UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 7, Page 3                                
October 15, 1992                                               
Researcher investigates energy, impact on society              
                                                               
     Rebecca Wykoff's research is not conducted in a traditional     
laboratory where the investigators wear white coats and are surrounded        
by pulsating screens and room-sized computers.                       
     On the contrary, her inquiries lead her into the cramped stacks 
of quiet libraries where census figures, Department of Energy        
statistics and population records prove to be among her most         
significant enlightening sources.                                    
     Wykoff's dissertation topic, "Energy, Economic and Urban Impacts
of U.S. Postindustrial Development: A Critique of the Post-industrial
Paradigm," appears a bit more intimidating than it really is.        
     In layperson's terms, it means she is interested in learning how
energy use affects how we live and what long-term effects it will have        
on employment, the environment and productivity.                     
     Wykoff is a researcher in the Center for Energy and Urban Policy
Research,  a doctoral candidate in the College of Urban Affairs and  
Public Policy and a recipient of a 1992-93 University competitive    
fellowship. She received her bachelor's degree from the College of   
Wooster in Ohio.                                                     
     Through her studies, she is trying to look at the social  
structure and see how it changes or responds to the complex changes in        
a post-industrial society.                                           
     How we understand progress and social change is an important    
issue, Wykoff said. In Western capitalistic societies it has been    
assumed that productivity and growth, primarily based on quantitative
and technological increases, determine social progress.              
     "It's a techno-economic theory of social change," she said. "We 
say the more we have, the better off we are, and for those who aren't,        
we can provide social programs. It's a 'more equals better' theory of
civilization."                                                       
     Wykoff, however, is asking  to what degree this theory is       
correct.                                                             
     "According to this theory, we all should be better off," she    
said. "But, while the Sun Belt has been prospering, the old industrial        
Rust Belt areas in the country have been suffering. Are we simply    
trading industrial facilities for high technology? Steel for computer
chips?  Since much of the Sunbelt boom is traceable to military      
spending, maybe we should focus on the differences between Rust Belt 
and Gun Belt politics."                                              
     In her analysis, Wykoff looks at the passage from industrialism    
(roughly 1860-1950) to the post-industrial period (1950-present).    
During this transition of time, society has placed faith in science  
and electricity as important, generating forces of social progress.  
     She argues, however, that the post-industrial period has set    
society back in several areas, such as those related to social       
inequality and environmental protection.                             
     Her primary attention is directed at the                        
energy-environment-development conflicts happening now. Comparisons of        
data by region, levels of energy consumption, productive efficiency  
and changes in population growth are used to support her points.     
     Her decision to focus on energy and changes in its use are the  
result of an earlier interest she developed while completing her     
master's degree working with John Byrne, director of the Center for  
Energy and Urban Policy research and professor of urban affairs and  
public policy.                                                       
     "I think it's fascinating. There are interrelationships between    
the economic system and the social system," she said. "Different kinds        
of energy use have incredible environmental impacts. For example, in 
trying to address the issues associated with pollution, we have to   
change some processes and make other changes in the economic         
interests. It's a big picture view.                                  
     "The post-industrial period is developing a new kind of social  
structure, and this is occurring over a period of time," she said. " 
We are witnessing a new kind of social triage in which regions compete        
for technological and economic favor.  We need to create a humane idea        
of progress if we are to change current patterns of development,     
environmental degradation and social inequality."                    
                                        -Ed Okonowicz                
                                                                     
     Articles on the research and study of the 1992-93 competitive      
scholarship fellows will be featured in UpDate periodically during the        
next year.