Estimating the Market Effect of a Food Scare: The Case of Genetically Modified StarLink Corn

Genetic modification of crops has revolutionized food production, but it remains controversial due to food safety and environmental concerns. A recent food safety scare provides a natural experiment on the corn market's willingness to accept unapproved genetically modified organisms. In 2000, a genetically modified corn variety called StarLink was discovered in the food-corn supply, even though it was not approved for human consumption. To estimate the price impact of this event, we develop the relative price of a substitute method, which applies not only to the StarLink event but also to rare events in other markets. We apply this method to measure the price impact of the StarLink contamination on the U.S. corn market. We find that the contamination led to a 7 percent suppression of corn prices that lasted for at least a year.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q11, Q18, C22,

The Market Effect of a Food Scare: The Case of Genetically Modified StarLink Corn

Genetic modification of crops has revolutionized food production, but it remains controversial due to food safety concerns. A recent food safety scare provides a natural experiment on the market's willingness to accept an increase in perceived risk from genetically modified (GM) food. We analyze the market impact of contamination of the U.S. food-corn supply by a GM variety called StarLink. We find that the contamination led to a 6.8 percent discount in corn prices and that the suppression of prices lasted for at least a year.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing,

Weyl submodules in restrictions of simple modules

Let F be an algebraically closed field of characteristic p>0. Suppose that SL_{n-1}(F) is naturally embedded into SL_n(F) (either in the top left corner or in the bottom right corner). We prove that certain Weyl modules over SL_{n-1}(F) can be embedded into the restriction L(\omega)\downarrow_{SL_{n-1}(F)}, where L(\omega) is a simple SL_n(F)-module. This allows us to construct new primitive vectors in L(\omega)\downarrow_{\SL_{n-1}(F)} from any primitive vectors in the corresponding Weyl modules. Some examples are given to show that this result actually works

Thinking the Line: A Collection of Books on Poetry and Visual Art

Graduate Winner: 2nd Place, 2007. 20th Annual Carl Neureuther Student Book Collection Competition

Non-thermal processes in coronae and beyond

This contribution summarizes the splinter session "Non-thermal processes in coronae and beyond" held at the Cool Stars 17 workshop in Barcelona in 2012. It covers new developments in high energy non-thermal effects in the Earth's exosphere, solar and stellar flares, the diffuse emission in star forming regions and reviews the state and the challenges of the underlying atomic databases.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the Cool Stars 17 worksho

Rectangular low level case of modular branching problem for GL_n(K)

In this paper, we find an explicit combinatorial criterion for the existence of a nonzero GL_{n-1}(K)-high weight vector of weight (\lambda_1,...,\lambda_{i-1},\lambda_i-d,\lambda_{i+1},..., \lambda_{n-1}), where d<char K and K is an algebraically closed filed, in the irreducible rational GL_n(K)-module L_n(\lambda_1,...,\lambda_n) with highest weight (\lambda_1,...,\lambda_n). For this purpose, new modular lowering operators are introduced

Transonic Elastic Model for Wiggly Goto-Nambu String

The hitherto controversial proposition that a ``wiggly" Goto-Nambu cosmic string can be effectively represented by an elastic string model of exactly transonic type (with energy density $U$ inversely proportional to its tension $T$) is shown to have a firm mathematical basis.Comment: 8 pages, plain TeX, no figure

The Philanthropic Motivations of Community College Donors: A Study of the Educational Foundation of a Mid-Sized, Multi-Campus Community College in Virginia

This study examined the philanthropic motivations of the donors of a mid-sized, multi-campus community college in Virginia as part of a plan to enhance relationships with donors and increase the amount of private funds raised. Dependence on dwindling, traditional and limited funding sources leaves community colleges vulnerable and constantly struggling to fund the ever-increasing needs of their internal and external stakeholders (Sheldon, 2003). Community colleges are attempting to address the problem by enhancing their fundraising efforts and strengthening relationships with donors. A mixed-method, multi-step approach was used for this research study. The approach in this study involved five steps. The first step included piloting the survey. The second step was piloting interviews with four current donors, three lapsed donors, and two major gift donors, and documenting the interviews with and without an audiotape. The third step included face-to-face interviews with major gift donors. The final steps were a comprehensive survey of 2,865 donors and a review of printed and electronic donor records. The survey results revealed important demographic information about the donors. A profile of current donors emerged, demonstrating that most of the current donors are married White females at least 60 years old with at least a bachelor\u27s degree and a minimum household income of $75,000. The demographic information about lapsed donors revealed important information as well. Most of the lapsed donors are married White females at least 50 years old with at least a bachelor\u27s degree and a minimum household income of$75,000. In addition, a demographic profile of major gift donors emerged. Most of the major gift donors are married White females at least 60 years old with at least a bachelor\u27s degree, and a minimum household income of $150,000. The study also examined donor affiliations with the community college. Most of the current donors indicated their spouses did not attend the community college, they were not employed at the college, they did not volunteer at the community college, they did not participate in workforce development training at the community college, they did not employ anyone who had attended the community college, and they did not use the community college to train their employees. Another area of interest was the impact of college communications on donors\u27 decisions to contribute to the college. Most of the current donors indicated that the college annual report, fundraising letters, student profiles, testimonials from students, thank-you letters from students, and thank-you letters from the college president had an impact on their decision to give. In addition, most of the major gift donors noted that the college annual report, foundation annual report, fundraising letters, student profiles, and thank-you letters had an impact on their decision to contribute. This study revealed that the philanthropic motivation profiles of most of the current and lapsed donors were Communitarians and Repayers. Most of the major gift donors were Communitarians and Dynasts. In terms of the fundraising projects the philanthropic motivation profiles would be likely to support, Altruists, Communitarians, Repayers, Dynasts, and Devouts were more likely to contribute to academics, and Repayers, Devouts, and Communitarians were more likely to contribute to athletics. Altruists, Communitarians, and Socialites were more likely to contribute to cultural events, while Communitarians and Repayers were more likely to contribute to employee positions. Also, Altruists and Communitarians were more likely to contribute to employee professional development, and Communitarians and Devouts were more likely to contribute to facilities. The philanthropic motivation profiles that were more likely to contribute to scholarships were Communitarians, Altruists, Repayers, Devouts, Investors, and Dynasts. Repayers and Altruists were the philanthropic motivation profiles that were more likely to contribute to special events. Finally, Repayers and Altruists were more likely to contribute to student activities. The increased focus on private fundraising poses challenges for community colleges (Jackson & Glass, 2000). The most important challenge may be the lack of knowledge about community college donors. The lack of information about community college donors results in ineffective fundraising strategies and therefore a lack of fundraising success. As a result of this study, there now exist (a) a validated survey to assist community colleges in understanding their donors\u27 motivations for giving and (b) a donor-focused fundraising model for community colleges to use to enhance their fundraising initiatives and increase the amount of funds raised. The knowledge obtained in this study will help to address the aforementioned challenges

Summary of solid rocket motor plume flow field and radiation analyses

The inclusion of solid propellant plume flow field effects in analyses and design of the space vehicle was investigated. Results of these analyses are summarized