Political Science

Judicial Retention Elections: Competing Evaluations of Appellate Justices and Judges

This research hopes to 1)support to perfect and administer the Oklahoma Judicial Evaluation Commission’s survey instrument 2)support in conducting research into the basis for negative campaigns against the judiciary in Oklahoma and 3)support those working in other states with similar purposes. A committee of the Oklahoma Judicial Evaluation Commission will review the instrument and pass its recommendation of acceptance or denial to the entire commission. The product will be a written report presented to the Oklahoma Judicial Evaluation Commission.

Sponsor: State Justice Institute

PI: Robert Darcy

New Methods in Environmental Remediation, Monitoring, and Life Cycle Assessment

This research will consist of an impact assessment component responsible for the conduct of face-to-face interviews of thirty stakeholders in each of the two communities in Oklahoma in which SEER projects will be evaluating the effectiveness of pollution abatement technologies.

Sponsor: University of Oklahoma, Environmental Protection Agency

PI: Will Focht

Nuclear Risk Management for Native Communities

This study involves management assistance for a community-based environmental health infrastructure. The project is providing assistance to the Native American communities located near the Sequoyah Fuels Nuclear Facility at Gore, Okla., to develop effective management of long-term health hazards caused by radioactive environmental contamination.

Sponsor: Clark University, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

PI: Will Focht

A Nutrient Management Decision Support System for the Eucha Basin

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of the Eucha-Spavinaw watershed impact management policy. In the first year of this three-year study, an expert model of the Eucha-Spavinaw will be developed based on interviews of relevant experts. The visualization of the expert model will be developed with Visio 2002.

Sponsor: University of Arkansas, United States Department of Agriculture

PI: Will Focht

Ecological Risks, Stakeholder Values and River Basins: Testing Management Alternatives for the Illinois River

This interdisciplinary research project will address the theoretical issue of how different environmental and social values held by Illinois River Basin stakeholders can be identified and compared so that more effective environmental protection strategies can be determined and adopted by local land use interests and state agencies.

Sponsors: University of Oklahoma (EPA-NSF), Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

PIs: Will Focht

College of Business: Keith Willett

College of Education: Lowell Caneday

Enhanced Life Cycle Assessment: Analysis to Guide Environmental Technology Implementation

This research will develop an Enhance Life Cycle Assessment framework for the integrated assessment of the implementation of environmental technologies. The framework will be demonstrated by assessing the life-cycle costs and benefits, risks, and stakeholder acceptability of treatment wetlands for cleanup and restoration at the Tar Creek Superfund site. The Tar Creek Superfund Site is located in the Oklahoma portion of the Tri-State Mining District. The Oklahoma Site covers approximately forty square mile of Northeastern Ottawa County, all of which have been impacted by mining waste.

Sponsor: University of Oklahoma

PI: Will Focht

Testing A “Trust” Framework for Prescribing Stakeholder Participation Strategies

This research will test the efficacy of a framework for stakeholder participation that prescribes appropriate stakeholder participation strategies based on stakeholders’ trust of the other parties involved in technology deployment decision-making. A different strategy is prescribed for each combination of high and low trust of experts, decision makers, and other stakeholders. The effect that trust building within these participation strategies has on technology acceptance will be investigated. Finally, a confirmation will be made of the differential willingness of stakeholders to accept risk and make risk-risk tradeoffs in Greenfield and Brownfield communities. Primary data-collection techniques will be on-site interviews and multi-site, large-scale, random-digit telephone survey of stakeholders.

Sponsor: University of Oklahoma

PI: Will Focht

The Travels of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia to North America as a Reflection of U.S. Policy Toward Ethiopia During the Cold War Era

This extensive research project will critically review the status of Ethiopia, Africa, the United States, and Ethiopian-American relations at the time of the Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia’s visits to the United States and other North American nations in 1954, 1963, 1967, and 1972. The phenomenon of Haile Selassie’s celebrity during the latter half of the 20^th Century and how the Emperor’s personal standing in America fell from the highest ranks of world leaders at the time of his first visit to that of an ignored importuner of United States aid during his last trip will be examined. The research will provide a new perspective on the connection between official state visits by an African head of state and United States foreign policy.

Sponsor: Oklahoma Humanities Council

PI: Ted Vestal