Texas A&M International University: Research Information Online (RIO)
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Granat, M., Sepúlveda, L. y Garza, J. (Coords.) (2012) Comunicación. Convergencia digital y medios de comunicación. Monterrey: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León.
No full textReseña del texto de Granat, M., Sepúlveda, L. y Garza, J. (Coords.) (2012) Comunicación. Convergencia digital y medios de comunicación. Monterrey: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León
Representation type preferences in operational business process redesign: A quasi-experimental field investigation
No full textThis paper reports on a quasi-experimental field study in which business process redesign groups in four different US organizations used two different business process representation types. One of the representation types emphasized an activity flow (or workflow) view of business processes, which appears to currently be the most prevalent in actual operational-level business process redesign projects; the other emphasized a communication flow view. The study suggests that, contrary to assumptions likely underlying most of the current business process redesign practice, communication flow-oriented representations of business processes are perceived by those involved in their redesign as significantly more useful in the following aspects than activity flow-oriented representations: identification of opportunities for process improvement, application of process redesign guidelines, visualization of process changes, and development of generic information technology solutions to implement new business processes. Important implications for managers and researchers stemming from these results are discussed
Looking back: Reasoning and metacognition with narrative texts
No full textThis study explored the abilities of 5th, 8th, and 10th graders, and College students to reason logically about what they read. Both students\u27 metacognitive behavior (looking back at previously read text) and their performance on logical deduction questions were recorded and analyzed in a reading task. Conditional logic premises and deductive questions were embedded in three narratives containing premise information that was factual (True Story), contrary to fact (False Story), or unverifiable via common world knowledge (Neutral Story). The texts and questions were presented one sentence at a time on a computer screen; participants controlled the presentation of sentences. For answering the questions, three response tasks were devised. One task (labeled Generate) required readers to generate their own logical conclusions in response to deduction questions. Two tasks (labeled Valid and Invalid) required readers to evaluate logically valid or logically invalid conclusions drawn by story characters in the texts. Students in early and late adolescence looked back more when asked to evaluate logical conclusions than when asked to generate conclusions on their own; College students\u27 lookback frequencies were not significantly affected by response task, but were greater overall than those of younger students. With conditional forms requiring an uncertainty response (Affirmed Consequent and Denied Antecedent), readers looked back more when evaluating logically invalid conclusions than when evaluating logically valid ones. Readers of all ages were more likely to agree with story characters\u27 (valid) uncertain conclusions with the AC and DA forms than they were to disagree with story characters\u27 (invalid) certain conclusions to these forms. Both lookback frequency and performance on logic questions were lowest when readers were required to reason from contrary to fact premises. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
The curandera as xicanista: Hybrid spirituality as a means of provoking social and political change
Get PDFThis thesis explores the suitability of Chicana feminists or Xicanistas modeling themselves on the figure of the curandera, a Mexican American folk healer whose treatments must be utilized as a means of bettering not only the lives of individuals but society as a whole. It discusses the curandera characters depicted in Ana Castillo’s So Far from God and Sandra Cisneros’ Caramelo Puro Cuento in order to present the need for curanderas to find a balance between the interests of the Self and of society. These curanderas’ failure to provoke and participate in social change limits their effectiveness as models for Chicana feminism. Furthermore, this thesis discusses two characters, Sofia and Celaya, who do not serve as official healers yet embody many curandera traits and practices and are successful in utilizing these methods as a means of revealing social injustices, both historical and contemporary, and advocating for and contributing to societal and political change. Finally, this thesis serves to define curandera writing—a form of magical realism that resists the dominant culture and attempts to heal societal ills—and to present Castillo and Cisneros as practitioners of this writing that fuses the political, the spiritual, and the literary
Candón Mena, J. (2013). Toma las calles, toma las redes. El Movimiento #15M en Internet. Andalucía: Atrapasueños
No full textReseña del texto de José Candón Mena (2013). Toma las calles, toma las redes. El Movimiento #15M en Internet. Andalucía: Atrapasueño
The Quest For a Transcendental Hero
Get PDFThis work begins by briefly exploring the historical, cultural, and economic factors springing up from the rise of scientific and economic materialism in the crux of capitalism. It is argued that the bourgeois value system strangled the possibility of heroic action in the public arena and thereby eliminated the poet’s ability to find a heroic figure in nineteenth century America. The focus is then shifted to the Transcendentalist movement (Emerson, Thoreau and Fuller), who fear the loss of the hero as the loss of inspiration for mankind and the loss of subject matter for poets. The works and ideas of Emerson are interpreted as an attempt at inspiring individuals in the public to step forth into the spotlight of Western society in the hopes of counteracting the trends and forces in modernity that render the metropolitan citizen ineffectual and complacent. Thoreau’s experiments in Walden and civil disobedience are examined in the light of early efforts to find venues of political action in the private life of the everyday man as a possibility for heroism. Fuller is sketched as the prototype for modernized vates or prophet as poet/hero. It is argued that Fuller brings to life the dual role of hero and poet via the social activism she attempted in her use of the press in order to make the public aware of the ills in society as a means of mobilization and serving as an apocryphal propaganda. The extent to which each individual succeeded and/or failed is also to be described
Las debilidades estratégicas de los grandes grupos españoles de comunicación y su viabilidad futura
No full textEl desarrollo de los grandes grupos de comunicación en España ha tenido como uno de sus principales ejes la implantación de estrategias de integración vertical, horizontal y multimedia, como una medida eficaz de obtener mayores sinergias y economías de escala y de protegerse también contra posibles agresiones de sus competidores, tanto internos como externos. Pero esta obsesión por la dimensión empresarial se ha desarrollado en un entorno económico desfavorable, y con una constante apelación a procesos de “apalancamiento financiero”, que han llevado a que los principales grupos españoles contraigan grandes deudas con el sector bancario. Todo ello, unido a una clara falta de pericia de sus directivos, ha propiciado decisiones empresariales que el paso del tiempo ha desvelado como erróneas, por cuanto han comprometido y están comprometiendo su viabilidad como grupos de comunicación o su absorción por otros conglomerados mediáticos.Palabras clave: Grupos de comunicación, grupos multimedia, concentración en medios de comunicación.AbstractThe development of large media groups in Spain since the late nineties has had as one of its main axes the development of strategies consisting of vertical and horizontal integration and multimedia as an effective measure to increase synergies and economies of scale and also to protect themselves against possible aggression from their competitors, both internal and external. But this obsession with the business dimension has been carried out in an unfavorable economic and financial environment, and with a constant appeal to leverage processes that have led to major Spanish groups to contract large debts in the financial sector. This, coupled with a distinct lack of expertise of its executives, has led business decisions that over time have revealed as erroneous because they have compromised and continue to compromise either their viability as media groups, or their absorption by other media conglomerates.Key Words: Media groups, Multimedia groups, media concentration
Sponsorship and shareholder value: A re-examination and extension
No full textA stream of studies investigates shareholder wealth effects of marketing investments into sport sponsorship properties. While research generally upholds a positive relationship between sponsorship agreements and shareholder wealth, the relationship remains unclear for several sponsorship categories. With more specific attention to research design issues, this paper replicates and extends prior research in two of these areas: official product and Olympic sponsorship announcements. This paper notes that inclusion of observations with potentially confounding events materially affects results reported by the original authors. The first study identifies a significant positive shareholder wealth effect associated with initial official product sponsorship announcement but not for renewal of such announcements. The second study resolves conflicting views from prior research regarding Olympic sponsorships. Although a negative overall relationship exists for sponsors of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the market\u27s negative view of costly, top-tier global sponsorships largely drives this result. © 2012 Elsevier Inc
Benefits of summer enrichment workshops for incoming college students in stem disciplines
No full textIt has been discovered that incoming college students need enrichment, support, and guidance in order to overcome the academic challenges ahead of them. Summer enrichment workshops certainly attempt to impact positively these students who plan to pursue programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This eventually benefits their ability to complete the programs, timely graduation, and as a result, colleges will also be able to maintain higher retention rates to accommodate growing need of skilled STEM workforce to meet the current demand of the country. This paper summarizes the details of one enrichment workshop series conducted past three summers holding three carefully planned workshops at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), Laredo, Texas, thanks to the US Department of Education grant to increase recruitment, retention, and graduation of a number of Hispanic and other minority students pursuing degrees in STEM fields at TAMIU
La construcción social de los problemas ambientales en la prensa de Veracruz
No full textEl presente trabajo indaga en las representaciones sociales que seis periódicos locales del estado de Veracruz construyen sobre el concepto de medio ambiente y los problemas ambientales, partiendo de la hipótesis del sociólogo José Luis Lezama, respecto a que la noción de “medio ambiente es un producto de la percepción y de la reflexión”, más que de la dimensión física del problema. Se advierte que la cobertura informativa en estos diarios coincide con los principales problemas del estado de Veracruz, como lo son los desechos sólidos (basura), el agua y la rehabilitación ambiental. Las notas generalmente se encuentran en páginas interiores (desestimando su relevancia) y los principales actores en estas notas son los alcaldes o autoridades municipales. Por lo general se confirma que los discursos que emite la prensa reproducen visiones específicas del acontecer sobre temas y problemas ambientales, condicionadas por las prácticas periodísticas y otros intereses políticos. Palabras clave: medios impresos, información ambiental, problemas ambientales, representaciones sociales, control de la comunicación AbstractThis paper identifies social representations of the environment and environmental problems constructed by six local newspapers in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, based on the hypotheses suggested by the sociologist José Luis Lezama, specifically with respect to the notion that the environment is a product of perception and reflection , more than a physical dimension of the problem. It is evident that the journalistic coverage in these newspapers coincides with the main problems faced by the state of Veracruz, including solid waste, water and environmental rehabilitation. News stories that address these topics are generally found in the newspapers’ interior pages (minimizing its relevance), and the main actors in these stories are mayors (or other municipal authorities). In general terms, it is confirmed that the newspaper’s discourse reproduce specific visions of events related to environmental topics and problems, which in turn are conditioned by journalistic practices and other political interests. Keywords: print media, environment information, environmental problems, social representations, communication contro