Identifying Childhood Hunger in Maine

Recent political campaigns at the national and state levels have been filled with much rhetoric about the present and future of families and children. But effective public policy developed in response to many pressing financial and social needs of families and children has not followed from the rhetoric. The lack of adequate quantitative research on the needs of children is often cited as a reason to move cautiously in responding to perceived needs. Deirdre Mageean discusses the nation’s public policy responses to poverty that have been attempted since the mid-1960s. Mageean, who served as co-director of a year-long childhood hunger study, examines these poverty policies in the context of the findings of that study, the Maine Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP). The Maine CCHIP study, along with 20 others conducted under the auspices of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) in recent years, have begun to fill some of the data needs of state and federal policymakers as they struggle to craft responsive and responsible poverty policies

Welfare Reform: Unresolved Issues

As this issue goes to press, the U.S. Congress debates passage of sweeping legislative reforms to welfare, shifting responsibility to the states via block grants. In this Margaret Chase Smith Essay, Deirdre Mageean highlights several unresolved welfare reform issues

Whither Maine’s Population

Demographic changes affect many aspects of a state’s economic and community well-being. Mageean, AvRuskin and Sherwood describe some of the potential impacts of Maine’s changing population. They note that the state’s population is aging; the percentage of Maine’s youth is declining faster than in other New England states; and that rates of growth remain relatively slow throughout most counties. The authors describe each of these trends, and discuss the implications for Maine’s labor force, education and health care systems. They also note that these trends will not be experienced similarly by all parts of the state. While some counties may be faced with school closures, others should begin planning now for school expansions. Similarly, in order to take care of the state’s growing elderly population, rural, poorer areas may need to adopt different strategies from urban, more prosperous areas. The authors caution readers to interpret their population predictions carefully. While predictions on births and deaths are reasonably stable, migration trends are notoriously sensitive to economic conditions. Hence, much depends on the economic health of Maine and the region in the years to come

Maine\u27s Recovery of Recreational Damages Due to Coastal Oil Spills

The report identifies 729 recreational sites across eleven coastal recreational resources or activities (herein noted as “coastal resources”) that have the potential to be directly impacted by a possible oil spill. Analyses include an evaluation of the availability of usage data and direct market values

Establishing Research Competitiveness in Biophysical Sciences in Maine

The Maine EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement award is designed to enhance Maine\u27s competitiveness in molecular biophysical sciences through a partnership between the University of Maine and Maine\u27s non-profit research organizations. The proposed Biophysical Sciences Institute brings together University of Maine faculty in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and spatial engineering, with biomedical researchers at the Jackson Laboratory and Maine Medical Center Research Institute. Maine EPSCoR proposes to hire additional tenure-track faculty in the fields of biophysics and advanced optics, biochemistry, structural biology, applied mathematics, computer science, image analysis and visualization, and material science. The new and existing investigators will form research teams to develop new measurement techniques, new sensors, and innovative approaches to data processing and interpretation in intracellular structures and dynamics, functional materials as a means to manipulate cellular reactions, and biocomputing. In addition to establishing the institute, Maine EPSCoR will integrate research and education through improvements to graduate training

Welcoming Remarks (Day 1)

2009 Hurricane Floyd Symposiu

Welcoming Remarks (Day 2)

Hurricane Floyd Symposiu

Welcoming Remarks (Day 1)

2009 Hurricane Floyd Symposiu

Welcoming Remarks (Day 2)

Hurricane Floyd Symposiu