Monica Li

Bio: Monica Li is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: East Asia. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 4 citations.

Race, ethnicity, and visitation to national parks in the United States: Tests of the marginality, discrimination, and subculture hypotheses with national-level survey data☆

Abstract: It is well documented that members of racial and ethnic minority groups tend to visit national parks at lower rates than whites, and a large body of literature has explored a number of hypotheses for this finding. These explanations are usually grouped into three categories: (1) marginality, which focuses on economic-related reasons for non-participation; (2) ethnicity, which purportedly focuses on cultural factors; (3) discrimination, which centers on the role of hostile behaviors on the part of whites and/or institutional discrimination. Despite the size of this literature, it suffers from a number of shortcomings. To begin with, the data used to test the hypotheses are usually not nationally representative. In addition, the possible explanations have not been comprehensively evaluated. For instance, a full range of demographic items has generally not been used in tests of marginality, actual measures of culture have rarely been employed in examining ethnicity, and the discrimination hypothesis has received very little testing. In this paper, we add to the literature by testing all three perspectives with national-level data from the National Park Service Second Comprehensive Survey on the American Public. Findings indicate larger differences between African Americans and whites than between Hispanics and whites, with some racial differences growing over time. We find evidence for all three explanations considered, with the subcultural hypothesis receiving the most support. Management implications 1. More management attention is needed to address underrepresentation of racial/ethnic groups in national parks and related areas, as this may violate the fundamental democratic character of these sites. 2. In addition, as underrepresented groups continue to grow in proportion to the historically dominant white European majority, underrepresentation is an increasingly urgent matter. 3. This issue may be further exacerbated by an apparent growing differential in visitation by younger African Americans. 4. Given global patterns of immigration, this matter is increasingly international in scope. 5. Support for the marginality hypothesis suggests that special efforts may be needed to help ensure equal access to parks and outdoor recreation, including provision of public transportation, location of parks closer to minority populations, and development and marketing of outdoor recreation programs to minority racial/ethnic groups. 6. Support for the subculture hypothesis suggests that park and outdoor recreation opportunities should be designed in concert with the values of minority racial/ethnic groups, including types of facilities and programming, establishment of parks honoring diverse cultures, and reinterpretation of existing parks in ways that are more culturally inclusive. 7. Support for the discrimination hypothesis suggests that park and outdoor recreation managers re-examine their agencies and programs for evidence of interpersonal and institutional discrimination, including hiring practices and pricing policies.

Application of Nonlinear Dynamics in Studying Flashover Fire in a Small Open Kitchen

Abstract: Open kitchen designs are found in small units in tall residential buildings of Asian-Oceania regions for better space utilization. As many combustibles are stored in small residential units, fire originated in the open kitchen can grow and spread fast. Consequently, flashover can occur to give a big fire and result in severe casualties and property damage. Nonlinear dynamics can be applied to predict critical heat release rate to flashover in the unit with an open kitchen and will be illustrated in this paper. Based on a two-zone model, temperature of the hot smoke layer was taken as the system state variable. An evolution equation was developed with selective control parameters. Onsetting of flashover using a nonlinear dynamical system was demonstrated in the example residential units. Effects of the floor dimensions, the radiation feedback coefficient and thermal properties of wall material on the onset of flashover were then examined and analyzed. The developed nonlinear dynamical model for studying the onset of flashover gives a better understanding of the various control parameters.

Proposed fire screening tests on plastic foams with a cone calorimeter in Hong Kong

Abstract: Many big building fires happened in the past involved burning furniture foam. In some places such as Hong Kong, foams treated with fire retardant additives are only required to test their ignitability under a small flame. It was proposed earlier that the behaviour of furniture foam in flashover fires should be assessed more extensively by a cone calorimeter under high radiative heat fluxes. In this paper, this screening approach is further studied using five samples, including three different pillow foams, one mattress foam and one expensive fire-safe sofa foam. Both thermal and smoke aspects were studied in a cone calorimeter under heat fluxes of 20 kWm-2, 30 kWm-2, 50 kWm-2 and 70 kWm-2. It was observed that all the foam samples were burnt under heat fluxes above 30 kWm-2. Only one pillow foam sample was not ignited under a low incident heat flux of 20 kWm-2, but it morphed into a mixture of solid and liquid. Under heat fluxes above 30 kWm-2, the fire-safe foam burnt vigorously; the burning showed no differences from foam without fire retardant. The fire-safe foam even released more smoke and toxic gases with higher carbon monoxide concentration. From the above cone calorimeter test, foams commonly used in the market can only withstand small match fires to delay ignition time. Foam products should be protected by additional provisions, such as an external cover, to protect them against big fires.