Eckpunkte des Universitätsrechts-Änderungsgesetzes 2009 (Teil 1)

In Abkehr von ihrer Einrichtung als auf demokratischer Partizipation basie- render Bundesdienststellen, nach UOG, wurden die staatlichen Universitäten ab dem UOG 1993 zunehmend in Richtung eigenverantwortlicher "Bildungsbetriebe" umge- baut. Diese auf Deregulierung und Dezentralisierung universitärer Handlungspara- meter abstellende Entwicklung fand ihren vorläufigen Höhepunkt in der Umwandlung der Universitäten in vollrechtsfähige juristische Personen, durch das UG (2002). Die aufrechte Funktion des Staates als Erhalter und insb Financier der Universitäten hat zu einem auf universitäre Leistung und Verantwortung gegründeten Beziehungs- system zwischen Staat, Gesellschaft und Universitäten geführt, das auch mit Rechts- unsicherheiten und Friktionen behaftet ist. Der bisher letzte Schritt in Richtung des intendierten umfassenden "Kulturwandels" der Universitäten wurde mit dem Universitätsrechts-Änderungsgesetz 2009 getan, das eine umfassende Novellierung der bisher geltenden Rechtslage beinhaltet.     

Sport and Racial Discrimination in Colonial Zimbabwe: A Reanalysis

The British colony of Southern Rhodesia, later governed by a white settler minority as unilaterally-independent Rhodesia, practiced racial segregation in many spheres, including education, health care access and political participation. Though racial segregation tended to exist on a less formal level than in Rhodesia's neighbour, apartheid South Africa, segregationist policies were nonetheless invasive and virtually complete in some areas. Sport was a heavily contested sphere, in which pockets of black African autonomy and advancement existed alongside near-complete white domination, largely, but not entirely, free of government intrusion. This article is an effort to develop a working hypothesis of racial discrimination in Rhodesian sport, discrimination that was never as formal or complete as in South Africa but which nonetheless provided a firm foundation for Rhodesia's exclusion from international sporting competition in the 1970s.     

Building a sustainable project management capacity in Cyprus

The performance‐driven project management program examined in this article was funded to support a variety of technical assistance efforts designed to strengthen the performance of small and medium enterprises in the Turkish Cypriot community in Cyprus. The customized program combined progressive workshops with hands‐on and distance coaching by local consultants, with participants expected to apply a performance‐driven project management approach and tool set. The Performance Driven Project Management: Journal of Performance (KNO Worldwide, 2010) documents that 12 of the 14 projects met the rigorous program requirements.     

“Flipping the Scripts” of Poverty and Panhandling: Organizing Democracy by Creating Connections

This study relies on participant observation and in-depth interviews to explore how StreetWise, an organization with a newspaper by the same name, mobilizes symbolic and material support for people without homes or those at risk. Pragmatism is used to understand how StreetWise ameliorates the experience of homelessness by building community. In stark contrast to forces that erase “the homeless” from the public scene, StreetWise integrates people without homes, as vendors, into community life by providing employment and raising awareness about poverty-related issues. Through its structure, mission, and business plan StreetWise encourages an engaged citizenry and enhances civic discourses. StreetWise provides scholars with a context within which to understand the reflexive and interactive organization–society relationships that strive to support a democratic way of life.     

Optimal controller for uncertain stochastic polynomial systems

This paper presents the optimal quadratic-Gaussian controller for uncertain stochastic polynomial systems with linear control input and a quadratic criterion over linear observations. The optimal closed-form controller equations are obtained using the separation principle, whose applicability to the considered problem is substantiated. As intermediate results, the paper gives closed-form solutions of the optimal regulator and controller problems for stochastic polynomial systems with linear control input and a quadratic criterion. Performance of the obtained optimal controller is verified in the illustrative example against the conventional quadratic-Gaussian controller that is optimal for stochastic polynomial systems with known parameters. Simulation graphs demonstrating overall performance and computational accuracy of the designed optimal controller are included.     

Performance issues in international donor‐funded development: A starting point for the HPT or PI professional

During the past decade, the benefits of HPT approaches used in the commercial sphere are being adopted in the much different world of donor‐funded development. The challenges of applying these strategies and methodologies to this complex and foreign arena require special consideration of application for real‐world results. The authors provide some insight from their combined 50+ years of work in this environment for prospective HPT professionals thinking to enter this critical and growing sector.     

Reduction of water evaporation in polymerase chain reaction microfluidic devices based on oscillating-flow

Producing polymeric or hybrid microfluidic devices operating at high temperatures with reduced or no water evaporation is a challenge for many on-chip applications including polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We study sample evaporation in polymeric and hybrid devices, realized by glass microchannels for avoiding water diffusion toward the elastomer used for chip fabrication. The method dramatically reduces water evaporation in PCR devices that are found to exhibit optimal stability and effective operation under oscillating-flow. This approach maintains the flexibility, ease of fabrication, and low cost of disposable chips, and can be extended to other high-temperature microfluidic biochemical reactors.     

Text Mining 101: What You Should Know

ABSTRACT

Scholars increasingly use text and data mining (TDM) methods to discover trends and relationships within complex digital data sets. In order to support this development in scholarly communication, librarians and publishers need to be knowledgeable about TDM methods, build partnerships with TDM researchers, and address challenges related to licensing and access to large document sets. The presenters of this NASIG session shared their experiences of supporting TDM as a library subject liaison, acquisitions librarian, and publisher representatives. Audience members discussed issues involving TDM of data from multiple publishers, local hosting of data sets and TDM activity by undergraduate students.