The last ten years have witnessed a major trend toward the globalization of economic activity. Telecommunications has driven this process by introducing faster exchanges and diminishing the importance of distance. However, telecommunications has not only evolved into a pervasive element in virtually all business activity, it has also become a key economic development tool for nations embarking on far-reaching liberalization strategies. In addressing the failures of state-owned telecom enterprises to expand and modernize their networks, structural reform in the telecommunications sector, especially in the developing world, has become a veritable worldwide wave of change. This study reviews the causes and implications of this trend for developing countries. Specifically, the thesis offers an exploratory study of the privatization of the Mexican telephone company, Telmex, focusing on the decision to privatize as a function of broader political and economic determinants. The process of implementing the divestiture, and the consequent form of the telecom sector, is analyzed as a reflection of the Mexican political model and of the macroeconomic circumstances within which privatization occurred.

The purpose of this paper is to apply the work of Richard Rorty to questions of ethics in International Relations. Beginning- with discussion of Pragmatism in this chapter, and Rorty's political beliefs in the second, the paper moves in Chapter Three to the means by which Rorty has come to hold his ethical beliefs. This takes the reader through discussions of the contingency of language, self and community to the notions of irony and liberal ironism. Chapter Four contrasts the (neo) Pragmatist conception of progressive, piecemeal social change to traditions which eschew such a notion in favor of immanent critique. Discussion in chapter five moves to the application of this neopragmatist line of thought to the discussion of solidarity and human rights, bringing all of the various strands of this paper together. In the conclusion, two apparent inconsistencies in Rorty's clarified.

Crossing Borders: From Iowa to Argentina is a cross-cultural training program for business professionals originating from Iowa that may work in Argentina or with individuals that do or are from there.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1981. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes 2 surveys in pocket. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

This exploratory research seeks to understand the interactions and dynamics of the traditional and modern healthcare systems in the West Indian state of Gujarat, including both private and public components. The people of Gujarat make use of both allopathic and traditional medicines, but it remains unclear as to what factors influence these decisions. This study states that age, gender, area of origination, and education play important roles in determining what sort of healthcare is sought after. In order to obtain this information, 500 surveys were orally administered over the course of three months in three different areas of Gujarat. Each individual was asked general biographical information, opened ended opinion questions, and ailment specific questions. These answers were then coded and statistically analyzed. The results from this study do indicate that the aforementioned factors affect health system choice. It is also revealed that Gujaratis are not satisfied with any of the healthcare systems they have and would like to see changes. In the future, it is hoped that the results from this study can be used to create a more efficient overlap of the healthcare systems in Gujarat.

En este trabajo voy a exponer las situaciones de dos países Latinoamericanos con respeto a la violencia en contra de la mujer. Esto dos países son México y Guatemala. Similares, y costumbres, religión, cultura, y lenguaje y continente estas dos naciones tan iguales y a la vez tan diferentes, México conteniendo la ciudad más grande del mundo y Guatemala sosteniendo el título de uno de los países más pobres y peligrosos del mundo. México, un país con ilimitados recursos naturales, Guatemala en la pobreza extrema. Estas dos naciones también comparten la posteridad de conflictos internos, en el caso de Guatemala la Guerra Civil que duro 36 años de 1960 a 1996 y, en el caso de México la Guerra Sucia y las consecuentes crises económicas del país. Estas dos naciones comparten un síntoma postraumático que incrementa la violencia y la brutalidad de la misma en contra de la mujer. Primeramente mostraré los antecedentes políticos y sociales de ambos países, seguido de un reporte anual sobre los derechos humanos de cada país por Amnistía Internacional. Expondré las diferentes teorías literarias específicas al caso de Ciudad Juárez, México y la violencia generalizada contra la mujer en Guatemala. También,mostraré las estadísticas de muertes violentas en contra de las mujeres para ambos países. Los medios de comunicación han sido una parte importante en el seguimiento de los casos en parte para acusar a las víctimas de ser las provocadoras de su propia muerte y por otra parte, como medio de comunicación de un fenómeno como es el Femicidio. Mostraré las diferentes actitudes de los gobiernos con respecto al Femicidio, y la impunidad del crimen organizado, la corrupción policial y también el trabajo de los últimos gobernantes de México y Guatemala. Presento una serie de documentales creados a raíz de este fenómeno. También, mostrare algunos casos particularmente conocidos que han llamado la atención mundial y hare las conclusiones pertinentes con la esperanza de que mi trabajo afecte de una manera positiva al lector y le mueva a actuar con un compromiso social y humano a favor de la mujer para evitar todo el tipo de violencia en su contra.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the need for a more open and sustainable business approach that centers on social responsibility in creating sustainable solutions for the smallholder, specifically with contributions from stakeholders in the value network and others like Non Government Organizations (NGOs). This approach is to create sustainable competitive markets and business network. The concepts of CSR stakeholders value network is applied to a case study of a real business development initiative from Ethiopia, Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (OCFCU). The thesis reveals the role of farmer’s cooperative in the stakeholders’ value network and CSR thinking as an active tool for advancing smallholder by integrating them in to a global value network that create inclusive capital which leads to sustainable development, and poverty reduction. It will also explore how the farmer’s cooperative is playing a role in eliminating intermediaries, who has been taking much of the profit from the age old free market coffee chain, which enables OCFCU to create a cooperative coffee chain. Farmers’ problem was the driving factors for the formation of OCFCU. The two problems were: (1) The New York C market is trading coffee as a commodity (2) Technological advancement in countries where coffee grow in large scale, which in turn result the price to remain low, has made it even worse for small holders like OCFCU to make realistic business. Therefore, in order to achieve the cooperative farm’s greatest aim, bringing more money to the coffee growers’ pocket, the cooperative farm has to find a market place where consumers are willing to pay premium price. This continues search for a better market for their quality coffee has brought OCFCU from value chain to value network that we have related it with the stakeholders’ values network. This bold move from value chain to value network is the new business model in the stakeholders’ value network, where commodity market leaves the way to specialty market. This is the contribution of the thesis. To conclude, the role of OCFCU is to keep an eye on the high quality standards of buyers in the developed world and focus on continuously training farmers so that they growing high quality coffee that consumers are willing to pay premium price.

The post-Cold War world has created a number of important new challenges to the United States¡¦ power projection capabilities. The worldwide network of bases and stations that enabled the U.S. to contain the Soviet Union have, in many cases, been made into liabilities. U.S. dependence on fixed, vulnerable ports and airfields for the buildup of combat power, as seen in the 1990-91 Gulf War and 2003 Iraq War, have shown potential foes like China and Iran that it doesn¡¦t pay to allow penalty-free access and freedom of action in maritime, air, and space commons. In the Western Pacific, China has pursued an anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) strategy, developing capabilities designed to deny U.S. freedom of movement in the region. This study examines U.S. perceptions of China¡¦s growing A2/AD capabilities and their implications for U.S. military operations in the Western Pacific through the analysis of authoritative official and unofficial U.S. documents and studies. This work establishes a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of Chinese A2/AD capabilities through American eyes, updating previous comprehensive works in key areas such as the status of China¡¦s anti-ship ballistic missile, conventional ballistic and cruise missile capabilities and their implications for key U.S. facilities in the region, and new technology and platforms like China¡¦s first aircraft carrier and stealth aircraft. The thesis concludes that the U.S. has been slow in reacting to Chinese A2/AD developments and that it is unlikely that continued Chinese military modernization (including the refinement and development of additional A2/AD capabilities) will end in the near future. For the U.S., this means that development and implementation of a truly joint concept for counter-A2/AD operations, as well as the right mix of military capabilities to carry out such operations, cannot be delayed any longer.

In the summer of 2009 thousands of voices combined as Iranians, young and old, cried out in reaction to the presidential election from their rooftopsMarg Bar Dictator (death to the dictator) and Allahu Akbar (God is great). In the weeks following President Ahmadinejad‟s victory, voices from the rooftops of Tehran and other major Iranian cities reverberated with revolutionary phrases that had not been heard in almost thirty years. This widespread civil disobedience, along with the daily demonstrations taking place on the street, signaled the Iranian people‟s challenge of the Islamic government. But after months of mass protests, why was there no political change after the 2009 Iranian presidential election? Why did the demonstrations that had up to 3 million protestors stop while in 1979 similar dissent developed into a revolutionary movement? These questions will be addressed by comparing four significant variables common to both the 1979 Revolution and the 2009 Green Movement; international pressure, internal pressure, strength of opposition, and governmental tactics used against the opposition. The analysis of these variables will illuminate the similarities and differences between 1979 and 2009 and examine under what conditions a political opposition movement could be successful in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The simple fact that Iranians were yelling from the rooftops like they did 30 years ago against the Shah, demonstrates they have not forgotten about the Islamic Revolution of 1979. And they have certainly not forgotten about the outcomethe capture of the political movement, which began as a democratic process, by Islamic extremists. The Iranian people eager to rid themselves of an autocratic government, but realize true regime change takes time. Iranians today have learned the lessons of the 1979 Revolution.

Localized detection of very small regularly placed magnetic systems, such as an array of tiny magnetic islands, has been of great interest to scientists for years because of their applications to data storage media. One such detection device, the micro-SQUID (microscopic superconducting quantum interference device), can be used to detect very small changes in magnetic flux. Most low Tc micro-SQUIDs (LTS) are made from aluminum or niobium. While an aluminum SQUID is relatively easy to fabricate, one often needs a low temperature system than can be cooled to 1K to see the critical current phenomenon. As a contrast, niobium which has a higher critical temperature, and a more complicated fabrication procedure due to its need to be fabricated in a extremely clean environment to achieve a reproducible value for its critical temperature, which is about 9.25 K. Such a SQUID will only need to be immersed in a helium bath for the superconducting transition to occur. Alternatives such as tin, indium and lead, which are soft superconductors, do not wet a silicon/silicon dioxide surface as easily as niobium and aluminum. However, the benefits of a successful implementation of these soft superconductors as SQUIDs could greatly outweigh their drawbacks in terms of reducing the amount of time necessary for fabrication and measurement as well as the low temperature system requirements. In this dissertation, the successful development of functional square and rectangular tin sub-microscopic SQUIDs for use as magnetometers is reported. The application of a germanium pre-nucleation layer, as a means of creating a electrically continuous path, offers an alternative to micro-SQUIDs fabricated under more in- volved methods as used in niobium SQUIDs. An image of the device surface showed that the roughness consisted of defects such as holes which gives rise to critical current fluctuations and vortex pinning due to magnetic hysteresis. However, the oscillations observed from several of these devices, were found to be smooth with sharp edges but with a diminished period of oscillation. Several devices were tested and their fabrication, measurement and characterization methods are described. Another important study incorporated in our analysis of these tin germanium SQUID included its reduction from the micrometer regime to its lowest functional ge- ometry. Moreover, to avoid the operational breakdown of a SQUID due to magnetic hysteresis and a diminution in sensitivity, the condition 2IcL / 0 had to be satisfied, where Ic is the critical current and L is the inductance of the device and 0 is one flux quantum 0 = h 2e = 20:86 gauss mm2. Experimental measurements showed that all of these devices had magnetic hysteresis and operated outside of this constraint. In addition, several devices exhibited extremely high critical currents when the temper- ature was lowered a few milli-Kelvin past the transition temperature. Furthermore, unstable regions were present in the minima of the modulations indicating that ad- ditional quantum effects were incorporated into the device as a result of screening currents and magnetic hysteresis behavior.