The diffusion of geospatial technologies, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Computer Aided Mass Appraisal Systems (CAMA), among Louisiana Assessors has been slowed by limited resources, a lack of communication and slow innovation decision processes. This research considers analysis of the speed of adoption, identifies the key players in decision making and the issues that influence the process based upon the theory of the diffusion of innovation developed by Dr. Everett M. Rogers (1995). The research data collected from online surveys, field visits and interviews of Louisiana Assessors between 2007 and 2013 was compared to identify factors that spurred or impeded the adoption of geospatial technologies among assessment offices. The research finds that proximity, communication, resources and the type of adopter predicts the adoption of GIS and/or CAMA by Louisiana Assessors.

Many studies exist on whether Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEPs) improve firms’ environmental performance. Furthermore, the literature on VEPs theorizes that specific features contribute to program performance. This study examines the ability of Voluntary Environmental Programs to reduce emissions and the role of institutional design on their performance. Specifically, this study aimed to identify if specific features influence performance more than others do. The indicator of performance focuses on the overall emission reductions of firms across years 2007-2009. To analyze performance and features, the study examines the emission data and design features of each program. The results reveal the ability of the VEPs to reduce emissions and a combination of features that may have a greater influence on performance. This suggests that the success of VEPs rely on their ability to institute these features.

The primary goal of this degree paper is to critically examine arguments advanced by both the proponents and opponents of mandatory drug testing in the workplace. This study is very significant because it not only addresses a very important issue in the U. S. government and private employer's attempt to solve the drug abuse problem in the workplace, but also helps to highlight the importance of the United States Constitution which protects people from prosecution until they are proven guilty. The U. s. Constitution guarantees the right to "due process" and protects people from illegal search and seizure. Proponents of mandatory drug testing in the workplace argue that the practice helps them to identify and eliminate drug users from the workplace. Above all, mandatory drug testing helps the employer to safe guard and protect the work force which is generally jeopardized by drug users. They assert that no one employee has the right to endanger the lives of other employees. On the other hand, opponents of mandatory drug testing argue that subjecting employees and job applicants to a urinalysis test violates their right to privacy.They claim that the U. s. Constitution protects Americans from illegal search (e.g., urinalysis) and seizure. It is, therefore, not constitutional for employers to keep subjecting their employees to a mandatory drug test. The study revealed that mandatory drug testing has been upheld by various judges in cases where there were "reasonable suspicion" or probable cause to believe that an employee was abusing drugs. Random testing of employees as part of the requirement of an annual examination, as a condition for continued employment and without probable cause, has been declared by most judges as unconstitutional. The study utilized a descriptive approach in its analysis. Information in the study was gathered through interviews, library research (secondary sources) of government documents, reports, books, journals and studies conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the American Management Association.

Après une analyse sémantique de la notion de Bonne Gouvernance, afin d'éclairer le sens de cette notion assez complexe, notion dont les origines remontent à une époque assez lointaine. Ce principe, qui s'est construit à travers les siècles, a d'abord concerné le monde des entreprises, avant d'envahir le champ de la politique, dans la quête de la meilleure gestion des affaires publiques, afin de satisfaire au mieux les affaires de l'Etat. En tant que thérapie, mise en place par les institutions internationales, afin de sortir les Etats africains, souvent corrompus, du tunnel de la misère et du sous-développement, elle s'est révélée inefficace. La bonne gouvernance dans sa mise en place, en Afrique et en Côte d'ivoire, fait face à un monde où le jeu politique est influencé par des liens claniques, familiaux, tribaux… qui mettent l'intérêt des groupes au dessus de l'intérêt général, engendrant une déliquescence de l'Etat, avec une absence d'éthique , de responsabilité , de clarté dans la prise de décision, dans des sociétés où la quête de la démocratie est marquée du sceau de la démagogie, avec une prime accordée à l'opacité dans la gestion des affaires publiques. Cette quête d'efficacité est contrebalancée par le poids des traditions et des pratiques inhérentes au monde du tiers-monde, choses qui rendent la gestion des affaires publiques difficilement efficace. Cependant, le champ politique n'échappe pas à l'emprise du monde extérieur, qui influence les prises de décisions, avec des acteurs publics souvent soumis aux injonctions de ce monde capitaliste, dans un monde marqué du sceau de la globalisation et de la mondialisation. / After a semantic analysis of the notion of Good Governance, to light the sense of this complex notion, notion the origins of which go back up to a rather distant time. This principle, which built itself through centuries, concerned at first the world of companies, before invading the field of the politics, in the quest of the best management of the public affairs, to satisfy at best the affairs of the State. As therapy, organized by the international institutions, to bring out the African states, often corrupted States, of the tunnel of the poverty and the underdevelopment, it showed itself ineffective. The good governance in its implementation, in Africa and in Ivory Coast, faces a world where the political game set, is influenced by clan, family, tribal links, which put the interest of the groups above the general interest, engendering a decay of the State, with an absence of ethics, responsibility of brightness in the decision-making, in the societies where the quest of the democracy is marked with the seal of the demagoguery, with a premium granted to the opacity in the management of the public affairs. This quest of efficiency is counterbalanced by the weight of the traditions and the practices inherent to the world of the Third World, the things which return the with difficulty effective management of the public affairs. However, the political arena does not escape the influence of the outside world, which influences decision-making, with public actors often subjected to the orders of this capitalist world, in a world marked with the seal of the globalization and with the globalization.

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This research looks into the ways society, the media, and the criminal justice system influence the sexual values of individuals in the United States. These separate, yet interdependent, institutions have profound impacts on the attitudes individuals have towards sexual violence. The research explores the ways we are consciously and subconsciously consumers of messages that influence how we view a myriad of issues related to sexual expression. Additionally, this research highlights how various factors contribute to the rape culture prevalent in contemporary American society. Specifically, the research explores theories rooted in the psychopathology model and argues that while some perpetrators of sexual violence are mentally ill, this model and the treatment model which are often applied by society may inadvertently provide perpetrators of sexual violence a scapegoat. Additionally, the nature of the biological theory, often referred to as the “impulse” model, is another way American society permits perpetrators of sexual violence to blame their behavior on evolution and genetic predispositions (Levay & Baldwin, 2012). Also discussed is the advancements in technology and the media’s methods of portraying sexual violence in the news and how it profoundly impacts the sexual values of Americans (Waechter & Ma, 2015). In summation, this review of the literature, will investigate how the values of sexual violence also impacts the criminal justice system, the results of sexual violence trials, and how victims are treated in the system (Moylan, 2017). The impact of sexual violence does not just affect the survivors themselves. However, there are few studies on the impact of sexual violence on secondary victims, such as family members. The majority of the literature focuses on how to help the survivor through abuse, without attention to how family members work through their own trauma. There is literature that states, following the sexual assault of a family or loved one, family and friends often experience considerable emotional distress and physical and psychological symptoms that can disrupt their lifestyles and family structures (Cwik, 1996). Responses of family members to the assault, including shock, helplessness, rage and so on, which can "parallel the affective responses of the victim" in the acute post-traumatic period (Silverman, 1978, p. 169). Undoubtedly, the impact of sexual violence is significant for the entire family, and the experience of each survivor will vary.

This thesis studies the junior secondary EPA curriculum and the complex cultural process of teaching and learning of the curriculum. It draws on theoretical frameworks developed in the field of cultural studies and critical pedagogy, particularly works by Michel Foucault, Stuart Hall, Lawrence Grossberg and Paulo Freire. It investigates how the EPA curricular texts attempt to produce the identity characteristic of "rational, sensitive and active citizens" in contemporary Hong Kong through constructing differences that negate the Other. Through analyzing classroom discursive practices, the thesis examines how the curricular knowledge "interpellates" teachers into subject position to talk about the "rational, sensitive and active citizens". The curriculum is a vast textual world where different and even competing ideological imperatives and discourses coexist and circulate. This thesis argues that teachers' discourses about the EPA curriculum and their classroom discursive practices have contributed to the creation of tensions and contradictions within the curriculum discourse. Such tensions and contradictions, coming from teachers' beliefs and the cultural resources they possess, may delimit the regulatory effect of the curriculum discourse. As a result, the regulatory power of the curriculum discourse on "suturing" subject positions that form identities of "citizens" is subject to negotiation, and critical pedagogies have a role to play to open up dialogues among the subject positions made available in the curriculum.

An Army training program was evaluated in order to present recommendations for program refinement. The training program, developed as part of two larger Army combat development (CD) studies (DuBois & Smith, 1989a, 1989b), represents an attempt to define program design requirements for training tank commanders to use the Intervehicular Information System (IVIS). IVIS is a computer-based command, control, and communications system proposed for future M1A1 tank upgrades. Twenty-four Army tank commanders (TCs) participated in the research effort. TCs were of various rank and age. Training and testing were conducted over a 4 day period. Training lasted 1-1/2 days followed by 2-1/2 days of testing. The Biographical Questionnaire, the IVIS Knowledge Test, the IVIS Performance Test, the SIMNET Knowledge Test, the IVIS Survey, and the IVIS Training Reactions Questionnaire were administered to each TC. TC biographical data, reactions to training, post-training performance, and post-operational performance were evaluated. Scale reliability was evaluated for each IVIS instrument. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the soldier reaction and performance measures. Regression analyses were performed to assess the impact of TC background characteristics on commander performance. Results of the above analyses indicate: (a) the IVIS Performance and Knowledge tests are reliable, (b) the soldiers learn during training and the learning transfers to the operational setting (performance measured after two days of testing shows soldiers performance significantly increased from that of post-training performance), and (c) soldier biographical characteristics do not predict IVIS proficiency. The results call for more training time allotted to teaching IVIS skills with some IVIS functions deserving more attention. Additionally, it appears personnel requirements may not be an issue for selecting IVIS system users as the study found no correlation between biographical characteristics and IVIS proficiency. And finally, it is recommended that observational raters receive greater rater training as interrater reliability estimates were low.

The architectural and spatial design and two public housing projects, Brownsville and Van Dyke, located in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, were tested to determine their effects upon the crime rates and mental illness. While keeping the socio-economic factors under limited control, a data comparison approach was used to illuminate any difference in the crime and mental illness rates between the two projects. A significant difference in the crime rates was noticed between them with the Van Dyke Houses having a higher crime rate. Since Van Dyke also had a significantly higher percentage of mental illness than compared to Brownsville Houses, a correlation between the sense of residential security and mental health was drawn. In conclusion, the architectural and spatial design was found to be an important influence in crime deterrence in public housing as well as the cultivation of mental health of the project's occupants.

A study was conducted to develop a written tank knowledge test for United States Army armor trainees. Such a test may be employed as a tool for training program evaluation and as a criterion measure for assessing trainees. The Tank Knowledge Test (TKT) was developed from items written by subject matter experts familiar with the armor training program. After pilot testing, a revised version of the TKT had an internal consistency reliability of .79. Item difficulty levels ranged from .16 to .92 with a mean of .57. A factor analysis performed to examine the possibility of deriving subscales from four clusters of topically related items revealed no support for a four factor solution.