Digital Commons Network^™

The Use And Usefulness Of Managed Fund Ratings In Australia, Paul Gerrans

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Managed fund ratings have become an increasingly available piece of information to guide choice of managed funds. From the perspective of modem portfolio theory and specifically within the efficient markets paradigm, the value of such information is questionable. No profitable relationship should be able to be demonstrated between a fund rating and its subsequent performance. This thesis investigates the relationship between fund ratings and subsequent performance using Morningstar ratings, the most prominent Australian rating provider, for two of the largest and most important groups of managed funds. A positive relationship between a fund's star rating, its quantitative and qualitative components, …

Deception In Advertising: A Content Analysis Of The Legal Parameters Of Deception, E. Carla Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

One of the primary attributes of a free market economy is the uninhibited flow of truthful information regarding the goods and services available in the marketplace (Azcuenaga 1995). This free flow of information, in the form of advertising, enhances market performance by informing consumers and enabling firms to compete equitably based on the attributes of their offerings. Studies reveal that, for the vast majority of marketing managers, the regulatory environment serves as the primary influence in advertising strategy development and decision-making (Davis 1994). However, in their theory development, behavioral researchers often ignore the legal aspects promulgated by the FTC. Furthermore, …

A Comparative Analysis Of Two Course Delivery Models Through The Telequiz Protocol, A Study Of Web-Based Distance Assessment Modalities, Patrick Michael O'Shea

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

Distance education and distance assessment have become the focus of many institutions of higher learning, and there is a need to know how these tools compare with those used in the traditional classroom setting. This study was designed to compare online and traditional students utilizing a mixture of quantitative and qualitative strategies in a quasi experimental model. This research was conducted at Old Dominion University using a sample of online and traditional students enrolled in an Introduction to Education course (ECI 300). Both versions of this course utilize an online quizzing protocol known as Telequiz. Quiz scores, final exam scores …

The Transfer Promise: An Investigation Of Impediments To Academic Success And Persistence In A Mid-Sized Urban University, Mary H. Duggan

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

This study adapted and validated, for use with transfer students, an existing freshman survey instrument designed to identify patterns of noncognitive factors related to academic performance and persistence. This study also explored the transfer experience by combining a qualitative interview approach with that of a survey, thus developing a method to ascertain those transfer students who were at risk of attrition.

To identify noncognitive predictors, the researcher examined the percentage of transfer students in academic difficulty for every response to each of the 152 items on a Transfer Student Survey (TSS). Respondents were separated into 4 groups based on their …

Light On The First Day Of Creation, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Too Wonderful To Understand God’S Gift Of Romantic Love, Glenn Russell

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Volume 26, No. 3

The Weldon Times

A student-run newspaper published at the School of Law at Dalhousie University.

Editors: Ted Frankel, Arlo Litman

Managing Editor: Jason Brown

A Policy-Based Resource Brokering Environment For Computational Grids, Ahmed Hamdan Al-Theneyan

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

With the advances in networking infrastructure in general, and the Internet in particular, we can build grid environments that allow users to utilize a diverse set of distributed and heterogeneous resources. Since the focus of such environments is the efficient usage of the underlying resources, a critical component is the resource brokering environment that mediates the discovery, access and usage of these resources. With the consumer's constraints, provider's rules, distributed heterogeneous resources and the large number of scheduling choices, the resource brokering environment needs to decide where to place the user's jobs and when to start their execution in a …

Clinton's Foreign Policy And The Politics Of Intervention: Cases Of Ethnic Cleansing And Democratic Governance, Daneta G. Billau

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the sources of U.S. President Bill Clinton's foreign policy, with special attention to understudied political elements of intervention. The basis of this study is the Clinton Doctrine, in which Clinton opposed ethnic cleansing, and supported democratic governance worldwide. The primary research question asks to what extent and why was there a variation in Clinton's application of his own doctrine in the specific cases of Rwanda in 1994, Haiti in 1994, and East Timor in 1999. To address this question, the following five hypotheses are posited:

H1: The more vital interests are at stake, and the closer the …

Depression And Social Support As Moderators Of Withon-Person Relationships Between Daily Events And Daily Adjustments During Adolescence, Rebecca M. Plesko

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Everyday for 2 weeks, adolescents described the events that occurred each day and provided measures of their daily self-esteem and depressogenic adjustment. Adolescents also provided trait measures of depression and social support. Within-person relationships were found between social and achievement, positive and negative daily events and daily adjustment. Depression and social support moderated specific within-person relationships. Less well-adjusted adolescents were more reactive to social positive events than better-adjusted adolescents, but surprisingly, better-adjusted adolescents were more reactive to social negative events than less well-adjusted adolescents. Better-adjusted adolescents were also more reactive to achievement positive events than less well-adjusted adolescents. Girls were …

Using Real Options Analysis For Evaluating Uncertain Investments In Information Technology: Insights From The Icis 2001 Debate, Paul P. Tallon, Robert J. Kauffman, Henry C. Lucas, Andrew B. Whinston, Kevin Zhu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Business and information systems (IS) executives continue to grapple with issues of risk and uncertainty in evaluating investments in information technology (IT). Despite the use of net present value (NPV) and other investment appraisal techniques, executives are often forced to rely on instinct when finalizing IT investment decisions. Recognizing the shortcomings of NPV, real options analysis has been suggested as an alternative approach, one that considers the risks associated with an investment while recognizing the ability of corporations to defer an investment until a later period or to make a partial investment instead. Responding to a growing interest in real …

Evaluation Of Native Isolates Of Basillus Thuringiensis And Metarhizium Anisopliae For The Control Of Plutella Xylostella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), Kahuro Thumbi

All Master’s Theses

Twelve isolates of b, thuringiensis and three of m anisopliae were isolated from the soil and cadavers obtained from diverse geographical regions of kenya. Pathogenicity of fifteen isolates of bithuringiensis and fourteen of m anisopliae to p. Xylostella was determined in the laboratory. Mortality caused by b. Thuringiensis to the first instar larvae varied between 6 and 100%. Five isolates caused mortality of 100 % in the first day after inoculation. Lethal time for the most virulent isolate was 0.5 days and 8.3 days for the less virulent. There were also differences in the pathogenicity of isolates of m anisopliae …

Assessement Of Kairomones As A Monitoring Tool For Cotesia Flavipes Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Esther Ndumi Ngumbi

All Master’s Theses

Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) is a major pest of maize in East Africa. Its indigenous natural enemies are unable to regulate its densities to a level acceptable to farmers. Cotesia flavipes Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a larval parasitoid of C. partellus now established in Kenya, was released in 1993 from Pakistan for the control of this pest. A major constraint in evaluating the establishment of C. flavipes, is the great amount of time spent for its field collection and identification. Use of traps may facilitate the assessment of the establishment and spread of this parasitoid. A number of chemical compounds released by …

An Interaction Model Between Cotesia Flavipes And Cotesia Sesamiae, Parasitoids Of The Gramineous Stem-Borers At The Kenya Coast, Muriithi Karuku

All Master’s Theses

One of the greatest challenges facing the people of sub-Saharan Africa is the production of sufficient food to feed a rapidly increasing population in the face of dwindling finances. As the population grows at 3% and food production at 2% per annum, an annual shortage of 250 million tons of food is expected by year 2020. The greatest obstacle to increasing the production of maize and sorghum, the staple food in many African communities south of the Sahara, is damage by phytophagous insects. Larval feeding in the plant Whorl and later through stem tunneling causes plant damage. Infested plants have …

Development Of The Pupal Parasitoid Xanthopimpla Stemmator (Thunberg)(Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) In Various Cereal Stem Borers (Lepidoptera), Ann Wanjiru Gitau

All Master’s Theses

Classical biological control (CBC) is a management strategy that employs natural enemies against exotic pests. The method has been used against Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an introduced pest of maize in Africa, using the introduced larval parasitoid Cotesia flavipes (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). However, C.flavipes is not able to attack all stem borer species in the targeted areas. To complement its work, Xanthopimpla stemmator (Thunberg) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) a solitary pupal endoparasitoid, which attacks pupae of Lepidoptera stem borers was imported from Sri-Lanka via Mauritius and South Africa to Kenya for laboratory trials. Xanthopimp/a stemmator has successfully been established in Mauritius …

An Empirical Study Of Associate Satisfaction, Law Firm Culture, And The Effects Of Billable Hour Requirements - Part Two, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

This article considers billing practices, the effects of hourly billing pressure, and firm culture as reflected in a survey of associates in Texas law firms. Part I of this article reports the empirical information from the survey. This information includes insight into the toll an increase in billable hour requirements has taken on legal practitioners and the consequent affect on the legal field. Part II discusses what the data means and how it might be used to improve the outlook for attracting and retaining good associates.

Introduction: The Virtues And Vices Of Skeptical Environmentalism, Jonathan H. Adler, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

Introduction Extract:

The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World by Bjorn Lomborg' is the most talked about environmental book in recent memory. Lomborg's central thesis is relatively straightforward: "Our doomsday conceptions of the environment are not correct." To the contrary, in recent decades humanity's lot has "improved in terms of practically every measurable indicator." Lomborg is not the first author to make this argument,4 but his book is the first to spark such a maelstrom of public attention. Its publication ignited controversy and debate on both sides of the Atlantic. Lomborg himself, an associate professor of statistics …

Property Rights, Pesticides, & (And) Public Health: Explaining The Paradox Of Modern Pesticide Policy, Andrew P. Morriss, Roger E. Meiners

Faculty Scholarship

The lesson of DDT's rise and fall is that property rights play a critical role in checking public policy abuses. Respect for property rights requires public actors to obtain property owners' consent before they take actions (e.g. pesticide spraying) that affect the property owners. When property rights are respected, spillover impacts are minimized. Public policies imposed without consent, even if done with good intentions, may produce bad effects. Those effects may result in the policy being rightly abandoned, but may also spur other policies that produce more bad effects. Only by consistent respect for property rights, by both governments and …

Ethics Counsel's Role In Combating The "Ostrich" Tendency, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

This article focuses on ethics problems related to hourly billing by analyzing the results of a survey of 1000 randomly selected associates in Texas firms who (1) had been licensed for ten or fewer years as of June 1999, and (2) worked in private law firms with more than ten attorneys (the Associate Survey). This article addresses the need for firm managers to clarify how and what their attorneys should bill. The article reports the results from the Associate Survey relating to billing guidance and ethics systems. From the empirical data, the article identifies a need for supervising attorneys to …

Impact Of Land Use Change On Hydroelectric Power Generation In Cameron Highlands, Fook Kun Choy

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study assesses the impact of land use changes on annual energy production of the hydro stations of Cameron Highlands Hydroelectric Scheme. Land use affects sediment load and streamflow of Sungai Telom and Sungai Bertam, which influences power generation and energy production of the several hydro stations in Cameron Highlands. Data of rainfall, streamflow, suspended sediment load, land use and energy output for the period 1964 to 1998 were collected, processed and analysed. Regression analysis, double mass curve method and double ratio technique were used in the assessment. The suspended sediment load and annual runoff of Sungai Telom and Sungai …

Knowledge Management Mechanisms In E-Commerce: A Study Of Online Retailing And Auction Sites, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, Keng Siau, Yuhong Tian, Min Ling

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Knowledge management is vital to a company's success in this e-commerce era. Not only has the topic of knowledge management attracted much research attention lately, but the management of customer knowledge is also becoming increasingly important. Despite its significance, few research studies have systematically investigated knowledge management in the e-commerce context. None of the studies we reviewed looked at how knowledge management mechanisms were employed in e-commerce. This research presents a comprehensive analysis of the knowledge management mechanisms employed by 14 e-commerce sites that were rated as being the best by Gomez.com, an independent Internet quality measurement firm. Specifically, we …

The Storrs Lectures: Liberals And Romantics At War: The Problem Of Collective Guilt, George P. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

Somehow we in the West thought the age of war was behind us. After nuking Hiroshima, after napalming Vietnam, we had only distaste for the idea and the practice of war. The thought of dying for a noble cause, the pursuit of honor in the name of patria, brotherhood in arms – none of this appealed to us anymore. "I hate war and so does Eleanor," opined FDR in the oft-repeated lyrics of Pete Seeger. War became a subject for ironic disdain. As Tom Lehrer caught the mood of the 1960s: "We only want the world to know that …

Incomplete Compensation For Takings, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

If a tribunal determines that a state actor has expropriated foreign investment property, or, under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), that a state actor has adopted a regulation that is "tantamount to" an expropriation of foreign investment property, then that tribunal must determine the amount of compensation owed. International law has developed methods to determine the size of a compensation award when a state formally expropriates property. But the notion, reflected in Chapter 11 of NAFTA, that states may be required to pay compensation to foreign investors for what are, in effect, regulatory takings, is …

Agency Rules With The Force Of Law: The Original Convention, Thomas W. Merrill, Kathryn Tongue Watts

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court recently held in United States v. Mead Corp. that agency interpretations should receive Chevron deference only when Congress has delegated power to the agency to make rules with the force of law and the agency has rendered its interpretation in the exercise of that power The first step of this inquiry is difficult to apply to interpretations adopted through rulemaking, because often rulemaking grants authorize the agency to make "such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter" or words to that effect, without specifying whether "rules and regulations" encompasses rules …

Credit Cards And Debit Cards In The United States And Japan, Ronald J. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

The widespread use of cards is one of the most salient features of consumer retail payment systems in the United States. American consumers use those cards to pay for about one-fourth of their retail purchases each year. And this is not a static phenomenon; among other things, the use of debit cards, though still relatively small, is rising rapidly. That pattern of use is not, however, typical of other countries. Even in some highly industrialized nations, consumers use cards to pay for purchases much less frequently. Statistics from the Bank for International Settlements, for example, suggest about sixty card-based payment …

Mabopa : Sejarah Dan Perkembangan Persatuan Penerbit Buku Malaysia, Suhaillah Abdullah

Student Works (2000-2009)

Laporan Penyelidikan ini dijalankan untuk mengetahui sejarah dan perkembangan Persatuan Penerbit Buku Malaysia (MABOPA) sepanjang 31 tahun penubuhannya (1969-2001). Persatuan Penerbit Buku Malaysia merupakan antara persatuan yang bergiat aktif dalam mempertingkatkan industri perbukuan negara. Walaupun begitu, terlalu kurang sumber bertulis yang menceritakan tentang kegiatan dan peranan Persatuan Penerbit Buku Malaysia dalam arena penerbitan negara. Oleh itu, kajian ini dijalankan sebagai 'sambungan' kepada kajian perintis yang pemah dilakukan oleh saudari Rabiatuladawiah Arshad pada tahun 1991. Dalam tempoh hampir 10 tahun, kajian susulan yang di buat menunjukkan Persatuan Penerbit Buku Malaysia telah mengalami pelbagai perubahan. Realitinya Persatuan Penerbit Buku Malaysia semakin matang …

Assessment Of Pollution Load For Approved Eia Projects In The Industrial Sector (1988-1998) In Malaysia, Kok Sia Teng

Student Works (2000-2009)

It is generally recognised that developing countries lacked quantitative decision support tools in the formulation and implementation of pollution control measures necessary to abate environmental impacts associated with industrial development. Reliable and comprehensive simulation models are needed as basic tools for the quantification of industrial pollutant emission load, the assessment of their impacts on the environment as well as the evaluation of pollution control options. As a response to this inadequacy, this research project is conducted as an initial endeavor to use the World Bank's industrial pollution projection program Decision Support System for Integrated Pollution Control (DSS/IPC) for the assessment …

Locus Of Control And The Intention Of Being An Entrepreneur Among Managers Of Federal Development Authority Malaysia, Razaili Haji Gapor

Student Works (2000-2009)

This study examines the relationship between Locus of Control and the intention of being an entrepreneur among Federal Development Authority Malaysia (FDAM ) managers. This study first investigate the effect of Locus of Control on the intention to become an entrepreneur among 100 respondents, as measured by statistical testing on answered survey questionnaire. Further, this study extends the analysis by examining the relationship between ethnic group and the intention of being an entrepreneur among FDAM managers. The results showed a significant relationship between ethnic group and income level with the intention of being an entrepreneur among FDAM managers. This study …

Pemakaian Asas Astronomi Dalam Menentukan Arah Qiblat Di Malaysia : Suatu Pendekatan Hukum, Mohamad Amin Abu Bakar

Student Works (2000-2009)

This research is about the belief of native of Kelantan Society towards Nur Muhammad doctrine which is well-accepted doctrine amongst those who practice Islamic mysticism (Sufism) particularly in the Malay Archipelago. The purpose of this research is to see how far the impact of this doctrine on the religious belief of the native of the stated It is also aimed at seeing how much other philosophies, teachings and religious beliefs have absorbed into the Islamic belief resulting in the birth of various polemics in the religious practise among the native of Kelantan in particular. This research is divided into five …

Pemikiran Abul A'La Al Maududi Dan Pembentukan Peradaban Islam Di Benua Kecil India, Osman Md. Rasip

Student Works (2000-2009)

Disertasi ini menilai pemikiran dan sumbangan Maududi dalam peradaban Islam dan pendekatan-pendekatan yang dilaksanakan bagi pembentukan peradaban Islam khususnya di benua kecil India. Kajian ini akan memfokuskan kepada Liga aspek ulama Pertamanya latar belakang yang melatari suasana dan faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi pemikiran Maududi. Kedua, rnelihat pemikiran beliau mengenai pembentukan peradaban Islam serta yang yang terakhir adalah aktiviti Maududi bersama Jama'ati-i lslami dalam merealisasikan idea-idea beliau. Maududi dipilih memandangkan beliau mempunyai keistimewaan tersendiri mengenai idea dan pendekatan yang digunakan dalarn era kebangkitan Islam. Beliau berbeza dengan golongan modernis yang terlalu longgar dalarn usaha memajukan urnat Islam dengan menafikan sebahagian daripada hukum-hukum …