Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 30 of 35
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Hodge-Podge Hybridity: Luo And Western Identities In The Kenyan Development Context, Hannah Tuttle
Hodge-Podge Hybridity: Luo And Western Identities In The Kenyan Development Context, Hannah Tuttle
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Kinship ties in Africa form the basis of social organization. Far different from the Western conception of individual agency, individuals in Africa often define themselves in terms of their community or lineage. The tension between these two forms of identity-formation is visible in the field of international development. The aim of this research project is to understand the ways in which the social organization of the Luo people of Kisumu, Kenya has interacted with the various projects implemented by both governmental and non-governmental actors. Do those programs emphasize the agency of the individual in ways that complement the larger social …
Human Elephant Conflict, Madeleine Johnson, Sara Miller
Human Elephant Conflict, Madeleine Johnson, Sara Miller
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Human elephant conflict is a serious issue around the world. There are various cases, all of which problematic, with many different solutions. By comparing human elephant conflict in various countries throughout the world, we seek to find possible solutions for Sri Lankan communities.
Examining Environmental Injustice In Florida, Samuel Wasserman, Jeffrey Vaz
Examining Environmental Injustice In Florida, Samuel Wasserman, Jeffrey Vaz
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
This project analyzes potential areas of environmental injustice on a census tract level throughout Florida. Data on race and median household income were compiled into ArcGIS 10.2.2 along with Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) locations to determine if communities with low income or large minority population are disproportionately exposed to sources of heavy pollution. Statistical tests found that high minority and low income census tracts were more likely to be within two miles of a TRI site and that census tracts containing two or more TRI sites had significantly lower median household incomes than census tracts with only one or fewer …
Predicting At-Risk Areas For Deforestation In Malawi, Robin Lewis, Andrew Currier
Predicting At-Risk Areas For Deforestation In Malawi, Robin Lewis, Andrew Currier
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
One of the poorest nations in Africa, the small country of Malawi has recently experienced severe deforestation. From 1990-2010, Malawi lost 17% of its forest cover (FAO 2013). Malawi also has the 6th highest population growth rate in the world (3.3% per year) (CIA 2014). Given this information, our study aimed to predict areas of future deforestation in Malawi. We constructed a spatial model to predict deforestation using the following parameters: distance from roads, distance from major markets, and population density. Our model predicted tree cover loss from 2000-2010 with some degree of accuracy. We then applied this model to …
The Utilization Of Spatial Analysis To Predict Areas Of High Shark Attack Risk, Emily Walker, Laurel Whitney
The Utilization Of Spatial Analysis To Predict Areas Of High Shark Attack Risk, Emily Walker, Laurel Whitney
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
In the past twelve months, Australia has faced five fatal shark attacks. Some researchers have attributed this spike in shark attacks to increased populations. Since 1990, the Australian population has increased from 17 million to 23 million. As sharks are relatively common in Australia, the governments of some states have implemented culling as a shark attack mitigation strategy. However, under the Fisheries Management Act 1994 and the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, this program is listed as a Key Threatening Processes as it has harmed two or more threatened species listed under those acts, which has rendered it quite controversial …
Impacts Of Sea Level Rise On Plum Island, Ma, Jessica Batchelder
Impacts Of Sea Level Rise On Plum Island, Ma, Jessica Batchelder
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
ArcGIS 10.2.2 and NAD1983 Massachusetts Stateplane Mainland FIPS 2001 projection was used to model sea level rise on Plum Island, Massachusetts. Under high sea level rise conditions of 3m, 81.9% of the buildings on the island will be inundated in addition to a total of 11.06km2 or 75.44% of the islands land area. 86.5% of the wetlands would be inundated, the most loss of any vegetation type on the island. Based upon elevation data, this model provides a basic analysis of the impacts of extreme sea level rise on Plum Island.
Sociological Impacts Of Wind Farms In Maine, Jeanne Barthold
Sociological Impacts Of Wind Farms In Maine, Jeanne Barthold
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Renewable power has emerged in the last decade as a viable alternative for our societies' fossil fuel dependence. The Maine Wind Energy Act of 2009 made lofty goals for the amount of wind power that Maine wanted to produce by the year 2020. The many sides of the debate on Maine windmills that have arisen in the past six years create a picture that is extremely complicated. There is clearly not one solution to the problems that came with the rapid construction of windmills since the passing of the Maine Wind Energy Act. The rural communities most directly affected by …
Innovation And Productivity: Evidence From China, Jingying Xu
Innovation And Productivity: Evidence From China, Jingying Xu
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
This paper investigates a lesser-known effect of innovation on the productivity of manufacturing firms in China. Innovation is a powerful vehicle for new firms to enter the market and compete with established firms. Innovation plays a key role in the productivity of firms and it matters for all types of firms, new as well as established. The ratio of new product output to the firms total outputs is used to measure innovation ability in this paper. A higher ratio is expected to have a positive impact on a firms productivity since new products are likely to be more differentiated than …
Augusta Food Bank, John Bengtson, Jongwon Lee, Paige Shortsleeves, Emily Glaenzer
Augusta Food Bank, John Bengtson, Jongwon Lee, Paige Shortsleeves, Emily Glaenzer
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Everyone in the class volunteers with a different nonprofit organization in the Waterville area working with them as assistant grant writers. The class, operating like the board of a granting foundation, reviews organizations' grant applications, makes funding decisions, and allocates one or more grants totaling ,000. We chose to work with the Augusta Food Bank to run a Kids Packs program where food is given to kids who are unable to get an adequate amount of food over the weekend and vacations.
Hip Fractures In Central Maine: A Retrospective Study Of Hip Fracture Patients Treated At Mainegeneral Medical Center, James Johnston, Kali Stevens
Hip Fractures In Central Maine: A Retrospective Study Of Hip Fracture Patients Treated At Mainegeneral Medical Center, James Johnston, Kali Stevens
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Maine has one of the oldest populations in the United States, and improving hip fracture care and secondary prevention of osteoporotic fractures are important public health goals. This study is a baseline description of hip fracture patient demographics, outcomes, and rates of secondary prevention at a mid-sized community hospital in central Maine. It included 374 hip fracture patients (who were at least 50 years old) admitted to MaineGeneral Medical Center with acute femoral neck, intertrochanteric, or subtrochanteric fractures between 2011 and 2013. The study revealed that MaineGeneral meets or exceeds standards for surgical care of hip fracture patients, but has …
The Feminized Culture Of Dieting As A Social Construct, Molly Cox
The Feminized Culture Of Dieting As A Social Construct, Molly Cox
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
This research project explores dieting as a culturally constructed concept. It examines the motivating factors for women to begin dieting, the goals they hope to achieve through dieting, and whether or not these are attainable. Drawing on interviews conducted with women on Colby's campus, both those who diet and those who do not, I explore questions concerning what dieting means to those who practice it as well as how normative discourses about food and body image influence these understandings.
Gender Performances And Virtual Community In Women's Cooking Blogs, Alicia Fawcett
Gender Performances And Virtual Community In Women's Cooking Blogs, Alicia Fawcett
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Cooking blogs are a unique medium that allow many people, especially women, to express their love and talent for cooking, while other media is much less accessible to both writers and readers. The majority of cooking blogs are written by women, and the most popular of these offer a distinct performance of gender by their authors and facilitate a community with and among their readers. Each cooking blog is unique in its gender performance and the type of community it creates, influenced by the gender, racial, and classist structures that have permeated other cooking media in its own way. This …
Cooking Solo: Complicating Off-Campus Culinary Independence, William Harley
Cooking Solo: Complicating Off-Campus Culinary Independence, William Harley
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
People have traditionally learned how to cook from helping and watching their parents. However, many people today teach themselves how to cook when they first live on their own and have to feed themselves. My friend Sarunas moved off campus in January and is currently teaching himself how to cook. Over the past month and a half, I've met with Sarunas to observe how he shops, preps, and cooks his meals in an attempt to understand what resources he draws from to make himself cheap, healthy, and delicious food.
#Foodies Feeding Gender And Social Class, Catherine Powell
#Foodies Feeding Gender And Social Class, Catherine Powell
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
At the most basic level, a Foodie is someone who loves food. Interviewing students and friends, studying Instagram Foodie profiles, and analyzing scholarly articles revealed that the Foodie identity includes much more than a love of food. The Foodie identity is an exclusive privilege accessible mainly to white upper class females with access to smartphones and internet. Some themes that I explore include the relationship of food consumption to modernity, gender, and social class, and the racism implied and perpetuated through the Foodie identity.
Case Studies Of Turtle Rehabilitation As Implicators Of Legislative Efficacy, Meredith Braun
Case Studies Of Turtle Rehabilitation As Implicators Of Legislative Efficacy, Meredith Braun
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Six of the seven species of marine turtles occur in Australias waters. All species of marine turtle are listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). International legislation exists for the protection of biodiversity, habitats, and endangered flora and fauna, but the cohesion of these policies leaves much to be questioned. In cooperation with the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre on Fitzroy Island, Queensland, Australia, this study aimed to take the stories of four turtles observed in rehabilitation in May of 2014 and use them as a launching pad for investigation and …
Optimal Land Conservation By State In Terms Of Gdp, Carolyn Fuwa, Robert Mccormick
Optimal Land Conservation By State In Terms Of Gdp, Carolyn Fuwa, Robert Mccormick
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Our research analyzes and compares the different levels of conservation in terms of acres and invested dollars between states and how these different approaches to conservation effects each states production over time.
Competitive Balance And Attendance In Major League Baseball, Gary Koplik, Christopher Kennedy, Ryan Jann, Daniel Meyer
Competitive Balance And Attendance In Major League Baseball, Gary Koplik, Christopher Kennedy, Ryan Jann, Daniel Meyer
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Competitive balance is an important issue for Major League Baseball (MLB). If there is too much separation between the best and worst teams it is believed that games become uninteresting because the season-end result is predictable. If there is too little separation fans may be uninterested because the regular season result appears to be simply luck based. The MLB offices have made strides to increase competitive balance by implementing a revenue sharing system and by adding additional playoff spots. The goal of this paper is to examine the effects of competitive balance in baseball on league wide attendance. Previous papers …
The Ecological And Economic Value Of Maine Golf Courses, Gregory Ladd, Jason Buco
The Ecological And Economic Value Of Maine Golf Courses, Gregory Ladd, Jason Buco
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
What is the housing premium and induced impacts of tourism attributed from Maine Golf Course?
Controls On Farmland Prices In The Midwestern United States, A Time-Series Econometric Analysis From 1970-2014, William Kearney, Paco Defrancis
Controls On Farmland Prices In The Midwestern United States, A Time-Series Econometric Analysis From 1970-2014, William Kearney, Paco Defrancis
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Farmland prices in the American Midwest are finally starting to come off of a historic bull-market run that is seen in many counties that make up District 7 of the Federal Reserves Bank (the Chicago Fed) skyrocket to well in excess of ,000 per acre. In our analysis we look at how much control different variables had on the sharp uptick in farmland prices that was experience in the late-2000's. We have compiled data from 1970 through Q4 of 2014 that came from the Chicago Fed (county-level and regional average farmland prices and agricultural loan interest rates), the USDA (figures …
Effects Of War-Time Escalation On Immigration Attitudes In The United States, Dylan Smith, Anthony Ramirez
Effects Of War-Time Escalation On Immigration Attitudes In The United States, Dylan Smith, Anthony Ramirez
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Immigration Policy is a highly divisive issue in the United States, most notably recently with the Obama Administrations executive order on immigration reform and subsequent injunction by Texas Judge Andrew S. Hansen. Major influences on immigration opinion and policy include international political conflict. For example, surrounding the tragic events of 9/11 there was a large increase in xenophobic attitudes according to polls taken in the beginning of 2001 and 2002: a Gallup poll demonstrated that those wanting less immigration increased from 36% in 2001 to 52% in the following year. The goal of this paper is to observe the effect …
Predicting Need-Based Financial Aid, Connor Whitley, Camden Regan, Daniel Hyszczak
Predicting Need-Based Financial Aid, Connor Whitley, Camden Regan, Daniel Hyszczak
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
to be added later.
The Economics Of The Audubon Society Sanctuary Program For Golf Courses, Daniel Hyszczak
The Economics Of The Audubon Society Sanctuary Program For Golf Courses, Daniel Hyszczak
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
To be added later.
Preferences For Coral Reef And Fishery Management In Okinawa, Nils Carlson
Preferences For Coral Reef And Fishery Management In Okinawa, Nils Carlson
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
The valuation and estimation of key characteristics of a coral reef are of importance to policy makers in order to secure the capacity of coral reefs to supply humanity with ecological goods and services. This study sets out to estimate the willingness-to-pay for certain attributes of a coral reef and to elicit preferences for individuals regarding the key characteristics provided by the marine environment in Okinawa, Japan.
Efficient Market Hypothesis And Environmental Stocks: Market Reactions To Capital Investment In Renewable Energy Projects And The Pricing Of Environmental Securities, John Crampton
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
The focus of this paper is on the efficient market hypothesis which states that securities are all efficiently priced based on all available information. Furthermore, once an announcement is made or there is new information available, the market reacts and adjusts prices. I hope to analyze this theory and test it against environmental stocks focused on renewable energy generation (solar fields, wind turbine fields, etc.). Then, the analysis of what characteristics of a security make up the pricing of that stock, such as the price of oil, dividend yield, time of the year (cyclical factors), types of capital investments (solar …
Cost Benefit Of Cafe Standards, Brian Levinson
Cost Benefit Of Cafe Standards, Brian Levinson
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Cost and benefit analysis of Cafe (MPG) standards and ways to improve current techniques
Rethinking How To Efficiently Fund Public Goods: An Agent-Based Modelling Of A Group Funding System Accommodating Different Human Behaviors And Influences Affecting Decision-Making, Shama Ramos
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
In neoclassical economics, we assume individuals generally based their decisions on their own welfare maximizing their utility. Due to this assumption, we created a tax system in order to provide public goods so that no one will act as a free-rider. Nonetheless, this system only provides general optimal utility instead of optimal utility for each individual. Because of the set assumption that humans only seek self-interest, economists overlooked other significant factors affecting peoples decision-making processes. In this research, I applied an agent-based model in order to take in consideration other factors affecting human decision-making and propose a new system in …
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Through Grassland Restoration In The Upper Midwest, United States: A Spatially-Controlled Cost-Benefit Analysis, Paco Defrancis
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Through Grassland Restoration In The Upper Midwest, United States: A Spatially-Controlled Cost-Benefit Analysis, Paco Defrancis
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
The global agriculture sector is responsible for close 20% of gross anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emitted since the start of the industrial age. Much of these emissions are attributed to the degradation of soils due to land use change when native ecosystems were converted to agricultural fields. Soil organic carbon (SOC) has been found to decrease in temperate soils when the native (such as a forest or grassland) ecosystem is replace by croplands. The aggregate amount of organic carbon stored in soils globally is estimated be 3.3x the size of the atmospheric carbon pool. Further soil degradation and reduction …
Outside Spending In The 2014 Midterm Elections: The Lasting Effects Of Citizens United, Lucas Fortier
Outside Spending In The 2014 Midterm Elections: The Lasting Effects Of Citizens United, Lucas Fortier
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
The purpose of this study was to shed light on the controversial area of independent expenditures in the post-Citizens United world of campaign finance. The study focuses on three questions: who are the main players participating in this area of campaign finance, how are these outside groups being funded, and how do these groups spend their money to influence elections? Some findings of the study were that, while there was a large number of registered SuperPACs and political nonprofits in the 2014 midterm elections, only a relatively small group of 70 major organizations accounted for over 90 percent of total …
Land Reform And The Use Of Violence: Creating A Set Of Conditions Using The Case Of Zimbabwe, Dylan Ciccarelli
Land Reform And The Use Of Violence: Creating A Set Of Conditions Using The Case Of Zimbabwe, Dylan Ciccarelli
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
The purpose of this paper is to develop a set of conditions under which land reform becomes violent, looking specifically at the fast-track land reform policy implemented in Zimbabwe from 1998-2003. The roots and use of violence in the context of land reform is a topic that has not been widely researched in previous land reform literature, however it is important as the issue of land inequality has been, and is, an ongoing issue in many sub-Saharan African countries, including Zimbabwe. This paper will argue that land reform will become violent when certain economic, political, and social conditions are present. …
South African Survivor: The National Party’S Survival In The Context Of The Cold War, John Hartigan
South African Survivor: The National Party’S Survival In The Context Of The Cold War, John Hartigan
CLAS: Colby Liberal Arts Symposium
Apartheid continued in the Republic of South Africa until 1993, far longer than any other minority dominated government on the continent of Africa. In this paper, I analyze the reasons why Afrikaners were able to perpetuate their grip on political power far longer than any of their white colleagues around the continent. This paper is comparative; I place the South African experience in context with other minority ruled statesKenya and Mozambiquethat experienced the break down of minority rule far sooner than the South Africans. I argue that there are three main factors that ensured the that the National PartySouth Africas …