-53- Exhibit 12 Calculation of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges (in thousands) Year Ended July 31, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 ------- ------- --------- ------- ------- Earnings Income before cumulative effect of change in accounting principle $46,510 $61,271 $60,507 $34,206 $12,878 Income tax provision 23,960 29,745 35,536 20,091 6,343 ------- ------- --------- ------- ------- Earnings 70,470 91,016 96,043 54,297 19,221 ------- ------- --------- ------- ------- Fixed Charges Interest expense 254 1,772 21,169 22,195 16,255 Portion of rental expense representative of interest factor 701 705 1,113 2,082 3,030 ------- ------- --------- ------- ------- Fixed charges 955 2,477 22,282 24,277 19,285 ------- ------- --------- ------- ------- Capitalized interest -- -- (580) -- -- ------- ------- --------- ------- ------- Earnings before income tax provision and fixed charges $71,425 $93,493 $117,745 $78,574 $38,506 ======= ======= ========= ======= ======= Ratio of earnings to fixed charges 74.8x 37.7x 5.3x 3.2x 2.0x ======= ======= ========= ======= =======