Review of Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating by Jane Goodall with Gary McAvoy and Gail Hudson

One of the world's preeminent experts on primate behavior, author Jane Goodall now invests her boundless energy traveling and speaking about conservation. After years of studying chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania, Goodall found their very existence threatened by poachers, by encroachment of farming into their habitat, and by global forces far from their wild environment. She is now on a mission to inform the public about what is wrong with our society and its impact on the planet. Harvest for Hope catalogs the problems and provides practical solutions.

Review of Deep Time and the Texas High Plains: History and Geology by Paul H. Carlson

This brief book is a history of the Lubbock Lake Landmark site, a nationally recognized archeological site located on the Texas southern High Plains on the north side of the city of Lubbock. The location has been the subject of intense investigations by archaeologists since 1939. Paul H. Carlson, a noted author and professor of history at Texas Tech University, states that his purpose was to go back through what John McPhee called "deep time" to show how the Lubbock Lake location was formed and was used by humans through time. He accomplishes this in five chapters.

Review of 'Pictures Bring Us Messages' / Sinaakssiiksi aohtsimaahpihkookiyaawa: Photographs and Histories from the Kainai Nation by Alison K. Brown and Laura Peers with members of the Kainai Nation

In August 1925, University of Oxford anthropologist Beatrice Blackwood spent two days on the Blood Reserve in southern Alberta, home to the Kainai Nation. Assisted by the Indian Agent, she toured the reserve and took 33 photographs. Blackwood was investigating potential links among "race," culture, and environment, and some of her photographs were anthropometric in nature. Others, showing men working in fields or girls at residential school, portrayed a culture in transition. Upon her return to Britain, Blackwood deposited the Kainai photographs with Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum.

Review of Laws and Societies in the Canadian Prairie West, 1670-1940 Edited by Louis A. Knafla and Jonathan Swainger

For all intents and purposes, the settlement of the Canadian prairie was the founding of a new society using materials brought to the new land along with those close at hand. Of course, preexisting aboriginal society had to be supplanted in the course of this founding. In both the supplanting and the founding, the rule of law as we currently know it was a principal means and end of the settlement process.

The Turkish Drawbridge: European Integration and the Cultural Economics of National Planning

This article examines the relations between the Turkish State Planning Organisation (SPO) and the Western economic system during the first two decades of national planning in Turkey (1960–1980). It traces how the SPO, established with the guidance and full endorsement of international economic institutions came to vehemently oppose Turkish participation in one of their pillars: the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union. It argues that the shift in the SPO's world-view was founded upon two distinct understandings of the Turkish nation and its development, situates these understandings within the intellectual history of Turkey's past ambivalence towards the West, and, in doing so, provides a historical case-study of the ideological clash between modernisation and dependency theories of development.

Transnational Marriage: Modern Imaginings, Relational Realignments, and Persistent Inequalities

In the context of shifting cultural anchors as well as unstable global economic conditions, new practices of intimacy and sexuality may become tactics in an individual’s negotiation of conflicting desires and potentials. This article offers reflection on the interface between global forces, powerful transcultural narratives, and state policies, on the one hand, and local, even individual, constructions and tactics in regard to sexuality, marriage, migration, and work, on the other. The article focuses on the life trajectory of Gudiya, an ambitious young Hindu woman who started out life with little social capital and few economic resources in a dusty corner of what was then the tiny kingdom of Nepal. Gudiya’s story highlights the ways in which she has engaged in relational realignments aimed at bringing her closer to the life she imagines, even as she has encountered new and persistent forms of inequality both local and transnational in scale.

Human Capital Decisions and Employee Satisfaction at Selected Hotels in India

Understanding the role of human capital is one of the key considerations in delivering and sustaining competitiveness. Managing employees in the hospitality industry is particularly a challenging task as the industry is considered to be labor intensive. High turnover and increasing employee demands are among the problems that are identified as threats to maintaining a strong competitive position. Successful hotels attempt to retain their best employees in an effort to adapt to changing environments and increased competition. Effective hotel human resource systems can produce positive outcomes, through effective employee retention strategies that focus on work force motivation, attitudes and perception. The positive implementation of these strategies can influence and create employee satisfaction. This study aims to focus on the relationship between the mediating variables of motivation, attitudes, perception and their effect on employee satisfaction. These findings are based upon an extensive survey carried out between April 2009 and June 2009 in the small mountainous state of Uttarakhand, located within the Indian sub-continent. Although the area of study is confined to the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, the authors contend that the findings and implications can be applied to other remote developing tourist destinations in other regions.

Growth of U.S. Ecotourism and Its Future in the 1990s

Ecotourism, a new term for low-impact nature travel, is receiving increasing attention. The author has researched the development of the U.S. ecotourism market from 1980-1989 in order to obtain data on the growth of this market segment. Factors involved in the growth of the U.S. ecotourism market are then examined in order to project the growth of this maeket during the 1990's.

Identity and Conflict: PKK vs. Turkey (1984-Present)

This paper offers a causal analysis of the conflict between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkey that has been ongoing since 1984. The history of Kurdish politics in Turkey is investigated in order to uncover the conflict’s causes. The conflict’s origins in the Turkish state’s refusal to recognize Kurdish identity and its forced attempts to assimilate Kurds into Turkish society are examined. Other causal factors such as the political turmoil of the decades prior to the conflict’s initiation, the involvement of the student youth in politics, the rise of the PKK, and the interrelationships between the causal factors are also analyzed. Further discussion on the conflict’s influence on sociopolitical and interstate motivations and how the causes of this conflict compare with other conflicts is provided.

An analysis of Venezuela's foreign policy during the period of the Betancourt doctrine and Caldera's ideological pluralism

This thesis examines the foreign policy of Venezuela during the period of the Betancourt Doctrine (1945-1948 and 1959-1963), and Caldera's Ideological Pluralism (1969-1973). The study seeks to determine whether, and to what extent the pursuit of political and economic interests and ideology determined Venezuela's foreign policy. Based on primary and secondary sources, this study examines political economy and ideology and how these affected the outcome of Venezuela's foreign policy. The major finding of this thesis is that Venezuelan foreign policy was a pragmatic one but it was rationalized within an ideological framework. In fact, Venezuela was most concerned in pursuing its domestic economic and political interests but these were hidden behind an ideological facade.

Oman's foreign policy : foundations and practice

The object of this dissertation is to record and analyze the foreign policy of the Sultanate of Oman from the early twentieth century until 2004. It challenges the central assumption of the contemporary scholarship on the subject that Muscat's modern foreign policy begins in 1970. It is often presumed that the pre-1970 era does not merit a thorough investigation to understand Muscat's modus operandi today. This study argues that for a comprehensive understanding of Muscat's foreign policy since 1970, the frontier of the historical analysis of Oman's regional and international involvement should be pushed back to the 1930's, when the young Sultan Said assumed power over the country divided by the "Treaty" or the "Agreement" of Sib. Indeed, the thrust of this research lies at once in repudiating the conventional wisdom regarding both the persona of Sultan Said and the customary political/historical narrative of Said's reign. The critical analysis of this period is utilized to rebut the pervasive and largely inaccurate historical narrative of the events prior to 1970, to recount an original interpretation of the period, and to use the narrative as a preamble for subsequent foreign policy directions and initiatives. Furthermore, this dissertation covers the gaps in the literature resulting from the absence of any materials that either record or analyze Muscat's foreign policy from 1996 until 2004. In addition, his study provides new information and a fresh analysis of the international relations of the region, including great power rivalry, especially the competition between the United States and Great Britain, and the attitudes of major regional actors, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. The use of a thorough historical inquiry is vital to support the central claim of this dissertation; therefore, a large section of this dissertation is based almost exclusively on archival materials collected from the British Public Records Office, the University of Oxford and the Library of Congress. This project represents the most comprehensive use of archival materials on the subject matter to date.

The impact of the changing weaving industry on the culture and socioeconomic development of maya women in Guatemala

Growing demand for handwoven Maya textiles from Guatemala parallels recent international fascination with Maya civilization. This thesis surveys the effects of increases in demands for artisan textiles in Guatemala, and explores the reactions of women involved in Aj Quen, a weavers' association. The hypothesis is that the well-being of Maya women depends on their participation in the association. This is tested by using indicators of the weavers' attitudes defined as their "well-being" regarding 1) health, 2) education levels, 3) child care practices, and 4) economic stability. Interviews were conducted with 127 Maya women. Data were documented, providing a crucial missing link in the current literature of "women in Guatemala." The results of this study yield baseline data demonstrating that health and child care practices are not directly related to women's participation in the association. Their education levels increased as a direct result of working with the association, as did economic stability, although less consistently.

Comparison of Linear Functions in Middle Grades Textbooks from Singapore and the United States

Many U.S. students do not perform well on mathematics assessments with respect to algebra topics such as linear functions, a building-block for other functions. Poor achievement of U.S. middle school students in this topic is a problem. U.S. eighth graders have had average mathematics scores on international comparison tests such as Third International Mathematics Science Study, later known as Trends in Mathematics and Science Study, (TIMSS)-1995, -99, -03, while Singapore students have had highest average scores. U.S. eighth grade average mathematics scores improved on TIMMS-2007 and held steady onTIMMS-2011. Results from national assessments, PISA 2009 and 2012 and National Assessment of Educational Progress of 2007, 2009, and 2013, showed a lack of proficiency in algebra. Results of curriculum studies involving nations in TIMSS suggest that elementary textbooks in high-scoring countries were different than elementary textbooks and middle grades texts were different with respect to general features in the U.S. The purpose of this study was to compare treatments of linear functions in Singapore and U.S. middle grades mathematics textbooks. Results revealed features currently in textbooks. Findings should be valuable to constituencies who wish to improve U.S. mathematics achievement. Portions of eight Singapore and nine U.S. middle school student texts pertaining to linear functions were compared with respect to 22 features in three categories: (a) background features, (b) general features of problems, and (c) specific characterizations of problem practices, problem-solving competency types, and transfer of representation. Features were coded using a codebook developed by the researcher. Tallies and percentages were reported. Welch's t-tests and chi-square tests were used, respectively, to determine whether texts differed significantly for the features and if codes were independent of country. U.S. and Singapore textbooks differed in page appearance and number of pages, problems, and images. Texts were similar in problem appearance. Differences in problems related to assessment of conceptual learning. U.S. texts contained more problems requiring (a) use of definitions, (b) single computation, (c) interpreting, and (d) multiple responses. These differences may stem from cultural differences seen in attitudes toward education. Future studies should focus on density of page, spiral approach, and multiple response problems.