Published Article / Globally, tourism is increasingly referred to as the world's biggest industry. As tourism increases, so does consumer demand for quality. Superior customer service may be viewed as one of the most effective strategies for tourism destinations to create and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. The primary goals of this article are to:•Describe the current satisfaction levels of international and domestic tourists to the Sol Plaatje Municipal Area in terms of service quality; •Describe the perceptions and experiences of role-players in the local tourism industry regarding service excellence; and •Make recommendations to improve service quality in the Sol Plaatje area where applicable. The findings of this study revealed the following:•Although the majority of tourists (83.4% of domestic and 93.8% of international tourists) were generally satisfied with the service they received, there are specific areas requiring urgent attention for service levels to improve. •A large number of local role-players (50%+) representing the tourism industry in the region believe that service delivery must improve substantially within accommodation establishments, the transportation sector, restaurants (including coffee shops) and tourist attractions. The major contribution of the research study lies in the fact that the findings and recommendations will be beneficial to tourism stakeholders in their efforts to provide tourists with the best holiday and/or business experience at their respective tourist destinations.

This thesis presents the first empirical findings of processes of destudentification, using the case study of the university town of Loughborough, UK. Within the context of recent profound changes to higher education, studenthood and local housing markets, the study is timely since understandings of the processes of destudentification and population restructuring remain underdeveloped (Sage et al. 2012a: 600). The thesis advances knowledge of student geographies in several ways. First, the thesis establishes a definition of the concept of destudentification, which encapsulates the complexities and diversities of the processes at local neighbourhood scales. Second, the discussion considers the overlaps between studentification and destudentification from a conceptual perspective. It is contended that although studentification (as a concrete outcome) is a necessary prerequisite for destudentification, destudentification is not an inevitable outcome of studentification. It is argued that both are distinct, yet interrelated, processes of urban change. Third, the empirical findings show that processes of destudentification and studentification can unfold in concurrent ways, and within and between different areas of a university town. Fourth, the discussion exposes some of the leading causes of destudentification and studentification, emphasising the complex interrelationships between the balance of supply and demand of student accommodation, and the ways that higher education institutions, accommodation providers and the student population mediate and influence the dynamic production and consumption of student housing. It is concluded that an understanding of the complex and diverse relationships between geographies of destudentification and studentification is essential for progressing knowledge of processes of urban change in university towns and cities.

Secure accommodation is locked residential child care for children, usually under the age of 16, who may represent a risk to themselves and/ or others. This thesis examines the findings of a study into decision making processes which determine the provision and legitimacy of secure accommodation for young people in one local authority area in Scotland. The thesis begins by investigating the legislative and policy context, arguing that policy confusion in this area means secure accommodation is likely to face an uncertain future. It goes on to provide an overview of relevant research and contends that there is a need to better understand the processes and factors influencing local decision making. The case study methodology employed is explicated which included the use of interviews, questionnaires, observations, and focus groups in order to gain the perspectives of managers, social workers, children’s panel members, residential workers and young people. The thesis explores the range of factors which were found to influence local decision makers including: their role in the decision making system and the operation of that system; their use of legislation and guidance; their subjective understanding of risk and risk assessment; their personal and collective ‘thresholds of risk’ which were linked to ideas about gender, age and vulnerability; the quality of ‘evidence’ about risks and needs which was influenced by who and how this ‘evidence’ of risk was presented; available resources and perceptions about the suitability of those resources to meet the needs of particular young people and the resident group already in secure placement. Participant conceptualisations of risk are analysed. In contrast to adult decision makers, this thesis demonstrates that young people often understand their own ‘risky’ behaviour as an attempt to communicate with social work systems within which they feel disempowered. The thesis concludes by making a number of recommendations for improvements to decision making policy and practice, including the need for greater transparency in relation to decision making systems and processes and more opportunities for service user participation at every level of local decision making.

How well students perform on standardized tests can affect their educational paths and the rest of their lives. In addition, students' performances on state assessments will affect their schools due to the No Child Left Behind Act. For English language learners (ELLs), the success on tests may be diminished due to their inability to completely understand what they are reading on a test. Because ELLs are a growing proportion of the population and have greater risk of not performing well in school, dropping out, and not moving on to have a job, it is very important to address their educational performance. To alleviate the difficulty of not being able to understand English competently, various testing accommodations can be given. The purpose of this study was to describe how different types of accommodations are being distributed, particularly among ELL students, on an achievement test battery. Several variables were examined to assess whether they related to which accommodation would be assigned to an individual student. This study used data from a recent 2010 national standardization of an achievement test battery, which sampled 33,226 students from grades 3-8 across the U. S. In addition to the tests, students completed a survey which asked for such information as gender, home language, and ethnicity, and test administrators reported on that same survey which testing accommodations students were given, whether students were migrants, whether students participated in a free or reduced-price lunch program, and whether students were ELL students. These variables, along with students' Reading, Math, and Science scores were used to describe the groups of students given each accommodation. Five testing accommodations were reported by the students - giving students extended time to take the test, allowing students to use a word-to-word dictionary, reading parts of the test aloud to the students, repeating instructions, and having the test administered by an ELL teacher. Of all these, the group that was most similar to the entire sample on the test results for the Reading, Math, and Science was the group given dictionaries, a group predominantly comprised of Asian students. The other testing accommodation groups had much lower percentile ranks on average. ELL students were largely Hispanic, spoke Spanish at home, and had lower percentile ranks on the Reading, Math, and Science tests than non-ELL students. Although the majority of ELL students in this sample was not free or reduced-price lunch eligible, there was a higher percentage than was found in the sample as a whole. It was found that several variables were potentially important in how testing accommodations were distributed among students, including grade level, ethnicity, home language, and socioeconomic status (SES). Variables which did not seem important were gender and school. Home language and SES were also important in testing performance, with low SES students performing much worse on average than the sample as a whole. Students who had Spanish as their home language did not perform as well on the tests as students whose home language was English or another language. Lastly, a gap analysis using effect sizes showed some evidence for the gap between ELL and non-ELL students being larger in higher grade levels.

This paper describes physical planning of a combined living for senior citizens and old people’s accommodation, the choices of design and how the result was achieved. This paper brings up the question about what the differences in living are between senior citizens and old people, and how this can be combined in one building. This investigation is part of developing a concept. Besides investigating these questions we will make a suggestion of a building on behalf of Smålands Delta AB. The main part of this project is to find a pleasant, functional and appealing solution. The paper describes a planning process from the idea stage to a final concept. A background of the two different types of accommodations is described and visual solutions of our project are presented.

A major challenge facing communities across the Province of Ontario is the provision of educational facilities for students while balancing community-planning objectives. In recent years, it has become clear that Provincial and local policies coupled with demographic and financial pressures are leading to more closures and the loss of the public resources that are local schools. In the last three years, 172 schools have been slated for closure. In addition, public outcry has grown in volume as the Accommodation Review process is cited as an unsatisfying exercise for all those involved. From a planning perspective, schools are an irreplaceable resource in a community, yet current policy structures have left planners with no power to protect public assets while school boards are limited in the ability to find creative alternative solutions to closure. Therefore, to gain a broader understanding of the policies and processes governing Accommodation Reviews, this research was guided by these key questions: • What roles do school board and provincial policies play in school closure process? • How do these policies affect the pedagogical landscape? • What is the impact of school closures on their respective communities? • How do these educational governance methods compare to community planning policies? • Can school board objectives be reconciled with community planning objectives? These questions were addressed through qualitative surveys and interviews with School Board and Municipal officials and staff. The survey was completed with 39 responses across four communities in Southwest Ontario. The survey and interviews discovered a major gap in the knowledge of local officials pertaining to the comprehensive impact of school closures. In addition, responses spurred further investigation into the policies governing school boards including funding formula and public consultation guidelines. When asked, key respondents pointed to the lack of flexibility and the poor structure of the Province’s Education funding formula as the main challenge for providing educational facilities. In addition, the lack of collaboration between local municipalities and school boards in conjunction with the lack of cohesiveness in Provincial policy mandates from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs were found to ultimately compound the problems and the frustrations associated with the Accommodation Review process. Of the School Board officials surveyed and interviewed, very few saw the need for comprehensive collaboration with municipalities and local residents. However, nearly every planner surveyed or interviewed criticized this mindset as shortsighted and myopic. This paper found that for the provision of public goods, such as education policies, there is a need to provide flexibility for the local context. Municipalities must have a role to play in the process and must collaborate with local School Boards. In addition, the Accommodation Review process is limited by outdated funding policies from the Province and lacks the public empowerment that leads to creative decision-making with involvement of the electorate.

Accommodation and vergence are two interacting ocular motor systems that function to maintain clear and single vision across a wide range of distances. Sustained fixation results in the adaptation of these ocular motor systems and has been widely investigated in adults but not in children. Moreover, limited reports have measured adaptation to disparities induced by ophthalmic lenses. This thesis used near addition lenses as a means to investigate binocular adaptation in children. The specific aims of this thesis were three-fold. First, the thesis aimed to gain insight into the mechanism of changes to accommodation and vergence during binocular adaptation in children. The second objective was to determine the role of vergence-bias category (eso/exo/normals) on adaptation. Lastly, this thesis evaluated the influence of myopia on binocular adaptation. Thirty- eight myopic and 38 emmetropic children between 7-14 years of age were examined for the purpose of this thesis. A series of studies were performed to evaluate adaptation using varying demands for accommodation and vergence, stimulated by binocular fixation at near (33 cm), through the addition of +2D and -2D over corrective lenses (closed loop accommodation) and using 10 base-out prisms (open-loop accommodation at 4M). In each closed-loop condition, measures of binocular and monocular accommodation (PowerRefractor, Multichannel systems) and near phoria (modified Thorington technique) were recorded at frequent intervals when children binocularly fixated a high contrast near target (33 cm) for 20 min. For the open-loop condition (obtained using 0.5 mm pinhole pupils), binocular accommodation and tonic vergence (distance heterophoria through pinhole pupils) were determined at frequent intervals when binocular fixation was sustained at 4M for 20 min. For all conditions, tonic accommodation was measured before and after the near task to measure accommodative adaptation. The results of this thesis make three major contributions to the literature. First, it outlines that the addition of +2D and -2D lenses alters both accommodation and near phoria during sustained binocular fixation, which can be explained based on the models of accommodation and vergence. Second, it shows that the direction of phoria influences the pattern of binocular vs. monocular accommodation in closed-loop conditions and alters the degree of vergence adaptation in both closed and open-loop accommodation. These changes have been primarily attributed to the varying demands on fusional vergence. Lastly, this thesis demonstrates that myopic children show reduced vergence adaptation when fusional convergence was initiated through plus adds or base-out prisms but not when fusional divergence was initiated through minus addition lenses. Further, myopic children also showed variations in other ocular motor parameters such as higher accommodative lags, greater variability of accommodative response, larger accommodative after-effects, and higher AV/A ratios compared to emmetropes. Consistent with the models of accommodation and vergence, the thesis highlights that it is necessary to measure changes to both accommodation and vergence when evaluating the response of the ocular motor system. The direction of phoria and type of refractive error play a significant role in determining binocular adaptation in children. Future studies should differentiate these parameters when evaluating adaptation of the ocular motor system.

<p>This paper describes physical planning of a combined living for senior citizens</p><p>and old people’s accommodation, the choices of design and how the result</p><p>was achieved. This paper brings up the question about what the differences in</p><p>living are between senior citizens and old people, and how this can be</p><p>combined in one building. This investigation is part of developing a concept.</p><p>Besides investigating these questions we will make a suggestion of a building</p><p>on behalf of Smålands Delta AB. The main part of this project is to find a</p><p>pleasant, functional and appealing solution.</p><p>The paper describes a planning process from the idea stage to a final concept.</p><p>A background of the two different types of accommodations is described and</p><p>visual solutions of our project are presented.</p>

Children and parents suffer from anxiety at high rates, but little is known regarding the role of family accommodation in the relationship between parent anxiety and child anxiety. Family accommodation is the process by which families accommodate patient symptoms by providing reassurance or by modifying family routines to avoid anxiety producing situations, which is in direct opposition to clinical therapeutics, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which focus on confronting rather than accommodating symptoms. It is important to identify family variables that are relevant to understanding the role of the parent in their child's anxiety, and family accommodation is promising because it has been implicated in impairment, symptom severity, and poor treatment outcomes in children and adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, less is known about family accommodation and anxiety. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore the possibility that family accommodation might mediate the relationship between parent anxiety and child anxiety by using survey methodology to acquire data from 85 parents via community and clinical sampling. Measures included "The Family Accommodation Scale Anxiety," "The State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults," and "The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders." Multiple regression analyses revealed that family accommodation fully mediated the relationship between parent anxiety and child anxiety, as evidenced by a statistically significant Sobel test of mediation and by a reduction in the parent anxiety child anxiety relationship from significant to non-significant. This study fills an important gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence that family accommodation plays an important role in mediating the relationship between parent anxiety and child anxiety. Implications include the potential for development of effective interventions for child anxiety by including focused treatment components designed to reduce and eliminate family accommodation. / text

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the effect of exposure to multicultural and colour blind ideologies on discrimination in individual selection decisions, and diversity in team selection decisions. One hundred and fourteen participants role played a hiring manager in a large government organization, and were assigned to a multicultural, colour blind or control condition. Participants rated either an Arab Muslim or a White Canadian job applicant, and then selected a team to form a task force from a diverse pool of employees. However, the diversity ideology espoused by the organization did not have an effect on the individual or team selection decisions that participants made, or on attitudes towards diversity issues in the workplace. Possible explanations for non-significant results and implications for practice are discussed.