HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-03-28, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2001. PAGE 5.
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When a brand name gets branded
Afew years back, a graphic design
student woke up with an idea for a
brand logo. "Kind of a fat, floating,
checkmark," she called it. She sketched it on a
notepad and eventually sold it to a sports
entrepreneur for 50 bucks.
It was the Nike 'swoosh' - possibly the.most
famous brand logo in Big Business. And Nike
is nothing if not big — currently worth nearly
$5 billion U.S. So big that it can afford to pay
ex-basketball star Michael Jordan $20 million
a year for endorsements.
Unfortunately, Nike largesse isn't a
worldwide phenomenon. While Jordan hauls
down 20 mill annually, the 25,000 Indonesian
factory hands who put in 11-hour days
assembling Nike shoes make $2.23 U.S. each.
Per day.
Put at its crudest, Michael Jordan makes
more in a year from Nike than 25,000 factory
workers combined.
And the markup Nike hauls in on its product
is of street drug proportions.
Last year a kid in Chicago was murdered for
the $225 Nike Air Jordans he had on his feet.
When the shoes left Indonesia they were
worth less than i0 bucks.
Not surprisingly, Nike has become a little
`sensitive' about the company's image - which
helps to explain the exchange of correspon-
dence between Nike and one Jonah Peretti.
Beira
/
was quite young when I first came in
contact with the music of Mozart and, when
I asked about this person who had written
such lovely music (It was some of the melodies
to his opera The Marriage of Figaro), I was
told that he was an Austrian who had been
nothing less than a genius. He had composed
music, I was told, when he was younger than -I
was at that time.
In retrospect I think this relative was trying to
tell me that, while Mozart was a genius, I was
not. Nor, in thinking back on the matter, did the
word genius ever come up as a synonym for my
name:
It was just as well as I probably would not
have known how to behave as one. As any
person growing up can tell you, it is hard
enough just being you, let alone having the
word genius attached to you wherever you go.
But, since Mozart was still so young when he
started to compose such lovely music, I just
assumed that a genius was born and not made.
And so I have continued with this impression
until just recently when I came across some
studies in various parts of the world which
indicate that a genius might well be made and
not born.
Now they tell me!
One study by usychologist at an American
university in Florida argues that anybody
should be able to attain the level of a prodigy in
his/her field by 10 years of deliberate practice.
The author of the study points out that most of
the stories about early genius of such people as
Mozart are nothing more than myths and
argues that we would be far better off studying
a recognized genius who is still alive and
active.
One Hungarian, Laszlo Polgar, was of the
same conviction and started training this three
daughters to play chess. At the time he started
it was generally believed that women simply
did not have the mental capacity to play chess.
Weil, within the time span mentioned above,
Polgar and his wife were able to train all three
daughters to be world-class chess champions.
The youngest of the three became the
youngest grandmaster in the history of the
game and is considered by her peers to be
capable of becoming world champion some
day. Dr. Polgar even wrote a book on the
subject, Bring up Genius.
Another team of psychologists, this time in
Caen, France, studied a recognized genius in
mathematics, Rudiger Gramm. Mr. Gramm,
Mister Peretti was trying to get in on a Nike
promotion that lets customers choose a word or
phrase which Nike then stitches on your shoes
right under the trademark swoosh.
"Alright?" thought Mister Peretti. He sent in
his order asking that the word 'sweatshop' be
stitched on his shoes.
He got this reply: YOUR NIKE iD ORDER
WAS CANCELLED FOR ONE OR MORE
OF THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
(1) IT CONTAINS ANOTHER PARTY'S
TRADEMARK OR OTHER
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
(2) IT CONTAINS THE NAME OF AN.
ATHLETE OR TEAM WE DO NOT HAVE
THE LEGAL RIGHT TO USE.
(3) IT WAS LEFT BLANK.
(4) IT CONTAINS PROFANITY OR
INAPPROPRIATE SLANG.
THANK YOU, NIKE iD
Mister Peretti wrote back pointing out that
`sweatshop' was not another party's trademark,
Raymond
Canon
The
International
Scene
who is now 26, is able, Within seconds, to
compute such things as the fifth root of a 10-
digit number.
But he was not born with such ability; it was
only when he, at the age of 20, started spending
four hours a day on memorization.
Needless to say; the Florida researchers are
THE EDITOR,
I am extremely distressed by the newest
Social ASsistance Reform Policy that has been
handed down by Mike Harris's office. Notices
are just being circulated to the caseworkers and
their clients.
"Effective September 1, 2001, people on
Ontario Works assistance who applied for
Ontario Works before January 1, 2001, will
have any interest in property that is not their
principal residence ... included as an asset in
calculations to determine eligibility for
assistance. If on September 1, 2001, the total
value of your assets, including an interest in a
property that is not your principal residence,
exceeds the allowable asset limit you will no
longer be eligible for assistance."
The notice goes on to state that this will also
affect those who have applied for support from
the Ontario Disability Support Program.
Previously, the guidelines granted applicants
six month's grace to try to dispose of the
property and/or try to obtain income from it in
the interim. If the property is successfully
rented there is an automatic clawback of 60 per
cent of the rental income, irrelevant of any
',expenses, including mortgage and taxes.
In an area such as Huron County with lower
than average rental rates, the expenses above
40 per cent comes out of the living allowance
of the applicant. Properties not disposed of
within the grace period have a lien placed
against them equal to the amount of assistance
received. This policy is being replaced by the
the name of an athlete, a blank or a profanity.
"I chose this iD because I wanted to
remember the toil and labour of the children
who made my shoes. Could you please ship
them to me immediately."
Nike wrote back insisting that 'sweatshop'
was 'inappropriate slang'.
Peretti responded that it was a legitimate
word found in Webster's Dictionary since
1892.
"Your website advertises that Nike iD
program is "about freedom to choose and
freedom to express who you are...I
hope you will value my freedom of expression
and reconsider your decision to reject my
order."
Nike once again turned him down, this time
for unspecified reasons and added:
"IF YOU WISH TO REORDER YOUR
NIKE iD PRODUCT WITH A NEW
PERSONALIZATION PLEASE VISIT US
AGAIN AT WWW.NIKE.COM".
And Jonah Peretti replied, "Thank you for
the time and energy you have spent on my
request. I have decided to order the shoes with
a different ID, but I would like to make one
small request.
"Could you send me a colour snapshot of the
10-year-old Vietnamese girl who made my
shoes?"
No response from Nike, as we went to press.
delighted with this sort of findings.
But the discussions do not stop there. Other
psychologists point out that while people may
not be born with any genius qualities, they
may, on the other hand, come into this world as
a "born achiever." Hard work, and hard work
alone get them to the genius level.
This is what is called the "drudge theory"
something that I- can recognize since any
recollections of my school days are of constant
hard work to get adequate grades.
Maybe Thomas Edison was on the right track
after all when he said that genius was one per
cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration. I
can now tell my students, with renewed
authority, to work hard.
new legislation.
I have spoken to a caseworker who added
that as of April 1, 2001, anyone who tries to
apply for assistance will not even be
considered if there are two properties involved.
Under this legislation, second properties
include any property that is not a principal
residence. Therefore a property used to operate
a small business, a vacation property or, in my
case, a residence owned by my husband before
we were married, are now considered liquid
assets. The theory is that the applicant should
live off of the equity in the property, but does
not take into consideration that real estate is
not immediately disposable, therefore is not
"liquid".
Applications are generally due to dire need
resulting from sudden loss of empioyment or
separation or other dramatic changes in living
circumstances. This new criteria .disqualifies
many people seeking immediate, temporary
assistance to get back on their feet by referring
them to financial institutions as their only
alternative. The institutions then deem the
applicants ineligible because there is not
steady employment or acceptable collateral to
repay a loan and refer them to social services.
This legislation is particularly alarming in
depressed rural areas where economics are
more precarious to start with. Realtors estimate
properties take about four years to sell in a
.smattgettlement with no business section.
Huron County depends on a high percentage of
Continued on Page 6
There is hope
Hope. It's a word that in its verb form
essentially makes one think pipe
dream. Were we truthful we would
have to admit its usage is nothing more than a
comment at its most idealistic, perhaps even
most naive.
I hope things will get better. I hope this will
be fine or that will be great. I hope he likes
me. I hope I get the job.
I hope, I hope, I hope.
On the other hand while many of these
hopes are wishes that will be and will remain
unsatisfied, the word possesses a much greater
significance when used less frivolously, in its
most literal form. What would life be without
it'? Hope is what keeps one foot going in front
of the other. It's what makes the pain less, the
struggles surmountable.
I have, it will come as no surprise to most,
been a little miserable this winter. I'm in good
company. Even the most patient, oh-well-
can't-do-much-about-the-weather types have
been griping. No wonder. While it may have
been a winter of the I-remember-when variety,
it was a shock to the system. I have endured it
being alternately claustrophobic, weary,
depressed, anxious, fed up and at times all of
the above. With a certain self-deprecation I
maintained a level of sanity as this
horrendously long, bleak, winter seemed
destined to drag on, and on, and on.
But then, when it appeared most likely that
the break would never arrive, it happened. '
People were talking, I had heard the buzz
about robins and signs of spring.
Yet I, the most in need, was given no hint
that we would soon enjoy an awakening from
this ho-hum world of winter.
Even the cloudless bright sky and brilliant
sun could not warm this tired soul and as I
headed out on the road one morning my self-
pity took on grand proportions. I'm the one
who needs to see a robin, I railed at the azure
heavens. I need some simple assurance that
this blank colourless landscape will once again
be vibrant. Just a sign, just one sign of hope is
all I ask„
And at that point, a robin flew past me.
I guess it doesn't come simpler than that. A
smile broke through my dreary countenance,
albeit abashedly as I considered my puling of
seconds before. But, it was amazing what the
sight of that familiar little bird had done.
Everything had suddenly become lighter.
What my rational mind had always known but
made senseless by a frosty winter temper, was
re-inforced — spring was in the air. The
mornings would soon sing with its sound. The
blanket of white would fold back to reveal a
luscious panorama of colour.
And it didn't even matter that the warming
of this chilled soul would see another cold
front move in before week's end. Spring has
personality. It is diversity at its most intense.
Snow will come again, but its time will be
short-lived as longer days and the warming
sun burn it away. We will flip-flop between T.
shirts and sweaters, heavy coats and light
jackets.
Early spring is not even particularly
attractive. The pristine snow becomes a dirty
grey. What lies beneath is a bland brow,
Everything is muddy and wet. e„ And I will love every single moment , ck, it . '1,,
With spring comes life, freshness, activity ,ad
freedom. •
With spring comes hope.
a genius sure isn't easy
Letter to the Editor