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The Great Bitcoin Experiment: A Social Analysis of Cryptocurrency in El Salvador
No full textThis thesis will explore the socioeconomic implications of President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador’s decision to change the country\u27s national currency to Bitcoin. The aim of this research is to unravel the various competing personal, political, and social ethos driving change in El Salvador, and their direct impact on Salvadoran people. In order to properly contextualize the rise of Bitcoin in El Salvador I will provide historical background pertaining to the United States’ military intervention. An analysis of Nayib Bukele’s Twitter account will be included in order to provide perspective on Cryptocurrency developments in El Salvador. A dissection of his use of the platform including his word and graphic choice, the frequency and timing of his tweets, as well as the overall content of his message will help in understanding his personal motivation both in the context of his presidential decision making, and his communication and public image. An overall analysis of the socioeconomic impact of cryptocurrency on citizens drawing on a variety of sources including academic, general media, and primary source will provide a robust, comprehensive view of the current socioeconomic climate in El Salvador. Contextualizing this unprecedented economic event will provide insight into what this could potentially mean for society as a whole. Ultimately the goal of this research is to outline a case study of the impact of cryptocurrency on the socioeconomic structure of a nation, and use the findings to provide a framework for the impact of cryptocurrency at a macro scale
The New Mainers: An Exploratory Analysis of Healthcare Experiences in the Somali Bantu Community
No full textHealthcare inequities within the United States’ Western model of medicine have existed for hundreds of years. The purpose of this year-long project was to analyze the existing qualitative and quantitative studies of healthcare barriers for the Southern Maine Somali Bantu population, as well as compiling narrative pieces from Maine non-governmental organizations that provide community resources. In doing so, the idea of healthcare access and literacy was analyzed through means of understanding systemic barriers. Overall, the findings of this exploratory project point to a lack of cultural humility within medicine, the importance of recognizing intersectional identities in quality of healthcare, and the usage of healthcare literacy as a means for the healthcare system to exclude the Somali Bantu community from receiving equitable care
The Colby Echo (May 5, 2022)
No full textPublished by the students of Colby College since 1877, The Colby Echo is the weekly, editorially independent student-run newspaper of Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Published monthly, 1877-1886; semi-monthly; 1886-1897; and weekly during the academic year, 1898-present
The Transcendental Foundation of Kant\u27s Cosmopolitanism
Get PDFScholarship on Kant’s philosophy of history has insufficiently considered its place in the larger system of transcendental idealism. In this project, I argue that Kant’s guarantee of progress in history is grounded in his universal characterizations of human nature, which he makes both explicitly, as with the notion of “unsociable sociability” put forth in “Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Perspective,” and implicitly, as with what I term a responsiveness to reasons. These characterizations are grounded, I claim, in an attribution of reason which is always already achieved to the constitution of human beings, which emerges out of Kant’s transcendental idealism as put forth in the first Critique. I argue that Kant holds the responsiveness to reasons, rather than unsociable sociability, to ultimately bring about progress in history. It is on account of this universal characteristic that Kant believes moral knowledge is guaranteed to spread throughout communities, given protection of the right to reason publicly, which is taken up as a theme in “What is Enlightenment.” Kant’s emphasis on cosmopolitanism, I argue, is best explained as the globalization of a space of public reasoning through which humanity’s moralization is guaranteed
Gold Mining Districts and Path Dependence
Get PDFThis paper applies quantitative spatial analysis to the long-term impact of Western gold rushes, studying the effect of 19th century US mineral districts on modern (2010) population density, as a proxy for long-term economic growth. OLS regression estimates show positive effects for areas adjacent to historic mining districts. Census tracts within 15 miles of a mineral district but not containing one are 29.8% more dense than other tracts. Additionally, capital-intensive/large-scale mining was more persistent than labor-intensive/small-scale methods, and path dependence is achieved mainly through agglomeration. This research corroborates historical arguments focusing on the development of Western infrastructure for long term growth. It also contributes to the growing economic literature on the persistence of place
College Application Fee Effects on Applicant Volume, Diversity, and Academic Quality
Get PDFI use U.S. News data spanning 2002-2019 on 200 U.S. liberal arts colleges to examine the effect of the application fee on four outcome variables: applications, nonwhite undergraduates, mean undergraduate SAT scores, and number of first- years from the top ten percent of their high school class. I find strong evidence that schools enroll more nonwhite students and have lower mean SAT scores in years when they do not charge an application fee, although there is no effect of the fee on first-years from the top ten percent of their high school class. Notably, I find that removing the application fee has no effect on the number of applications that a school receives. Removal of the application fee appears to increase diversity at liberal arts colleges, with no effect on academic quality as measured by number of first-years from the top ten percent of their high school class
Social Capital UnMASCed: The Role of Social Capital in State-Level Economic Growth
Get PDFWhile the examination of social capital in social science research has expanded since the 1990s, little is known about its development over time or contributions to economic growth, particularly at the community level. I create a state-level index of social capital from 2008 to 2019 to analyze its evolution across the United States since the Great Recession. After analyzing the different rates of social capital improvement across the country, I then integrate the index in the production function and a growth accounting framework alongside capital and labor. I find that social capital is not only significant as a factor of production, but also as a component of economic growth during this period that justifies its examination separate from total factor productivity. These results can inform public policy at all levels to improve economic and social well-being
From Fire to Ash: Merging and Mediating Popular Fiction and Literary Elements in Writing
No full textThis Honors Project is written as the first section of a fantasy novel following a runaway prince, an outcast tiefling, and a young woman pursuing magic when she has none to speak of. The novel aims to deal with such issues as the nature of humanity and humanity versus monstrosity through the lens of the gothic mirror. The mission of the project was to tackle these deeper philosophical concerns within the fantasy genre, using its unique traits and tropes to enhance the discussion at hand
Investigating the AGN-Merger Connection Using Close Galaxy Pairs in the CANDELS Fields
Get PDFGalaxy mergers are catastrophic events in that they greatly change the properties of the galaxies involved. Observations of the nearby universe suggest that they may also be able to trigger active galactic nuclei (AGN) even prior to the final coalescence, though there is much controversy surrounding this belief, particularly at high redshifts. In order to address this question, we have assembled a large sample of photometric galaxy pairs within the GDS and EGS fields of the CANDELS survey. We use photometric redshift probability distribution functions and the combined redshift probability function to assign probabilities for each projected pair. We incorporate pair probabilities into a survey of X-ray detected AGN to calculate weighted AGN fractions and AGN enhancements for interacting galaxies. Overall, for both major and minor mergers at 0.5 \u3c z \u3c 3.0, we find that AGN frequency is enhanced by 1.30 +/- 0.17, 1.54 +/- 0.24, and 3.21 +/- 0.72 in pairs separated by 20 \u3c d \u3c 30, 10 \u3c d \u3c 20, and d \u3c 10 kpc respectively. We also separately investigate AGN enhancement in minor and major mergers and find that minor mergers might play a larger role than major mergers in triggering AGN at high redshifts. Finally, we investigate how redshift affects AGN enhancement in pairs, and we find no enhancement in galaxies at 1.5 \u3c z \u3c 3.0. However, more complete AGN surveys at high redshifts are required to confirm this trend