This article reports a study which compared current donors, lapsed donors, and nondonors to the American Cancer Society in terms of their demographic characteristics, donation motives, likelihood with which these motives would be satisfied as a result of donating to a charitable organization, and the level of concern expressed regarding a variety of health issues. Results and implications of the study are discussed.

Purpose - There has been a considerable effort over the last decade to increase awareness of the tsunami risk in coastal Washington, USA. However, contemporary research on warning systems spawned by the recent Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy highlights the need for development of an effective tsunami warning system for both residents and transient populations, including visitors and tourists. This study sets out evaluate staff training for emergencies, emergency management exercises (including drills and evacuation), and hazard signage within motels and hotels in Ocean Shores, Washington, USA. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from interviews with reception staff and managers at 18 hotels, motels, and other accommodation establishments. Findings - Levels of staff training and preparedness for tsunami and other hazards were found to be generally very low, although examples of "best practice" were found at a select few establishments. Larger hotels already had orientation or general training programmes set up which had the potential to incorporate future tsunami and hazard training, while smaller "owner-operator" businesses did not. Research limitations/implications - Suggestions on how to improve preparedness are discussed, including undertaking training needs analyses and conducting workshops, simulations and employee training to empower both businesses and employees. Originality/value - This case study provides an insight into the challenges faced by emergency managers and the tourism sector in improving the effectiveness of warning systems in areas with high transient populations.

Purpose - This paper aims to introduces a measure to assess the perceived effectiveness of multi-hospital organizations (MOs). Design/methodology/approach - A sample of top managers of non-profit hospitals serves as the study setting. Data were collected via mail surveys. Usable responses were obtained from 189 hospitals. The measure was developed by considering the instrumentality and effect components of a set of relevant motives for joining an MO. During the course of the study, three alternative formulations were examined. Findings - Results show that the measures based on effect alone and a multiplicative combination of effect and instrumentality demonstrate sound psychometric properties. The recommendation here is to adopt the latter measure. Research limitations/implications - The study was limited to a particular sample. Replications among other samples are needed to validate the current findings. Also, because the exact content of the objective function of a hospital for joining an MO is not necessarily constant over time, there is a need to conduct similar studies on a periodic basis. Practical implications - The measure recommended here uses multiplicative/weighted instrumentality and effect scores as opposed to only the instrumentality or effect scores. This makes it possible to go beyond the mere "why" or "how" questions. Simultaneous consideration of instrumentality and effect dimensions affords a richer and more relevant understanding. Originality/value - Valid and reliable measures of performance are critical for both managerial and research purposes. The measure proposed in the current study could be used in structural equation models to investigate the effect of individual actions on performance and the impact of performance on other outcome measures (e.g. intentions to stay in an MO).

The study proposes and tests a model of consumer bank choice behavior in a south eastern city in the USA, based on the economics of information theory. The model expands the domain of inquiry beyond the initial level attributes to the first-order latent construct and the second-order (composite) levels. Results suggest that consumer bank choice behavior can be represented as a global construct with three viable components (search, credence and experience) and provide implications for bank managers.

No / Concepts of residential and logistic mobility are applied to survey assemblages from multiple decades of research along the interior drainages of central lower Michigan. Drawing on the ethnographic record of boreal hunter-gatherers and archaeological interpretations of long-distance logistic mobility from the Mesolithic of northern England and continental Europe, it is argued that the importance of logistic mobility is underrepresented in summaries of northern hemisphere hunter-gatherers. Reconstruction of Middle Holocene environments suggests that the resource structure of the central Michigan uplands was one that fostered use of logistic mobility, and that interior Middle Archaic assemblages and site structures reveal special function activities systemically tied to residential and other special function sites at lower coastal elevations, as well as currently submerged under Lake Huron. We conclude that rising levels of Lake Huron ca. 4500 B.P. resulted in decreased land area, population packing, and a consequent shift to residential mobility by the Late Archaic. Further, the results of this analysis can serve as a comparative framework for recognizing the role of logistic mobility in the evolution of hunter-gatherer adaptive strategies in other regions.

This thesis investigated the perceptions of accommodation efficacy held by students with neurodevelopmental disabilities at UCF (the University of Central Florida) to understand whether the current accommodations are adequate for those accessing them. Prior research has found that students with disabilities face many barriers when accessing proper accommodations. Furthermore, even when they access them, the accommodations may fall short of what is needed. An online survey study was conducted to investigate student usage of and attitudes toward accommodations. The survey comprised five main sections: Demographics, Perceptions of Accommodations/Accommodations Received, Willingness to Disclose Disability Scale (WDD), Attitudes Toward Requesting Accommodations Scale (ATRA), and the Self-Determination and Self- Advocacy Skills Questionnaire (SDSAS). Disability offices can utilize the findings of this research to serve the disabled student body better. The present research found that, from the responses of 118 students at UCF, the landscape of neurodivergence at UCF spans through 11 of the 13 colleges, and are a diverse group of individuals, a majority of whom use accommodations at UCF and rate them highly in terms of helpfulness. The most commonly accessed accommodations were extended time on tests and taking exams in a room with reduced distractions with scores above an eight out of ten possible points. Participants were asked what accommodations they believed would be of assistance to them and the most desired accommodations were a copy of the lecture notes and extended time on tests. It was found that students actively using accommodations had significantly more positive views of the overall process, were more likely to disclose their disability, and had higher self-reported skill levels regarding self-advocacy. Despite more positive outlooks from those using accommodations at UCF, the averages of scores show that there is still room for improvement regarding disability acceptance and self-advocacy, but that current accommodations are reportedly helpful.

In cases concerning a hostile takeover occurring in the United States, the board of directors must fulfill the duties set forward by the Unocal test. If the board of directors succeed, it implies that the decision, regardless if it is a bad decision, is protected by the Business Judgment Rule. The Business Judgment Rule presumes that the board of directors in good faith made an informed decision in the line of the corporations’ interests. The Business Judgment Rule is inherently unique for American companies. In Sweden liability for directors is based on a culpa evaluation which in turn is based on principles deriving from tort law. This is the result from the corporate law only providing for a very limited part concerning liability. In this thesis, the different judicial systems are explained with focus on differences and similarities based on duties of the board. Moreover, the different liabilities from a Swedish and an American perspective will be discussed. Concluding, it is hard to distinguish a Swedish version of the Business Judgment Rule, however, the creation of one would most likely be beneficial since it, to a large extent, provides for a better business world. / Vid ett fientligt företagsförvärv i USA måste styrelseledamöterna visa att de uppfyller de krav som framställts genom Unocal-testet. Lyckas styreledamöterna uppfylla kraven så blir de skyddade från skadeståndsrättsligt ansvar i enlighet med the Business Judgment Rule, oavsett om beslutet ledde till en dålig affär. The Business Judgment Rule presumerar att styrelseledamöterna i god tro fattat ett välgrundat affärsbeslut som ligger i bolagets intresse. The Business Judgment Rule är unikt för amerikanska bolag. I Sverige utgår skadeståndsansvar för styrelseledamöter från en culpabedömning, vilket baseras på allmänna skadeståndsrättsliga principer då den aktiebolagsrättsliga skadeståndsdelen är begränsad. I denna uppsats redogörs de olika rättssystemen med fokus på likheter och skillnader i styrelseuppdraget. Vidare diskuteras styrelseledamöternas skadeståndsansvar utifrån ett amerikanskt och ett svenskt perspektiv. Slutligen visas det att det är svårt att se en svensk version till the Business Judgment Rule, men att en sådan troligen skulle vara att föredra då regeln ger effekter som bidrar till en bättre affärsvärld.

Cette analyse dresse le portrait des différentes représentations de la télévision à travers le cinéma américain de 1970 à 1999. Ce travail porte sur un corpus de quatorze films et s’intéresse à quatre dimensions de la télévision : l’appareil électrique, le téléspectateur, le contenu et l’univers professionnel. Les hypothèses soulevées sont que la télévision est majoritairement présentée de façon négative, que les représentations s’inscrivent dans un contexte culturel précis et qu’il y a un consensus entre les écrits universitaires et les cinéastes au sujet de l’écran cathodique. Bien que certaines critiques soient récurrentes d’une décennie à l’autre, il y a une évolution des représentations. Dans les années 1970, la télévision est un objet de risée. Son contenu est caricaturé et les professionnels qui travaillent pour la télévision sont personnifiés comme des êtres incompétents. Dans les années 1980, le petit écran est montré comme un objet dangereux. Sa très grande popularité en ferait un puissant diffuseur idéologique qui transforme tout en spectacle même la mort. Cette même popularité servira de prétexte aux cinéastes des années 1990 pour utiliser la télévision comme symbole de l’Amérique. Le portrait est peu flatteur : une Amérique corrompue, violente et en manque d’idéaux. Cette analyse montre également qu’au fil des décennies, les mêmes idées circulent entre cinéastes et penseurs américains. Enfin, cette attitude par rapport à la télévision est d’ailleurs symptomatique d’un mépris de l’élite intellectuel envers l’art populaire. / This analysis examines the multiple representations of the television in the American movie from 1970 to 1999. Four angles have been studied: the television set, the TV viewer, his content and the work environment. The hypothesis are theses: all the representations are negative, these representations are placed in a particular social context and there is a consensus between intellectuals and cineastes about the cathodic screen. Even if there are similarities between each decade, there is an evolution of the television representation. In the seventies, the cineastes laugh about the television. They show that the content is ridiculous and the TV workers are incompetent. In the eighties, the television is show like a dangerous object. His great popularity allows the owners to use the television as an ideological device. This popularity is used in the nineties like a pretext for the cineaste to talk about the United States over the television. The America’s portrait is negative: a violent and corrupted country. This analysis also shows that during these years, the same conclusions go through literature and cinema. Finally, this attitude toward television is symptomatic of an intellectual elite forward the popular art.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to describe and analyze legal regulation of individual income tax in the Czech Republic and in the United States, to compare the legal regulation in both countries and to assess the possibility of implementation of certain institutes of American federal tax law in the Czech Republic. The first chapter of this thesis deals with tax issues in general and with basic tax law terminology. The second chapter briefly describes elementary organization of the tax system and the structure of taxes in the Czech Republic and in the United States. The third chapter of this thesis discusses in more detail legal regulation of individual income tax in the Czech Republic according to individual elements of the tax construction. This chapter is divided into five subchapters, which deal with individual elements of the tax construction. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the Czech legal regulation of individual income tax and to underline problematic parts of this legal regulation. The fourth chapter, which is similarly structured as the third chapter, deals with legal regulation of individual income tax in the United States. This chapter is divided into two subchapters, the first of which discusses individual income tax on the federal level and the second one on the level of...

Diploma thesis "Czechoslovak-US Relations, 1977-1981" examines the nature and development of bilateral relations between these two states primarily during Carter's period. The thesis describes foreign policy of the United States towards communist countries of Eastern Europe in the late 70's and early 80's of the 20th century and compares this policy with foreign policy of Nixon's and Ford's administrations. The paper briefly describes prevailing situation in the USA in the late 70's, impact of Carter's administration activities on global development of USA-SSSR relations and influence of changes on international field on Czechoslovak-American relations. The main attention is drawn to the nature of Czechoslovak-U.S. relations, matters of mutual interest and to the friction areas among the states. Political and diplomatic relations as well as economic and cultural relations are observed. The thesis also analyzes Carter's initiative to enhance human rights throughout the world and to fulfil the Helsinki commitments, which had essential importance for further developement of U.S. relations with the Soviet bloc states. Key words: Czechoslovak-American relations, The United States, Czechoslovakia, The Soviet Union, Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, human rights, détente, differentiation policy