Too Many Bad Cooks Spoiling the Broth? Effectiveness of NGOs in Addressing Child Labour in El Salvador

The reaction of the first world to the persevering plight of a large part of the third world varies. In response to the sometimes glaring disparities, many international organizations and multinational corporations have recently adopted a pro-development rhetoric with relation to the problem of global poverty. However, the rhetoric rarely translates into action. As David Bacon discusses, leaders of corporations and organizations now tend to conclude their speeches by expressing a desire to reduce the suffering of the third world. However, when it comes to agreeing on specific concessions that could indeed improve the world-wide economic situation, first world countries are reluctant to act. A good example of this type of behavior is the current negotiation of the WTO, the “development round of Doha,” in which the United States along with the European Union pressure countries of the developing South to open up their markets, while at the same time refusing to remove or even decrease their own agricultural subsidies. The first world civil society observes the behavior of international organizations and western based multinational corporations as ineffectual. Taking the matter in its own hands, especially in the past couple of decades, this civil society has created a countless number of development-oriented nongovernmental organizations. These are supposed to compensate for the lack of action by international organizations. Development NGOs are believed to be more locally responsive as well as free of business or political considerations in choosing their strategies, and thus generally more efficient than IOs. However, if they really were how they are alleged to be, the problems of the third world would already be ameliorated by a significant amount, if not completely eradicated. Do development-NGOs indeed possess the characteristics that they claim to possess? What is their real affect on human rights? And how effective are they in their work?

Ethics in a capitalistic society

The problem of semantics is inherent in any discussion of ethics. The general term "ethics" is itself commonly confused. In addition, systems of ethics must be built upon assumptions, and assumptions are necessarily subject to lengthy debate. These two problems are encountered in my investigation of the ethical practices of the modern business community and to remedy the situation I have taken two steps: the first being an attempt to clarify the meaning of terms used therein;-and the second being a clear description of the assumptions utilized to further my analysis. To satisfy those who would disagree with these assumptions, I have attempted to outline the consequences of differing premises. The first assumption in my discussion is that the capitalistic economy is powered by the motivation supplied by man's self-interest. We are conditioned to basing our courses of action upon an orientation toward gratifying this self-interest. Careers are chosen by blending aptitude, interest, and remuneration. of course, some people are less materially inclined than others, but the average member of our capitalistic society is concerned with the physical rewards derived from his employment. Status and happiness are all-important considerations in pursuing a chosen course of action, yet all too often they are measured in physical terms. The normal self-interest natural to mankind is heightened in capitalism, due to the emphasis placed upon material compensation. Our thinking becomes mechanistic as life devolves into a complex game played by the rules. We are accustomed to performing meaningless or unpleasant duties to fulfill our gratifications. Thought, consequently, interferes with the completion of our everyday routines. We learn quickly not to be outspoken, as the outspoken one threatens the security of his fellow man. The majority of the people are quite willing to accept others views on morality, and indeed this is the sensible thing to do as one does not risk his own neck. The unfortunate consequence of this situation has been the substitution of the legal and jural for the moral and ethical. Our actions are guided by legal considerations and nowhere has this been more evident than in the business community. The large legal departments of modern corporations devote full time to inspecting the legality of corporate actions. The business community has become preoccupied with the law, yet this is necessarily so. Complex, modern, capitalistic society demands an elaborate framework of rules and regulations. Without this framework it would be impossible to have an orderly economy, to say nothing of protecting the best interests of the people. However, the inherent complexities, contradictions, and sometimes unfair aspects of our legal system can tempt men to take things into their own hands. From time to time cases arise where men have broken laws while acting in good faith, and other cases where men have been extremely unethical without being illegal. Examples such as these foster the growth of cynicism, and generally create an antagonistic attitude toward the law on the part of business. My second assumption is that the public, on the whole, has adopted an apathetic attitude toward business morality. when faced with an ethical problem, far too many people choose to cynically assume that, if I don't do it someone else will. "The danger of such an assumption lies in that it eliminates many of the inhibitions that normally would preclude unethical action. The preventative factor in contemplating an unethical act not only lies in it going against the "right course of action", but also in that it would display the actor as one of the few, immoral practitioners. However, if the contemplator feels that many other people follow the same course of action, he would not feel himself to be so conspicuous. These two assumptions underly my entire discussion of modern business ethics., and in my judgment are the two most important causal factors in unethical acts perpetrated by the business community. The future elimination of these factors seems improbable, if not futile, yet there is no reason to consider things worse than they ever have been before. The heightened public interest in business morality undoubtedly lies in part in the fact that examples of corporate malpractice are of such magnitude in scope, and hence more newsworthy.

Kenneth Schweiger Congratulates at a Student at a New York Trade School Commencement Ceremony

A student is shown on stage shaking hands with Kenneth Schweiger, a New York Trade School administrator and receiving an award at a commencement ceremony for the New York Trade School. Photograph is black and white.

Student receiving diploma at New York Trade School Commencement Ceremony

A student is shown on stage shaking hands with an administrator at a New York Trade School commencement ceremony. A diploma can be seen in his left hand. Black and white photograph with some damage from folding in upper right hand corner.

Student Receiving Award at a New York Trade School Commencement Ceremony

Bernard Rosenstadt, an administrator at the New York Trade School, hands an award to a student at the school's 1957 commencement ceremony. Black and white photograph.

The Value of Using Interns in the Academic Library

Graduate programs in library and information science programs provide strong theoretical foundations in information systems, library organization, library history, management, collection management to support user needs, reference, information literacy instruction, and specialized information resources. While practical course projects create approximations of professional librarianship, the best hands-on learning experiences include work-based learning through internship placements in actual libraries. Internships immerse students in valuable hands-on practical work in real-workd settings. Internships also learn from the interns' perspectives on library processes and challenges, while also providing library professionals with enriching opportunities to mentor library students and convey knowledge to future generations of professionals.

Speculative attacks on debts and optimum currency area: a welfare analysis

Traditionally the issue of an optimum currency area is based on the theoretical underpinnings developed in the 1960s by McKinnon [13], Kenen [12] and mainly Mundell [14], who is concerned with the benefits of lowering transaction costs vis-à- vis adjustments to asymmetrical shocks. Recently, this theme has been reappraised with new aspects included in the analysis, such as: incomplete markets, credibility of monetary policy and seigniorage, among others. For instance, Neumeyer [15] develops a general equilibrium model with incomplete asset markets and shows that a monetary union is desirable when the welfare gains of eliminating the exchange rate volatility are greater than the cost of reducing the number of currencies to hedge against risks. In this paper, we also resort to a general equilibrium model to evaluate financial aspects of an optimum currency area. Our focus is to appraise the welfare of a country heavily dependent on foreign capital that may suffer a speculative attack on its public debt. The welfare analysis uses as reference the self-fulfilling debt crisis model of Cole and Kehoe ([6], [7] and [8]), which is employed here to represent dollarization. Under this regime, the national government has no control over its monetary policy, the total public debt is denominated in dollars and it is in the hands of international bankers. To describe a country that is a member of a currency union, we modify the original Cole-Kehoe model by including public debt denominated in common currency, only purchased by national consumers. According to this rule, the member countries regain some influence over the monetary policy decision, which is, however, dependent on majority voting. We show that for specific levels of dollar debt, to create inflation tax on common-currency debt in order to avoid an external default is more desirable than to suspend its payment, which is the only choice available for a dollarized economy when foreign creditors decide not to renew their loans.

Incompatibilidade distributiva e desenvolvimento auto-sustentado

Effective macroeconomic stability and sustained economic growth will only be achieved in Brazil when the country settles the distributive inconsistency that arose in the 1970s. Since then the state and the nation started to incur respectively in high domestic and foreign debt. Wages grew at much slower rate than productivity, and income concentrated in the hands of business entrepreneurs and particularly of rentiers. Sheer populist practices, or disguised combination of neo-liberal and neopopulist policies were unable to address the problem. Budget deficits and high inflation, or exchange rate overvaluation and financial crises were the typical outcome. To settle distributive inconsistency by compensating in the short term workers for their income losses is not realistic. Only a consistent growth strategy and a credible commitment to share future growth benefits, combined with active social policies oriented to the poor, will do the job.

A construção do Centro de Memória da Serrinha

Este trabalho apresenta, um panorama sobre os cerca de 100 anos de formação dasfavelas cariocas e especificamente sobre o Morro da Serrinha, em Madureira, zonanorte da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, observando a lacuna que existe quanto àpreservação de suas memórias e a importância em se reverter esta situação. Apesquisa é centrada na preservação do Jongo, ritmo trazido de Angola pelos negrosbantos e que foi tombado pelo Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, em2005, como o primeiro Bem Imaterial do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. A comunidade daSerrinha a mantém a prática cultural do jongo vivo na cidade do Rio de Janeiro.A proposta é a de criação e implementação do Centro de Memória da Serrinha, emfase de implantação, onde funcionará uma escola-museu para 60 jovens. Através deoficinas técnicas de vídeo, fotografia e áudio, serão produzidos novos registros sobre ahistória local bem como reunidos documentos e obras que se encontram espalhadoscom produtores externos à comunidade e disponibilizados ao público na biblioteca doCentro, bem como no site do Grupo Cultural Jongo da Serrinha.

Estudo clínico e bioquímico de 28 pacientes com mucopolissacaridose tipo VI

Realizamos um estudo observacional de pacientes com mucopolissacaridose tipo VI, com o objetivo de determinar o perfil epidemiológico, clínico e bioquímico de um grupo de pacientes sul-americanos a fim de contribuir em estudos futuros de correlação genótipo-fenótipo e de avaliação de protocolos clínicos. Os critérios de inclusão foram: ter 4 anos ou mais e confirmação bioquímica da doença (níveis reduzidos da atividade da ARSB, aumento de GAGs urinários e atividade normal de outra sulfatase). Os critérios de exclusão foram: terapia com reposição enzimática atual ou prévia ou ter realizado transplante de medula óssea. Foram avaliados 28 pacientes por anamnese, exame físico, acocardiograma, eletrocardiograma, avaliação oftalmológica, medidas de glicosaminoglicanos urinários e da atividade da N-acetilgalactosamina-4-sulfatase em leucócitos. A amostra estudada tinha 92,9% de brasileiros, sendo 53,8% da região sudeste. No momento da avaliação, a média de idade foi de 97,1 meses e a média de idade ao diagnóstico foram de 48,4 meses. Em 88% da amostra os sintomas iniciaram com menos de 36 meses e em 27% das famílias houve relato de consangüinidade entre os pais. A média de peso e estatura ao nascimento foi de 3481 gramas e 51,3 centímetros, respectivamente. Da amostra, 57,1% nasceram de parto vaginal. Todos apresentavam alguma alteração ecocardiográfica, bem como opacificação corneana. As manifestações clínicas mais freqüentes foram: baixa estatura, opacificação corneana, facies grosseira, contraturas articulares e mãos em garra. A média da atividade enzimática em leucócitos foi de 5,4 nmoles/h x mg proteína e a excreção urinária de glicosaminoglicanos foi, em média, 7,9 vezes superior ao normal. O número de manifestações clínicas citadas não apresentou correlação significativa com a idade, com a excreção urinária de GAGs ou com a atividade enzimática em leucócitos. Também não houve correlação significativa entre a excreção urinária de GAGS e a atividade enzimática. Concluímos que a MPS VI é uma patologia com alta morbidade e que, comparados com a literatura, os pacientes da nossa amostra têm um diagnóstico tardio e maior freqüência de alterações cardiológicas.

O impacto de reestruturação e privatização na gestão integrada do setor de energia elétrica: análise do setor a partir da abordagem de redes

The Brazilian energetic sector is passing through deep transformations. The restructure is mainly characterized by the passage from a vertical and centrally coordinated system, in hands of the State, to a more horizontal one, with characteristics of a network, in which organizations, such as the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL), the new regulator entity, the Wholesaler Market of Electric Energy (MAE), the National Operator of Electric System (ONS), Eletrobrás and the National Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES) are designated as the principals integrators of the system. The objective of the present work was to analyze the influence of the privatization and restructuring processes in the integration of the Brazilian system of electric energy. The analysis was based on the instruments offered by the network approach. The results of the research show that the Brazilian sector of electric energy cannot be considered as a highly integrated network. In this new horizontal configuration, the social actors are affirming its roles, functions and objectives, while the key-organization like ANEEL, ONS, MAE, Eletrobrás, and BNDES are being structured to strengthen its integrative role.

Desafios para a formação de parcerias no serviço creche da secretaria da assistência social da PMSP

Analisa os vínculos estabelecidos entre a Secretaria de Assistência Social da PMSP e algumas Entidades Sociais para a prestação do serviço creche. Investigou-se o campo da Assistência Social e o da relação entre a esfera pública estatal e a esfera privada, sem fins lucrativos, na provisão de serviços públicos. A partir de revisão bibliográfica, de pesquisa documental e de estudo de casos, dando voz a todos que se relacionam no convênio, definiu-se parcerias como sendo relações substantivas que implicam corresponsabilidades, compartilhamento de valores e comprometimentos. Analisou-se duas creches diretas, duas conveniadas e duas indiretas, (e as respectivas Entidades Sociais), além da SAS Regional de IQ/G e SAS Central. Foram escolhidas as creches que obtiveram avaliação positiva quanto ao seu desempenho e alcance de resultados. Considerou-se que tanto os serviços prestados de forma direta quanto os conveniados podem ter qualidade e sucesso no alcance de seus objetivos, sendo necessário, em qualquer das modalidades, ter presente aspectos como: transparência nas ações, diálogos permanentes, clarificação de papéis e competências, responsabilização e compromissos com causas e com acordos. Justificam-se os serviços conveniados em razão das questões conjunturais hoje postas, e da responsabilização por parte de toda uma sociedade no enfrentamento da questão social. Justificam-se os serviços diretos pela necessidade vital da afirmação do papel do Estado na provisão de serviços públicos para garantia de serviços de forma continuada com vistas à universalização. Indicou-se, como desafio a necessidade de rever a forma como estão se dando os vínculos entre os agentes estudados, na direção do estabelecimento de parcerias, bem como o desafio da apropriação da condução da política pública pelos órgãos de assistência social, consolidando como esfera pública não-estatal a ação das Entidades Sociais.

Chasing patents

We examine the problem faced by a company that wishes to purchase patents in the hands of two di¤erent patent owners. Complementarity of these patents in the production process of the company is a prime e¢ciency reason for them being owned (or licenced) by the company. We show that this very same complementarity can lead to patent owners behaving strategically in bargaining, and delaying their sale to the company. When the company is highly leveraged, such ine¢cient delay is limited. Comparative statics results are also obtained. Relevant applications include assembly of patents for drug treatments from the human genome, and land assembly.

Agressão no futebol

o presente tema - "Agressão no jogo de futebol” - teve primeiramente como objetivo investigar o problema da agressão no esporte popular brasileiro. Assim sendo o trabalho oferece uma visão introdutória, exploratória e descritiva dos aspectos principais com relação ao problema. Desta forma a análise está ligada a várias opiniões e posições que já foram expressas por um número de autores, e esta nossa análise está intimamente ligada a tudo que já foi publicado sobre este tema. Contudo, apresentamos uma ligeira inovação, uma contribuição muito especial. Ao dissertarmos de uma maneira, a mais clara possível, nos limitamos num ponto especifico que é o de vivermos a realidade do jogo de futebol. Cuidadosamente, conduzimos o tema principal do trabalho em direção ao papel fundamental dos dirigentes, treinadores, médicos desportistas, juizes de campo, preparadores físicos, advogados desportistas e psicólogos. Em suma, nós conduzimos nossa atenção ,para as pessoas diretamente envolvidas com a prática do esporte em geral na sociedade contemporânea, assim como da luta para combater os problemas cria dos pela agressão, aspecto particularmente relevante para os jogadores de futebol em situações de forte competição. Na segunda parte do trabalho, nós tivemos a oportunidade de fazer alguns contatos diretos 'e pessoais com vários jogadores conhecidos do futebol no Brasil, assim como outros tipos de profissionais que lidam com este esporte. Podemos dizer, que tal ordem de contatos foi desenvolvida através de, várias observações não só na hora dos treinos, mas também durante um número de jogos eliminatórios (finais), juntamente com algumas entrevistas individuais que depois eles concederam. Quando todas as peças foram colocadas nos próprios lugares é que o quadro ficou mais completo, expondo os fatores mútuos e interativos nos jogos. Falando de maneira geral, o modelo de melhor compreensão proposto para este trabalho foi detalhado de forma que pode ser baseado na observação direta da pesquisa de campo mas com um número especifico de dados para este tipo de· pesquisa, cujos principais objetivos foram as simples situações corriqueiras (significatiyas). Com este material, em nossas mãos, nós pudemos reformular algumas questões vitais que poderiam enriquecer o dia-a-dia da psicologia neste campo de conhecimento. Sem dúvida, essa ênfase atual da questão da agressão - e um problema crescente. O significado do combate a agressão não é fácil, digamos, de enquadrar numa simples elaboração de palavras. Na pesquisa que fizemos a conclusão é de que a agressão deve ser combatida desde muito cedo nos estágios das "escolas de futebol".