Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper analyzes violence (in particular, assaults with a firearm) that occurred in a two square mile area straddling the Newark/Irvington border in Essex County, New Jersey, an area that has been plagued with violence for years. Using an event perspective, we study more than the violent criminal "act" that occurs when a perpetrator and victim collide at a particular location at a particular point in time. The act is only a part of a larger social interaction that can be studied as taking place over time, with a beginning, middle, and an end. Most violent crime has a nexus, at one level or another, to drug activity. Furthermore, most serious assaults in the United States are perpetrated with a gun. Lastly, accepted research has shown a relationship between suspect/victim behavior and the likelihood of deviance and/or victimization. The event perspective provides a lens to view violence from the perspective of what led to the act, what happened during the act, and what happened afterwards, including interpersonal relationships of the parties involved. We will examine these stages in the violence, looking at networks, spatial proximity, violent locations, and preventive acts taken to reduce repeat occurrences.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Polish farmers became politically contentious in the early 1990s, despite their minimal involvement in the Solidarity movement and other eras of protest during the communist regime. I examine protest data from 1980-1995 and show that farmers’ protests became increasingly intense in the years following transition to democracy. I find that programs implemented by international organizations are responsible for this trend. During democratization, international organizations restructured the Polish agricultural cooperative system to help farmers modernize and succeed in the market economy. The organizations transformed local co-ops into small groups of members with shared economic interests, and these small groups were linked to national trade unions. At the local level, this structure enabled groups to overcome collective action problems among members and led to high-cost protest events. At the national level, mobilizable local co-ops were networks of opposition deployed for union-sponsored campaigns, which led to widespread protest events. Ironically, most protest was in opposition to free market policies which the restructured cooperative system was intended to help farmers adjust to.

Publication Type: Symposium
Abstract: This panel will examine alternative transportation options, and why energy literacy is key in helping society move in a new direction.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Evolutionary adaptations that limited the expansion of inequality in our context of origin as nomadic foragers have a reverse impact with our exodus from that context. These very same adaptations come to fuel the escalation of inequality in a number of ways. By preconsciously limiting the appeal of repeated status arousers, individuals are sent off in the pursuit of a variety of status distinctions. Initially, the only variety available in sufficient numbers was with packages of moderate distinctions. However, with the post-exodus explosion of status arousers, these preconscious repetition limitations were overwhelmed, and attention could turn to creating bundles of high contrast inequality. Understanding this reverse impact increases the depth of analysis of the social evolution of inequality across our history.

Publication Type: Oral Presentation
Abstract: With the recent spike in fuel costs there has been a renewed interest in alternative fuels. Biodiesel has received a lot on interest from the farming community not only as a fuel to run farm equipment but also interest in learning more about oil seed crops and their role in biodiesel production. Reports have been made that people have been injured making biodiesel and that equipment manufacturers are not standing behind warranties when biodiesel is used. The South Hampton Roads RC&D Council determined that local producers needed information on how to make quality biodiesel and how to make it safely. Additionally, producers needed to know more about oil seed crops that are suitable for their region. The council partnered with Hampton Roads Clean Cities, Virginia Cooperative Extension, James Madison University, Virginia Department of Mines and Minerals and a Biodiesel Cooperative to host a workshop on the topic of Biodiesel. The workshop was a huge success with potential participants having to be turned away. Biodiesel production was reviewed and demonstrated as was how to make it safely. Quality control measures were presented and manufacturer’s warranties statement were provided. Cooperative Extension reviewed a variety of oil seed crops that are suitable for our region and how they could be incorporated into existing cropping rotations and how they could improve soil quality.
The Biodiesel Workshop was successful. There is a lot of information “out there” that may not be geared to local producers. It was important to give them accurate, timely information.