Public Policy Commons^™

Identifying Factors That Influence Terrorist Decisions And Target Selection, Barry C. Ezell, Joshua Behr, Andrew Collins

VMASC Publications

Currently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) elicits probabilistic judgements from the intelligence community on actions terrorists may take to attack the continental U.S. For example, how likely is the adversary to choose agent 'x' over 'y' or target 'a' over target 'b'? Eliciting these types of judgements is difficult and time consuming. The National Academies and others have suggested that a better approach may be to elicit information on adversary's preferences, perceptions, and capabilities and use this information to calculate probabilities of interest to DHS. Some terrorist groups are thinking about using weapons of mass destruction (WMD), each …

Gains, Losses, And Life Goals Identified By Caregivers Of Individuals With Disabilities In The United States, Sharon A. Raver, Anne M. P. Michalek

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

It is often reported that caregivers of individuals with disabilities experience stress as they manage caregiving responsibilities while they make the effort to balance family and work. Thirty-one caregivers of individuals with an array of disabilities in the United States completed a qualitative survey in this pilot study that asked them to identify their gains and losses from providing care and to identify their life goals. The gains from caregiving were identified as enhanced empathy and compassion, and the losses as strained family relationships, and less personal time. The most commonly identified life goals were experiencing happiness and achieving financial …

Saving Saba Bank: Policy Implications Of Biodiversity Studies, Paul C. Hoetjes, Kent E. Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Saba Bank has always been an area of special importance to the neighboring island of Saba in the Netherlands Antilles. Sabans traditionally fished on the Bank as far back as 1907, but increasing foreign fishing pressures on the Bank in the 1970s and 1980s forced many Saban fishermen out. Concerns were compounded by the suspicion that shipping was also damaging the benthic habitat of the bank. Fishery legislation, enacted in 1996, brought an end to unlicensed fishing and established Coast Guard enforcement on the Bank, but also led to protests from neighboring countries that previously fished on the Bank.Research was …

Public Recreation And Neighborhood Sense Of Community: An Exploration Of A Hypothesized Relationship, Svetoslav D. Gueorguiev, Edwin Gómez, Eddie Hill

Human Movement Sciences & Special Education Faculty Publications

This study explores the relationship between park attributes (perceived safety and perceived benefits) and their relationship to sense of community in urban neighborhoods. The study finds that the perception of benefits derived from park use has a direct relationship with sense of community, and that park safety is indirectly related to sense of community, with the perception of park benefits mediating the relationship between park safety and sense of community. Theoretical and practical considerations are discussed.

Privatizing Transportation Through Public-Private Partnerships: Definitions, Models, And Issues, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Candice Y. Wallace, Merl Hackbart

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

While contracting out has been the predominant method of privatization, there has been greater emphasis in recent times on using public-private partnerships (sometimes referred to as PPPs or P3s) instead. These public-private partnerships differ from contracting out, as they are characterized more by "a commitment between public and private actors ... in which partners develop products together and share risks, costs, and revenues" (Klijn & Teisman 2000, p. 85).

In the transportation arena the focus on public-private partnerships has resulted from both the need for greater reliance on private capital to fund critical infrastructure and services and the need to …

The Effect Of Spectral Composition On The Photochemical Production Of Hydrogen Peroxide In Lake Water, Andrea Y. L. Wong, George T. F. Wong

OES Faculty Publications

Hydrogen peroxide was produced when samples of lake water were exposed to direct or filtered sunlight in which UV or UV(B+C) light was selectively removed. In all cases, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide increased linearly with time-integrated irradiance. While both visible and UV light can induce the formation of hydrogen peroxide, the contribution from the latter was disproportionately large as it was responsible for about two-thirds of the formation of hydrogen peroxide. Among the UV lights, the contributions from UV-A and UV-(B+C) light were 70% and 30% respectively. The contribution from UV-A light was equivalent to about one half of …

Refuge Land Acquisition: Helping Preserve Back Bay's Wildlife Heritage, Julia Herrick, Ben Mathias, Janet Taylor

V. Poster Abstracts

The once-renowned waterfowl populations and bass fishery of Back Bay, Virginia have declined dramatically in recent years. Lands surrounding Back Bay are increasingly threatened by on-going and potential land development. These lands serve as an important filter for pollutant and sediment-laden runoff from adjacent areas. The boundary of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge was expanded in 1989 to include an additional 6,340 acres of brackish marsh, forested swamp, and "critical edge" upland habitat, important to a variety of wildlife species and for its natural filtering effect. Within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's policy of working with willing sellers, …