March 14, 2019

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Time dependent analysis with dynamic counter measure trees

The success of a security attack crucially depends on time: the more time available to the attacker, the higher the probability of a successful attack. Formalisms such as Reliability block diagrams, Reliability graphs and Attack Countermeasure trees provide quantitative information about attack scenarios, but they are provably insufficient to model dependent actions which involve costs, skills, and time. In this presentation, we extend the Attack Countermeasure trees with a notion of time; inspired by the fact that there is a strong correlation between the amount of resources in which the attacker invests (in this case time) and probability that an attacker succeeds. This allows for an effective selection of countermeasures and rank them according to their resource consumption in terms of costs/skills of installing them and effectiveness in preventing an attack

The Moral Foundations Of Attitudes Toward Mask Wearing

As COVID-19 becomes endemic it is important to understand individual differences in motivation and adherence to mask wearing policies and recommendations. Mask wearing appears to be one way to protect communities, slow the spread, and save lives when COVID-19 rates spike in communities The main study aim was to examine how Moral Foundations Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior, specifically subjective norms, may explain individual differences in mask wearing to slow the spread of COVID-19. Understanding the psychological correlates of why and how often individuals wear a mask to slow the spread of COVID-19 can help community leaders, public health professionals, and medical experts construct better messaging to encourage more people to wear masks when needed. Results suggest a need for greater consistency in messaging and norms regarding mask wearing to slow the spread of COVID-19. In the case of COVID-19, people were exposed to an injunctive norm that people should wear masks to protect themselves; however, for many people, descriptive norms were in conflict with the injunctive norm. There must be consistent messaging at every level when a public health crisis emerges—in this case, consistent messaging that brought injunctive and descriptive norms into alignment at every level of government would likely have resulted in higher rates of pro-mask wearing norms to slow the spread of COVID-19

Environmentally Conscientious Orchards Connection

California’s almond industry uses over 1.2 trillion gallons of freshwater annually, more water than is used by almost any other crop. Although California is in a severe drought, its almond industry is expanding because the crop is a valuable commodity, providing California with more than $11 billion to its gross state product each year. While almond production is inherently water intensive, current agricultural processes in the San Joaquin Valley waste almost 50% of the freshwater it uses each year from over-watering, runoff 6 , evaporation, and contamination 35. Much of this waste can be eliminated if various California stakeholders work together to address the sources of these inefficiencies. Fixing all sources of water waste associated with almond production would save California 600 billion gallons of freshwater each year. To help conserve freshwater in California, ECO Connection facilitates cooperation between these relevant stakeholders in order to solve the problems within the almond industry. Our mission at ECO Connection is to sustain environmental, economic, and social growth in California through water-waste reduction. By partnering with farmers and other local stakeholders, we design and manufacture irrigation systems reusing end-of-life and recyclable materials that bolster fresh water-use efficiency and foster healthy and responsible agricultural nut production. Our services come in three stages. The first step is to install drip irrigation systems on our clients’ almond orchards to reduce the amount of water that they use to produce their almonds. These irrigation systems will be produced with minimal negative ecological impacts (see Product section for details). The second step in our services is to protect the freshwater that our clients use by applying organic pesticides and fertilizers to their orchards. Standard agricultural practices use inorganic pesticides and fertilizers, which degrade the freshwater quality downstream from orchards. This leads to freshwater reserves exceeding maximum contaminant levels from nitrates (see California Almond Industry Trends for details). Providing our clients with organic alternatives will remove their contributions to agriculture’s water contamination, while still protecting their trees from pests. Finally, we will arrange for bees to go to our clients’ orchards to help pollinate the trees. Effective pollination from bees will maximize almond output per water input. This will allow our clients to satisfy the world’s demand for almonds without increasing the amount of freshwater they apply to their orchards. Although some of our clients may not be equipped financially to pay for our services, ECO Connection lobbies for its farmers to be subsidized by the California Almond Board. This, in addition to donations to our nonprofit organization, will help our clients invest in systems that conserve California’s freshwater. Our team is passionate, and committed to preserving California’s freshwater while also sustaining our clients’ livelihoods

The BG News January 29, 1971

The BGSU campus student newspaper January 29, 1971. Volume 55 - Issue 66https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/3551/thumbnail.jp

A Wolf in Sheep\u27s Clothing: The Plastics Industry\u27s Public Interest Role in Legislation and Litigation of Plastic Bag Laws in California

In recent years, single-use plastic bag reduction ordinances have emerged as a lasting icon for the environmental movement. Despite fierce resistance from the plastics industry, premised primarily on the argument that such ordinances could potentially have harmful effects on the environment, the momentum to pass these ordinances remains strong. The plastics industry has spent millions lobbying against local ordinances and for statewide preemption of local ordinances, engaged in epic public relations campaigns, and sued or threatened to sue virtually every California municipality that has recently taken steps to adopt a plastic bag ordinance. Plastic bag manufacturers also sued a reusable bag manufacturer for “talking trash” about plastic bags. The seriousness with which the plastics industry is taking environmentalists’ attempts to restrict plastic bags demonstrates that this is a “tipping point” issue for the plastics industry, and the battle is far from over. Part II of this Article explores the idea of plastic bag ordinances as an icon for a greater movement. Part III discusses types of plastic bag ordinances and briefly examines the most notable locations that have pursued each type. Part IV discusses how the plastic bag industry has used CEQA to defeat and delay local plastic bag ordinances in California. Part V examines the Manhattan Beach decision in detail and discusses what effect the decision may have on similar ordinances going forward. The Article concludes by discussing the social climate when the court decided the Manhattan Beach case, including legislation introduced at state and local levels, mobilization of advocacy groups focusing on plastic pollution, and concurrent litigation

A Wolf in Sheep\u27s Clothing: The Plastics Industry\u27s Public Interest Role in Legislation and Litigation of Plastic Bag Laws in California

In recent years, single-use plastic bag reduction ordinances have emerged as a lasting icon for the environmental movement. Despite fierce resistance from the plastics industry, premised primarily on the argument that such ordinances could potentially have harmful effects on the environment, the momentum to pass these ordinances remains strong. The plastics industry has spent millions lobbying against local ordinances and for statewide preemption of local ordinances, engaged in epic public relations campaigns, and sued or threatened to sue virtually every California municipality that has recently taken steps to adopt a plastic bag ordinance. Plastic bag manufacturers also sued a reusable bag manufacturer for “talking trash” about plastic bags. The seriousness with which the plastics industry is taking environmentalists’ attempts to restrict plastic bags demonstrates that this is a “tipping point” issue for the plastics industry, and the battle is far from over. Part II of this Article explores the idea of plastic bag ordinances as an icon for a greater movement. Part III discusses types of plastic bag ordinances and briefly examines the most notable locations that have pursued each type. Part IV discusses how the plastic bag industry has used CEQA to defeat and delay local plastic bag ordinances in California. Part V examines the Manhattan Beach decision in detail and discusses what effect the decision may have on similar ordinances going forward. The Article concludes by discussing the social climate when the court decided the Manhattan Beach case, including legislation introduced at state and local levels, mobilization of advocacy groups focusing on plastic pollution, and concurrent litigation