The LEED(TM) system awards points for prescriptive and performance
based environmental strategies; rightly giving more weight to decisions affecting
building operations, since environmental impacts over the life of a building exceed
the one-time environmental impacts affected by the building s construction.
The environmental benefits of LEED(TM) strategies are considered implicit and
the point system is not a metric of environmental performance. Thus, guideline
strategies that achieve the same points may not have analogous environmental
performance. This paper draws from our LEED(TM) project experience
as certified consultants to a number of design teams. We applied analysis to
those experiences and argue that -The relative environmental value of the same
LEED(TM) strategy may vary by geographical region and by building type.
-Scoring successive LEED(TM) points beyond a ‘standard practice design’ significantly
increases design effort and capital costs for construction. -Without
comparative analysis of the costs of alternate LEED(TM) strategies and their
corresponding environmental benefit, designers will not necessarily invest capital
in strategies that most profoundly minimize the environmental impacts of
a building. -For design teams and owners interested in the least expensive
LEED(TM) certification, gaming the point system could drive investment away
from sound environmental performance strategies such as energy efficiency. Using
these arguments, this paper makes a case to enhance the LEED(TM) system
by -Categorizing LEED(TM) strategies by their direct or indirect value
towards Environmental Benefit, Healthy Buildings (Places), and Profitability.
-Reformulating prescriptive requirements into performance based requirements
wherever possible. -Customizing LEED(TM) guidelines by region.

Green building has emerged over the past decade as a robust movement to create high-performance, energy-efficient structures that improve occupant comfort and well-being while minimizing environmental impacts. Supported by organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council and its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, both public and private entities are increasingly pursuing green buildings in the institutional, commercial, and residential sectors. While this progress is impressive, for a number of reasons it has not included significant numbers of affordable housing projects. These reasons, several of which are unique to affordable housing, include: an almost exclusive focus on "first costs," the existence of per unit cost caps, regulatory rigidity that limits green innovation, and a finance system that fails to recognize the long-term value of green investments.

January 2008
Saving the World Through Zoning
The sustainable community development code comes to the rescue.
By Chris Duerksen

One of the most important attempts to reduce the environmental impacts of the built environment is through the construction of green buildings. This article examines the geography of the emerging green building industry through a study of the spatial distribution of two different elements of that industry. The first element is the location and diffusion of green buildings themselves as certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) through their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. There is a clear shift from an original concentration in major coastal cities to a more even distribution across the country, with broad representation across commercial, public, and nonprofit owners. The second area of study is the spatial distribution of LEED-accredited professionals, who are accredited by the USGBC to oversee the certification process. The distribution of these professionals matches existing concentrations of population, suggesting two different geographies of building green.

The United States has almost 90 million residential structures. While few have been built in a sustainable manner, we are nevertheless beginning to see more interest in green or environmentally sustainable housing. Most discussions of sustainable housing focus on the environmental and economic aspects, overlooking the social dimension. Achieving sustainable housing requires a holistic framework, incorporating the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability in equal parts. Planners must help ensure that social equity is given equal attention during discussions of sustainable housing.

Livagreen is a design consortium for achitects, urban designers, environmentalists, planners, and citizens intended to: provide information to those interested in land use and transportation planning; and build bridges between academia and professional practice using theoretical and practical frameworks of sustainable, systems-oriented environmental design. Thank you for your interest. Feel free to contact us if you have inquiries, suggestions, thoughts, or creative ideas.

Two concepts that provide new directions for public policy, environmental justice and sustainability, are both highly contested. Each has tremendous potential to effect long-lasting change. Despite the historically different origins of these two concepts and their attendant movements, there exists an area of theoretical compatibility between them. This conceptual overlap is a critical nexus for a broad social movement to create livable, sustainable communities for all people in the future. The goal of this articleis to illustrate the nexus in the United States. The authors do this by presenting a range of local or regionally based practical models in five areas of common concern to both environmental justice and sustainability: land use planning, solid waste, toxic chemical use, residential energy use, and transportation. These models address both environmental justice principles while working toward greater sustainability in urbanized areas.

Written by Terry Miller Monday, 08 October 2007 LEED-ND offers a new slant on creating communities.

The U.S. Green Building Council's new rating system for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design in neighborhood development, known as LEED-ND, is coming under fire for not putting a greater emphasis on affordable housing.

     Published shortly before the United States went to war with Iraq, this Newsweek article claims that Americans today are as much like Rick Blaine in Casablanca as they were during the time of the films release. Chris Matthews uses Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine as a lens through which to look at American sentiment in the face of a war against terrorism. Like Rick Blaine, Americans are plagued with the decision of either protecting our own interests by keeping to ourselves or taking action in a fight to protect the world at large. Matthews argues that America is both historically and innately been a "reluctant warrior" - a country that will take action if the cause is worth fighting for. Matthews fears that the Bush administration's policy toward Iraq is defying American sentiment as the "reluctant warrior" and threatens us with dangerous consequences.  
    This article shows that while Casablanca is a film that pertains to the time in which it was made, its relevance is universal. Beyond the political messages that it may convey, the film ultimately teaches viewers that often times a fight for the greater good is worth a sacrifice of personal desires. Like the hero of Casablanca, we are a country unimpressed by generals in fancy uniform and unafraid by the plight of our enemies. And when someone or something we value is endangered, in the same way that Rick's ideals were in the film, it is certain that we will retaliate. Matthews worries that in declaring war on Iraq, America would not be fighting for the right reasons.
    This article would be a great way to conclude the paper as it demonstrates the significant weight that Rick's character holds, as he is a character whose outlook on world events surpasses the test of time. In 1942, Casablanca was a film that reflected wartime engagement; it grappled with the issues of love, loss, self-sacrifice, and duty. In 2002 and today, the sentiment and message of the film has yet to lose its relevance.

This paper discusses different perverse consequences of the DMCA.  Lee says that when Congress was trying to prepare for new digital technology, it made a mistake.  When the DMCA was passed, the courts were cut out of its role.  The universal band on technology and devices that “circumvent” digital rights management technologies (DRM) leave no role for the courts.  This lack of balance has created a system for consumers with limited options. The copyright owners now completely control things like Internet streaming and playback devices.  There is even evidence of certain firms utilizing the DMCA as a means of stopping research and reverse engineering.  

The DMCA also eliminates competition.  The copyright owners and companies that issue their content have the power the lock out competitors.  Also, digital rights management technologies tend to be ineffective and do little to stop pirates.  Instead DRM technologies make it harder for people making fair use out of the copyrighted work.

The paper says that there were in fact legal happenings in play before the DMCA enactment.  These legal processes were leading to a balanced body of law that would involve the courts.  Consumer choice, fair use, and competition would not be decreased as they are with the DMCA.  The budding body of law would give rights back to the people instead of depending on the technology design.  Really, without the DMCA we would be okay.  

Lee says that people should not have to worry about coming out with a new technology and getting sued because it is illegal according to the DMCA.  That undermines the goals of copyright.  This is a key point of my paper.  This article is extremely helpful in arguing my case.  The effects of the DMCA decrease consumer rights and options.  It also stifles creativity.  No one wants to come up with new technology wondering if they’re going to get sued for it.

This article is important to my research as it identifies the adverse effects the DMCA has had on technology industries, consumers, and scientific and academic research. My thesis aims to discuss how the Motion Picture Association labels piracy as the biggest threat to the motion picture industry and how that thinking can be seen as short-sighted and incorrect. Lack of innovation caused by technology protection measures under the DMCA is the biggest threat. This article really spells out what the DMCA has unintentionally done and will help me make my point in regards to illustrating how anti-piracy or anticircumvention measures are only fairly effective, and don't address the real problems that the MPA faces.

Author Timothy B. Lee opens the article with a quote from Robert Frost: "good fences make good neighbors" (2). It's pretty safe to say that fences are effective in establishing and maintaining private property rights. In this scenario, digital rights management, the technical measures placed on digital media such as CD's and DVD's, are the fences of intellectual property and copyright. DRM provides content owners a strict level of control not previously available under copyright law - control that hinders the creativity and free thinking that tech firms employ in order to revolutionize and expand their products. The article discusses how plenty of new technologies have allowed customers to purchase and view media in brand new ways, ways that the film studios don't always immediately condone. In the past, Hollywood has been very hesitant towards new technologies, from cable, to the VCR, to DVD's and now the internet.

In discussing the fight against piracy, the author identifies three significant actions that Hollywood and the recording industry take (or have taken) to deter and reduce the act: lawsuits, PR campaigns, and digital rights managment technology. These actions may keep someone who is not technologically informed from committing piracy, but for the most part these solutions have done little to help in the fight.

The DMCA's anticircumvention provisions have created many problems, including the unhealthy corporate misuse of the DMCA in trying to destroy competition.  Not only are competitive tech firms brushed aside under this act, but academic research has been stymied (again, by corporate bullies who don't want product flaws and misrepresentations to go public).  Under the DMCA, too much power is put in the wrong hands, hands that want only to protect their 'property' and possible financial revenues.

    The influence and penetration by the Mafia into various sectors of the government and legal system throughout the 20^th century is an issue of great concern that Earl Johnson Jr. a Special Attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice discusses in his paper Organized Crime: Challenge to the American Legal System: Part III. Legal Antidotes for the Political Corruption Induced by Organized Crime. The paper explores possible remedies to the corruption created by the mafia through four possible measures

    The first technique is that of initiating legal action against organized crime even when prosecutors are influenced and bought out not to take legal action. Remedying this situation is essential because if the prosecutor refuses to take action, the court is essentially powerless to react to illegal activity One possible remedy here is for the court to appoint a special prosecutor in the event that it appears the prosecutor is un willing to take any action. Other possible actions include substitution to the states Attorney General, a private person or the Federal Government.

    The government and legal body on all levels must also not only discourage officials from becoming corrupt but also try not hire corrupt officials in the future. Sanction both Civil and Criminal can be taken against officials that are corrupt. The author describes the legal process involved in prosecuting someone from start to finish as a set of contest that the court must win at all steps along the way.

    This paper sets up an understanding of the legal system and an acknowledgement of the corruption therein. In “The Godfather”, one of the central tools of any organized crime family is political connections. Throughout the movie, one can see corruption present at numerous points throughout the government, from corrupt police officers to an acknowledgment that the Don even has Judges and Senators “in his pocket.” The central conflict evolves from the fact that Don Vito Corrleone has legal contacts which are of tremendous value to other crime organization, contacts that worth killing for.

This article discusses the potential future of Hollywood if it would open its arms and embrace the internet as a legitimate ancillary market. Fears of piracy leading to the death of America's film idustry pervade the thoughts of major film studios, leading them to very slowly and cautiously adopt the internet, unlike television which has been much more open to the possibilities of the medium.  I happened to read this article earlier in the semester and it was the spark that led me to pursue online film distribution in general as my research topic.  The article focuses heavily on the current distribution options that are available to filmmakers and consumers.  This information provides me with an efficient base in looking at what is available to filmmakers and consumers now, legally vs. illegally, and ideas as to why Hollywood has been slow to act.  

The article suggests that in order for money to be made, more choices need to be available to consumers. FilmOn.com and MovieFlix are two of the currently available options, however the former fails to carry a number of popular titles, while the latter focuses on true independents, straight-to-video, and student productions. Great for niche audiences but certainly not good for studios. Speaking of studios, Movielink, another distribution portal formed by studios with approximately $150million in start-up money, was recently sold to Blockbuster for only about $20million - this doesn't exactly bode well for proponents of online video opportunities.

Apple's iTunes is another option. At the time of this article's writing, Apple was allowed by all six studios to distribute, but only via a rental agreement, offering no download-to-buy options. If download-to-buy options were to be allowed, the writer contends that sales would be sufficient enough to show studios the internet's potential, which in turn would hopefully make Hollywood more comfortable with this new distribution tool.

The article hypothesizes on why Hollywood is so slow to act: the industry takes major financial risks daily. Any changes to its existing business model would indicate taking even bigger risk. Another reason relates to the values of Hollywood business as it's based on recognition of films, not necessarily on growth. Also, DVD's are still very much big business - a money maker that studios don't want to tamper with.

An important fact noted by the author is that Hollywood has always been slow to acknowledge new technologies, from cable to the VCR to VHS, even to DVD's. Adopting the internet whole-heartedly will also allow studios to maximize their vast film libraries, considering that most store retailers do not have enough shelf space to stock all that's available (or could be available). If you make more content available for DVD, effectively selling more films, they can be more affordably priced. This effect on pricing could help deter piracy substantially.

Other obstacles mentioned include the popular consumer preference to view movies on their t.v. screens, not computer screens, as well as the lack of common standards between websites and devices which enable the downloading of content from the internet to then be viewed on your t.v.

Besides having to change their business model, Hollywood's exclusive 'windows' practice, a system that follows a film from theatrical release to on-demand, to DVD, to online for example, would be in jeopardy. Hollywood is quite fixed to this system; though the overall time of different windows has shortened considerably, it doesn't seem that the studios are interested in abandoning this process any time soon.

An interesting question raised by the author is that Hollywood certainly knows and enjoys using the internet to market its films - why not sell them there as well?

IMDB/Without a Box merger

TiVo/Amazon's Unbox 

This article written by Earl Johnson Jr. is used to express the influence of organized crime on American society.  Johnson discusses and analyzes the reasons behind the difficulty in suppressing organized crime through traditional methods.

Throughout the essay he discusses the influence that organized crime has ranging from entertainment such as TV, books and newspaper articles, to the economy.  He states that the action of organized crime takes money away from society and law abiding citizens, thus being a detriment to society.  Organized crime also participates in other illicit actions such as violent crimes and getting rid of free competition.  All of these tactics are used in order to give the organizations power.  Johnson believes the reason for this immunity from the law is due to the fact that these crime organizations buy politicians and enforcement agents, corrupting the system and ruining its integrity.  In addition to this, Johnson points out there is a distinct structure within these organizations to make insure that the leaders are safe from any prosecution.

Johnson refers to two other main attributes which protect organized crime from any problems is the corruption throughout the American legal system as well as the façade that these organizations establish. 

From these reasons it is easy to see why these organizations continue to exist.  Despite the knowledge of the government, they continue to be above the law and have nothing standing in there way.

These themes were all present throughout the film, as the Corleone family held many politicians “in their pocket.”  Government officials were never present in the film, as they held no authority over these families.  The only form of regulation was through the interactions between the five families.

Macroscopically inhomogeneous state at the boundary between the superconducting, antiferromagnetic, and metallic phases in quasi-one-dimensional (TMTSF)₂PF₆, Phys Rev B 69, 224404 (2004) (10 pages)