Prehispanic water pressure: A New World first

Ancient cultures have a wide range of water control management techniques, each associated with a particular purpose, including water for consumption, agriculture, flood control, drought relief, and rituals (Scarborough, 2003). One technique that has received limited archaeological attention is the purposeful creation of water pressure to perform useful work. Perhaps the earliest such example was found on the island of Crete in a Minoan palace and dates as early as 1400 BC. Terracotta pipe segments with graded diameter reductions were used to create fountains (Evans, 1921–1935). Although gravity and the weight of water are the most efficient means of generating water pressure in a closed conduit, natural conditions (climate, geology, topographic slope, etc.) that might lead to the construction of water pressure systems are less clear. Here we show that the Classic Maya (AD 250–600) constructed a water pressure system with the potential to control the flow of water within an urban area. By burying a conduit along a steep ephemeral channel passing through a residential group, upland springs could be diverted to build pressure in the conduit to provide a dry-season supply of water. Up to 6 m of hydraulic head could have been recovered to lift water from the pressurized conduit to a point of use. Water pressure systems were previously thought to have entered the New World with the arrival of the Spanish. Yet, archaeological data, seasonal climate conditions, geomorphic setting, and simple hydraulic theory clearly show that the Maya of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico had empirical knowledge of closed channel water pressure predating the arrival of Europeans.     

New radiometric dating of water management features at the prehistoric Purrón Dam Complex,Tehuacán Valley,Puebla, México

Recent investigations at the prehistoric Purrón Dam Complex in the Tehuacán Valley of southern Puebla, México applied radiometric dating to more securely date the complex. Ceramic-based dating in the 1960′s placed the Dam's origin to the Formative Period. While Formative Period origins are widely accepted, the chronology lacks resolution and direct dates. Samples from impounded sediments behind the dam and from prehistoric canal fill were dated through Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) as well as both standard ¹⁴C and accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) assays. These samples directly date the functioning of the water management features within the complex. The results confirm the Formative Period origins of the Purrón Dam, and offer new insights into the construction and functioning of the dam and irrigation system.     

Stable nitrogen isotopic examination of Norse sites in the Western settlement of Greenland

To continue to explore the impact of past human activity on the stable nitrogen isotope ratios of modern vegetation, we have measured the δ¹⁵N values of plants now growing on several ancient farmsteads in the Western Settlement of Norse Greenland. Although this new test area is some 400 km north and in a different ecoregion from the previous study area, the same isotopic effect was observed. A clear isotopic signature was found on the ancient farms which could be directly correlated to past activity areas; in particular, the infields. Further, the magnitude of the δ¹⁵N values was found to be similar between study areas, indicating the same interpretative framework can be applied in widely separate geographic regions. A first test of different plant species showed that although the magnitude differed greatly the same basic information was found for functionally different plants. These observations provide additional information to aid in future archaeological application of this newly observed phenomenon.     

新公共管理对官僚制是摒弃还是扬弃——基于制度层面的思考

新公共管理是20世纪70年代以后西方各国先后开展的以“企业家政府”为理论模型、以市场化运作模式和私营部门的管理为研究方法、以提高政府工作效率为目的的一项改革运动。新公共管理对政府流程再造的初期的确发挥了一定的作用,提高了行政效率,但是仍然无法改变官僚制的人事制度。新公共管理所提出的私营部门的管理方法,只是对官僚制的修正与补充,是对官僚制的扬弃,而不是摒弃。     

信息时代下图书馆服务与管理模式创新

信息时代下图书馆正面临着一次全方位、多层面的重大变革,传统服务功能正逐渐被削弱,图书馆必须实现服务与管理模式的转变。文章认为,要实现图书馆服务与管理模式转变必须从五个方面做起,即要树立"以人为本"的观念,实现人本管理;要建立"一站式"管理模式;要实现以藏为中心向以开发利用为中心的转变;要注重人力资源管理;要重塑网络环境条件下的信息服务流程及人员培训。     

提高咨询参谋能力 推进服务型政府建设

文章就如何发挥好青海省行政管理学会的作用提出三点要求：第一,明确目标,把学会办成青海省行政管理体制改革方面的创新型、开放性、高水平的学术团体。第二,突出青海特色,深化对行政管理重大理论和实践问题的研究。第三,加强自身建设,全面提高学会工作能力和水平。     

Assessing Representation at Different Scales of Decision Making: Rethinking Local is Better

The nature and quality of representation in public participation is crucial to reaching acceptable environmental decisions that can be implemented. Ten case studies of natural resource management groups involved in agriculture in south western Australia were conducted at four spatial scales—state, regional, land conservation district (shire or county), and subcatchment. Qualitative analysis identified the desirable qualities of representatives, and then compared perceptions of current practice at the four scales against these ideals. Desirable qualities were being an active participant, competency (skills and knowledge), credibility, adopting the group identity and commitment, communicating outside the group, having established social networks, and an ability to function in multiple roles. Analysis across scales suggests that for groups at broader spatial scales of organizing, such as the state level, representation was closer to achieving the desired qualities than at other scales. This finding is contrary to much of the current rhetoric in natural resource management, and environmental management more generally, that "local is better." The article concludes with some thoughts as to why this is the case, suggesting that the success or otherwise of representation, and the public participation in which representatives are involved, is influenced not only by the scale of decision making but also by how representatives are selected and what they are expected to achieve.     

日韩现代管理思想中的儒家文化因素

中国传统的儒家文化对日本和韩国有着极其重要的影响,从而形成了以中国为中心的“儒家文化圈”。日本和韩国在现代化进程中很好地继承和发扬了儒家文化,日韩现代企业的权威管理模式,恰恰是通过对中国儒家文化的扬弃以及与西方文化的对接,从而形成了日韩现代管理思想。在日本和韩国的现代化进程中,中国儒家传统文化在其崛起的进程中已经并将继续发挥不可替代的作用。面对全球化的挑战,必须要提高认识,保护东亚地区的“原生态文化”。     

RETHINKING THE BUILDING BLOCKS: ONTOLOGICAL PLURALISM AND THE IDEA OF 'MANAGEMENT'

ABSTRACT. The persistence of indigenous ontologies rooted in human systems that pre-date the creation of colonial property rights and assertions of frontier conquest and dispossession unsettles the dominant idea that 'management' is an unproblematic and universally endorsed goal for communities, regions and nations in their environmental and development discourses. This paper argues that conceptual building blocks which render management, be it of environments, economies or people, as unquestionably good, need to be reconsidered. Drawing on diverse indigenous knowledges in Australia, particularly in relation to wildlife management, the paper examines the hidden cultural specificity of management, planning, institutional strengthening and capacity building as well as their implicit silencing of alternative narratives of the economic, environmental and cultural dimensions of social life.     

False,cheap and degraded: when history,economy and environment collided at Cades Cove,Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park was created in 1934 after decades of popular activism. The National Park Service initially planned to restore wildness to all formerly settled lands through the process of secondary succession, but did not in a valley in the northwest corner of the park, Cades Cove. Transforming the 1200-ha agricultural setting into forest would have eliminated the visual charm highly prized by the tourists who had long come there. Additionally, experts promoted the preservation of Cades Cove's historic–cultural landscape because they falsely perceived the local culture to be a relic of the past. The Park Service acceded, but its commitment to historic preservation was tempered by a concern to minimize its expenses. Consequently, an agricultural permit system was adopted in 1945, which allowed modern farmers to operate on the historic landscape, keeping it open. This cheap method kept open the beautiful vistas of Cades Cove. Unfortunately, the agency's commitment to beauty and economy led to decades of ecological degradation, including water pollution and species extirpation. Only in the last two decades, has park management moved away from its focus on a low-cost, attractive landscape to embrace one that is also ecologically healthy, and thus more sustainable.