Cafeteria Waste Reduction Programs in Three Southern Maine Elementary Schools: A Waste Audit Analysis

Solid waste is a serious environmental problem in the modern world. School cafeterias are one source of food and packaging waste that must be dealt with. Reducing the amount of cafeteria waste disposed of as trash through source reduction, recycling, and composting will not only improve environmental outcomes, but will also teach students about sustainability and save schools money. Waste audits at three elementary schools in southern Maine reveal that there are major differences in how effectively waste is sort­ed and the types and quantity of waste generated per student. Overall waste diversion was measured at 67 percent or greater at all three schools, with an average of 69 percent among the two schools where organics were measured. While there is still work to be done at all three schools, the programs have a major impact even in their current state

Freedom and Equality in Education: A Private School - Publicly Funded Voucher Education System

In this thesis, I argue that a nationalized private school – publicly financed voucher system (PRS / PFV system) of education provides a solution to the current problems plaguing the American public education system. Although previous arguments focus on a privatized system being more efficient than the current public system, I will not focus on this issue in my discussion. Despite criticism of privatized education systems by multiple empirical analyses, I do not fully engage the empirical literature here. As there has never been a nationalized private school – publicly funded voucher system like the one supported here, there is no direct empirical evidence that provides reason not to support such a system. Rather, my discussion is purely theoretical and will only briefly address some of the prospective theoretical concerns that are raised by the empirical research

Land Development Risk around Southern Sebago Lake, Maine: Identifying at-Risk Parcels

The Sebago Lake watershed supplies drinking water to more than 200,000 people in the Greater Portland area. The Portland Water District (PWD) is currently able to supply water from their intake at the south end of the lake with only minimal treatment to remove bacteria due to the very high water quality of the lake. The district has a strong interest in preserving water quality, which is dependent on the filtering effect of forest and other vegetation surrounding the lake and its watershed. However, the district owns only about 1% of the watershed land, and most of the rest is in private hands, leading to a significant potential for development. I analyze the development potential of land parcels in the town of Standish that are close to the lake and the water district intake using GIS. The model is based on location compared to roads and developed areas, town growth plans and land slope. I further weight the resulting risk of development by how close the parcel is to the lake and PWD intake. This attempts to show areas most likely to cause a decline in water quality through development

The Pandemic Divide: How COVID Increased Inequality in America

It’s a truism in Sociology that nothing happens in a vacuum: the actions of one group affect another, the current age is informed by what came before. But during the COVID-19 pandemic especially—when even billboards and celebrities reminded us that we’re "all in this together"—the idea that current inequalities draw from generations of inequities became even more salient

On Brass and Snow: An Athlete\u27s History of the Sport of Biathlon

The sport of biathlon, which encompasses a unique combination of cross-country skiing and target shooting is a sport with a past deeply rooted in military traditions. Originally used to test military capacity and fitness among elite mountain troops in the United States and Europe (most famously Finland and the Soviet Union after the Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940), the sport has evolved into one of the most watched winter sports in Europe. In the process of this transformation, the sport has undergone what might be referred to as a “Post-Historical” transition, based on the framework introduced by Francis Fukuyama. This theory posits that the military model of biathlon that provided the basis for both athlete development and competition structure has been replaced by a civilian and elite athletics model to a significant enough extent that the military model has become essentially obsolete. This Post-Historical transition takes place on two fronts. First structurally, in how the sport is organized, participated in and governed and second, perceptually, in how the athletes view themselves in relation to the history of the sport and their place within and in contrast to it. In this thesis, I argue that biathlon has on both the structural and perceptual level, attempted to reinvent itself as separate from its history

Atlas of Maine: Atlantic Salmon Habitat in the State of Maine

This map displays important habitat (for both spawning and growth) for the endangered Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon population as surveyed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources – Division of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat. Atlantic salmon hatch and spend the first two to three years of their lives in freshwater rivers before moving to the ocean to feed for one to three years. At the end of their life, the fish return to Maine rivers to spawn in the same location they hatched. Dams can restrict salmon movement and increase the risks in their journeys both up and down rivers

Task force on immigration and higher education in Central Massachusetts

In August 2007, the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc. created a task force to examine the issue of immigration and higher education in Central Massachusetts. It has become increasingly clear from recent demographic and economic studies and projections that the population in the northeast, and certainly in Central Massachusetts, is showing minimal growth. There is evidence that a decline in the “native-born” population is caused by significant out-migration due to a number of factors, including the high cost of living, limited career opportunities and a declining birth rate. The limited population growth that is evident is due primarily to the recent influx of immigrants to this area, with the most significant numbers in Worcester coming from Ghana, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, El Salvador, Albania and Liberia. It is also clear that the area’s economy is becoming more knowledge-based with an increasing percentage of all new jobs requiring some form of postsecondary education. According to the 2007 Massachusetts Department of Workforce Development’s Job Vacancy Survey, 38 percent of current job vacancies in Massachusetts require an associate’s degree or higher. This represents an increase from 30 percent in 2003. Consequently, the level of education that the immigrant population attains is of vital importance to everyone—not only to immigrant students and their families but also to the economic well-being of the entire region. The Task Force was charged with researching the barriers to higher education faced by this new wave of immigrants and suggesting recommendations to address those barriers. The 36-member Task Force was made up of representatives from Consortium member institutions; federal, state and local governments; community and faithbased organizations; the Worcester Public Schools; the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education; and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition. Meetings were held over six months, during which the Task Force identified three main barriers faced by immigrant communities in accessing higher education, and sub-committees were created to work on each of these. Speakers were invited to present on topics of interest. Two public hearings were held, the first of which was conducted at Worcester State College in October. It attracted community representatives, as well as college and high school faculty and administrators. The second hearing, held at the downtown branch of Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) in December, was attended by immigrants (English for Speakers of Other Languages – ESOL and GED) students as well as QCC staff.Published versio

Left Behind: Yachts, Dinghies, and Perceptions of Social Inequality in COVID-19

Little is known about how portrayals of American unity (i.e. “we’re all in this together”) have been received by essential workers on the front lines of the COVID risk divide, and how the pandemic may have contributed to perceptions of class inequality among lower-income workers. In this paper, we draw upon 192 in-depth interviews with precarious and gig-based workers in New York City. We find that during the height of the first wave of the pandemic, precarious workers often expressed frustration over class-based inequalities and antagonism toward elites. Many respondents expressed significant skepticism toward messages that the pandemic has brought Americans together. Instead, workers identified two distinct, class-based realities in New York: elite Americans are able to socially-distance in “mansions,” or on “yachts,” while precarious workers struggled to weather the storm in “dinghies.” Likewise, workers felt “abandoned” by wealthy owners and managers, who fled the city to socially-distanced homes in beach communities and surrounding suburbs. Our findings suggest that low-wage, high-risk workers articulate complex conceptualizations of inequality and convey grievances toward elites during the pandemic. This study contributes to broader literature on perceived inequality, the rise of noxious work, and the social consequences of COVID-19

Stability and Activity of Doped Transition Metal Zeolites in the Hydrothermal Processing

This study investigates the stability and activity of HZSM-5 doped with metals such as molybdenum, nickel, copper, and iron under hydrothermal conditions used for the direct liquefaction of microalgae. Catalysts have been prepared by ion-exchange techniques, and MoZSM-5 was also prepared by wet incipient impregnation for comparison. Hydrothermal liquefaction is considered a potential route to convert microalgae into a sustainable fuel. One of the drawbacks of this process is that the bio-crude produced contains significant levels of nitrogen and oxygen compounds that have an impact on the physical and chemical properties of the fuel. Heterogeneous catalysts have been shown to improve the quality of the bio-crude by reducing nitrogen and oxygen contents. Zeolites, such as HZSM-5, are strong candidates due to their low cost compared to noble metal catalysts, but their stability and activity under hydrothermal conditions are not well understood. The stability of the catalysts has been determined under hydrothermal conditions at 350°C. Catalysts have been characterized before and after treatment using X-ray diffraction, BET physisorption, and scanning transmission electronic microscopy. Metal leaching was determined by the analysis of the water phase following the hydrothermal treatment. The inserted cation following ion-exchange can influence the physical properties of HZSM-5, for example, molybdenum improves the crystallinity of the zeolite. In general, metal-doped zeolites were relatively stable in subcritical water. The activity of the catalysts for processing lipids, protein, and microalgae has been assessed. Four feedstocks were selected: sunflower oil, soya proteins, Chlorella, and Pseudochoricystis ellipsoidea. The catalysts exhibited greater activity toward converting lipids, for example, MoZSM-5 enhanced the formation of aromatic compounds. NiZSM-5 and CuZSM-5 were observed to be more efficient for deoxygenation