The Role of Ethnic Discrimination in Radicalization for Moroccan Immigrants in France

An increase in major terrorist events in Europe over the past decade has shifted the reality for Muslims in Western Europe–and not for the better. The 2015 Paris attacks and the 2016 Nice truck attack have refocused attention on people’s origins as a place of blame rather than examining the internal factors that may have contributed to their individual radical actions. Moroccans, one of the largest immigrant populations in Western Europe, are consequently one of the largest Arab populations to have been affected by the policy and attitude changes in response to these events. The French secularist policy, laïcité, has long faced criticism for its prejudices against Muslim populations. Through new research, I show the presence of a potential connection between ethnic discrimination and radicalization through the application of the reactive ethnicity theory as a theoretical framework. The understanding of collective ethnic identity formations through the lens of various psychologists such as Jean Phinney, Ruben Rumbaut, and Henri Tajfel allow for a deeper comprehension of the importance of identity to examine the reasoning behind certain behaviors, such as the inherent favoritism of people within same groupings. Understanding how people come to view themselves opens a possible explanation for why they behave the way they do. Identity is very entwined with behavioral actions (Simons 2021) The pertinence of identity in relation to radicalism is explained by examining the process of radicalization through research experts such as psychologist Bertjan Doosje et al., and political scientist Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen. However, these studies were independent of each other and did not attempt to connect the relationship of ethnic identity and radicalism through the lens of reactive ethnic identity. The research conducted for this thesis strongly suggests that a discriminatory environment, such as that facilitated by the laïcité, results in an ethnic identity deemed ‘reactive ethnicity’. Along with examining reactive ethnicity as a concept, this piece delves into the process of radicalization in Europe by examining the Moroccan immigrant population in discriminatory contexts in order to facilitate a deeper understanding of the complexities that motivate radicalis

From Planning to Action: An Evaluation of State Level Climate Action Plans

Climate change is one of the most daunting problems of our time requiring innovative responses to its causes and consequences. In the United States, the long absence of strong federal leadership along with growing public awareness of the problem created a fertile ground for state-level climate action planning. To date, 34 states have adopted Climate Action Plans (CAPs). The question that this study addresses is: Does state-level climate action have the potential to reduce carbon emissions significantly? This question was examined by assessing the relationships between CAPs, emissions reduction targets, plan implementation and emissions mitigation. My hypothesis was that CAPs result in emissions mitigation beyond the trend. This study compares states with and without CAPs, before and after adoption and implementation of plans. The first phase of the research, a content analysis of state-level CAPs, involves four components: 1) CAP development procedures; 2) goal setting, policy coverage and regional coordination; 3) implementation provisions and conditions; and 4) implementation mechanisms and monitoring results. The analysis reveals six types of CAPs, categorized based on the rigor of their targets and implementation. The second phase of the research analyzes the relationships between CAP types and changes in emissions using panel emissions data from 1990 to 2013. The regression model controls for social, political and climatic context, industrial mix and change over time, urban form and energy prices. The research shows that CAPs do result in reductions in emissions, although they are modest. Only a few CAPs set enforceable targets and provide strong evidence of implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Overall, progress towards goals is slow and near-term targets are low. The findings also suggest a role for planners in two key areas: transportation and land use. The analysis demonstrates that state-level CAPs call for low emissions reductions from transportation and land use changes, compared to these sectors’ contribution to total emissions. The regression, though, shows that urban compactness leads to transportation emissions reductions even when controlling for changes in income, energy prices and unemployment. Thus, transportation planning represents a large opportunity for future emissions reductions—particularly through integration with smart growth policies

From Planning to Action: An Evaluation of State Level Climate Action Plans

Climate change is one of the most daunting problems of our time requiring innovative responses to its causes and consequences. In the United States, the long absence of strong federal leadership along with growing public awareness of the problem created a fertile ground for state-level climate action planning. To date, 34 states have adopted Climate Action Plans (CAPs). The question that this study addresses is: Does state-level climate action have the potential to reduce carbon emissions significantly? This question was examined by assessing the relationships between CAPs, emissions reduction targets, plan implementation and emissions mitigation. My hypothesis was that CAPs result in emissions mitigation beyond the trend. This study compares states with and without CAPs, before and after adoption and implementation of plans. The first phase of the research, a content analysis of state-level CAPs, involves four components: 1) CAP development procedures; 2) goal setting, policy coverage and regional coordination; 3) implementation provisions and conditions; and 4) implementation mechanisms and monitoring results. The analysis reveals six types of CAPs, categorized based on the rigor of their targets and implementation. The second phase of the research analyzes the relationships between CAP types and changes in emissions using panel emissions data from 1990 to 2013. The regression model controls for social, political and climatic context, industrial mix and change over time, urban form and energy prices. The research shows that CAPs do result in reductions in emissions, although they are modest. Only a few CAPs set enforceable targets and provide strong evidence of implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Overall, progress towards goals is slow and near-term targets are low. The findings also suggest a role for planners in two key areas: transportation and land use. The analysis demonstrates that state-level CAPs call for low emissions reductions from transportation and land use changes, compared to these sectors’ contribution to total emissions. The regression, though, shows that urban compactness leads to transportation emissions reductions even when controlling for changes in income, energy prices and unemployment. Thus, transportation planning represents a large opportunity for future emissions reductions—particularly through integration with smart growth policies

Alien Registration- Flectcher, Serena E. (Mars Hill, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/34241/thumbnail.jp

Education and Economic Development: An Untapped Alliance

Many Mississippi economic developers firmly believe that education could be the answer to the economic development of a community. However, there is a relatively small amount of research published on how the connection between education and economic development works. This is a case study of the Greater Hattiesburg Area of Mississippi which seeks to explore and to begin to understand how to better the relationship between education and economic development. The researcher conducted eight in-depth, open-ended interviews with key informants who were directly engaged in the K-12 education system and economic development of the Greater Hattiesburg Area. The researcher coded data from the interviews according to common themes that emerged from all of the interviews. These data were then sorted theme by theme so to conclude how education and economic development work together. The results show that there is a definite connection between education and economic development. The five major themes found in the data are that 1) there is a connection between education and economic development, 2) education is used as a tool for economic development, 3) there are challenges to strengthening the relationship between education and economic development, 4) steps can be taken to increase this relationship, and 5) Hattiesburg has “all the right ingredients” to tap into this alliance

Harmonizing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Transportation and Land-Use Planning in California Cities

Abstract: Recent extreme weather events in California—wildfires, drought, and flooding—make abundantly clear the need to plan effective responses to both the causes and the consequences of climate change. A central challenge for climate planning efforts has been identifying transportation and land-use (TLU) strategies that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“mitigation”) and adapt communities so that they will be less affected by the adverse impacts of climate change (“adaptation”). Sets of policies that collectively address both mitigation and adaptation are known as “integrated actions.” This study explores municipal climate planning in California to determine whether cities incorporate integrated actions into their plans, assess the potential drivers of conflict between mitigation and adaptation in municipal plans, and identify ways the State of California can help cities more effectively incorporate integrated actions. The study methods consisted of a detailed analysis of climate planning documents from 23 California cities with particularly long histories of climate planning, plus interviews with 25 local, regional, and state officials who work on municipal climate planning. The authors found that some cities did adopt packages of integrated actions, and, promisingly, two cities with recently updated climate plans explicitly focused on the need for integrated actions. However, most cities addressed climate mitigation and adaptation in separate efforts, potentially reducing synergies between the two types of action and even creating conflicts. Since the first generation of climate action plans focused primarily on mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHGs), adaptation strategies have not yet been effectively or fully combined into mitigation plans in many cities. Also, a cross-comparison of plan content and interview data suggests that cities often had sets of policies that could potentially create conflicts—mitigation policies that would undermine adaptation capacity, and vice versa. In addition, where a city did adopt integrated actions, these efforts are typically not labeled as such, nor do the policies appear within the same policy document. The study findings suggest promising steps that both municipal and state governments can take to support integrated TLU actions at the local level. For example, cities can proactively link the content in climate mitigation and adaptation plans—a process that will require building the capacity for cross-collaboration between the various departments in charge of developing, implementing, and monitoring climate-related plans. As for the state government, it can provide funding specifically for planning and implementing integrated actions, offer technical support to help municipalities adopt programs and projects that produce integrated mitigation and adaptation benefits, and fund research in the area of integrated actions

After the Fall: Legacy Effects of Biogenic Structure on Wind-Generated Ecosystem Processes Following Mussel Bed Collapse

Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) are ecosystem engineers with strong effects on species diversity and abundances. Mussel beds appear to be declining in the Gulf of Maine, apparently due to climate change and predation by the invasive green crab, Carcinus maenas. As mussels die, they create a legacy of large expanses of shell biogenic structure. In Maine, USA, we used bottom traps to examine effects of four bottom cover types (i.e., live mussels, whole shells, fragmented shells, bare sediment) and wind condition (i.e., days with high, intermediate, and low values) on flow-related ecosystem processes. Significant differences in transport of sediment, meiofauna, and macrofauna were found among cover types and days, with no significant interaction between the two factors. Wind condition had positive effects on transport. Shell hash, especially fragmented shells, had negative effects, possibly because it acted as bed armor to reduce wind-generated erosion and resuspension. Copepods had the greatest mobility and shortest turnover times (0.15 d), followed by nematodes (1.96 d) and the macrofauna dominant, Tubificoides benedeni (2.35 d). Shell legacy effects may play an important role in soft-bottom system responses to wind-generated ecosystem processes, particularly in collapsed mussel beds, with implications for recolonization, connectivity, and the creation and maintenance of spatial pattern

Fast microwave-assisted synthesis of Li-stuffed garnets and insights into Li diffusion from muon spin spectroscopy

Lithium-stuffed garnets attract huge attention due to their outstanding potential as solid-state electrolytes for lithium batteries. However, there exists a persistent challenge in the reliable synthesis of these complex functional oxides together with a lack of complete understanding of the lithium-ion diffusion mechanisms in these important materials. Addressing these issues is critical to realizing the application of garnet materials as electrolytes in all solid-state lithium-ion batteries. In this work, a cubic phase garnet of nominal composition Li6.5Al0.25La2.92Zr2O12 is synthesized through a microwave-assisted solid-state route for the first time, reducing considerably the reaction times and heating temperatures. Lithium-ion diffusion behavior is investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and state-of-art muon spin relaxation (μSR) spectroscopy, displaying activation energies of 0.55 ± 0.03 eV and 0.19 ± 0.01 eV respectively. This difference arises from the high inter-grain resistance, which contributes to the total resistance in EIS measurements. In contrast, μSR acts as a local probe providing insights on the order of the lattice, giving an estimated value of 4.62 × 10−11 cm2 s−1 for the lithium diffusion coefficient. These results demonstrate the potential of this lithium-stuffed garnet as a solid-state electrolyte for all-solid state lithium-ion batteries, an area of growing interest in the energy storage community