Achieving environmental standards with efficient and cost-effective economic systems is a subject whose importance is increasing in conjunction with growing technological innovation and urbanization. This project contributes to the subject's literature by empirically examining the effects of a voluntary taxation mechanism on the water quality of designated lakes in Orange County, Florida. One of two taxing district types is voluntarily formed by lakefront or near-lakefront property owners: a Municipal Service Taxing District (MSTU), wherein participants pay an ad valorem tax based on property values, or a Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU), wherein participants pay an equal flat rate tax independent of property value. The taxing districts' purpose is to allocate specific funds for water management and water quality improvement, so the fixed effects econometric analyses examine the efficacy of the mechanisms using publicly available water quality data on Trophic State Index (TSI) ratings, Secchi disk depth measurements, phosphorus levels, and nitrogen levels. The empirical results show that MSTU/MSBU taxing districts are moderately effective at reducing phosphorus and nitrogen levels and that MSTU designation is weakly superior to MSBU designation. Moreover, certain taxing district characteristics are shown to be important for mechanism effectiveness.

No / Evidence from research conducted on corporate accounting indicates that the interaction of environmental factors influences disclosure practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of various corporate governance and cultural (race and education) characteristics, in addition to firm-specific factors, as possible determinants of voluntary (non-mandatory accounting and non-accounting information) disclosures in the annual reports of Malaysian listed corporations. The results of the regression analysis indicate significant associations (at the 5 percent level) between two corporate governance variables (viz. chair who is a non-executive director and domination of family members on boards) and the extent of voluntary disclosure. This finding has implications for corporate governance policy formulation by the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MISG). One cultural factor (proportion of Malay directors on the board) is significantly associated (at the 5 percent level) with the extent of voluntary disclosure suggesting that governmental focus on culture may solicit a response to secrecy from those who feel threatened.

This thesis is a case study of six organisations and two pilot organisations to investigate the implementation of strategic planning in small charitable organisations in the voluntary sector in Edinburgh. The case studies utilised semi-structured interviews, observations and questionnaires on multiple occasions over a two-year time period. The data collected provided insight into the financial management systems utilised by these organisations and the training level attained by the financial person of each of the organisations. The findings supported the concept that the more developed the training of the financial person, the more developed the level of planning attained and the more complex the funding arrangements accessed by that organisation become. The research also supported the position that the barriers to planning were the same barriers that have been previously noted in the literature as indigenous to the voluntary sector: time, money, resources, and communication. In addition, the research developed evidence to support a listing of characteristics which are indicative of when an organisation is ready to plan more strategically. These include such items as a teamwork approach, knowing the staff and their backgrounds, knowing and planning for the training needs of staff, supporting the staff, and developing in the staff the feeling that they can talk to their supervisor. The research also developed that there are certain general characteristics, such as being aware of changes in the law, having, and being perceived to have, fair and up to date policies and procedures as being indicative of an organisation which is ready for the changes intrinsic in the implementation of strategic planning models involving continuous improvement such as the EFQM Excellence Model®. Although the organisations are not opposed to planning in general and strategic planning in particular, the need for survival by conforming to the requirements of funders takes precedence over longer term planning. Part of the impetus for this behaviour is the evocative behaviour of supporting 'the cause' for which they were founded. Frequently in the voluntary sector, 'the cause' also involves working with vulnerable groups of people. The limited progress observed in their strategic planning indicated that the period of time available for observation was too short and the measurements needed to be taken too soon.

Tourism mitigation is a contentious issue that requires a multifaceted approach to effectively achieve. The need to reduce personal traveling expenditure in order to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions caused by tourism has not suitably been infiltrated within the public consciousness. Furthermore, those travellers who have been exposed to the reality that greenhouse gas emissions from tourism has often disregard that information and continue with their behaviour regardless.  This thesis aimed to investigate the reasons why those who travel the most in society, the hypermobile, choses to travel as much as they do and how this demand for travel could be curbed. It focused on three forms of tourism mitigation; government regulations, increases to the price of air travel and social marketing. The study was conducted with 10 individuals who self-identify as being highly mobile (more than 3 international return trips per year). The results showed that those who no single method of tourism mitigation would be effective in the goal of limiting highly mobile behavioural tendencies. A mixture of all three methods would be required in reaching the goal of lowering the levels of distance air travel consumption.

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The Ilford Carnival was a procession of costumed individuals and decorated vehicles held annually in this then outer-lying London suburb between 1905 and 1914 to raise funds for establishing a local hospital. This thesis utilises the carnival to provide an insight into how different suburban organisations and social groups came together in a particular performance of community. It argues that the carnival's administrative body, and other organisations involved, provided opportunities for inclusion and social capital attainment. It also demonstrates how a local culture of voluntary action provided the basis of a large-scale charitable initiative with an ethos of communal self-help. The suburban setting demonstrates the continued relevance of carnival, originating in the premodern ritual year, within a modern urban environment. In the wake of Ilford's drastic expansion, the carnival's annual recurrence provided reassuring familiarity, and an opportunity for inversionary performances, with the carnival's philanthropic rationale providing a justification for what might have otherwise been seen as transgressive. The thesis illustrates that the procession functioned as a suburban public sphere. Performances throughout operated between poles of artifice and sincerity, with dominant ideals about national and imperial identity, or class and gender roles, being projected through acts of dressing up, while such ideals were both transgressed and upheld through practices like crossdressing and blackface. The suburb too was reimagined, as both rural idyll and metropolitan tourist attraction. It also highlights how the carnival's timing, structure and content were impinged upon and influenced by expanding cultural industries, with the carnival commodified by participating businesses and media, but also appropriating fundraising models and imagery from commercialised formats like sport and theatre, connoting the topicality and recognisability that enabled it to compete within the metropolitan market for people's spare time and money.

Without academic intervention, such as tutoring, at-risk students may not pass their courses. This study examined differences between the final grades of at-risk students and tutoring methods, such as self-determined tutoring, academic advisor scheduled tutoring, group tutoring, one-to-one tutoring, peer tutoring, and professional tutoring. This study drew from cognitive learning theory and humanistic theory for its conceptual framework. A quantitative, ex post facto research design was used. Archived data supplied by the Registrar's Office and the Academic Enrichment Coordinator included records of 95 male and female students conditionally enrolled at Methodist University in the Academic Enrichment Program during the 2007 to 2009 academic years. The results of an independent samples t test determined there was a significant difference between final grades of students who had self-determined tutoring compared to those who had academic advisor determined tutoring. Results of a one-way analysis of variance determined there were significant differences in final grades of students who received group tutoring compared to one-to-one tutoring and peer tutoring compared to professional tutoring. The preliminary results raised questions of the importance of tutor status in a group or one-to-one setting. A post hoc analysis using a paired-samples t test revealed a statistically significant difference in final grades of students in group settings but not in one-to-one settings. The results of this study offer the potential for positive social change to those in higher education by advancing the understanding of how to support and provide intervention programs, such as tutoring for at-risk students, in order to reduce their risk of academic failure during college.

Thesis(M Med.(Family Medicine)--University of Limpopo, 2009. / The impact of HIV/AIDS on the health sector and the health professionals that work in it is huge. This impact has contributed to the continuing attrition of health professionals in South Africa. Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) has a central role to play in the response to these problems both at the level of the health sector in general and most especially at the level of the individual health professional. Thus, understanding factors that affect the practice of VCT amongst this group of professionals is crucial in South Africa‟s quest to reverse these negative trends. AIM The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge, to access and understand the attitude and practice of VCT for HIV/AIDS amongst the health professionals in a rural district Hospital and to make recommendations in order that appropriate intervention strategies may be instituted. METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional quantitative study design was used in which data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The study population included all the health professionals working in the hospital at the time of the study but excluded those who were on leave or absent from duty during the period of data collection. Informed consent was obtained from each participant. Data was captured and analyzed using the SPSS version 15.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, Illinois, USA). vi RESULTS There was a very high level of knowledge, a moderately supportive attitude and a moderately high level of practice of VCT amongst the study participants. Divorced/separated respondents to this study had more supportive attitude towards VCT than their single colleagues. Age was found to have a very weak but positive correlation to attitude score. There was no significant difference in knowledge and attitude scores between those who practiced VCT and those who did not. CONCLUSION Health professionals understand the importance of VCT as an HIV preventive behavior but there remains some VCT knowledge, attitude and practice concerns together with other determinants of VCT behavior that needs to be addressed.

No description available.