The purpose of this study is to assess whether or not enforcement of the Minors and Tobacco Laws in the form of a citation had an impact on the knowledge, attitudes, practices and policies of over-the-counter tobacco retailers in Oregon. Demographic factors, such as store type, store size, ownership type, and location of the store that may contribute to the retailers response to receiving a citation for selling tobacco to a minor, were examined. The study examines two randomly selected groups of over-the-counter tobacco retailers in Oregon. The treatment group received a citation selling tobacco products to a minor while the control did not. A mail survey was sent to retailers selected for the study. The survey instrument measured the characteristics in each group, representing knowledge, attitudes, practices, and policies relating to the Oregon Minors and Tobacco Laws. The unit of analysis was owners or managers of retail stores. Cross-tabulation and a chi-square test statistic was used to assess and determine if there was a significant association between selected variables. Multiple regression was employed to determine if there is a relationship between composite dependent variables representing retailers' attitudes and practices and several demographic variables. Stores that had received a citation were more vigilant in compliance practices and perceptions than stores that had not received a compliance check and citation. Retailers' believe that both negative and positive strategies are necessary to achieve retailer compliance, retailers need more educational materials for training employees, and that a training video and a device to help clerks calculate the age on a minors ID would be useful. Retailers in both groups opposed the licensing of retailers to sell tobacco. Owners and owner operated stores in country settings were found to be resistant to policies aimed at reducing minors' access to tobacco products. / Graduation date: 1997

Graduation date: 1996

The impact of Oregon's Special Use Assessment (SUA) program was analyzed in relation to farmland values in six regions. Data for the study were obtained from the Oregon Landownership Survey. Data were based on 1975 assessment and ownership characteristics. Farmland value per acre, including improvements, was believed to be influenced by the following factors: special use assessment, gross farm income, population growth rate, income of owner, occupation of owner, distance to the nearest urban area, size of tract, and improvements value. Ordinary least squares was used to test the impact of these factors on farmland value per acre. Tax savings, if any, resulting from SUA were expected to be capitalized into higher farmland values. Study results indicate that SUA did increase farmland values in four of the six regions. In the Coastal region, SUA on unzoned farmland increased values by $932 per acre. In the Valley region, SUA on exclusive farm use (EFU) zoned and unzoned farmland increased values by $977 and $1721 per acre, respectively. SUA increased unzoned farmland values by $1226 per acre in the Southwestern region but had no significant impact on zoned farmland. The value of zoned and unzoned farmland in the Northcentral region was increased by $453 and $865 per acre, respectively. SUA did not have a significant impact on zoned or unzoned farmland values in the Southcentral or Eastern regions. Therefore, it is assumed SUA does not provide tax relief in these regions. This result may be due to the large agricultural tax base in these regions. A large portion of the tax base is reduced by SUA, which necessitates an increase in the tax rate to maintain the same level of county revenues. Therefore, little if any tax relief is realized by the participating farmland owners. The restrictive effect of EFU zoning was expected to offset tax benefits resulting from SUA. As indicated above, there was a difference in the impact of SUA on EFU zoned as compared to unzoned land in the Valley, Southwestern,and Northcentral regions. The impact on zoned land was consistently smaller than on unzoned land in all regions (except the Southcentral where both were not significant). Most of the other variables in the model had the expected signs. Those that did not were not significantly different from zero (except for the distance variable in the Valley region which was explained after closer analysis). Tax savings and the resulting increases in farmland values represent a redistribution of income from nonparticipants to participants in the SUA program. In order to determine who was benefiting from SUA, participants were compared to nonparticipants on a number of ownership characteristics. Participants and nonparticipants did not differ on all characteristics in all regions. However, where there were differences, participants were more likely to be residents, farmers, own land further from urban areas, not have plans to sell their land, own larger acreages, and be in higher income and net worth classes compared to nonparticipants. The tax saving resulting from SUA may be sufficient to prevent a farmer from being forced out of farming. However, the program is not designed to prevent farmland conversion if the owner desires to change use. A circuit-breaker tax program for farmers and EFU zoning merit closer attention as possible alternatives of providing tax relief and farmland preservation. / Graduation date: 1979

<p>Despite a highly centralised system of government, Tanzania, has attempted several measures aimed at achieving decentralisation of its immense powers to allow people to have a say on matters affecting their respective areas of jurisdiction. By discussing the autonomy of local government in Tanzania, this research will highlight whether or not local government in Tanzania has the autonomy to exercise its functions without undue interference from the central government. There is not much literature on the local government laws of Tanzania .Therefore, this research will contribute to the concept of decentralisation in Tanzania in particular and Africa in general.</p>

This study, therefore, inquires into whether the regional states are discharging their constitutional obligation of creating adequately empowered local government. It will attempt to do so by examining the decentralisation programme of four of the nine regional states of the Ethiopian federation.The argument in this study is developed in the following manner. First, it will be examined whether decentralisation is favourable for democratisation, development and accommodation of ethnic minorities. Second, institutional frameworks will be identified which will be used to examine whether Ethiopia’s local government is indeed empowered enough to achieve these objectives. Third, the structural organisation, powers and functions of local government of four of the nine regional states of Ethiopia will be described. The regional states are Amhara, Tigray, Oromia and Southern Nations and Nationalities and Peoples’ regional states. Fourth the Ethiopian local governance system will be assessed in light of the institutional principles that are identified in chapter 2.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the impact of the financial assistance for textbooks and related instructional materials portion of Public Law No. 390 (1987) on textbook rental programs in public school corporations across Indiana. The results of the analysis were compared with data from the financial assistance program prescribed in Public Law No. 209 (1979). The Indiana Department of Education's Textbook Cost Survey was designed to collect financial information about textbook rental programs for the school years 1984-85 through 1986-87 when P.L. 209 was in effect. A questionnaire, modeled after the Textbook Cost Survey, was developed to collect similar information for the school year 1987-88 when P.L. 390 came into effect. This survey was sent to the 209 school corporation that had responded to the Department of Education survey. Percentage distributions and mean per pupil financial data were ascertained for the data obtained from the two instruments. Based on information gained from the study, a comparative analysis of the impact of Public Laws 209 and 390 on Indiana textbook rental programs was made.Data collected supported the following conclusions:1. Because Indiana law requires the adoption of some new textbooks each year, mean per pupil textbook rental billings will continue to increase annually, as mean per pupil textbook rental billings did from 1984-85 through 1987-88, the four years included in this study.2. The overall percentage of mean per pupil textbook rental billings collected each year from parent/guardians or emancipated minors will continue to decrease as did the overall percentage of mean per pupil textbook rental billings collected during the four years (1984-1988) included in the study.3.Because of the inclusion of standardized financial eligibility criteria and allocation of sufficient funding for total reimbursement of eligible financial assistance billings from individual school corporations, the financial assistance portion of P.L. 390 is an improvement over P.L. 209.4. Because of the specific delineation of textbook rental fee components eligible for financial assistance reimbursement under P.L. 390, implementation of the law brought about changes in the components some school corporations included in textbook rental billings.5. In an attempt to make up some of the difference between actual textbook rental billings and eligible financial assistance billings sent to the Department of Education for reimbursement, an increasing percentage of school corporations switched from annual recovery of 20 percent of textbook costs to annual recovery of 25 percent of costs after implementation of P.L. 390.6. School corporations who ask parent/guardians or emancipated minors approved for financial assistance to pay the difference between the actual amount of textbook rental billings and the amount of financial assistance reimbursement received from the state face a difficult public relations situation.7. The data from 1987-88 appear to indicate P.L. 390 has had a positive impact on the mean per pupil amounts of unpaid textbook rental billings pursued for collection.8. The mean per pupil costs for pursuing collection of unpaid textbook rental billings through small claims court or other collection methods are not truly representative of actual costs because personnel costs were frequently omitted.9. Textbook rental funds which are, theoretically, designed to be self-supporting cannot continuously absorb the loss of income resulting from exclusion of some components normally included in textbook rental billings from financial assistance reimbursement, exclusion of students qualifying after November 1 each year from financial assistance reimbursement, and reimbursement at a different percentage of costs than the percentage normally charged in textbook rental billings.10. After implementation of the financial assistance portion of P.L. 390, those school corporations who indicated expenditures for components normally included in textbook rental billings but excluded from financial assistance reimbursement would be paid from the general fund, or who indicated the general fund would be used to reimburse textbook rental funds for the losses of income incurred through implementation of P.L. 390 have provided only a temporary solution.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

Thesis (M.F.)--Iowa State College, 1929. / Typescript (photocopy). eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Iowa, 1923. / Bibliography: p. [337]-354.