Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Prelude To A Master Plan: Ware, Massachusetts, Belen Alfaro, Bruno Carneiro, Margaret Engesser, Kathryn E. Fox, Evadne R. Friedman, Timothy Inacio, Anita Lockesmith, Christina Mills, Stephanie Molden, Meagen Mulherin, Russell Pandres, Vinicius Pereira, Brian Reid, Pedro Soto, Jennifer Stromsten

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

Prelude to a Master Plan offers ideas, recommendations, and a toolkit to help the town chart its own path towards that future. While the teams and individual students worked to ‘drill down’ into specific topic areas, the Studio defined three basic areas in order to think about how the various assets, challenges and ideas undermine or reinforce one another. The report is loosely organized in those terms: addressing the outlying rural areas and issues specific to these places, considering one of the key growth areas that has extended from town and the conflicts that arise from the many uses occurring …

Slides: Impacts Of Energy Deficits In Cooking, Illumination, Water, Sanitation, And Motive Power, Paul S. Chinowsky

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Paul Chinowsky, Director, Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities; Professor, University of Colorado

25 slides

Don't Blame Faculty For High Tuition: The Annual Report On The Economic Status Of The Profession, 2003-04, Ronald Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] The bottom line is that although faculty and staff salary in-creases obviously contribute to increases in tuition, other factors have played more important roles during the last quarter century. These factors include the escalating costs of benefits for all employees, reductions in state support of public institutions, growing institutional financial-aid costs, expansion of the science and research infrastructure at research universities, and the increasing costs of information technology. If tuition and fee increases had been held to the rate of average faculty salary increases during this period, average tuition and fees would be substantially lower today in both the …

Unequal Progress: The Annual Report On The Economic Status Of The Profession 2002-03, Ronald Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] Most colleges and universities adopted budgets for the 2002-03 academic year in the spring and early summer of 2002. At that time, a pessimist might have cited several factors – negative rates of return from institutional endowments, a rising unemployment rate, an economic recession, and large increases in college and university enrollments, for example - to predict that faculty members would not see their earnings increase substantially in real terms in the coming year. The good news is that, overall and on average, the pessimists' worst fears proved incorrect. The bad news is that the overall aver-ages don't tell …

Challenges For Development In 21st Century (B.R. Publications, Delhi, 2011), A Book Authored By Dr. Ruby Ojha & Book Review By Prof. Vibhuti Patel, Professor Vibhuti Patel

Professor Vibhuti Patel

This book makes a path-breaking contribution to encourage discourse on some of the most neglected areas in the mainstream economics. This scholarly contribution towards understanding of the macro-economic parameters affecting development economics goes beyond economic history and examines wide range of contemporary development problems. The provides up-to-date reference material for development economics, gender economics, International Trade and Economics of infrastructure. The scholar has examined wide range of contemporary concerns in development studies using prism of economics. She has touched specialized areas such as gender economics, environmental economics and inter-disciplinary work on social sector of the economy. International Trade and Economics …

Evaluating The Contribution Of Infrastructure To U.S. Agri−Food Sector Output, Tingting Tong

Masters Theses

The effect of infrastructure investment or capital on private sector output and productivity has been widely discussed over the past two decades. However, only limited studies have focused on the contribution of infrastructure to the output of U.S. agricultural and food sector. Considering the importance of agriculture in U.S. economy and its strong dependence on infrastructure, two empirical analyses were made in this thesis to evaluate the output impact associated with infrastructure in agricultural and food sector in the United States. The first study examines the spillover effect of two major transportation modes, roads and rails, on agricultural output across …

Water Pricing In Ontario: Is The Price Right For Water?, John Presta

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines whether major municipalities in Ontario have changed their water rate structure in order to raise additional resources for their capital and operating requirements. The data presented has been gathered from a sample of medium and large urban areas and is based on a questionnaire, interviews, and municipal websites. The findings reveal that municipalities in Ontario have had to increase their water rates since the Walkerton tragedy in order to become compliant with new regulations and to address capital infrastructure replacement programs, but there is no evidence that they have changed their water use rate structure in order …

Involuntary Resettlement In Hydroelectric Projects: A Comparison Of Chinese And Canadian Case Studies And Implications For Best Practice, Qian Liao

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines the political systems of China and Canada with respect to involuntary resettlement induced by hydroelectric projects. It uses case studies from the two countries – namely the Three Gorges Dam in China and a series of dams in James Bay, Quebec – to analyze the similarities and differences found under each system. The findings reveal that, with regards to similarities, in both countries, certain marginalized groups were further disadvantaged as a result of resettlement and the organized resettlement practices in the two countries are relatively short, although the history of dam construction is relatively long. With regards …

Converging And Coexisting Systems Towards Smart Surveillance, Katina Michael, Mg Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Tracking and monitoring people as they operate within their personal networks benefits service providers and their constituents but involves hidden risks and costs.

Automatic identification technologies, CCTV cameras, pervasive and mobile networks, wearable computing, location-based services and social networks have traditionally served distinct purposes. However, we have observed patterns of integration, convergence and coexistence among all these innovations within the information and communication technology industry.1For example, ‘location-based social networking’ can draw on a smart phone's capacity to identify a user uniquely, locate him within 1–2m and share this information across his social network in real time. The resulting ability to …

Iirsa And Energy Connectivity In The Amazon: Can Infrastructure Solve Energy Poverty In The Region?, Keon Monroe

Geography and the Environment Capstone Projects

About 85 percent (EIA 2010) of Brazil’s electricity comes from hydropower plants. Recent efforts are expanding the use of hydropower throughout the country and across its Amazonian region. Major programs, both private and in the government, are financing expansion of dams, as well as other transportation infrastructure. The largest infrastructure group in South America, the Initiative For the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), defines its purpose as an aim to strengthen transport, energy, and communications infrastructure under a regional prospective (IIRSA 2011). Thus presumptuously expanded and new infrastructure is essential to providing a better quality of life. …

Political Ecology: An Analysis Of Peruvian Government Discourses In Support Of Road Projects, Juan Boettner

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

In this paper, I will explore the ways in which the Peruvian government supports road projects through various well-developed arguments. I will look at how authorities present and/or support road projects in different temporal and spatial scales. I will try to answer the following questions:

1) How has the Peruvian government’s arguments for improved connectivity changed over time?
2) What are the implications of such changes?

Answering these questions will help explain the government’s role and biases regarding economic development in Peru. Furthermore, answers to these questions can help us understand past positions and predict what the government’s position may …

Road Construction As A Facilitator For Dengue Fever Transmission, Kate Billups

Environmental Studies Senior Seminar Projects

Although I plan to focus on the impact of road construction in tropical and subtropical regions on the spread and contraction of dengue fever, I hope to use this focus as a model that could help to create policies that would mitigate other diseases spread through insect contact. In places that road and railway construction have already become a part of the permanent foundation, medical infrastructure should be put into place to ensure that populations at increased risk to contract dengue fever have access to medical care to diminish rates of dengue hemorrhagic fever.

Paper prepared for the Environmental Studies …

Integration Of Bicycling And Walking Facilities Into The Infrastructure Of Urban Communities, Research Report 11-05, Cornelius Nuworsoo

Mineta Transportation Institute

Several manuals, handbooks and web resources exist to provide varied guidance on planning for and designing bicycle and pedestrian facilities, yet there are no specific indications about which of the varied treatments in these guides work well for users. This project highlights best practices and identifies program characteristics associated with high levels of non-motorized travel, with an emphasis on bicyclists and pedestrians. It highlights practices in the California communities of Davis, Palo Alto and San Luis Obispo. The case studies are used to illustrate how urban communities have integrated non-motorized transportation modes into the physical infrastructure and worked to educate …

Socio-Economic Effects Of Demolishing Squatter Settlements And Illegal Structures In Abuja Metropolis, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, Ishaku Iy Mallo Phd, Victor G. Obasanya

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Abuja the Federal Capital Territory and study area is located between latitudes 8o25’ and 9o25’ North of the Equator and longitudes 6o45’ and 7o45’ East of the Greenwich Meridian. The study was carried out in Abuja Phase 1, and it is aimed at highlighting various socioeconomic effects of demolition of illegal structures and informal or squatter settlements on the people within the study area. Data was collected through reconnaissance survey, personal interviews with respondents, and a well laid out questionnaire. The results indicate that the demolition exercise embarked upon by the authorities in the Federal Capital Territory was a response …

The Local Economic Growth Impact Of Broadband Infrastructure 1998 To 2008, Karen A. Gurney

ETD Archive

This dissertation presents estimates of the relationship between early investment in broadband infrastructure and a number of local economic indicators using a data set of communities (by zip code) across the U.S. Data is matched from the FCC (Form 477) on broadband infrastructure availability with demographic and other socio-economic data from the U.S. Population Censuses and Business Trends Surveys. Spatial econometric techniques are utilized. Even after controlling for community-level factors known to influence broadband availability and economic activity, it was found that between 1998 and 2008, communities in which broadband was available by 1999, compared to those that did not, …

Role Of Marketing And Construction In Economic Development: Lessons For Emerging Economies, Low Sui Pheng, Dang Thuy Huong Giang

Business Review

This paper reviews the relationship between marketing, with focus on international marketing, and economic development based on existing theoretical and empirical studies. There have been different stances on the relationship. It is, however, argued that engagement in effective marketing in general and international marketing in particular is much needed for the economic development process in most developing countries. Primary theoretical insights for government policies that support the integration of developing countries into the international market are also discussed in this paper. The paper concludes with an observation that infrastructure support provided by the construction industry is essential for trade to …

Development Of A Spatial Data Infrastructure For Coastal Management In The Amirante Islands, Seychelles, Sarah M. Hamylton, Justin Prosper

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Spatial data infrastructures play a key role in coastal management decision making in the Seychelles. This paper describes four components of a web-based spatial data infrastructure that were developed to facilitate coastal management of the Amirante Islands in the Seychelles. The four components include: (i) the institutional arrangement for using spatial data effectively to address local management challenges, (ii) the production of island habitat maps from remotely sensed data, (iii) the tasks undertaken for promoting access to and use of this spatial data, and (iv) an example of how this data is used for a specific coastal management application in …

Unearthing The Infrastructure: Humans And Sensors In Field-Based Scientific Research, Matthew S. Mayernik, Jillian C. Wallis, Christine L. Borgman

Christine L. Borgman

Distributed sensing systems for studying scientific phenomena are critical applications of information technologies. By embedding computational intelligence in the environment of study, sensing systems allow researchers to study phenomena at spatial and temporal scales that were previously impossible to achieve. We present an ethnographic study of field research practices among researchers in the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS), a National Science Foundation Science & Technology Center devoted to developing wireless sensing systems for scientific and social applications. Using the concepts of boundary objects and trading zones, we trace the processes of collaborative research around sensor technology development and adoption …