Issues in forest restoration: Workforce needs of the four forest restoration initiative project: An analysis

Northern Arizona is home to the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in North America - spanning the Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino, Kaibab, and Tonto national forests. This vast forest is part of a dry ecosystem that has always been subject to the powerful transformative forces of wildfire, in particular the thinning effects of low-intensity surface fires on pine seedlings and saplings. Suppression of natural fire began on a large scale at the turn of the last century, altering this natural process. As a result, stand density has increased exponentially since the settlement of the state. Recent wildfires, such as the Wallow and the Rodeo-Chediski, are fostered by these overgrown forest conditions

The Use of the Internet in the U.S Lodging Industry

The internet has been heralded as the communications and marketing tool of the future for the hospitality industry. Both corporate executives and information technology experts feel the hotel of the future cannot do without a presence on the Web. Yet, do the actions of hospitality operators in the field reflect this optimism? This article reports on a study done among property managers in the U.S. lodging industry to determine the actual use of the internet in hotel properties of various types and sizes. Additionally, it addresses development and maintenance issues related to internet use

Students\u27 Response to Ethical Dilemmas

The teaching of ethics in hospitality curricula is an important part of students’ overall education. Past research has indicated that college students are generally as ethically aware as their professional counterparts. The authors replicated a study by Damitio and Schmidgall (1993) in which over 700 college students were asked if they agreed with decisions in 15 hypothetical scenarios. Students were also asked if the decisions were in fact ethical. Results are reported. The authors use these results as further evidence that ethical awareness in hospitality students needs to be raised. There does not appear to be any change in students’ ethical awareness since the original study in the early 1990s. A discussion of the direction ethics education might take follows. Implications for hospitality curricula and hospitality students are analyzed. A course of action is recommende

MEASURING PROBABILITIES IN ATTRACTION VISITATION

Many rural towns and villages fail to achieve their tourism development goals because the pulling power of their attractions is not strong enough. An appropriate combination of minor attractions may be an effective means of increasing the pulling power of these destinations. This study demonstrates a method for predicting the probability of a visit to other attractions based on the visitation of one attraction. Along with other analyses, a series of 11 bivariate logistic regression analyses predicts the probability of tourists visiting the 10 other attractions if they visited a specific attraction. For example, the results indicate that a visit to Sunset Crater may be nearly 19 times more likely when Wupatki National Monument is visited. The study demonstrates that separating natural and cultural attractions, while valid for solving many research problems, is of little value in understanding the behavior of general sightseeing visitors. The results of the research method may be useful for creating a strong image for the destination, cross-marketing attractions, developing packages that sell local lodging and food service, for advertising and for developing tours

Technology Vendors: Lodging Managers View Support They Receive

The authors report on a comparative study of regional differences in the perceptions of lodging managers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on the support they receive from their technology vendors, and the technology systems they are using. Besides a comparison based on regions, the study also looks at differences of opinions based on property size

Language endangerment and language documentation in Africa

Non peer reviewe

'n Kritiese evaluasie van die toedeling van insetbelasting in Artikel 17(1) van die Wet op Belasting op Toegevoegde Waarde no. 89 van 1991

Thesis (MComm)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Insetbelasting soos omskryf in artikel 1 van die Wet op Belasting op Toegevoegde Waarde No. 89 van 1991 (“die Wet”) kan teruggeëis word waar die goedere of dienste, ten opsigte waarvan die insetbelasting geëis word, vir die maak van belasbare lewerings verkry is. Waar goedere of dienste verkry word, gedeeltelik vir die maak van belasbare lewerings en gedeeltelik vir die maak van vrygestelde lewerings, moet ʼn toedeling van die insetbelasting ooreenkomstig die bepalings van Artikel 17(1) van die Wet gemaak word. Artikel 17(1) bepaal dat die omset-gebaseerde toedelingsmetode gebruik moet word vir die toedeling van toedeelbare insetbelasting. Hierdie metode wat voorgeskryf word gee aanleiding tot die volgende twee probleemstellings, naamlik : · Onduidelikheid in die Wet rakende die hantering van verskillende tipes lewerings binne die toedelingsformule, en · Onduidelikheid oor welke bedrae of gevalle by die toedelingsformule inof uitgesluit moet word. Artikel 17(1) bepaal ook dat, indien die omset-gebaseerde toedelings-metode nie toepaslik vir ʼn ondernemer is nie, ʼn alternatiewe metode gebruik kan word mits die alternatiewe metode ʼn redelike en regverdige alternatief daarstel. Hierdie uitsondering gee aanleiding tot ʼn derde probleemstelling, naamlik: · Wat kan as ʼn redelike en regverdige alternatief beskou word? Laastens maak Artikel 17(1) voorsiening vir ʼn voorbehoudsbepaling wat bekend staan as die de minimis-reël. Hiervolgens hoef ʼn ondernemer nie te voldoen aan Artikel 17(1) indien die ondernemer se totale belasbare lewerings minstens 95% van sy totale lewerings beloop nie. Die voorbehoudsbepaling maak egter nie voorsiening vir die hantering van abnormale omstandighede wat die implementering van die voorbehoudbepaling kan beïnvloed nie. Dit gee aanleiding tot die vierde probleemstelling, naamlik : · Watter maatreëls bestaan daar om te verseker dat die de minimis-reël nie deur abnormale omstandighede beïnvloed word nie? In hierdie studie word Artikel 17(1) krities ontleed ten einde te poog om oplossings vir bostaande probleemstellings te vind. Relevante wetgewing en publikasies van lande soos die Verenigde Koninkryk, Kanada, Australië en Ierland is ook bestudeer en na aanleiding hiervan kan die volgende afleidings gemaak word, naamlik: · dat ʼn lewering uit meer as een tipe lewering kan bestaan, hetsy belasbaar of vrygestel. Sodanige lewerings kan geklassifiseer word as toevallige-, saamgestelde- of gemengde lewerings wat, afhangend van die tipe lewering, die insetbelasting wat teruggeëis mag word, verskillend kan beïnvloed. Uitsluitsel oor die klassifikasies van lewerings moet verkry word alvorens dit in die toedelingsformule ingesluit word; · dat die in- of uitsluiting van spesifieke bedrae en gevalle in die toedelingsformule eerstens aan die hand van die ekonomiese aktiwiteitstoets gemeet moet word. Die resultate van ʼn ekonomiese aktiwiteitstoets sal aandui watter invloed ʼn spesifieke bedrag of geval op die toedelingsformule kan hê. Die spesifieke eienskappe van elke bedrag of geval moet daarna ontleed word om te bepaal of sodanige bedrag of geval by die toedelingsformule in- of uitgesluit moet word om die manipulasie van die toedelingsformule te voorkom; · dat riglyne bepaal moet word of die toepassing van ʼn alternatiewe toedelingsmetode redelik en regverdig is ten einde enige onsekerhede uit die weg te ruim. Dit behoort op ‘n soortgelyke wyse geïmplementeer te word as die bestaande riglyne in die wetgewing van lande soos Kanada, Ierland en die Verenigde Koninkryk; · dat die de minimis-reël uitgebrei moet word deur nie net na ʼn vaste persentasie te verwys nie, maar ook die gebruik van historiese syfers, randwaardes en maandelikse ontledings in te sluit, soos wat dit tans die gebruik in Kanada en die Verenigde Koninkryk is. Daar bestaan dus reeds in ander lande wetgewing wat die probleemareas, soos in die Suid-Afrikaanse wetgewing geïdentifiseer, aanspreek. Dit is dus nodig om aan die hand hiervan die Suid-Afrikaanse wetgewing uit te brei ten einde enige onduidelikhede en areas vir moontlike manipulasie uit te skakelENGLISH ABSTRACT: Input tax as defined in Section 1 of the Value Added Tax Act No. 89 of 1991 (“the Act”) can be deducted where goods or services are acquired by the vendor for the purpose of consumption, use or supply in the course of making taxable supplies. Where the goods or services are acquired by the vendor partially for the purpose of making taxable supplies and partially for the purpose of making exempt supplies, an apportionment of the input tax that can be deducted, has to be done in terms of Section 17(1) of the Act. Section 17(1) determines that the turnover-based apportionment method should be used for apportionment of the input tax. This prescribed method gives rise to the following problem statements: · The Act is not clear as to how different types of supplies should be treated in the apportionment formula, and · The Act is not clear as to which specific amounts or cases should be included or excluded from the apportionment formula. Section 17(1) further determines that, if a vendor finds the turnover-based method of apportionment inappropriate, the vendor can use an alternative method as long as the method is a fair and reasonable alternative. This exemption to the rule gives rise to a third problem statement, namely: · What should be seen as fair and reasonable alternative method? Finally, a proviso is found in Section 17(1), better known as the de minimisrule. According to the rule no apportionment is necessary in terms of Section 17(1) if the total taxable supplies constitute at least 95% of total supplies. The proviso does not take abnormal circumstances into account that can affect the implementation of the proviso. This gives rise to the fourth problem statement: · What controls exist to ensure that the de minimis-rule is not influenced by abnormal circumstances? In this study Section 17(1) is critically analyzed to find solutions for the above problem statements. Relevant acts and publications of countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland were examined. The following conclusions can be drawn from the study: · A supply can consist out of more than one type of supply, either taxable or exempt. These supplies can be classified as coincidental supplies, combined supplies or mixed supplies. Each one of these supplies can have a material influence on the apportionment formula and should be considered carefully before they are included in the formula. · The inclusion or exclusion of any specific amount or case as part of the apportionment formula should first be measured against the economic activity test. The results of the economic activity test will indicate which effect the specific amount or case will have on the apportionment formula. Thereafter the distinctive characteristics of the amount or case should be analysed to ensure correct treatment of the specific amount or case in the apportionment formula to prevent the manipulation of the apportionment formula. · Guidelines should be identified to determine whether an alternative method of apportionment is fair and reasonable, in conjunction with the specific guidelines identified by the legislation of countries such as Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. · The de minimis-rule should be broadened not to only include the use of a fixed percentage, but also the use of historical figures, rand values and monthly analysis as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom. As can be seen from the above there already exist legislation in other countries that addresses the problem areas as identified in South African legislation. It is therefore necessary to broaden the South African legislation to eliminate any uncertainties and areas for possible manipulation