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Interpretation of Maya social organization through material remains has long been a subject of speculation. The gap between data and interpretation inevitably involves the concerns and conditions of the society producing such interpretive discourse, and diverging interests and modes of analysis continue to result in alternative and often conflicting interpretations of ancient Maya society, often involving suppositions of systemic weakness that led to the collapse of its centralized or dynastic authorities in the ninth century. Currently central in such interpretations is the role of inscribed stone seats, erected by "subsidiary" or non-royal members of Maya society in "subsidiary" districts or suburbs of the major Maya polity of Copan. At issue are the problematic interpretations of these seats that have been constructed to support a particular construct of Maya sociopolitical organization and an inherent weakness that would have doomed it to collapse. This thesis explains the premises of this current interpretation and examines the Copan seats from several alternate viewpoints and methodologies. Formulation of a comprehensive dataset of actual Maya seats and representations of seats in sculpture, ceramic, and hieroglyphic contexts demonstrates that the Copan seats fit comfortably within Maya epigraphic, stylistic and iconographic conventions rather than representing a revolutionary challenge to dynastic authority. Through analyses of form and construction, locational context, varieties of decoration, and content of inscriptions, this thesis shows that such hierarchically-privileged seats-of-authority, which are found in residential complexes of very different socio-economic status, not only in Copan but throughout the Maya region in Classic times, better support a model of factional competition than of autocratic dynastic authority. These seats appear to have been designed to construct the social position of their occupants in relation to subordinate members of their own factions, to other faction leaders with whom they were in competition, and to the ruler as both head of the polity and leader of the royal faction. Indeed, discursive notions of the seat and seating were central to ancient Maya concepts of patriarchal authority. Further, since such factional competition may be shown to characterize Maya social organization since Late Pre-Classic times, the inscribed Copan seats provide no insights as to the causes of the so-called "Maya Collapse."

Muitinė yra viešojo administravimo subjektas praktiškai įgyvendinantis įstatymų numatytas funkcijas. Tai patvirtina Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausiojo administracinio teismo išaiškinimas bei muitinės vidinė organizacinė struktūra, teisės aktuose įtvirtintos muitinės atliekamos administracinės funkcijos (viešųjų paslaugų teikimas verslo bendruomenei, teises aktų muitų teises srityje leidyba, individualaus pobūdžio sprendimų priėmimas ir t. t.). Nūdienoje besikeičiant tarptautinės prekybos sąlygoms ir didėjant jos mastams, stiprėjant ūkio subjektų poreikiui sudaryti vienodas konkurencingumo sąlygas ir apginti juos nuo apgaulingos prekybos, kovojant su muitinės ir komerciniais pažeidimais, siekiant užtikrinti gyventojų saugumą reikia, kad muitinė prisitaikytų prie naujų sąlygų, poreikių reikalavimų. Todėl vienu svarbiausiu šiuolaikinės muitinės uždavinių tampa muitinės procesų ir procedūrų tobulinimas bei siekis tapti patikima teisėto verslo subjektų partnere. Magistriniame darbe nagrinėjama muitinės ir verslo bendradarbiavimo ir palengvinimo formos. Prie bendradarbiavimo formų priskiriama – Muitinės konsultacinis komitetas, įkurtas siekiant gerinti verslo aplinkos sąlygas, stiprinti muitinės ir verslo visuomenės bendradarbiavimą; bendradarbiavimo sutarčių (memorandumų) pasirašymas; informavimas visuomenės ir verslo atstovų žiniasklaidos priemonėmis ir internetu tai padeda verslininkui susipažinti su priimtais naujais teisės aktais, reglamentuojančiais tam tikrus klausimus bei... [to full text] / Customs is one of public administration subjects implementing various functions within the framework of legal acts. It is established by the Ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania and legal acts of the customs organisational structure and customs administrative performance (i.e. serving the public, legislation of customs legal basis, individual decision making and etc.) Taking into consideration that trade conditions are constantly changing and its amount is increasing, also having in mind the rise of the need for establishing equal competitive conditions for external subjects and preventing fraudulent trade, moreover, seeking to combat customs and commercial violations, guarantee the community security it is very important for customs to adapt to new conditions and also be able to meet new needs and fulfil new requirements. Thus, the main task of customs is to improve its processes and procedures as well as to become a reliable partner of legal commercial subjects. In this work various cooperation and its facilitation forms between customs and commercial subjects are analysed. As for cooperation forms it is important to mention Customs Consulting Committee which was established to improve commercial conditions and increase cooperation between customs and business people. Furthermore, such forms include cooperation agreements (memorandums) and providing information to the public and business representatives by using media and Internet seeking to introduce... [to full text]

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This thesis explores issues of subjectivity and gender around ritual activity in Xianyou county, Fujian Province, China. It focuses on three groups of women: Buddhist nuns, mediums and village women engaged in the ritual caretaking of their families. It also examines a spirit writing text from the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911). It is suggested that subject positions and kin positions are to a certain extent coextensive and that participation in certain rituals is what constitutes one as a gendered subject (as a "woman") and in certain kin roles (as wife, daughter-in-law, etc.). Other gendered subject positions (such as that of melancholic lover) are explored in an attempt to complicate any simple determinism that might accompany to easy a correspondence of kin position with sex role.

The purpose of this study was to replicate the findings of McDonald and McKinney (1988) who found a significant relationship between low self-esteem and exclusive dating among high school students. Its purpose was also to study components that might lead an adolescent with low self-esteem to seek a steady dating relationship and to discern if any gender differences in this compensation occurred. Measures designed to determine: activity involvement; dating status; the person (parent or peer) an adolescent was most likely to talk to; and self-esteem were administered to 122 high school students. Analysis did not replicate the original findings by McDonald and McKinney. Also the only variable found to have a significiant interaction with self-esteem was activity involvement. Interesting gender differences were found in the relationship between who a person talks to and dating style. Boys, who were involved in an exclusive or steady dating relationship, were significantly more likely to turn to peers for conversation than were boys not involved in this type of dating. No such relationship existed for girls, however. It is hypothesized that population differences lead to the non-replication of the previous study and that for some boys, intimacy may only be found in the dating relationship. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of this investigation is to trace the relationship between the atomistic personality and the social structures of the Chippewa-Ojibwa cultural-linguistic groups. The selection of this group was determined after an ethnographic survey of the urban Indians of Chicago at the American Indian Center during the summer of 1973. The basic hypothesis of this research is that the atomistic personality, which is a characteristic feature of the Chippewa-Ojibwa, has hindered native development of extensive social structures known historically beyond that of the individual family and that most of the social structures were results of externally initiated forces or influences.In delineating the types of social structures, I have described five temporal levels. In observing each of these levels, I have included the range of social structures (e.g. Family, tribal, inter-tribal) and the external historic factors.