ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND NATURAL-RESOURCE-BASED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Environmental Economics and Policy,

COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE

Environmental Economics and Policy,

ACCUMULATION AND RENTAL BEHAVIOR IN THE MARKET FOR FARMLAND

A farmerÂ’s choices of tenure and farm size result from a complex interplay of economic factors technology, entrepreneurial ability, and personal preferences. This paper examines the qualitative effects of these factors on tenure and farm size in a dynamic optimization framework. One implication of the theoretical model is that changes in technology should cause systematic differences to be observed between rates of return on farmland and rates earned on comparable long-term assets. This implication is supported by an empirical test.Land Economics/Use,

FACTORS AFFECTING THE ADOPTION OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

The extent to which individual factors influence the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is estimated using a logit model and data from a 1990 survey of West Virginia producers. The results are, as expected, different than those for conventional agricultural technologies. For example, the effects of human capital characteristics are significant, while those for structural and institutional characteristics are not. However, the likelihood of adoption of sustainable agricultural practices is affected most by the environmental characteristic of whether or not the producer is aware that ground water contamination exists on his farm. This creates an important "awareness effect" upon which policies to promote sustainable agriculture adoption can be formulated. It also implies the existence of a derived demand for sustainable agriculture.Farm Management,

The Mousetrap

Agatha Christie\u27s classic story, The Mousetrap, opened in 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, England and is still playing in theatres around the world nightly. The longest running play or musical in history, it is Agatha Christie at her best. The setting is the 1940s in post World War II England. A young married couple has inherited a large manor house in the English countryside, which they have decided to open as a guest house. On their first day of business their curious and interesting guests arrive along with a massive winter storm confining everyone to the house. The roads are blocked and the phone does not work. A detective arrives on skis to announce that the address of the house was found on the body of a woman murdered in London. The police are concerned that someone staying in the house might be the next victim. Suspicion grows as the detective attempts to unmask everyone present. When one of the guests is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect. Who will be killed next? The tension and suspicions build to an amazing and surprising climax. The Mousetrap will keep you on the edge of your seat.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1006/thumbnail.jp

STREAM WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT: A STOCHASTIC MIXED-INTEGER PROGRAMMING MODEL

Water quality management under the watershed approach of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) programs requires that water quality standards be maintained throughout the year. The main purpose of this research was to develop a methodology that incorporates inter-temporal variations in stream conditions through statistical distributions of pollution loading variables. This was demonstrated through a cost minimization mixed-integer linear programming (MIP) model that maintains the spatial integrity of the watershed problem. Traditional approaches for addressing variability in stream conditions are unlikely to satisfy the assumptions on which these methodologies are founded or are inadequate in addressing the problem correctly when distributions are not normal. The MIP model solves for the location and the maximum capacity of treatment plants to be built throughout the watershed which will provide the optimal level of treatment throughout the year. The proposed methodology involves estimation of parameters of the distribution of pollution loading variables from simulated data and use of those parameters to re-generate a suitable number of random observations in the optimization process such that the new data preserve the same distribution parameters. The objective of the empirical model was to minimize costs for implementing pH TMDLs for a watershed by determining the level of treatment required to attain water quality standards under stochastic stream conditions. The output of the model was total minimum costs for treatment and selection of the spatial pattern of the least-cost technologies for treatment. To minimize costs, the model utilized a spatial network of streams in the watershed, which provides opportunities for cost-reduction through trading of pollution among sources and/or least-cost treatment. The results were used to estimate the costs attributable to inter-temporal variations and the costs of different settings for the margin of safety. The methodology was tested with water quality data for the Paint Creek watershed in West Virginia. The stochastic model included nine streams in the optimal solution. An estimate of inter-temporal variations in stream conditions was calculated by comparing total costs under the stochastic model and a deterministic version of the stochastic model estimated with mean values of the loading variables. It was observed that the deterministic model underestimates total treatment cost by about 45 percent relative to the 97th percentile stochastic model. Estimates of different margin of safety were calculated by comparing total costs for the 99.9th percentile treatment (instead of an idealistic absolute treatment) with that of the 95th to 99th percentile treatment. The differential costs represent the savings due to the knowledge of the statistical distribution of pollution and an explicit margin of safety. Results indicate that treatment costs are about 7 percent lower when the level of assurance is reduced from 99.9 to 99 percent and 21 percent lower when 95 percent assurance is selected. The application of the methodology, however, is not limited to the estimation of TMDL implementation costs. For example, it could be utilized to estimate costs of anti-degradation policies for water quality management and other watershed management issues.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Wit

A brilliant and respected university professor, known for her teaching of the difficult and metaphysical poems of John Donne, is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Throughout the course of her experimental treatments, she comes to an understanding of her work, and her life, with profound humor. Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the New York Times called Wit (sometimes written W;t) a “brutally human and beautifully layered new play…you feel both enlightened and, in a strange way, enormously comforted.” Presented in an intimate staging atmosphere, WIT is sure to move you.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1034/thumbnail.jp

My Fair Lady

There were 10 good reasons why My Fair Lady should have never made it on Broadway, according to CBC Radio Music Host Robert Harris. One reason was that the leading lady (Julie Andrews) was virtually unknown at the time, and another was that Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) couldn\u27t sing! Instead, Lerner and Loewe\u27s masterpiece became their biggest and longest-running hit. Based on the play, Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, the script weaves together entertainment and transformation. Eliza\u27s metamorphosis from guttersnipe to dazzling, high-class beauty is stunning, but the real transformation is the one inside. Through Henry Higgins\u27 prodding and provoking, Eliza becomes a strong, self-reliant woman. And as Higgins recognizes Eliza\u27s value as a person - regardless of social distinctions - he begins to change, too. Whether or not he falls in love is left to our imagination, but one thing is sure - we, along with Higgins, celebrate in Eliza the true worth of the human spirit.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1016/thumbnail.jp

Site Correspondence Effects in Benefit Transfers: A Meta-Analysis Transfer Function

Several factors can affect the validity and reliability of benefit transfers. This paper proposes the existence of meta-valuation function and uses meta-regression analysis to estimate this function. The meta-valuation function controls for systematic effects of differences in sample and site characteristics on the magnitude of error associated with an experimental benefit transfer. Validity measures are derived through various specifications of multi-site and single-site travel cost demand models for hiking on a variety of trails in Colorado. The results show that some characteristics account for a large portion of error in the benefit transfer application. When the meta-regression analysis function is adapted for benefit transfer estimation, it results in more accurate and reliable transfer measures than traditional methods

The Miracle Worker

Based on the true story of Helen Keller - blind, deaf, and mute since infancy - and her teacher Annie Sullivan - the half-blind Yankee schoolgirl - this unforgettable play has inspired and moved audiences since its first performance. When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life or in the life of another. — Helen Kellerhttps://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/theatre_productions/1012/thumbnail.jp