Matching Items (42)
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- All Subjects: Sustainability
- Creators: Department of Finance
Description
Nearly seven decades ago, the US government established grants to the states for family planning and acknowledged the importance of enabling all women to plan and space their pregnancies, regardless of personal income. Since then, publicly-funded family planning services have empowered millions of women, men, and adolescents to achieve their childbearing goals. Despite the recognized importance of subsidized family planning, services remain funded in a piecemeal fashion. Since the 1940s there have been numerous federal funding sources for family planning, including the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Program, Office of Economic Opportunity grants, Title XX Social Services Program, Title X Family Planning Program, Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, alongside state and local support. Spending guidelines allow states varying degrees of flexibility regarding allocation, to best serve the local population. With nearly two billion dollars spent annually on subsidized family planning, criticism often arises surrounding effective local program spending and state politics influencing grant allocation. Political tension regarding the amount of control states should have in managing federal funding is exacerbated in the context of family planning, which has become increasingly controversial among social conservatives in the twenty-first century. This thesis examines how Arizona’s political, geographic, cultural, and ethnic landscape shaped the state management of federal family planning funding since the early twentieth century. Using an extensive literature review, archival research, and oral history interviews, this thesis demonstrates the unique way Arizona state agencies and nonprofits collaborated to maximize the use of federal family planning grants, effectively reaching the most residents possible. That partnership allowed Arizona providers to reduce geographic barriers to family planning in a rural, frontier state. The social and political history surrounding the use of federal family planning funds in Arizona demonstrates the important role states have in efficient, effective, and equitable state implementation of national resources in successfully reaching local populations. The contextualization of government funding of family planning provides insight into recent attempts to defund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood, cut the Title X Family Planning Program, and restructure Medicaid in the twenty-first century.
ContributorsNunez-Eddy, Claudia (Author) / Maienschein, Jane (Thesis advisor) / Hurlbut, James (Committee member) / O'Neil, Erica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This thesis project was conducted to create a practical tool to help micro and small local food enterprises identify potential strategies and sources of finance. Currently, many of these enterprises are unable to obtain the financial capital needed to start-up or maintain operations.
Sources and strategies of finance studied and ultimately included in the tool were Loans, Equity, Membership, Crowdfunding, and Grants. The tool designed was a matrix that takes into account various criteria of the business (e.g. business lifecycle, organizational structure, business performance) and generates a financial plan based on these criteria and how they align with the selected business strategies. After strategies are found, stakeholders can search through an institutional database created in conjunction with the matrix tool to find possible institutional providers of financing that relate to the strategy or strategies found.
The tool has shown promise in identifying sources of finance for micro and small local food enterprises in practical use with hypothetical business cases, however further practical use is necessary to provide further input and revise the tool as needed. Ultimately, the tool will likely become fully user-friendly and stakeholders will not need the assistance of another expert helping them to use it. Finally, despite the promise of the tool itself, the fundamental and underlying problem that many of these businesses face (lack of infrastructure and knowledge) still exists, and while this tool can also help capacity-building efforts towards both those seeking and those providing finance, an institutional attitude adjustment towards social and alternative enterprises is necessary in order to further simplify the process of obtaining finance.
Sources and strategies of finance studied and ultimately included in the tool were Loans, Equity, Membership, Crowdfunding, and Grants. The tool designed was a matrix that takes into account various criteria of the business (e.g. business lifecycle, organizational structure, business performance) and generates a financial plan based on these criteria and how they align with the selected business strategies. After strategies are found, stakeholders can search through an institutional database created in conjunction with the matrix tool to find possible institutional providers of financing that relate to the strategy or strategies found.
The tool has shown promise in identifying sources of finance for micro and small local food enterprises in practical use with hypothetical business cases, however further practical use is necessary to provide further input and revise the tool as needed. Ultimately, the tool will likely become fully user-friendly and stakeholders will not need the assistance of another expert helping them to use it. Finally, despite the promise of the tool itself, the fundamental and underlying problem that many of these businesses face (lack of infrastructure and knowledge) still exists, and while this tool can also help capacity-building efforts towards both those seeking and those providing finance, an institutional attitude adjustment towards social and alternative enterprises is necessary in order to further simplify the process of obtaining finance.
ContributorsDwyer, Robert Francis (Author) / Wiek, Arnim (Thesis director) / Forrest, Nigel (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Sexual assault is a very serious social issue, one that has recently had a resurgence of interest within the context of college campuses. Studies have shown that the prevalence rates of woman abuse in university and college dating are alarmingly high. Historically, fraternity and sorority members have had a reputation for maintaining what has become known as "rape culture" by creating environments in which underage, binge or competitive drinking and unhealthy interactions and inequality between men and women are the norm. Research suggests this combination contributes to the number of known-assailant sexual assaults on or associated with campus life. The main objective of this project is to identify effective ways to foster an anti-sexual violence and pro-sexual wellness culture within ASU's Greek community by observing and analyzing student interactions with and opinions on these issues. This study aims to examine the attitudes of university students toward sexual assault, to learn how students navigate a culture in which sexual assault exists (the ways they respond to, seek to prevent, and learn about sexual assault). Additionally, this study examines student awareness, accessibility, effectiveness, and reach of current sexual violence prevention initiatives on ASU's campus. After conducting interviews with Greek students and performing direct observation during sexual wellness related events, the researchers of this project have determined that ASU has created an environment in which the student population is sufficiently aware of the sexual assault on campus and definitions of campus, but they are not familiar with nor do they often utilize or suggest that their friends utilize the many resources ASU and the Tempe community provide related to sexual health. Students tend to feel that sexual health programming is informative, but not personally relevant to or engaging to them. Feedback would suggest that the bystander intervention curriculum currently being developed in the ASU Fraternity and Sorority Life office would better address student need for relevant, engaging, and culturally-targeted sexual-health programming.
ContributorsHynes, Braxton Victoria (Author) / Adelman, Madelaine (Thesis director) / Vega, Sujey (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This paper offers a radical critique of consumer capitalism and consumer activism through advertisements from Industrial Food Systems. I examine advertisements from Monsanto, Industrial Beef Farmers, and Waste Management in order to critique the rhetoric that these companies use and reveal the environmental destruction they are attempting to obscure through the strategic use of language and symbols. I argue that a deeper anti-capitalist analysis of Industrial Food Systems is necessary to subvert consumer activism and greenwashing tactics and to curb environmental destruction.
ContributorsSnarr, Madeline M. (Author) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Richter, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
When communist leader Ceaușescu was overthrown in the Romanian revolution of 1989, Romania reinstated reproductive freedoms that had been denied under communist policy. This study looks at reproductive health in Romania in 2013, examining the progress in reproductive healthcare made since 1989 while looking at lingering barriers to resources and education. Thirty-five pharmacists were surveyed to collect information on pricing and accessibility of contraceptives in pharmacies. In addition, interviews were conducted with the director of Societatea de Educatie Contraceptiva si Sexuala (SECS), a reproductive clinic healthcare provider, a professor of philosophy and feminism at Babeș-Bolyai University, and four young Romanian women.
ContributorsZack, Lauren (Author) / Katsulis, Yasmina (Thesis director) / Orlich, Ileana (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / College of Public Programs (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
As feminist understandings of the role that gender plays in the field of international development have evolved over time, there have been countless criticisms of organizations in the field due to their slowness in accounting for and responding to these academic contributions. Largely, these criticisms are lobbied against oversimplifications of the use of the term gender, often as interchangeable with the term girls/women, effectively excluding boys/men. In attempt to determine the extent to which boys and men have been excluded from the discourse of gender equality focused international development programs, this thesis conducts a rhetorical analysis of Plan International’s ‘Because I am a Girl’ Campaign. As an international nongovernmental organization that has made some attempt to include boys and men in its work, it serves as an important site for investigating why development organizations have not fully embraced the work done in masculinities studies and in feminist/gender studies on development. The analysis concludes that the intended audience is critical in shaping the way that an organization represents its gender-related programming.
ContributorsMcHugh, Megan Leigh (Author) / Gillis, Georganne (Thesis director) / Switzer, Heather (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This research explores the unique and complicated experiences of women living with Von Willebrand Disease (VWD). VWD occurs with quantitative or qualitative deficiencies in Von Willebrand Factor—a key protein involved in blood clotting. While VWD affects men and women, women often suffer harsher complications because of menstruation, childbirth, and other women’s health issues. Using online VWD support groups, this research recognizes and attempts to understand the common experiences of women with VWD. Availability of Care, Motherhood, Community and Sisterhood, Girlhood, Sexual Health and Reproductive Health, and Stigma were the six common themes found within these online support groups. Women in these groups corroborate the current understandings of women-specific experiences with VWD: particularly, heavy menstruation, postpartum hemorrhaging, diagnostic difficulties, treatment complications, and implications of an overall lower quality of life. However, these women also report VWD-induced complications with sexual health, mental health, care when trying to conceive, misinterpretations of bruising, constraints on healthcare availability, and the stigma associated with heavy menstruation. These findings address gaps in the literature and identify new areas for further research. Ideally, these conclusions will provide educational materials for healthcare professionals, government legislatures, and families to better support women and girls with VWD.
Keywords: Von Willebrand disease, women’s health, sexual health, mental health, reproductive health, phenomenology, and stigma
Keywords: Von Willebrand disease, women’s health, sexual health, mental health, reproductive health, phenomenology, and stigma
ContributorsReynolds, Aubrey Bryanna (Author) / Haskin, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Gemelli, Marcella (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
This thesis investigates the potential of life cycle analysis for more sustainable sourcing strategies in organizations. Using the example of the College of Lake County (CLC) in Illinois, I study how life-cycle analysis can help to improve the procurement of products and services in higher education. Currently, CLC's purchasing team does not understand how sourcing affects operational and environmental performance. In addition, CLC's purchasing team does not communicate effectively with other departments from a product utilization standpoint. The objective of this research is to analyze CLC's current product procurement process and to assess the feasibility of implementing life cycle analysis tools. Further, I evaluate different life cycle analysis tools and provide recommendations to CLC about the applicability of these tools so that they may be implemented into the university in the future. First, I find that both the procurement and IT department at CLC are not familiar with life-cycle analysis tools and hence, do not know about the life cycle of their processes and services. Second, I identify professional life cycle analysis tools relevant for CLC. Two software options, GaBi and SimaPro, are discussed. Finally, I suggest six steps for a successful implementation of life cycle analysis at CLC: (1) form an interdisciplinary team, (2) analyze demand and collect additional data, (3) conduct a product life cycle analysis using a software tool, (4) define which products to analyze further, (5) conduct life cycle costing analysis with the same software tool, and (6) utilize these results for decisions and delegation of responsibility.
ContributorsGotsch, Rachel Lynne (Author) / Wiedmer, Robert (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Bodies, Sex, & Identity: Discovering Your Sexual Self is a sex education book for children ages 10 and up. This creative project is a response to the significant issues with modern sex education and the lack of resources for parents of preteens who want their children to receive accurate, inclusive, and socially responsible information about gender and sexuality. Bodies, Sex, & Identity is a pleasure-focused, sex-positive book, meant to supplement the information children receive about puberty and sex in school, on the Internet, and from other books and educational materials. The book features frequent references to sexual identity and urges its audience to reflect on how they experience their own bodies, gender, and sexuality. It contains discussion of power imbalances, stereotypes, and stigma, and it includes populations that are typically underrepresented or altogether excluded from sex education materials (specifically, intersex people, people of color, fat people, queer people, gender non-conforming people, disabled people, and asexual people). My purpose in creating Bodies, Sex, & Identity was to celebrate diversity, "fill in the gaps," and paint a more comprehensive, inclusive, and accurate picture of human sexuality.
ContributorsAndros, Natalie Rose (Author) / Katsulis, Yasmina (Thesis director) / McGibbney, Michelle (Committee member) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The thesis outlines five feasible technologies that can be implemented to assist Arizona State University (ASU) in its attempt to increase its water sustainability practices. After collaborating with internal contacts from ASU's Sustainability department, a plan was initiated to research, inform, and recommend the best technological solution and potential vendor for ASU. Information on the vendor is included in the analysis describing the company's history, its service offerings, and application of the technology mentioned using case studies. Potential vendors were contact by phone and additional research was conducted using the each of the company's website to gather more information such a charts and graphs. ASU's current negotiations with its main vendor, Sustainable Water, assisted in establishing benchmarks needed to be able to compare other potential vendors. Each technology was researched extensively using metrics such as energy efficiency, aesthetics, footprint, purification capacity, and odor. The team had difficulties gathering specific data due to the hesitations of companies divulging proprietary information. As much information was gathered to analyze and provide a comparison with each vendor using a ranked and weighted system. Rating the technologies took into considerations the needs of ASU, the offerings of the potential vendor, and the technological capacities and capabilities. The technologies mentioned each had distinct features differing it from one another. However, each technology also had its tradeoffs. Ultimately, it was found that the most feasible, realistic and most aesthetically pleasing solution was Sustainable Water. After careful analysis, it is recommended to continue discussions with Sustainable Water to meet the needs and goals of ASU's water sustainability initiatives.
ContributorsReid, Tatiana (Co-author) / MacDonaldo, Ariane (Co-author) / Printezis, Antonios (Thesis director) / Alberhasky, JoEllen (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12