秋阳·创巴活佛对于藏传佛教西方传播的贡献

2014年是秋阳·创巴活佛圆寂二十七周年。他是二十世纪以来将藏传佛教佛法传播至西方世界的开拓性重要人物。他非凡的人生经历和佛法教导内容,至今仍在塑造并影响藏传佛教全球化的发展传播。     

Markets or networks: Households’ choice of financial intermediary in Western China

We argue that households’ choice of financial intermediary is conditioned by households’ social network structures and socioeconomic status. Analyses show that households’ social network size and network composition affect their choices by limiting the quality and quantity of information, resources, and social influence one can access through social ties. Moreover, we find that high-SES families favor formal intermediaries due not only to their richer financial knowledge, higher affordability, and greater capacity to repay loans, but also to their high demands and special types of financial needs that can hardly be satisfied by embedded resources.     

Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Detainee Rights at Guantanamo Bay: A Community Structure Approach

A community structure analysis compared community characteristics and coverage of detainee rights and Guantanamo Bay in leading newspapers in 28 major cities nationwide, sampling all relevant 250+ word articles from September 12, 2001, to September 11, 2012. The resulting 359 articles were coded for “prominence” and “direction,” then combined into a “Media Vector” score for each newspaper (range = .6034 to ?.2500). About four out of five (82%) newspapers supported detainee rights. Stakeholder and buffer clusters were important. Pearson correlations revealed that stakeholders (the proportions and concerns of which are expected to be reflected in media coverage) were significant, with percentage of Mainline Protestant (r = .550, p = .001) linked to favorable media coverage of detainee rights and percentage of age 65 and older (r = ?.321, p = .048) linked to unfavorable coverage. The buffer hypothesis (associating higher proportions of privileged groups with coverage receptive to human rights claims) was also confirmed, with percentage of college educated correlating with favorable coverage (r = .409, p = .015). Regression analysis yielded two significant variables—percentage Mainline Protestant, 33%, and percentage professional/technical occupational status (another “buffer” measure), 27%, totaling 59.9%, both linked to favorable coverage. Unexpectedly, the Midwest displayed more media support for detainee rights than any other region of the United States.     

An examination of social work interventions for use with displaced Iraqi households in Jordan

The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine how models of social work intervention are being used with displaced Iraqi households in Jordan. The review of the situation of displaced Iraqis in Jordan identifies the size, characteristics and experiences of this group, Jordanian government policies towards them, and the role of IGOs and NGOs dealing with them. The literature review of social work interventions with refugees internationally identifies a range of psycho-social and community-based intervention models that are contextual, some of which include spiritual dimensions. The paper reviews social work interventions in use with Iraqi households in Jordan and concludes that these need to be focused at the individual, household and community levels using an inter-professional, holistic approach that includes spiritual dimensions, and that coordination between agencies is essential.     

Information security governance: pending legal responsibilities of non-executive boards

The study shows that a structural conflict of interest in non-executive boards exists due to missing corporate governance structures and a lack of awareness for legal issues with regard to information security risks. Non-executive boards receive information on strategic security threats as a part of their oversight function to fulfill investor interest in transparency. At the same time, they act as representatives of company stakeholders and have an interest to counteract to information security risks based on the stakeholder’s risk disposition. If not properly structured by corporate governance rules, these different interests may lead to regulatory aberrations on non-executive board level. The study analyses a Deutsche Telekom AG case where non-executive board members, employees, and journalists fell victim to a spying scandal subject to the German telecommunications secrecy law in 2005–2006. The analysis demonstrates how the handling of information security on non-executive board level bears governance risks as well as legal risks that are insufficiently addressed in corporate governance research. The paper contributes to avoid a reproduction of events in the future, by suggesting the principle of a segregation of duties on non-executive boards as well as providing an overview of relevant legislative requirements that clarify tasks of non-executive board members with regard to information security. The study therefore helps protecting corporations and their stakeholders from similar consequences of missing corporate security governance.     

Dual class shares,board of directors’ effectiveness and firm’s market value: an empirical study

This study aims to identify whether a relationship exists between the controlling shareholders’ voting power and outside directors’ effectiveness in maximizing firms’ financial performance. We analyze a panel data with 3057 observations for the 2000–2012 period using a random effects model, logit and probit regressions, and the two-stage model of Heckman in the Brazilian stock market. Our findings show that firms whose controlling shareholders use dual class shares to leverage their voting power have less independence from the board and worse financial performance and market value. Further, the percentage of outside directors tends to be ineffective in increasing the firm’s value, and in changing the firm’s chief executive officer (CEO) when (1) the controlling shareholder’s voting power is leveraged, or (2) when the CEO assumes a position on the board of directors simultaneously. We interpreted that these results are in line with the arguments in favor of the existence of a new agency cost, which is related to the undue obedience of board members to authority, such as the largest controlling shareholder or the CEO in Brazilian listed firms.     

云南民俗旅游的休闲化特征研究

当选择旅游作为一种休闲方式已成为比较普遍的行为时,云南民俗旅游成为休闲市场中的热点。然而关键的问题是,如何提高人的文化素养、审美情趣、感受能力和鉴赏眼光,让出门旅游成为人们融于自然、理解文化、感受文明、陶冶性情的一种综合的休闲方式。将休闲旅游变成社会文明的一份动力,已经成为时代的需要。这就需要对云南民俗旅游的休闲化特征及其功能进行以调查为基础的理论分析,以完善民俗旅游的休闲化发展。     

树立发展性评价理念 改进高校教师考评工作

高校教师绩效考核是评定与促进教师工作业绩、提高高等教育质量的主要措施。我国高校教师绩效考评已取得很大成就的同时,也存在着不少问题,最大的问题就是现行的评价制度是一种奖惩性评价而非发展性评价。高校教师绩效考核必需坚持在以人为本的科学发展观指导下,实行发展性教师评价,并把着眼点放在教师自身的专业发展和素质的提高上,促进学生、教师和学校的共同发展。