A Growing Sin-dustry: The History and Effects of Cigarette Excise Taxation and Regulation in the United States

Originating with the gabelle taxes of France during the close of the Albigensian Crusades, excise taxes and regulations on consumer products have historically been used by local and federal governments to generate revenue during periods of war. Following the enactment of the Internal Revenue Act on June 30, 1864, the United States extended their definition of consumer products to include cigarettes and other tobacco products. The United States Federal government justifies cigarette taxes as a method not only to discourage the habit of smoking but also to recover the costs of the negative externalities associated with the “sinful” behavior. Through an analysis of price elasticities as well as individual state taxation and cigarette consumption data, this thesis attempts to explain why increased prices of cigarettes due to excise taxes are not effective deterrents for smokers without additional enforcement of tax-avoidant behaviors. The first section of this study defines excise taxation through historical and contemporary theories. In addition, the analysis chronologically reviews the history of excise taxation and regulation, including those imposed on cigarette and tobacco, in the United States. This chronological review also highlights the evolution of government policy and the acceptability of cigarette consumption in the United States. The second section analyzes tobacco taxation in the United States during the year 2015. The section begins with an overview of the federal governments’ tobacco taxation policies in the nation. The section concludes with a review of differing taxation rates in individual states. The conclusion introduces factors that affect smoking behavior, which will be used in the proceeding econometric analyses. The third section uses an econometric analysis, conducted by John Lovell Jarvis at Wesleyan University, to explain the price elasticity of cigarettes and the impact of tax-induced prices on annual per capita cigarette consumption. The fourth section also illustrates a differing explanation of price elasticity from the perspective of tobacco companies. The final section studies the impact of cigarette taxation in the state of New York as well as the advantages and disadvantages of cigarette excise taxes. The section explores the increases in tax-avoidant behaviors and additional legislation that affect cigarette consumption in New York and the United States as a whole. Using the results from these studies, the conclusion section discusses the effects of cigarette taxation and regulation on consumer smoking behavior in the United States

Seeing Straight in the Workplace: An Examination of Sexual Orientation Discrimination in Public Employment in the Aftermath of Lawrence v. Texas

Title VII does not explicitly protect homosexual employees from sexual orientation discrimination and the courts have generally refused to bootstrap sexual orientation discrimination into Title VII as a form of gender discrimination. Therefore, homosexual employees have had to depend on their constitutional rights to protect them from their public employers’ sexual orientation discrimination. Traditionally, the courts have allowed public employers to discriminate against homosexual employees so long as the employers’ reasons were rationally related to legitimate business purposes. I argue that the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Lawrence v. Texas forces future courts to question the reasonableness of employers’ rational bases. Moreover, the Court’s reasoning opens the door for a future Court to declare homosexuals to be a suspect class and private, homosexual conduct to be a fundamental right. The courts would then apply strict scrutiny rather than a rational basis test to homosexual employees’ First Amendment, Equal Protection, and Substantive Due Process claims. Finally, I argue that the Court’s reasoning supports the enactment of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act

The Delphic plague : a study in Athenian oracular rejection as evident in the Oedipus Tyrannus.

The purpose of this work is to determine the effects of the Plague of Athens on the socio-cultural and religious climate of Athens as revealed through Sophocles’ magnum opus the Oedipus Tyrannus. The focus is the problem of oracular decay as viewed by Sophocles due to the political discrepancies between Athens and Delphi of which the plague was the final catalyst. Sophocles in this work is then explored as a writer with sentiments of Delphic Apologism in the wake of the plague which acted as a catalyst for a near complete dissolution of religious customs and furthermore a negation of past acceptance of oracular wisdom. Sophocles in this work then is presented as an author attempting to reconcile Athenian patriotism with the religious significance of Delphi

Improved Signal Performance for Smartphones

The research project “Improved Signal Performance for Smartphones” involves collecting and analyzing data from a smartphone’s available connections and making the information available in a simple application interface. Due to the data collection/analysis and iOS system framework, several ethical and professional issues will be encountered ranging from individual privacy to company standards/guidelines. These conflicts are addressed, and solutions are provided, along with researching into similar situations that others have reported. By making comparisons between this project and similar approaches, professional and ethical areas of concern can be addressed early into development, or completely avoided. The research project course was properly setup to provide a time frame, due dates, and guidelines for implementing each stage of the project. Project goals are explored in detail. All required components for the project implementation are listed, along with their functionality and availability for use. The final product was a program that accurately derived various characteristic from connections and displayed this data in tables and graphs for consumers to make use of