Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Population Aging And Healthcare Costs In China And Japan, Sean Brown

Honors Theses

This study focuses on the natural demographic phenomenon known as population aging and its intersection with healthcare expenditures. Healthcare spending can be a major burden on a country’s economy, so it is important to accurately assess the connection between these two factors. Population aging occurs when countries reach a point in their demographic transitions characterized by declining total fertility rates and high life expectancy. This natural but undesirable position has implications for virtually all aspects of society, and all countries are trending towards aging. This study examines the cases of China and Japan in an effort to assess the validity …

Trafficking In Persons: The Reliability Of The Tier Ranking System And Its Ability To Influence Global Policy Decisions, Zoe Storck

Honors Theses

This research investigates the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report published annually by the United States. Specifically, this research examines both the role that the Trafficking in Persons report plays in pushing specific human rights policy decisions throughout the world and its overall effectiveness in creating governmental response. The tier rankings and country narratives included in the report are essential for identifying specific government responses to recommendations made in the TIP report, and the tier rankings specifically have created a system that pressures countries to pursue steps toward combatting human trafficking. The data collection method utilized throughout this research consists primarily …

On The Intersections Of Childhood Maltreatment, Self-Control, And Behavioral Outcomes Across The Life-Course, Ameleigh Bippen

Honors Theses

Childhood abuse and neglect are highly deleterious experiences that a number of children continue to encounter. The purpose of the current discussion is to examine the impact of childhood abuse and neglect on the growth and development of self-control in early childhood. In service of this goal, several methods were employed, including a review of the historical and current research on the development of self-control. In addition to this, specific scientific theories and their advancements were analyzed to provide further insight into the connection between poor impulse regulation (and decision-making) and downstream linkages with criminal offending. Perhaps not surprisingly, evidence …

Effects Of Music Exposure On Autobiographical Memory In Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Gregory Vance

Honors Theses

The progression of Alzheimer’s disease is primarily characterized by a loss of memory concerning past events, as well as a lack in ability to create new memories. While this spans across many subsets of memory, such as recognition, recall, and autobiographical memory, there seems to be a lesser impact on musical memory in those with Alzheimer’s. Multiple studies have suggested that exposure to music and introduction of music therapy can even improve other aspects of memory in Alzheimer’s patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to examine the relationship between music exposure and autobiographical memory specifically. A pool of electronic …

Ageism, Eldercare, And Healthcare: An Examination Of Growing Old In Costa Rica, Akshaya Vijayasankar

Honors Theses

The world’s aging population and the Covid-19 pandemic have revealed the high level of ageism against older adults around the globe, which has resulted in an overall decreased quality of life for elders. Societies are now faced with the challenge of creating a suitable and equitable model of care to support their aging population. Despite the recent publication of the World Health Organization's Global Report on Ageism, there is still a large gap in the literature regarding ageism. This paper addresses the issues of institutional ageism in the eldercare and healthcare sector. I argue that Costa Rica serves as a …

Increasing Perceived Realism Of Objects In A Mixed Reality Environment Using 'Diminished Virtual Reality', Logan Scott Parker

Honors Theses

With the recent explosion of popularity of virtual and mixed reality, an important question has arisen: “Is there a way to create a better blend of real and virtual worlds in a mixed reality experience?” This research attempts to determine whether a visual filter can be created and applied to virtual objects to better convince the brain into interpreting a composite of virtual and real views as one seamless view. The method devised in this thesis is being called 'Diminished Virtual Reality'. The results found in this study show that when presented with a scene composed of a combination of …

Pendulums Of Personhood? Exploring The Multitudes Of Immigrant Womanhood In Spanish-Maghrebi Literature, Kaitlyn C. Sisco

Honors Theses

Often considered articulations of in-between-ness and bearers of fraught selfhoods, the work of Spanish-Maghrebi authors has been widely debated in literary fields, with academics arguing that it constitutes a largely homogenous set of texts about the standard immigrant experience. However, by placing these texts in a single category, such arguments end up erasing the immensely varied identities expressed and represented by Spanish-Maghrebi authors. This thesis seeks to address this issue by paying particular attention to how Spanish-Maghrebi authors negotiate different types of immigrant subjectivities in their writing. Specifically, I analyze the works of three contemporary Spanish-Maghrebi writers, Najat El Hachmi, …

50 Years Later: How Title Ix Has Influenced The World Of Sports And The Effect It Has Had On Female Athletes, Catherine Jeffers

Honors Theses

This thesis aims to research the opportunities given to women within sports, and perceptions around their identities in the sporting industry. This thesis highlights the history of Title IX and its’ impact on gender in sports. This thesis also discusses the lack of women’s sports represented in media and the limited number of women in positions of power in sports. Since sports were introduced into modern culture, women have been advocating and fighting for their right to participate in sporting events and forcing even more complex conversations around equal compensation for their play.

A Look Towards The Future Of Eldercare: Lessons Learned From Social Care Models In Japan, Caroline M. Steil

Honors Theses

The rapidly accelerating trend of population aging is redefining the state of eldercare globally, as every country is currently or will soon face a gap in the excess demand for care versus the scarce supply of caregivers, both formal and informal. Specifically, there is a decrease in the number of elders seeking care through a family member as well as less caregivers in institutions to provide care for elders. Japan is at the vanguard of this caregiving gap, and thus provides key lessons, particularly from two innovative models of eldercare: Ibasho, a grass-roots, non-profit organization, and Japan's Long-Term Care Insurance …

“A History Of Heartache”: Korean Reunification Through The Eyes Of Giseong Sedae, Johanna Avalyn Cooper

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I analyze answers provided by middle-aged South Koreans (Giseong Sedae, ages 40 to 69) to determine what factors have influenced this generation’s perceptions of Korean reunification. Utilizing a survey and interviews, I first measure the general views of South Korean participants within this age range. The survey results show that the majority of respondents want Peaceful Coexistence reunification without foreign influence. In interviews, participants’ answers are divided into six main factors that affect their views of reunification which include hesitancies toward reunification, the tenacity of Han Minjok, familial ties to division, anti-communist education, political …

Social Media Agenda Setting Of Environmental Policy Issues In Switzerland, Canaan Vaughan

Honors Theses

This paper seeks to develop methodologies and testing methods for the agenda setting power of Swiss political organizational accounts on Twitter to determine who sets agenda about environmental topics. Previous research has examined social media’s agenda setting power over traditional media but has been unable to draw conclusions on which political organizations set agenda on other organizations. Research has suggested that larger organizations might have an agenda setting role over smaller ones, and organizations perceived as experts may set agenda over others. Twitter data from official organizational accounts was collected, encoded as environmental or not, and then fitted to a …

Save, Gamble, Or Both? The Relationship Between Premium Bond Sales And Lottery Sales In The United Kingdom, Kaden Grace

Honors Theses

Four out of every ten Americans are unable to pay for an unexpected $400 bill out of their savings accounts. To ameliorate this problem, one policy to incentivize saving is a Prize-Linked Savings Account (PLSA). Unlike a traditional savings account that pays out a consistent rate of return, a PLSA pools the interest on all deposits and distributes the returns in randomly drawn prizes (similar to a lottery). However, PLSAs remain illegal in many areas due to a concern that the introduction of a private or public PLSA could cannibalize revenue from an existing state-sponsored lottery, thus restricting the state’s …

Draft Legislation: A Novel Policy System Of Income & Refundable Property Tax Credits For Sustainable Use Of “Keystone” Stillage And Spent Grain Wastes To Stop Pollution And Surge Business Growth, Samuel C. Kessler

Commonwealth Policy Papers

This draft bill originally formatted by the KY Legislative Research Commission is the minimum text necessary to enact the policy described in the CPP whitepaper publication "Support New Business to Solve Old Problems with Kentucky’s Keystone Waste from Bourbon & Brewing". This publication is also known by the subtitle " A novel policy system of income & refundable property tax credits for sustainable use of Kentucky’s “keystone” wastes – stillage and spent grain - designed to stop pollution risk and surge business growth across the Commonwealth".

Any and all legislative bodies are encouraged to use the attached legislation as the …

The Understanding Of Mycorrhizae Networks: A Historical Approach, Jake Sun

The Confluence

The growth of mycorrhizal fungi into plant roots used to be viewed as a parasitic relationship between plants and fungi, where the fungal symbiont benefits and the plant host is harmed. Current research elucidates a mutualistic relationship. The mycorrhizae network assists the plants by increasing the capabilities for nutrient absorption in the soil. In exchange, the fungi receive carbon supply from the photosynthetic plants for growth. Our scientific understanding of other topics like species specificity, seed germination, and co-evolutionary influence of mycorrhizae and plants has also progressed. Additionally, we now understand that the mycorrhizal mutualism is not limited to the …

Postscript, Arthur C. Nelson

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Afterword - It Has Been A Good Ride, Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer, James Nicholas

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Our Cities, Ourselves, Nan Ellin

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Just as we are what we eat, we are where we live. We breathe the air, drink the water and inhabit the built and natural landscapes. We make our places and they, in turn, make us. While great places nourish body and soul, poor environmental and urban quality challenges us physically as well as emotionally. How might we heal our places, so that they sustain us, rather than strain us?

On The Restorative Power Of Nature, Or Why Every Neighborhood Needs A Public Japanese Garden, Mira Locher, Keith Bartholomew

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

In celebration of Professor Arthur C. “Chris” Nelson’s illustrious career and our shared ambles in academia and in gardens in Japan, we offer this essay on public health and public gardens, namely gardens in the traditional Japanese style and how they could play an important role in addressing pressing public health issues in urban areas in the U.S. (and elsewhere).

Stewardship Of The Built Environment In A Changing World, Robert A. Young

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Stewardship of the built environment emerged in the mid-1990s (Young 1994) when preservationists and conservationists needed to broaden their qualitative emotion-based arguments and adopt quantitative environmental and economic evidence to counter proposals that threatened the viability of both the built and natural environments. Social, environmental, and economic (SEE) concerns at the turn of the twenty-first century formed the triptych of the metrics found within the philosophy which: “…recognizes that the preservation, rehabilitation, and reuse of existing older and historic buildings contributes to sustainable design; respects the past, present, and future users of the built environment; and balances the needs of …

Becoming Henderson: How A "Boomburg" Used A Future-Focused Strategic Plan To Become A True Urban Place, Debra March, Stephanie Garcia-Vause, Lisa Corrado

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Since its incorporation in 1953, the City of Henderson, Nevada has grown from a sparsely populated, one-industry town into a “boomburb” comprised of numerous nationally recognized master-planned communities with an over-arching, future-focused strategic plan. This article is a case study of how this boomburb took advantage of its position in the American suburban landscape to become a true urban place. It also offers a checklist for other communities to consider as they plan for their own futures.

Beyond Brownfields Redevelopment: A Policy Framework For Regional Land Recycling Planning, Joseph Schilling

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

The fields of urban policy and urban planning lack a cohesive and comprehensive framework for recycling vacant and abandoned properties. Past and present efforts to repurpose vacant land and abandoned properties were often narrow responses driven primarily by economic redevelopment policies such as urban renewal of the 1950s & 1960s, deindustrialization of the 1970s & 1980s, and the public-private partnerships featured during the 1990s & 2000s. The 2008-2015 mortgage foreclosure crisis and Great Recession put the policy spotlight on how to address the widespread impacts from thousands of vacant and/or foreclosed homes that affected diverse markets and communities across the …

Making Places Better, Arthur C. Nelson

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Four Modes Of Engagement: Positioning University Urban Design And Research Centers For The Future, Courtney Crosson

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

University urban design and research centers, which link academic pedagogy and research activities to real-world projects, have grown in number over the last several decades. As the rate of urbanization accelerates and universities’ missions become increasingly grounded in visible impact and financial self-sufficiency, these centers continue to offer an important and appealing model. This paper looks at the evolution of these centers from their beginnings in the 1950s, advancement in the 1980s, resurgence in the first decade of the 2000s, and current growing status. From a survey of over fifty centers throughout the United States, a typology is established based …

The Evolution Of Fiscal Impact Analysis And Where It Needs To Go, L. Carson Bise, Colin Mcaweeney

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Communities need analytical tools and technical support to assess and balance multiple priorities when making land use and development decisions. For many communities, priorities to be considered regarding land use decisions include resource conservation and climate adaptation, economic development, investing in new versus existing communities, and maintaining fiscal responsibility. This article examines the historical use of fiscal impact analysis and some thoughts on where the field should go in the future.

From The Abacus To Big Data: The Evolution Of Data-Driven Planning In The U.S. And Where The Field Will Be Headed, Keuntae Kim

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

The nature of planning involves a set of decision-making processes to fulfill people’s needs and expectations of where they live, work, and play. Dealing with the nature of planning—complexity, uncertainty, and disagreement—requires specific tools to explore various aspects of the built environment as a whole. Various types of data have been extracted, transformed, and loaded to describe the past and current conditions of the built environment, and planners have developed and applied data-driven planning tools to explore the knowns and unknowns of the urban futures and transform them into a set of actions based on the goals with consensus. This …

Advances In Planning Analysis And Engagement, Arthur C. Nelson

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Adventures In Land Use Dispute Resolution: Utah's Innovative Program To Provide "Free" Legal Advice To Local Government, Neighbors, And Property Owners, Craig Call

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Utah may have the nation’s most robust process allowing citizens to question local government land use decisions. This exists in the Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman (OPRO), created in 1997 and charged to assist in land use disputes in 2006. In three parts, this article divides an overview of the history of that office into two eras, evaluates one of the key functions of the current era—the preparation of advisory opinions (AOs), and suggests that Utah’s OPRO is a useful model for other states to consider. Most of this article focuses on the debates leading to the second era …

Saving The World Through Zoning: The Sustainable Development Code, Regeneration, And Beyond, Jonathan Rosenbloom, Chris Duerksen

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

The land use and planning community began to address sustainability at the local level in the 1990s, but in reality, state-of-the-art development codes drafted in the 1990s and early 2000s did little to address climate change, energy conservation, community health, loss of biodiversity, shifting biochemical cycles, racial justice, food supply, and other key sustainability issues. This article reviews past challenges that had to be overcome for sustainable development codes to become mainstream. The good news is that an increasing number of local governments are adopting ambitious sustainable development codes that hold great promise to not only protect the environment and …

Land Use Trends In The Rocky Mountain West: The Role Of The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, Susan Daggett

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

As one of the fastest-growing regions of the country, the communities of the intermountain West are poised to lead the nation in many ways, including how we manage change, create communities, and foster local places that contribute to a very high quality of life by nurturing and valuing the natural assets that make this region so special. This essay will reflect on how development patterns in the region have shifted over time. This essay will also ponder some potential emerging trends and areas of focus for the future, in the hopes that future scholars, students, and practitioners will build on …

The Rise And Fall Of Smart Growth: An Exploration Of The Appearance Of Smart Growth And Related Terms In Google Searches, Apa Conference Programs, And Selected Newspapers, Gerrit Knaap, Rebecca Lewis, Arnab Chakraborty, Katy June-Friesen, Naman Molri

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Smart growth was conceived in the mid to late 1990s as a fresh approach to urban development that was neither for nor against growth but sought to change its form and location as an antidote to urban sprawl. The prescription was supported by a broad network of organizations and promoted extensively nationwide. Toward that end, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the Smart Growth Network that includes many of the nation’s premier planning, development, environmental, and local government organizations. Today, many would argue that smart growth has become the predominant planning paradigm in the United States.

It has now been …