Neighborhood Dynamics and Price Effects of Superfund Site Clean-Up

This report uses census data to analyze the price effects of superfund site clean-up, inclusive of both direct price effects and indirect effects through clean-up's effect on neighborhood demographic transitions and reinvestment in the housing stock. FRC Report 11

Frozen in Place: European American Ideologies and the Inuit

It has been claimed by Hugh Brody that European Americans maintain strong ideological connections between Inuit people and the Arctic environments they inhabit. I expand upon this claim, giving three primary ideological connections that tie the Inuit directly to their environments. These are termed the natural, temporal, and material connections. Textual examples are given to illustrate each type of connection. I also show how each ideological connection serves to disempower the Inuit by situating them within the confines of nature while empowering European American patriarchs who conceive themselves as existing outside of or beyond nature. These three connections, working together with other ideological tools, serve to subordinate the Inuit and other Arctic peoples to larger political and economic powers. In the conclusion, I suggest that these ideological connections must be examined, understood, and abandoned in order to improve the quality of life of the Inuit

Quantifying the Effects on Lending of Increased Capital Requirements

Examines how higher capital requirements, as part of financial reform, would affect loan volumes, costs, and interest rates, as well as the ability of the U.S. banking industry to raise new equity. Analyzes case scenarios of how banks would respond

Community Builders and Campus Bureaucrats: Student Leadership on College Campuses

Most universities provide many opportunities for students to be leaders. By placing students in these positions there exists the potential to create a unique set of challenges. This research focused on the challenges associated with leading peers on a university campus. The primary research question was, “In what ways are student leaders able to identify and describe their experiences leading their peers?” This was a case study, collecting data through focus groups and interviews, where participants discussed the experiences of leading peers. Four types of student leaders participated: Sports Team Captains, Resident Assistants, Academic Mentors and SGA Officers. The data revealed that these groups of leaders aligned into two categories: Community Builders and Campus Bureaucrats

Energy and population policies in Australia

The Australian Government is about to release Australia’s first sustainable population policy. Sustainable population growth, among other things, implies sustainable energy demand. Current modelling of future energy demand both in Australia and by agencies such as the International Energy Agency sees population growth as one of the key drivers of energy demand. Simply increasing the demand for energy in response to population policy is sustainable only if there is a radical restructuring of the energy system away from energy sources associated with environmental degradation towards one more reliant on renewable fuels and less reliant on fossil fuels. Energy policy can also address the present nexus between energy consumption per person and population growth through an aggressive energy efficiency policy. The paper considers the link between population policies and energy policies and considers how the overall goal of sustainability can be achieved. The methods applied in this analysis draw on the literature of sustainable development to develop elements of an energy planning framework to support a sustainable population policy. Rather than simply accept that energy demand is a function of population increase moderated by an assumed rate of energy efficiency improvement, the focus is on considering what rate of energy efficiency improvement is necessary to significantly reduce the standard connections between population growth and growth in energy demand and what policies are necessary to achieve this situation. Energy efficiency policies can only moderate unsustainable aspects of energy demand and other policies are essential to restructure existing energy systems into on-going sustainable forms. Policies to achieve these objectives are considered. This analysis shows that energy policy, population policy and sustainable development policies are closely integrated. Present policy and planning agencies do not reflect this integration and energy and population policies in Australia have largely developed independently and whether the outcome is sustainable is largely a matter of chance. A genuinely sustainable population policy recognises the inter-dependence between population and energy policies and it is essential that this is reflected in integrated policy and planning agencie