Understanding comprehensive environmental decision making with navigational aids for the 1990s and beyond

The Comprehensive Environmental Decision Making (CEDM) paradigm developed through this research conceptualizes CEDM through a particular way of seeing a commitment to man's relationship with his environment. Previous research has explored CEDK but the idea remains ill-defined. The challenge in this research is to reestablish the guiding ideas of the government-environment-citizens matrix, while at the same time describe a meaning and means of operation suitable for environmental professionals working in industry today, where the man-environment commitment is critical to economic growth and environmental quality. In this research a meaning and means of operation begins with Lynton K. Caldwell's guiding ideas. As an avenue of implementation, government structures established through The National Environmental Policy Act and the Pollution Prevention Act provide policy reinforcement. Accepting policy as a CEDM avenue the requirements of environmental understanding, information and perception are developed through aspects of the environment and sustainable development with rational ecology ultimately providing the guideposts and criteria whereby CEDM may be judged. Citizens are those environmental professionals where an ethic is shaped through systems learning with the Environmental Management System used as a framework to establish the CEDM network of relationships in the workplace. The professional's socially binding value is hypothesized as an obligation not to do harm. With this value orientation, rational ethics and systems thinking provide guidelines that direct the professional in evaluating and optimizing policy and business structures. The CEDM paradigm is illustrated as a social choice mechanism suited to the 1990s and beyond by using case studies to apply policy directions

Bright, Aggressive, and Abrasive: A History of the Chief Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1951 – 2006

The history of public health has suggested that the progress of societies cannot be understood without understanding community health conditions. The federal government of the United States established the Communicable Disease Center (CDC) in 1946 to assist the states in controlling outbreaks of infectious disease. This coincided with the early days of the Cold War. The concern of some health officials of the time, most notable among them was the CDC’s Chief of Epidemiology, Alexander D. Langmuir, was to address the 1950s threat of “germ warfare,” or bio-terrorism. To do this effectively the CDC established the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) to train field epidemiologists as the first line of defense against biological attack. The role of the Chief EIS Officer was vital to its success. An examination of the Chiefs’ performance from 1951 through 2006 supports this contention

Advancing High-Speed Rail Policy in the United States, Research Report 11-18

This report builds on a review of international experience with high-speed rail projects to develop recommendations for a High-speed rail policy framework for the United States. The international review looked at the experience of Korea, Taiwan, China, and several countries in Europe. Countries in Asia and Europe have pursued high-speed rail (HSR) to achieve various goals, which include relieving congestion on highway networks, freeing up capacity on rail network for freight train operations, and reducing travel time for travelers. Some of the key rationales do not work well in the US context. As an example, in the US, freight companies own most of the rail network and, hence, do not need government intervention to free up capacity for their operations. We concluded the potential to reduce travel times coupled with improved travel time reliability and safety will be the strongest selling points for HSR in the US. HSR lines work best in high-density, economically active corridors. Given that there are a limited number of such corridors in the US, our study recommends the US HSR project funding mix be skewed heavily toward state bonds guaranteed by the federal government. This will ensure that the states that benefit directly from the projects pay most of the costs, making it more palatable to states that may not have HSR projects. For the projects that span multiple states, member states may have to negotiate the level of financial responsibility they will bear, and this will require detailed negotiations and financial setups that are not addressed in this report. Other measures the federal government needs to put in place include designating a key agency and dedicated funding source, and developing regulations and specifications for HSR design and construction. States that embark on HSR projects should start with formal legislation and put in place structures to ensure sustained political support throughout the planning and construction of the project. The federal government also needs to move quickly to foster educational and training centers to build up the HSR workforce in the country

The \u27F-Word\u27: Awareness and Perceptions in Fin-Fish Farming and Aquaculture Policies

Fin-fish aquaculture and farming is a disputed and controversial issue in the United States. These controversies and disputes may occur in part because of perceptions of fin-fish aquaculture as threatening to local and regional environments, traditional lifeways, and occupations. These perceptions are complicated by the positive role aquaculture might play in addressing U.S. dependence on seafood imports, as well as issues of socio-economic access to fish and the associated health benefits. Further, how issues of fin-fish aquaculture are perceived, as well as what level of awareness and knowledge perceptions are based on, may impact policy decisions through public support and discourses. Yet, there are few comprehensive studies of perceptions of aquaculture in the U.S. or the implications for food systems and environments through policy decisions. The following thesis is an exploration of fin-fish aquaculture perceptions, awareness, and knowledge at three scales: national, regional, and individual. I have added to current social-aquaculture research by characterizing elements and aspects of perceptions at each scale in three discrete manuscript-style studies. Key findings in this research include correlation between awareness and perception among coastal stakeholders, emphasis on impacts to the natural environment and local food production in perceptions, and the changeability of perceptions in a learning context. Based on the collected findings from all three studies, I give recommendations for approaching fin-fish aquaculture in public policy and planning processes to reduce conflict and increase consensus in context-based goals for fin-fish aquaculture

The City's role in providing for the public equity financing needs of UK SMEs

The City of London recognises the important contribution made by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to the UK economy and the critical role played by UK financial services in providing equity finance to facilitate their growth. As a result the City of London has commissioned research to assess the role and contribution made by UK financial services in terms of supporting the provision of and access to equity finance for UK SMEs. This commission is timely given the Government’s concerns over gaps in the SME funding escalator and the recent economic downturn, which has led to a withdrawal of venture capital funds and a loss of investor confidence