People who live in mobile homes have heightened vulnerability to disasters, due in part to mobile homes increasingly occupying high-hazard risk lands and the precarious ownership status known as divided-tenure. Divided-tenure is when an individual owns a mobile home and rents the land underneath. To identify the challenges associated with divided-tenure and disaster recovery from a policy perspective, this study analyzed the content of key HUD policies and performed a comparative policy analysis of purchase opportunity laws (requirements of landowners to give mobile homeowners an opportunity to purchase the property their home resides on) in three states: California, Florida, and New York. Content analysis indicated few direct references to mobile homes. Inconsistencies and confusing messaging were found in the existing federal guidance. The lack of consistent terminology and guidance on addressing divided-tenure, limits mobile homeowner's options for disaster recovery, including eligibility for federal disaster aid and potentially participation in relocation or buyout programs. The three selected states' purchase opportunity laws reviewed in this study were rated as weak. Policies lacked alignment with federal documents and opportunities for mobile homeowners were difficult to navigate. A pathway to land ownership could give mobile homeowners more control over their disaster recovery options, but …

Embarking on a quest to uncover the shared experiences of Latinos with diabetes in the Central San Joaquin Valley is the principal issue discussed in this body of work. Diabetes is estimated to become a serious public health problem, with a current estimate of more than 30 million already afflicted. Engaging in participant-observation at a local clinic serving patients in a Diabetes Education Program and semi-structured interviews with Latinos attending the program, this research explores cultural experiences of diabetes. The primary aim of this research is to answer how health education information is accepted and interpreted based on cultural definitions of diabetes to inform diabetes management strategies.

This dissertation examines the effects of micro-level inequality on political preferences and voting behavior.

This thesis describes a pilot study for a new cultural anthropology initiative at Team One, a US-based premium and luxury brand advertising agency. In this study, I explore the role and meaning of technology among a population of affluent individuals in Southern California through diaries and ethnographic interviews conducted in their homes. Using schema theory and design anthropology to inform my theoretical approach, I discuss socioeconomic and cultural factors that shape these participants' notions of affluence and influence their presentation of self through an examination of their technology and proudest possessions. I put forward a theory of conspicuous achievement as a way to describe how the affluent use technology to espouse a merit-based model of affluence. Through this model of affluence, participants strive to align themselves to the virtuous middle-class while ascribing moral value to their consumption practices. Lastly, I provide a typology of meaningful technology artifacts in the affluent home that describes the roles of their most used tech devices and how each type supports conspicuous achievement.

After a brief history of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, the case study spotlights foundation research conducted by the organization and the steps it has taken to develop relationships with foundations.

The case study details the early success of The Industry, free from the shackles of a permanent space, and unfolds the three-year strategic plan to guide the enterprise. Amid plans for continued operations, the executive director of The Industry is presented with the opportunity to hold a residency at a new museum in Los Angeles, one very much in line with the opera company’s contemporary cachet. This study outlines the prospects of the proposed museum residency, but questions at the board level remain about how an organization that has grown up without a home base for productions should react to the chance to forge a relationship with an institution that could bolster—or hinder—its success.

Consists of notes to be used when teaching the case study entitled No Place Like Home: The Industry at a Crossroads.

Consists of notes to be used when teaching the case study entitled Laying the Foundation at the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

The Energy Assistance Fund (EAF) is a voluntary, nonprofit fuel fund that provides grants to income qualified utility customers in an effort to help those customers avoid electricity service disconnection. The administering utility and the energy industry as a whole is undergoing transformative change, resulting in a projected decrease of fundraising capacity for EAF among its most substantial donor pool - utility shareholders and employees. Utility customers represent a small percentage of EAF donors, despite the significant size of the customer base. Through a series of ethnographic interviews and secondary research, this thesis seeks to understand the demographics and motivations of utility customers who donate to EAF in order to help improve EAF’s fundraising strategy and donor solicitations to eventually grow customer donations. The goal of EAF is to maintain or grow donations from 2014 levels so the Fund can continue to serve income qualified customers facing energy poverty. This thesis provides a contextual review of fuel funds; challenges faced by the energy and utility industry; the politics and culture of energy; as well as nonprofit sector fundraising challenges and cultures/motivations of giving. This thesis includes client deliverables such as thick description of donor motivation, motivation themes and a donor …

Recording of a presentation session at the 2015 Digital Frontiers Annual Conference. In this session, the presenter discusses her project about the history of female Marines and military wives in the El Toro base through an app featuring oral histories.

This mixed methods research was conducted in the fall of 2014 to understand the perceptions and experiences of health risks and health outcomes due to pesticide exposure among community members (n=13) - concerned community members, agriculture workers and teachers- that live in the Central California agriculture counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, Tulare, Fresno and Madera. This research explored: 1) The crops growing in participants’ communities, and how exposure to pesticides used in these crops pose potential health risks to participants and their communities 2) How pesticide exposure is impacting Hispanic/Latino communities in Central California, particularly those that are most vulnerable including school children, agriculture workers, and community members 3) The major public health concerns of impacted communities 4) Feelings of empowered to advocate for community health and environment and 5) What impacted communities wish to see on behalf of government and agribusiness to protect public health from pesticide exposure and toxins.

Banda is a rural Mexican brass band genre from the state of Sinaloa that became popular among immigrant populations of Los Angeles in the 1990s. In contemporary banda, the tuba has acquired a more prominent role than it held in traditional banda. The tuba has shifted from the traditional background harmonic and rhythmic function to a significant and new placement with the front line melodic instruments. The focus on tubas in modern incarnations of banda has helped it become a staple in acoustic and accordion genres such as sierreña and norteña. In many Mexican-American regional ensembles, the prominence of the tuba and its placement within the group represents a shift in its cultural significance, a stronger connection to the Mexican history and cultural roots, in the Mexican-American music community of southern California. This paper uncovers some of the motives and significance behind these recent changes in the role of the tuba in Mexican-American regional genres as well as the cultural connection that the tuba provides for Mexican-Americans in southern California to traditional Mexican music culture.

This catalog provides information on training and certification opportunities for jobs and careers categorized as part of the "green economy." The catalog includes federal and state listings.

The brochure describes evidence from fifty governments that Feed-In Tariff (FIT) policy speeds the transition to clean energy production and use.

The booklet argues that in spite of the recent surge in renewable electricity markets, the United States will need to dramatically increase the amount of installed renewable energy in order to improve energy security, create new jobs, and address the growing risks of climate change.

This fact sheet describes climate change scenarios in Southwest region of the United States.

Article exploring the near-death experience of Tom Sawyer, as well as the question of whether he actually died in April of 2007.

Article presenting the case study of the "death journey" or near-death experience (NDE) of Don Talayesva, a Hopi Indian, whose experience occurred between 1900 and 1910. The article compares and contrasts his experience with 11 accounts of Native American NDEs reported by Jenny Wade, as well as with modern day NDEs.

Tunza is a UNEP magazine for and by young people. This issue is devoted to the value of forest ecosystems.

Article shedding light on some of the unique personal and spiritual challenges that people face following near-death experiences (NDEs).

This document describes proposals for making communities better prepared and more resilient to catastrophic natural disasters like the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2006. Methods described include warning systems, data sharing, and land use decisions.

Magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme discussing worldwide environmental policies and other concerns. This issue is devoted to environmental problems and solutions specific to urban environments.

Article developing and defending an alternative epistemology involving causality: While paranormal knowledge is hard to explain, there is no good reason to remove it from cause-and-effect discourse.

Article presenting 11 historical Native American near-death experiences from the 1600s to the early 20th century as they appeared in the accounts of early explorers, autobiographical records, and ethnographic accounts.