Suchergebnisse

Much has been made of India's emergence as a global power in recent years. In spite of the rapid growth in India's economy, there are many serious issues affecting the majority of its people, still living at the 'bottom of the pyramid'. Basic electricity is one such challenge. While India is currently the world's 4th largest consumer of electricity, it also has one of the least developed infrastructures in place to generate it. Indeed, one third of India's 1.2 billion people live without any source of electricity whatsoever. The need to address the challenges of ecological degradation and global warming has made renewable sources of energy, such as hydropower, an attractive alternative. In order to increase investment in this sector, the government of India has encouraged entrepreneurs to develop small hydropower plants, with up to 25 megawatt capacity. These small hydro power projects have started to proliferate in the mountainous regions of India, where there is an abundance of natural streams. This paper explores the social, economic and environmental impacts of small hydroelectric development in the State of Himachal Pradesh, in the Indian Himalayas.

Prior information systems research has found that numerous contextual factors, including individual differences, can influence which communication technologies are chosen for various situations. Because the adaptability of information and communication technologies to individual preferences and different environments is continuously improving, it has become increasingly feasible and important to investigate the relationships between individual characteristics (such as personality) and features of technology. In this study, the communication environment (face to face vs. synchronous computer mediated) and partners' personality types (extraversion-introversion) in two-person groups were contrasted in a laboratory experiment. Dyads addressed a cognitive conflict task—allocation of limited funds to controversial social causes. Contrary to the hypotheses, introverts exerted influence over extraverts. As expected, extraverts were more satisfied with the process than introverts, and face-to-face dyads required less time, were more satisfied, and perceived less conflict than computer-mediated dyads. Given the ease with which some modern technologies can be melded to each individual's preferences and that prior research has shown that individual differences influence the selection of technologies, these results have important implications for future information systems researchers and technology designers.

Religious Pluralism reflects the deep social and cultural meaning of diversity. This panel will discuss and analyze the opportunities and challenges that Global Religious Studies offers students, faculty, librarians, staff, and the community at large, and the challenges it encounters at BSU, in the United States and throughout the world. We will describe the curriculum of the new Global Religious Studies Minor and the strategy for its promotion. Similarities and differences between various religions will be highlighted, as well as the growing world-wide population who claim a spiritual practice but are not affiliated with any organized religion. We contend that Global Religious Studies as a minor enables participants to better appreciate and understand the diverse religions and spiritual practices in the world. This practice of "religious literacy" enables students and the community to develop a significant understanding and application of democracy with respect to this important subject, on many levels.

High levels of species richness and endemism make Myanmar a regional priority for conservation. However, decades of economic and political sanctions have resulted in low conservation investment to effectively tackle threats to biodiversity. Recent sweeping political reforms have placed Myanmar on the fast track to economic development—the expectation is increased economic investments focused on the exploitation of the country's rich, and relatively intact, natural resources. Within a context of weak regulatory capacity and inadequate environmental safeguards, rapid economic development is likely to have far-reaching negative implications for already threatened biodiversity and natural-resource-dependent human communities. Climate change will further exacerbate prevailing threats given Myanmar's high exposure and vulnerability. The aim of this review is to examine the implications of increased economic growth and a changing climate within the larger context of biodiversity conservation in Myanmar. We summarize conservation challenges, assess direct climatological impacts on biodiversity and conclude with recommendations for long-term adaptation approaches for biodiversity conservation.

Effective conservation planning needs to consider the threats of cropland expansion to biodiversity. We used Myanmar as a case study to devise a modeling framework to identify which Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are most vulnerable to cropland expansion in a context of increasingly resolved armed conflict. We studied 13 major crops with the potential to expand into KBAs. We used mixed-effects models and an agricultural versus forest rent framework to model current land use and conversion of forests to cropland for each crop. We found that the current cropland distribution is explained by higher agricultural value, lower transportation costs and lower elevation. We also found that protected areas and socio-political instability are effective in slowing down deforestation with conflicts in Myanmar damaging farmland and displacing farmers elsewhere. Under plausible economic development and socio-political stability scenarios, the models forecast 48.5% of land to be converted. We identified export crops such as maize, and pigeon pea as key deforestation drivers. This cropland expansion would pose a major threat to Myanmar's freshwater KBAs. We highlight the importance of considering rapid land-use transitions in the tropics to devise robust conservation plans.