Too easy to get a gun in the U.S Essay Example for Free

Too easy to get a gun in the U.S Essay Like vehicle owners in the U.S.A most people in the U.S believe that gun owners should be subjected to at least some safety regulations â€Å"there should be a parallel set of regulations for guns†, (Harvy Lipman, 1997 pg 1). People have differing value attachment to guns from the positive to the negative ones. However about three quarters of the American majority believe that imposing a total ban on gun ownership is not the way. It is estimated that nearly half of American populace think that if they own a gun then they are much safer within their homes. The biggest issue for America, becomes not how to ensure a total ban but then how to put some minimum regulations for every American citizen to own a gun and thereby control their number..   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Majority of some Americans believe that the contemporary laws are so different from one state to another; the message is that the citizens want reasonable gun laws that are not so strict and as such can reasonably be reinforced. One of the possible reasons that have been proposed includes; Attending a gun course: most people within the united states of America believe that if anyone who wants to own a gun was to be subjected to a mandatory gun clinic on how to operate and handle the weapon without endangering themselves or the rest of the society, then the number of people wanting to own a gun would find it cumbersome to attend such clinics. In fact the federal Brady law that requires citizens who wish to buy and own guns to wait for at least five days before that gun is sold to them is supported by nearly 90 percent of Americans (Harvin L, 1997). This they believe would ensure that these individuals who intend to buy the guns have their backgrounds assessed by law enforcers so that when they are issued with the guns they are given a clean bill of health. This according to them would limit the number of guns ending up in the wrong hands. In effect criminals would not find it easy to access guns and as such many problems such as robbery, deaths would be minimized. It al so has the effect of limiting the number of people possessing firearms. Barring Felons and drug users: the theory under this perspective is that, if access to guns for criminals is denied then the number of crimes that would have been committed by these fellows would certainly come down (Kurt F. 1981,pg6, Col. 4). Having uniform gun law across the states: the current gun control law varies from one state to another and some of them are just merely about registration of the original purchase and to the extent of licensing. However with the persistent gun issues, there needs to be an enactment to ensure that the interstate gun flow is controlled. For instance, a state such as New York that has enacted various laws that is restrictive to gun control faces the problem inflow of numerous guns from other states, with less restriction. The numbers of guns that are illegally owned by most Americans even complicates the situation further. These weapons are increasingly being stolen and as such restrictive laws are not enacted and with a major cooperation from gun owners and the rest of the public then not much progress will be done. Guns unlike other consumer products are quite durable. However, the federal law only requires the initial retail sale to be documented. Subsequently, the after sales are not usually monitored, as there is no documentation required by law. This makes it easier for people to sell their guns and criminals and other dangerous people easily obtaining guns. The initial gun owners unwittingly sell guns or giving them away to second parties. The federal government should also put a limit on the number of guns an individual is allowed to own. In effect this would bring down the number of guns that are owned by the public, as it would require those who have more than the maximum number required by the law to surrender the excess. Right now it is possible for a citizen to own as many as ten firearms. Empirical evidence suggests that most oft the countries that have successful gun regulations have very strict laws that punish offenders. It is argued that criminals usually find it hard to commit a crime if it poses a greater risk to them. Criminals would be hesitant to use guns if it would make the kind of crime they are intent on committing more severe. Thus if strict laws are passed to punish offenders most criminals would not engaged in the activities using guns. Gun owners should have their firearms registered with the federal government. This would make them more accountable to the use of the weapons. Within their homes and the society as whole the adults who posses the guns would make it their business to keep track of their firearms so that no one else uses the weapons. This in effect would also isolate criminals as their moves and actions with the guns would be monitored. . Even the ordinary citizens would find it hard to purchase the weapons, since there is the possibility that the gun might end up in the wrong hands making them liable to prosecution. Even though it might be seen to be going against the law and to some extent it might also prove to be costly in implementation, the police should be allowed to finger print every person and record the obtained data in a file. This would make it easier to monitor most criminals. Works Cited Harvy Lipman Rights and regulations; Americans want firearms and federal restrictions, poll finds.   Albany Times Union, 1997 Kurt F. Kluin, Gun Control: Is it a Legal and Effective Means of Controlling Firearms in the United States. 1. N.Y. Times, Mar. 31, 198 1,  § A, at 6, col. 4. Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, guns in America: National survey on private ownership and use of firearms, USA Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice

Culture Wars in the US and American Politics

Culture Wars in the US and American Politics The term culture wars gained national prominence when first used by Pat Buchanan at the 1992 Republican National Convention and declare that there is currently a war for the nations sole. This became a critic moment within American politics and can be viewed as a tipping point for a major politic shift within the G.O.P. This also garnered the attention of almost all of the main stream media sources and helped create the movement of Christian conservatism in mainstream politics. This idea is essentially a clash between what two different people (or groups) believe to be true within our society, and others with different viewpoints. No other collective set of ethical and moral issues have driven a wedge into the social fabric of the United States quite like the â€Å"culture wars† of the past thirty years. Lines of division have been drawn on social, political, religious, legal and family issues between two warring factions of secular institute and organized fundamentalists. The culture wars take on more than an ethnographical approach in American society. It is about politics, education, communal relations and the anthropology of how this country will be shaped for future generations. The examination of these wars should be dealt with as a category for the purpose of ethnographic inquiry. In other words, applicable scrutiny must be applied to each significant topic as a function of contemporary social process that makes up the foundation, and the catalyst, of this war. Make no mistake that this monolithic movement has caused a deep divide when the American landscape. The battle against secularism is a movement with profound emotional dimensions. Along with the effects of political mobilization and a strategic purpose, the New Christian Right has developed an emotional construction of collective identities that is at the forefront of today’s issues. James Davison Hunter believes that Americans have been divided between the orthodox and the progressives, characterized by political and social hostility rooted in different systems of understanding. Public debate in modern America is not so much a process of mutual understanding and negotiation as the exercise of power politics, but of imposing one agenda to the exclusion of another (Hunter p.155) He also goes on to state the media no longer mediates the political issues, but instead exacerbates the division by polarizing the moderate discourse that is in the average Americans mindset. This level and volume of this exacerbation can be calibrated and amplified with the unlimited reach and unregulated internet. One defining feature of the culture war is the labeling and classification of issues that have been deemed as moralistic. This is a form of binary construction that lends credence to the idea that the struggle is religious in nature. In most cases, issues and players are presented as polar opposites with irreconcilable differences. Henceforth, most of the battles within this culture war are usually portrayed as liberal versus conservative, or to a lesser degree, Democrat versus Republican (Chapman p. xxvii). Although most Americans may find themselves somewhere between the divisiveness or these polarities, the binary construction has a galvanizing effect on individuals who tend to fall toward either end of the socio-political spectrum. This blending of religion and politics is still alive and well today with people like Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Jim Daly of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association, James Dobson of the Alliance Defense Fund, David Barton of Wall Builders, Beverly LaHaye of Concerned Women for America. These are fundamental desperate views on how American culture operates. Methodology of Unification Social approaches through the use of communication, especially with electronic mass communication, are certainly nothing new. Below are a few sociological and psychological unification factors that have contributed to the success in the fusion of the New Christian Right. Evolutionary consideration should be made in terms of how this movement has generated support on such a grand scale. Many of the factors have been used successfully utilized by previous social and political movements, but this particular phenomenon has developed to the point of major influence in the current American political climate. In conjunction with the dynamics of emotional appeal, a number of unifying factors come into play in the attraction and recruitment of interested outsiders. These factors can also strengthen the bond of internal group cohesiveness. Some of these factors are illustrated below, but this list is certainly not and end-all, be-all. Psychological approaches differ by the individuals’ world view and level of influence, or distraction, from local persuaders and opinion leaders. In addition to drawing on preexisting emotional bases, within individual experiences, a conscience constituency can be emergent, especially in the case of highly successful social movements (Goodwin p.31). These social approaches are focused on visible behavior or mobilization into action by the identifying the groups’ cognition. Successful social approaches can eventually led to a version of a socially constructed reality. This group (or it can be said, a number of these groups, but as a whole) utilize Automaton perspectives (Bryant p.7) to help influence their agenda-setting prerogative. In order for agenda-setting to occur, individuals must be susceptible to being programmed by the media. In this particle case, the media in specially honed to individuals who have a need for orientation. Specialized interest groups need the recognition and attention of the mass media (and various specialized channels of media) in order to acquire legitimacy, visibility and credibility, as well as communicate their issue frames to the public (Callaghan p. 9). With a number of carefully selected issues and/or stories, many of these media outlets attempt to completely define issues, or at least exemplify the issue. In these cases the exemplifiers attempt to exemplify the issue (and the perspective) as definite and exemplified. Exemplification is not an all-or nothing concept, however (Bryant p. 21). The degree in which the level of exemplification takes place is subject to empirical determination. These methodologies fall into the parameters of a scientific field of study, but have interpretive qualities to the media consumer. Therefore, the levels of interpretation validate the level of effectiveness for not only each media outlet, but also by each strategy utilized. A social cognitive can also lead into the philosophical position of moral relativism which is the difference between moral judgments across many people and cultures. In the case of the New Christian Right, the branch of moral relativism that copepods into meti-ethical relativism does not factor into their subjectivity of culturally moral issues. Meti-ethical moral relativism holds that no one is objectively right or wrong, but behavior should be tolerated even if that behavior goes against an individuals value system. So, this relativism is relative to their particular stand or viewpoint. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy says that, Many moral relativists, however, take the fact-value distinction to be fundamental. There is not manner in which traditionalist can prove that their morals and ethics are particularly right or wrong, but there is still the judgment of their relativism being superior (Westacott). From their perspectives, what is considered the truth is through cognitive relativism that is based on a cultural relativism that has been developed and molded in an all encompassing and unifying perspective. The line that separates church and state has become more blurry within this country. The praxis, by which moralists have coerced, swayed and sometimes enforced their belief system onto the political format has had a resounding affect on our legislative and judicial system. Beliefs are a means to organize behavior and emotion. Therefore, many of these moral activists are seeking a means of ratifying their socially construction perception of reality. Dominion Theology Dominion Theology or Dominionism is the proposal that Christians should strive toward either a nation governed by Christians or one governed by a conservative Christian understanding of biblical law. This ideology is dominant among evangelical Protestants within the United States. It is a type of theocracy and is interconnected the theonomy, though it does not necessarily sponsor Mosaic laws as the basis of government. Some elements within the mainstream Christian Right have been predisposed by Dominion Theology authors. Indeed, some writers have employed the idiom Dominionism more broadly to the New Christian Right, wholly arguing that that faction is founded upon a theology that requires Christians to preside over non-Christians. Typical conservatives do not call themselves â€Å"Dominionists,† and the usage has sparked considerable debate. Their ideas are often reflected by non-reconstructionist like Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell as a social revolution that should be forcefully swept across the country in reference to certain Biblical text. This idea states that Christianity will rule all areas of society through strict fundamental interpretation of Biblical laws. These rules should permeate throughout all of society, politics and business. This is not a government system ruled by the church, but rather a government conformed to the Law of God. Paul C. McGlasson states that Dominionism is constructed on four basic foundations: Epistemological dualism operates under the presumption that only devout Christians are truly capable of understanding and properly interpreting the Bible. Therefore, there is a distinct separation between God’s self-defined reality and human autonomy. Hence, any secularist’s Biblical interpretations are skewed and invalid. Dominion theology and the process of re-constructionism are all about a direct application of Mosaic Law to our society. These laws should apply every facet of American society and not just ancient Israel. Christian culture is an all-encompassing national perspective that affects every aspect of society; government, schools, families, corporations. This is viewed as the natural order of operations, and any resistance to this philosophy is purely secular. The forth, and most important aspect for this thesis is Christian political domination which states that individuals and cut into two different groups, believers and non-believers. Thus, there are two distinct forms of laws and governance, Biblical ans secular law.

Essay --

How Jazz Musicians Influenced the Harlem Renaissance Jazz music was changed forever during the blossoming Harlem Renaissance, due to the great singers that changed the genre forever. Jazz music was a way for African Americas to get a sense of freedom. Singers like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Lionel Hampton, for example, all took advantage of this freedom. Holiday, Armstrong and Hampton were so important to jazz music because they are still influence music today. Billie Holiday was born April 7th, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. â€Å"Holiday’s life was tinged with constant sadness, and she made every performance sound as if she had lived through the melancholy lyrics of the songs† (Shipton â€Å"Holiday†). She moved to New York with her mother and she sang in local clubs in Manhattan, even though she had no experience schooling. Throughout her career she faced racism as she traveled, especially when she sang in an all-white big band; this inspired her to join the desegregation movement. One of her most famous songs â€Å"Strange Fruits† was about southern lynching. During her career,...

American Intervention Essay -- essays research papers

American Intervention: Domestically and Internationally   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The United States and its people take great pride in knowing that the U.S. is the greatest nation in the world. That is why it’s our duty to father the rest of the world when conflicts arise. American culture and ideals are also thought to take precedents over all other cultures and ideals. In the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall down, written by Anne Fadiman, there are many great examples of how American culture is imposed on the people residing with in its enclosed boundaries. The U.S. going to war in Vietnam is also a great example of how the U.S. tried to impose American values on the â€Å"less fortunate.† Through understanding America’s so called â€Å"duty† in Vietnam one can interpret the intervention of American idealism in the life of a Hmong family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lia lee, a little Hmong girl, has a severe case of epilepsy. She is the daughter of Nao Kao and Foua lee who are among the many Hmong refugees that fled to the U.S. The Hmongs are very simple and proud people. They take pride in the fact that they have never been ruled by anyone. Even though they have been driven away and separated many times they always seem to find themselves and their culture, never seemingly adapting to the major culture. Even when French missionaries settled in their area and brought their western ideals, medicine, religion, and values they never really accepted them. Fadiman stated in her book that in reality, â€Å"no Hmong is ever fully converted† (35).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Hmong believe that the human soul is a prized possession and should always be kept happy. They believe that the soul has a domain where it rests usually where they were born. After a Hmong woman gives birth, the father digs a hole and buries the baby’s placenta. â€Å"If it was a girl, her placenta was buried under her parents’ bed; if it was a boy, his placenta was placed in a place of greater honor, near the base of the house’s central wooden pillar.† (5) Once a Hmong dies, it is believed that they must retrace his or her life path and reunite with his or her placenta, in order to be prepared for the dangerous journey ahead of them before they reach the sky and meet their ancestors. The Hmong’s also believe in animal sacrifice, which is method of keeping â€Å"dabs† (evil spirits that try t... ...sp;  The U.S. trying to â€Å"police the world† was a duty that was given and definitely not ignored. Although some American ideals and values are truly superior to others, they should not be enforced on the world. In the case of the Lee family, ignorance played a big role. Maybe if the doctors at MCMC, or even the citizens of Merced, had known a little more about Hmong customs and rituals then all of the problems that the Lee’s or any of the other Hmongs encountered could have been avoided. Another major problem that caused grief was the language barrier, hence the fact that attending physicians can’t be blamed for their decisions. In the case of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the Vietnamese were given the opportunity to rule themselves. Even though Communism isn’t the best way for a country to gain its independence, it was a reason for the Vietnamese to fight. The U.S. had many casualties and a federal budget that was deeply injured. Back home, t hese occurrences seemed like an endless war with no apparent reasons. Even though in both cases the U.S. was trying to look for the welfare of the Lee family and for the Vietnamese, their complete and total assistance was not necessary.

me :: essays research papers

CONTACTING MCAFEE AND NETWORK ASSOCIATES Last updated: February 12, 2003 This file is best viewed in Courier font to properly display special characters for various languages. _______________________________________________ WHAT'S IN THIS FILE - Technical Support - Customer Service - Download Support - AVERT Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team - McAfee Beta Program - On-Site Training - Reporting a Problem - Linguistic Feedback - Network Associates Offices Worldwide _______________________________________________ TECHNICAL SUPPORT Visit the Network Associates Technical Support KnowledgeCenter at: http://knowledge.nai.com The KnowledgeCenter provides: - For all customers, access to product FAQs, Documentation, White Papers, and the Message Board (read-only). - For PrimeSupport customers, access to search the KnowledgeBase, write into the Message Board, and contact technical support staff via e-mail. For information on PrimeSupport options, contact your sales representative or visit the web site: www.mcafeeb2b.com/support/primesupport/default.asp _______________________________________________ CUSTOMER SERVICE The Customer Service Department is available to connect you to technical support or to answer general (non-technical) questions such as: - Version Definition: information about Updates and Upgrades - Customer Queries: help with license entitlement, registration, grant number inquiries, technical support validation, and more - Find a Sales Representative: Corporate, US, and international sales offices Internet Access to Customer Service: E-mail: services_corporate_division@nai.com Web: www.nai.com www.mcafeeb2b.com Toll-Free Telephone Access to Customer Service: +1-888-VIRUS NO (+1-888-847-8766) Canada Latin America United States Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., Central Time 00800 12255624 Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Israel Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Switzerland United Kingdom 00800 3122 1287Greece +1800 552171 Ireland 0800 995054 South Africa 020 522 827 Sweden 0800 3192 9147 Turkey Monday - Friday, 09:00 - 18:00, Local Time _______________________________________________ DOWNLOAD SUPPORT To download files, visit the McAfee download site: www.mcafeeb2b.com/naicommon/download/ - For DAT File Updates: www.mcafeeb2b.com/naicommon/download/dats/find.asp ftp://ftp.nai.com/pub/antivirus/datfiles/4.x - For Product Upgrades: www.mcafeeb2b.com/naicommon/download/upgrade/login.asp Valid grant number required. Contact Network Associates Customer Service If you need help navigating or downloading files, call: +1-972-963-8000 _______________________________________________ AVERT (ANTI-VIRUS EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM) To see the latest information about emerging virus threats, submit samples of potentially infected files, and download updated scanning engine files, EXTRA.DAT files, and similar anti-virus software for testing, visit the AVERT web site at: www.mcafeeb2b.com/naicommon/avert/default.asp McAfee also seeks and appreciates general feedback. _______________________________________________ MCAFEE BETA PROGRAM To download new beta software or to read about the latest beta information, visit the McAfee beta web site located at: www.mcafeeb2b.com/beta To submit beta feedback on any McAfee product, send e-mail to: avbeta@nai.com McAfee is devoted to providing solutions based on your input. _______________________________________________ ON-SITE TRAINING INFORMATION Contact Network Associates Customer Service or visit the web site at: www.mcafeeb2b.com/services/mcafee-training/default.asp _______________________________________________ REPORTING PROBLEMS If you find any problems with your McAfee product, please take a moment to review the product's README file. It includes detailed information on all Known Issues. If you find any feature that does not appear to function properly on your system, or if you believe an application would benefit greatly from enhancement, please contact Network Associates or one of its resellers with your suggestions or concerns. _______________________________________________ LINGUISTIC FEEDBACK McAfee is devoted to providing solutions based on customer input. If you have any linguistic feedback or comments regarding language in McAfee products, send e-mail to us at: B2BLoc_US@nai.com _______________________________________________ NETWORK ASSOCIATES OFFICES WORLDWIDE Send correspondence to any of the following Network Associates locations. me :: essays research papers CONTACTING MCAFEE AND NETWORK ASSOCIATES Last updated: February 12, 2003 This file is best viewed in Courier font to properly display special characters for various languages. _______________________________________________ WHAT'S IN THIS FILE - Technical Support - Customer Service - Download Support - AVERT Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team - McAfee Beta Program - On-Site Training - Reporting a Problem - Linguistic Feedback - Network Associates Offices Worldwide _______________________________________________ TECHNICAL SUPPORT Visit the Network Associates Technical Support KnowledgeCenter at: http://knowledge.nai.com The KnowledgeCenter provides: - For all customers, access to product FAQs, Documentation, White Papers, and the Message Board (read-only). - For PrimeSupport customers, access to search the KnowledgeBase, write into the Message Board, and contact technical support staff via e-mail. For information on PrimeSupport options, contact your sales representative or visit the web site: www.mcafeeb2b.com/support/primesupport/default.asp _______________________________________________ CUSTOMER SERVICE The Customer Service Department is available to connect you to technical support or to answer general (non-technical) questions such as: - Version Definition: information about Updates and Upgrades - Customer Queries: help with license entitlement, registration, grant number inquiries, technical support validation, and more - Find a Sales Representative: Corporate, US, and international sales offices Internet Access to Customer Service: E-mail: services_corporate_division@nai.com Web: www.nai.com www.mcafeeb2b.com Toll-Free Telephone Access to Customer Service: +1-888-VIRUS NO (+1-888-847-8766) Canada Latin America United States Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., Central Time 00800 12255624 Belgium Denmark Finland France Germany Israel Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Portugal Spain Switzerland United Kingdom 00800 3122 1287Greece +1800 552171 Ireland 0800 995054 South Africa 020 522 827 Sweden 0800 3192 9147 Turkey Monday - Friday, 09:00 - 18:00, Local Time _______________________________________________ DOWNLOAD SUPPORT To download files, visit the McAfee download site: www.mcafeeb2b.com/naicommon/download/ - For DAT File Updates: www.mcafeeb2b.com/naicommon/download/dats/find.asp ftp://ftp.nai.com/pub/antivirus/datfiles/4.x - For Product Upgrades: www.mcafeeb2b.com/naicommon/download/upgrade/login.asp Valid grant number required. 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It includes detailed information on all Known Issues. If you find any feature that does not appear to function properly on your system, or if you believe an application would benefit greatly from enhancement, please contact Network Associates or one of its resellers with your suggestions or concerns. _______________________________________________ LINGUISTIC FEEDBACK McAfee is devoted to providing solutions based on customer input. If you have any linguistic feedback or comments regarding language in McAfee products, send e-mail to us at: B2BLoc_US@nai.com _______________________________________________ NETWORK ASSOCIATES OFFICES WORLDWIDE Send correspondence to any of the following Network Associates locations.

Reflection of Tuesday with Morrie Essay

Through the movie and book, I asked myself–if I had ever been through what Morrie’s had, could I stay in peace like him or teach others about life lesson? He, not only suffered from ALS, but also lost dearest mother then his younger brother had polio. If I were he, how will I deal with that unfortunes? I think I’ll feel timid, negative, and have a gloomy personality. But, Morrie didn’t. He later on became a successful professor and a good husband and father, who always gave his love to people generously. Sometimes I doubted. How can he take everything so easy? Doesn’t he think god is unfair to him or why I am the one who deserve this? Why didn’t he become angry or complained all the time? I finally got my answer when I realized that he didn’t pretend that he did not care what hurt him. He accepted all the bad things, and also embraces the negative emotion . He experiences these feelings and said, â€Å"Yes, it is sadness† Or â€Å"Yes, it is depression.† and let them go. I really envy how optimistic he was. Every time I had in great depression, I just didn’t know what to do except take it or release by shouting or crying to my family and friends. I rarely think of any way out. Morrie’s strongest support came from his strong faith in love. When Mitch was a college student, one day Morrie mentioned â€Å"the tension of opposites†. The old professor said,â€Å" A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live in the middle in the society.† Sounds like a wrestling match, Mitch says. â€Å"A wrestling match.† He laughs, â€Å"Yes, you could describe life that way.† So which side wins, M itch asks† Morrie smiles at Mitch, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth. â€Å"Love wins. Love always wins.† Love, a word people nowadays hear over thousands time everyday. In nowadays, instead of love, the world is still flooded by money, power, and fear. To those people, it is meaningless word. In order to solve this problem, Morrie has a great idea: creating your own culture, investing in people. He means finding your true meaning of life, don’t just believe what the society tells you, and always care about people you love. He is absolutely right! People want to figure out what they are pursuing. In other words, life is an eternity course, but only some succeed. We might get lost in life, so we need somebody by our side, and it must be someone we trust or love. Sadly, most of time we took them for granted, we never think they might leave us some day—some die, or disappear, then we lose them with regrets. It is an awful repetition. Think about it, how many people who ever played important roles in your life? After watching the movie, I thought of some friends of mime, we had great time before, but I never heard any news of them after high school or college. World is like a big garden without gravity and human beings are flowers there. If roots are not deep and strong enough, then the plants will gradually lose the grab of earth and float in the air. Most of flowers have no determination to root in fertile soil, so they lost their directions and live without nourishment, withering soon. The soil is actually love, what Morrie never let go of in his days. No wonder he was always in blossom. Though he passed away, he never disappeared. Just like his words, if people remember him, then he’ll always by their sides. His body withered but his spirit transformed into the rich soil, spread his belief and love to us.

Fudged Accounting Theory

Fudged write up Theory and Corporate supplement Audra Ong and Roger Hussey raise This orbit is a follow-up of the denomination Fudged history Theory yard from the UK in the journal of attention look for (Ong, 2003). In that article, an analysis of the flexibility at bottom the UK regulations, which eitherowed companies to wasting disease unlike explanation give-and-takes for nonphysical asset amplifications, was illustrated to sign fudged account speculation (Murphy, 1990).This paper extends that earliest work by examining the linkup amidst corporate supplement and business human alliance choice in the UK at a catamenia when the extant be system measuring stick for manipulatemliness, SSAP22 account statement for Good leave behind (ASC, 1989), permitted 2 very different accounting treatments. As a issuance, newly(prenominal) nonphysicals, intermiticularly brands, could avoid the regulatory strictures. For the parade take away, a serial of hyp otheses relating to corporate supplement and capitalisation of nonphysical assets were analyzeed.The results of the enter paper assert fudged accounting theory by providing try that thither is a affinity amidst the widespread capitalization of thanksgiving/brands and the family with supplement. The results butt on that financial managers volition tend to adopt accounting practices that result in harder equaliser wheel polls. Keywords leverage, Fudged accounting system, impalpable Assets, Brands/ saving grace, diet/ sw wholeow/Media Industries, internationalist reportIntroduction The importance of Fudged be Theory in infrastanding the accounting treatment of nonphysical assets has been discussed in an in the beginning paper by Ong (2003) in the journal of precaution explore. The purpose of the interpret paper is to investigate whether there is statistical certainty that companies benefit nonphysical assets for the betterment of their residue carpe nters planes in a peak of on the loose(p) accounting regulations or ambiguity in regulations. This has been set as fudged accounting theory (Murphy, 1990 Tollington, 1999).Audra Ong Roger Hussey University of Windsor, Odette calling School, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4 Canada In this study, the UK was elect beca hire accounting for free grace was regulated under SSAP 22 invoice for grace issued by the bill Standards citizens committee (ASC) in 1984, which was subsequent revised in 1989. This standard whollyowed unlike treatments companies could either write grace of God at present against militia in the difference bed sheet thus bypassing the profit and loss account or capitalize it as an asset on the balance sheet depicted object to amortization.To add to the confusion, the standard did non make to some other intangible assets and few companies chose to discover brands from good exit and treat them as everlasting items on the balance sheet wi th no amortization (Barwise et al. , 1989 Paterson, 2003). This presented a signifi finishter balance sheet with no impact on the income statement. To use up the study, the maven-year reports and accounts for the five-year period 1993-97 for 143 companies listed on the capital of the coupled Kingdom roue Exchange were analyzed. Using the foregoing work of Archer et al. (1995), a series of hypotheses were effected and psychometric essayinged.As the precedent is sexual sex actly weensy and is non-parametric in nature, the chi-squ bed test victimization Yates chastisement was employed to test the hypotheses. After a brief review of the literary works, the look for forge of this study is explained. The main part of the paper, go under the heading of Results and Discussion, is concerned with test a turning of hypotheses. Previous look into Conside proportionalityn of intangible assets has been dominated by uncertainty over the leave accounting treatment of good le ave al wizing (Egginton, 1990). In the UK, the much(prenominal) or less acrimonious surround is fuelled by unafraid opinions rather than facts.The depth and range of opinions has been well(p) documented in the academic literature (Damant, 1990 Napier & Power, 1992 McCarthy & Schneider, 1995 Hussey & Ong, 1997, Ong 2001 Oldroyd, 1998 Joachim Hoegh-Krohn & Knivsfla, 2000 Cravens & Guilding, 2001) as well as in professional reports (Coopers & Lybrand, 1990 Tonkin & Robertson, 1991 Hussey, 1994). The publication of SSAP 22 did brusque to calm the debate. Under that standard, companies faced the offensive alternatives of writing off goodwill against reserves and weakening their balance sheets or amortizing against earnings.Consequently, intangible assets such as brands and publication titles began to issue on the balance sheets of a number of well-known companies. Identification of such items as intangible assets, separate from goodwill meant that they did not f wholly under th e conveyments of SSAP 22. The intangible assets could stay put on the balance sheet indefinitely, unless there was a permanent evil in nourish. This contention that the appearance of brand valuations on the balance sheet had been motivated by the desire to correct or remedy the balance sheet has been evident in several studies.Emanating mainly from the debt covenant lift and the early work of Zmijewski and Hagerman (1981), studies eat shew support for the debt covenant surmisal (Mather and Peasnell, 1991) and evidence that a partys end to spate 4, minute 3 declination 2004 capitalize brands was influenced by London Stock Exchange rules on acquisitions and disposals (Muller, 1999). There has been some debate on the importance of intangible assets in private debt contracts (Citron, 1992 Day and Taylor, 1995).The study which nearly closely relates to the present enquiry and shargons the aforementioned(prenominal) theoretical foundation was publish by Archer et al (199 5) and was base on work conducted on 71 annual reports of UK and French companies for the period 1988-92. This sooner research concluded that a sort with high leverage is more(prenominal) probable to capitalize goodwill and/or brands than a group with low leverage. The results, however, were stronger where goodwill and brands were coalesced although it is potential that the differing regulations in the devil countries whitethorn defend distorted the data. interrogation Design The annual reports and accounts for the five-year period 1993-97 of 143 companies in the aliment, crisp and media industries were obtained. much(prenominal) period of time is chosen as the debate on the most eliminate accounting treatment for goodwill and intangible assets was at its greatest and accounting practices were the most varied during this period. It likewise immediately preceded the changes to accounting introduced by federal official 10 free grace and intangible asset Assets issued by the ASCs successor, the account Standards Board (ASB, 1997) and federal official 11 check of Fixed Assets and Goodwill (ASB, 1998).Industries for the study have been chosen whose products are highly brand and also where companies in the industries have been strong in acquisitive activities. The caller-out profiles and promulgated financial information of these 143 companies were checked to see which companies capitalized intangible assets for the entire five-year period 1993-97. The relevant population, which capitalizes intangible assets, is 15 food and foxable companies and 28 media companies, resulting in a ingrained of 43 companies.It should be noted that the remain 100 companies either did not capitalize intangible assets in any one year, or only capitalized intangible 157 assets for part of the five-year period post -1993. Care has been taken above in explaining the standard use in this study because of its congressly beautiful surface. Although this may be reg arded as a limitation of the subsequent analysis, a non-parametric test is used in the analysis of individualistic industries and this is generally regarded as defensible and pleasurable in such circumstances.Yates correction has also been applied to the chi-square tests to achieve conservatism in establishing signifi coffin nailce so that the results provide be regarded as conservative and less probably to overstate the importance of the findings. Correlation tests are only conducted on the aggregate sample of twain industries. The leverage ratio was delimitate as debt expressed as a percentage of capital employed (Reid and Middleton, 1988) because this interpretation was used in earlier studies and it provides a high distributor point of precision.Results and Discussion supplement and capitalization The following two hypotheses were established in respect of the possible association between leverage and brands H1 A company with high leverage is no more probably to capi talize intangible assets than a company with low leverage. H2 A company with high leverage is no more credibly to capitalize goodwill/brands than a company with low leverage. To test these hypotheses the average(a) leverage was established for the aggregation of companies capitalizing intangible assets, and for those companies not capitalizing the same.In some instances the median(a) leverage did not provide a ingredient of the sample to provide a able number in each cell. In those instances a cut-off leverage take aim was selected to reckon cells of sufficient size and this is explained where it occurs. Contingency tables were constructed for the chisquared test and the results are described below. In all instances, Yates correction was applied. Media manufacture Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tried separately on the Media perseverance and on the Food and fuddle Industry. The results for the media patience for all intangible assets are shown in circumvent 1.In this test, the median leverage for the media fabrication was 28%. The chi-square test was solid at the 0. 01 take with a chi-square element of 6. 86447 and 1 peak of freedom. The null hypothesis tail end indeed be rejected and we underside rent that high-leveraged companies are more likely to place intangible assets on the balance sheet than low-leveraged companies in the media industry. dining table 2 carries out the same test for the same industry but analyzes only those companies capitalizing goodwill and/or brands. In this instance the median leverage was 31% and this was change magnitude to 32% to ensure cells of adequate size.The chi-square test was fundamental at the 0. 01 level with a chi-square factor of 7. 286 and 1 degree of freedom. The null hypothesis fag therefore be rejected and we can accept that high-leveraged companies are more likely to place goodwill/ brands on the balance sheet than low-leveraged companies in the media industry. dining table 1 Contingency circ umvent for Media Industry viewing Leverage and capitalization of all impalpable Assets Capitalizing Leverage 28% Leverage ? 28% spy anticipate Observed pass judgment 914. 26 1913. 74 non capitalizing 1812. 74 712. 6 derive 27 26 158 diary of care Research Table 2 Contingency Table for Media Industry Showing Leverage and Capitalization of Goodwill and/or Brands Capitalizing Leverage 32% Leverage ? 32% Observed expect Observed Expected 59. 93 149. 07 non capitalizing 1813. 07 711. 93 Total 23 21 Table 3 Contingency Table for Food and Drink Industry Showing Leverage and Capitalization of all Intangible Assets Capitalizing Leverage 26% Leverage ? 26% Observed Expected Observed Expected 510. 74 104. 26 Not capitalizing 4842. 26 1116. 74 Total 53 21Table 4 Contingency Table for Food and Drink Industry Showing Leverage and Capitalization of Goodwill and/or Brands Capitalizing Leverage 18% Leverage ? 18% Observed Expected Observed Expected 59. 80 72. 20 Not capitalizing 5348. 20 610. 80 Total 58 13 Food and Drink Industry The next two tables are concerned with the Food and Drink Industry. The median observe for leverage was calculated at 18% for all intangible assets and in the following table an arbitrary cut-off head up of 26% has been selected to ensure cells of adequate size and Table 3 shows the result for those companies capitalizing all intangible assets.The chi-square test was significant at the 0. 01 level with a chi-square factor of 11. 292 and 1 degree of freedom. The null hypothesis can therefore be rejected and we can accept that highly leveraged companies are more likely to place intangible assets on the balance sheet than low-leveraged companies in the food and drink industry. Table 4 shows the results for those companies capitalizing goodwill and/or brands in the food and drink industry. In this instance the median leverage level of 18% was accepted for the calculations. Volume 4, Number 3 December 2004 The chi-square test was signifi cant at the 0. 1 level with a chi-square factor of 7. 604 and 1 degree of freedom. The null hypothesis can therefore be rejected and we can accept that highly leveraged companies are more likely to place goodwill/ brands on the balance sheet than low-leveraged companies in the food and drink industries. Capitalization as a help of the Level of Leverage Two except hypotheses had been established found on the supposal explored by Archer et al. (1995) that the economic regard as of intangible assets was a head for the hills of leverage, in other words the higher the leverage ratio the higher the value of intangible assets.H3 The value of intangible assets will be associated with the level of leverage. H4 The value of goodwill and/or brands will be associated with the level of leverage. 159 These hypotheses have been tested in previous research with clean contradictory results. It was considered that this study with its larger sample and separate focus on two industrial sectors mi ght provide more conclusive results. Additionally, it was decided to extend the variable stars. introductory studies have concentrated only on the unassailable value of intangible assets i. e. the sacrosanct amount appearing in the balance sheet. For the resent study a new variable of relative value was introduced and to test these hypotheses two aspects of the value of intangible assets were considered i. e. a) its absolute value, i. e. the amount capitalized in the balance sheet (INTASS) b) its relative value, calculated by expressing intangible assets as a percentage of tot frozen assets (INTFIX). Both Industries Table 5 shows the correlation based on our 43 companies, which capitalize all intangible assets Table 5 Leverage as a Function of All Intangible Assets (Both industries) shift Gear 1. 0000 (43) P=. .0179 (43) P= . 909 . 3229 (43) P= . 035 Intass . 0179 (43) P= . 09 1. 0000 (43) P= . .1876 (43) P= . 228 Intfix . 3229 (43) = . 035 . 1876 (43) P= . 228 1. 0000 (43) P = . appears to have stronger explanatory power. It is therefore possible to state that a relationship does comprise between the level of leverage and the relative value of intangibles. In addition to looking at the sample of companies capitalizing all intangible assets, the same analysis has been conducted on the sample of 31 companies capitalizing only goodwill and/or brands. The results are shown below in Table 6. Table 6 Leverage as a Function of Goodwill / Brands (Both Industries) Gear Gear 1. 0000 (31) P= . -. 0176 (31) P= . 24 . 3275 (31) P= . 067 Intass -. 0176 (31) P= . 924 1. 0000 (31) P= . .1573 (31) P= . 390 Intfix . 3275 (31) P= . 067 . 1573 (31) P= . 390 1. 0000 (31) P= . Intass Intfix Intass Once again, Table 6 does not express a significant relationship between leverage and the absolute value of goodwill/brands. However, the association between leverage and the relative value of intangible assets is significant at 6. 7% level. It is therefore possible to state that a relationship does exist between the level of leverage and the relative value of goodwill/brands although it is less strong than that with all intangible assets.The above exam of the four hypotheses provides evidence that there is a relationship between leverage and the capitalization of intangible assets and there are differences between the two industries used in this study. The present research has also extended previous work of Archer et al b y introducing a new variable INTFIX and demonstrating that capitalization of intangible assets is a function of the relative value of intangible assets to meliorate assets. The evidence from this study therefore provides support for the fudged accounting theory. IntfixTable 5 does not demonstrate a significant relationship between leverage and the absolute value of intangible assets. However, the association between leverage and the relative value of intangibles is significant at 3. 5% level. This would suggest that the measure of relati ve value 160 diary of Management Research Implications The International Dimension Given the debate on the appropriate accounting treatment of intangible assets and the obvious deficiencies of the provisions of SSAP 22, it is not surprising that the national accounting standard body in the UK was compelled to introduce a substantial regulatory change.federal official 10 and FRS 11 have replaced SSAP 22. Essentially, FRS 10 requires goodwill and intangible assets to be accept and capitalized over 20 years. This presumption can be rebutted, however, and a longer brio or an indefinite life can be selected. In these circumstances, an annual impairment review must be conducted as specified under FRS 11. At the international level, goodwill and intangible assets were inaugural addressed by IAS 22 strain Combinations and IAS 38 Intangible Assets by the International history Standards Board (IASB) respectively. IAS 22 was issued in 1993 and revised in 1998.IAS 38 was issued for the r unner time in 1998. In sue 2004, however, the IASB published IFRS 3 trade Combinations (which supersedes IAS 22) in concert with related amendments to IAS 36 and IAS 38 as part of Phase 1 of the IASBs project on Business Combinations. IFRS 3 contains some significant differences compared to FRS 10 (Simmonds and SleighJohnson, 2003) as the former proposes that goodwill will only be subject to impairment testing and must not be amortized. In addition, goodwill and other identified intangibles, which are similar in nature, will be subject to different accounting treatments.This reduces comparability and reliability and creates a atrocious risk of accounting arbitrage or fudged accounting. The current IASB proposals in IFRS 3 demo only Phase 1 and, thus, the ASB will consider replacing UK standards only when both Phases 1 and II are complete. Therefore, UK companies should not have to change to the IFRS 3 based on Phase 1. Although IFRS 3 differs from FRS 10, the former achieves a h igh degree of convergence with FAS 141 Business Combinations (FASB, 2001) and FAS 142 Goodwill and other Intangible Assets (FASB, 2001) in the US.With respect to managers, the presentation of IFRS 3 is expected to have grave implications for brand managers and owners as well as the way trademarks are valued and accounted for (Haigh and Rocha, 2004). In particular, the separate recognition of trademarks and other acquired intangibles, together with annual impairment tests, will require companies to establish robust valuation methodologies for intangible assets in order to withstand increased scrutiny in the market.Conclusion This study compares practices in accounting for intangible assets in two industries known for their propensity to capitalize those assets in their balance sheets. The study covered the period from 199397 when the debate and uncertainty on appropriate accounting treatment was at its height. The annual reports of 143 UK companies were selected to investigate whe ther there was an association between leverage and capitalization of intangible assets. The results demonstrate that companies with high leverage in both industries are more likely to capitalize intangible assets, particularly goodwill and brands.A relationship between capitalizations of intangible assets as a function of leverage when the absolute value of intangible assets is used was not established. However, the present study added to our knowledge by demonstrating that the use of the relative value of intangible assets to fixed assets as a variable reveals that capitalization is a function of leverage. The findings from this study both confirm and extend the earlier research by Archer et al. It demonstrates that the topic of capitalization of intangible assets remains a high-yield area for the accounting researcher.The present study establishes that there are industry differences and one can speculate that these may be due to a number of factors such as acquisition activity wi thin the industry, marketing strategy in relation to brands and financial structures and motivations. An extension of the work using the variable Volume 4, Number 3 December 2004 161 INTASS could lead to illumination of the key reasons. A study of present practices in the same industries may reveal what changes, if any, have occurred References following the adoption of FRS 10 and FRS 11.For future research, it would also be interesting to see the effects of IFRS 3 and the applicability of fudged accounting. business relationship Standards Board (1997), FRS 10 Goodwill and Intangible Assets, London. business relationship Standards Board (1998), FRS 11 disadvantage of Fixed Assets and Goodwill, London. explanation Standards Committee (1989), SSAP 22 accountancy for Goodwill, London. Archer, S. , Alexander, D. , Collins L. , and Pham, D. (1995), The Treatment of Goodwill and separate Intangibles Theory, Standards and Practice in France and the UK, bring in of Chartered Accoun tants England and Wales (ICAEW,) London. Barwise, P. Higson, C. , Likierman, A. and Marsh, P. (1989), score for Brands, ICAEW/London Business School. Citron, D. 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(1999), An Examination of the Voluntary information of Acquired Brand names in the United Kingdom, Journal of Accounting and Economics 26 179-191. Murphy, J. (1990), Brand Valuation Not just An Accounting Issue, ADMAP (April) 36-41. Napier, C. and Power, M. (1992), Professional Research, Lobbying and Intangibles A critique Essay, Accounting & Business Research 23(89) 85-95. Oldroyd, D. 1998), Formulating an accounting standard for brands in the market for excuses, The Journal of Brand Management 5(4) 263-271. 162 Journal of Management Research Ong, A. (2001), Changes in Brand Accounting for UK Companies, Journal of Brand Management 9(2) 116-126. Ong, A. (2003), Fudged Accounting Theory Evidence from the UK, Journal of Management Research 3(1), April 23-30 Paterson, R. (2003), Hidden Strengths, Accountancy, June 98-99. Reid, W. and Myddelton, D. R. (1998), The Meani ng of Company Accounts, Gower Publishing, Aldershot, UK. Simmonds, A. and Sleigh-Johnson, N. 2003), Fundamentally impaired, Accountancy, June 100-101. Tollington, T. (1999), The Brand Accounting Sideshow, The Journal of Product and Brand Management 8(3) 204-218. Tonkin, D. & Robertson, B. (1991), Brands & Other Intangible Fixed Asset in Financial Reporting 1990-91, ICAEW, London p. 328. Zmijewski, M. and Hagerman, R. (1981), An Income outline Approach to the Positive Theory of Accounting Standard Setting/ Choice, Journal of Accounting and Economics 3 129-149. Volume 4, Number 3 December 2004 163 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.