Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Magisteruppsats. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-254).

A competitive gas-to-gas trading market has yet to emerge in Asia. Yet in spite of the various barriers and restrictions, the trend of liberalization seems to inevitable. How a natural gas trading market just might develop in East Asia is what this thesis explains and predicts. Moreover, it lays out what the preconditions for the changes are, and what the costs and benefits from such changes may be. Considering Asia’s current market situation, the wholesale competition model could be a practical option for Asia’s gas markets. A critical role in building up the gas-to-gas trading market will be played by China. In the first stage of market liberalization, China alone can be expected to form its own trading hub on its east coast, say in Shanghai. If the transactions of the trading hub work smoothly and the set prices lower than oil-linked gas prices, then other gas-importing countries would likely join the trading hub by interconnecting with a physical pipeline. / text

This is a study of selected tasks and responsibilities of chief administrators in overseas schools located throughout East Asia. The degree to which their work related tasks presented problems for them and the identification of in-service training areas constituted the focus of the study. Data were collected by questionnaires from 46 chief school administrators whose schools were members of the East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS). The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics to determine the degree to which 92 administrative tasks presented problems for the chief school administrator. The selected administrative tasks encompassed five major areas: personnel, curriculum, school administration and business functions, school setting and pupils. In addition, 25 in-service training areas were prioritized according to the degree of value chief administrators felt they would provide. Specific tasks identified as most problematic were: (a) hiring well-qualified teachers from the local community; (b) locating and acquiring school sites; (c) funding new school buildings; (d) providing substitute teachers; (e) providing current and relevant in-service training for teachers; (f) providing programs for gifted, remedial or handicapped students; (g) constructing new buildings; (h) providing hearing, visual, psychological, or other testing services; (i) soliciting financial support; (j) finding local supply sources. In-service training opportunities in the major area of curriculum were identified as being most valuable and additional course work in preparation for an overseas chief school administrator's position was believed to be beneficial by those currently holding chief school administrator jobs. Specific in-service topics deemed most valuable were: (a) curriculum development procedures and writing of curriculum guides; (b) staff management, faculty morale and leadership techniques; (c) hiring practices, contracts, overseas recruiting and organizations providing support services; (d) teacher evaluation, supervision and dismissal procedures; (e) development and implementation of in-service training and school improvement plans; (f) curriculum alternatives such as International Baccalaureate, ESOL, "A" and "O" levels, and Advanced Placement programs; (g) pupil support services such as counseling, testing services, gifted and remedial programs; (h) methods of communication, public relations techniques and community liaison projects; (i) economics, budget development procedures and school business office and accounting practices; (j) comparative education--evaluating academic programs from various countries.

This dissertation analyzes the causes of rural development in East Asia, as well as the relative success or failure of rural development policies among East Asian countries, providing detailed case studies of China, Taiwan, and South Korea. These countries exhibit a range of variation on the dependent variable, rural development, which is defined as improvements in rural living standards, agricultural production and the village environment. Taiwan in the 1950s-1970s is the most successful case; South Korea in the 1950s-1970s is a less successful case; and China evolves from a failed case during the Maoist period (1949-1976) to a more successful case during the reform period (post-1978), but still one that is less successful than either Taiwan or South Korea. This study expands and challenges the developmental state literature, which, despite its contribution to explaining industrialization in East Asia, generally ignores the role of the state in rural development, fails to account for variation among East Asian countries, and excludes China from the comparative analysis. Based on two years of fieldwork and data culled from interviews, archives, and libraries, this dissertation advances a theory that specifies the varying contributions of land reform, farmers’ organizations, and modernization campaigns in rural development. This study shows that the reversal of urban-biased policies is possible in authoritarian states but does not account for variation in rural development outcomes; that variables such as decentralization and democratic checks on authority are not necessary conditions for rural development; that land reform is less important than previous studies have assumed; and that farmers’ organizations are critical to successful rural development. This study also shows that rural modernization campaigns, defined as policies that demand high levels of bureaucratic and popular mobilization to transform “traditional” ways of life in the countryside, have played a central role in East Asian rural development. This finding contradicts the developmental state model’s assumption of technical-rational policymaking, and runs counter to studies that portray state intervention in rural society as predatory or even pathologically destructive. Finally, this dissertation reveals a dynamic process of regional policy learning and modeling that has largely gone undocumented. / Government

published_or_final_version / Economics / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

Intercontinental similarities in microblade technology have long been used as evidence in support of the hypothesis that human populations migrated from East Asia to northwestern North America during the late Pleistocene. This study synthesizes the available data in an effort to provide a preliminary overview of this technological tradition. Comparative analysis reveals that wedge-shaped cores from Chinese Upper Paleolithic assemblages, the Dyuktai Culture of eastern Siberia, Japan, and the American Paleo-Arctic Tradition of Alaska share many similarities in the selection of raw materials, core morphology, platform preparation and rejuvenation, and edge angle variation. However, it also reveals that Alaskan wedge-shaped cores are more closely related to Dyuktai Culture cores than they are to Hokkaido cores. The study concludes that the distribution of microblade complexes is best explained by migration and/or diffusion from inland Asia to North America during the late Pleistocene.