Suchergebnisse

The third generation of agricultural biotechnology looms large as plant-made pharmaceuticals (PMPs) and plant-made industrial products (PMIPs) both promise new, cheaper, and more plentiful pharmaceutical drugs and industrial products, such asplastics, cosmetics, enzymes, and epoxies. At the same time, they threaten the US food supply through adventitious presence (e.g., inadvertent mixing) of PMPs/PMIPs with the traditional food supply -- a concern brought home by the StarLink and Prodigene controversies in the past few years. This paper explores the third generation of agricultural biotechnology by looking at the products being developed and field tested and the regulations being implemented to address environmental release of PMPs and PMIPs. We next address the overwhelming public response to Federal Register notices concerning field release of PMPs and PMIPs and consider both the unprecedented volume of responses and their content, which reveals public and industry debate in terms of how to define science, governmental trust, and emotional response to the new technologies. We conclude by considering implications for not only PMPs and PMIPs, but also agricultural biotechnology in general. ; This report was funded by the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, Arkansas State University. ; Includes bibliographical references

AbstractAlthough agricultural biotechnology has been a seminal reference point in risk perception studies, public awareness of their exposure to risk deriving from this new technology has been minimal at best. However, recent events indicate there may be growing public concern as new variations of this technology appear. Understanding what drives perceptions of benefits from the third generation of the agricultural biotechnology and what determines public worries are keys for the future of this technology. To this end, this study analyzes survey data from the midsouth region of the United States to construct four separate regression models of perceived benefits from and worries over plant‐made industrial products and plant‐made pharmaceuticals. Findings suggest that while prior experience with and knowledge about agricultural biotechnology has an impact on perceptions of benefits and worries, trust in farmers plays a highly important role in determining perceptions.

In this brief paper we explore the extent to which contemporary white Southerners favor an independent South. Using recent data from the University of North Carolina's Southern Focus Poll we show that ten percent of white Southerners think that the South would be better off as an independent nation. Given that there are 70 million whites in the South today, this means that the region is home to about seven million people who support, at least to some degree, Southern independence. Compared to other Southern whites, these separatists tend to be less educated, less well off financially, younger, and more rural. They also tend to be more conservative racially and morally, more sympathetic toward the Confederacy, and more likely to feel that Northerners have contempt for Southerners. We speculate on the potential influence of these Southern nationalists.

In this brief paper, we explore the extent to which contemporary white Southerners favor an independent South. Using recent data from the U of North Carolina's Southern Focus Poll we show that 10% of white Southerners think that the South would be better off as an independent nation. Given that there are 70 million whites in the South today, this means that the region is home to about seven million people who support, at least to some degree, Southern independence. Compared to other Southern whites, these separatists tend to be less educated, less well off financially, younger, & more rural. They also tend to be more conservative racially & morally, more sympathetic toward the Confederacy, & more likely to feel that Northerners have contempt for Southerners. We speculate on the potential influence of these Southern nationalists. 3 Tables, 36 References. Adapted from the source document.

This research compares a performance model to a racial model in explaining approval of a black mayor. The performance model emphasizes citizen evaluations of conditions in the city & the mayor's perceived effectiveness in dealing with urban problems. The racial model stipulates that approval of a black mayor is based primarily on racial identification or racism. A model of mayoral approval is tested with two surveys over different years of citizens in a city that has had 20 years' experience with black mayors. Findings indicate that performance matters when evaluating black mayors, indicating that the national performance models of presidential approval are generalizable to local settings with black executives. Implications for black officeholders are discussed. However, the racial model is alive & well, as indicated by its impact on approval & the finding that, in this context, performance matters more to white voters than to black voters. A final, highly tentative conclusion is offered that context conditions the relative power of these models. The performance model may explain more variation in approval of the black mayor than the racial model in a context of rapidly changing city conditions that focuses citizen attention on performance, but during a period of relative stability the two models are evenly matched. 4 Tables, 1 Figure, 3 Appendixes, 49 References. Adapted from the source document.

Scholars have long been interested in the cultural differences between the southern US & the rest of the nation. In this study we update & extend earlier work in this area by comparing & tracking the responses of southerners & nonsoutherners to over 75 questions from the 1972-2000 cumulative General Social Surveys. The analyses generate four conclusions. (1) The attitudes & behaviors of southerners are more conservative than those of nonsoutherners in many areas, including race, gender, religion, sex, social capital, & tolerance. (2) The magnitude of these regional differences remains about the same regardless of whether we compare all southerners & nonsoutherners or just white southerners & nonsoutherners. This suggests that southern culture is not just a "white" southern culture as many scholars have argued in the past. (3) The differences between southerners & nonsoutherners persist, although often to a lesser degree, after controlling for structural variables such as education, income, & urbanity. The implication is that southern distinctiveness is a product of both deep-seated cultural differences & structural differences between regions. (4) There is very little evidence that regional differences have declined over the past quarter century, challenging those who contend that southern culture is in retreat. 2 Tables, 1 Appendix, 44 References. Adapted from the source document.

Scholars have long been interested in the cultural differences between the southern United States and the rest of the nation. In this study we update and extend earlier work in this area by comparing and tracking the responses of southerners and non-southerners to over 75 questions from the 1972-2000 cumulative General Social Surveys. The analyses generate four conclusions. First, the attitudes and behaviors of southerners are more conservative than those of non-southerners in many areas, including race, gender, religion, sex, social capital, and tolerance. Second, the magnitude of these regional differences remains about the same regardless of whether we compare all southerners and non-southerners or just white southerners and non-southerners. This suggests that Southern culture is not just a "white" southern culture as many scholars have argued in the past. Third, the differences between southerners and non-southerners persist, although often to a lesser degree, after controlling for structural variables such as education, income, and urbanity. The implication is that southern distinctiveness is a product of both deep-seeded cultural differences and structural differences between regions. Fourth, there is very little evidence that regional differences have declined over the past quarter century, challenging those who contend that southern culture is in retreat.