The effect of the common bond and membership expansion on credit union risk

This paper examines differences in institutional risk profiles based on credit union membership type and membership expansion via “select employee groups,” or SEGs, which are now expressly allowed by the Credit Union Membership Access Act of 1998. A cross-sectional statistical model is specified that examines risk variation relative to the type of common bond and the breadth of the credit union’s membership. In findings that are consistent with earlier research, the authors document that occupationally based credit unions have a unique risk profile relative to other common bonds. This profile includes a greater exposure to concentration risk, which is hedged by holding greater proportions of capital. ; The authors also examine the subsample of Single-Bond occupational credit unions and those Multi-Bond credit unions with primarily occupational group members. They find that the presence of SEGs is negatively related to capital ratios and positively related to loan-to-share ratios relative to the Single-Bond occupational credit unions. The use of survey data documenting the number of SEGs confirms that, as more SEGs are added, credit unions tend to increase their loan-to-share ratios and decrease their capital ratios. However, the number of SEGs and the proportion of loan delinquencies are found to be positively related, suggesting that the informational advantages associated with the common bond become diluted as new groups are added. Overall, the authors conclude that there are material benefits of credit union membership diversification and that these benefits derive from expanded investment opportunities and reduced concentration risk.Credit unions ; Risk

Waiver of counsel in South African child justice: An autonomous exercise of rights

The Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 created many unique procedural mechanisms for the processing of children in conflict with the law. One such procedure relates to mandatory legal representation, and the appointment of such to assist the court in terms of regulation 48, where the child refuses to co-operate with the appointed representative. This submission is a theoretical evaluation of section 35(3)(f) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, juxtaposed against section 83 of the Child Justice Act and its associated regulations. It posits that obligatory legal representation is an infringement of a child offender’s constitutional right to choose to be represented, and to select a representative of choice. The submission concedes that the focus of the Act is the protection of child offenders. It, however, argues that the insertion of a legal hearing phase into the current preliminary inquiry stage of the child justice process would be an improved response to rights protection than mandatory representation. The author uses waiver processes applicable in selected American states to demonstrate the suggested alternative. The author concludes that waiver is an issue deserving of attention at the pre-trial stage and that therein a child offender is guaranteed both the protection of the best interest standard and the autonomy to exercise the  constitutional right to choose to be represented at trial

Effects of Hypoxia and 4-tert-octylphenol on Gene Expression Profiles of the Sheepshead Minnow (\u3ci\u3eCyprinodon variegatus)\u3c/i\u3e

Hypoxia occurs in estuaries of northern Gulf of Mexico and world-wide, with increasing frequency/severity via eutrophication and anthropogenic influences. Hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) form transcriptional complex and bind DNA at hypoxia responsive elements (HREs) in promoter regions of genes needed for systemic and cellular adaptation of fish to low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia, DO \u3c2.0 mg/ml). Hypoxia-induced activation of HIF-αs can lead to a cascade of downstream activation, such as erythropoietin (EPO). Return to normal DO levels (normoxia), prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) are activated to degrade HIF-αs back to baseline. Fish are affected by environmental estrogen mimics, like 4-tert-octylphenol (4tOP), binding estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) at estrogen responsive elements (EREs) and activating genes vitellogenin (VTG). Previous research showed overlap or crosstalk between these two mechanistic pathways. Hypoxia triggers unknown factors regulating ERE-mediated ERα signaling pathway, and stressor combinations could increase/decrease hypoxic or endocrine pathway. Research examined molecular/physiological effects of hypoxia (acute and chronic, moderate and severe) and 4tOP (~60μg/L)on adult male and/or female sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus). Three genes identified, cloned, and sequenced (HIF-1α, HIF-2α, and PHD3), plus previously identified genes EPO and VTG, were examined in liver/testes exposed to hypoxia and/or 4tOP for cellular/physiological changes. Endpoints examined included mRNA expression from real-time PCR of HIF-1α, HIF-2α, PHD3, EPO, and VTG using cDNA from total RNA extracts, and microarray analyses of genes expressed during the transition from hypoxia back to normoxia. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed isolation of two HIF-α isofoms (HIF-1α and HIF-2α) and the PHD3 isoform. Significant up-regulation of PHD3 occurred within 10 hrs of chronic hypoxia, and persisted when severe (1.5 mg/L) and declined when moderate (~2.5mg/L). Significant up-regulation of HIF-1α and EPO occurred within 30 minutes to 2 hours of onset of acute severe and very severe (~1.08mg/L) hypoxia. Hypoxia acted similar to an estrogen mimic, with huge up-regulation of VTG gene expression in males, and increased VTG levels (additive effect) when hypoxia was combined with 4tOP. Microarray analyses showed 125 genes with significant transcriptional change, with up- or down-regulation from transitions of: (1) hypoxia (72 hrs) to normoxia (74 hrs) and (2) hypoxia+4tOP (72 hrs) to normoxia+4tOP (74 hrs)

Die bekostigbaarheid van ’n aktiewe verdedigingsreg in die Suid?Afrikaanse strafregstelsel

Oscar Pistorius’ bail application highlighted equality concerns within criminal justice. In essence, it demonstrated an imbalance of the right to equality before the law, and its associated right to equal protection and benefit of the law, within adjectival procedure and, more specifically, pre?trial release. Whether section 9(1) rights are equally applied to bail applicants of little or no notoriety is the concern of this research. This submission is a theoretical evaluation of an accused person’s constitutional right to equality before the law in the South African criminal justice system and queries whether bail applicants, who do not have the infamy or financial resources of Pistorius, are reliant solely on the machinery of the state and therein the evidential capability of the prosecution service? The focus is on opposed applications where the burden of proof shifts to the applicant. Against this background, constitutional rights are approached in two lines of inquiry, namely: does the bail applicant enjoy equality of arms with the state where the applicant carries the onus of proof, and do economic differences between bail applicants influence constitutional equality rights? The authors conclude that economic differences have the potential to infringe constitutional guarantees in the bail process, and therein influence both equality of arms and active defence rights. The authors posit that legal aid should be extended to prevent rights infringement and that the inquisitorial nature of the South African bail process provides the ideal avenue to bridge equality concerns in criminal justice

An Analysis of the South Dakota Retail Sales Tax

The overall objective of the study was to analyze the structure and adequacy of the South Dakota retail sales tax. The following specific objectives guided the research. 1. To analyze the tax structure of the State of South Dakota and the revenue and expenditure patterns of the state over the past 10 years as an indication of the overall adequacy of the tax structure. 2. To examine the characteristics of the South Dakota sales and use tax with emphasis on the tax base. 3. To examine the sales tax in relation to principles of tax equity. 4. To estimate the income elasticity of the sales and use tax to serve as an indication of sales and use tax adequacy. 5. To analyze structural changes in the base of the tax as to their effect on adequacy and equity. 6. To project sales and use tax revenue on the basis of the method used to estimate income elasticity

A comparative study of child justice systems: Any lessons for South Africa from The Netherlands?

This submission is a theoretical overview of the adjectival process of child justice in The Netherlands. It offers insight into the criminal procedure of an almost pure inquisitorial system dealing with children in conflict with the law. Unlike the South African methodology, the Dutch approach uses welfare and education as the premise for its criminal actions against child offenders. The author posits that the South African system, especially with her incorporation of an inquisitorial preliminary inquiry in the child justice process, would benefit from the lessons offered in inquisitorial jurisdictions with regard to the implementation of the best interest standard in the process of prosecuting child offenders

The Impact of legislation on childhood sexuality in South Africa

The purpose of this submission is two-fold. Firstly, it undertakes a socio-legal analysis of child sexuality and sexual behaviour. The goal of the analysis is to confront, albeit synoptically, common-held misperceptions, both legally and socially, on the subject of childhood sexuality. Secondly, the submission considers how legislation and judicial interpretation has responded to the expression of a child’s sexuality in South Africa. The legal and judicial analysis is centred on the categorization of age, and queries the wisdom of confining normal, non-deviant sexual development in terms of disparate age classifications as expressed in South African LegislationCollege of Graduate Studie