Environment and the Quality of Life in Nevada

When the first environmental decade was launched in the U.S. more than thirty years ago with the inaugural Earth Day, protecting our air, water, land and other natural resources seemed a relatively simple task. Environmental polluters and exploiters would be brought to heel by tough laws. The U.S. and other industrialized nations responded to quality of life concerns associated with the degradation of the natural environment by adopting dozens of major environmental and resource policies and creating new institutions such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to manage environmental programs. With a sense of urgency Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970 with scarcely a dissenting voice. This was followed by passage of policies on water pollution, land use, and other resources. However, environmental protection has turned out to be a moving target. What appeared to be a relatively straightforward job of controlling a few key pollutants and other development trends, has become a far larger and more difficult task involving major changes in human behavior. Following thes

Citizen-State Interaction and Technical Controversy: The U.S. Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program

This paper explores the development and transformation of a local collective campaign opposing the U.S. Army's ChemicaL Weapons Stockpile Disposal Program into a social movement with national and international dimensions. I examine the ways in which the actions of both citizens and the Army have been shaped by officials, policies, and organizations at multiple levels of the state. Contrary to the emphasis on extra-institutional actions noted in many studies of movements and collective action, I show that the social; political and scientific context of technical controversies with the state may place constraints upon and opportunities for action to be directed and sustained through institutional channels. Specifically, I explain the effects of political opportunities, "tareget vulnerabilities" (Walsh 1986) and specialized resources on the development and transformation of claims-making, forms of action,organizational structure and the expressed aims of the groups involved. I end with suggestions for practical distinctions and refinements in the concepts used in the analysis

\u27\u27Shots from the Pulpit:\u27\u27 An Ethnographic Content Analysis of United States Anti-Gambling Social Movement Documents from 1816-2010

The history of anti-gambling impulses is perhaps as old as the gambling impulse itself, but academic research has thus far neglected the topic of anti-gambling social movements. Using social movement literature as a theoretical guide and ethnographic content analysis as a methodological tool, this paper examines anti-gambling documents produced in the United States over nearly two hundred years. During this period, three distinct periods emerge: first, an early ( 1816-1915) period framed the gambling act on strict religious grounds as an individual sin. This religious framing was then challenged by the rise of more rational and scientifically-based medical discourses on problem gambling (1915-1980). From 1980 through the present, gambling opponents have modified (and in some cases reversed) their arguments- and now incorporate both moral and scientific rhetoric into their claims. Drawing from sociological research and theory, we identify a process of frame inversion in which problem gamblers were once cast as villains to be scorned, but now are characterized as sympathetic victims of the gaming industry. In this first academic study of anti-gambling social movement rhetoric, we develop an illustrative example of how social movements\u27 rhetorical tactics can change over time, and of the kinds of opponents the global gaming industry has faced - and might still face in the future

Research poster: Nevada System of Higher Education college student climate change survey

Research poste

A role for Informal Educational Institutions and University

3 PowerPoint slides Convener: William Smith, UNLV Session 3: Policy, Decision Making, and Outreac