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The case of Esperanza in the Dominican Republic illustrates graphically that land reform is used by governmental leaders as a political tool; although land reform is continuously promised in the Dominican Republic, it is rarely delivered. The state has realized autonomy from class factions by alternately appeasing different class factions (Grindle 1986). The promise and occasional delivery of land reform in the Dominican Republic is one of the most powerful tools the governmental leaders have to appease the Dominican peasantry. Through the promise of reform, governmental leaders are able to control the rural campesinos while the economic position of the peasantry is continually compromised; campesinos are increasingly forced to live dualistic lives as wage laborers and farmers (de Janvry 1981; Grindle 1986). This thesis centers attention on Esperanza, a small village in the northwestern part of the country. The sugar mill there has been closed, and the Dominican President Joaquin Balaguer has promised much of Esperanza's land to land reform. As I have shown, the promised land reform has been unsuccessful. Further, I suggest that the promise of reform in Esperanza was made more for pragmatic political reasons than for humanitarian ones. Balaguer was lacking support in his 1990 bid for reelection, and he used land reform in Esperanza both to bolster his weak standings at the polls and to stifle rumbling complaints about the other closed sugar mills whose land had gone exclusive to large land holders, Dole Pineapple for one, at the expense of the rural dwellers. Moreover, recipients of land in Esperanza were from Ba1aguer>s political party. / Master of Science

A beginning of questions about architecture and humanity and searching for those answers that begin to initiate the process of design and improving the quality of life. This is an investigation and an understanding of those values which make a place unique. Once those attributes have been found then we can begin to embrace them within architecture. Inside the small town of Veron, on the eastern shore of the Dominican Republic, unique economic and social conditions are apparent there that are mirrored throughout this small island nation and throughout many parts of Latin America. There are powerful forces at work, along with nature, that are affecting local communities and degrading the social status. This is only a small microcosm of the social, economic and environmental effects of the tourism industry in this paradise nation. How do we sustain those qualities that are embedded within the fabric of a nation's culture, heritage, and begin to give the nation a voice within design. How do you provide a sustainable solution between private tourism industries and local governments and communities within the setting and conditions of the eastern shore of the Dominican Republic? / Master of Architecture

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on Sept. 9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Income effects associated with specific levels of erosion reduction for a representative farm in the Bao watershed area in the Dominican Republic are examined in a linear programming framework. Estimation of costs expected in response to specific levels of erosion reduction and the income effects of changes in agricultural policies on the farmer's ability to conserve soil are examined. Results indicate that income losses will be substantial when complying with soil loss standards without introducing soil conservation practices. Net income reduction of 36% can be expected with a reduction in soil loss by 50%. With the introduction of soil conservation practices, substantial reductions in erosion can be obtained with only a minor reduction in net income. For example, with grass strips, 50% reduction in soil loss can be expected with only a 7% reduction in income. Analysis of the effects of changes in agricultural policies indicates that restricting access to credit and changes in tenure from secure land holdings to lack of land titles does not affect the incentive to conserve soil in the short run. Furthermore, analysis of effects of changes in agricultural pricing policies indicates that the promotions of coffee, sweet potatoes, and beans represent the least-costly means of meeting the twin goals of erosion reduction and income maintenance. / Master of Science

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No description available.

Although President Theodore Roosevelt intervened in the Dominican Republic in 1905 to prevent European creditor nations from securing a foothold at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal, the idea persists among certain historians that Roosevelt's motives for intervention were primarily economic, not political. A close examination of Dominican economic history from the inauguration in 1882 of the tyrannical President Ulises Heureaux, combined with a study of American diplomacy toward the Dominican Republic to the initiation of the customs receivership in 1907, demonstrates that American policy attempted to thwart outside intervention, not promote economic subversion. Best primary sources are the State Department's Diplomatic Instructions, 1801-1906; the Despatches, 1883-1906; and Jacob H. Hollander's "Report" and "Exhibits." Excellent secondary sources are Dana G. MIunro's Caribbean studies.

D.Litt. et Phil. (Greek) / At this point we finish our journey through the history of one of the most important orders of the catholic church, during the middle ages and in more recent times, as well as the monastic institutions maintained by the order on the island of Santorini. The question that arises is: what is the contribution of our thesis to research and to the order’s history, in Greece in general, and more specifically in Santorini. The answer to the above question is to be found in the eight chapters of this thesis, and for its compilation we have made use of extant bibliography in the greek as well as in other languages and a great amount of previously unpublished material from the archives of the catholic bishopric of Thera (AKES) and the archives of the Dargentas family, founder and proprietor of the Skaros monastery. The first chapters of this thesis are introductory and introduce us to the inner workings of the domenican family, in order to better comprehend the establishment and the journey through time of the monastic institutions, founded by the domenican order at Skaros, Emporio and Fira, where apart from the nunnery there used to exist also a male cenobiotic convent , during the second half of the 19th century. The first of the three chapters concerns the founding, the operation and structure of the order since the first centuries of its existence as well as the life of its founder, Saint Domenic The second chapter deals mainly with the presence of domenicans in European universities during the 13th century but also with one of the more sinister practices of the order, the Holy Inquisition. In this chapter we begin by presenting the activity of the domenicans in big civic centers, their presence in medieval universities and their contribution to the introduction to the curriculum of the works of Aristoteles and the study of his teachings. Then we concern ourselves with the part played by the order in the organization and operation of the Holy Inquisition. We present the reasons which necessitated the creation of the Holy Inquisition and we analyse in detail its role in the entrenchment and protection of the official dogma of the Catholic Church. Alongside all this we project the reasons behind the papal decision to entrust the organising of this institution (the Holy Inquisition) at first to the mendicant orders of the Domenicans and the Franciscans and then solely to the Domenicans. The Holy Inquisition may have constituted a dark page in the history of the order but on the other hand its contribution to rescuing the spirit of classical Greece and the introduction of the ancient greek texts to the European universities was one of its greatest achievements. From this order have originated the most terrible and hateful persecutors of any deviation in theological behavior but also some of the more enlightened minds of their time, like Albert the great, Thomas Aquinas, Meister Erckhart, Beato Angelico and others. Through the work of these men we have the manifestation of another, luminous side of the order, which should not be forgotten. The last of the three introductory chapters deals with the history of the monasteries as well as the local history of the order throughout the greek territory. Relying mainly on secondary sources but also on material from archives of the area, we present the operating and activities of the order’s monasteries which were established and still existed by the end of the 17th century.

Background: Access to improved water and sanitation are key measures of the World Health Organizations. However, while a community can be classified as having access to improved water and sanitation, the possibility of microbiological contaminations exists. Globally, there is a need to assess the quality of drinking water to better classify levels of microbiological quality in attempts to reduce diarrheal disease burden. Utilizing the test for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) producing bacteria test is a cost effective and easy to use method that may be comparable to the traditional yet more costly method (IDEXX Colilert Quantitray). Due to a paucity of data on the test for H2S producing bacteria, this study was performed to examine how well the test for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) producing bacteria compared to traditional measure of fecal indicator bacteria total coliforms and E. coli in drinking water. Furthermore, an analysis of the ability of the test for H2S producing bacteria to predict diarrheal disease was also examined. Methods: The following conditions for the H2S were examined in the study: 2 volumes (10mL or 90mL), 2 incubation times (24 and 48 hours) and the use of a semi-quantitative scoring system that measured the intensity of the black precipitate formed (H2S). To examine how well these conditions compared to E. coli and total coliform results, the following analyses were performed: 1) analysis of sensitivity and specificity to examine presence/absence of bacteria in both samples, 2) linear regression to examine how well a semi-quantitative H2S scoring system predicted bacterial concentrations and 3) logistic regression to examine how well the H2S test predicted risk of diarrheal disease. Results: Within the dataset, there were 816 observations among the 7 communities involved in the study. The H2S test condition that had the highest sensitivity and specificity (94.23% and 36.07% respectively) for total coliforms was 90mL volume at 48 hours. This test condition also produced the highest sensitivity and specificity for E. coli (97.82% and 78.67%, respectively). An analysis using linear regression demonstrated that a semi-quantitative H2S scoring system was able to predict both total coliform and E. coli concentrations in the same samples. In a logistic regression analysis of diarrheal disease, the test of H2S producing bacteria suggested an increase in diarrheal disease risk for higher levels of H2S (OR of 1.18 (p=0.03; 1.02 – 1.35)). Discussion: The initial results here suggest that the use of the test for H2S producing bacteria has potential with high sensitivity (>90%) for E. coli and total coliforms. The application of the semi-quantitative scoring system may also have applications in predicting concentration of E. coli and total coliforms and well as possibly predicting diarrheal disease. However, more work needs to be completed to standardize the semi-quantitative approach to reduce subjectivity of scoring as well as examine the role of the test in additional epidemiologic studies. INDEX WORDS: waterborne disease, E. coli, Dominican Republic, microbial testing