The aim of the diploma thesis is the evaluation present marketing strategy of Colombian company Procafecol S.A. and the development of proposal on European market entry. The company has been established by Colombian association of coffee growers and it operates its own coffee shops chain Juan Valdez Café in several countries of South and North America and actually in Spain as well. The purpose of Procafecol S.A. is mainly the promotion of high quality Colombian coffee with certified origin around the world to be more competitive. In the first part of diploma thesis there is the definition of present methods and processes of marketing strategy development and other theoretical background related to the topic of new market entry. In second part, the analysis and evaluation of marketing strategy of Procafecol S.A. is described and final proposals for expansion to Europe in the future.

No other population has contributed more to American society and received so little in return."1 Until recently the Mexican-Americans had remained quietly in the background, apparently accepting their station in life with little or no desire to improve it--a "sleeping giant," as some politicians have called this politically potential group. Statistics show that relatively few Mexican-Americans have become acculturated and assimilated into Anglo-American society (See page 9). The great majority have retained their Spanish language and their family traditions, and have remained more or less static in their economic position and isolated from the mainstream of life in the United States. While most ethnically differentiated groups in United States have used the educational system as a "major vehicle for social mobility," Mexican-Americana either have not taken full advantage of the opportunity, or it has been inaccessible to them.

The oil from the Exxon Valdez incident is still observed in different Prince William Sound beaches over two decades. The persisting oil is slightly weathered and highly toxic to the environment. Several studies investigated the reasons for lingering oil. Different remediation techniques were tried and the results were not satisfactory. Recently, it was found that the oil is stranded in a low permeability layer. Detailed explorations showed that the exchange of the nutrients and oxygen is limited in this layer. The main objective of the present study is to explain the effect of oxygen and nutrients on the degradation phenomena in the Alaskan beaches. The general approach for this study is a combination of the field experiments and lab analysis. As it is important to eliminate any cross-layer contamination, a unique sampling method was developed. The applied method involves collecting samples from the oily layer (low permeability layer), measuring oxygen levels in the field and comparing them with the nutrient samples analyzed in the lab. The findings showed that the nutrients levels were low in the beach but the lack of effective electron acceptor is the major factor limiting the biodegradation of the oil. The seawater is responsible for delivering the oxygen and nutrients to the beach during the high tide while during low tide the landward freshwater discharges to the beach. The study of the sulfate and nitrate in the beach revealed that the levels of the alternative electron acceptors were not sufficient to support anaerobic biodegradation. Finally, for successful biodegradation of the Exxon Valdez oil, adequate levels of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) and along with oxygen are required. / Civil Engineering

In post-apartheid South Africa, Coloured communities are engaged in reconstructing identities and social histories. This study examines the representation of community, identity, culture and historic memory in two films about Westbury, Johannesburg, South Africa. The films are Westbury, Plek van Hoop, a documentary, and Waiting for Valdez, a short fiction piece. The ambiguous nature of Coloured identity, coupled with the absence of recorded histories and unambiguous identification with collective cultural codes, results in the representation of identity becoming contested and marginal. Through constructing narratives of lived experience, hybrid communities can challenge dominant stereotypes and subvert discourses of otherness and difference. Analysis of the films reveals that the Coloured community have reverted to stereotypical documentary forms in representing their communal history. Although the documentary genre lays claim to the representation of reality and authentic experience, documentary is not always an effective vehicle for the representation of lived experience and remembered history. Fiction can reinterpret memory by accessing the emotional textures of past experiences in a more direct way.

Ever since humans began using cargo by sea to transport oil, oil spill incidents have occurred on different scales in different environments. Oil leaks by cargo tankers on the high seas have a bigger and more serious impact on the environment. Among the many oil spills in the ocean, the most serious was the Exxon Valdez incident in Alaska¡¦s Prince William Sound (PWS). While it may not have been the largest spill in terms of the volume of oil leaked, its effects were far-reaching; the location of the spill was in the sensitive area between the temperate and subtropical zones, and it was home to many fish, migratory birds, and mammals. Therefore, this location has become an important place for researchers to study the environmental and biological impacts of an oil leak. In the past, there have been several studies conducted from various perspectives and in various stages. In 2001, the Greek oil tanker The Amorgos ran aground near Kenting National Park¡¦s Long-Keng Environmental Protection Zone and seriously damaged the ecological environment. Taiwanese studies on the ecological impacts of oil spills include investigations and evaluations done on a short-term basis, and have been mainly focused on contingency plans and designs, evaluation systems, and handling technology. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to use related studies conducted in Alaska PWS to evaluate the ecological system in the Long-Keng area and to assess the long-term impacts of an oil spill in the ecological sensitive area of Taiwan.

Mitl Valdez's film Los confines (1987) is an adaptation of several works of fiction by the Mexican author Juan Rulfo. The director chose to adapt two short stories ("Talpa" and "¡Diles que no me maten!") and an episode from the author's first novel, Pedro Páramo. Valdez's intent was to "capturar el sentido" of the Jaliscan author or, in other words, to remain faithful to certain elements of his writing while adjusting them to the filmic medium. The musical score of Los confines is the method of appropriation that this study endeavors to investigate, since it shares common themes, metaphors, and imagery with the source texts. The musical language of Los confines not only communicates meaning within the film, but echoes elements of Rulfo's writing as well. Musical motifs in the score evoke concepts and symbols that form part of the writer's fictive universe and illustrate how Valdez finds "un equivalente en la expresión cinematográfica" for Rulfian material (qtd. in Pelayo).

This thesis is a narrative study that examines significant life experiences of six living artists that were pivotal in their decision to pursue careers in the arts. Although the examples found in these conversations are not exhaustive—many factors play into the individuals sense of identity and agency—they serve to give voice to the multiplicity of the learning experience, underscoring that creative education occurs in the home, the community, and among social groups as frequently as it does in the classroom. Through direct, open-ended conversations with artists, research explores the setting of upbringing and education, the pivotal experiences—catalysts—that propelled these individuals into art careers, and impact of their experience on both creative practice and notions of art learning. Interviews encompass artists whose work is located in public spaces, natural landscapes, and urban environments as often as it appears in the traditional exhibition settings, whose work is both collaborative and socially constructed. They comprise Rick Lowe, artist and founder of Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas whose community-centered social sculpture expands on our cultural assumptions about the artist and Anne Wallace, a public artist whose early work as a human right activist and bi-cultural experiences translate into videos about the complexities of the United States/Mexico border. It includes Vincent Valdez, a self-described “hyper-realist” who depicts his home city and composite life experiences of his family through allegorical paintings and drawings; Marie Lorenz, an artist explorer whose interest in urban waterways brings her work into the waters of forgotten canals and rivers; of Robert Pruitt, who critiques ever-changing political landscapes, conceptions of history, and globalism through hybrid drawings and sculptures; and Franco Mondini-Ruiz who fuses aesthetics of high and low in installations and creative economy widely accessible to people both within and outside the confines of the art world. Through narrative conversation, this thesis enriches overlapping theories that encompass our understandings of education and learning—mentorship, experiential learning, the aesthetic experience, place-based learning, communities of practice—through lived example, underscoring learning as a socially constructed phenomenon. Experiences of learning, unique and wholly individualized, contribute to a one’s sense of self and agency; in the case of the six artists featured in this study, creative experiences contribute to their identity as “artist” and motivated their pursuit of lifework and career. / text

The pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba) population in Prince William Sound has failed to recover from declines that occurred both before and after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS). Post-spill studies of pigeon guillemot breeding biology have identified three potential factors limiting recovery: (1) predation on eggs and nestlings; (2) declines in the proportion of high-lipid, schooling forage fish (sand lance [Ammodytes hexapterus], herring [Clupea pallasi], and capelin [Mallotus villosus]) in the diet; and (3) continued exposure to residual oil from the spill. This laboratory study with captive-reared pigeon guillemots at the Alaska SeaLife Center investigated two aspects of the species' biology that are relevant to restoration in the aftermath of EVOS. First, we investigated the role of dietary factors (prey type, quantity of food consumed, dietary fat content, and energy intake rate) in limiting the growth, development, survival, and fledging condition of nestling pigeon guillemots. The objective was to understand how changes in prey availability and prey quality might affect pigeon guillemot productivity. Second, we fed nestlings sublethal doses of weathered Prudhoe Bay crude oil (PBCO) and then measured several potential biomarkers of effects from this pollutant. These dose-response experiments were designed to (1) better understand the impact on nestling guillemots of petroleum hydrocarbons in food, (2) calibrate existing and potential biomarkers of exposure to PBCO in pigeon guillemots in a controlled, laboratory setting, and (3) develop better nondestructive biomarkers of exposure to PBCO in pigeon guillemots in particular, and seabirds in general. Results of feeding experiments indicated that most variation in nestling growth rates could be explained by variation in daily energy intake. The type of forage fish consumed, the lipid or protein content of the forage fish, and even the quantity of food consumed daily did not have as strong an effect on nestling guillemot growth as did daily energy intake. The metabolic efficiency and growth performance of nestling guillemots was not enhanced on high-lipid diets, contrary to results with nestlings of some other seabird species. Instead, structural growth (wing length) in nestling guillemots was somewhat stunted on high-lipid diets. These attributes of guillemot nutritional requirements are associated with the guillemots' nearshore foraging niche and high food provisioning rates to nestlings. The average lipid content of sand lance, juvenile herring, and capelin may represent the optimal dietary lipid content for nestling pigeon guillemots. This study supports the hypothesis that guillemot productivity is limited by the availability of these forage fishes through effects on energy provisioning rates to nestling guillemots. Consequently, recovery of pigeon guillemot populations injured by EVOS is likely linked to recovery of these key forage fish stocks. Results of the oil-dosing experiments indicated that nestling guillemots are resistant to small doses of weathered PBCO in their food. No nestlings died or suffered noticeable health effects following dosing. The high dose in this study (0.5 ml kg����� day�����) was sufficient to induce hepatic cytochrome P450A1 (a liver enzyme indicative of contaminant exposure), but growth rate, fledging mass, and blood chemistry were largely unaffected. None of the 12 plasma or hematological markers examined responded in a dose-dependent manner to ingestion of weathered PBCO, except lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Although baseline stress hormone (corticosterone) levels were not different between oil-dosed and control nestlings, a standardized acute stress protocol revealed that corticosterone was more elevated during stress for oiled nestlings compared to controls. Although we were not successful in identifying a noninvasive biomarker (e.g., growth) or a blood biomarker (e.g., haptoglobin) of crude oil exposure in nestlings, we were able to confirm that levels of hepatic cytochrome P4SO1AI and corticosterone during stress were elevated by the sublethal doses administered during our experiments. Based on this and other studies, it is unlikely that the failure of pigeon guillemots to recover from EVOS is due to effects on nestling health of residual oil in food. / Graduation date: 2003

I investigated the relationship between harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) behavior and lack of recovery from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. First, I evaluated the hypothesis that harlequin ducks in winter have little flexibility to increase foraging time in response to disturbance because they are constrained to forage during daylight. Eight radio-tagged harlequin ducks wintering in Resurrection Bay, Alaska were monitored for evidence of dive-feeding at night. Each radio-tagged individual was detected during an average of 19.5 of 22 nocturnal monitoring sessions and signal loss indicative of diving behavior was not detected during a total of 780 minutes of signal monitoring. In contrast, the same 8 radio-tagged birds were detected during an average of 9.1 of 12 daytime signal monitoring sessions and signal loss indicated diving behavior during an average of 62 �� 7% of 5-minute daytime monitoring periods (total of 364 minutes of signal monitoring). Thus the harlequin ducks monitored in this study rarely, if ever, fed by diving at night, possibly due to reduced foraging efficiency and (or) increased predation risk at night. This result suggests that harlequin ducks in mid-winter may be severely time-limited in their foraging, especially in northern parts of their winter range. Therefore, subtle changes in energy requirements and (or) time-activity budgets as a result of continued exposure to residual oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill may affect the ability of harlequin ducks to meet their daily energy requirements. Second, I tested the hypothesis that exposure to crude oil affects time-activity budgets of harlequin ducks. Controlled oil-dosing and plumage-oiling experiments were conducted using adult female harlequin ducks in captivity. I found no evidence that ingestion of weathered Prudhoe Bay crude oil affected the occurrence of feeding activity during 30-minute observation periods, nor was there evidence of effects on time spent feeding. Effects of crude oil ingestion on maintenance activity were detected, but were neither consistent between the 2 years of the study, nor dose-dependent for the 2 doses administered (2 and 20 mL kg����� wk�����), and therefore did not strongly support an oil-dosing effect on maintenance activity. Consequently, these results provided little support for the hypothesis that oil ingestion affects time-activity budgets of captive harlequin ducks, at least for the doses and conditions of captivity used in this study. Plumage-oiling reduced feeding activity in captive harlequin ducks. The estimated probability of feeding during 30-minute observation periods for birds in the high-exposure oiling group (5 mL of crude oil) was 53% less than that of non-oiled controls. Oiled birds exhibited a trend of reduced time feeding with increasing level of external-oiling; this effect was greatest among birds in the high-exposure oiling group, which spent 43% less time feeding than non-oiled birds. Reduced feeding was associated with less time in the water dive-feeding and presumably lower heat loss. Trends in the occurrence of maintenance activity and time spent in maintenance activity for birds in the high-exposure treatment suggested plumage-oiling increased maintenance activity, but results were not conclusive. The behavioral changes associated with plumage-oiling in captivity would likely reduce fitness in the wild, where a high proportion of time must be spent in the water feeding. If residual Exxon Valdez oil sequestered in beach sediments enters the water column where it may be encountered by harlequin ducks, external exposure may lead to reduced feeding activity. This, in turn, may compromise survival, particularly during mid-winter when the time available for diurnal foraging is low and maintenance energy requirements are high. / Graduation date: 2004

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