Terry Fox Essays - Terry Fox, Fiction, Sport In Canada, Batman

Terry Fox Terry Fox In Canadian history there are many famous people. In my mind one really stands out among the rest. His name is Terry Fox and he is one of the greatest athlete to run on the face of this planet. Terry discovered he had cancer and then decided to run across Canada. He was a brave man who would take what the world through at him. Running across Canada was his way to show the world that he was not going out with out a fight. Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg Manitoba on July 28 1958 Terry was raised in port Coquintlam, British Columbia. He was very athletic from a young age. When he was in grade eight Terry was rated nineteen out of nineteen on his basketball team. For that first season he was on the court for approximately one minute. This did not affect Terry and did not let it get to him, fore just two years later Terry was the starring player on his team. By the time he graduated he became one of two athletes to receive the schools highest athletic award. Terry knew that aches and pains are common in athlete's lives. At the end of his first year of university there was a new pain in his knee. One morning Terry woke up to see that he could no longer stand up. A week later Terry found out that it was not just an ache he had a malignant tumor; his leg would have to be cut off six inches above the knee. Terry's doctor told him that he had a chance of living but the odds were fifty to seventy percent. He also said that he should be glad it happened now fore just 2 years ago the chance of living was fifteen percent. The night before his operation a former coach brought Terry a magazine featuring a man who ran a marathon after a similar operation. Terry didn't want to do something small if he was going to do something he was going to do it big. "I am competitive" Terry said, "I'm a dreamer. I like challenges. I don't give up. When I decided to do it, I knew it was going to be all out. There was no in between Terry's sixteen month follow up he saw all the young people suffering and getting weak by the disease. He never forgot what he saw and felt burdened to thoughts that died to run this marathon. He was one of the lucky one in three people to survive in the cancer clinics. Terry wrote asking for sponsorship" I could not leave knowing that these faces and feelings would still be here even though I would be set free of mine, somewhere the hurting must stop... and I was determined to take myself to the limit for these causes." Terry got back into sports and joins a wheelchair basketball team. He took on his new challenge as he usually had. Terry made himself strong by pushing his wheel chair. He would push himself along the sea wall of Stanley Park in Vancouver or find a steep mountain of a log road and would go to his hands bled. Two years after Terry stated his training to run, so nobody could see him he ran his first half-mile in the dark. For fifteen months of training and after running 3159 miles his stump was raw and bleeding. Terry ran 101 days everyday he ran 23 miles a day and only stopped for Christmas because his mother asked him. Terry was always determined. One day when his artificial leg broke he hitchhiked home and fixed his leg and ran another 5 miles. He told his mother about his journey to run across Canada his mother told him he was crazy but when she told his father he simple asked "When?" Terry received his sponsorship and on April 12 1980 he dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic ocean of the coast of St. Johns Newfoundland, there he began to run the greatest Adventure of his life, "I loved it," Terry said. " I enjoyed myself so much and that was what other people couldn't realize. They thought I was going through a nightmare running all day long. People thought I was going through hell. Maybe I was partly, but still I was doing what I wanted and a dream was coming true and that, above everything else, made it all worthwhile to me. Even thought it was so difficult, there was

Marketing of Lifeboy Soap †A Unilever Product

Marketing of Lifeboy Soap – A Unilever Product Free Online Research Papers 1. Introduction Linking the brand to some other entity- some source factor or related person, place or thing- may create a new set of associations from the brand to the entity as well as affect existing brand associations. That is, brands themselves may be linked to other entities that have their own knowledge structures in the minds of consumers. Because of these linkages, consumers may assume or infer that some of the associations or responses that characterize the other entities may also be true for the brand. Thus in effect, some associations or responses become transferred from other entities to the brand. In other words, the brand essentially borrows some brand knowledge and, depending on the nature of those associations and responses, perhaps some brand equity from other entities. In this paper, we have analyzed how endorsement of another entity has leveraged LIFEBUOYS’ image in the consumer mind and has affected the business, i.e. the sales growth. 2. About Unilever In the 1980s, William Hesketh Lever, founder of Lever Brothers, wrote down his ideas for Sunlight Soap- his revolutionary new product that helped popularize cleanliness and hygiene in Victorian England. It was ‘to make cleanliness commonplace; to lessen work for women; to foster health and contribute to personal attractiveness that life may be more enjoyable and rewarding for the people who use our products.’ This was long before the phrase ‘Corporate Mission’ has been invented, but these ideas have stayed in the heart of their business. Even if their language-and the notion of only women doing housework-has become outdated. In a history that now crosses three centuries, Unilever’s success has been influenced by the major events of the day-economic boom, depression, world wars, changing consumer lifestyles and advances in technology. And throughout they have created products that help people get more out of life-cutting the time spent on household chores, improving nutrition, enabling people to enjoy food and take care of their homes, their clothes and themselves. In the 19th century the business that would later become Unilever were among the most philanthropic of their time. They set up projects to improve a lot of their workers and created products with a positive social impact, making hygiene and personal care commonplace and improving nutrition through adding vitamins to foods that were already daily staples. Today, Unilever still believes that success means acting with ‘the highest standards of corporate behavior towards their employees, consumers and the societies and world in which we live.’ Over the years they have launched or participated in an ever-growing range of initiatives to source sustainable supplies of raw materials, project environments, support local communities and much more. With 400 brands spanning 14 categories of home, personal care and food products, no other company touches so many people’s lives in so many different ways. Although Unilever wasn’t formed until 1930, the companies that joined forces to create the business we know today they are already well established before the start of the 20th century. Unilever is now one of the world’s biggest companies, but takes the decision to focus its portfolio, and rationalize its business to focus on core products and brands. 3. Unilever in Bangladesh Over the last four decades, Unilever Bangladesh has been constantly bringing new and world-class products for the Bangladesh people to remove the daily drudgery of life. Over 90% of the country’s households use one or more of their products. Their business mainly focuses on Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with local manufacturing facilities, reporting to regional business groups for innovation and business results. The constitution states that Unilever holds 60.75% and the Government of Bangladesh holds 39.25% of shares. Their product categories features Household Care, Fabric Cleaning, Skin Cleansing, Skin Care, Oral Care, Hair Care, Personal Grooming, Tea based Beverages. Their manufacturing facility includes a soap manufacturing factory and a Personal Products factory located in Chittagong. Unilever operations in Bangladesh provide employment to over 10,000 people directly and through its dedicated suppliers, distributors and service providers. 99.5% of UBL employees are locals and they have equal number of Bangladeshis working abroad in other Unilever companies as expatriates. 4. About Lifebuoy Lifebuoy is one of Unilever’s oldest brands, a brand that was truly ‘global’ before the term ‘global brand’ was invented. Lifebuoy Royal Disinfectant Soap was launched in 1894 as an affordable new product in the UK, to support people in their quest for better personal hygiene. Soon after launch, Lifebuoy soap traveled across the world, reaching countries such as India and Bangladesh, where even today it is still the market leading brand. Lifebuoy has been a successful product as well in our country right from their start of operations for more than four decades now. What makes Lifebuoy so unique and acceptable is its unique formulations. Lifebuoy’s antibacterial ingredients in all its products make it superior to all other ordinary soaps, giving 100% better germ protection. Good health, protection against most skin germs and control of body odor make up the core objectives of the brand. 5. Products of Lifebuoy (2000-2006) Lifebuoy started its journey with a single product named ‘ Lifebuoy Antibacterial Soap’ this was a carbolic soap with strong fragrance their target market were the male consumers with low income. But with the growing time, technology consumer demand they came up with different line extensions of their product, this time they targeted the family consumers of middle upper-middle class. In the year of 2000-2001, Lifebuoy came up with the following product lines: Lifebuoy Antibacterial soap Lifebuoy re-launched itself in new package Lifebuoy Gold ïÆ' ° Lifebuoy re-launched it self in a new packaging system ïÆ' ° In order to acquire new consumers of soap market they introduced a new product with improved qualities named ‘Lifebuoy Gold’. With the introduction of the Lifebuoy Gold variant, the brand added a complete new dimension to its image. Lifebuoy Gold has now brought the whole family into its bubble of health and protection. It is yet another innovative antibacterial formulation promised to serve all members and requirements in the home from controlling adolescent pimples and body odour to protecting cuts and bruises from further infection. Its mildness along with the goodness of beauty soap makes it convenient for use by the whole family. In the year 2002-2003 lifebuoy again re-launched it-self with a newer look for two times. ïÆ' ° It changed the shape of the bar ïÆ' ° It changed the packaging ïÆ' ° It changed the promotional activities In the year 2004 Lifebuoy again came up with the following line extensions: Lifebuoy Antibacterial soap Lifebuoy antibacterial soap Lifebuoy Gold Lifebuoy Strong Lifebuoy Neem Lifebuoy gold Lifebuoy gold White Pink ïÆ' ° They introduced two different product formulations ‘Lifebuoy strong’ ‘Lifebuoy neem’ under the existing lifebuoy soap for the same target market. For generations natural herbal ingredients like Neem has been reverred for its antiseptic qualities. Lifebouy Neem soap has brought in the do-good qualities of Neem to the promise of protection from germs offered by Lifebouy soap. ïÆ' ° They also introduced two different fragrances colors for the whole middle-class consumers Finally In the year 2005-2006 Lifebuoy came up with different changes in their product lines. Lifebuoy Lifebuoy Total Lifebuoy Gold Gold Care Gold Nourish Gold Deo-fresh Gold Nature 6. Lifebuoy’s leveraging activities worldwide Lifebuoy saves life Consistent in Lifebuoy’s 110+ history has been its championing of health through hygiene. The brands core promise of protection and a commitment to support life through unbeatable protection is at the heart of the brand name itself-Lifebuoy, the guarantee of protection when you are threatened. For example, a 1930’s campaign in the US was titled ‘Clean hands help guard health’ encouraging the use of lifebuoy soap to kill the germs on hands that can cause health issues. A similar campaign continues today, with Lifebuoy hygiene education programs ongoing in countries like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam. A helping hand According to the World Health Organization, diarrhea is the single largest cause of preventable death, killing 2.2 million people every year. In 2003, it killed 600 000 children aged under five in India alone. It’s been estimated that if everyone washed their hands properly at key times during the day, up to half of all childhood deaths from diarrhea-more than one million children- could be avoided. Lifebuoy has always played a role in terms of crisis, helping to prevent the spread of germs and disease: During the Blitz of London in 1940, Lifebuoy soap provided free emergency mobile washing facilities to Londoners. Lifebuoy vans were equipped with hot showers, soap and towel. In the aftermath of the Tsunami in Asia in December 2004, Lifebuoy bars were a key element in the relief packages distributed in Southern India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases so endemic in the aftermath of such disasters. In 2005, over 200 000 bars of Lifebuoy soap were donated to UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross to support their earthquake relief operations in Northern India and Pakistan. Revitalizing the brand Since 2000, major changes have been made to the Classic Lifebuoy Soap bar to ensure that it provides improved hygiene protection and a more enjoyable healthy washing experience for its billions of consumers. Lifebuoy soap’s classic hard red brick shape has been replaced with a new signature Lifebuoy shape. The new shape makes the bar easier to grip and use. The Lifebuoy Brand team has developed a new formulation providing even better germ protection that creates a rich lather on the skin. Lifebuoy soap’s characteristic medicated, carbolic smell has been replaced with a more enjoyable and contemporary ‘health’ fragrance. Lifebuoy has become more than just a red bar of soap-today the brand provides hygiene and health solutions for families, including a range of bar soaps, hand wash liquids and liquid shower gels. The most recent Lifebuoy innovation addressed the number one skin hygiene and health concerns for teens and twins: oily and acne prone skin. Lifebuoy Clear Skin is a bar soap formulated using radical new technology that is clinically proven to reduce even severe acne, by 70% in 6 weeks. Regular use, twice a day is proven to prevent and reduce the recurrence of acne. 7. Leveraging activity in Bangladesh As the people of Bangladesh are quite attached to Broadcast and outdoor media, in order to leverage the brand in the Bangladeshi market Lifebuoy has used these two medias to a great extent. Lifebuoy has always promoted itself as health soap, while promoting the brand to the target consumers Lifebuoy has always used relevant endorsements such as- Doctors in dramatic situation: it is a common phenomenon that the consumers than the other products mostly prefer health products suggested or prescribed by the doctors. Keeping these facts in mind Lifebuoy has promoted itself in such a way where dramatic doctors are endorsed in the TV commercials where they certify Lifebuoy as an anti bacterial medicated soap and suggest the consumers to use Lifebuoy for 100% health protection. Here Lifebuoy is leveraged by linking the image and the goodwill of the doctor. Using the RIPH (Royal Institute of Public Health) logo- it is seen that consciously or unconsciously we give more preference to those health products that are recommended by the International health organizations. It gives us a sense of security to use the recommended products rather than using other products. To provide the consumers with the sense of security, and to attract them Lifebuoy uses the seal of approval of RIPH on every package of Lifebuoy soap, which certifies the Lifebuoy to be 100% anti bacterial soap. Using the approval seal leverages the brand image of Lifebuoy in the consumer mind. Using relative slogan and jingles- as a health soap Lifebuoy always uses such slogan and jingles which concentrates on promising health protection to the consumers. For example- â€Å"din bhor shashtho surokkha† and jingles like – â€Å"Shastho ke rokha kore Lifebuoy, Lifebuoy jekhane shashtho shekhane.† Unilever’s logo-whether it is the package or the promotional activities Lifebuoy always uses the official logo of Unilever and the reason is none other than the goodwill or Unilever. Using the logo of Unilever leverages the brand equity of Lifebuoy. Event Management (Lifebuoy shashtho chetona)- through different types of awareness program and customer relationship building programs Lifebuoy leverages its brand equity. Among all ‘Lifebuoy shashtho chetona’ is the one where a team of Lifebuoy employees goes to the rural area and there they educate the rural people about the effects of hygiene on the health. 8. Comparing the Past with the Present (2000 2006) according to our observation: Product ïÆ' ° In the year 2000 they only had a single product of a single size that was formulated as carbolic soap with strong fragrance. ïÆ' ° In the year 2006 they have two different product lines with 5 products. Target Market ïÆ' ° In the year 2000 the target market were the lower class male consumers. ïÆ' ° In the year 2006 they taken the whole body soap market of Bangladesh as their Target. Pricing ïÆ' ° In the year 2000 the lifebuoy red brick soap was priced only 6 tk. ïÆ' ° In the year 2006 following the value pricing strategy their products are priced between 5tk-20tk. Quality: ïÆ' ° In the year 2000 they only concentrated on the health care properties of the soap. The fragrant was strong it used to be a carbolic soap that only took care of the washing the dirt from the root. ïÆ' ° In the year 2006 they have different formulation of soap for different type of target consumers with different fragrant. Packaging ïÆ' ° In terms of packaging in the year 2000, their packaging consisted of basic elementary packaging system with simplified paper wrapping system. The packaging was unattractive, ineffective. ïÆ' ° Whereas they have developed a high quality packaging system with different colors slogans. 9. Recently Used IMC Strategies Television Radio Print Media- News Paper Magazines. ïÆ' ° Above the Line Promotion Outdoor media- Billboard, Wall painting. POS- Posters, Buntings, Danglers, shop signs, in-store merchandising. Poster Bunting Billboard Rural Campaigning- ‘Shastho Chetona’ (already have communicated more than 7 million people of Bangladesh) ïÆ' ° Below the Line Promotion Lifebuoy gold market storming- One to one marketing 10. Changes in Leveraging the Outcome The year 2000 to 2006, its only six years, but the changes in Leveraging has changed the market scenario for Lifebuoy to a great extent. The Leveraging changes are highlighted below- Year Leveraging Before 2000 i) Only endorsed the rural male figure in their promotional activity. ii) Used the parent company logo only in the packages. 2000-2001 i) Endorsed football players of national team ii) Changed the packaging iii) Launched a new product changed the Promotional Activity iv) Started doing event management (Shastho Chetona) 2002-2004 i) Modernized the TV commercials ii) Targeted New Market iii) Came up with New Product line iv) Endorsed dramatic spokesman 2005-2006 i) Started using the parent company name in the TVCs ii) Revitalized their product lines. Because of the changes in leveraging the brand Lifebuoy experienced changes in sales, market share, net profit. The approximate results are given bellow. ïÆ' ° Till now Market share has increased by more than 6% compared to the Market share of 2000. ïÆ' ° Sales has increased twice compared to the sales of the year 2000 ïÆ' ° NPS has increased by more than 15% compared to the year 2000. ïÆ' ° Lifebuoy has equalized the sales with the Lux the market leader of Soap market in Bangladesh. 11. Findings Recommendations: Although it has been found in the report that lifebuoy is already very much successful with their current strategies. We have found some points that they could have done to leverage the products we’d suggest to look into these tiny lacking for further success. The findings are highlighted bellow- ïÆ' ° They could have made TVCs using the Bangladeshi spokes persons. ïÆ' ° They shouldn’t have used dubbed the Indian TVCs. ïÆ' ° They could use publicly popular personality, such as- movie actors, beauty contest winner or sportsman to add some prestige to the brand. ïÆ' ° They should introduce liquid body wash shower gel in Bangladesh for the upper-class people. Research Papers on Marketing of Lifeboy Soap - A Unilever ProductAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaDefinition of Export QuotasAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementGenetic EngineeringInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andOpen Architechture a white paperTwilight of the UAW19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThree Concepts of Psychodynamic

Geology and the Environment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Geology and the Environment - Research Paper Example The paper outlines the perspective of using solar power as the future source of energy, compared to coal-mining industry. As the world gets bigger, as economies get larger, as the human population increases, the demand for energy also amplifies. Everyone wants the maximum amount of energy that can be produced; over the centuries, man has found numerous ways to bring power into their lives, ranging from combustion of fossil fuels, to wind power. This essay will compare and contrast two of these possible energy sources, coal with solar energy, and attempt to find out which source produces energy in the most effective and desirable way. Solar power is more environmental friendly as compared to power released from coal, in terms of the physical effects it has on the environment. As mentioned earlier, solar power is generated using only radiation from the sun; we receive sunlight every single day on earth, and solar panels only have to capture this radiation and convert it into power to u se. Generating power using coal, however, requires coal to be dug out from the ground. There are several ways of extracting coal from the ground, including strip mining, surface mining, open pit mining, mountain top removal. These types of mining inflict tremendous amount of damage to the environment since they involve the complete destruction of all trees, mountains, rivers, anything that is in the vicinity of the coal mine. Mining for coal can also lead to the pollution of the air and water bodies near the coal mine. (Shah, 2011); toxic materials from the mining process can get washed away into rivers or lakes that are near the mining site ("Coal," page 8). Also, the removal of trees can lead to increased chances of landslides and subsidence ("Coal," page 4). All in all, the process of extracting coal leaves behind a barren, ugly landscape, whereas solar power is generated in a way that does not harm the physical environment. Solar power also means no more grid systems (Whitburn, no date). Solar power can be generated using solar panels that are attached onto the roofs of houses, there is no need to be connected to electrical grids to receive power. This feature of solar power is particularly useful to the people living in isolated areas far away from electrical grid, since it means they no longer have to face the problem of "frequent power-cuts," and expensive electricity, (Whitburn, no date). Indeed, this "transmission infrastructure," is the  "major culprit  behind skyrocketing electricity prices"; also, reliance on off-grid solar power means that the 7 - 10%  line loss  that occurs as power is being transmitted along the power lines, can be avoided, (Land use: Solar Power Vs. Coal Fired Electricity Generation, 2010). Energy produced by coal however, does require the support of grid systems to transfer it to people. How do people working in the coal mining and solar

The Japanese Reasoning for the Attack on Pearl Harbor Research Paper

The Japanese Reasoning for the Attack on Pearl Harbor - Research Paper Example However, the losses were very less comparatively but the attack did result in America entering the World War II officially. The Empire of Japan and the United States of America started going separate ways in the 1930s due to differences over China. Japan began this by sending its men to Manchuria which was then a part of China. This land was conquered and taken over by the Japanese in the year 1931. It was in response to this that the United States formed the Stimson Doctrine named after Henry L. Stimson who was the Secretary of State of America in the Hoover Administration. This Doctrine stated that America did not recognize any changes made internationally regarding the addition and/or exclusion of territories that were carried out by force. This was mostly to warn Japan that it was not counting Manchuria as part of the Japanese Empire because they had taken over the land by conquering it. Thus, in their eyes, Manchuria was still a part of the Chinese land. Six years in the future i.e. in 1937, Japan started a long but also a mostly unfruitful campaign to take over the whole of China. By 1940, the government had joined the Axis Alliance and become an ally of the Nazi Germany. By 1941, Japan had managed to conquer Indochina. Watching these steps taken by Japan alarmed the United States as it had its own economic as well as political interests in the East of Asia1. To bring a halt to its plans of conquering China, America raised the total amount of the military and even the financial aid that it was providing to China so that it could protect itself even more properly against the attacks. The States also started a program, including Dutch East Indies and Burma, which was at that time controlled by the British, to strengthen its military power in the Pacific. Together, they hit Japan where it would hurt the most; they â€Å"froze Japanese assets in the United States, thus bringing commercial relations between the nations to an effective end. One week later Roos evelt embargoed the export of such grades of oil as still were in commercial flow to Japan†2. They stopped exporting oil, steel, scrap iron and the other necessary raw materials that Japan required to produce goods for its own people. The country was very short of natural resources and had been buying them from other lands, including the States. Once America placed this embargo, particularly on the export of oil which they most certainly needed for military uses, the Japanese government saw these actions to be threatening towards the nation’s growth3. America, on the other hand, was making quite a dent in the economy of the country so that the Japanese would stop using their few precious resources to invade China, and would move out instead4. However, Japan refused to give in and kneel to America’s indirect demands and did not withdraw from China. To fulfill their needs, the Japanese leaders came up with a plan to take over those lands in the South east of Asia, which were rich in natural resources, so that they could continue with their production of the required goods5. They did, however, realize that this move would lead to them going against the United States and unofficially declaring war. That being said, Japan still thought that it could convince the United States to remove the sanctions so that they could go back to importing the resources that they required. They did need a greater oil supply especially since they were

Budget Development Analysis Summation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Budget Development Analysis Summation - Essay Example In fact, from an examination of the report on the school budgets it is clear that schools which managed to make cuts in their budgets and reduce expenditure while offering the same level of services are applauded for their actions. The Houston school system managed to reduce expenditure while the school systems that showed an increase in expenditure were criticized for it. This situation is quite similar to the one experienced by other school systems around the country as discussed by Williams (2008) and Romanek (2008). Essentially, school budgets need to show that the schools are spending money in the right direction but it can be difficult to do so in times where rising costs are a fact of life. Romanek (2008) discusses how some schools are facing pressure on their budgets from rising fuel costs and need to move towards alternative fuels in order to make sure that they can meet the needs of the students while remaining within the funds that have been budgeted for their expenditure. While school busses run on diesel instead of gasoline, the prices for diesel itself have risen by almost three hundred percent in the last five years. While schools in the country are being forced to maintain their spending within the same budgetary constraints, schools systems are dealing with increased prices which automatically create a reduction in services. Schools may have to run fewer routes, eliminate positions for technology related teachers or even have to reduce the extra programs which they may offer to their students. The school systems’ budgets describe the reality of what it means to go through a recession and it seems that we all need to be a part of the solution in order to ensure that our education system does not

Jean Baudrillards Disneyworld Company Theory Analysis

Jean Baudrillards Disneyworld Company Theory Analysis In his essay Disneyworld Company (1996), Jean Baudrillard suggests that we are living within an immediate synchronism of all the places and all the periods in a single a-temporal virtuality. Please explain this statement, referencing at least two contemporary digital examples. In his statement ‘an immediate synchronism of all the places and all the periods in a single a-temporal virtuality‘, Baudrillard is addressing the gap between what we can see as the known and the experienced (Baudrillard, 1996). It is in this sense that Baudrillard is writing against the notion of human nature and revealing only experience as the real and knowledge as merely the imagined. It is due to this gap that Baudrillard is then able to show that virtuality has begun to replace our real perceptions. To understand this in full we must investigate his and other philosopher’s thoughts regarding the digital age in greater detail. Informed primarily by the role that intelligence and sensual perception plays as it is applied to experience and knowledge, Baudrillard looked at the role of subjectivity as it related to both the objective and the phenomenological world. Beginning his enquiry into humanity and reality and its relationship to the world, Baudrillard focused upon the condition of the free world and its growing technologies with an emphasis that its Medias had placed upon commercialisation, imagery and art consumption. Baudrillard spoke of the new emphasis on the philosophy of self fulfilment suggesting that, ‘Through planned motivation we find ourselves in an era where advertising takes over the moral responsibility for all of society and replaces a puritan morality with a hedonistic morality of pure satisfaction, like a new state of nature at the heart of hyper civilisation’ (Baudrillard, 1968, p.3) After prescribing this current philosophical and moral reality that he believed informed the condition for humanity in the west, Baudrillard then turned to a notion of subject / object consciousness in an attempt to define a link between our knowledge and our experience. Detailing a consumer-able condition that pertained very strongly to post modern, capitalist living, Baudrillard concluded that the relationship between the subject and object now formed the living consciousness of an abstracted life between what he/she identifies with and what is signified in the actual consummation of any chosen object, such as an image, by stating that, ‘We can see that what is consumed are not objects but the relation itself signified and absent, included and excluded at the same time it is the idea of the relation that is consumed in the series of objects which manifests it.’ (Baudrillard, 1967, p.11) What Baudrillard does here is implement the idea of a simulated code acting as our knowledge, rather like that of a robot with artificial intelligence, that works by replacing the old humanised ideological frameworks that once informed society and acted as the gel between experience and knowledge / subject and object. These driving forces once born of experience communicated through culture and language in the forms of social exchange and communal ideology were seen by Baudrillard as being the premise of the image. In this we see that Baudrillard is showing how this simulated code informs a new humanity, devoid of natural origin, that does not live out a life according to cultural meaning that is supported by a communal language, but instead acts out an imagined life that can be understood and identified by its relationship to the values apparent within the code or what Bakhtin called the ‘relationship of the other’ essentially, placing life itself as a simulated relati onship to a tructural code of knowledge. (Bakhtin, 1993). Writing on the subsequent implications of this reality that he defined as hyper-reality and documenting the cultural shift that supported the change from registering external behaviour of a subject as an indication of a subjective response to the recognition of the other as an objective image of simulated experience, Baudrillard suggested that, ‘A whole imagery based on contact, a sensory mimicry and a tactile mysticism, basically ecology in its entirety, comes to be grafted on to this universe of operational simulation, multi-stimulation and multi response. This incessant test of successful adaptation is naturalised by assimilating it to animal mimicry. , and even to the Indians with their innate sense of ecology tropisms, mimicry, and empathy: the ecological evangelism of open systems, with positive or negative feedback, will be engulfed in this breach, with an ideology of regulation with information that is only an avatar, in accordance of a more flexible patter.’ (Baudrillard, 1976, p.9) With this we can see that all cultures have become divorced from a natural reality born of experience and that the ideas of a structured culture have become replaced by a gap that is filled with the virtual. In this sense, life, according to Baudrillard, is one of virtual imagery that is then rationalised against a simulated code rather than an intrinsic relationship with nature. Essentially, this ideological code acting as virtual knowledge informs us of linear time and space and so distorts our experience of life and existence. The virtual imagery presented to us via global technology and media, such as the internet, then reinforces our application to this reality and gives us our user identity that replaces the old systems devised of actual or phenomenological reality. Scepticism towards global medias, technologies and the growing dependency that humanity and society had begun placing upon the cultural apparatus of the globe was put forward by Marxist philosopher Seigfried Kracaue rs in his concerns about the mass consumption of art. This indicated that reality of the working masses was hidden under the illusion (or virtuality) of mass produced, distributed and unrelated art (Kracauer, 1963). Expanding upon the ideas of mass consumption and art put forward by Kracauer, contemporary Walter Benjamin introduced the notion of time and space to this idea. Focusing upon the history of technological progression and its relationship to art and social reality, Benjamin suggested that, ‘Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element its presence in time and space, its unique existence as the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of existence. This includes the charges which it may have suffered in physical condition over the years as well as the various changes of its ownerships. The traces of the first can be revealed only by chemical or physical analysis which it is impossible to perform on a reproduction; changes of ownership are subject to a tradition which must be traced from the situation of the original’ (Benjamin, 1935, p.1) Bringing the role of time and space into the capitalist reproduction of art, Benjamin was able to expand upon Kracauer’s notion that this art was resistant to nature, the individual, the nation and the community. What Benjamin was then able to suggest was that firstly, any one piece of culture belongs to the mass production of art that determines it, and that secondly, every cultural artefact cannot stand free of the time and space in which it was presented as without its mass, it has no meaning or cultural apparatus from which it can be signified or understood (Benjamin, 1935). We can see from this that both Kracauer and Benjamin devised a rationale that applied to the placing of the ideological and virtual conceptual framework within the technological reality of global production. More contemporary thinkers and writers that have concerned themselves with this role of global media and their advancing technologies in the current global condition, hae often supported these view s providing evidence for the onus placed upon imagery in the process. For instance, in his text War and Peace in the Global Village writer Marshall McLuhan commented directly upon the growing dependency of western cultures mass media technologies. The global village mentioned in the title referred to the relationship between the people of the global cities and the mass culture that they consumed and were informed by. In particular, this text observed the actual impact that new technologies such as television and news had on cultural perception and indicated how it affected the perception of time within that perception, suggesting that it was being used to artificially construct a regional global identity based upon a virtual history and world based upon linear time and imagined geographies. For instance, information readily received from actual and real events in the world made the concept of a world and its state of being a direct part of one’s own naturalised condtion and e xperience. Essentially, as this mass of information could be freely accessed by anyone among the global village at any time, then the information could be seen as a virtual universalising reality. Furthermore, using an example of contemporary war coverage, McLuhan was able to demonstrate a clear biasness that was present in the then contemporary manipulation of mass technologies so that invading troops could be portrayed as ‘military contractors‘. He termed this as ’dichotomization’, which would offer two points of view both pertaining to the culture / counter culture of the presiding mass (McLuhan, 1963). This is the gap between knowledge and experience that Baudrillard was referring to, in which he believed synchronisation could flood the space now rendered free of actual time and actual space and portray the virtual as the real. Although we can see that both Kracauer and Benjamin’s theories of mass reproduction and McLuhan’s findings on the perceptions of technological medias are still relevant and apply to the presentation of the global world that we now find ourselves deeply immersed in, other theorists have offered another approach, implying that Kracauer and Benjamin’s theories contained a fatalistic scepticism that was born of the early twentieth century western modernist perspective. For instance, concerned with the notion of technological expansion, mass culture and the effects of globalisation, contemporary cultural theorist Homi Bhabha engaged in a global perspective that aimed to critique the notion of mass reproduction and its over riding condition. Considering Kracauer and Benjamin’s conceptual analysis of the reproduction of the mass and observing the colonial effects placed upon other cultures, Bhabha positioned this dimension in the conemporary sense by emphasising that it also formed a part of the dichotomy of the mass. Having placed their theory of mass reproduction as one of global scepticism, that was bound by the cultural historicity of their western heritage as is represented by Baudrillard’s positioning of Disney Land as a producer of virtuality within the contemporary age, Bhabha then suggested a third way approach that stood outside of the virtual mass and could observe it organically, either as individual or as a community. Having positioned Kracauer and Benjamin’s theories as part of the dichotomy of the mass, Bhabha was then able to indicate that the essence of a true global perspective was born of organic community that could be found somewhere outside of the global mass; somewhere away from the ‘imaginary’ virtual debates of global inter-national territories and free of their dependencies upon linear and grand concepts of history and time elase (Bhabha, 1994). He suggested that the location of this else where was within the unbound psychology of the individual and not in the construct of their ideological positioning within the virtual time and space created by global media, technology and information. Engaging with Benjamin’s notion of time and space in this cultural reproduction, Bhabha reasoned that, ‘The temporality of negotiation or translation has two main advantages. First, it acknowledges the historical connectedness between the subject and object of critique so that there can be no simplistic, essentialist opposition between ideological misrecognition and revolutionary truth. The progressive reading is crucially determined by the adversarial or agonistic situation itself; it is effective because it uses the subversive, messy mask of camouflage and does not come like a pure avenging angel speaking the truth of a radical historicity and pure oppositionality. If one is aware of this heterogeneous emergence (not origin) of radical critique, then and this is my second point function of theory within the political process becomes double edged. It makes us aware that our political references and priorities the people, the community, class struggle, anti-racism, gender difference the assertion of an anti-imperialist, black or thir perspective are not there in some primord ial, naturalistic sense. They make sense [only] when they come to be constructed in the discourses of feminism, Marxism.’ (Bhabha, 1994, p.23) It is from this idea of mass, global communication and its accessible depictions of regionalism and linear time that Baudrillard states that there is a synchronism. This synchronism is understood by Baudrillard as the thing that is manipulated by Disneyland to enforce and reinforce an idea of what is real and what is not that as part of the process negates the actual experience of the object itself. Essentially for Baudrillard, through image Disneyland is set within an ideological and conceptual framework reinforced by mass imagery and perceived as being real rather than being virtual. Through the mass image, the reality of Disneyland appears to us as real as it accords to the simulated code that acts and has replaced our naturalised and cultured knowledge structures, without the real experience itself being captured within an experiential temporality. Therefore, it is through the ideology of image that we view the notion of Disneyland as being fixed and constant and not in a transie nt state of natural and ultural change as pertains to objects of the organic or civilised worlds. Essentially, it is through a display of established imagery that Disneyland can synchronise all the places and all the periods of the virtually known globe, and its many cultures, in a single a-temporal virtuality and replace any reality in the process. Bibliography Bakhtin, M., (1993) Toward a Philosophy of the Act. Ed. Vadim Liapunov and Michael Holquist. Trans. Vadim Liapunov. Austin: University of Texas Press Baudrillard, J., (1968) The System of Objects Taken from: The Order of Simulacra (1993) London: Sage. Baudrillard, J., (1976) Symbolic Exchange and Death Taken from: The Order of Simulacra (1993) London: Sage. Benjamin, W., (1935) The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproduction London: Harcourt. Bhabha, H., (1994) The Location of Culture New York: Routledge Kracauer, S., (1963) The Mass Ornament London: Harvard University Press. McLuhan, M., (1968) War and Peace in the Global Village Washington: Washington Post. Web Links Baudrillard, J., (1996) Disneyworld Company Paris: Liberation. Taken from: www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=158 Jean Baudrillard

The Economic Botany of Manilkara zapota (L.) Van Royen :: Botany

The Economic Botany of Manilkara zapota (L.) Van Royen America is well versed in the use of a byproduct of the plant Manilkara zapota (L.) Van Royen, yet few people are aware of this product's history. Chewing gum has its origins in the economic botany of the Chicle tree (M. zapota). Throughout Mexico and Central America, the Sapotaceae plant family is recognized for its latex. Manilkara zapota (synonym: Achras zapota L.) is an evergreen canopy tree of medium size (15-30 meters in height) native to Central America, which is currently cultivated throughout the tropics of the world (Castner, Timme, & Duke, 1998). The Sapotaceae (Soapberry family) belongs to the Ebenales order along with the Ebenaceae, Styracaceae, Lissocarpacee, and Symplocaceae according to the Cronquist system of plant classification (Jones & Luchsinger, 1986). Historically, M. zapta was an important source of timber and latex in the new world tropics (Janzen, 1983). The latex is a milk-white exudate produced in laticifer canals under the phloem bark surface (Simpson & Ogorzaly, 1995). The latex is known as chicle, which had its highest demand during the rubber boom of tropical America in the 1800's. When the United States and Great Brittain established Rubber tree (Hevea spp.) plantations in southeast Asia in 1876, the rubber boom occurred in tropical America. Economies were left helpless and Indian rubber collectors were massacred (Hill, 1996; Stanfield, 1998). The Chicle tree (synonyms: Sapodilla, Naseberry, Nispero) was the lone latex plant to economically survive. The Mayan Indians of Mexico and Central America traditionally have chewed the raw chicle latex. Furthermore, Aztec prostitutes loudly snapped their chewing gum to advertise their trade during the height of pre-Columbian Aztec civilization (Plotkin, 1993). This custom was common to many Mexicans, including an eccentric political leader from Veracruz. He is Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, eleven time president of Mexico (born 1794, died 1876). His military prowess is capped by success at the battle of the Alamo (1836), where Santa Anna's troops killed Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie (Simpson & Ogorzaly, 1995). His eccentric political ways got him exiled to the West Indies. The U. S. Secretary of State, William Seward, payed Santa Anna a visit in the West Indies. Assuming he gained Seward's trust, Santa Anna sailed to New York in 1866. Santa Anna's shipmates stole his money, leaving him stranded in America where Santa Anna was turned away by Secretary of State Seward. The exiled Mexican president was a wise businessman and politician who brought some chicle with him to New York.