Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND LINDGREN. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 255-261. / by Neal Robert Pettigrew. / Ph.D.

The focus of this research was to examine the effects of mayoral control on operational and financial structures within school systems. Furthermore, this study focused on the public perception and political implications of the mayor’s position on local education. The four systems chosen for this study were: Boston, Chicago, District of Columbia, and New York City. All four systems were total control districts, which allowed for each mayor to appoint a majority to the school board and appoint a superintendent or chancellor to oversee the day to day operations of the school district. This study focused on operational and financial structures, which make up a sizable portion of the larger organizational structure. These indicators often drive how services and expenditures eventually affect the core business of these school systems. From an operational perspective, this study was focused on expenditures, both in aggregate form and for instructional related services, pre and post takeover. From a financial perspective, this study focused on changes to revenue sources, return on investment, interest on school debt, and capital outlay. From a political perspective, this study examined the data from the various State of the City addresses over the last four years in each of the four cities, along with polling data available for New York City and the District of Columbia. This study was concluded with a summary of findings, and implications for future research, policy, and practitioners. The research showed that New York City and Boston generally outperformed the District of Columbia and Chicago in the operational and financial metrics used in the study. Furthermore, the number of years a city had been iv under mayoral control and operational and financial indicators had no significant relationship. It was recommended that future researchers should continue to study the benefit of benchmarking metrics of organizational performance to ensure mayors are held accountable for the reforms they espouse during election cycles. Ultimately, mayors’ success in managing their school systems will be based on where they prioritize. This research offered a cross section of metrics by which mayors can benchmark their effectiveness as they change operational, financial, and organizational structures to bring about better, overall organizational performance from their school system.

This thesis explores an alternate typology for a residential high rise in the Hudson Square neighborhood in Manhattan. The units that make up the building are organized with stairs and corridors placed along the interior perimeter of the unit which both bound the central floor space and expose it, creating a layered vertical circulation space around a central, permeable core. The collective organization of units within the building recapitulate their interior organization to form the building object creating a whole that is governed by the same organizational rules as the parts. The building is created as an object in the city meant to frame the duality between transparency and reflection, between lines and surfaces and ultimately between exhibition and anonymity. / Master of Architecture

This thesis focuses on a few of the different possibilities for an infill housing project. The site is located in Queens, New York, adjacent to the East River. The site is an old railroad yard. The surrounding neighborhood is a mixture of commercial and residential areas. The linear axis of the site offers the possibility for a strong horizontal object for the city. / Master of Architecture

La première partie de cette étude est consacrée au cadre institutionnel dans lequel s’élaborent les politiques linguistiques américaines ; la Constitution des États-Unis, ainsi que ses amendements, s’avèrent déterminants dans leur formulation. Depuis l’adoption de politiques linguistiques nationales dans les années 1960, l’influence de l’État fédéral se trouve encore accrue. Néanmoins, la politique linguistique des États-Unis demeure lacunaire. La politique linguistique de l’État de New York, étudiée dans le deuxième chapitre, complète en partie cette politique en intervenant principalement dans les domaines de l’éducation et du droit de vote. La politique linguistique de l’État du New York est déterminée, d’une part, par un antagonisme structurel Ville-État et, d’autre part, par la lutte des Portoricains pour le respect de leurs droits linguistiques. La dernière partie de cette étude consiste en une étude de cas ; quarante entretiens semi-dirigés menés auprès d’immigrants russophones révèlent l’importance de la reconversion professionnelle dans le processus d’intégration linguistique. / In a first part, this study analyzes the institutional framework in which American language policies are elaborated; the Constitution of the United States and its amendments appear to play a major role in their elaboration. Since the adoption of national language policies in the 1960’s, federal influence has grown further. However, the language policy of the United States remains incomplete. The language policy of the State of New York, which is studied in the second chapter, supplements it by intervening in the fields of education and voting rights mainly. The language policy of New York is determined by, on the one hand, a structural City-State antagonism, and on the other hand, by the activism of Puerto Ricans who mobilized to assert their language rights. The last chapter of this study consists of a case-study; forty semi- conducted interviews were carried out with Russian-speaking immigrants. As a whole, they stress the importance of retraining in the language acquisition process.

The desire for local governments to adapt to climate change seems logically relevant as weather extremes inhibit the ability of local governments to protect public health and safety and to ensure delivery of public services. By conducting planned adaptation to climate change local governments enable themselves to minimize risk and increase adaptive capacity to deal with climate change impacts. In the midst of a federal government, minus the Obama administration, that has tended to downplay the importance of climate change, action by local level governments - cities in particular - in the U.S. have been at the forefront of action on climate change. Little attention has been given to local government adaptation in rural areas by both researchers and policy makers alike. Rural areas are at risk to changes in climate because they tend to be reliant on climate sensitive industries, comprised of vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and very young and to possess few resources to conduct land-use and other planning. This dissertation expands upon previous research by examining the decision to conduct planned adaptation by both urban and rural local government adaptation to climate change (RQ1) and by identifying the influences on the decision of local governments in both urban and rural areas to conduct planned adaptation to climate change (RQ2). New York State was selected as an appropriate case study to answer research questions because of the drastic contrast between urban and rural areas of the state. On the one hand, it has been one of the most progressive states in terms of climate change policy including its largest local government New York City; on the other hand, it is comprised of many rural local governments suffering from population and economic decline. An online survey was distributed to all New York State local governments in November/December 2011 and supplemented by informant discussions conducted before and after the survey. While a considerable amount of time has passed since the survey was conducted, it took place during what appears to be a particular timeframe in political history where the U.S. president supported action on climate change. Results of this study show strong differences in resource availability and the likelihood of urban vs. rural elected officials to conduct planned adaptation. One hundred and forty-two responses were received from large and small cities, towns, villages and counties. A traditional deductive research design was deployed to answer research questions. To examine the influences on the decision of local elected officials to conduct planned adaptation hypotheses were developed based on previous empirical studies and Mohr’s 1969 hypothesis that “Innovation is related to the motivation to innovate, inversely related to the strength of obstacles to innovation, and directly related to the availability of resources for overcoming such obstacles” (Mohr, 1969, p. 111). Two dependent variables were measured (1) planned adaptation or conscious decisions to adapt to climate change and an alternate dependent variable (2) formal and informal discussion of climate change within the local government. Independent variables measured related to local elected official motivation to conduct planned adaptation in the form of climate weather related concerns in New York State (i.e. extreme weather, water quality, and ecological changes), resource availability within the local government (i.e. budget, staff, climate change expertise) and the existence of obstacles toward planned adaptation external to local governments (i.e. public support, federal and state informational and financial support). The results of the survey showed that a small minority of local governments in New York State had decided to conduct planned adaptation to climate change. Over half of the sample was identified as conducting some form of spontaneous or reactive adaptation which consisted mostly of actions to minimize flood risk (i.e. update storm-water infrastructure, manage flood plains, promote open space). However, no local government surveyed had been identified as having successfully implemented an adaptation plan. Informal discussions were found to be occurring among half of the sample surveyed with a small number of local governments discussing climate change formally. According to informant discussions, the low level of planned adaptation among New York State local governments can be explained by a number of factors including a non-requirement to conduct planned adaptation, varying policy, resource and incentive conditions throughout the state, a lack of urgency to adapt to climate change and, finally, the absence of a support system to conduct planned adaptation. Results of hypothesis testing indicate that local governments are more likely to conduct planned adaptation to climate change where: A) climate change concerns are water related, B) budget, staff and climate change expertise are available and C) public support to address climate change impacts as well as state and federal informational support are available. Financial support from state and federal governments did not appear to influence the decision to conduct planned adaptation. Rural local governments were found less likely than urban local governments to be discussing climate change and to be conducting planned adaptation which is likely to be related to organizational size and the availability of resources to conduct planned adaptation measures. This dissertation contributes to understanding how local governments are adapting to climate change in New York State, what influences the decision of elected officials to conduct planned adaptation to climate change and how experiences may differ from municipality type — especially related to urban vs. rural local governments.

The desire for local governments to adapt to climate change seems logically relevant as weather extremes inhibit the ability of local governments to protect public health and safety and to ensure delivery of public services. By conducting planned adaptation to climate change local governments enable themselves to minimize risk and increase adaptive capacity to deal with climate change impacts. In the midst of a federal government, minus the Obama administration, that has tended to downplay the importance of climate change, action by local level governments - cities in particular - in the U.S. have been at the forefront of action on climate change. Little attention has been given to local government adaptation in rural areas by both researchers and policy makers alike. Rural areas are at risk to changes in climate because they tend to be reliant on climate sensitive industries, comprised of vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and very young and to possess few resources to conduct land-use and other planning. This dissertation expands upon previous research by examining the decision to conduct planned adaptation by both urban and rural local government adaptation to climate change (RQ1) and by identifying the influences on the decision of local governments in both urban and rural areas to conduct planned adaptation to climate change (RQ2). New York State was selected as an appropriate case study to answer research questions because of the drastic contrast between urban and rural areas of the state. On the one hand, it has been one of the most progressive states in terms of climate change policy including its largest local government New York City; on the other hand, it is comprised of many rural local governments suffering from population and economic decline. An online survey was distributed to all New York State local governments in November/December 2011 and supplemented by informant discussions conducted before and after the survey. While a considerable amount of time has passed since the survey was conducted, it took place during what appears to be a particular timeframe in political history where the U.S. president supported action on climate change. Results of this study show strong differences in resource availability and the likelihood of urban vs. rural elected officials to conduct planned adaptation. One hundred and forty-two responses were received from large and small cities, towns, villages and counties. A traditional deductive research design was deployed to answer research questions. To examine the influences on the decision of local elected officials to conduct planned adaptation hypotheses were developed based on previous empirical studies and Mohr’s 1969 hypothesis that “Innovation is related to the motivation to innovate, inversely related to the strength of obstacles to innovation, and directly related to the availability of resources for overcoming such obstacles” (Mohr, 1969, p. 111). Two dependent variables were measured (1) planned adaptation or conscious decisions to adapt to climate change and an alternate dependent variable (2) formal and informal discussion of climate change within the local government. Independent variables measured related to local elected official motivation to conduct planned adaptation in the form of climate weather related concerns in New York State (i.e. extreme weather, water quality, and ecological changes), resource availability within the local government (i.e. budget, staff, climate change expertise) and the existence of obstacles toward planned adaptation external to local governments (i.e. public support, federal and state informational and financial support). The results of the survey showed that a small minority of local governments in New York State had decided to conduct planned adaptation to climate change. Over half of the sample was identified as conducting some form of spontaneous or reactive adaptation which consisted mostly of actions to minimize flood risk (i.e. update storm-water infrastructure, manage flood plains, promote open space). However, no local government surveyed had been identified as having successfully implemented an adaptation plan. Informal discussions were found to be occurring among half of the sample surveyed with a small number of local governments discussing climate change formally. According to informant discussions, the low level of planned adaptation among New York State local governments can be explained by a number of factors including a non-requirement to conduct planned adaptation, varying policy, resource and incentive conditions throughout the state, a lack of urgency to adapt to climate change and, finally, the absence of a support system to conduct planned adaptation. Results of hypothesis testing indicate that local governments are more likely to conduct planned adaptation to climate change where: A) climate change concerns are water related, B) budget, staff and climate change expertise are available and C) public support to address climate change impacts as well as state and federal informational support are available. Financial support from state and federal governments did not appear to influence the decision to conduct planned adaptation. Rural local governments were found less likely than urban local governments to be discussing climate change and to be conducting planned adaptation which is likely to be related to organizational size and the availability of resources to conduct planned adaptation measures. This dissertation contributes to understanding how local governments are adapting to climate change in New York State, what influences the decision of elected officials to conduct planned adaptation to climate change and how experiences may differ from municipality type — especially related to urban vs. rural local governments.

There has been an increased push away from the traditional combustion-engine powered vehicle due to environmental, health, and political concerns. As a result, alternative methods of transportation such as electric vehicles (EVs) have gaining popularity in the market. However, the EVs are not penetrating the market as quickly as expected, due in part to a combination of range, charge anxiety, and their financial costs. EVs cannot travel far due to limited driving range and require longer charge times than combustion-engine powered vehicles to recharge. Coupled with a lacking infrastructure for charging, the feasibility of an all-electric transportation market is still not possible. We propose a novel system in which we study and characterize the feasibility of increasing the effective driving range of a battery electric vehicle by utilizing inductive charge transfer to create an ad-hoc charging network where vehicles can “share” charge with one another. The application of wireless charge transfer from vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) is the first of its kind and does not require any changes to current metropolitan infrastructures. Through the use of computer networking and communications algorithms, we analyze real-world commuter and taxi data to determine the potential effectiveness of such a system. We propose a participation and incentive mechanism to encourage participation in this network that enables the system to be functional.To illustrate proof of principle for V2V charging at traffic lights, we simulate a simplified model in which vehicles only exchange charge at traffic lights without coordination with other vehicles. Using a greedy heuristic, vehicles only exchange charge if they happen to meet another vehicle that has charge to share. The heuristic is greedy since decisions are made at each iteration with longer optimality not being considered. We are able to demonstrate an increase in effective driving range of EVs using these simplistic assumptions. In this thesis, we develop and quantify a complete simulation framework, which allows EVs to operate using charge sharing. We analyze data from the United States Department of Transportation, New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, and Regional New York City data sources to understand the cumulative driving distance distributions for passenger/commuter vehicles and taxicabs in large metropolitan areas such as New York City. We show that the driving distributions can best be represented as heavy-tail distribution functions with most commuter vehicles not requiring additional charge during a typical day’s usage of their vehicle as compared to taxicabs, which regularly travel more than 100 miles during a 12-hour shift. We develop and parameterize several variables for input into our simulation framework including driving distance, charge exchange heuristics, models for determining pricing of charge units, traffic density, and geographic location. The inclusion of these parameters helps to build a framework that can be utilized for any metropolitan area to determine the feasibility of EVs. We have performed extensive evaluation of our model using real data. Our current simulations indicate that we can increase the effective distance that an electric vehicle travels by a factor of at least 2.5. This increased driving range makes EVs a more feasible mode of transportation for fleet vehicles such as taxicabs that rely heavily on commuting long cumulative distances. We have identified areas for future improvement to add further parameters to make the model even more sensitive. Finally, we focus on the application of our charge sharing framework in a real-world application for utilizing this methodology for the New York City bus system. In partnership with the New York City MTA, we launched a feasibility study of converting the currently majority hybrid bus fleet into a complete electric bus fleet with charging available at bus stops during scheduled bus stops. Unlike the earlier charge sharing framework, this simulation focuses on discrete distances that are traveled by the bus before having an opportunity to charge at the next bus stop. In this scenario, a large source of variability is the amount of time that the bus is able to stop at a bus stop for charging since this is determined by the amount of time needed to successfully embark and disembark the passengers at the given bus stop. This particular variability impacts how much charge the bus is able to gain during any given stop. We conclude with a list of opportunities for future work in expanding the model with additional parameters and conclusions of our work. Further, we identify areas of further research that outline the potential positive and negative outcomes from a charge sharing system that can be extended to various other applications including micro-mobility applications such as electric scooters and bicycles.

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