Botswana has adopted policies in its construction industry aimed at developing its citizen contractors to a standard comparable to any other. Towards this end, it has instituted a number of interventions one of which is to provide these contractors with an advance loan to enable them mobilize on site. This facility greatly enhances their chances of success. This study is an evaluation of this scheme and provides a valuable feedback on the scheme's effectiveness, its shortcomings as well as offering some suggestions as to how its administration can be improved. This it does through a critical analysis of the performance of beneficiaries over a six-year period, identifies reasons for their failure and tries to address concerns of the key players in the application of the scheme. The major findings are that the scheme has not been as successful as expected. The biggest problem seems to be the diversion of loan funds from their intended purpose. Rigorous sustained training of contractors and monitoring of their progress in skills attainment is the recommended solution. The Government's intervention should also target other role players in the industry for support including emerging suppliers and plant leasing companies, to break down existing monopolistic structures. / Dissertation (MSc (Project Management))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Construction Economics / unrestricted

A critical analysis of La Princesse de Babylone, linking the thought and style with the ideas and literature of the Philosophes and of Voltaire in particular. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Rad istražuje hotela, kao promenjivu kategoriju, tako da<br />analizira procese i zakonitosti nastanka i razvoja različitih<br />tipova hotela. Kroz proces istraživanja različitih hotela,<br />spoznaju se ne samo materijalne potrebe, već duhovne<br />potrebe korisnika hotela u određenom prostoru i vremenu.<br />Istraživanje sprovedeno na ovaj način stavlja dizajn u<br />rečaciju sa strategijom hotela I involvira samog korisnika i<br />njegove potrebe u oblast dizajna.</p> / <p>The thesis approaches hotels as a variable in order to analyze<br />the mechanisms and processes of creation of different types<br />of hotelsThe research gives us an insight not only into the<br />materialistic, but also spiritual needs of didderent clients in a<br />given time and space. The sutvey conducted in this way puts<br />the design into correlation with the hotel strategy and<br />includes the very client and their needs in the area of design.</p>

Meaning-making in today's digital culture, using digital media, raises the need for enhanced critical thinking and analytical skills. To be literate in digital media, one must know how to use digital tools, but one is also required to develop intellectual, social, and cultural competencies to be able to interpret messages in multimodal texts, which include written text, sound, and images. This research explored the experiences of two foreign students in higher education who participated in a six-week online workshop called "improving your digital-media skills." In the online workshop, the students completed a project-based activity in which each week they worked on one step toward finishing their projects. The weekly curriculum aimed to develop particular skill of digital-media literacy to access, analyze, evaluate, and create digital media materials. Throughout this study, the data was gathered and analyzed to answer two general questions: 1) How does a project-based activity of digital media creation and consumption impact students' critical thinking and analytical skills in the digital culture? 2) How does students' awareness of cultural diversity influence the choices they make in digital media production? Seeking answers to these two questions, the study employed qualitative case study methods including participant-observation, field notes, questionnaires, interviews, and digital media products analysis. The analysis revealed that the workshop had a great impact on the students' critical analysis and evaluation skills than on critical thinking skills. There was also a noticeable increase in the students' critical thinking skills when using digital media out of the academic settings. Both participants were affected by their experience of living abroad, and this factor influenced their thinking and teaching methods. Cultural identities appeared in their thinking and choices in some parts of the workshop. This study was an initial inquiry into the importance of acquiring cultural competencies along with critical digital-media literacy in order to accept the diversity in education and appreciate our differences.

Thesis advisor: Celeste Wells / This essay investigates the experience of Latin American international students at Boston College (BC) and how their preconceived notions impact both their experience pre and post arrival to college. Boston College culture, language barriers, academic pressure, housing arrangements and American norms are all factors that fuel the identity crisis that Latin American students experience at Boston College. These factors either drive Latin American students to engage in Boston College culture or, on the contrary, impel students to isolate themselves from American culture and from befriending other Americans. As seen through the conversations with students, the latter experience can often lead to dissatisfied outlooks and the longing to return to the students’ host countries. This study highlights the thoughts and experiences of Latin American students at Boston College while also providing solutions on how to improve the International Assistant Program (IAP) at Boston College. The solutions put forward in this study aim to encourage other universities across the globe to improve their immersion programs so that the needs of international students can be met. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Arts and Sciences Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

Nos últimos anos, milhares de haitianos migraram para o Brasil, fugindo das mazelas socioeconômicas do Haiti e das consequências do terremoto de 12 de janeiro de 2010 na capital Porto Príncipe. Grande parte deles chegou ao Brasil por via terrestre, especialmente pelas cidades fronteiriças de Tabatinga-AM e Brasileia-AC, de onde muitos se deslocaram para São Paulo, em busca de trabalho e a fim de recomeçarem a vida. Tendo em conta esse cenário, realizamos nesta tese uma leitura crítica de notícias do jornal Folha de S. Paulo sobre tais imigrantes. Baseamo-nos em estudos do Círculo de Bakhtin sobre o discurso e o sujeito, e na Análise Crítica do Discurso (ACD), vinculando conceitos bakhtinianos ao campo teórico da ACD. Acerca do elemento linguístico do discurso, focalizamos especialmente as estratégias linguístico-referenciais empregadas, que são escolhas feitas pelo enunciador. Relacionamos esse marco teórico ao deslocamento dos haitianos para o Brasil e a suas relações sociais e laborais no contexto brasileiro. Dentre os resultados, destacam-se: quanto ao interdiscurso, ao recontextualizar vozes de alguma prática jornalística (como depoimentos, entrevistas e falas do dia a dia) ou textos alheios ao jornalismo (como notas emitidas pelos governos, relatórios de pesquisa, resoluções e decretos), o enunciador exerce poder sobre tais vozes e os atores sociais que as enunciam. Com frequência, o enunciador usa o que caracterizamos como observação in loco, relato histórico e voz de conhecimento público, e, ao mesmo tempo, recursos linguísticos que conferem à Folha um caráter investigativo. Assim, temos indicações da forma contemporânea do gênero notícia. Acerca dos governos acreano, paulista, federal e da prefeitura de São Paulo, em muitas notícias, o enunciador se mostra a seu serviço, no sentido de recontextualizar suas vozes e lhes construir uma representação positiva, incutindo-a na mente do enunciatário. Em algumas notícias, porém, o enunciador atua contra os governos petistas referidos (federal, acreano e da prefeitura de São Paulo), tratando a imigração haitiana como questão da esfera político-partidária, e não da administração pública. Essa atuação tem efeitos controversos: possivelmente se incute na mente do enunciatário uma representação negativa de tais governos e desqualifica a Folha como jornal sério e imparcial, representação criada em várias notícias. As notícias mostram que os imigrantes haitianos estão à margem das ordens sociais e ordens do discurso, sobretudo porque não dominam a língua portuguesa e não conseguem atuar nas diferentes práticas sociais do dia a dia. Suas vozes, em geral, não compõem a notícia de forma evidente, nem mesmo quando o assunto em pauta é a busca de solução dos problemas que vivem: no lugar deles e sobre eles falam especialmente membros dos governos. Essa condição à margem das ordens sociais é fomentada pela escolha de expressões referenciais do enunciador. A referência a eles ocorre com uso, por exemplo, de imigração ilegal e imigrantes ilegais, o que diz respeito a uma representação negativa. De um modo geral, o enunciador não atua em prol das minorias, mas sim fomenta as relações sociais de poder já estabelecidas no contexto brasileiro. As notícias não provocam uma luta hegemônica que, ao menos, promova acesso dos haitianos às ordens sociais ou que mitigue sua condição de grupo minorizado no Brasil. / In the last years, thousands of Haitians have migrated to Brazil, running away from Haitis socioeconomic hardships and the consequences aroused from the earthquake that devastated the countrys capital city Port-au-Prince, on January, 12, 2010. They arrived in Brazil by road, especially crossing the border cities of Brasileia, in Acre, and Tabatinga, in Amazonas, from where many of them moved towards the state of São Paulo, searching for work in order to restart their lives. Taking for granted this scenario, for this thesis a critical reading was carried out using the articles in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo about those immigrants. The Bakhtin Circles studies were the basis for this work regarding discourse and subject, aided by the Critical Analysis of Discourse (CAD), linking bakhtinian concepts to CADs theoretical field. Regarding the linguistic element of the discourse, we focused on the linguistic-referential strategies employed, which are choice made by the enunciator. This theoretical mark was related to the displacement of the Haitians to Brazil and their social and working relationships in the Brazilian context. Among the results, some are highlighted, such as: related to the interdiscourse, by recontextualize voices of some journalistic practice (such as declarations, interviews, and daily speeches) or strange to the journalistic field (such as government briefs, research reports, resolutions and decrees), where the enunciator holds power over such voices and the social actors who enunciated them. Frequently, the enunciator uses what was characterized as observation in loco, historic reporting, and voice of public knowledge, and, at the same time, linguistic resources that consider Folha as an investigative character newspaper. Thus, we have traces of a contemporaneous form in the genre of news. Regarding the governments of Acre, São Paulo, Brazil, and the municipality of São Paulo, in much news, the enunciator is shown at his own service, in the sense of recontextualize their voices and building a positive representation, instilling it into the mind of the addressee. Although, in some news, the enunciator acts against the governments of the workers party (federal, state, and from the city hall of São Paulo), treating the Haitian immigration as political party question, and not as of public administration. This action has controversial effects: it possibly is instilled in the mind of the addressee a negative representation of such governments and it disqualifies the Folha as a serious and impartial newspaper, due to a representation created in much news. The news shows that the Haitian immigrants lay at the margin of the social orders and of the discourse orders, mainly because they do not master the Portuguese language, and they cannot act in the different daily practices. Generally, their voices do not compose the news in such a clear way, not even when the point on the agenda is the search for solution of the problems they live under: especially government members do speak in their places and about them. This condition at the margin of the social orders is fomented by choosing some referential expressions by the enunciator. The reference related to them is made by the use of expressions, such as, illegal immigration, and illegal immigrants, referring to them as a negative representation. The enunciator does not generally act for the minorities, instead of fomenting the social relations of power, long-established in the Brazilian context. The news does not provoke a hegemonic struggle that, at least, promote the access to the social orders to Haitians, or that may minimize their condition as a minority group in Brazil.

Nos últimos anos, a partir do surgimento da ideia de Estado Democrático de Direito, a moderna doutrina processualista passou a entender o processo não só como meio destinado à pacificação social, passando a encará-lo como mecanismo destinado a fazer valer garantias e direitos constitucionais e a alcançar a pacificação justa dos litígios. A partir deste novo contexto, verificou-se a limitação de alguns institutos processuais vigentes, que embora pudessem auxiliar na obtenção do escopo de pacificação, deixavam de resguardar ou de implementar, em alguns momentos, determinadas garantias constitucionais, o que prejudicava o fim último de acesso à ordem jurídica justa. Uma das limitações verificadas a partir da perspectiva publicista de processo corresponde à regra estática de distribuição dos encargos probatórios conforme a natureza dos fatos alegados, uma vez que esta deixava de observar eventual impossibilidade da parte em cumprir com seu encargo. Ante tal limitação, foi desenvolvida uma teoria destinada a reequilibrar a relação processual, assegurando a implementação das garantias constitucionais, quando a regra estática de distribuição dos encargos probatórios não se mostrava suficiente a assegurar o acesso à ordem jurídica justa. Denominada de distribuição dinâmica do ônus da prova (ou teoria das cargas probatórias dinâmicas) a teoria foi pensada a fim de, em tais situações e conforme as peculiaridades do caso concreto, determinar a redistribuição do encargo probatório a fim de que este recaia sobre as partes em melhores condições. Contudo, há grande divergência doutrinária sobre a viabilidade prática da distribuição dinâmica do ônus da prova, sendo apontados diversos problemas que podem decorrer de sua aplicação. O presente trabalho pretende contribuir com a análise do tema, a partir de um estudo sobre as razões que impuseram a criação do instituto, bem como as contribuições que sua implementação traz ao processo civil, encarado sobre a ótica de processo constitucional, e os riscos que podem decorrer de sua aplicação, de forma a verificar se existe viabilidade em sua aplicação e eventuais formas de se afastar os problemas apontados pelos críticos à teoria. / Over the past few years, with the raising of the idea of Democratic State of Law, the modern procedural doctrine has started to understand civil lawsuit not only as a mean to achieve social peace, starting to face it as a mechanism with an aim to reinforce constitutional rights and warranties and to achieve the pacification with Justice for disputes. From this new context, it was observed the limitation of certain current procedural institutes, that even though could help to achieve the pacification, wouldnt protect or carry into effect, at some circumstances, certain constitutional warranties, which would interfere with the definitive goal of providing access to a just legal order. One of the limitation verified after the public conception of civil procedure concerned the static rule for the distribution of the burden of proof, therefore the rule wouldnt take into account eventual impossibility of the party to fulfill the assignment. Regarding this limitation, it was developed a theory aiming to rebalance the procedural relation, carrying the constitutional warranties into effect, when the static rule for the distribution of the burden of proof wouldnt reveal to be sufficient to ensure the access to the just legal order. Therefore called the dynamic distribution of the burden of proof (or theory of the dynamic burden of proof) this theory has been developed to, at those said circumstances and according to the peculiarities of each case, determinate the replacement of the burden of proof attributing it to the party whith better means to fulfill the assignment. However, there is no theoretical agreement over the practical viability of the dynamic burden of proof, being pointed several problems that could result from its employment. The present research aims to contribute with this analysis, after the study over the reasons that impose the creation of this institute, as well as the contribution its implementation brings to civil procedure, looked from the constitutional procedure point of view, and the risks that could raise from its employment, as a way to verify if there is practical viability on its utilization and eventual forms to prevent the problems pointed by those who criticize the theory

Nos últimos anos, milhares de haitianos migraram para o Brasil, fugindo das mazelas socioeconômicas do Haiti e das consequências do terremoto de 12 de janeiro de 2010 na capital Porto Príncipe. Grande parte deles chegou ao Brasil por via terrestre, especialmente pelas cidades fronteiriças de Tabatinga-AM e Brasileia-AC, de onde muitos se deslocaram para São Paulo, em busca de trabalho e a fim de recomeçarem a vida. Tendo em conta esse cenário, realizamos nesta tese uma leitura crítica de notícias do jornal Folha de S. Paulo sobre tais imigrantes. Baseamo-nos em estudos do Círculo de Bakhtin sobre o discurso e o sujeito, e na Análise Crítica do Discurso (ACD), vinculando conceitos bakhtinianos ao campo teórico da ACD. Acerca do elemento linguístico do discurso, focalizamos especialmente as estratégias linguístico-referenciais empregadas, que são escolhas feitas pelo enunciador. Relacionamos esse marco teórico ao deslocamento dos haitianos para o Brasil e a suas relações sociais e laborais no contexto brasileiro. Dentre os resultados, destacam-se: quanto ao interdiscurso, ao recontextualizar vozes de alguma prática jornalística (como depoimentos, entrevistas e falas do dia a dia) ou textos alheios ao jornalismo (como notas emitidas pelos governos, relatórios de pesquisa, resoluções e decretos), o enunciador exerce poder sobre tais vozes e os atores sociais que as enunciam. Com frequência, o enunciador usa o que caracterizamos como observação in loco, relato histórico e voz de conhecimento público, e, ao mesmo tempo, recursos linguísticos que conferem à Folha um caráter investigativo. Assim, temos indicações da forma contemporânea do gênero notícia. Acerca dos governos acreano, paulista, federal e da prefeitura de São Paulo, em muitas notícias, o enunciador se mostra a seu serviço, no sentido de recontextualizar suas vozes e lhes construir uma representação positiva, incutindo-a na mente do enunciatário. Em algumas notícias, porém, o enunciador atua contra os governos petistas referidos (federal, acreano e da prefeitura de São Paulo), tratando a imigração haitiana como questão da esfera político-partidária, e não da administração pública. Essa atuação tem efeitos controversos: possivelmente se incute na mente do enunciatário uma representação negativa de tais governos e desqualifica a Folha como jornal sério e imparcial, representação criada em várias notícias. As notícias mostram que os imigrantes haitianos estão à margem das ordens sociais e ordens do discurso, sobretudo porque não dominam a língua portuguesa e não conseguem atuar nas diferentes práticas sociais do dia a dia. Suas vozes, em geral, não compõem a notícia de forma evidente, nem mesmo quando o assunto em pauta é a busca de solução dos problemas que vivem: no lugar deles e sobre eles falam especialmente membros dos governos. Essa condição à margem das ordens sociais é fomentada pela escolha de expressões referenciais do enunciador. A referência a eles ocorre com uso, por exemplo, de imigração ilegal e imigrantes ilegais, o que diz respeito a uma representação negativa. De um modo geral, o enunciador não atua em prol das minorias, mas sim fomenta as relações sociais de poder já estabelecidas no contexto brasileiro. As notícias não provocam uma luta hegemônica que, ao menos, promova acesso dos haitianos às ordens sociais ou que mitigue sua condição de grupo minorizado no Brasil. / In the last years, thousands of Haitians have migrated to Brazil, running away from Haitis socioeconomic hardships and the consequences aroused from the earthquake that devastated the countrys capital city Port-au-Prince, on January, 12, 2010. They arrived in Brazil by road, especially crossing the border cities of Brasileia, in Acre, and Tabatinga, in Amazonas, from where many of them moved towards the state of São Paulo, searching for work in order to restart their lives. Taking for granted this scenario, for this thesis a critical reading was carried out using the articles in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo about those immigrants. The Bakhtin Circles studies were the basis for this work regarding discourse and subject, aided by the Critical Analysis of Discourse (CAD), linking bakhtinian concepts to CADs theoretical field. Regarding the linguistic element of the discourse, we focused on the linguistic-referential strategies employed, which are choice made by the enunciator. This theoretical mark was related to the displacement of the Haitians to Brazil and their social and working relationships in the Brazilian context. Among the results, some are highlighted, such as: related to the interdiscourse, by recontextualize voices of some journalistic practice (such as declarations, interviews, and daily speeches) or strange to the journalistic field (such as government briefs, research reports, resolutions and decrees), where the enunciator holds power over such voices and the social actors who enunciated them. Frequently, the enunciator uses what was characterized as observation in loco, historic reporting, and voice of public knowledge, and, at the same time, linguistic resources that consider Folha as an investigative character newspaper. Thus, we have traces of a contemporaneous form in the genre of news. Regarding the governments of Acre, São Paulo, Brazil, and the municipality of São Paulo, in much news, the enunciator is shown at his own service, in the sense of recontextualize their voices and building a positive representation, instilling it into the mind of the addressee. Although, in some news, the enunciator acts against the governments of the workers party (federal, state, and from the city hall of São Paulo), treating the Haitian immigration as political party question, and not as of public administration. This action has controversial effects: it possibly is instilled in the mind of the addressee a negative representation of such governments and it disqualifies the Folha as a serious and impartial newspaper, due to a representation created in much news. The news shows that the Haitian immigrants lay at the margin of the social orders and of the discourse orders, mainly because they do not master the Portuguese language, and they cannot act in the different daily practices. Generally, their voices do not compose the news in such a clear way, not even when the point on the agenda is the search for solution of the problems they live under: especially government members do speak in their places and about them. This condition at the margin of the social orders is fomented by choosing some referential expressions by the enunciator. The reference related to them is made by the use of expressions, such as, illegal immigration, and illegal immigrants, referring to them as a negative representation. The enunciator does not generally act for the minorities, instead of fomenting the social relations of power, long-established in the Brazilian context. The news does not provoke a hegemonic struggle that, at least, promote the access to the social orders to Haitians, or that may minimize their condition as a minority group in Brazil.

A proper understanding of the local construction market is essential for making appropriate project budgeting and planning decisions. State highway agencies typically use highway construction cost indexes (HCCIs) to understand the current market conditions. In the U.S. highway construction industry, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) pioneered the concept of a HCCI as an indicator of the national construction market. State Departments of Transportation (DOT) also started developing their state level HCCIs to better represent their state level construction markets. But, some state DOTs noted the lack of guidance to develop and update their HCCIs. This paper summarizes literature review and nationwide questionnaire survey results to identify the current practices of calculating and using HCCIs. There are two methods to generate basket of construction items for HCCI calculation: a) categorized market basket and b) item level market basket. The Fisher index is the most popular indexing formula among the state DOTs and is also recommended by the FHWA and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Despite many potential users of HCCIs, the current use of HCCIs is very limited in state DOTs.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka den diskurs som följde i svensk media efter migrationsverkets beslut att ge syriska flyktingar permanent uppehållstillstånd. Metoden som vi har utgått ifrån är kritisk diskursanalys och innehållsanalys. Som data har vi valt ut tolv artiklar och två TV-program. Resultatet visar att media äger den makt som gör att de får avgöra hur ett sådant beslut ska presenteras och diskuteras. Resultatet visar även att media använder idag en annorlunda diskurs jämfört med 1980 och 1990 talet. Media kan med sin makt avgöra vem som ska/inte ska uttrycka sig. En ”Vi” och ”De” skapas av media som skiljer mellan den etablerade och den oetablerade i samhället. Samtidigt kan media med sin diskurs bestämma om vilka kulturella krav som ska sättas på en nykomling. Vidare har vi lagt märke till hur siffror och kvantifiering upptar en stor del av debatten och att det inte sker med en motivering till varför detta sker. Den sociala kontext som journalisterna verkar inom är styrd av riktlinjer som säger att de i nyhetsförmedling måste vara objektiva och endast får låta andra aktörer uttala sig målande och subjektivt om migration. Däremot får deras personliga tankar och yttringar visas i debatt- och ledarsidor. / The purpose of this thesis is to study the discourse Swedish media use to discuss the government decision to give permanent residency to all Syrian refugees who arrive in Sweden. The method we use in our study is the critical analysis of discourse and content analysis. As data we have chosen articles and programs from Swedish public service television and newspapers. The result of our thesis show that media has the power to form the discourse about the Syrian refugees. The result as well shows that the discourse has changed over the past twenty to thirty years. A “us and them” is created in the language media use which divides the established citizens from the unestablished refugees. At the same time media can decide which cultural demands can be put down to a newly arrived person. During the research we also found that the discourse uses many digits and that a quantification takes place without any real explanation to why it takes place. The social context in which the journalists has to work within is regulated by rules about objectivity in newsfeed and they can only let others which they interview talk in a subjective manner about migration. On the other hand the journalists are allowed to say what they think in debate programs and editorial pages.