“Putting Money Where My Mouth Is”: Motivations and Experiences among Food Co-op Members

Of the variety of alternative grocery stores that offer natural, organic, local, and health foods in the United States, food co-ops are one of the more unique business models for alternative foods. Unlike traditional retailers, they are collectively owned and democratically operated. Prices tend to be higher in co-ops because they carry high-quality foods that are generally fresh, locally sourced, or artisanal in nature. What motivates people to join co-ops and spend more money for their membership and foods compared to other stores? This article provides ethnographic and interview data with member-owners at a relatively new co-op in South Bend, Indiana. Eighteen students enrolled in an Undergraduate Qualitative Research Methods class in the spring semester of 2017 spent two months as participant observers at a co-op and collaboratively conducted 45 semistructured interviews with its member-owners. Several noneconomic issues factored prominently in the member-owners’ decisions to invest in the co-op. The majority viewed their decision to join the co-op and shop there out of a sense of responsibility for the economy and environment in their region, and to participate in and strengthen the community

Improving Labor Inspections Systems: Design Options

[Excerpt] The following paper identifies experimental designs for the evaluation of labor inspection systems in Latin America. It includes six principal sections. Section 1 discusses the main differences between the “Latin model” (Piore and Schrank 2008) of labor inspection and the more familiar approach adopted by enforcement agencies like OSHA and the Wage and Hour Division in the US. Section 2 discusses theories of regulatory noncompliance and develops a logic model that links enforcement strategies to compliance outcomes in the region. Section 3 discusses some of the strategies that are available to Latin American labor inspectors and sets the stage for a discussion of their assignment to experimental subjects. Section 4 identifies five possible subjects of experimentation (e.g., inspectors, firms, jurisdictions) and discusses their respective receptivity to both random assignment and counterfactual analysis (e.g., data needs, estimation procedures, etc.). Section 5 addresses practical considerations involved in the design and conduct of experiments on inspection systems—including their utility, ethics, and viability—and introduces a checklist designed to facilitate their assessment. And Section 6 describes three potential experiments—labeled “professionals v. partisans,” “risk-based targeting v. randomized inspection,” and “carrots v. sticks” respectively—and discusses their principal goals and limitations in light of the checklist

Employment Prospects in a Commercially Viable Newfoundland Fishery: An Application of 'An Econometric Model of the Newfoundland Groundfishery'

An econometric model is utilized to simulate the effects of a policy change in which government financial assistance to a major Canadian marine fishery is withdrawn and the industry is placed on a commercially viable basis. Under near-ideal conditions of marketing and harvesting, harvesting employment would fall drastically, from approximately thirty thousand fishermen under the current regime to approximately six thousand. There would be a concomitant fall in seasonal fish plant employment, and a severe fall in those federal transfer payments (e.g., unemployment insurance) which are currently generated by extensive seasonal employment in both harvesting and processing sectors of the fishery. The policy analysis consists of simulations with a prototype econometric model which integrates the demand, processing, and harvesting sectors of the fishery. The essential components of the 1,000-equation model are described.Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

American Yoga: The Shaping of Modern Body Culture in the United States

AMERICAN VEDA: from Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation - How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. By Philip Goldberg.THE GREAT OOM: The Improbably Birth of Yoga in America. By Robert Love.HELL-BENT: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga. By Benjamin Lorr.THE SCIENCE OF YOGA: The Risks and Rewards. By William J. Broad.THE SUBTLE BODY: The Story of Yoga in America. By Stefanie Syman.THEOS BERNARD, THE WHITE LAMA. Tibet, Yoga, and American Religious Life. By Paul G. Hackett.YOGA BODY: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice. By Mark Singleton

Brutalism and the Public University: Integrating Conservation into Comprehensive Campus Planning

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Commonwealth’s flagship campus, is home to several Brutalist buildings. Similar to other buildings of this genre, they have gone unrecognized for their importance to the campus and their prominent architectural significance. Additionally, due to the ravages of close to 50 years of exposure coupled with limited maintenance and, in some instances, neglect they are now at a point where restorative maintenance is critical in ensuring their future contribution to the campus. This thesis addresses the importance of creating a comprehensive, long-term plan for these buildings, by first looking to the University’s most prominent, yet neglected building, the Fine Arts Center designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Kevin Roche. The research and design hereafter is an attempt to address the current limitations that exist in relation to the building and to address necessary changes that pertain to the revitalization of the building to meet current University needs. A thorough investigation into best practices for concrete repair, cleaning, and protection are explored, as well as possible design interventions that may be implemented in the future. These design interventions aim to benefit the overall conservation of the building as well as maintain a sensitivity to the architect’s original design intentions. This thesis analyzes past design interventions that have been made, which lacked a sensitivity to the original design, and how this has had a negative impact on the building. Architectural explorations as part of this thesis are used to develop a framework for design thinking and to create a model approach. Investigations into necessary upgrades and alterations to meet current code requirements such as accessibility, fire safety, and energy use are all considered. These explorations are meant to merge into specific guidelines which can then become part of a long-term comprehensive plan. This thesis demonstrates that creating a comprehensive plan with a set of conservation protocols as well as architectural design guidelines will help ensure the building\u27s future on the campus. It also serves as an argument that architectural design considerations play a larger role in the context of conservation. This thesis aims to serve as a case study for other buildings on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, as well as other campuses around the United States and beyond. This study can be seen as a proactive measure to further prevent deferred maintenance and negate the use of unsuitable conservation methods through exigent repairs. It also serves as a means of preventing unsuitable design interventions, which ultimately compromise the building of its significance and authenticity

Increasing Teacher Buy-in for the Implementation of Social-Emotional Learning in the Elementary Classroom

This capstone project aims to answer the question: How can we increase teacher buy-in for programs like Conscious Discipline, Second Step, and MoveMindfully so that social-emotional learning (SEL) focused programs can be used separately or in concert with one another in the elementary classroom? This project includes a presentation for a professional development (PD) workshop and supporting materials created to stretch across two workshop days. These workshops will be held within Independent School District 196 (ISD 196), a school district located in the southeast metro of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. This presentation will inform teachers of the previously mentioned SEL programs and engage them in strategies that can later be used in the elementary classroom. Before the first workshop, participants will fill out a pre-survey. They will respond to 16 closed and open-ended questions regarding their opinions of SEL and their preferences in teacher training. Following the last workshop, participants will fill out a post-survey similar to the one given prior. The researcher will also use informal observations and exit slips as forms of data collection throughout these workshops. The researcher intends to use the data collected through this project to provide insight into teacher buy-in of current SEL programs in place within ISD 196. This information will be provided for decision-makers within the district to make informed decisions on how to proceed with the various SEL programs. This paper summarizes the initial reasoning for creating this project, a literature review, an outline of the project, and a reflection piece wherein the researcher addresses benefits to public scholarship and potential research for the future

A Phenomenological Study Examining the Journey of Identity Development for Internationally Adopted Adolescents in the United States

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the perspectives of young adults who were internationally adopted to the United States during their adolescent years and to describe the experiences that contributed to their identity development. Erikson’s psychosocial development theory guided this study as it examined the relationships, roles, and values that humans commit to during the critical period of adolescence. Social identity theory furthered insight as to how individuals have defined themselves and their social categorization within groups, while the multiple dimensions of identity model helped define the key categories, themes, and contextual influences that have contributed to the adoptee’s psychological and social adjustment in their search for self. Thirteen participants were a purposefully selected sample of international adoptees who were ages 12–17 years at the time of adoption and have since graduated from high school or have obtained a General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Individuals were ages 18–26 years at the time of participation and had been residents of the United States for at least five years. Surveys, adoption records, semi-structured interviews, identity models, and advice letters were methods for collecting data of the adoptees’ experiences and perceptions. Significant statements were captured from the data and clustered into themes. The synthesis of textural and structural descriptions provided a basis for understanding the essence of the phenomena (Moustakas, 1994). Through this process, barriers to self-development, the impact of relationships, the international adoptee’s sense of purpose, as well as the resulting complex identity dimensions they perceive, came to light