\u3ci\u3eMantis Religiosa\u3c/i\u3e (Mantodea: Mantidae) in Door County, Wisconsin

The European mantid (Mantis religiosa) has been observed at several sites spanning a distance of approximately 50 km in northern Door County, Wisconsin. A reliable sighting of an unidentified praying mantid on Chambers Island in Green Bay suggests the possibility that the species occurs there as well. Lake-induced moderation of the Door County climate may have resulted in conditions especially conducive for the establishment of European mantids

INTERPRETATIONS AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF SCALE FOR THE PRATT-ARROW ABSOLUTE RISK AVERSION COEFFICIENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR GENERALIZED STOCHASTIC DOMINANCE: REPLY

Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty,

IMPLICATIONS OF POLICY REGULATIONS ON LAND APPLICATIONS OF POULTRY LITTER

The growth of the poultry industry in Arkansas has exploded in the past decade. As a result, approximately 1.5 million tons of litter are produced every year. Concerns about possible contamination of ground and surface water from land applications of poultry litter have been raised. This paper compares four policy scenarios in terms of their efficiency and practicality to manage land applications of poultry litter. The results indicate that a litter tax per ton of litter applied could achieve the same level of litter control as that of a land tax on litter applications, but at a lower tax rate.Agricultural and Food Policy,

THE FEASIBILITY OF POULTRY LITTER TRANSPORTATION FROM ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREAS TO DELTA ROW CROP PRODUCTION

Arkansas ranks first in broiler production in the USA with more than a billion broiler and 1.5 million tons of litter produced in 1993. Transporting litter from western to eastern Arkansas can accomplish two goals: 1) avoid potential threat to clean water in western Arkansas and 2) can increase productivity of graded lands in the Delta. This paper examines the feasibility of litter transport from areas of high poultry concentrations to the Delta for use as a soil amendment. We establish the conditions for economical litter transport from source to destinations and determine the optimal rates of litter applications. The results suggest that it is economical to transport significant portions of litter.Livestock Production/Industries,

OBTAINING LOWER AND UPPER BOUNDS ON THE VALUE OF SEASONAL CLIMATE FORECASTS AS A FUNCTION OF RISK PREFERENCES

A methodological approach to obtain bounds on the value of information based on an inexact representation of the decision makerÂ’s utility function is presented. Stochastic dominance procedures are used to derive the bounds. These bounds provide more information than the single point estimates associated with traditional decision analysis approach to valuing information, in that classes of utility functions can be considered instead of one specific utility function. Empirical results for valuing seasonal climate forecasts illustrate that the type of management strategy given by the decision makerÂ’s prior knowledge interacts with the decision makerÂ’s risk preferences to determine the bounds.Risk and Uncertainty,

Organized Gaming and Its Effect on Collegiate Academics

With the emergence of gaming as an ever more popular pass time, and professional level eSports gaining steam, collegiate student organizations are beginning to reflect this change as well. This study of 166 college students from across the United States addresses the rise of gaming organizations and their subsequent effects of collegiate academics, namely grade point averages (GPA). The results suggest that participation in an organization dedicated to gaming results in a slightly lower GPA than those involved in other organizations, but still higher than average pointing towards factors of involvement still benefiting students. An important factor to note is that students who report playing electronic games Once or Twice a month actually showed the highest GPA of all participants. This suggest that if gaming organizations can host events targeted at students who seldom play electronic games normally, overall GPA’s will actually increase

Cadillacs, Gold Watches, and the Tax Reform Act of 1986: The Continuing Evolution of the Tax Treatment of Gifts to Employees

To eliminate uncertainty for taxpayers and inconsistency from the courts, Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which is applicable to “gifts” from employers to employees. Congress added three Internal Revenue Code provisions applicable to such gifts. First, Section 102 sets forth a general rule that property transferred by an employer to an employee shall not be excluded from the employee’s gross income as a gift. Second, Section 74 potentially excludes certain retirement awards. Third, Section 274 limits an employer’s deductions for such retirement awards. These three provisions should mark the end of many years of uncertainty for taxpayers and inconsistency on the part of the courts, Congress, and the Commissioner. At the same time, the new provisions, like any new legislation, give rise to new uncertainties. Historically, uncertainty and inconsistency have characterized the tax treatment of gifts to employees. Courts, Congress, and the Internal Revenue Service have all contributed to the confusion over whether an employee may exclude from gross income the value of a gift from his employer, and whether the employer may deduct the cost of such a gift as a business expense. Even with the guidance provided in Commissioner v. Duberstein, holding that an excludible gift must proceed from “detached and disinterested generosity,” courts continued to reach widely varying results in seemingly similar fact patterns. Shortly after Duberstein was decided, Congress enacted a dollar limitation on the deductibility of gifts as a business expense. This implied that a gift might be both deductible by the donor and excludable by the doneee. Next, Congress adopted a blanket rule that transfers to employees are not excludable from the employee’s gross income as gifts, which finalized the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and resolved much of the uncertainty that previously existed

Should Personal Injury Damage Awards Be Taxed?

The exclusion of personal injury damage awards from gross income is inconsistent with established principles of taxation. Section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code excludes from gross income “the amount of any damages received . . . on account of personal injury or sickness.” While the existence of Section 104(a)(2) traditionally has been justified as a humanitarian gesture, more logical explanations have been offered. Damage awards cannot accurately be characterized as a return of capital. Nor does the involuntary nature of the transaction justify the exclusion. While so-called imputed income is not taxed, the reasons supporting its non-taxability do not extend to damage awards representing a cash substitute for such income. Excluding damage awards avoids certain administrative problems that may otherwise arise, but those problems could be resolved by less drastic means. These justifications for the exclusion cannot be rationalized as a logical application of tax theory. To the extent that such a justification is lacking, the exclusion should be evaluated as a tax subsidy. Although Congress did not originally intend the exclusion to be a subsidy, it functions as such in the context of modern tax law. The exclusion provided by Section 104(a)(2) compensates tort victims by allowing receipts that logically should be included in gross income to escape taxation. While an expenditure of government funds for the benefit of innocent tort victims has emotional appeal, a closer inspection of the ramifications of the subsidy reveals that it is not a wise investment of public resources. The subsidy is not fairly allocated and the government subsidization of injuries is contrary to sound tort policy. If damage awards were taxed, the policy goals of the tort system would be advanced rather than frustrated, since defendants would not be under-penalized and plaintiffs would not be overcompensated