Ethical Concerns

I've read and understand all the ethical concerns with respect to the people we are researching and the people's ideas we use. I think for the most part this won't really pertain to my subject. If I decide to contact any of the people who have written the studies that I'm using, and interview them I may have to get a informed consent if said interview is used directly in my project.

Also...should I chose to do a case study involving eye-witness interviews I would need their consent as well. In addition I would make sure that before I use these interviews that no participant or person would be affected in any way negatively.

Project Proposal

Well as I said before, I would really like to do a project illustrating environmental inequities bore by minorities, lower economic class, and marginalized people in general. I hopefully would like to do an analysis showing that domestic inequities still exist in a given area[need to narrow it down] and possibly show if the Environmental Justice movement and Clinton-era politics affected the situation. The topic lends itself to debate, because there have been several studies that contradict each other because of various factors.

Statistical evidence that prove and disprove inequities have been put forth by various studies. Issues effecting statistics including temporal, size of study group, type of chemical/hazard, and health risk/damage (which are hard to prove). Even so I have found some rather horrid statistics which include:

1) 3 out of 4 of the largest hazardous waste fills sit in majority black areas
2) Penalties under hazardous waste laws are %500 higher at sites having the greatest white population compared to areas where there the majority of the population is minorites
3) There are higher rates of contamination in middle income Black/ Hispanic neighborhoods as opposed to low-income White neighborhoods.

The list continues including issues with zoning of minority neighborhoods from residential to industrial, etc.

Basically the problem I have now is to refine the scope of my research and find and area that could shed new light on the topic...

Past & Future

In searching through past senior seminar projects I couldn't really find anyone who addressed the issues that I've been thinking about. I have been thinking about tackling issues of environmental justice with respect to the disproporiate burden that lower class and minority citizens of this country bare. A goal of this research would be to find solutions and work towards building a healthier environment in and around cities. I did find a project that had this goal in mind.

I read "Building Healthier Environments by Redesigning Our Cities" by Gillian Quinn Tart. This project was contained and overview of the importance in city planning for the goal of healthy people. She emphysized green space for recreating to cut down obesity. For the most part I thought this was a very interesting and informative project.

The only problem I had with it, was the same problem I have with the mainstream environmental movement as a whole. Green space is a wonderful thing, but who is it for? Not everyone in this country has the time to recreate and enjoy things like that. Often city planning and zoning fails to protect lower class and minority member in society from environmental health risks associated with industrial pollution. I don't fault Gillian for not addressing this matter...it wasn't her intention. It is just a wish of my own. I would like the environmental movement and policy to be seen more as a universal issue, because it truly is something that affects all of us...not just obese people who need to walk more.

Schoolin'

It's hard to describe the immense transformation that has occurred in my life since first becoming an undergrad. I've had so many experiences within and without the context of the University that have greatly shaped who I am and who I will become. As far as academics, I started off majoring in Geology. A year and a half into that I began questioning what is really important in my life, and more or less decided it didn't involve the chemical composition of granite. I realized I cared more about practical things like the problems of the world and environmental degradation...that's about the time I discovered Sustainable Development.

So after finishing a minor in Geology I began taking classes for the Sustainable Development concentration and haven't looked back since. Recently I have been taking classes more geared toward my interest in social justice. One of the greatest traits that I have come to enjoy about my major is its inherent flexibility. It has allowed me to see a given problem from several different perspectives. Eventually I would really like to get a MA in environmental studies, focusing mainly on policy and environmental injustice/racism. I also hope to incorporate these themes into a coherent senior seminar project...

I welcome ideas

Outside the realm of academia I have held various uninteresting jobs. The greatest thing I took from each of these was the people I met. Washing rich people's dishes all night at Grandfather Mountain Golf and Country Club...not so interesting. The highschool dropouts and occasional reformed meth-heads I worked with there.....yeah, pretty interesting. Frequently when I haven't been employed, I've worked for free as a volunteer. My volunteer oppurtunities have been an extremely valuable learning experience; especially when I've assisted small nonprofits with grant writing. Now I'm ready to see what this semester will bring.