Audaciously Hopeful: How President Obama Can Help Restore the Pro-Trade Consensus

There is reason for grave concern about the direction of U.S. trade policy. The bipartisan, pro-trade consensus that served U.S. economic and diplomatic interests so well for so long collapsed during the final two years of the Bush administration. Trade skeptics have increased their ranks in the new Congress, a majority of Americans perceive trade as threatening, and grim economic news has made the political climate inhospitable to arguments in support of trade. But restoring the pro-trade consensus must be a priority of the Obama administration. If the United States indulges misplaced fears, restrains economic freedoms, and attempts to retreat from the global economy, the country will suffer slower economic growth and have greater difficulty facing future economic and foreign policy challenges. America's trade skepticism is largely the product of a top-down process. Perceptions have been shaped overwhelmingly by relentless political rhetoric that relies on three myths. Congress and the media have spoken for years about the decline of U.S. manufacturing as though it were fact, when the overwhelming evidence points to a sector that, until the onset of the current recession, was robust and setting performance records. Both lament the U.S. trade deficit without attempting to convey or even understand its causes, meaning, or implications. And both attribute these alleged failures of policy to lax enforcement of existing trade agreements. President Obama should reexamine these premises. He will find that they are long on fallacy and short on fact. Meanwhile, the president will find it necessary to rein in the congressional leadership's increasingly provocative approach to trade policy if he is to have success repairing America's foreign policy credibility. The determination of the president to arrest and reverse America's misguided and metastasizing aversion to trade could dramatically improve prospects for restoring the pro-trade consensus

A study on the application of thermoelectric heat pumps for heating applications

Typically, thermoelectric heat pumps are used in cooling applications where space and portability are important, but they can be used efficiently in heating applications under the right conditions. This paper explains the origins of the thermoelectric heat pump, its applications in society, and the technical aspects of the device. The many different appurtenances that the device requires will be discussed along with their drawbacks. The single-stage data for the cells will be compared to the two-stage configuration data, and the data gathered for a specific thermoelectric device will be compared to the manufacturer\u27s published data for the different configurations of the device

Restoration of oil and gas well-sites in Southeastern Ohio

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Predator-prey interactions under artificial lighting at night and elevated turbidity

3rd place in CFAES undergraduate research poster competitionArtificial lighting at night (ALAN) is a widespread anthropogenic stressor with projected negative impacts on worldwide biodiversity. As a disruption of natural lighting, ALAN has been implicated as a key mechanism increasing predation rates on prey by eliminating dark refugia for prey. ALAN correlates with urban development that has a negative impact on stream water quality by increasing erosion and sediment input, which can impede the foraging success of visual predators. These two stressors co-occur with opposite expected effects, but it is unknown how they interact. For this study, predatory largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were used as a model predator-prey system given their widespread distributions and natural predator-prey relationship. A field mesocosm experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of experimentally manipulated ALAN (0, 0.5, 3, and 10 lux) and turbidity (clear, turbid) on predator-prey interactions using these species. We measured daily and overall minnow survival and the physiological response of largemouth bass by testing blood glucose as an indicator of stress. Our analysis elucidated that turbidity had a strong effect on predator-prey interactions while there was no observable effect of ALAN, evident in the prolonged survival of minnows in turbid conditions, despite variable light intensities. Further, largemouth bass showed a significant increase in glucose response to turbidity treatments whereas lighting had no effect. This study suggests that stream management should continue to focus on mitigating erosion and sediment inputs.STRIVE LABNo embargoAcademic Major: Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlif

Progress on T-Site Construction for Experiment CE03

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

Wealth and Discipleship in Affluent America

The question addressed by this dissertation may be stated as follows: How do wealth and affluence affect individual and communal Christian discipleship? In response, we propose that while wealth and affluence provide some discipleship opportunities, there are many more dangers and risks to Christian discipleship connected to wealth and affluence. To be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ in the midst of affluence, people must be aware of its dangers, and have a church home committed to wrestling with the challenges together. In Chapter 1, the ministry challenge is described through the narrative account of church members and a description of the ministry context in which this dissertation was written. After defining what wealth and affluence mean for the purposes of this study, we will document and discuss the challenge of being affluent disciples of Jesus Christ. The second chapter highlights the discussion of wealth and discipleship in the Old and New Testaments. While creation is given as a blessing, to love one\u27s neighbor with one\u27s affluence is intimately connected to one\u27s love of God in Scripture. To separate the two causes disobedience to God, and leads the disciple to wander away from their Christian faith. Chapter 3 discusses the views on the relationship between wealth and Christian discipleship from the Post-Apostolic church to the Protestant Reformation. Chapter 4 shows the social impact of wealth and affluence on individuals and societies. The resources attached to affluence, while creating great opportunities, can also cause stress, heightened self-interest, and an insulation and isolation from others. The fifth chapter describes three broad movements in American Christianity that represent current views of the relationship between affluence and Christian discipleship: Christian Commerce, Christian Prosperity, and Christian Equality. The concluding chapter explores the implications of this study for wealthy Christians and for the church ministering in affluent America