THE HARMONIOUS CONCLUSIONS OF PEONY PAVILION & THE LUTE

This thesis explores the harmonious endings of two different Chinese plays The Lute and Peony Pavilion. The harmonious conclusions reflect unique aspects of Chinese culture such as Confucian ethics and norms. The analysis of these harmonious conclusions provides a further analysis of the text throughout the plays. The happy endings do not occur without strife. The conflict found in the plays is examined to demonstrate the factors that lead to the transformation from conflict to harmony

Complex conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Good governance a prerequisite of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) peacebuilding

Since the 1950s, theories of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have developed alongside the increasing power of globalised business. International stakeholders, from the United Nations to everyday consumers, have identifi ed business ethics as a way to mitigate the destructive commercial practices that exacerbate confl ict in the developing world. Ethical business initiatives have peacebuilding potential; however, the discussion should cede that poor governance constrains this private sector ability. Information communication technology (ICT) companies have perpetuated confl ict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its surrounding areas by purchasing minerals that fi nance armed groups. Ultimately, predominant lobbies who claim that CSR policies and ethical boycotts will cut rebel funding and therefore bring an end to the turmoil in the Great Lakes region of Africa are overlooking the confl ict’s complex roots. The success of CSR peacebuilding in the DRC is predicated on good governance and cross-sector collaboration.African Journal on Conflict Resolution, Volume 13, Number 1, 201

A Derivative in Need: Rescuing U.S. Security-Based Swaps from the Race to the Bottom

Over the past 30 years, the development and proliferation of new financial instruments has provided investors with fresh and innovative methods to gain exposure to foreign markets, hedge investments, and capitalize on speculation opportunities. These “derivatives” have increased the interconnectedness of investors all over the globe, and in particular, the derivative known as the “security-based swap” has facilitated cross-border investments that were previously impracticable, yet greatly sought after. These financial advancements came at a price, however, and in 2007 and 2008, a lack of regulation over derivatives that led to a global financial crisis and spurred a widespread public desire for increased scrutiny over derivatives and those who use them. The United States responded by enacting the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which, among other things, established a new regulatory framework for derivatives, including security-based swaps. In the United States today, developments in both the legislative and judicial arenas following Dodd-Frank have come to a head, and the synergy between the two has resulted in an environment that is hostile to investors in security-based swaps. The result is a shift of these investments out of the United States and into foreign, less regulated markets, which thereby preserves the type of risks that Dodd-Frank was intended to mitigate. This note explains the benefits of security-based swaps while tracking these legislative and judicial developments, and it suggests a two-pronged solution for encouraging security-based swap investment within the United States while guarding against systemic financial risk. First, it calls for the abandonment of the economic reality test used by a court in the Southern District of New York as a means of evaluating the applicability of U.S. securities laws to actions involving derivatives. Second, it urges global coordination of financial regulatory regimes. Together these changes will afford U.S. security-based swap investors the ability to avail themselves of U.S. securities laws without the need for governmental intervention, while also establishing a baseline, blanket level of global financial regulation that will safeguard against systemic risk

A model-trust region algorithm utilizing a quadratic interpolant

AbstractA new model-trust region algorithm for problems in unconstrained optimization and nonlinear equations utilizing a quadratic interpolant for step selection is presented and analyzed. This is offered as an alternative to the piecewise-linear interpolant employed in the widely used “double dogleg” step selection strategy. After the new step selection algorithm has been presented, we offer a summary, with proofs, of its desirable mathematical properties. Numerical results illustrating the efficacy of this new approach are presented

A Derivative in Need: Rescuing U.S. Security-Based Swaps from the Race to the Bottom

Over the past 30 years, the development and proliferation of new financial instruments has provided investors with fresh and innovative methods to gain exposure to foreign markets, hedge investments, and capitalize on speculation opportunities. These “derivatives” have increased the interconnectedness of investors all over the globe, and in particular, the derivative known as the “security-based swap” has facilitated cross-border investments that were previously impracticable, yet greatly sought after. These financial advancements came at a price, however, and in 2007 and 2008, a lack of regulation over derivatives that led to a global financial crisis and spurred a widespread public desire for increased scrutiny over derivatives and those who use them. The United States responded by enacting the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which, among other things, established a new regulatory framework for derivatives, including security-based swaps. In the United States today, developments in both the legislative and judicial arenas following Dodd-Frank have come to a head, and the synergy between the two has resulted in an environment that is hostile to investors in security-based swaps. The result is a shift of these investments out of the United States and into foreign, less regulated markets, which thereby preserves the type of risks that Dodd-Frank was intended to mitigate. This note explains the benefits of security-based swaps while tracking these legislative and judicial developments, and it suggests a two-pronged solution for encouraging security-based swap investment within the United States while guarding against systemic financial risk. First, it calls for the abandonment of the economic reality test used by a court in the Southern District of New York as a means of evaluating the applicability of U.S. securities laws to actions involving derivatives. Second, it urges global coordination of financial regulatory regimes. Together these changes will afford U.S. security-based swap investors the ability to avail themselves of U.S. securities laws without the need for governmental intervention, while also establishing a baseline, blanket level of global financial regulation that will safeguard against systemic risk

University of Northern Colorado: Collaborate. Standardize. Grow

Chapter 38 in the book Hidden Architectures of Information Literacy Programs: Structures, Practices, and Contexts edited by Carolyn Caffrey Gardner, Elizabeth Galoozis, and Rebecca Halpern. The chapter provides an overview of University Libraries Information Literacy and Undergraduate Support department and discussed the importance of standardizing one-shot curriculum in order to grow a robust information literacy program

Tools for Tutoring Theoretical Computer Science Topics

This thesis introduces COMPLEXITY TUTOR, a tutoring system to assist in learning abstract proof-based topics, which has been specifically targeted towards the population of computer science students studying theoretical computer science. Existing literature has shown tremendous educational benefits produced by active learning techniques, student-centered pedagogy, gamification and intelligent tutoring systems. However, previously, there had been almost no research on adapting these ideas to the domain of theoretical computer science. As a population, computer science students receive immediate feedback from compilers and debuggers, but receive no similar level of guidance for theoretical coursework. One hypothesis of this thesis is that immediate feedback while working on theoretical problems would be particularly well-received by students, and this hypothesis has been supported by the feedback of students who used the system. This thesis makes several contributions to the field. It provides assistance for teaching proof construction in theoretical computer science. A second contribution is a framework that can be readily adapted to many other domains with abstract mathematical content. Exercises can be constructed in natural language and instructors with limited programming knowledge can quickly develop new subject material for COMPLEXITY TUTOR. A third contribution is a platform for writing algorithms in Python code that has been integrated into this framework, for constructive proofs in computer science. A fourth contribution is development of an interactive environment that uses a novel graphical puzzle-like platform and gamification ideas to teach proof concepts. The learning curve for students is reduced, in comparison to other systems that use a formal language or complex interface. A multi-semester evaluation of 101 computer science students using COMPLEXITY TUTOR was conducted. An additional 98 students participated in the study as part of control groups. COMPLEXITY TUTOR was used to help students learn the topics of NP-completeness in algorithms classes and prepositional logic proofs in discrete math classes. Since this is the first significant study of using a computerized tutoring system in theoretical computer science, results from the study not only provide evidence to support the suitability of using tutoring systems in theoretical computer science, but also provide insights for future research directions

Information Literacy Mini-Study Grading Criteria

The mini study is a 3-part assignment for original data creation, summation, and visualization. This is sample grading criteria for assignments I, II, and III for use with The Mini-Study Assignment suite in ACRL\u27s data literacy cookbook