Russia and the World Trade Organization: Will TRIPS Be a Stumbling Block to Accession?

Arbetet som presenteras i denna rapport har utförts på R1K, vilket är en avdelning på Rönnskärsverken, som är en del av New Bolidens koncern. 2007 byggdes ett nytt gassystem med ett flertal nya komponenter. Till detta gassystem fanns bristande information om hur dessa komponenter fungerar och hänger ihop. Detta examensjobb har till syfte att skapa en funktionsbeskrivning i form av en lättläst operatörsmanual, för nya och erfarna operatörer. Informationen till funktionsbeskrivningen har kompilerats från tillverkarmanualer, konstruktionsritningar, informationspärmar, intervjuer samt ABB styrsystem. Bilder har tagits och redigerats, för att ge en illustrativ överblick av fluider och gasers väg genom gassystemet och dess kringutrustning. Information och bilder har sedan sammanställts i en funktionsbeskrivning (Se bilaga 1).The study which is presented in this report has been carried out at R1K, which is a section of the Rönnskär smelter plant. The plant is owned by New Boliden. In the year of 2007 a new gas system containing several new components were built. The operators that were in charge of monitoring the new system were not given sufficient education about the new components and their part in the system as whole. The purpose of this study is to create a function functional description about the system and all its components. The functional description is to be presented in the form of an easy-to-use manual for both experienced and new operators. The manual has been compiled from manufacturer manuals, construction blueprints, scattered operator manuals, knowledge of the ABB operator-system and interviews with various employees. To give the operators and the readers a good visual overview of all the different gas and fluid flows in the system pictures have been taken. All this have been compiled into the operator manual that is the functional description. (See attachment 1)

Drug Markets, Fringe Markets, and the Lessons of Hamsterdam

The Wire is the greatest television series of all-time. Not only that, it is the most important. One of the most memorable story arcs from The Wire’s five seasons is the rise and fall of Hamsterdam—a quasi-legalized drug zone in West Baltimore. Stories are powerful teaching tools because they marry information and context. By seeing how the application of law affects characters we know and care about, we become more attune to the potential effects of legal decisions in the real world. The story of Hamsterdam—which is essentially an attempt to transform a black market into a fringe market—presents just such an opportunity. When considering the various dimensions of the fringe economy, life in Hamsterdam imparts three critical insights: (1) Markets arise wherever there exists market demand. Drug dealers exist because sufficient numbers of people desire to use drugs. When one drug dealer in The Wire is taken off the streets through incarceration or death, another drug dealer readily takes his place. Similarly, the fringe economy exists because enough people perceive a need for the services it offers. And where there is demand, there is supply. The lasting lesson is that the fringe economy is going to exist whether we like it or not. (2) Legalization and regulation, not prohibition, represent the best method for controlling the negative externalities of fringe markets. A key aspect of the Hamsterdam covenant between the police and the drug dealers centers on its mutuality of promises. The police promise immunity for all dealing within Hamsterdam’s confines; the dealers agree not to deal anywhere else. In essence, the dealers consent to submit to regulation in exchange for legalization. Prohibition, conversely, precludes this type of agreement because it drives drug dealers and others who trade in outlawed goods into the shadows away from law’s light. Black markets inevitably fill the void created by these outright legal bans, transforming a regulatory problem into a law enforcement problem. A rise in violence necessarily follows, as the suppliers of black market goods become responsible for enforcing their own norms in law’s absence. The lesson for policymakers is that regulating a fringe economy can often induce better behavior from questionable economic actors than the alternative of policing an underground economy. (3) Mustering the political will to provide legal sanction to the fringe economy is a difficult, if not impossible, task. Hamsterdam fails because Baltimore’s politicians fear that embracing its success will lead to electoral defeat. Regulation is a tool of nuance; prohibition is a blunt instrument. Even though the former promotes the greater good, voters better understand the latter. The Wire teaches that this reality presents a structural impediment to genuine reform. In a political world where courage is in short supply, the possibility of real change is illusory. The lesson is that innovative thinking in handling the problems created by the fringe and underground economies will likely meet significant resistance at the point of implementation. Good ideas will remain untested, and long-term problems will continue unaddressed

In Defense of Affirmative Action

Affirmative action can be a remedy for specific past discrimination. This is the kind of affirmative action that is embodied in settlements or judgments. However, affirmative action can also be general. In this sense, it is used not as a remedy for specific past discrimination, but rather to promote diversity

The Retention of Collegiate Athletes as Minority Students and Future Teachers: A Case Study

Today much attention is given to the recruitment of collegiate athletes, generally for the purpose of building strong athletic programs. Rarely is this recruitment seen as a possible means to boost affirmative action efforts to increase the number of minority students on our college campuses, or to assist in attracting minorities into professions in need of minorities, such as teaching. This paper presents a case study which outlines some concerns and problems as seen from the perspective of the coordinator of advisement services in a college of education at a large south-central university. This person serves as the advisor of approximately 45 collegiate athletes, many of whom are minority students contemplating careers in teaching. The problems fall into two basic categories: (a) the retention of minority collegiate athletes, and (b) the recruitment and retention of minority future teachers. Some possible solutions to these problems are outlined in the form of strategies for effective academic advisement, and possible means to dispel myths contributing to the low academic achievement of black athletes

Black Parent Advocacy and Educational Success: Lessons Learned on the Use of Voice and Engagement

“The opportunity is there, this is what I think of when I think of role models, I think of my experience” (Anthony—a participant in this study—commenting on the effectiveness of advocating for his child). Black children encounter racism in American schools and parents need to advocate for them. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how Black parents developed and used their voice to advocate for their children in a predominantly White educational system with a history of racially disparate outcomes. Particularly, this study drew on the experiences of 15 participants, two men—one was a grandfather—and 13 women, whose children had successful outcomes in graduating from high school and going on to post-secondary education. The findings reflect Black parents’ understanding of the need to advocate to support their child’s success in getting through school: all related incidents of discrimination where they needed to speak up on behalf of their child in response to inequitable treatment within the educational system including in the classroom, participating in extracurricular activities, and in access to resources. Parents facilitated their use of voice on behalf of their children by cultivating engagement with the school, getting to know teachers and administrators, and being involved in their children’s activities, making sure they were seen to make sure they would be heard when needed. Most parents in the study recalled role models in their own families as inspirations for their sense of voice in countering experiences of racism. These participants urged other Black parents to be involved and speak up for their children, and to connect with and draw on the social support of other Black parents of children in school. These findings suggest that as we continue to work to address systemic racism disadvantaging the most vulnerable of our community, our children, parental voice by individuals and within the Black community contributes to getting heard at the educational decision-making table and producing positive educational outcomes for these students