The Social Justice and Societal Impact of Public Programs in House Museums

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Television satire, decmocracy and the decay of public language: John Clarke's verbal caricature

This paper examines the contributions of John Clarke to the field of political satire through his interviews with straight-man Bryan Dawe on ABC TV’s The 7.30 Report. Clarke’s work represents one of the last vestiges of what was once a vigorous satiric tradition in TV comedy, specifically the practice of political caricature. There was The Mavis Bramston Show in the 1960s and The Naked Vicar Show in the 1970s, while The Gillies Report in the 1980s was probably the best example of sustained political caricature in television comedy. Even in later sketch-based shows such as Fast Forward and The Late Show in the early 1990s, political caricature was a significant component of the material, whereas it seems to have all but disappeared from current television comedy. The paper investigates the disappearance of this type of comedy from Australian television screens and also discusses why the longevity, consistency, not to mention accuracy, of Clarke’s satire is so important in the current political climate. Clarke’s political caricature is almost entirely language-based, expertly parodying the spin-doctored rhetoric of our elected representatives and business leaders. This leads to a secondary focus of the paper, which is a discussion of Clarke’s unique form of satire in the context of what an historian (and former satirist) identifies as ‘the decay of public language’.

West (side) and south (front) elevations, public housing, Cotton Tree Housing Estate, Maroochydore

This pilot project at Cotton Tree, Maroochydore, on two adjacent, linear parcels of land has one of the properties privately owned while the other is owned by the public housing authority. Both owners commissioned Lindsay and Kerry Clare to design housing for their separate needs which enabled the two projects to be governed by a single planning and design strategy. This entailed the realignment of the dividing boundary to form two approximately square blocks which made possible the retention of an important stand of mature paperbark trees and gave each block a more useful street frontage. The scheme provides seven two-bedroom units and one single-bedroom unit as the private component, with six single-bedroom units, three two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units forming the public housing. The dwellings are deployed as an interlaced mat of freestanding blocks, car courts, courtyard gardens, patios and decks. The key distinction between the public and private parts of the scheme is the pooling of the car parking spaces in the public housing to create a shared courtyard. The housing climbs to three storeys on its southern edge and falls to a single storey on the north-western corner. This enables all units and the principal private outdoor spaces to have a northern orientation. The interiors of both the public and private units are skilfully arranged to take full advantage of views, light and breeze.

West German bank advertising and the East German public:a study in intercultural advertising communication

In the wake of German unification, initial advertising by many West German companies in the new federal states (the former German Democratic Republic - GDR) proved largely ineffective and many advertisers were forced to change their approach to this new market. The advertising task proved even more complicated for banks, because banking existed only at the most basic level in the former GDR. Furthermore, under the old regime, "capitalist" banks represented the very antithesis of the GDR's founding ideology. This analysis of advertising by West German banks - in particular Dresdner Bank - in the new federal states brings together elements of discourse and communication theory, particularly Relevance Theory [Sperber and Wilson 1986], with the overall objective of designing a model of intercultural advertising communication. A series of simple association tasks based on texts from pre-Wende advertisements was completed by a sample of advertisees (as they are called in the study) in Leipzig. The research shows the lack of relevance between the advertiser's understanding of concepts such as "credit", "bank" etc. and the associations which these concepts have for the sample of advertisees. Further analysis reveals that this lack of relevance occurs because advertisers and advertisees assign differing contexts to these concepts when they communicate through advertising. The study concludes that these different contexts, governed by the contrasting ideological, economic and linguistic environments of the advertisers and advertisees, interfere with the effective communication of the advertising message.

Follow the money:the Audit Commission, Public Money and the Management of Public Services, 1983-2008, Duncan Campbell-Smith

Book review: Duncan Campbell-Smith. Allen Lane, 2008, 744 pp., £ 25 (hb), ISBN: 9781846140686

The early career researcher's toolkit:translating tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and cell therapy products

Although the importance of translation for the development of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and cell-based therapies is widely recognized, the process of translation is less well understood. This is particularly the case among some early career researchers who may not appreciate the intricacies of translational research or make decisions early in development which later hinders effective translation. Based on our own research and experiences as early career researchers involved in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine translation, we discuss common pitfalls associated with translational research, providing practical solutions and important considerations which will aid process and product development. Suggestions range from effective project management, consideration of key manufacturing, clinical and regulatory matters and means of exploiting research for successful commercialization.

A Public-Private Partnership vélt és valós hangsúlyai Magyarországon = Assumed and actual emphases of Public-Private Partnership in Hungary

Írásunk a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) magyarországi megvalósulásának hangsúlyairól szól. Azt vizsgáljuk, hogy a szakmai közvélemény milyen képet alakíthatott ki e projektekről a szaksajtó olvasásán keresztül. Három tágabb elvi szempont sajtóbeli megjelenésének súlyát elemezzük: a PPP céljai, a feladatok hatékonyabb elvégzésének módja, illetve a társadalmi kontroll megvalósulása áll érdeklődésünk középpontjában. A tartalomelemzés matematikai-statisztikai módszereit alkalmazzuk. Következtetésünk, hogy a PPP-projektek általában még nem elvi lényegük szerint valósultak meg Magyarországon, bár az évek során érzékelhető pozitív irányú elmozdulás: tanulási folyamat történik. Ennek alapján nem szabad a PPP-t mint módszert elvetni a közfeladatok ellátásában, hanem alkalmazási módjának tökéletesítésére kell törekedni. = This working paper focuses on the perceptions of the Hungarian implementation of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. It was examined how PPP was perceived in the wider public through the communication of the most read daily and weekly business journals. We analyzed the proportion of three broad aspects in the articles: the main goals of PPP, efficiency improvement as a substantial opportunity for value creation, and the role of democratic control. We applied the mathematical-statistical methods of content analysis. Our conclusion is that PPP-projects in Hungary are far from the normative model of implementation as discerned from literature, but from year to year a positive shift, a learning process can be observed. Therefore, instead of discarding PPP as a progressive government solution, Hungary should focus on improving the design and implementation of PPP projects.

A közbeszerzés jogi és hatékonysági aspektusai (The legal and efficiency aspects of public procurement)

A közpénzelköltés hatékonyságát hazai viszonylatban az éves közpénzköltés nagyságával és az alkalmazott eljárástípusok, beszerzési tárgyak számával, értékével kapcsolatosan van lehetősége a hivatalos statisztikák elemzése során az érdeklődőnek vizsgálni. A törvény preambulumában található „a közpénzek ésszerű felhasználása átláthatóságának és széles körű nyilvános ellenőrizhetőségének megteremtése, továbbá a közbeszerzések során a verseny tisztaságának biztosítása” célrendszer csak részben érvényesül. A tanulmány arra kíván rávilágítani, hogy a hazai közbeszerzés-kutatás eredményei alapján milyen elképzelés van a GDP közel 5%-án hatékony elköltéséről Magyarországon. Vajon valódi akadálya-e a közbeszerzés a tisztességtelen versenynek, s elősegíti-e a piaci folyamatok érvényesülését annak szabályozása. A szerző válaszai rávilágítanak a közbeszerzési piaci folyamatok, gyengeségek, kevésbé hatékony megnyilvánulások és kritikus vélemények okaira, melyek közvetlen kapcsolatban vannak a közbeszerzés válságos helyzetével, s azonosítják azokat a kritikus pontokat, melyeken érdemes változtatni egy reménybeli hatékonyabb állapot, piaci egyensúlyi helyzet kialakítása érdekében. _______ The analysis of public spending can be based on official statistics showing the figures of annual public spending and the value and number of different procedures and purchased items. However, public procurement spending an annual amount of 1600-1800 billion HUF of public money in an ever changing legal environment, are intended to ensure not only some efficiency in public spending, but to reach several other aims as well. Although the preamble of the public procurement law states, that “a legal environment ought to be created, where the transparency and public accountability of spending public money and fair competition regarding public procurement procedures is ensured”, these requirements are only partially met. This study, based on the results of recent analyses concerning public procurement, wishes to represent our ideas about how to spend efficiently nearly 5% of the Hungarian GDP. Is it really true, that public procurement can be regarded as a genuine means against unfair competition, and can we really foster market processes by regulating public procurement? The author answers highlight the causes of the weaknesses of public procurement procedures, inefficient practices and critical opinions, which are closely connected to the present dire state of public procurement. This study also identifies the crucial elements to be changed in order to achieve a hopefully more efficient state and a preferable market balance.

Kultúra és teljesítmény a közigazgatásban (Culture and performance in the public administration)

A szerző dolgozatában egy közigazgatásban végzett kérdőíves vizsgálat eredményeit összegezi. A kutatás alapkérdése: a közigazgatási szervezetek körében hogyan befolyásolja a szervezeti kultúra a szervezeti teljesítményt? A kutatás e kérdést egy hat magyar minisztériumban folytatott kérdőíves vizsgálat révén kísérli meg megválaszolni. ____ In his study the author presents the results of a questionnaire survey of the Hungarian public administration. The main issue of this survey was how to influence the organizational culture the organizational performance in the public administration? This survey would try to answer this issue.

The relationship between job structure, burnout, and coping methods among public school county bus drivers, bus aides, mechanics, and clerical workers

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the structure of jobs and burnout, and to assess to what extent, if any this relationship was moderated by individual coping methods. This study was supported by the Karasek's (1998) Job Demand-Control-Support theory of work stress as well as Maslach and Leiter's (1993) theory of burnout. Coping was examined as a moderator based on the conceptualization of Lazarus and Folkman (1984). ^ Two overall overarching questions framed this study: (a) what is the relationship between job structure, as operationalized by job title, and burnout across different occupations in support services in a large municipal school district? and (b) To what extent do individual differences in coping methods moderate this relationship? ^ This study was a cross-sectional study of county public school bus drivers, bus aides, mechanics, and clerical workers (N = 253) at three bus depot locations within the same district using validated survey instruments for data collection. Hypotheses were tested using simultaneous regression analyses. ^ Findings indicated that there were statistically significant and relevant relationships among the variables of interest; job demands, job control, burnout, and ways of coping. There was a relationship between job title and physical job demands. There was no evidence to support a relationship between job title and psychological demands. Furthermore, there was a relationship between physical demands, emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment; key indicators of burnout. ^ Results showed significant correlations between individual ways of coping as a moderator between job structure, operationalized by job title, and individual employee burnout adding empirical evidence to the occupational stress literature. Based on the findings, there are implications for theory, research, and practice. For theory and research, the findings suggest the importance of incorporating transactional models in the study of occupational stress. In the area of practice, the findings highlight the importance of enriching jobs, increasing job control, and providing individual-level training related to stress reduction.^