This report examines the place of non-citizen soldiers, veterans, and their families in U.S. political and civil life. Historically, military service has allowed marginalized groups to earn their social and political status as equal citizens. Part one of this report explores why, despite this history, recent legislative changes, and a 2002 Executive Order eliminating the legal and bureaucratic barriers to naturalization, less than forty percent of the non-citizen servicemen and women today actually acquire U.S. citizenship while on active duty. Part two examines the political and policy context surrounding a soldier's decisions to naturalize. It suggests that some soldiers may be “undocumented”; they forgo naturalization to protect themselves and their families. Part three discusses the legal, political, and normative implications of current policy. Some practices, such as the deportation of alien veterans, challenge the foundations of the American political order. The place of undocumented soldiers and veterans raises important issues about civic obligation, the cultural narratives that define membership in and service to the state, and the ruling political collations in which these narratives find support. / text

The concept of deliberation, both theoretically and empirically, was examined in the Chinese blogosphere by content analyzing Internet blog posts and comments, associated with sixty hotspot incidents in China from 2007 through 2009. Measurements of analytic and social processes were made and the factors that affect these processes were examined to identify deliberative patterns in the blog posts and comments. The findings suggest relatively substantial deliberative outcomes in the blog posts about the incidents, especially relating to the analytic process. Two variables were examined with respect to the factors that determine deliberation: an incident’s category (non-threatening, threat to performance, and threat to legitimacy) as classified under the command and control system, and information availability (news availability and total information availability) about the incident. Findings support the theoretical framework proposed in the study and suggest the following logical sequences: Firstly, the Chinese command and control system is a significant factor in explaining deliberative outcomes about incidents that can be categorized according to their level of considered threat to the system. An incident that was considered to be at a higher level of threat linked to a higher level of deliberation. Secondly, the command and control system also determines the information availability of an incident but in a negative way— incidents with higher threat levels have lower levels of information availability. Thirdly, information availability, in turn, predicted deliberation on its own—higher levels of information availability link to lower levels of deliberation. Moreover, information availability functioned as a moderating variable between the command and control system and the deliberative outcomes. Posts that were associated with non-threatening and threat to performance incidents, with higher levels of information availability, tended to have a lower quality of deliberation. Posts associated with incidents that were a threat to legitimacy, with lower level of information availability, yielded similar deliberative patterns that were of relatively high quality. / text

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

No description available.

Scientists now recognize how quickly environmental conditions are changing, yet to monitor and understand these spatially distributed changes more dispersed quantitative and qualitative data are needed than ever before. The need for more comprehensive and robust data has created the burgeoning field of citizen science, which engages volunteers to monitor environmental changes and report this information to scientists. Precipitation monitoring networks like RainLog.org are considered one of the oldest types of citizen science with many networks in existence for over 100 years. RainLog.org is a more modern version of these original networks and was developed in response to a need to better characterize precipitation events and provide stakeholders with more robust precipitation totals and distributions throughout Arizona.RainLog.org is a statewide precipitation monitoring network that relies on volunteers across Arizona to report daily precipitation into an online reporting system. To ensure that these data are reliable, a quality assurance and quality control analysis (QA/QC) was completed on a subset of gauges in the Tucson area. Results indicate that although there are many errors inherent with any precipitation network, whether volunteer or scientist driven, these errors are for the most part identified using basic interpolation methods. This paper analyzes a range of user reporting and gauge type errors, discusses the significance of each error type and provides recommendations for mitigating reporting errors in any citizen science network.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

This thesis seeks to uncover some of the cultural practices central to youth activist subcultures across three urban centres in Canada: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. I undertake this work within the context of rising moral and state claims about the apparent need for ‘good citizenship’ to be exercised by young people, alongside a late modern relationship between liberalism, neoliberalism, and Canada’s history of class- and race-based exclusions. The theoretical framework bridges cultural and political sociology with youth cultural theory. It also draws heavily upon the work of feminist philosophers of agency and the state. The main methodology is ethnographic, and was carried out within a phenomenological and hermeneutic framework. In total, 41 young people, ages 13-29, were involved in this research. Participants self-identified as being involved in activist work addressing issues such as globalization, war, poverty and/or colonialism. The findings of this study suggest that the effects of the historical and contemporary symbol of the ‘good citizen’ are experienced within youth activist subcultures through a variety of cultural means, including: expectations from self and schooling to be ‘responsible,’ with its associated burdens of guilt; policing practices that appear to rely on cultural ideas about the ‘good citizen’ and the ‘bad activist’; and representations of youth activism (e.g. within media) as replete with out-of-control young people being punished for their wrong-doings. Wider effects include the entrenched impacts of class- and race-based exclusions, which manifest within youth activist subcultures through stylistic regimes of ‘symbolic authorization’ that incorporate attire, beliefs, and practices. Although findings suggest that many young people come to activism via a predisposition created within an activist or Left-leaning family, this research also highlights the relational means by which people from outside of this familial habitus can come to activist practices. Taken together, findings suggest that youth activism must be understood as a cultural and social phenomenon, with requisite preconditions, influences, and effects; that such practices cannot be disassociated from wider social inequalities; and that such effects and influences demand scrutiny if we are to reconsider the role of activism and its part in expanding the political boundaries of the nation-state.

This report investigates the possibilities and solutions for a sustainable municipal solid waste management in the community of Mutomo, situated in Kitui County, Kenya. The aim was to formulate an action plan to start reaching for a sustainable development in the waste sector, with citizen participation. Specific research questions were to find requests and ideas from the community members. Also, how the Swedish solid waste management system is built up in order to find potential good examples. Qualitative methods for data collection were used both in-depth interviews and focus group discussions conducted. Data collection was done with the help of an interpreter; interviewing guides and a recording device were used. The data was transcribed and thematic analysis done using NVivo. The interviews and discussions resulted in many requests and ideas regarding solid waste management. In brief; a legal dumping site, health education of the advantages of managing waste and the disadvantages if not, increase of public dustbins, increase of people employed for waste collection, an organized system for trade of waste and improved future planning of the town by the local authorities. To conclude, if a sustainable development within the waste sector is to be initiated, the local authorities have to take action and shoulder their responsibility. Improved collaboration between them and the public health office, community members and private stakeholders is essential. The proposed action plan is a good tool to use when initiating this work and would be created through co-operation with residents in Mutomo.

Urbanization is a worldwide trend resulting in loss of bird habitat, dominance of invasive species and higher densities of some predatory species. However, cities provide new opportunities for birds because of warmer winter climates and sources of artificial food. Proper management of urban habitat is significant for maintaining diverse bird communities and raising conservation awareness among city dwellers. This study aimed at identifying important urban bird habitats as well as their characteristics in Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Fourteen local birders outlined bird habitats on maps, and the information was compiled and presented using GIS. In total, 28% of the study area was indicated as key habitat for urban birds. By comparing the GIS data with existing conserved areas, coastal areas, marine habitat and urban wetlands were found to be under-represented in conserved areas. Following from the research findings, recommendations for improving habitat identification and management are made.

his thesis is a discussion on the affective politics of images, with attention given to the communities and forms of citizenship they create, both digital and real, and their role in contemporary revolutions in the Middle East/North African Region. Employing Ariella Azoulay's (2008) theoretical framework of a civil contract of photography, this thesis locates and examines how a “citizenship of photography” is mobilized through current trends of citizen photojournalism and communication technology. By exploring the citizenship and community building potential of images, digital and real, an account of the revolutionary possibilities of images is formed. Drawing on recent scholarship and theoretical frameworks in the field of visual studies, media studies, and citizenship, this thesis develops a complex narrative of how images become iconic, connect individuals, and become an integral component in contemporary revolutionary change.