Tornado in Oklahama Essay Example for Free

Tornado in Oklahama Essay Tornadoes are violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. Tornadoes are known to cause a lot of destruction depending on how violent it occurs. Tornadoes are more common in the United States than any other country. United States receives more than one thousand two hundred tornadoes annually. Most tornadoes in the United States occur in Tornado Alley; an area including states of Oklahama, Texas, Missouri and Kansas. This piece of work will mainly dwell on comparison of data of tornadoes occurring in states of Oklahama, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. METHODS Quantitative Data Analysis This is the method used to correct this piece of work where the various portions of the data where collected from records Time series: the information used to conduct this study was done over a period of time where tornadoes frequency, fatality, injuries and number of deaths are indicated. RESULTS Compared with other states, Oklahama ranks number 2 for frequency to tornadoes, 7 for number of death,9 for injuries and 5 for cost of damages. If we compare this statistics to other states by frequency per square mile, Oklahama ranks number 2 for frequency of tornadoes, number 10 for fatalities, number 15 for injuries per square and number 4 for cost per area. The state of Missouri ranks number 8 for frequency, 12 for number of deaths, 15 for injuries and 9 for cost of damage. Comparing with statistics of other states by frequency per square mile, Missouri ranks number 13 for frequency of tornadoes, 14 for fatalities, 19 for injuries per square and 15 for cost per area. In Kansas we have it ranked 3 for frequency of tornadoes, 8 for number of deaths, 14 for injuries and 3 for cost of damage. In comparison with statistics of other states it ranks number 4 for frequency of tornadoes, 13 for fatalities, 22 for injuries per area and 8 for cost per area. Arkansas is ranked number 16 for frequency of tornadoes, 8 for number of deaths, and 14 for injuries 3 for cost of damage. When compared with statistics of other states by frequency per square mile, Arkansas ranks number 16 for frequency of tornadoes, 5 for fatalities, 7 for injuries per square and 16 per cost per area.

Fichtes Subjective Idealism Essay -- Philosophy Essays

Fichte's Subjective Idealism With a dramatic dialectic style, Fichte expounds his subjective idealism which seriously undermines claims of an external world and which ultimately borders on solipsism. Beginning with the question of Free Will, Fichte concludes that there is none before engaging a mysterious Spirit in a philosophical dialogue over the nature of Fichte's knowledge. In the end, Fichte curses the Spirit for revealing the grim truth: "all reality is transformed into a fabulous dream, without there being any life the dream is about, without there being a mind that dreams." Following the same path of reasoning as the dialogue, the Spirit begins by asking Fichte how he knows of external objects. In answering that the knowledge of external object arrives as a result of direct, immediate sense perception, Fichte concedes that he possesses no direct consciousness of outside objects, but only of himself. "In all perception you only perceive yourself," since perception is merely the conscious recognition of observation statements such as 'I see' ... Fichte's Subjective Idealism Essay -- Philosophy Essays Fichte's Subjective Idealism With a dramatic dialectic style, Fichte expounds his subjective idealism which seriously undermines claims of an external world and which ultimately borders on solipsism. Beginning with the question of Free Will, Fichte concludes that there is none before engaging a mysterious Spirit in a philosophical dialogue over the nature of Fichte's knowledge. In the end, Fichte curses the Spirit for revealing the grim truth: "all reality is transformed into a fabulous dream, without there being any life the dream is about, without there being a mind that dreams." Following the same path of reasoning as the dialogue, the Spirit begins by asking Fichte how he knows of external objects. In answering that the knowledge of external object arrives as a result of direct, immediate sense perception, Fichte concedes that he possesses no direct consciousness of outside objects, but only of himself. "In all perception you only perceive yourself," since perception is merely the conscious recognition of observation statements such as 'I see' ...

Income Smoothing

Journal of Economics, Business and Accountancy Ventura Accreditation No. 110/DIKTI/Kep/2009 Volume 14, No. 1, April 2011, pages 59 – 78 THE THEORETICAL CONSTRUCTION OF INCOME SMOOTHING MEASUREMENT Alwan Sri Kustono Jember University E-Mail: [email  protected] com Tegal Besar Permai 2-E1,Jember,Propinsi Jawa Timur,Indonesia ABSTRACT The income smoothing is a dimension of the accounts manipulation theme that has been a ttracting a great attention in the accounting literature. A goal of manipulation widely as cribed to managers is the desire to smooth.Reported income, Income smoothing reflects reducing the possible income fluctuations so as to make it as stable as possible throughout the ism. Almost of income smoothing research in Indonesia used Eckel’s index to clasify smoother non smoother firms. Empirical evidences have provided support for the existence of an income smoothing behavior. The studies showed inconsistent about factors determining this smoothing. The purp ose of the present investigation is twofold. First, we seek to determine if Eckel index is a reliable instrument to measure income smoothing behavior.Second, we pretend to identify the new instrument to measure incidence of income smoothing. Our research sample comprises manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, over period of 1999-2008. This study confirms Eckel’s index is not reliability instru ment. The new proposed index quantifies the incidence of income smoothing without depend on n periods. The results imply that researchers should re-examine the conclusion of previous studies, particularly that determinant, factors and effect of income smoothing practices. Key words: income smoothing, Eckel’s index, c oefficient of variation, reliability.INTRODUCTION It has been noticed that income statement is considered as one of the statements to be presented in financial reporting. For that reason, the company’s earning is considered vital infor mation for it can be used to measure the corporate performance. In other words, information of the earning can be used to assess the performance or accountability of management and also predict the ability of companies in the effort of contributing to the following earning. In general, earning reporting is frequently not free from the accounting manipulation. Yet it appears different from the fraudulence.Accounting manipulation can be still in tolerant when it is put in the accounting rules. In contrast, fraudulence practices tend to be against the rules and accounting standards. Thus, it is delicately different from income smoothing. In fact, one 59 of the practices of accounting manipulation is income smoothing. In connection with the pursuit of analyzing income smoothing in the companies, some definitions of it can be inferred. First of all, income smoothing is defined as the emphasis on the fluctuations in income levels that are considered normal for the company (Barnea et al. 1 976). For another thing, Beidleman, (1973) defines income smoothing as the management efforts to reduce abnormal variations in the earning to the extent permitted by the principles of good management and accounting. Income smoothing in such instances, is as a tool used by management to reduce the variability of reported income stream relative to the target which is intentionally smoothed by using artificial or real variable. In addition, income smoothing is one-dimensional manipulation of accounts that attract the atten- ISSN 2087-3735 The Theoretical Construction †¦ (Alwan Sri Kustono) ion of many accounting literature in the realm of earnings management. Beside, income smoothing reflects the concern to reduce the possibility of fluctuations in income by making a steady flow Research on income smoothing in Indonesia generally examine several factors which are allegedly to motivate management to do income smoothing. They identify the existence of such practices and followed by testing management motivation. The results of these studies have identified those most public companies in Indonesia have conducted income smoothing. All in all, most of the studies are uniform in terms of inferring he end results. Testing the triggering factor of income smoothing policy by the company management has not consistently been recovered. Among the results of such studies are often inconsistent to one another. For example, Kustono (2010) stated that the inconsistency of their findings was caused by the measuring devices. These devices are thought to be unreliable. For example, Index Eckel does not have the ability to capture the practice of income smoothing between periods. In that situation, it shows that some companies are classified by grading only in one particular year.This is considered to have deviated from the definition of income smoothing. The classification based on Eckel index for one company may also change because of changes in the period used to determine t he coefficient of variation. Change of classification shows that the index is not reliable as a tool. In other words, Eckel is as an identifier of smoothing and not merely for smoothing. Kustono (2010) asserted the idea of the need for new instruments. This research is intended to correct weaknesses of the Eckel and construct an index measuring instrument which is more reliable income smoothing factor.This construction is very important because the use of measuring instrument error will cause errors either in the phase of conclusions related to the classification of sample or the determinants and impact of such classification. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK It is a fact that income smoothing becomes a phenomenon which has been often proved in some previous studies. This practice has been investigated through various levels of different samples. Furthermore, income smoothing is considered to be an important factor. Research by Moses (1987) and Atik & Sensoy (2005) shows that at least 60% of h e sample used in the study can be classified as smoothing the company earnings. Another proponent, such as Barnea et al. (1976) classified accounting income smoothing as inter-temporal smoothing and classification. Inter-temporal smoothing is based on the situation when cost and expenses are recognized and smoothing classification is done with the classification under ordinary cost and extraordinary one in which the ordinary post finally becomes flat. Eckel (1981) distinguishes between income smoothing as a natural smoothing and intended smoothing. Natural smoothing is he alignments resulting from transactions that inherently produce a smoothed earning. In other words, the company's operations to generate income by collecting revenues and expenses are inherently to eliminate fluctuations in income flows. In other words, the process of generating income itself generates a stream of smoothed income. Alignment occurs without the intervention of any party. Income smoothing is accidental ly triggered by the motivation which is based on the management actions. There are two types of income smoothing: intentional, that is income smoothing of the real intention nd the other one is artificial income smoothing. Real income smoothing indicates management actions that seek to control economic conditions that directly affect corporate earnings in the future. In addition, this real income smoothing affects cash flow. On the contrary, artificial income smoothing can show manipulation which is undertaken by management to smooth the earning. Thus, the action of this manipulation resulted in a fundamental or economic condition that can affect cash flow, but shifts 60 Journal of Economics, Business and Accountancy Ventura Accreditation No. 10/DIKTI/Kep/2009 the cost and/or income from one period to another. By taking for granted, such a trend can be traced from several research. Some studies, in fact, have been conducted to identify the smoothing behavior, such as motivation and its impact on future transactions, a company that has been doing income smoothing. This can also be found in other studies such as (Lev & Kunitzky, 1974; Ammihud et al. , 1983, Wang & Williams, 1994; Michelson et al. , 1995; Iniguez & Poveda, 2004). These proponents also provide empirical support toward statement that management reduces he variability of cash flows and earning for the purpose of minimizing the risk of the company. Income smoothing is also intended to increase the value of the firm (Gordon, 1964; Trueman & Titman, 1988; Gibbins et al. , 1990; and Chaney & Lewis, 1995; 1998). Estimator of Income smoothing Income smoothing can only be investigated through some periods by suspecting a certain earning rate of the targeted, e. g. , both highand low-digits earning reports. Some researchers use a two-period model by assuming that the earning target is proportional to the income report in the previous year Copeland, 1968). In other words, the size of alignment is the magnitu de of changes in the earning from one year to the next. Other researchers also evaluated the earning target using multi-period test. The underlying assumption is that it should be an evenly increasing trend (Gordon, 1966). Some of the models used are the exponential model (Dascher and Malcolm, 1970), linear time series models (Barefield and Comiskey, 1972), time trend semi-logaritma (Beidleman, 1973) and model of the market return index (Ronen & Sadan, 1975). For example, Dopuch & Watts (1972) suggest the use ofBox-Jenkins techniques to ensure the alignment model is applicable. Models of earning target are differentiated from the real earning. Often, these models contain errors inherent profit target 61 Volume 14, No. 1, April 2011, pages 59 – 78 because its validity can not be detected empirically. In that case, Ronen & Sadan (1975) suggested that we do income smoothing approach. In particular, income smoothing can be identified if the researcher is faced by the following fo ur questions. 1. What is the object alignment implemented by the management? 2. What is the dimension of management s used to perform smoothing. 3. What instrument of smoothing is used by management 4. What is the object of such smoothing behavior? In connection with the above efforts, Imhoff (1977) and Eckel (1981) developed a methodology based on testing the variability of income associated with the variability of sales. The model used to predict the existence of income smoothing or earnings variation is inter-period variant. They assume that the level of earning depends on the level of sales. The basic idea is that the change in sales can affect the earning. If the variance of income is less than the variance f sales, it can be concluded that the smoothing has been done. Eckel (1981) model of the income smoothing is done by basing on the following premises. 1. Income is a linear function of the sales = sales-cost variable-fixed cost. 2. The ratio of variable costs to sales is in constant currency units 3. Fixed costs are constant or increasing from period to period, but not likely to decline. 4. Gross sales can only be smoothed by real smoothing; gross sales can not be artificially smoothed. Mathematically, Eckel illustrates all the above as the following: when, I=S-VS-FC, and FC;0, and FC t+1 ;=FC t, and 0

To Kill a Mocking Bird Novel Evaluation in Relation to US History Book Reviews

To Kill a Mocking Bird is a novel that deals with serious issues of racial inequality and rape in the American society in 1930s. These are contemporary issues that affected the country during the time in which the book was written. The novel is written by Lee Harper and was published in the year 1960. The major issues of the novel involve destruction of people’s innocence and racial injustice (Johnson, 1994). This target audience of this book was the majority whites. Reading this book would make them realize the pains the African Americans went through. The novel became a model for many lawyers and a moral hero to the readers. Many scholars have noted that Harper addressed specific issues of compassion, racism, courage, class and gender roles in the Southern parts of America during the Civil Rights Movement. The characters and the plot of this novel are based on Lee’s observations, basically of her own family and neighbours. She also includes an event thought to have oc curred in her hometown at the age of ten. Therefore, the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird is a good source for history because it has very many lessons to do with decry prejudice, racism, and tolerance. It should be noted that the reader will gain a lot of educational information from the novel. Set in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the 1930s, the novel represents the African Americans as victims of continued oppression and racial prejudice. The novel presents politics, the economics, race relations, social constructs, setting, race relations and environment of the time. Some parts of this novel relate to the issues of comfort and safety of children in the environment. The book also challenged the social constructs of the day. Status quo in this society was a big problem during the time of writing the novel. The African Americans in the novel do not have any political powers in comparison with their oppressors. The two races presented in the novel do not relate well with one another as there are increased cases of bigotry, racial hatred and discrimination (O’Neill, 2000). Having been set in the Deep South, the novel presents the societal setting and values in advancing better understanding the economic, political and social issues of the time. The reader will gain all these educational information from the novel. Although this novel was a success, there are several things about it that are misleading since it is a work of fiction. To begin with, the character of Atticus Finch is greatly exaggerated. In this novel, Atticus becomes a folk hero in the legal circles of the day and is also treated as if he were a real person. Sincerely speaking, there is no real-life person or lawyer who has ever done more for the public perception as compared to Finch. Therefore, Finch should be noted as a paragon in this novel. Also, the treatment of racial prejudice in Maycomb is not harshly condemned as it would be expected. This leads to a disparate perception that this novel had positive impact on racial relations although with an ambiguous reception (O’Neill, 2000). The presentation of black characters in the novel is not dimensional at all. Classical racial epithets and stereotyping of the blacks as superstitions appears to marginalize the blacks. Ideas like gender roles and race also appear over-ex pressed in the novel. Abusive fathers and absent mothers also make another important theme of the novel. Relating the novel to the time in which it was written, it should be noted that the average reader might be deceived when it comes to setting, dialogue and clothing in the novel. There is also a lot of stereotyping of the blacks (Lee, 1960). Basically, the novel condemns acts of racism other than the racists. For a white person to come up with a novel of this intensity is seen by many as protestation and the reason it is believed to have a number of misleading information. Basically, popular novels give information about the time in which they were written. For example, a novel like To Kill a Mocking Bird presents information about racism and injustice faced during the time of Civil Rights Movement in United States. Such novels had been written with the intent of changing people’s mindsets and address some of the issues affecting man (Lee, 1960). Depending on the kind of information available in a novel, it will make it appealing across time. This is why present readers can gain a lot of historical information and knowledge from popular novels. However, it is not an obligation of the author to provide to the reader historical correct context for a novel since it is a work of fiction. It remains the right of such an author to willingly give such kind of historical information. It is also necessary to note that some novels provide historical information about the time in which they were written. However, sometimes it does not matter whether the in formation is correct or not unless the novel is an historical presentation of a given event in time (Johnson, 1994). The accuracy of a novel will significantly depend on its use and the information presented by the author. For the case of the To Kill a Mocking Bird, the novel has a lot of historical information about the Civil Rights Movements in United States during the period in which it was written. It would therefore necessary for the author to present some information about the novel however this is not mandatory. In conclusion, the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird happens to be a good source of historical information because it has very many lessons to do with decry prejudice, racism, and tolerance. This novel presents the historical situations of the 1930s in the South parts of America (Bloom, 2006). Issues of racism, rape and social injustice have been presented in the exact manner in which they happened during the time of its writing. Despite some of the flaws in the novel, it still remains useful as a tool for teaching history. The novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird is up to this day renowned for its humour and warmth despite tackling serious issues of racial inequality and rape. This is therefore one of the greatest novels relating to the historical events of United States of the twentieth century. References Bloom, H. (2006). Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: New Press. Johnson, C. (1994). To Kill a Mocking Bird: Threatening Boundaries. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Lee, H. (1960). To Kill a Mocking Bird. New York: J.P. Lippincott Co. O’Neill, T. (2000). Readings on to Kill a Mockingbird. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Shields, C. (2007). Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.