Suchergebnisse

A reanalysis of selected national and state-level STS implementation data is reported in this article. The results indicate that teacher education, suitable curriculum materials, and insufficient class time are major issues affecting STS implementation in the United States. Only three states have addressed 50% or more of the STS implementation criteria in their science curriculum frameworks as recommended by the National Science Education Standards. A closer look at one state (Florida) revealed that approximately half of the school districts had STS in science, nearly a third had it in social studies, and the majority of STS instruction occurred at the middle and secondary levels. Additionally, STS is often taught via environmental concerns, and as such, it may be skewed toward activist positions rather than analyzing all (positive and we negative) aspects of the impact of science and technology on society. Using the data as a base, implications are drawn for teacher education, the development of materials, and general policy concerns regarding STS.

This article will describe a logical and efficient process of developing coherent national strategies in light of environmental forces that are present in the global market. It will then apply that process to the Federal Republic of Germany. The TOWS (threats, opportunities, weaknesses, strengths) Matrix will be used to accomplish this task. The TOWS methodology will focus on aspects of German industries that have had a significant impact ‐ either positively or negatively ‐ on the country's economy and its position in the European Community and the world. Intrinsic national forces in the social, economic, political, and technological areas will be considered in determining the origin of Germany's national industrial strengths and weaknesses. External opportunities for and threats to these industries will then be analyzed. After an analysis of a wide array of forces, strategies by German industries will be delineated and alternative industrial strategies will be proposed. Because former West Germany differs very much from former East Germany, the analysis will focus on what used to be called "West Germany", referred to in this paper simply as Germany.

This paper describes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's assessment of potential health risks associated with the possible widespread use of a manganese (Mn)‐based fuel additive, methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT). This assessment was significant in several respects and may be instructive in identifying certain methodological issues of general relevance to risk assessment. A major feature of the inhalation health risk assessment was the derivation of Mn inhalation reference concentration (RfC) estimates using various statistical approaches, including benchmark dose and Bayesian analyses. The exposure assessment component used data from the Particle Total Exposure Assessment Methodology (PTEAM) study and other sources to estimate personal exposure levels of particulate Mn attributable to the permitted use of MMT in leaded gasoline in Riverside, CA, at the time of the PTEAM study; on this basis it was then possible to predict a distribution of possible future exposure levels associated with the use of MMT in all unleaded gasoline. Qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of the risk characterization are summarized, along with inherent uncertainties due to data limitations.

The new Italian Road Code (1992) replaces road infrastructure legislation of which the most recent is more than 40 years old. It provides new rules in particular in relation to the new planning criteria. These rules are necessary if the infrastructure is to satisfy new needs in a context that has been modified over time because of an increase in traffic volume and a greater sensibility to environmental and safety issues. An essential part of the new road code is the institution of a functional classification of the road hierarchy necessary to correctly specify the technical characteristics of each new project in relation to the function that the road should have. In this article an outline is given of the aspects of greatest interest which regard the practical application of the principles of the new code. Particular reference is made to the problems relative to the quality of planning in light of the new legislation. The necessity to increase the level of detail in projects even in the early phases to allow a correct macro economic evaluation is highlighted.

Lowering speed of car drivers will have positive impacts on environmental pollution and the number of road accidents. It is therefore a potentially interesting policy option for governments which want to reduce negative externalities of transport. In this paper the acceptance of such polities is analyzed by means of a survey questionnaire among car drivers and public transport users. First, an analysis is presented on the general speed behaviour, the behaviour on distinct road types, the acceptance of lower limits, and the acceptance and perception of electronic speed limiters. Next, a statistical analysis of subgroups is carried out. It is concluded that the speed of car drivers is in general not considered as a main problematic issue by drivers and non-drivers; therefore there is little scope for the acceptance of changes in speed polities. When speed polities are changed (lower limits) it seems most effective to emphasize safety aspects in order to increase support of the public. However, psychological factors of speed behaviour may play an important role in this respect.

Interest in the subject of social integration or urban migrants into rural communities developed as a result of the so called 'population turn around' phenomenon observed by rural sociologists in the 1970's. The focus of much of this research related to the direction of migration and factors associated with residential preference. Some of this research (Glasgow & Sofranko, 1980; Goudy, 1990; Reiger & Beegle, 1974; Stinner et al. 1990) examined the temporal aspects of relocation and social integration of the migrant in the new community. This issue has become increasingly important in the 1990's as businesses and government agencies explore the economic advantages of relocating their staff in small communities. Vegreville, Alberta provided a case where the decentralization of a government facility (Alberta Environmental Research Centre) initiated a sudden influx of newcomers with the potential of a disruption of established institutions and the social structures in the community. The purpose of this research is to examine the process by which new residents integrated into the social structure of Vegreville.

Interest in the subject of social integration or urban migrants into rural communities developed as a result of the so called 'population turn around' phenomenon observed by rural sociologists in the 1970's. The focus of much of this research related to the direction of migration and factors associated with residential preference. Some of this research (Glasgow & Sofranko, 1980; Goudy, 1990; Reiger & Beegle, 1974; Stinner et al. 1990) examined the temporal aspects of relocation and social integration of the migrant in the new community. This issue has become increasingly important in the 1990's as businesses and government agencies explore the economic advantages of relocating their staff in small communities. Vegreville, Alberta provided a case where the decentralization of a government facility (Alberta Environmental Research Centre) initiated a sudden influx of newcomers with the potential of a disruption of established institutions and the social structures in the community. The purpose of this research is to examine the process by which new residents integrated into the social structure of Vegreville.

This is a conference paper. ; On request of the Undugu Society of Kenya (USK) a comprehensive research was carried out (1991-1993) addressing both problems of unemployment and uncollected waste in low-income areas. Focussing on resource recovery, the research covered the great variety of products made, markets covered and technologies used by smallscale enterprises in six cities in the South. WASTE Consultants has coordinated this research project, whereas the research itself was carried out by consultants in the following six cities: Manila, Calcutta, Cairo, Nairobi, Bamako and Accra. This paper is based on their findings, on field visits and additional literature and deals specifically with the recovery of organic waste, which was one of the ten materials researched. The paper will focus on small-scale recovery methods of urban organic waste and describes three examples from Bamako, Cairo and Manila. It will also deal with economic feasibility, environmental and health aspects, possible measures for improvement and the role of government authorities.

The nuclear waste problem is defined and analyzed from a systems engineering viewpoint. Problem magnitude and systems context are discussed. Requirements for a waste repository are presented and the current progress of the repository is noted. The Department of Energy's waste disposal system including repository site selection, monitored retrievable storage facility, and waste transportation system is analyzed. A description of nuclear fuel reprocessing is given. The potential benefits and risks of reprocessing are addressed including economic feasibility and environmental issues. A framework for systems analysis of the problem is presented. Four recommendations for further systems analysis are presented: 1. An unbiased systems analysis of the Yucca Mountain proposed repository including indirect political, social and economic aspects. 2. A systems engineering backing of the monitored retrievable storage facility 3. Development of rail transportation guidelines for nuclear waste 4. An economic analysis of the feasibility of spent fuel reprocessing to include indirect costs ; Master of Engineering

External debt, poverty, and the use of natural resources are inextricably linked. This article examines an ethical aspect of that linkage: the social direction of resource flow. It argues that the direction in which a country's economic resources are transferred—from poor to rich, or rich to poor—also sets the pattern for the flow of natural resources. By extension, the same kinds of forces that tend to impoverish human environments also tend to impoverish the physical environment; and conversely, that which tends to restore or promote equity generally tends to be good for the environment. For the past forty years, Costa Rican government policies have been among the fairest and most environmentally progressive in the Third World; yet Costa Rica is heavily in debt in both the economic and environmental sense. Are the "right" policies not right–or are they morally right but not workable? Annis examines this paradoxical question using the notion of "dual debt" and "wrong-way resource flows."

The increased number of people working in offices and the steady influx of computer technology has generated concern for the health and quality of work life of office workers. A number of studies have indicated that occupational stress, both physical and psychological, is becoming a problem in office workplaces. This study evaluated ergonomic aspects of traditional (bullpen) and automated (systems) offices to provide information regarding the suitability of various office configurations. A total of 105 female office workers representing the public and private sectors participated in the study. The evaluation methodology, which included both questionnaire, interview and objective measurements, encompassed the following components of office environments: environmental conditions (e.g. lighting), workstation factors, job characteristics/demands and organizational demands. Overall, the results indicated that ergonomic problems exist in both public and private sector offices. The findings demonstrate that the design of the office environment is important as it impacts on the health and quality of work life of office workers.

Half of all urban dwellers and eight out of every ten rural inhabitants in developing countries live in inadequate and badly equipped housing, crowded together and subjected to unacceptable environmental conditions. This means that in the countries of the Third World alone more than 2,300 million people live in housing that is without (or has only insufficient) services and that is marked as well by varying degrees of deterioration. The need to construct new units to absorb the natural increase in the population, to overcome gradually the qualitative deficit indicated above, and to renew existing stock makes housing and complementary services the major investment that must be made if one of the basic needs of the population is to be met. "A house is something more than a simple or complex construction, detached or grouped, forming an agglomeration that might have diverse forms and functions. Defined as a dwelling, this construction is converted into an essential aspect of man's existence as a social being and his way of life on earth."

This article examines alternative visions of "strong" party systems by analyzing relationships between party systems and several dimensions of performance of the political process in 28 democracies of the 1967-1976 decade. Party system theorists agree that voting support for extremist parties manifests a weakness in the party system. They disagree, however, about the virtues or vices of party majorities and close linkages between social groups and parties. The evidence, including multivariate analysis of party system types and characteristics, with controls for environmental conditions, indicates that during this period extremist party support was associated with executive instability and mass rioting. Scholarly concern about other aspects of party system strength or weakness should focus on the desired feature of political performance. The representational, multiparty systems were most successful in limiting rioting.Aggregative majorities,responsible majorities, andrepresentationalparty systems all had good executive stability in the short run, although the first two types seemed somewhat more stable over the decade.Aggregative majorityparty systems were associated with low citizen voting participation.

The purpose of this study was to examine the combined effects of simulated lunar environmental variables on human performance. A facility was developed to simulate the following aspects of the astronaut's lunar environment: confinement within a lunar shelter habitat with an oxygen-enriched atmosphere, high-risk vacuum, ⅙ g., lunar "terrain" characteristics, and space suit encumbrances. Four subjects were confined for five days in a simulated lunar shelter. During the fourth and fifth days, two subjects each made two simulated sorties outside the shelter. Basic maintenance and control tasks were performed under ⅙ g.; pressurized space suit conditions were at chamber altitudes at 18,000 and 100,000 ft., respectively. Results of this testing at altitude were compared with baseline measures conducted under ambient sea level conditions. It was concluded that the combined effect of the simulated lunar environment variables can substantially degrade certain categories of astronaut performance. The reduced pressure of altitude as well as ⅙ g. and space suit encumbrances appear to be significant factors affecting man's performance.

In this Symposium we are to discuss biological and social aspects of race. This is, of course, a tender topic, in dealing with which I feel strongly that we must all take especial care to express our ignorance when we are ignorant. Especially is this so in the most sensitive area of the topic, the question whether or not differences between racial groups in so-called mental abilities have an innate genetic component or not. I hope to convince you that nobody knows the answer to this question, and that in present circumstances it is impossible to know or even to foresee with certainty that it will ever be possible to know. Hence, whoever speaks as if he knows that such a racial difference is genetic, or whoever speaks as if he knows that such a racial difference is not genetic, is showing a bias that cannot be justified by the facts. Both they who say the differences are genetic and they who say they are environmental or cultural are equally prejudiced.