampshire prides itself on its first-in-the-nation status, but with changing demographics and significant migration in and out of the state, the winner of the New Hampshire Primary was anyone's guess.

Rural Soldiers Continue To Account For Disproportionately High Share Of U.S. Casualties In Iraq And Afghanistan, William P. O'Hare, Bill Bishop

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

When the nation goes to war, all Americans are expected to make sacrifices. Today's rural Americans, however, have fewer job opportunities within their communities, and are joining the military at higher rates. In turn, rural communities are facing military losses in disproportionate numbers to their urban counterparts.

Child Poverty High In Rural America, William P. O'Hare, Sarah Savage

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

On August 28, 2007, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey show that 22 percent of rural children are living in poverty, up from 19 percent in 2000. On average, rates are highest in the nonmetropolitan South (27 percent) and have climbed the most in the nonmetropolitan Midwest (by 3.9 percentage points).

The Changing Spatial Concentration Of America's Rural Poor Population, Daniel T. Lichter, Kenneth M. Johnson

Sociology

This paper documents changing patterns of concentrated poverty in nonmetro areas. Data from the Decennial U.S. Census Summary Files show that poverty rates—both overall and for children—declined more rapidly in nonmetro than metro counties in the 1990s. The 1990s also brought large reductions in the number of high-poverty nonmetro counties and declines in the share of rural people, including rural poor people, who were living in them. This suggests that America's rural pockets of poverty may be “drying up” and that spatial inequality in nonmetro America declined over the 1990s, at least at the county level. On a less optimistic …

Food Stamp And School Lunch Programs Alleviate Food Insecurity In Rural America, Kristin Smith, Sarah Savage

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

The Food Stamp and the School Lunch Programs play a vital role in helping poor, rural Americans obtain a more nutritious diet and alleviate food insecurity and hunger. This fact sheet looks at the extent to which rural America depends on these programs and describes characteristics of beneficiaries of these federal nutrition assistance programs.

Low Wages Prevalent In Direct Care And Child Care Workforce, Kristin Smith, Reagan A. Baughman

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

The large-scale movement of women into the paid labor market has brought sweeping change into family life and also in who cares for the elderly and children. This brief studies workers in two low wage, predominantly female care-giving occupations plagued with high turnover, direct care workers and child care workers. It provides a better understanding of how they fare when compared with other female workers and discusses factors that contribute to their continued employment.

Rural Children Increasingly Rely On Medicaid And State Child Health Insurance Programs For Medical Care, William P. O'Hare

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Despite a flurry of reports on health insurance coverage for children, virtually none of them have examined the unique situation of rural families where one-fifth of all the nation's poor children live. This brief takes an in-depth look at the health insurance programs, such as SCHIP and Medicaid, which rural children rely on for medical care.

New England Has The Highest Increase In Income Disparity In The Nation, Ross Gittell, Jason Rudokas

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Income inequality in New England is rising at the highest rate in the nation, this brief finds. Between 1989 and 2004, the region experienced the largest increase in income inequality in the country, due to both growth among top earners and the hollowing out of the middle class caused by significant changes in the nation's economy.

Stress And Occupation: Summer Research On The Road, Lindsey Wetteland

Inquiry Journal 2007

No abstract provided.

Children's Health Insurance In New Hampshire: An Analysis Of New Hampshire Healthy Kids, Sally Ward, Sarah Savage, Nena F. Stracuzzi

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

New Hampshire has been successful in achieving one of the lowest uninsurance rates for children in the country - 6 percent in 2005 (U.S. Census Bureau). The extent to which New Hampshire Healthy Kids has contributed to the state's success in achieving this low rate is the focus of this brief.

The Changing Faces Of New England: Increasing Spatial And Racial Diversity, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

New England is growing more slowly than the rest of the nation. The region is becoming more racially diverse, and demographic trends contrast sharply between northern and southern New England and metropolitan and rural areas. New England's population stood at 14,270,000 in July 2006, marking a gain of just 2.5 percent since 2000, less than half the rate.

Democracy As A Verb: An Action Word, Lauren Schweizer

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Demographic Trends In National Forest, Recreational, Retirement, And Amenity Areas, Kenneth M. Johnson, Susan I. Stewart

Sociology

Those who live near national forests are both potential forest visitors and neighbors who feel the impact of many forest management decisions. This paper provides some insights about those proximate populations. It does so by measuring the proportion of national forest land within each county and then combining that with an analysis of the patterns of demographic change over the past several decades. Because there is considerable overlap between counties that contain national forests and those designated as recreational, high amenity, and retirement destination counties, demographic trends in such counties are compared. A total of 757 of the 3,141 U.S. …

Rights And Health: Democracy's Dilemma In The United States, John W. Seavey, Robert J. Mcgrath

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Practicing Civility In The Legal Writing Course: Helping Law Students Learn Professionalism, Sophie M. Sparrow

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article suggests some concrete ways to teach civility— one component of professionalism—to law students. Professionalism certainly includes much more than civility, incorporating the concepts of ethics, morals, public service, life-long learning, personal integrity, professional identity, and a commitment to selfdevelopment. This Article begins with a brief overview of civility in Part I. Part II provides a few of the many arguments for why we should teach law students to be civil. Part III explores some concrete ways in which we can teach civility within individual classes, using the dynamics of student engagement in the classroom as an opportunity to …

In A Democracy, Are Some Citizens More Important Than Others?, Sharyn J. Potter

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Are You Voting For Democracy?, Andrew Long

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Freedom And Svoboda: What Does Freedom Mean, Andrew D. Mckernan

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Rural Workers Would Benefit More Than Urban Workers From An Increase In The Federal Minimum Wage, William P. O'Hare

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

While members of the U.S. Senate considered the first increase in minimum wage in a decade, the Carsey Institute released findings of a study showing that it would benefit rural, low-wage workers every bit as much, if not more, than workers in big cities.

Biofueling Rural Development: Making The Case For Linking Biofuel Production To Rural Revitalization, Jim Kleinschmidt

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Biofuels play a crucial role in America's quest for oil independence. In recent years, the biofuel industry has seen significant technology and efficiency advances, as well as expansions in the materials that can be used to create biofuels. Grains and oilseeds are limited in their ability to meet fuel needs, but a shift to biomass feedstocks offers better production possibilities. For rural communities, locally owned biomass refineries may offer promise of new investment, job growth, and revitalization.