News & Events
New Report from Marc Pfeiffer – First, Do No Harm: Algorithms, AI, and Digital Product Liability
The relatively recent introduction of publicly accessible artificial intelligence-driven chatbots (e.g., Bard, Bing, ChatGPT, Claude) have focused public attention on the broader individual and societal harms that can result from algorithms that are embedded in digital technology goods and services. The potential for algorithmic harm(s) are commonly...
Atlantic City Housing Authority spent nearly $500K on leadership consultants
ATLANTIC CITY — The Atlantic City Housing Authority spent nearly a half-million dollars on two administrative consultants over the past year and continued to keep them on the payroll through the summer despite the addition of new permanent staff in the same roles... Marc Pfeiffer, a procurement expert and senior policy fellow with Rutgers University’s...
CUPR staff and students meet with Senator Booker to discuss new EPA-funded air quality initiative
CUPR green building colleagues Jen Senick, Clint Andrews, and Gedi Mainelis are part of a new EPA-funded project in Elizabeth, NJ, to install air quality sensors near public housing. US Senator Cory Booker, US Representative Robert Menendez , Union County Commissioner Bette Jane Kowalski, Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bolwage, EPA Region 2 Director Lisa...
Event: A Conversation with New Jersey’s Flood Experts
A Conversation with New Jersey’s Flood Experts Friday, September 15, 2023, 2pm The New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center and the Rutgers University Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy’s Environmental Analysis and Communications Group hosted a discussion with flood hazard experts from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. ...
Pfeiffer Op-Ed: What state and local governments should do about generative AI
How can we take advantage of the technology without harming the public? Society is often slow to appreciate that technological innovations have both positive and negative outcomes. Splitting the atom led to weapons that can destroy the planet, but also provided a source of carbon-free energy and health care advances. Social media apps have connected people...
‘Not a perfect process’: How did the two versions of NJ’s budget differ?
As the process to craft New Jersey's state budget came to a chaotic close last month, rumors swirled about what needed to be done to ensure that the spending plan was final and complete by the time it made it to the governor’s desk. In each chamber of the Legislature, late-night committee meetings saw budget bills introduced and read into the record with a...
$3.25M in Grants Awarded to Create Inclusive Healthy Communities in NJ
In partnership with CUPR's Environmental Analysis & Communications Group, led by Executive Director Jeanne Herb, the Inclusive Healthy Communities Initiative of the Division of Disability Services (New Jersey Department of Human Services) funds projects that promote the health and well-being of individuals with disabilities in the communities where...
Bill Dolphin 1945-2023
We mournfully announce the passing of our long-time colleague from CUPR, Mr. William (Bill) Dolphin. He passed away Friday morning June 23, 2023 at 77 years old. David Listokin shared the following reflection: Mr. Dolphin was born in Kearny and graduated from St. Benedict’s Prep High School and St. Peter’s College. He earned a master’s degree in Sociology...
‘Secretive’ N.J. governments would be even less transparent under proposed laws, some say
Tucked in desk drawers and filed away in email inboxes in every local and county office in New Jersey are government secrets. To find them, news reporters, attorneys and even local gadflies, using access laws like the Open Public Records Act, sift through the contracts, permits and memos piled atop desks or stashed on hard drives. But some state lawmakers...
Marc Pfeiffer Participates in Eagleton Podcast on the Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence
Marc Pfeiffer, Assistant Director, Bloustein Local (CUPR), Doctor Lauren Goodlad, and Senator Andrew Zwicker discussed the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on democracy, government, and higher education. The podcast was presented by the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, “This Moment in Democracy,” which analyzes...
Recent Products
Special Issue Collection: Risk Communication during Crises and Chronic Exposures
Karen Lowrie co-edited a special issue for the journal Risk Analysis, supported by the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, that includes about 30 articles on the topic of effective methods for communicating risk during hazardous events and...
Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credits for Fiscal Year 2021
The Federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC) is a Federal income tax credit that promotes the rehabilitation of income-producing historic properties. This study examines the economic impacts of the HTC (a 20% credit since 1986) by analyzing the economic consequences of the...
Transition Plan for the Return of Local Control to Jersey City Public Schools, Third Annual Report
This report is the third and potentially final report of the Department of Education’s (department) Comprehensive Accountability Office (CAO) concerning the final phase of the transition of the Jersey City Public Schools (district) from being a state supervised school...
Behaving or not? Explaining energy conservation via identity, values, and awareness in U.S. suburban homes
In this study, we compare electricity consumption of the suburban households with similar socio-economic, demographic, and geographic profiles to assess possible roles of social-psychological and behavioral factors. We examine the extent to which these factors...