Plan 2014: A Case Study on Shared Water Governance

Coastal areas of the United States are highly populated due to their richness in natural resources and economic opportunity. With this opportunity comes increasing competition for development. This places intensive strains on natural resources and land along coasts, resulting in damage to ecosystem health. In addition to competitive development, climate change poses a major threat to coastal communities as they are vulnerable to a variety of environmental factors (EPA, 2016). Many coastal communities have formed coordinated approaches to manage water levels and build resilience along shorelines. However, many of these approaches result in a variety of problems and are not always successful in flood prevention. A current example is the International Joint Commission’s (IJC) Plan 2014. Since its implementation, the IJC has faced significant backlash and accusations of not serving to the best interests of shoreline communities. In this thesis, I explore Plan 2014 and assess the manner in which it is designed and implemented. This is done by performing a literature review on successful coastal management plans to develop an assessment framework. Interviews were conducted with a variety of stakeholders, ranging from IJC commissioners to shoreline residents. In addition, a Rapid Automatic Keyword Extraction was performed to understand media portrayals of the floodings and policies. It was found that the IJC did a sufficient job throughout the design and implementation stages of Plan 2014. A variety of factors such as social media misinformation, local politics, misinterpretation of science and more were identified as major deterrents to the public image of the IJC and Plan 2014. Proposed recommendations encompass priorities the IJC should take to better design and implement policy

Jamaica Plain Committee on Central America Collection (MS103), 1982‐2001: A Finding Aid

The Jamaica Plain Committee on Central America (JPCOCA), a grassroots organization from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts lobbied Congressman Joe Moakley in the 1980s to help Salvadoran refugees gain legal status in the United States. The collection, which spans from 1982-2001, includes correspondence, news clippings and office files that document the committee’s involvement in raising awareness of the Salvadoran refugee issue, their interactions with Congressman Moakley and how they achieved their goal of helping Salvadoran refugees in America

Ford Hall Forum Collection (MS113), 1908-2013: A Finding Aid

The Ford Hall Forum Collection documents the history of the nation’s longest running free public lecture series. The Forum has hosted some the most notable figures in the arts, science, politics, and the humanities since its founding in 1908. The collection, which spans from 1908 to 2013, includes of 85 boxes of materials related to the Forum\u27s administration, lectures, fund raising, partnerships, and its radio program, the New American Gazette

Enemies of War Film Collection (MS 104), 1984-1999: A Finding Aid

The Enemies of War Collection consists of 22 boxes of materials from the making of the documentary film Enemies of War, which were donated by its director/producer, Esther Cassidy. The film, which aired on PBS in the 1990s, depicts the political and social ramifications of the Salvadoran civil war with a focus on the struggles of a Salvadoran family and the Congressional investigation led by U.S. Congressman Joe Moakley into the 1989 murders of six Jesuit priests

Fire-Safe Cigarettes: a Research Guide

The Moakley Archive and Institute at Suffolk University has many resources that explore Congressman Moakley’s twenty-year effort to create a national standard for the production of fire-safe cigarettes. Moakley’s interest in the issue stemmed from a fatal, cigarette-caused fire in his district in 1979 that killed a family in Westwood, Mass. In an effort to prevent similar tragedies, Moakley began a legislative campaign to tighten regulations on the tobacco industry and to require the production of self-extinguishing cigarettes. The fire-safe cigarette (FSC) related documents in Congressman Moakley’s papers (MS 100) provides insight on the legislative process by which laws are created and ratified (or not); as well as a means to examine the influence of lobbyists on Congress