With the implementation of ¡§Representative Politics,¡¨ people¡¦s representatives have many out-of-control behaviors(i.e. throwing stuff, locking the door.... etc.). Such phenomena are frequently seen after Taiwan became a democratic country. Their disappointing behaviors distort people¡¦s thought on politicians. Therefore, people hope to amend the deficiency of ¡§Representative politics¡¨ by ¡§Referendum.¡¨ Referendum, based on ¡§Representative politics,¡¨ is the display of ¡§Direct democracy.¡¨ It is another way of displaying democracy when people¡¦s representatives fail to carry out people¡¦s will. Nowadays democratic countries around the world practice referendum to resolve important domestic issues, and so does Taiwan. The Legislative Yuan adopted ¡§Referendum law¡¨ in November 27th, 2003, which provides a basis for the people when practicing referendum. In November 15th, 2008, Kaohsiung Teacher Association held a referendum named ¡§small class referendum case of elementary and junior high school in Kaohsiung.¡¨ Based on the Referendum law and Local Referendum Self-government Act, it was the first eligible local referendum case proposed by local societies. Although it was finally vetoed because of a low turnout( lower than 50%), Kaohsiung City achieved much progress on the development of democracy. Using Literature Review Method and Inductive Method, this paper aims at researching case of local referendum, taking ¡§small class referendum case of elementary and junior high school in Kaohsiung ¡¨ for example. Through the basic principles of the administrative law, the administrative organization, the administrative limits of authority, the administrative relief and the administrative supervision, this paper analyzes issues related to the small class referendum case. Finally I conclude the development concept of Taiwan local referendum, providing some helpful advice for the government.

Statins are commonly used for treating the elevation of lipids in the blood stream, also known as hyperlipidemia. Statins are considered to be an economical and effective way to achieve desirable long-term health outcomes for hyperlipdemic patients, however, ensuring adequate adherence to statin medications is often difficult as hyperlipidemia is an asymptomatic condition and patients sometimes fail to recognize the importance of being adherent to their statin medications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate impact of enrollment under Medicaid and Medicare Part D and patient out-of-pocket costs on patient statin adherence, persistence, and mean number of gap days per claim. A retrospective claims database was used in this study to conduct repeated measures analyses on statin prescription claims from independent community pharmacies in Texas. The pre-period in this study extended from January 1, 2005 to September 30, 2005 (Medicaid period) and the post-period extended from January 1, 2006 to September 30, 2006 (Medicare period). The study population consisted of dual-eligible beneficiaries in Texas who had at least two stain claims in the pre and post-periods each. The final study population comprised of 1734 Texas dual-eligible beneficiaries with 6064 statin claims during the pre-period and 7956 claims during the post-period. Patients had an average of 3.49 statin claims during the pre-period and 4.58 statin claims during the post-period. Patients were dispensed an average of 57.34 days of drug supply per claim during the pre-period and 42.02 days of drug supply per claim during the post-period. The results from this study showed that out-of-pocket costs for patients increased from $0.39 per claim under Medicaid to $13.36 per claim under Medicare Part D. Patient adherence to statins was assessed by calculating medication possession ratio (MPR). The results showed that mean patient MPR increased from 75.71 percent under Medicaid to 79.37 percent under Medicare. Results from generalized estimating equations showed that odds of being adherent (i.e., MPR ≥ 80 percent) to statins increased by 36 percent when patients were covered under Medicare Part D. Linear mixed model analysis showed that MPR increased by 3.66 percent when patients were covered under Medicare Part D compared to Medicaid. Also, patient MPR was found to increase by 0.13 percent when patient out-of-pocket payment increased by $1.00. Patient persistence was calculated by measuring gaps in therapy and patients with a gap of 60 or more days were considered to have discontinued therapy. Patients were found to be persistent to their drug therapy for an average of 151.76 days under Medicaid and 159.75 days under Medicare. Linear mixed model analysis showed that patient persistence increased by 7.99 days when patients were enrolled under Medicare Part D compared to Medicaid. Days of persistence was also found to increase by 0.41 days when patient out-of-pocket costs increased by $1.00. Mean number of gap days per claim during the Medicaid period was 11.91 days and decreased to 8.38 days during the Medicare period. Linear mixed model analysis showed that mean number of gap days per claim decreased by 3.52 days when patients were enrolled under Medicare Part D compared to Medicaid. Mean number of gap days in therapy were found to decrease by 0.10 days when patient out-of-pocket costs increased by $1.00. The results of this study showed that implementation of Medicare Part D resulted in an increase in MPR and persistence and a decrease in mean number of gap days per claim for Texas dual-eligible beneficiaries. The results also suggest that increased out-of-pocket costs under Medicare Part D may not have had a negative impact on statin drug utilization by dual-eligible beneficiaries in Texas. / text

The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamic of perceived benefits and barriers associated with cooking meals at home. The findings will be used to design a social marketing campaign promoting healthy home-cooked meals. Participants included 64 SNAP-eligible mothers throughout the state of Kentucky aged 21-49 years with young children. Eight focus groups were conducted in four metro and four non-metro counties. A mixed methods approach was used to examine behaviors such as where families purchase foods, the types of foods purchased, family cooking skills and habits, and family time management. Results from this study show women regularly incorporate home-cooked meals into their lives. Three major themes evolved from analysis: learning more about preparing healthy, home-cooked family meals; the important relationship of families and cooking, and the dread of kitchen cleanup following a meal. Data from the written survey provided information regarding eating and cooking patterns in a week, important meal characteristics, relative confidence in cooking skills, and Internet and social media use.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of honors education to student success by comparing honors-eligible community college students who met requirements to academically matched peers who opted out of honors participation. Honors program participation was defined as completing 12 or more credit hours of honors-level course work. The population for this study included 452 honors-eligible participants with 95 honors participants (HPs) and 357 non-participants (NPs) from a community college in Tennessee. The sampling frame was generated using a five-year participation window from 2008 through 2013. Propensity score matching alleviated the threat to validity for self-selection bias by controlling for confounding variables such as high school GPA, dual-enrollment participation, ACT score, declared major, community college GPA upon first term of eligibility, parental income, parental education, gender, and age. Major findings of the study were: honors program participants (a) earned a significantly higher numerical final course grade in Composition II, a first-year writing course; (b) earned significantly higher cumulative GPAs the second semester after honors eligibility; (c) earned significantly higher cumulative GPAs upon completion; (d) were significantly more likely to graduate. Conclusions generated from the data analyses indicate that honors education benefits community college students and provide empirical support for increased investment in community college honors education, especially for high-achieving students experiencing poverty. Low-income students were defined as those students receiving the maximum federal Pell Grant award provided to undergraduate students with financial need. Within the study sample, it was determined that 50% of NPs met the low-income threshold whereas 47% of HPs were identified as low-income. These participation rates suggest that more low-income high-achieving students who could substantially benefit from participating in honors are participating less. Further empirical research studies and policy levers should identify ways to increase honors participation for low-income, high-achieving students.

This study is an exploration and extension of previous research on the interactive effects of victim-race and victim-gender on death sentence outcomes. Williams and Holcomb's (2004) study suggests that an interactive effect exists between victim-race and victim-gender on Ohio death sentencing outcomes, such that killers of White women are especially singled out for capital punishment. The current study analyzes a sample of death eligible cases at the trial level in North Carolina to determine if Williams & Holcomb's findings hold up for a different sample of cases and in a different state. Logistic regression is used to determine if there are direct and/or interactive effects of victim's race and victim's gender on capital sentencing outcomes, controlling for the variety of other factors that influence that decision. Results suggest that the interactive effects reported by Williams and Holcomb do not exist in North Carolina at the sentencing/penalty processing phase of capital trials.

Although Hispanics are graduating from high school at greater rates, it is not leading to college success as college graduation rates remain low. In Texas, the Hispanic population has grown to the point that one out of three of all Texans are Hispanic. A phenomenological approach to research was used to investigate the perceptions of Hispanic college students on how well their public high school prepared them for college. Through face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions, eight Hispanic college students provided insight concerning their high school experience and how it translated into college readiness. Four questions guided the study: 1) in what ways do Hispanic college students believe their public high school prepared or failed to prepare them academically for post-secondary education; 2) in what ways do Hispanic college students believe their public high school prepared or failed to prepare them culturally for post-secondary education; 3) in what ways do Hispanic college students believe their public high school prepared or failed to prepare them socio-emotionally for post-secondary education; and 4) how do Hispanic students perceive their cultural identity in regards to their high school experience. Findings revealed four themes relating to how Hispanic students perceive their high school experience prepared them for college which include, academic readiness, cultural readiness, socio-emotional readiness, and cultural identity. The research demonstrated the complex process of transitioning from high school to college for Hispanics.

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The diploma thesis is focused on the determining the fees of designers, engineers and technicians in construction engineering. The introduction of the thesis defines the fee, the eligible costs, the fee zones or the budget. In order to determine the fee, historical and current expert publications were presented in detail, according to which the calculation of fees is determined. Based on the publications, these methods were applied to three model examples and then the results were compared. In addition, a short questionnaire is included in the thesis, where asked designers, engineers or technicians present a calculation method or a combination of the methods they use to determine their fees. On the basis of these facts and findings, an overall evaluation of the fees is made.

This essay analyses Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel Sanning och Skvaller as an adaption of Jane Austen’s Stolthet och fördom. The purpose of this essay is to take a closer look at how the characters and the plot changes in Sittenfeld’s version compared to the original. The character analysis mainly focuses on Mr. Wickham, lady Catherine de Bourgh and Caroline Bingley as characters, as well as Mary Bennet and how her sexuality is portrayed. Elizabeth Bennet’s relationship with Mr. Darcy and the importance of a proposal and a marriage is also something that this essay analyses. The reception of the novel is something that will be addressed by highlighting some of the negative, and positive, reviews that the novel received upon publication. The discussion at the end brings up whether or not Sittenfelds novel can be classified as an adaption after changing so much of the story, how the elements in the new version changes its believability and how the problematic aspects may ruin the story.

<p>The aim of this study is to find out if the former students think that they have made use of the courses they have taken at the Natural Resource Use Programme specialised in Animal Husbandry at Lillerudsgymnasiet or if the courses should be exchanged. In the study it is assumed that a course can be useful professionally, for further studies and in private life.</p><p>The main questions are: Have the former students made use of the courses they took at the Natural Resource Use Programme specialised in Animal Husbandry at Lillerudsgymnasiet? Was it the right decision to replace the course Horses?</p><p>I have sent a questionnaire to all the students who graduated between 2003 and 2007. Out of 107 questionnaires I received 66 replies (62 %). All students have studied the same mandatory courses but different eligible courses. Therefore the frequency of replies shows great variation.</p><p>The course Horses was recently replaced by the courses Small Enterprises A, Dogs and Species at risk. 52 % (34 persons) answered that they found the course Horses useful. 46 % (16 persons) answered that they found the course Small Enterprises A useful. 78 % (32 persons) answered that they found the course Dogs useful. 37 % (10 persons) answered that they found the course Species at risk useful.</p><p>It is hard to say if it was right to replace Horses if you look only at the answers to how useful the course was. My conclusion is that the teachers should look at Species at risk and try to make it suit the specialisation Animal Husbandry better. English B is the course that the highest share of former students found useful, 82 % (18 persons). Nevertheless I think it should stay with the eligible courses. The former students think that they have made use of the mandatory courses.</p> / <p>Syftet med det här arbetet är att få reda på om de tidigare eleverna tycker att det varit nyttiga kurser som de läst på naturbruksprogrammets djurvårdsinriktning på Lillerudsgymnasiet och om det är någon eller några kurser som skulle kunna bytas ut. Jag tänker mig att en kurs kan vara nyttig både i kommande arbete, i fortsatta studier och i privatlivet.</p><p>De huvudsakliga frågeställningarna är: Har de före detta eleverna haft nytta av kurserna som de läste på Lillerudsgymnasiets naturbruksprogram med djurvårdsinriktning? Var det riktigt att ta bort hästkunskapskursen som inriktningskurs?</p><p>Jag har skickat ut en enkät till alla elever som gick ut naturbruksprogrammet med djurvårdsinriktning på Lillerudsgymnasiet mellan 2003 och 2007 och det blev 107 stycken. Svarsfrekvensen blev 62 % (66 st.). Alla elever har läst samma inriktningskurser men de har läst olika kurser av de individuellt valbara. Svarsfrekvensen är därför mycket olika för olika kurser.</p><p>Kursen Hästkunskap blev nyligen utbytt mot Småföretagande A, Hundar och Utrotningshotade arter. 52 % (34 st.) svarade att de har haft nytta av kursen Hästkunskap. 46 % (16 st.) svarade att de har haft nytta av kursen Småföretagande A. 78 % (32 st.) svarade att de har haft nytta av kursen Hundar. 37 % (10 st.) svarade att de har haft nytta av kursen Utrotningshotade arter.</p><p>Det är svårt att säga om det var rätt att ta bort Hästkunskapskursen som inriktningskurs enbart utifrån nyttan. Jag anser att man bör se över om Utrotningshotade arter kan göras om för att passa djurvårdsinriktningen bättre. Engelska B är den kurs som störst andel i den här studien tycker att de har haft nytta av, 82 %, (18 st.). Jag tycker ändå att den ska vara kvar bland de valbara kurserna. De tidigare eleverna tycker att de har haft nytta av sina inriktningskurser.</p>