Business Rules on Trial: Exploring hindrances in validation of Natural Language Business Rules

The ability for organizations to respond to change has become ever more important in today's rapidly changing macro environment. The Business Rules Approach, a relatively new Information Systems Development methodology, promises business agility through the focus on and use of Business Rules. Business Rules are to be stated in natural language, so that they can be accessed and validated by people without technical experience. The easy validation of Business Rules by non-technical business users is a fundamental, but largely untested, claim and assumption in the Business Rules Approach. This thesis employs an experiment where eight librarian business experts were exposed to natural language Business Rules in order to find out if any problems arise when the said business experts attempted validation. The data was collected by conducting interviews in conjunction with the experiment, resulting in the conclusion that there were no major hindrances to validation of natural language Business Rules. The business experts in the study were able to go beyond validation of Business Rules by correcting erroneous Business Rules, suggesting corrections to Business Rules and in rare cases suggest structural changes to Business Rules

Etiology of eating disorders within a learned helplessness model of depression

This thesis is an attempt to parallel characteristics of anorexia (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN: with those of depressive disorder in order to re-frame the etiology and progression of these eating disorders within a learned helplessness model of depression. In their 1993 publication, Seligman and his colleagues (Peterson, Maier, & Seligman) address the significance of the learned helpless theory in a contemporary society: -- Learned helplessness is an important theory for the present because those of us in the Western world seem to be living in an era in which personal control is an overarching issue. We are also wary of the future. Because this incredible emphasis on personal control has its costs. We argue that the epidemic of depression among young adults represents a disorder of personal control. Generally speaking, the incredible selfishness of the American people can be phrased in terms of personal control (p. 307). -- It is proposed that the anorexic and the bulimic patients' symptomatology is rooted in a loss of a sense of control and of mastery, which can be traced to antecedent events. Consequently, these events or situations result in the eating-disordered patients' feeling helpless, powerless, and not in control of circumstances affecting their lives. These feelings ultimately lead to a persistent negative affective state frequently reported in eating-disordered patients. It is suggested that the depressive state is attributable to learned helplessness depression as initially defined by Seligman (1975). The eating-disordered patient thwarts depressive feelings by focussing on her body, more specifically her weight. The patient seeks control over the only perceivably controllable aspect of her life, her weight. The thesis is presented in two parts: Part 1 is a literature review. It provides background information which examines existing research in order to elicit core themes and commonalities that parallel learned helplessness depression with AN and BN. Included is the proposed learned helplessness model of AN and BN. Part 2 is a proposal for empirical research to explore the relationship among three constructs: depression, hopelessness, and locus of control, in a clinically diagnosed eating-disordered population compared to a non-clinical, gender and age-matched student population

Nuyoricans

Die Dissertation ist ein Beitrag zur Debatte um die Revision des amerikanistischen Lektürekanons. Ihre drei Schwerpunkte sind die Geschichte und Mythologie der Karibikinsel Puerto Rico, die soziale Lage und das Image der Puertoricaner in den USA sowie die auf Englisch erschienene Erzählliteratur von Autoren puertoricanischer Herkunft. (1) Die spanische Kolonie Puerto Rico kam 1898 in den Besitz der USA und erlebte in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts einen rasanten ökonomischen Aufstieg, der mit wachsender Abhängigkeit vom amerikanischen Wohlfahrtsstaat erkauft ist. In freien Referenden bejahte jeweils eine knappe Mehrheit den Zwitterstatus ihrer Insel, die bis heute weder ein Staat der USA noch ein souveränes Land ist. Da jedoch der Kongress in Washington über die Zukunft des Commonwealth of Puerto Rico zu bestimmen hat, bleibt die Insel eine Kolonie der USA. Puerto Ricos Mythologie ist von Stereotypen geprägt, die sich zu einem negativen Klischee vom Nationalcharakter des Landes verdichtet haben. Die amerikanische Dominanz in Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur verstärkt die von vielen beklagte Schizophrenie Puerto Ricos. Die Chance einer Lösung des puertoricanischen Syndroms verspricht nur die nationale Unabhängigkeit. (2) Stereotype bestimmen auch das Bild von den übergesiedelten Puertoricanern, den Nuyoricans, in der Öffentlichkeit der USA. Das Negativimage der kaum assimilierten Gruppe wird von den Massenmedien verfestigt, obwohl seriöse Studien zeigen, dass frühere Immigranten ähnliche Probleme mit sich brachten. Die Mehrheit der US-Experten propagiert nach wie vor die allmähliche Assimilation der Übersiedler im Rahmen eines kulturellen Pluralismus. Bei den Puertoricanern geht der Trend seit dem Aufkommen des Multikulturalismus in Richtung einer hybriden, bikulturellen Identität, in ein Wort gefasst mit dem Begriff Nuyorican. Die Dissertation bietet eine Auswertung der auf Englisch erschienenen Literatur über die Puertoricaner in den USA unter 15 Aspekten: Kultur, Religion, Bildung, Sprache, Politik, Arbeit, welfare, Wohnverhältnisse, ethnicity, race, class, gender, Familie, Law and order und Migration. Am Beispiel von belletristischen Texten, Spielfilmen und Musicals wird gezeigt, dass die Puertoricaner in diesen Genres größtenteils wohlwollend dargestellt erscheinen. Das gilt auch für das Musical West Side Story, dem viele Kritiker zu Unrecht vorwerfen, die puertoricanischen Jugendlichen als Gangster zu stigmatisieren. (3) Die puertoricanische Prosa in englischer Sprache hat im Kanon der amerikanischen Literatur und in der Kritik bisher kaum eine Rolle gespielt. Vor allem die zahlreichen Neuerscheinungen der achtziger und neunziger Jahre werden hier erstmals auf historisch-soziologischer Basis analysiert. Allgemeine Trends der neueren Nuyorican-Literatur sind ihre Diversifizierung und Feminisierung. Größere Vielfalt gibt es heute bei den Schauplätzen, den Textsorten und den Themen. Das Thema gender steht nicht nur bei den Frauen, sondern auch bei männlichen Autoren oft im Mittelpunkt. Von den Autoren, die New York zum Schauplatz gewählt haben, ist Abraham Rodriguez, Jr. der bedeutendste. Rodriguez erzählt von Teenagern in der South Bronx, deren puertoricanische Ethnizität kein bestimmender Faktor mehr ist. So ist er der am weitesten amerikanisierte Autor der Nuyoricans. Die überzeugendste Interpretation des Migrationsprozesses bietet Esmeralda Santiago. Bei ihr steht die Kritik am traditionellen puertoricanischen Sexismus im Zentrum. Eine feministische Grundtendenz haben auch die in Puerto Rico angesiedelten, zum Teil magisch-realistischen Werke von Rosario Ferré. Die besten Werke von Rodriguez, Santiago, Ferré und weiteren Puertoricanern verdienen Anerkennung als wertvoller und zukunftweisender Beitrag zur amerikanischen Literatur.The thesis contributes to the debate about the revision of the American literary canon. Its first focus is on the history and mythology of Puerto Rico, the second on the social situation and image of the Puerto Ricans in the U.S., and the third on the prose literature by authors of Puerto Rican descent published in English. (1) The Spanish colony of Puerto Rico became a possession of the U.S. in 1898 and experienced a rapid economic rise in the second half of the 20th century, at the expence of growing dependence on the American welfare state. In free referendums the people of Puerto Rico have so far condoned the intermediate status of their island, which still is neither a state of the union nor an independent nation. But in fact the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico remains a colony of the U.S., as the real power to decide about its status lies with Congress. Puerto Rico's mythology has from the start been dominated by stereotypes, which have resulted in a negative cliché of its national character. The United States' political, economic and cultural hegemony has reinforced the alleged schizophrenic state of Puerto Rico. The only chance of healing this Puerto Rican syndrome is the island's national independence. (2) Stereotypes have also determined the image in the American public of the Puerto Ricans who have migrated to the mainland. The bad reputation of this hardly assimilated group is constantly being confirmed by the mass media, although serious studies prove that earlier immigrants had similar problems. Most U.S. experts still advocate the migrants' gradual assimilitation according to the ideal of cultural pluralism. Since the rise of multiculturalism, within the U.S. Puerto Rican community the trend has been going towards a hybrid, bicultural, Nuyorican identity. The dissertation assesses the literature about Puerto Ricans in the U.S. published in English from 15 key aspects: culture, religion, education, language, politics, work, welfare, housing, ethnicity, race, class, gender, family, law and order und migration. A critical look at books, movies and musicals by non-Puerto Ricans shows that in these genres migrants from Puerto Rico have by and large been portrayed benevolenty. This is true even for the musical West Side Story, which has often been wrongly blamed for stigmatizing Puerto Rican youngsters as gangsters. (3) Puerto Rican prose literature in English has so far played little role in the American canon and in criticism. This thesis offers the first analysis of the many new volumes from the eighties and nineties on a socio-historical basis. The overall trends of recent Nuyorican literature are its diversification und feminization. There is a greater diversity of settings, text types and themes. Gender is a central issue not only with the women, but also with a number of male authors. Of those writers who take New York as the setting, Abraham Rodriguez, Jr. is the most important. Rodriguez's books are about teenagers in the South Bronx whose Puerto Rican ethnicity is no crucial factor any more. Thus he is the most Americanised author among the Nuyoricans. The most convincing interpretation of the migratory process is Esmeralda Santiago's. Her main thrust is against the Puerto Rican tradition of sexism. The works of Rosario Ferré, some told in magic realism and all set in Puerto Rico, also have a feminist tendency. The best books by Rodriguez, Santiago, Ferré and a few more Puerto Ricans deserve to be recognised as a valuable and visionary contribution to American literature