This dissertation proposes to delineate the criteria for determining the constitutionality of public school dress codes based on an examination of relevant case law. The study addresses the following underlying questions: (1) Do students have a constitutional right to freedom of choice regarding their personal dress and grooming in public schools? (2) If so, what is the origin of the right? (3) What justification does a school district need in order to intrude upon the right? (4) Does the extent to which there is a right, and that it is accorded support by the judiciary, depend on the student's age and grade level? (5) What do state statutes say about dress codes and uniforms? (6) Do state statutes comport with the circuit courts' rulings in the various jurisdictions? The first part of Chapter I examines the purpose of school uniforms as set forth in relevant educational literature and commentary. The second part of the chapter examines empirical evidence on the effects of dress codes and uniforms. Chapter II addresses the first three questions listed above concerning students' right to choice in personal dress, the origins of such a right, and the justification required for a school to intrude upon this right. Chapter III examines dress code rulings from the United States Courts of Appeals in order to ascertain patterns of judicial rationale and determine whether students' rights vary depending on age, grade level, or federal circuit court jurisdiction. Chapter IV examines existing state statutes with regard to dress codes and uniforms. Chapter V utilizes the legal principles that emerge from the research in Chapter III and draws from the survey of state statutes in Chapter IV to make a comparison of state statutes and circuit court rulings in each jurisdiction. If a state statute does not comport with federal law in its particular jurisdiction, modifications are suggested to bring the statute into line with relevant judicial rulings.

The step transaction doctrine is one of the judicial doctrines used by the courts to interpret tax law. The doctrine requires that a series of transactions be treated as a single transaction if the transactions share a single, integrated purpose. Many authors believe there is a great deal of uncertainty as to when the doctrine will be applied. Uncertainty and inconsistency in the application of tax law add to the complexity of the law. One of the most complex areas of tax law is Subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code, which governs corporate formations, redemptions, liquidations, distributions, and reorganizations. The purpose of this study was to determine if the step transaction doctrine is being consistently applied by the Tax Court and what variables affect the judges' decision in these cases. Hierarchical logit analysis was used to derive a full model and two restricted models. The full model was used to determine the predictive power of the variables that were identified and to explain the extent to which the individual variables affect the judges' decisions. One restricted model was used to test temporal stability. The other was used to test consistency when different issues of tax law are involved. The data source was the sample of step transaction cases involving Subchapter C issues decided by the Tax Court and its predecessor, the Board of Tax Appeals. Eight variables were identified to evaluate the factors discussed in the literature and major court cases involving the doctrine. Four of the variables were found to be statistically significant. The full model correctly predicted the outcome of 79.5 percent of the cases. The restricted model to test temporal stability correctly predicted the outcome of 86.3 percent of the cases. The restricted model to test the consistency of the decisions relating to a specific topic correctly predicted the outcome of 85.7 percent of the cases.

This study examined the comments submitted by the public to the United States Department of Education (USDE), the Office of Special Education Programs, in response to the 2004 amended IDEA, prior to the development and publication of proposed regulations under 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 300 and 303 to implement programs under IDEA. Specifically, this study analyzed the types of individuals (e.g., parents, advocates, administrators, lawyers, support staff personnel) and interest groups along with the number of submissions, types of comments made, and specific provisions in the legislation that received the most comments during the period open to the public prior to the publication of the proposed regulations. In addition, an exploration of the existence of differences in comments submitted by states and regions was analyzed in terms of types of individuals, interest groups, types of comments, and specific provision of the 2004 amended IDEA. Content analysis approach utilizing qualitative data collection and analysis procedures was used for this study. The sample consisted of 2,199 comments submitted to the USDE via the U.S. Postal system, e-mail, and verbal testimony transcripts obtained during one of the public meetings held throughout the United States during the 60 day period open for commenting. The findings of this study revealed a large number of a particular type of respondent types, the majority of the comments were neutral in nature, and the largest percentage of comments received were directed at one particular section of the Act.

Legislation, court decisions, and the changing political and social climate provide evidence of the importance of the outcomes of EEO litigation involving challenged selection procedures for transfer, training and development, and promotion. These selection procedures are being challenged by more informed employees and, in many cases, result in costly litigation. Thus, organizations must be aware of the continuing developments in employment law especially as found in court decisions and related legislation. This study investigates judicial and EEOC decisions in discrimination cases to provide answers to these questions: Are organizations aware of the outcomes of EEO litigation involving challenged selection procedures for transfer, training and development, and promotion? Are organizations aware of what constitutes a discriminatory practice in the selection of employees for transfer, training and development, and promotion? Does management recognize and follow nondiscriminatory procedures in selecting personnel for transfer, training and development, and promotion? The purposes of the study are 1. To analyze outcomes of EEO litigation involving challenged selection procedures for transfer, training and development, and promotion; 2. To develop a model set of guidelines to aid organizations in developing nondiscriminatory procedures for use in selecting employees for transfer, training and development, and promotion. This study concludes that many employers are aware of the outcomes of EEO litigation involving challenged selection procedures for transfer, training and development, and promotion. Many employers are also aware of what constitutes a discriminatory practice in the selection of employees for some employment advantage. However, management does not always recognize and follow nondiscriminatory procedures when selecting employees for transfer, training and development, and promotion. The number of cases in which selection procedures were found discriminatory supports this conclusion.

The purpose of this study was to review historical legislation relevant to the education of individuals with disabilities, examine the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Act and related case law, and to create a knowledge base from which school-based professionals can make legally sound policy and planning decisions and reduce liability for noncompliance with the applicable laws and regulations pertaining to the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In addition, the study provided insight into the law and increased the comfort levels of school-based personnel who deal with exceptional students, thereby increasing the likelihood of success of exceptional students being served by these professionals in traditional settings. The study sought to: (a) determine the duties and responsibi~ities of school-based administrators arising from 1997 Amendments to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; (b) establish how recent federal legislation and regulations have changed the duties and responsibilities of school districts regarding students identified under the 1997 Amendments to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; identify the potential liabilities and remedies fer educational insti~utions for violation of 1997 Amendments to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and presented recommendations for changes in policies which will contribute to an educational institution's ability to successfully meet ~he needs of disabled students as required under the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Wage rate disparities between industrialized and underdeveloped countries have increased competition in labor intensive industries. To remain cost competitive, U.S. firms have developed alternative production strategies such as relocating labor intensive processes in countries with lower wages and labor costs. This type of manufacturing is known as production sharing. Item 807.0 of the United States Tariff Schedule provides an incentive for U.S. firms to utilize the coproduction process because it offers reduced tariff costs on imported products assembled with U.S. components. The duty paid is lower because it applies only to the value added in the foreign country. Highly labor intensive products, such as apparel, are ideally suited to take advantage of the savings offered under Item 807.0. The U.S. textile and apparel industry faces stiff import competition from low wage countries, and over the last fifteen years the volume of Item 807.0 apparel imports from the Caribbean has increased substantially. examines Item 807.0 and its effect of reducing This thesis the tariff base on an imported article such as apparel. Costa Rica, one of the leading Item 807.0 apparel suppliers, is used to study the relationship between Item 807.0 and the increased level of Caribbean sourcing of apparel production. The conclusion is that the tariff reductions of Item 807.0 should increase U.S. imports of Costa Rican apparel products made with U.S. components. However, Item 807.0 must be combined with low cost labor and competitive U.S. fabrics to be economically feasible. / M.A.

This research explores the impact of complexity in federal income tax laws on taxpayer compliance. The primary research question is: Is complexity in the tax law associated with noncompliance? The research is unique in that previous work has not yet demonstrated an a priori circumstance in which taxpayers do not comply with the law when compliance would be in their economic self-interest. "Economic self-interest" is narrowly construed in this study, being defined as an individual's utility for saving tax dollars. "Complexity" is operationalized by the system of nonresident taxation. A situation is investigated wherein a set of taxpayers do not comply, when there is complexity in the tax law, even though compliance would reduce their tax liability. Examining compliance in this setting renders it unlikely that the confound opportunity to evade is related to observed noncompliance. The results indicate complexity is the key explanatory variable for noncompliance found in this study. / Ph. D.

This thesis attempts to explain to what degree residential electricity prices will increase due to compliance with the sulfur dioxide provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Amendments. The Amendments were passed with widely varying estimates of the costs to the final consumer. These estimates ranged from 3 percent to 30 percent. Models were developed based on the regulatory rate structure of investor-owned utilities in the United States. The utilities were grouped by their historical selection of fuels and pollution control equipment and Chow tests were performed to identify if structural differences exist between these groups. A single equation was then derived that separated variables that created the structural difference. Regressions were then run to test the historical relationship between the electric utilities’ costs and residential bills. Next forecasts were run using the regression model above corrected for heteroskedasticity and serial correlation and compared with three estimates of increases in electric bills made before the Bill was passed. / Master of Arts

In 1979, the West Virginia Supreme Court remanded to the trial court the highly controversial <i>Pauley v. Bailey</u> decision. Subsequently, the trial court judge, Arthur Recht, following the specific instructions of the Supreme Court, ruled the public school finance system unconstitutional. Justice Recht ordered the West Virginia Legislature to develop a state system for funding the public schools that would comply with the constitutional mandate to provide a system of public schools that was "thorough and efficient" (West Virginia Constitution Art. 13 Section 1). Thus, West Virginia joined six other states that have ruled their state systems for financing public schools violative of their respective state constitutions. The purpose of this study was to identify the historical circumstances affecting the public school finance system which ultimately led to the <u>Pauley</u> decision. In addition, the study traced and chronicled the legislative and judicial attempts to implement <u>Pauley</u> through the end of the West Virginia Legislature in 1984. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

This study attempted to determine if the theories of reasoned action (TRA) and planned behavior (TPB), as well as a relatively new construct called offender empathy, could help to predict the intentions of small business executives (SBEs) to comply with the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.