Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

Latinos Throughout The City: A Snapshot Of Socio-Demographic Differences In Omaha, Nebraska, Jasney Cogua-Lopez, Lissette Aliaga-Linares, Lourdes Gouveia

Latino/Latin American Studies Reports

Researchers from OLLAS have released a new report detailing the demographic makeup of Latinos throughout Omaha. This is the first detailed analysis of the trends of Latinos living in various parts of the entire city. It confirms and challenges generalizations that are frequently made about this population in Omaha.

The report chronicles the dispersion of Latinos throughout the city and their increasing diversity. This publication highlights that geographic location is predictably tied to socioeconomic conditions. The farther west in the city Latinos live, the more advantaged they are. This pattern also holds true for indicators such as educational attainment, income …

The Making And Re-Making Of Dolpo Identity: A Case Study Of Do-Tarap, Lin Zhu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The unbelievably harsh environment in Dolpo forces people to be self-sufficient based on agriculture and husbandry, two sectors that complement each other very well. The condition also requires plentiful communal works for survival. Dolpo’s geographical isolation on the one hand, limits Dolpo-pas from encountering others, and on the other hand, prevents the presence of the central government. Before the 1960’s, Dolpo still remained as a politically autonomous region under the Kingdom of Nepal. However, based on interviews conduced with both local villagers and outsiders such as governmental officials and Nepalese, the paper argues that, starting from the 1960’s, Dolpo-pas began …

Retirement Planning Among Middle-Aged And Older Hispanics, Luisa Blanco, Emma Aguila, Arturo Gongora, Beverly Weidmer, O. Kenrik Duru

Luisa Blanco

The goal of this study is to deepen the understanding of how middle age and older Hispanics plan for retirement, where we conducted four focus groups in the Los Angeles area with a total of 38 participants. Our study provides interesting findings, specifically for women since 84 percent of the participants were female. We find that that most participants, whether they were already retired or not, are not well prepared for retirement since they have been unable to save for retirement and have not made specific retirement plans, such as determining desired retirement age, estimating retirement budget, and collecting information …

Climate And Energy: Opinions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans 2015 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Tonya Haigh

Nebraska Rural Poll

Many rural Nebraskans are concerned about more severe droughts or longer dry periods in their area, insect-borne diseases like West Nile Virus, and more extreme summer temperatures in their area. Fewer rural Nebraskans are concerned about the availability of water for their community or home or more frequent extreme rains or floods. Residents of the North Central region are more likely than residents of other regions of the state to be concerned about more severe droughts or longer dry periods in their area.

Few rural Nebraskans reported their household experiencing health problems during the drought of 2012. However, many persons …

Perspectives On Community Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2015 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

By many different measures, rural Nebraskans are positive about their community. Many rural Nebraskans rate their community as friendly, trusting, and supportive. Most rural Nebraskans also say it would be difficult to leave their community. In addition, most rural Nebraskans disagree that their community is powerless to control its future.

However, the proportion of rural Nebraskans satisfied with many social services and entertainment services has decreased across all nineteen years of the study. Declines in satisfaction levels across all 19 years are seen with nursing home care, medical care services, senior centers, mental health services, entertainment, retail shopping and restaurants. …

Policy Recommendations For Alleviating Homelessness In Chittenden County, Vermont, Brittany E. Nevins

Capstone Collection

Chittenden County, Vermont is suffering from increasing homelessness and poverty among both individuals and families. Residents of Chittenden County face an urban rental vacancy rate of less than .5% in Burlington, VT where the majority of jobs are located and only a 3% vacancy in suburban towns. Residents face waiting lists for rental subsidies of up to 8 years, and decreasing access to services for working class populations who are facing rent to income ratios of nearly 70% and utility costs of 30% of their income. The market rent is increasing and the state budget faces deep cuts to services. …

Engagement In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Civic And Political Participation And Views Of Community Leadership: 2015 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans have participated in community involvement activities but they have not been as involved in some political activities. However, most rural Nebraskans have spoken with their pocketbooks on political and social issues by either buying or boycotting products because of the social and political values of the company providing them. And, many rural Nebraskans have signed a written petition about a political or social issue and have contacted a local public official to express their opinion.

Certain groups are more likely than others to have participated in community and political involvement activities. While younger persons are more likely …

Mining, Resistance And Livelihood In Rural Bangladesh, Md Rashedul Alam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In 2006, over fifty thousand people in the Phulbari Sub-District of Bangladesh mobilized against an open-pit coal mining-project that posed serious environmental and social risks. The state authorities negotiated with the protesters intensively over four days to reach an agreement. However, the state failed to fulfill the agreement, and the protest movement continued. The agrarian communities successfully halted the mining project for the last nine years. My research aims to understand how the protesters resisted this project. My objectives have been to explore the practices of a grassroots movement, attendant transformations in the sociopolitical landscape and role of the state …

Review Of Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills In History And The Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Approach By Kathleen W. Craver, Victor J. Ricchezza, H L. Vacher

Numeracy

Kathleen W. Craver. Developing Quantitative Literacy Skills in History and Social Sciences: A Web-Based Common Core Standards Approach (Lantham MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2014). 191 pp.
ISBN 978-1-4758-1050-9 (cloth); ISBN …-1051-6 (pbk); ISBN…-1052-3 (electronic).

This book could be a breakthrough for teachers in the trenches who are interested in or need to know about quantitative literacy (QL). It is a resource providing 85 topical pieces, averaging 1.5 pages, in which a featured Web site is presented, described, and accompanied by 2-4 critical-thinking questions purposefully drawing on data from the Web site. The featured Web sites range from …

A Close Look At The Relationship Between Poverty And Political Violence In Nepal, Lauren C. Griffin

Global Tides

Today, one quarter of Nepal’s population of 27 million lives on a daily income of less than two dollars (Sharma 8). Villages are deprived of an ample water supply, and some areas still lie in ruins from the aftermath of the Maoist insurgency. This paper will seek to understand the role of poverty in the historically and presently unfolding political environment of Nepal. Several factors show direct correlation between poverty and insurgent activity, such as land ownership, level of education and socio-economic standing. Nepal has had a volatile and bloody past in the midst of medieval dynasties, an authoritative monarchy …

Retirement Planning Among Middle-Aged And Older Hispanics, Luisa Blanco, Emma Aguila, Arturo Gongora, Beverly Weidmer, O. Kenrik Duru

School of Public Policy Working Papers

The goal of this study is to deepen the understanding of how middle age and older Hispanics plan for retirement, where we conducted four focus groups in the Los Angeles area with a total of 38 participants. Our study provides interesting findings, specifically for women since 84 percent of the participants were female. We find that that most participants, whether they were already retired or not, are not well prepared for retirement since they have been unable to save for retirement and have not made specific retirement plans, such as determining desired retirement age, estimating retirement budget, and collecting information …

Is Student Loan Debt Discouraging Homeownership Among Young Adults?, Jason N. Houle, Lawrence Berger

Dartmouth Scholarship

Amid concern that rising student loan debt has social and economic consequences for young adults, many suggest that student loan debt is leading young adults to forgo home buying. However, there is little empirical evidence on this topic. In this study, we use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to estimate associations of student loan debt with homeownership, mortgage amount, and home equity. We use a variety of methodological techniques and test several model specifications. While we find a negative association between debt and homeownership in some models, the association is substantively modest in size and is …

Optimism In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Perceptions Of Well-Being, 2015 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

This year, rural Nebraskans are the most positive about their current situation as they’ve been in all 20 years of this study. Just over one-half (53%) of rural Nebraskans believe they are better off than they were five years ago (the highest proportion in all 20 years of this study, tied in 2008). This is up slightly from 50 percent last year. And, rural Nebraskans’ outlook on their future is the most optimistic in all 20 years of this study. Almost one-half of rural Nebraskans (48%) believe they will be better off ten years from now (the highest of all …

Threads And Stitches Of Peace- Understanding What Makes Ghana An Oasis Of Peace?, Hippolyt Akow Saamwan Pul

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Ghana is considered an oasis of peace despite having the same mix of ethno-political competitions for state power and resources; north-south horizontal inequalities; ethno-regional concentrations of Christians and Muslims; highly ethnicised elections; a natural resource dependent economy; and a politically polarized public sphere, among others, that have plunged other countries in Africa into violent and often protracted national conflicts. Use of the conflict paradigm to explain Africa's conflicts glosses over positive deviance cases such as Ghana. This study used the peace paradigm in a mixed method, grounded theory research to examine Ghana's apparent exceptionalism in staving off violent national conflicts. …

The Economic Implications Of Maine’S Changing Age Structure, James Breece, Glenn Mills, Todd Gabe

Maine Policy Review

The authors analyze the major implications of Maine’s aging population on the state’s workforce and economy. They note that there are steps that can be taken to partially mitigate the negative impacts and capitalize on the opportuni­ties associated with an aging population.

What Is The 'Economic Value' Of Learning English In Spain?, Molly M. Robbins

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper uses historical and economic references to evaluate the economic value of learning English in Spain. Seeing that English is the lingua franca in politics, business, and technology, it is a necessary skill for Spanish citizens to possess in order to efficiently interact in foreign relations of all kinds. Due to Franco’s harsh language policies, and Spain’s ineffective education system, Spain has lacked the same linguistic exposure to foreign languages—especially English—than the rest of Europe. By referencing the previous literature written about the relationship between language and earnings, this paper seeks to find the economic incentive for Spaniards to …

Development, Health And Race Differences In Fertility At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century In The U.S. South, Cheryl Elman, Andrew S. London, Robert A. Mcguire

Cheryl Elman

Mid-twentieth century demographers were puzzled to find that, between 1880 and 1910, fertility rates had dropped more precipitously among African American than U.S. white women. Since then, demographic research has focused on historical fertility differentials in the South, where most African Americans lived before 1920. Under a multiple causes model, two major sources of race differences have found some empirical support. One stresses that timing differences in voluntary fertility control, due to a high demand for child labor in tenant farming, sustained both high overall southern rural fertility rates and race differences, to about 1940. A second mechanism stresses that …