No description available.

No description available.

Five hundred and twenty-two forest regulatory ordinances were identified in 493 local governments. The majority of these laws are found in the northeastern United States, which account for over sixty percent of the national total. Southern states contain approximately thirty-percent of this total, with western and central states contributing four and two percent, respectively. Local forest laws are a relatively recent phenomenon. Over seventy percent of the ordinances identified were enacted in the last ten years, and almost fifty percent have been adopted in the last five years. Strong traditions of local authority, increasing environmental sentiments, reductions in local highway aid, changes in timber hauling methods and state environmental programs have all contributed to the growth of local forest laws. The objectives of forest ordinances differ dramatically. Ordinances in the northeastern states are usually developed to protect local environmental resources from logging. By contrast, southern ordinances are commonly adopted to safeguard local investments in roads from log hauling, while western laws are enacted to comply with state programs. The requirements of these ordinances and the social attributes of regulated communities vary greatly. In several cases, local laws are concentrated in areas containing relatively little timberland and low levels of forest activity. In addition, the common requirements of forest ordinances are not viewed as being overly burdensome by loggers and pulpwood operators. For these reasons, local forest laws may impose less of a burden than their sheer numbers would suggest. Although forest ordinances have been extremely burdensome to loggers and forest landowners in certain areas, their the impact must be evaluated in context to local resource and market conditions. / Master of Science

This thesis traces the history of labor legislation from colonial America through 1947.

No description available.

Legislative productivity has been a much debated topic by congressional researchers. The legislative branch of the federal government is considered the people's branch because it is the only branch that is freely elected making it the most easily accountable to the general public. In addition, because the Founders of the United States talk about it first and because they talk about it the most, it is quite reasonable to assume that they meant for the legislature to be the supreme branch of government. It is therefore important to understand what factors can account for the productivity of Congress, over time. In an effort to understand what makes Congress most relevant and effective a measure of significant legislation had to be created. This thesis is unique because it develops a new measure of topical legislative output. The Congressional Digest, a journal that focuses on one salient issue facing the nation each month, is used to determine a salient and relevant legislative agenda. Ultimately, this thesis is testing whether legislation that is discussed by the Congressional Digest is addressed by legislation. More specifically, legislative productivity for this research is defined as a law being passed after the Congressional Digest raises awareness on the issue, and before the Congress in question, adjourns sine die. The Congressional Digest has been published continuously since 1921 which defines the starting point of the research. In order to allow sufficient time to track the success of the legislative initiatives discussed in the journal, which is still in print, the investigation will stop with the last issue in 2004. The new dependent variable was tested using existing variables found in the academic literature on legislative gridlock. Variables such the percentage of moderates in Congress and presidential honeymoons perform as expected; both are associated with less gridlock. Interestingly, the variable testing the change of majority power in Congress produced an effect, opposite of what was expected. New majorities are found to be associated with less topical legislative output. Arguably, this occurs because this new measure of gridlock taps a legislative agenda that represents particularly complicated issues, which new majorities are not equipped to handle effectively. Overall, the new dependent variable holds up to initial scrutiny.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographies. / by Sonia Sylvia Jasso. / M.C.P.

No description available.

The American public has shown growing concern for the protection of aesthetic values on private and public lands. For private lands, the protection of aesthetic qualities must be coupled with use rights inherent in property ownership under American law. One of the earliest models to protect such values on private lands was the use of "police power" to regulate the appearance of new development in selected districts. This has most frequently been accomplished by including design guidelines in zoning ordinances. This study examines history, relevant law and literature, and the content of design guidelines in zoning ordinances. The content analysis was designed to investigate both design elements and trends over time existed. The findings from the content analysis suggest that the use of design guidelines are increasing for contemporary areas and communities as well as historic districts. Also, that the design guidelines are becoming increasingly specific in the design elements included.

In January 2004, the United States Congress passed and put into effect the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN SPAM). The Act was set forth to regulate bulk commercial email (spam) and set the limits for what was acceptable. Various sources have since investigated and speculated on the efficacy of the CAN SPAM Act, few of which report a desirable outcome for users of electronic mail. Despite the apparent consensus of anti-spam firms and the community of email users that the Act was less than effective, there is little to no research on the efficacy of the Act that utilizes any significant statistical rigor or accepted scientific practices. The present study seeks to determine what, if any, impact the CAN SPAM act had on spam messages, to identify areas of improvement to help fight spam that is both fraudulent and dangerous. The data consisted of 2,071,965 spam emails sent between February 1, 1998 and December 31, 2008. The data were aggregated by month and an interrupted time series design was chosen to assess the impact the CAN SPAM Act had on spam. Analyses revealed that the CAN SPAM Act had no observable impact on the amount of spam sent and received; no impact on two of three CAN SPAM laws complied with among spam emails, the remaining law of which there was a significant decrease in compliance after the Act; and no impact on the number of spam emails sent from within the United States. Implications of these findings and suggestions for policy are discussed.