Rulemaking in the Shade: An Empirical Study of EPA’s Air Toxic Emissions

In this article, the authors trace the engagement and the influence of interest groups over the entire life cycle of a complete set of complex EPA rules that set emissions standards for the industrial release of air toxins. In particular they focus on three of the most worrisome phases of the administrative process where imbalances in interest group engagement and influence may be occurring. The thesis of this study is that imbalances in interest group engagement are occurring at critical albeit somewhat obscure stages of the rulemaking life cycle and that these imbalances are impacting the substance of the rulemaking project. This article proceeds in five parts. Part I explores three stages in the rulemaking life cycle that may be afflicted with imbalanced interest group engagement that in turn might distort the outcome of the rulemaking project. Part II describes the methods of the article, which examine the nature of interest group engagement and activity at these problem stages in a complete set of rules promulgated by the EPA governing the industrial emissions of air toxics. Part III describes the findings and Part IV collects information from disparate sources in detective like fashion to explain some of the surprises and new questions that emerge from this research. In the conclusion, the authors retell the store that emerges from their data and consider whether it suggests more pervasive problems in administrative law that will benefit from further study.The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, and Busines

Free Farmers’ Markets at Salt Lake County Senior Centers

Approximately 5.3 million seniors, or 7.3% of the national senior population, were food insecure in 2018 (Feeding America, 2020). Seniors comprise approximately 10% of Salt Lake County\u27s population. In response, Salt Lake County Master Gardeners grew and disseminated garden produce to seniors at risk of food insecurity during free farmers’ markets at senior centers

Dead places : American horror, placelessness, and globalization.

This dissertation investigates particular American anxieties concerning cultural identity and place, particularly fears about America’s place (or lack thereof) within the global world, that can be seen throughout much of post-WWII American horror literature and film. More specifically, this project explores how an existent pattern of visual and narrative depictions of destroyed bodies and places illustrates larger tensions and fears about placelessness—the affect and effect of incomplete, partial, or inauthentic relationships with the places that provide cultural and individual identity and meaning. I argue that representations of placelessness within American horror texts become vehicles for addressing and signifying American fears about globalization and America’s place(lessness) within the global landscape. This dissertation begins with a discussion of how the methodologies of literary and cinematic theory, humanist geography, and cultural studies work together to produce an interdisciplinary examination of the intersections between American horror, placelessness, and globalization. The introduction sets up the primary concepts and key definitions central to this project’s understanding of horror, place, and identity. The overall structure of the dissertation then spirals out from the most localized of places to the most globalized of places that appear within American horror. The four main chapters of this dissertation each focus on a specific place or type of interaction with places: the home, everyday places, the American landscape/wilderness, and global tourism. Each chapter uses a particular theoretical framework that, in addition to the overarching ideas of placelessness and globalization, serves as a foundation for in-depth, close-readings of specific key horror texts. The dissertation concludes with a brief examination of adaptation theory in horror and a return to the project’s original premise: that post-WWII American horror presents specific and particular American anxieties tied to the fear that our cultural and individual identities are as fabricated and fraudulent as are our cultural and individual understandings of our places. I maintain that the ultimate source of horror in these texts is the insidious suggestion that such fears are warranted and the consequences of this horrific placelessness will be the terrible destruction and inevitable untethering of cultural and individual identities, bodies, and places

An Osteological Analysis of 18th Century Dog Burials at the Williamsburg Public Amoury

Excavations at Anderson’s Armoury in Colonial Williamsburg revealed six dog burials dating to the last quarter of the 18th century. The position of the dogs near a large sawpit, containing the articulated remains of roosters, a duck, and a cat, suggest that these dogs may have been used in dog fighting. An alternative hypothesis proposes that these dogs may have instead been used for the purposes of working and guarding the armoury. To investigate these claims, a detailed osteological analysis was performed on each of the dogs, essentially creating a biological profile. Additionally, documentary research provided contextual information on the histories of dog fighting and guarding, attitudes towards dogs, and the biological history of the dog

Readiness to Change in Rural Adults at High Risk for Diabetes

Type II diabetes is one of the most devastating chronic diseases in the United States and is associated with decreased lifespan and serious comorbidities. While evidence-based prevention strategies of nutrition and physical activity exist, behavior change is an essential component. Researchers use readiness to change to predict clinical outcomes of chronic disease prevention programs, however, this has not been well studied in rural populations. The purpose of this research was to study the relationship between readiness to change and attrition rates and clinical outcomes among rural dwellers enrolled in a nutrition and physical activity intervention. Article one of this three-article dissertation is a concept analysis, which resulted in an operational definition that readiness to change is the commitment and intention to engage in motivating cognitions and tasks necessary for sustainable behavior change leading to an expected outcome. This definition was used for tool validation and psychometric analyses in article two. Finally, the newly validated tool was used in article three to answer the primary questions of this research regarding the relationship between readiness to change and attrition and clinical outcomes. Results indicated that while readiness to change was not related to attrition nor did the stage of Readiness to Change predict attrition, the covariates of income and geography modified this relationship significantly. There was no significant relationship between readiness to change and weight, hemoglobin A1C, or blood glucose. However, a moderately strong effect size of 0.65 could indicate clinical significance in these results. This documents the need for future research with a larger sample size

My Partner or My Parents? Parent-Specific Effects on Relationship Attributional Styles

Relationship attributional styles, or the tendencies to attribute a partner\u27s behavior to intrinsic (e.g., personality) or extrinsic (e.g., situational) factors, affect the way one interprets and reacts to relationship conflict and partner behavior (Fincham & Bradbury, 1992). Typically, the tendency to attribute negative behaviors as intrinsic to one\u27s partner is considered problematic and is predictive of relationship dissatisfaction (Kimmes, Durtschi, Clifford, Knapp, & Fincham, 2015a; Fincham & Bradbury, 1992). There is little known about the origin of relationship attributional styles (Kimmes et al., 2015b), but studies have suggested that they may be parent-specific and may be transmitted intergenerationally (Benson, Arditti, Reguero de Atlies & Smith, 1992a; Werner, 2012). The current poster explores if reports of parental bonding style is associated with current relationship attribution tendencies. Preliminary correlations indicate that men who reported having more over-protective fathers in childhood tended to have more maladaptive attributional styles. Contrarily, women who reported having more caring mothers tended to have less maladaptive attribution styles. Relationship attribution style was otherwise uncorrelated with parental bonding. Our data are consistent with other findings, as a positive maternal relationship has been previously linked with less maladaptive attributional styles (Benson et al., 1992b), and paternal overprotection with separate problematic outcomes in adult sons (Yan, Han, & Li, 2016; Patock-Peckham & Morgan-Lopez, 2009).https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_spring2020/1035/thumbnail.jp

Row Covers

In agricultural use, a row cover is a transparent or semitransparent material that is used over crops (typically vegetables) for a variety of purposes. As an integrated pest management tool, row covers act as a physical barrier that prevents the movement of pests such as insects, birds, and mammals, to host plants. This form of management is popular in organic production to avoid chemical application. Row covers are also used to shield crops from environmental factors like cold or hot temperatures, and wind. Commonly used methods of application include floating row covers, hoop-supported row covers (also called low tunnels), and plastic-covered trenches. This fact sheet reviews materials, construction, pest prevention, maintenance, and the advantages and disadvantages of row covers

Utah Visual Farm Guide: What is Healthy Soil?

The Utah Visual Farm Guide uses a pictorial format to teach farming basics. This fact sheet illustrates the components of soil and the difference between healthy and unhealthy soils in Utah

Octary Codewords with Power Envelopes of 3∗2\u3csup\u3e\u3ci\u3em\u3c/i\u3e\u3c/sup\u3e

This paper examines codewords of length 2m in Z8 with envelope power maxima of 3 ∗ 2m. Using the general form for Golay pairs as a base, a general form is derived for the set of coset leaders that generate these codewords. From this general form it will be proven that there exists at least one element in the coset that achieves a power of 3 ∗ 2m for each m-even and m-odd case

Utah Visual Farm Guide: Year-round Soil Care

The Utah Visual Farm Guide uses a pictorial format to teach farming basics. This fact sheet illustrates soil management practices for each season