Category: research

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed rapid and vigorous industrial advances, and as a result, emissions of various pollutants, particularly carbon dioxide, have increased sharply and threaten the environment at the global level in a phenomenon widely referred to as global warming. To mitigate global warming, international agencies have considered the concept of the “carbon trading system” or the “emission trading system” (ETS) and attempted to apply it to various countries. Many E.U. countries currently participate, and a few countries in Asia have been willing to consider the idea. However, powerful countries such as the U.S. and China have not fully embracing this scheme. This study examines the differences between the U.S., a developed country, and Korea, a developing country, in their attitudes toward the most important aspect of the ETS as well as their choice. The results based on a sample of 60 students (30 Korean students and 30 U.S. students) indicate that the respondents generally perceived a need for the ETS. Korean students were more likely to perceive a need for the ETS. The respondents generally had favorable attitudes toward the ETS, and Korean students were more likely to have favorable attitudes toward the ETS. The respondents generally emphasized low economic pressure as the most important factor influencing ETS success. These results have important implications for international agencies and policymakers wishing to identify practical methods for mitigating the issue of global warming.

B.Yoo

Summary
Ink costs are a large, recurring expense for school districts worldwide. Moreover, ink production, usage, and disposal have a detrimental effect on the environment. Decreasing the amount of ink used can therefore have a positive impact on a school district’s budget and on the environment. This study identifies fonts that use ink most efficiently and estimates the amount of money a single school and a school district can save on ink by choosing efficient fonts for student handouts. From a carefully selected sample of handouts used by the school’s teachers, the frequency distribution of character usage was determined. Based on these data, a document modeling an “average” school handout in terms of character frequency was created. This document was replicated with different fonts reflecting the current preferences of the teachers in the school. APVSoft APFill® Ink Coverage Software was used to estimate the ink usage for each of these font types (i.e., the percentage of a printed page that contained ink). A novel experiment was performed to verify these findings by cutting out enlarged shapes of the most frequently used letters in the most preferred fonts; the masses of these cutouts were then determined in order to estimate the relative difference in ink usage for different fonts. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that a switch to Garamond, the most efficient font, would reduce ink consumption by 24%, thereby decreasing environmental damage and saving the school district approximately $21,000 per year.

 

Suvir Mirchandani and Peter Pinko

Click here for PDF file: March2014(3)

Z.Li

Summary
The average air temperature has been increasing in recent years. The purpose of this study was to compare meteorological differences between the 1800s and 2000s using recorded historical and modern weather data from four different time periods, each separated by approximately 60 years. Historical weather data can be used to observe climate change in recent years and in the years dating back to the early 1800s to note if there has been an acceleration of the rate of temperature change over the past two centuries. In this study, air temperatures and various aspects of precipitation were observed and compared among the four time periods. Historical weather data from 1826-1836 were obtained from a journal recorded at Erasmus Hall High School (Brooklyn, NY), digitized, and compared to data recorded during 1894-1898, 1940-1948, and 2003-2012 from various weather stations in proximity to Erasmus Hall High School. Results showed that annual mean temperatures have increased at higher rates in more recent years and that the number of extreme days each year, defined as the days with temperatures ≥ 90ºF (32.2°C) or temperatures ≤ 10ºF (-12.2°C), increased over time. The number of days with precipitation each year has also increased; however, the amount of annual precipitation has remained constant throughout the 35 years used in this study.

Hugh Han, Richard Kurtz

Click here for PDF file: December2013(2)