Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beyond Fentanyl Test Strips: The Need To Decriminalize All Drug Checking Equipment In Tennessee, Jeremy C. Kourvelas Mph

SMART Policy Briefs

KEY POINTS

• In 2022, Tennessee decriminalized fentanyl test strips (FTS) through Public Chapter 764. Thousands have since been distributed by the state and nonprofit coalitions as a key harm reduction strategy. As of the end of 2023, 44 other states and D.C. had also decriminalized FTS.

• Research indicates that people who use drugs are five times as likely to change their behaviors (including reducing drug use overall) in response to a test result that is positive for fentanyl. People who use methamphetamine are especially likely to change their behaviors.

• However, the law only applies to “narcotic testing equipment used to …

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The Hidden Struggle: Challenges Older Women Face In Nevada, Annie Vong

Student Research

In 2020, almost one in five Nevadans was over the age of 65.[1] However, within this age group, women outnumber men due to longer life expectancies[2] and migration patterns. Women over 65 years of age make up an estimated 18.1% of the female population in Nevada.[3] Of the male population in Nevada, 15.1% are over 65 years of age.[4] Older women are less likely to be married, are less likely to have completed a bachelor’s degree, are more likely to drop out of the labor force, and are more likely to be living in poverty in …

#Dusomething! A Qualitative Exploratory Study To Identify Challenges And Opportunities For Improvement In Du's Response To Sexual Harassment And Assault, Alejandro Cerón, Amanda Cali, Briana Cox, Camille Cruz, Camryn Evans, Cyndal Groskopf, Ashley Joplin, Clayton Kempf, Kēhaulani Lagunero, Jayvyn Jakai Lewis, Aili Limstrom, Gray Messersmith, Cal Quayle, Yadira Quintero, Michael Sze, Aaron Toussaint, Sami Zepponi

Anthropology: Undergraduate Student Scholarship

The purpose of this course-based research project was to identify where DU has made progress in its response to sexual harassment, identifying challenges and opportunities for improvement, with the hope that the results will support the DU community’s efforts to prevent, address, and eradicate sexual harassment.

Children In The Workplace: An Exploration In Library Policy Making, Sharolyn Swenson, Marissa Anne Bischoff, Ryan Lee

Faculty Publications

Children in the workplace are becoming a more common discussion in various work environments, including libraries. Since the university has no policy addressing this issue, a task force was charged to draft a recommended policy for the university library regarding bringing children to the workplace. The task force reviewed existing policies and conducted a survey and interviews with library employees. The resulting policy provided guidelines for employees and their supervisors without being overly prescriptive. This article provides a case study of how the task force used assessment methods and tools to create an appropriate and inclusive policy. While the specific …

Book Challenges Popping Up All Over: What Do School Principals Need To Know?, Samantha Laine Hull, Sue Kimmel

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This chapter provides practical advice and reasons for school leaders to support students' intellectual freedom through their support of school libraries and school librarians. The chapter begins with a short but critical literature review that includes case law on the topic of censorship in schools. The concerns of teachers and librarians from a recent study are summarized and help build the foundation for practical and ready to use advice for any school leaders to uphold the intellectual freedom of all students.

Editorial - Contemporary Marine Science, Its Utility And Influence On Regulation And Government Policy, Piers Larcombe, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Peter V. Ridd

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The purpose of this Research Topic is to evaluate the quality of contemporary marine science and to examine relationships between science, regulation and government policy in the marine environment. The quality of marine science matters; not just to advance knowledge on understanding marine ecosystems, but also to guide marine management. ...

A Statewide Study Of Disparities In Local Policies And Tobacco, Vape, And Cannabis Retail Environments, Georgiana Bostean, William R. Ponicki, Alisa A. Padon, William J. Mccarthy, Jennifer B. Unger

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The current study: (1) assesses sociodemographic disparities in local policies related to tobacco and cannabis retail, and (2) examines the cross-sectional association between policy strength and retailer densities of tobacco, e-cigarette (vape), and cannabis retailers within California cities and county unincorporated areas (N = 539). We combined (a) American Community Survey data (2019 5-year estimates), (b) 2018 tobacco, vape, and cannabis retailer locations from a commercial data provider, (c) 2017 tobacco and vape retail environment policy data from American Lung Association, and (d) 2018 cannabis policy data from California Cannabis Local Laws Database. Conditional autoregressive models examined policy strength associations …

A Consensus Panel Approach To Estimating The Start-Up And Annual Service Costs For Rural Ambulance Agencies, Yvonne Jonk Phd, Gary Wingrove Facpe, Cp-C, Nikiah Nudell Ms, Mphil, Nrp, Facpe, Kevin Mcginnis Mps

Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

This brief serves to fill the information void on the costs of running ambulance services for three population-based service tiers and establishes a minimum access standard for ambulances servicing a 25-minute travel time radius from the ambulance station. The model enables policymakers and community stakeholders to develop strategic plans for the financing and provision of ambulance services. Key Highlights: An expert panel established that ambulances could reasonably serve a maximum 25-minute travel time from the ambulance station that accounts for road conditions. A minimum access standard was defined as a single resource consisting of one full-time staffed ambulance, with a …

"If I Go, I'Ll Probably End Up Dropping Out Too": College Enrollment Choices In A Free College Context, Gresham D. Collom, Ashton R. Cooper, Patrick Biddix, Alexis Hartley

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Publications and Other Works

Objective: In this qualitative study, we explored why students in a free community college environment in Tennessee chose not to enroll in college or dropped out of college shortly after enrolling. Methods: We conducted 27 in-depth interviews with individuals who were eligible for the Tennessee Promise. Perna’s (2006) conceptual model for college access and choice guided our analysis. We analyzed data using a three-tier approach, which included open/emergent coding, followed by a priori/theoretical analysis. Results: We identified 15 emergent themes common among interview participants, which we then categorized into the four constructs of Perna’s model. Conclusions: …

A Fault In Democracy: The Disenfranchisement Of Voters, Kylie Cooper, Razan Elsir

Library Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research

Our project is focused on why there is variation in felon disenfranchisement policy among states. After selecting five different states (New York, Mississippi, Virginia, North Carolina, and Vermont) with various policies, we tested them against our different hypotheses: demographics (age, education level, and the number of people incarcerated), partisanship, and race. We expected race to be a strong factor, meaning that as diversity of the state increased the strictness of its felon disenfranchisement policy would increase. We expected to see a similar correlation with partisanship, that the more Republican-leaning states would have stricter policies. Additionally, we believed that age, education, …

The Intellectual And Diplomatic Discourse Of American Progressives And The Late Ottomans, 1830–1930, Brigitte Maricich Powell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The American intellectual and diplomatic discourse with the late Ottoman Empire is an understudied field of history. Major works to date are primarily focused on the US relations with the Turkish Republic starting in 1924, which at best may highlight the Barbary Wars and the Treaties of 1830 and 1862 as a precursor. Few works offer, if any, a comprehensive insight into the diplomatic relationship that evolved between the US and the Near East from 1830 to 1930. This research is meant to fill the absence by probing into the service of key American diplomats and intellectuals who visited and …

The Role And Implications Of Negotiation In Fed Cattle Transactions, Taralee Hudson

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Within the past three decades, a significant evolution has occurred in how fed cattle are bought and sold. Driven by changes in the quality of beef and consumer health preferences, the beef industry began to advocate for “value-based marketing,” resulting in the development of grid pricing and eventually formula transactions. Alternative marketing arrangements (AMAs) have become the predominant method used for the sale of fed cattle, ultimately resulting in fewer transactions in the negotiated cash market. Such market conditions have recently reignited concerns among industry stakeholders about potentially uncompetitive outcomes for beef producers, particularly after the occurrence of sequential Black …

A Conceptual Frame For Us Counterterrorism Policy: Examining The Effectiveness Against Al Qaeda And Its Associates Prior To 9/11, "Tod" Thomas Patrick Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The United States (US) has been engaged in a “war on terrorism” to “defeat” al Qaeda since 2001. This study presented and tested an over-arching conceptual framework for US Counterterrorism (CT) policy. The conceptual frame was tested using qualitative thematic analysis of archival records from the Reagan through Clinton era. The research also used a case study of al Qaeda as the context to bound the selected records for the study. This new conceptual frame was used to evaluate the success, failure, and effects of US CT policy activities related to al Qaeda, using the records identified for the study. …

A Conceptual Frame For Us Counterterrorism Policy: Examining The Effectiveness Against Al Qaeda And Its Associates Prior To 9/11, "Tod" Thomas Patrick Brown

Publications

The United States (US) has been engaged in a “war on terrorism” to “defeat” al Qaeda since 2001. This study presented and tested an over-arching conceptual framework for US Counterterrorism (CT) policy. The conceptual frame was tested using qualitative thematic analysis of archival records from the Reagan through Clinton era. The research also used a case study of al Qaeda as the context to bound the selected records for the study. This new conceptual frame was used to evaluate the success, failure, and effects of US CT policy activities related to al Qaeda, using the records identified for the study. …

Seeing Beneath The Surface: Using Critical Race Theory To Uncover Racial Inequities In The U.S. Public School System, Lauren Harkins

Montserrat Annual Writing Prize

Many policies and practices perpetuate racial inequities and stereotypes, harming and neglecting the young people in American schools. This paper uses Critical Race Theory as a lens or framework to understand the circumstances in which educational inequities are exacerbated and what systemic barriers and beliefs maintain them.

Coastal Squeeze, Climigration, Equity, Oh My! An Agenda For Engaged And Applied Research On Social Equity And Coastal Resilience, Wie Yusuf, Tom Allen, Nicole Hutton, Jennifer Whytlaw, Marina Saitgalina, Joshua Behr

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

No abstract provided.

Extending Immunity For Drug Overdoses, Dixie R. Tabet, Maggie G. Spadaro, Kaylie E. Moss

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

The Tennessee Code 63-1-156 provides immunity to those who suffer from a drug overdose that seek medical assistance, only for the first overdose. After the first overdose, individuals who seek medical assistance do not receive immunity and are subject to criminal charges. Over the past 5 years, drug overdose deaths have increased significantly and in 2021 3,814 Tennesseans died from a drug overdose. In addition, individuals incarcerated for drug-related offenses make up about 20% of the state’s prison population. The state of Tennessee has had a significant increase in drug abuse rates, leading to a rise in overdose deaths and …

Cub Plastic Shipping Bag Recycling Program, Samuel M. Arkin, Ethan J. Bruemmer

Student Publications

We implemented a plastic shipping bag recycling program at Gettysburg College. Recycling bags contribute towards contamination within the college's single-stream recycling or end up directly in the landfill via traditional trash collection. The production of plastic bags relies on the continued production of fossil fuel extraction. Plastic bag recycling can decrease fossil fuel extraction and waste entering landfills. To curb Gettysburg College’s generation of waste, we placed four bins in various locations throughout the Center Union Building (CUB) in order to collect plastic shipping bags over a 4.5-week period. We made three hypotheses: that our bins would collect shipping bags …

Partnering To Advance Equity In Coastal Resilience: Lessons Learned For Research And Practice Collaborations For On-The-Ground Projects, Marina Saitgalina, Jennifer Whytlaw, Nicole Hutton, Tom Allen, Joshua Behr, Wie Yusuf

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

No abstract provided.

Where The Border Ends: How Reactive Policies To Terrorism Became Conduits For Drone Technology And The Enclosure Of Wealthy Nations, Arron Mitchell

PPPA Paper Prize

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996) and the USA PATRIOT Act (2001) are two key examples of reactive policies enacted in response to terrorist attacks on American soil. Expedited passage of both pieces of legislation were reliant on the public’s support for government action in wake of recent atrocities. These acts gave particular attention to securing the nation’s borders, directing an increase in funding for Border Patrol in order to prevent future terrorist attacks. This essay will connect the increased funding for border security directed by Congress with the defense industry’s pursuit of funding and outlets for drone …

Partnering To Advance Equity In Coastal Resilience: Lessons Learned For Research And Practice Collaborations For On-The-Ground Projects, Ren-Neasha Blake Gilmore, Marina Saitgalina, Jennifer Whytlaw, Nicole Hutton, Tom Allen, Joshua Behr, Wie Yusuf

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

No abstract provided.

Strengthening Policies And Structures To Combat Illicit Tobacco Trade In The Philippines, John Rafael Y. Arda, Alen Josef A. Santiago

Ateneo School of Government Publications

The Philippines has been seeing an increase in illicit tobacco trade in recent years, undermining the impacts of legal measures such as tobacco products' taxation and regulation due to circumvention of established avenues and costing the government its revenue. Currently, the country has twelve policies related to the prevention of illicit tobacco trade with gaps identified in its lack of licensing systems for tobacco retailers and policies on law enforcement cooperation, which manifests in the country being fully compliant to only 5 of the 16 articles under the World Health Organization's Illicit Tobacco Trade Protocol. It is recommended that the …

Covid-19 Education Response Mapping Study: Building Resilience In Lao Pdr: Readiness, Response, And Recovery, Yung Nietschke, Anna Dabrowski, Maya Conway, Chaula Yoga Pradhika

International Education Research

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has caused unprecedented levels of disruption to education systems worldwide. Across the Asia region, it is estimated that around 760 million children were impacted by school closures at the height of the pandemic. Government response strategies have varied across the region, with some countries imposing prolonged school lockdowns while others have had short, repeated closure periods. As countries begin to reopen schools and continue to prepare for subsequent waves of COVID[1]19 infection, there is a need to develop the greater capability of education systems to safeguard learning and address persistent barriers to learning equality …

Covid-19 Education Response Mapping Study: Building Resilience In The Philippines: Readiness, Response, And Recovery, Anna Dabrowski, Maya Conway, Yung Nietschke, Amy Berry, Chaula Yoga Pradhika

International Education Research

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has caused unprecedented levels of disruption to education systems worldwide. Across the Asia region, it is estimated that around 760 million children were impacted by school closures at the height of the pandemic. Government response strategies have varied across the region, with some countries imposing prolonged school lockdowns while others have had short, repeated closure periods. As countries begin to reopen schools and prepare for subsequent waves of COVID-19 infection, there is a need to develop a higher capability of education systems to safeguard learning and address persistent barriers to learning equality by harnessing …

Covid-19 Education Response Mapping Study: Building Resilience In The Kyrgyz Republic: Readiness, Response, And Recovery, Yung Nietschke, Anna Dabrowski, Maya Conway, Chaula Yoga Pradhika

International Education Research

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has caused unprecedented levels of disruption to education systems worldwide. Across the Asia region, it is estimated that around 760 million children were impacted by school closures at the height of the pandemic. Government response strategies have varied across the region, with some countries imposing prolonged school lockdowns while others have had short, repeated closure periods. As countries begin to reopen schools and continue to prepare for subsequent waves of COVID-19 infection, there is a need to develop the greater capability of education systems to safeguard learning and address persistent barriers to learning equality …

Covid-19 Education Response Mapping Study In Asia: Executive Summary, Yung Nietschke, Anna Dabrowski, Maya Conway, Chaula Yoga Pradhika

International Education Research

This document provides a summary of research exploring the systems, policies, and school-level practices that have supported learning continuity in Asia during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a review of policy documents on COVID-19 responses in Asia and a deep dive analysis of system and school-level responses in the Philippines and the Kyrgyz Republic, the findings from this study provide policymakers and education stakeholders with evidence of promising practices that could be leveraged to support learning recovery and education system resilience. In addition, a policy review was conducted on the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), which focused …

Connecting Research To Policy And Practice: A Case Study Of A White Paper Collection In An Institutional Repository, Angela Hackstadt

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Closing The Gap Between College Students: An Intergroup Dialogue Program To Reach Understanding And Reduction Of Disparities, Lilly Zhou

Honors Theses

The goals of the intergroup dialogue program are exploration and collective action. The goal of exploration is to spread awareness by presenting the situation. Several students are not aware that disparities between students exist, so this dialogue provided awareness of the issue. With increased understanding of each other, collective action can be taken. Actions by a small number of students are still steps taken to reduce the gap between the financially supported and not financially supported students. Action can look like spreading awareness of the issue, advocating for policy changes, and more.

The structure of the intergroup dialogue program required …

Review Of The International Play Policies And Their Contribution To Supporting A Child's Right To Play, Fiona Armstrong, David Gaul

Articles

Play is recognised as a fundamental children's right protected by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Despite legal and constitutional requirements for ensuring children's right to play, there are few international policies dedicated to play. This paper seeks to use a critical discourse analysis lens to compare the current international policies dedicated to play and identify examples of good practice and perceived barriers to the successful development and implementation of play policies.

The Paradox Of Child Poverty And Welfare, Tirna Purkait

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

The United States confronts persistent child welfare issues rooted in poverty. The age-old debate vacillates between advocating personal responsibility and bolstering social safety nets. Current welfare programs, aiming to mitigate child poverty, often fall short given the deep nexus of poverty and child maltreatment. This paper probes the intricate ties between child poverty and welfare, emphasizing state legislative variances, inherent system paradoxes, and potential policy enhancements. Exploring historical contexts, existing societal frameworks, and future reforms, this research emphasizes the urgency for all-encompassing solutions. These should tackle poverty’s core while fortifying child welfare, safeguarding the well-being of forthcoming American generations.