Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

Torch (November/December 2012), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Women Empowerment And Community Development Through Ecotourism, Katherine S. Barry

Capstone Collection

Eco-tourism is generically and broadly considered to be a trendy topic for the privileged traveler to obtain an “authentic cultural experience”. This paper aims to disprove common misperceptions and present failures the system has created. Eco-tourism is an over-exploited and under-utilized tool in the field of sustainable development. Many resorts and “cultural” tours dominant, while local people suffer economically, social and environmentally. However, in the far-reaches of the Kakamega rainforest, there is group that is filling the environmental, social and economic gap in the field of sustainable tourism. They are the Isecheno Women’s Conservation Group, empowering and educating women to …

Obtaining Consumer Perceptions Of External Costs Of “Cheap” Food Products And Analyzing Quality Food Markets That Minimize External Costs In Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, Jennifer Long '13

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Today, the United States’ food system is primarily a large industrial operation with smaller-scale community-based food systems. Although the industrial food system has benefitted society by increasing the amount of food available for every person, some of these products are “cheap” food products that generate external costs, such as poor health, potential wealth loss to farmers and environmental degradation. With over 1 billion individuals on earth undernourished and 15.8% of all U.S. households as of 2010 food insecure [Patel, 2012], this system has not completely solved food issues. Community-based food systems, on the other hand, minimize external costs …

Examining Ways To Promote Water Conservation At Golf Courses In Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, Rose Kelly '13

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine ways for golf courses in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, to promote water conservation. As the demand for freshwater exponentially increases around the United States, it becomes necessary to examine current freshwater uses, especially those for recreational purposes. Golf courses are one of the largest freshwater users, with a typical course consuming hundreds of thousands of gallons every day for grass maintenance. With water shortages and insecure future water supplies, golf courses around the United States are urgently looking for ways to promote water conservation. This includes golf courses in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. The severe drought …

Exploring Strategies For Converting Illinois Wesleyan University From Dual-Stream To Single-Stream Recycling, Megan George '13

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

The purpose of this study was to answer the question: how can a transition from dual-stream to single-stream recycling be implemented effectively as a way of increasing the rate of recycling on the Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) campus? The problem of waste in the United States is of increasing concern for many reasons. For the Bloomington-Normal, Illinois community-- where IWU is located-- the imminent filling of the local landfill site inspired a community-wide push towards improving waste diversion strategies, and in this case: recycling programs. This research focused on both analyzing the current recycling program at IWU and examining other …

Abolitionist Animal Rights: Critical Comparisons And Challenges Within The Animal Rights Movement, Corey Lee Wrenn

Animal Rights Movement Collection

The abolitionist movement is an emergent and radical approach to nonhuman animal rights. Calling for a complete cessation in nonhuman animal use through the abolishing of property status for nonhuman animals and an adoption of veganism and nonviolence, this approach stands in stark contrast to mainstream approaches such as humane production and welfare reform. This paper describes the goals and stances of abolitionism; the basic debate between abolitionism and other nonhuman animal rights movements; and the current state, challenges, and future prospects for abolitionism. It is argued that abolitionism, as developed by Francione, is the only morally consistent approach for …

The Rattler (Volume 100, Issue 10, Edition 1), St. Mary's University

The Rattler (Previous issues)

Founded in 1919, The Rattler is the student voice of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. The newspaper documents campus life, academic and social issues, student opinion, and local and national events as they relate to the University community. Content typically includes news articles, editorial commentary, arts and culture coverage, sports reporting, and advertisements.

Ua12/2/32 Veterans Outreach Week, Wku Student Veterans Alliance, Danielle Adams

WKU Administration Documents

Electronic mail from WKU Student Veterans Alliance to faculty and staff regarding Veterans Outreach Week.

A Third Sector Imaginary, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

A basic theoretical challenge for third sector scholars today is to speak in general and consistent terms about the institutional and normative orders forming outside households, markets and governments in numerous countries, regions and urban centers everywhere. The third sectors of the world have formed in light of a range of distinctive local conditions, including history, culture, law and other factors. A growing international group of scholars has produced a convincing, although limited and partial model of the third sector based in the linked concepts of nonprofit organization, nonprofit sector and non-distribution constraints. We will need to pay greater heed …

The Rattler (Volume 100, Issue 9, Edition 1), St. Mary's University

The Rattler (Previous issues)

Founded in 1919, The Rattler is the student voice of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. The newspaper documents campus life, academic and social issues, student opinion, and local and national events as they relate to the University community. Content typically includes news articles, editorial commentary, arts and culture coverage, sports reporting, and advertisements.

It Takes A Community: Civic Life And Community Involvement Among Coös County Youth, Justin R. Young

Carsey Publications

This brief explores the extent to which Coös County youth are involved in a variety of civic-related activities, with particular attention to the demographic and attitudinal factors associated with such participation. Author Justin Young reports that approximately 75 percent of Coös County youth report involvement in at least one type of civic-related activity. The types of activities varied by year in school. Eighth grad¬ers were more involved in 4-H, Scouts, church groups, and community center events, while twelfth graders volunteered more often and participated in community-service clubs. Forty percent of youth volunteered within the past year, and a third are …

Decommissioning Orleans Parish Prison: A Campaign To Build A Safer New Orleans / One Local Policy Step To Dismantle The Prison Industrial Complex, Tara M. Echo

Capstone Collection

Today, nearly two and a half million people in the U.S. are living in cages, with New Orleans holding the highest per capita rate of incarceration. While we have consistently seen that building cages does not bring us any closer to actualizing safety, the sheriff and other city officials of New Orleans justify a financially profitable plan to create more cages-to warehouse more of the city's people-in the name of safety.

Using an abolitionist framework, this paper examines safety by differentiating between contributing factors of being secure and factors which create harm in our communities. By tracing these factors to …

Supporting Healthy Lives And Vibrant Places: Learning About And Living The Collaborative Leadership Model, Lisa Deangelis, Maureen A. Scully, Andrea Wight

Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects

The 31 fellows in the 2012 UMass Boston Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) worked with community partners to investigate the theme, “Supporting Healthy Lives and Vibrant Places.” They worked in peer self-managed teams, in order to learn collaborative leadership skills first-hand, while engaging with stakeholders and issues where collaboration makes a difference. Their team projects addressed: best practices in corporate wellness initiatives, outreach to support health care access for homeless people, ways to grow awareness of the wide need for affordable housing, ideas for arts-based local economic development, broader funding sources to support innovative research on poverty, and ways to continue …

We Make The Spring Rolls, They Make Their Own Rules: Filipina Domestic Workers’ Fight For Labor Rights In New York City And Los Angeles, Ariella Rotramel

Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality Faculty Publications

This article provides a multidimensional examination of Filipina domestic workers’ efforts to promote workers’ rights nationally and globally. Through their own experiences as transnational workers, Filipina activists were able to translate their knowledge of labor dynamics into practical and effective tactics such as the demand for labor contracts as an industry standard. Combining ethnographic research and interviews conducted with New York– based Filipina domestic worker activists with primary and secondary sources from Los Angeles, recent advocacy work in New York is compared with efforts in Los Angeles and California more broadly. Key points of comparison—demographics and organizing histories, geography and …

Los Comedores Sociales De España: Cómo Funciona Los Comedores Sociales En España, Y Cómo Han Cambiado Por La Crisis, Chandra Kirkland

Spain: Language, Community, and Social Change

The aim of this paper is to present the issue of hunger in Spain and outline the personal struggles of the people who come to soup kitchens to feed themselves. Due to the crisis, the necessity for free meals for the public has risen significantly. As unemployment and the eviction rate continue to rise, more and more people find themselves in need of extra support from organizations like the “Comedor” of San Raphael. The soup kitchen feeds between 150-250 people each 2-hr shift, ever Monday and Wednesday. In general, a minimum of 15 volunteers is required to ensure that everything …

Alliances Et Cultures Nord, Emily Taft

France: Language, Community and Social Change

Alliances et Cultures est un centre social à Toulouse qui « apporte, par des actions collectives, une réponse à des problèmes d'intégration sociale. » L’association, qui a été officiellement créée en 1987, réalise cette mission par trois axes principaux: l’insertion social et les liens sociales, l’accompagnement à la parentalité, et l’accompagnement aux personnes âgées. L’Alliances et Cultures a trois endroits différents : Sept-Deniers, Mirail, et Nord. Pour ma présentation, je vais parler de l’association en générale, ses missions, ses activités, etc. Je pense qu’il est important de montrer tous les fonctionnes de l’association pour mieux voir comment elles travaillent ensemble …

Developing A Space For Children: An Internship With The Mullumbimby Community Garden, Eden Olsen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper aims to demonstrate my independent study project internship at the Mullumbimby Community Garden (MCG), an interactive learning site for the citizens of Byron Shire. As an intern I spent 152.5 hours from October 29^th to November 23^rd planting, planning projects, attending meetings, and helping to educate about the importance of sustainable food production. More specifically, I focused on the development of the Children’s Garden, building vertical garden beds, planting the sensory garden, attending meetings, and helping to design and analyze costs for new structures to be implemented in the near future.

This study reaches further than …

Le Communautarisme Au Cameroun : Analyse Comparative Entre Les Associations Ethniques Et Les Associations Non-Ethniques Et Leurs Effets À Yaoundé, Lauren R. Stocks-Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cette étude interpelle la philosophie communautaire, un fondement ancien de la société africaine, en milieu contemporain et urbain au Cameroun. Au sein de la capitale Yaoundé, toute une gamme de communautés forme leurs propres associations qu’elles soient basées sur l’ethnie, la profession ou sur un autre point commun. Cette recherche explore la raison pour laquelle les Camerounais se regroupent et les modes de fonctionnent des associations ethniques comparé aux associations non-ethniques. Malheureusement, le communautarisme d’aujourd’hui est au cœur des conflits interethniques sanglants partout dans le monde. Aucune association de cette étude ne révèle cela, mais ces structures sociales influencent véritablement …

Art As A Cure: Analyzing Healthcare Treatment For The Mentally Ill Through The Lens Of Art Therapy Programs In Dakar, Senegal, Sofia Porter-Castro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mental illness is a malady that affects roughly 2.3 million people in Senegal ("Statistics by Country” 2012), but the wide and sometimes opposing range of healing practices suggests that the attitudes surrounding mental illness are still largely contested. This is especially true in Senegal’s capital, where advances in medicine in big city hospitals are growing while ties to traditional beliefs and practices remain strong. Alternative therapies, such as art therapy, provide an opportunity for practitioners to explore different techniques for treating the mentally ill while still integrating elements of the local culture. It is precisely this integration that this paper …

Pepfar Problems: How Does The United States’ Presidential Emergency Program For Aids Relief Empower Women?, Caitlin H.

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study looks to examine how the Presidential Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) works to achieve one of its key goals, the empowerment of women, in the Western Cape. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) affects women disproportionately, around the world and in South Africa. Thus, women should be a key focus of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) relief and HIV prevention. This paper analyzes the work of PEPFAR to empower women through three lenses. Women’s empowerment in general is discussed, to see how organizations view their own methods of empowerment. PEPFAR’s work with sex workers is examined, as they are often …

Harmony Or Mere Toleration? Examining Inter-Religious Relations In Amertasari, Keller Hawkins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

When I was first told about a small village in North Bali where Hindus and Muslims live in harmony with one another, I was immediately intrigued. A month and a half later, our group was driving on the windy roads that take one from the southern part of Bali through the mountains into North Bali. We arrived in the village of Pegayaman and listened to some of the more distinguished village members tell us about life in Pegayaman. Because the village is known for being an example of religious harmony between Hindus and Muslims, this was the main topic of …

Perspectives Of Print Media In Samoa: Considering Varying Viewpoints On Its Role In Society, Grace Elkus

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research investigates the role of the print media in Samoa by identifying several elements that affect peoples’ perception of the industry. The paper examines how the changes in Samoa’s society have influenced the industry, evaluates the impact of culture and considers the issue of press freedom. It looks into the need for stronger investigative reporting and the lack of enthusiasm in young people to pursue journalism as a profession. It concludes by providing insight into the future of print media in Samoa. The research draws upon personal interviews as well as print and online secondary sources. Surveys were also …

From Recyclers To Risk-Takers: The Social, Economic And Political Challenges Of Selling Second-Hand Clothes In Kenya, Hailey Chalhoub

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Informal sectors across the world are gaining popularity for their prominent roles in development. They provide employment for those who have been excluded from mainstream economies and they make everyday goods and services accessible and affordable for all people. In Kenya the second-hand clothing trade has become an increasingly important industry within the informal sector as it provides affordable clothes to Kenyans of all socio-economic classes. Kenya has become East Africa’s hub for importing second-hand clothes, commonly referred to as mitumba and this trade depends on second-hand clothes that are donated in Western countries and collected and packaged by textile …

“A Place For The Grassroots”: Examining The Role Of Community Participation And Local Governance In Providing Mid-Day Meals In Lucknow District, Uttar Pradesh, Anderson Tuggle

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)—the world’s largest school lunch program—was launched by India’s central government in August 1995 with the lofty goals of “enhancing enrollment, retention, and attendance while simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children.”[1] 17 years later, particularly following prominent Supreme Court orders in November 2001 and April 2004, MDMS has become a key program for the government, now serving about 105 million primary and upper-primary schoolchildren in 1.2 million schools.[2] When implemented properly, MDMS has had a noticeable positive impact on student attendance and enrollment, alongside a reduction in teacher absenteeism. Yet grave disparities in application …

Living With Autism In Vietnam, Libie Motchan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines the many implications of living with Autism in Vietnam on both affected children and their families. The lack of information, statistics and awareness of autism in Vietnam is reflected in the limited treatment resources available. This study calls attention upon what problems parents are most affected by what they feel needs to change. It also looks at the current sentiment and understanding of autism and its perceived causes. The results of this paper come from background research, observation at clinics and special education facilities, interviews with professionals in the fields of psychology and education, interviews with parents …

Ua23 Progression Through Partnerships, Aurelia Spaulding, Western Kentucky University Alive Center For Community Partnerships

ALIVE Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Chronic Child Neglect: Cys Staff Perspectives On Repeat Clients, Erin M. Murphy

Capstone Collection

Since the late 1960‘s, child protection agencies have acted under federal mandate to intervene in cases of child abuse and neglect. In accordance with state child protection laws, these agencies provide monitoring and support services to "at-risk" families. Despite these efforts, studies have shown that a record number of parents who receive services are re-reported to the agency for additional offenses within a short period of time. The available literature attributes recidivism to delayed or mismanaged interventions and adverse socio-economic conditions among parents, but research that considers employee perspectives on chronic neglect is scant. This paper explores inter and extra-agency …

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? Egyptian Women Within The Confines Of Authoritarianism, Nadine Sika, Yasmin Khodary

Political Science

This paper examines the pre and post January 25th political dynamics in Egypt, how these have affected the role of women in the private, public and political spheres. It analyzes the dynamics of the development of Egyptian women’s organizations, and the extent to which these may develop into an Egyptian feminist movement. An overview of historical, political, and social contexts of the role of Egyptian women’s organizations will provide an understanding of their main accomplishments from Nasser to Mubarak. The study shows how the early women’s organizations were directly linked with the ruling authorities and how these have added to …

Applying Social Movement Theory To Nonhuman Rights Mobilization And The Importance Of Faction Hierarchies, Corey Lee Wrenn

Animal Rights Movement Collection

This paper offers an exploratory analysis of social movement theory as it relates to the nonhuman animal rights movement. Individual participant motivations and experiences, movement resource mobilization, and movement relationships with the public, the political environment, historical context, countermovements, and the media are discussed. In particular, the hierarchical relationships between factions are highlighted as an important area for further research in regards to social movement success. Specifically, the role of counterframing in subduing radical mobilization and the potential aggravating factor of status contamination is explored.

A Qualitative Examination Of University Of New Hampshire Student Impact On The Town Of Durham, New Hampshire, Audrey Hickey

Honors Theses and Capstones

University of New Hampshire students and Durham, New Hampshire residents have a historically contentious relationship that reached a low point in the early 2000s. On three occasions, university students flooded downtown Durham, vandalized stores and started altercations with police. Local newspaper reports and anecdotes assert that relations have improved since that time.

This study utilizes 39 semi-structured student, resident, business- owner and administrator interviews to examine the current state of the relationship. A brief overview of town-gown relations and a case study of student-resident relations at the University of Delaware is included to highlight the universality of the issues in …