Marketing Plan analysis on Forever Living Products Essay

1.Summary This assignment will look at the existing marketing plan for the company Forever Living Products that focuses on the selling of aloe vera based products. The marketing plan will show how the company focuses on two areas – the consumer and the distributor. Both seem to be interlinked and both are important in the objective of the company. Furthermore, recommendations on shortfalls and lacking information will be made as to ensure that marketing is optimised and that this sales orientated company can improve on sales and profits. 2.Introduction and Background Founded in 1978 on little more than dreams and hard work, Forever Living is a multi-billion dollar company, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, that manufactures and sells dozens of wellness and beauty products. People from  all over the world, including South Africa, distribute these life-enhancing products, providing the opportunity to own an own business and secure a financial future with a proven plan. With over nine and a half million distributors in over 145 countries, Forever Living offers a once in a lifetime opportunity of living a healthier, wealthier life. The founder proposed a very simple business idea to his closest family and friends over thirty years ago. Offer consumable products to the public that are proven to promote lasting wellness and health—and do it in a personal way. Instead of dumping big bucks into traditional advertising, compensate anyone willing to share these products with their family and friends. In minimising traditional advertising, the company’s marketing plan was developed as seen in Addendum A . This marketing plan is very simple and focuses primarily on sales and promotion levels of sellers. Since 1978, very little changes were done to keep up with trends over the years. 3.Business Mission Forever Living believes their greatest legacy is what they do for others and how they do it. â€Å"We adhere to sustainable practices that let us work in harmony with the earth, leaving a more promising future to our children. We take great pride in our charity foundation, Forever Giving, because it allows us to help others around the world who has needs far greater than our own. We are taking ideas and turning them into reality. It is a part of our business that’s so deeply ingrained you could call it our culture. Working towards a brighter future is so much more than our duty—it’s truly our pleasure. Forever Living offers a unique opportunity where distributors are in business for themselves, but never by themselves.† 4.Objectives Seeing that the company primary focus is on sales, that is exactly what drives the objectives of the company. This is very clear in the current (unchanged) marketing plan still in use. The main objective is: Own your own business – You are in charge of your own destiny. Instead of making your boss rich, all the work you do actually benefits you. Thus, the company tries to empower ordinary people with the ability to own an income related to the amount of effort put into sales and marketing based on known and proven products and catering for people with the same values in life. A promotion scheme is followed where the distributor starts at entry level and then progress to higher levels determined by the amount of sales accomplished. It seems like primarily the focus is based on the total of sales obtained, but on the other hand a strong emphasis is placed on customer satisfaction. 5.SWOT Analysis Strengths – Being a company that has existed since 1978, it proves that this is no fly-by-night company. Sound records and proven results are in favour of establishing this company as a reputable business. Forever Living has a track record of more than 30 years of success. The company offer excellent training, seminars, incentives, and a support center. Forever Living is a company with an international presence that demonstrates stability, growth, and ample industry experience. Innovative, quality products speak of the credibility of the company. Weaknesses – Seeing that the Forever Living Company, on customer related issues, primarily makes use of word-of-mouth marketing, as well as drawing the majority of costumers from family and friends, it seems like this could lead to a potential gap in their marketing plan. On the side of distributors, it seems like there is limited protocols and measurements regarding the amount of sale being monitored and available for  scruitinising. Thus, it seems like whatever sales you submit per month is the only way of monitoring your own progress in the company. Opportunities – Although it could also be seen as a stumbling block, Forever Living Products utilise the opportunity to play the ecological card (which seems to be quite popular in recent trends) and puts a great deal of emphasis on being â€Å"green† and sustainable. As quoted they are: â€Å"- Accountable to the Environment Ever since Forever Living Products was founded in 1978, we’ve had the utmost respect for nature. – Not Just Greenwashing Our challenge to be more eco-friendly wasn’t based on following fads or silencing critics. In 2006 we launched a formal environmental sustainability program to challenge ourselves to do more. We designated two areas where we could improve: * Waste Generation * Waste Recovery Since we began monitoring our progress we have reduced our waste by 50% and increased our recycling from 26% to 61%. – Our Carbon Footprint When it comes to the efficiency of converting CO2 into oxygen, 20 aloe plants are equal to one tree. With over 40 million aloe vera plants in our plantations, our Aloe Vera of America plantations actually cleanse the earth of 2 million tons of CO2 every year!† https://www.foreverliving.com/marketing/Page.do?name=sustainability Threats – Looking at the global economy, this could be a factor in reduced sales as Forever Living Products might be costly for costumers in countries (third-world countries) that are struggling economically. Few competition threats in relation to the product itself are known of as aloe vera products  are limited by resources (aloe plants mostly grow in arid/ desert areas). Also, the amount of aloe vera in the base product makes this product range unrivaled by most other products. 6.Competitive Advantage For consumers, the Forever Living Company’s product range is solely based on Aloe Vera products, which are divided into health drinks, nutritional supplements, weight management products and cosmetic / personal care products. This alone already gives the company a unique foothold on the health and beauty market – a fresh approach with a definitive product focus. As for distributors, Forever Living also has the advantage of a multi-level â€Å"step-up† promotion scheme for distributors where you can reach a certain level and not â€Å"degrade† once you have reached that level. With this being said, other advantages are: Owning your own business – You are in charge of your own destiny. Instead of making your boss rich, all the work you do actually benefits you. Little risk and no overhead costs – Traditional brick-and-mortar businesses cost tens of thousands of dollars to establish, not to mention a bank loan that will take you decades to repay. Starting your home-based business with Forever Living only costs you a few hundred dollars. No salary cap – Corporate jobs limit your pay range based on a market standard. With Forever Living, there is no cap on how much you earn. The harder you work, the more money you make. Residual Income – Perhaps the greatest benefit is that the multi-level marketing strategy offers lasting income. You as a distributor will always earn commissions on distributors you introduce to Forever Living, continually reaping the benefits of your hard work. 7.Marketing Strategy 7a). Target Market As the company’s unique product – aloe vera – is linked to many health and cosmetic benefits, it is a product that is sellable to virtually anyone. The target market is generally based on friends and/ or family buying from the distributor. This is not limited though to the above mentioned, but also includes people that have the urge or need to better their lives by living more healthy and doing so in reaching out to products (like Forever Living Products) that could sustain and/or improve that kind of living. Because of the relative high pricing linked to these products, one would classify the core target market as middle to high income groups. Being a sales orientated business, distributors are however expected to contact as many as potential â€Å"consumers† to sell to and build up enough credit points (as part of the sales plan) to earn their compensation/rewards. Although a fair deal of business comprise of new business, a large part of sustaining and re-enforcing selling targets is based on repetitive sales from previous customers. 7b). Positioning The positioning basically rest on aforementioned health and cosmetic benefits – to improve your way of life. With few competitors supplying specifically (certified) aloe vera products (keeping in mind that at least 75% of the base product must comprise of aloe vera), Forever Living has created a niche market and a unique selling opportunity. 7c). Marketing Mix Marketing to potential customers basically comprises of launch events, word-of-mouth and sample tests conducted in various environments suitable to potential customers. In this instance distributors seem to gather a group of people and thus present the products to various potential customers. This type of approach seem to work well in that people in numbers agreeing on an issue would more likely be proned to buying and thus push up the sale quota. As for distributors, Forever Living Products provides them with a simple, proven cycle that guarantees your success. If the distributor and their team members follow the steps in this cycle, there is no limit to how large their business will become and how much money you will earn. 1. Purchase a Business Pak 2. Develop a personal selling/marketing plan 3. Set your foundation by retailing four case credits per month 4. Follow up with your clients and prospects 5. Present the business opportunity 6. Sponsor new team members and guide them through the cycle i)Product Since the foundation in 1978, Forever Living Products markets extensively aloe vera based products. They pride themselves in claiming at least 75% of the base product consists of this core ingredient. Thus all products marketed are said to contribute to the health and cosmetic (e.g. skin care) satisfaction of their customers. Over the years, with the trend of energy drinks that became popular in recent years, the company made sure that the products offered also includes these trends. Focusing on a better living, the name Forever Living Products leans quite suitably towards what the company tries to â€Å"sell† – a longer, better, healthier life. The company also offers a full refund and/ or replacement of products without any disputes. What has been noted in delivery service is that customer service in this regard is very sufficient and fast – 2 days delivery since placing an order to delivery on your doorstep. ii)Place Forever Living took a stance on the fact that they want to assist ordinary people to â€Å"own† their own businesses. As Forever Living Products markets primarily through the use of family and friends and word-of-mouth, it seems that there could be a gap in utilizing other means of distribution. However, it is also understandable that the company would like to empower distributors (without the necessity of holding a large stock reserve) and thus ensure that even the smallest distributor would be able to make a  living. This would furthermore project the products as being more exclusive – not being able to walk into your nearest shop and pick it off the shelf, and in this way â€Å"justify† the price of the product. The home company is situated in Arizona, United States. The South African setup with four distributor outlets services distributors all over South Africa. iii)Promotion As mentioned earlier, products are primarily marketed by means of word-of-mouth, friends and family. Other means of marketing and advertising includes internet advertisements and online testimonials. All of these are rather inexpensive marketing tools being utilised. Through these channels is seems that there is sufficient affirmation to uphold the reputation of the products offered. However, with these channels used it seems to be difficult to obtain a clear estimation of the effectiveness of these efforts. On actual selling by distributors there is no clear indication of time spend, the only indication that could be used as a measure is the sum of â€Å"case credits†. Case credits determine the effective selling of a distributor. The more case credits accumulated during a month, the higher the incentives and possibility to progress to another level (often with even better incentives). The company tries to keep their products â€Å"exclusive† and thus the use of database marketing seems ineffective, as this would make the products seem â€Å"common†. In general, promotion of products for this company is based on testimonials from â€Å"regular consumers† who can recommend the benefits to others. Through this line of advertising, it would seem that benefits of the products are more creditable, true and trustworthy – due to the fact that you â€Å"know† the person who introduced you to the line of products. iv)Price Pricing on international products are generally seen as being expensive, especially on â€Å"niche† products. Even with Forever Living Products, this phenomenon occurs. However, focusing on health and cosmetic enhancements, the company can still make a reasonable stance in the pricing arena. 8.Implementation, Evaluation and Control The marketing plan appears to be in line with the goals set out by the company to achieve the desired goals. Primarily the activities required are achieved through sales of the distributors, which is measured on a monthly basis. Most probably the company would need to attempt a fresh approach on current marketing strategies such as e-commerce, although this could affect the purpose of the current structure and â€Å"mission† of the company – to empower â€Å"normal people to own a business of their own†. Seeing that performance standards are basically measured in the amount of sales per month (to achieve the desired â€Å"case credits†, this is the only way to measure the above mentioned. 9. Conclusion / Recommendations The Forever Living Products Company has set remarkable sales initiatives in place, rarely found in this type of marketing. For one, when a distributor has reached a certain sales level, there is no reverting back to a lower sales level. In every sale that is made down your line as distributor (no matter what level), you benefit from the inputs of â€Å"your team. Although the company follows a very plain marketing plan, which seems to be quite effective, some improvements can be noted. Lack of information is found in the distributors’ channels. As the company’s main aim is based on sales, it could be recommended that an on-line â€Å"portal† be created as to inform distributors of a current sales analysis (as of the first of every month, and therefore should be accessible and reflect updates any time of the month). This would pose to be a great motivational tool in driving this  sales orientated business and ensuring that you as distributor acquire the necessary â€Å"case credits† required. It is also recommended that the use of social media such as e.g. television and radio, bill-boards and poster be used on a global and general scale to promote products. This would in turn mean that a central access point (like a website or telephone call centre be utilised to direct potential customers to their nearest distributor. References Forever Living Products South Africa (Pty) Ltd.(2014): https://www.foreverliving.com/marketing/Page.do?name=sustainability, [Accessed 29-04-2014] Forever Living Products South Africa (Pty) Ltd.(2014):.https://www.foreverliving.com/marketing/Page.do?name=our_culture, [Accessed 29-04-2014] http://aloe-business.yolasite.com/resources/Marketing_Plan_English%20Forever.pdf, [Accessed 28-04-2014]

I Love Quotes

Those who understand, teach. Positive mind, Positive thinking , Will make us healthier, Love everyone and everyone will love you. Everyone hears what you said, Friends listen to what you said, Best friends listen to what you don't said. Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win. The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends. Sometimes, owing less is better than knowing too much.Don't overused your heart, save it for someone who owned for it. Speak the truth even if it's against you, Do good to people even if they harm you and Make relations to those who cut you off. Be sincere and look for the one who is sincere, sincerity in love is perfection. Whatever comes from the heart, reaches the heart. A great attitude becomes a great day which becomes a great month which becomes a great year which becomes a great li fe. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's hat this storm's all about.You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce. No matter how carefully you choose your words, they'll always end up being twisted by others. Don't worry about your problems, but don't ignore it. Solve it. Find the solution. Be true to yourself. Everyone has problems. Some people are Just better at hiding them than others. Kindly take notes. A smile is the lighting system of the face, the cooling system of the head and the heating system of the heart. It's not about having the skill to do something.It's about having the will, desire & commitment to be your best. Do what makes you happy, nothing else matters. The less you care, the happier you will be. Sometimes, as you grow smarter, your heart grows harder. Open your mouth only if what you are going to say is more beautiful than the silence. Hold on to whatever keeps you happy. Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all. Don't stress. Do your best. Forget the rest.

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The HRM is also responsible for the training of staff. It is their responsibility to make sure that all staff is fully trained for the job they are employed for. These increases the customer reliability and satisfaction as when staff are asked questions they will hopefully know they answers and also that they are capable of approaching customers comfortably and in a good fashion. This adds to customer satisfaction and this is important to Boots it is also one of their objectives listed previously in the report. HRM are responsible for forecasting labour amounts and the amount of man power that will be needed at different times of the day week and year. If manpower is low in rush hours or periods such as Christmas then the company may not reach its maximum out put through mistake of their own. Staff receives appraisals when they work for Boots. This lets them know if the business is happy with them and if they are considered a valued member of the work force. The appraisals are again responsibility of the HRM department and they help to maximize business by insuring workers are reaching their full potential within in the business. Boots recently proposed to train up 7000 people to become more knowledgeable about technology so that the business will benefit from this. Boots PLC also employ a further 45% of their workforce on top of their usual numbers to help in outlet stores over Christmas period with tills, stock rotation and demonstrations. This shows the business has been planning the workforce amounts according to potential times of increases in demand. This area of the business can be very economical and save the business money when it comes to hiring and firing staff. This is however also very beneficial to the staff also. When jobs in the business become available instead of employing new staff they promote current staff. This saves money as described in management styles later on. The HRM area of the business works towards the organization and in turn globalization objective of the business. The statement of we aim to develop staff and provide them with the right skills and attitude in order to achieve the organizations goals suggests that it be aimed at all the objectives of the business, which will reflect on the globalization and expansion conclusively. The fact that more staff was hired acts on the objective of improving customer satisfaction as more staff means that there are more hands to deal with the tasks needed which leaves more staff to be available to help customers and aid them with their shopping needs. The Marketing section of the business is responsible for satisfying customers needs at the right prices and once again as in Boots objective consumer satisfaction. To do this the marketing section of Boots PLC is responsible for researching what the target markets want and interpreting what their future needs would be and how they will change. They persuade the customer to buy products by advertising. They either increase awareness by advertising to all on TV or radio, or advertise specifics. These include in store adverts for particular products, which they make the customer, think they need. Free demos of some products also help to draw in custom and Boots does this in its make-up and its perfume range where there is always trained staff available to recommend and advice. The marketing aspect of the business has lead to the birth of the Boots Advantage Card. Boots customer services is an outstanding department as they have been able to established customer loyalty by the use of this Advantage card. Referring back to Boots objectives the wish to increase customer loyalty is proven as the Advantage Card is used by more than 70% of all key customers. Boots objectives on marketing were to increase promotion and stature by globalization. This has been attempted by opening several firms in Taiwan. A strategy that separated them from their competitors and attracted thousands of consumers over the Christmas period was the three for two-mix and match strategy which was introduced after a market research poll into marketing strategies return the mix and match as a popular suggestion. This was reflected by the feedback it returned. It is very important to be able to forecast and predict what will happen to the market. In order for a company to success in the long term it must have an idea of where it is going. One of the best ways to do this, which also show the success of the business, is to look at its accounts. This will show if there is a gradual increase or decrease in profit and it will show what products sell, how they sell and in what quantity are they likely to still be required as the majority of tangible inessential goods reach saturation point and are no longer needed. The finance section of the business is the area that looks after the accounts and the money flow forecasting. The Financial area of the business makes sure all the finances of a business are properly recorded. This involves keeping detailed accounts either manually or on a computer of all the money that comes in, and how it comes in to the business and how and where it goes out. The financial information is used by Boots and published in the yearly reports to show how the business is getting on. Boots PLC uses computer technology to record all the information and trained staff regularly analyzes it to spot correlation in output or product relationships. This is done to try and find out where Boots could benefit from altering the market and changing product ranges or increasing product base. This section of the business is also capable of raising finance when the business needs to raise capital for an investment or expansion. There is only a small aspect of the objective system that it appears the financial function touches on. This is the objective to act towards modernization. Boots keeps its financial records in the form of computer files as apposed to storing them manually. This shows that Boots keeps up with the development of technology, which was a specific objective. This shows that an objective has been worked towards and met which has been beneficial as now the financial function is a lot less time consuming in storing data and retrieving it. Although there is always more problems with modern technology it is likely that in the long run it is less time consuming. Production is another one of the functional areas but as there is little that Boots actually produce due to the fact that they are in the tertiary sector this function does not really affect them. The only way it does affect them is that Boots must keep in touch with the production (secondary industry) business to ensure that they can meet the demands that they need in order to increase customer satisfaction. Coinciding with this the staff at Boots must check produce that is received from the production companies to make sure it is correct. This section does not really affect any objectives that the business has directly. However indirectly it does regard the objective of wishing to increase the proportion of their own brand. There is little evidence I can provide of this objective been carried out but they do have their own cosmetic range that goes by the name of No7. This appears to have been doing very well. The main cogs of the business are the Administration section. This keeps the day to day workings of the business going. Again these are skilled staff trained in their field and Boots pride them selves on the level of training and standards that their staff operates to. The administration maintains the business premises and equipment and if anything goes wrong they are responsible for fixing it of finding someone to do so. Anyone who works for Boots doing photocopying, printing (stationary jobs) catering, computer services, data storage, all these types of jobs come under the job description of Administration. As boots is expanding it is relying less on its own workers to carry out some of these tasks and it calls in people from out side the business, this is called outscoring, these people are usually found by the administration team. The administrative function as it is a necessity in the business and keeps it flowing hardly relates as a contribution to any objective at all. The only objective I can see that the administrative function applies to id the modernization of the company. This is due to the fact that in order for the administration staff to act efficiently they need to be modernizing as technology such as computers develops. This will benefit all areas of the business. As the target markets demands are forever changing and new fashions are coming in and the months of the years come in and out the products that Boots supply are always changing. It is hard to keep on top of the supply for goods, as there are so many aspects that alter the product demands it is hard to be aware of where they will go next. The research and development of the business is responsible for trying to find out where to go next. They keep the other parts of the business informed about changes as much as they can. This is a main part of the marketing for the business. The research and development sector look at sales figures, accounts, customer trends and spending and try and deduct where the majority of the money goes and also where it doesnt. They do not look to replace products all the time but also to look for new products that would be beneficial to bring into the product range to increase sales or attract new business. It was the idea of the research and development of Boots to open the optician section of the business, as this was an area that they had not yet spread into and would be beneficial. The people in the research and development part of boots also look at other businesses and see how they operate, what they sell and how much they charge. All this contributes to the smooth running of the business. As Boots main objective is to produce a well-established firm that caters for the consumers needs research and development is a major part of decision making. Diversification is also reliant on this department as in order to diversify research needs to be carried out to find out which areas it would be beneficial to divert into in respects of the customers and the company as a whole. Boots has got a large research and development department. The paragraph below shown what affects the research and development has had on the companys expansion. The first Health and Beauty Experience store opened in Kensington High Street in September this year. It moves Boots into new areas of the expanding health and beauty market. Services include physiotherapy, osteopathy, homeopathy, herbalism, aromatherapy, reflexology and nutrition. These sit alongside beauty services including facials massage, false tan, ear piercing, pedicure, manicure, nail bars, and make-overs, plus lifestyle advice on weight management, smoking, sleep management, relaxation and stress management. All combine to offer a total wellbeing offer. This paragraph gives list of some of the new products and services that have been introduced. These expansions in the business would not have been the result if research and development had not taken place. This shows that research and development has also contributed to the firm expanding, which was another objective of Boots.

Analysis of Computerisation at Pizza Hut Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Computerisation at Pizza Hut Essay In the economics of industrial society, the purpose of the computerization of the workplace is to replace labor with machines, thereby reducing the unit cost of production while increasing both productivity and efficiency. Instead of hiring twenty workers to accomplish one task, an employer can simply buy one machine to do the same task faster and more efficiently; less resources are invested while much more output is generated. In general theory, the introduction of technology into the workplace spurs economic growth and prosperity, resulting in the creation of more and better jobs, higher wages and an increased standard of living. However, when looking at specific data and analysis, it becomes apparent that each level of worker is distinctly affected by the computerization of the workplace. Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is one of the flagship brands of Yum! Restaurant Int. which also has subsidiary businesses and famous brands like KFC, Taco Bell, AW and Long John Silver’s under one brand umbrella. It is the world’s largest pizza chain more than 13,000 restaurants across 97 countries. Pizza Hut increases his operations in last five years. In India, Pizza Hut has 143 restaurants across 34 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad. Great taste and quality, variety of pizzas and trademark dining experience have made it possible for the company to for double-digit growth and scale up its presence to its current size. With a 27 per cent market share of the eating-out market and over 70,000 footfalls per day across the country Pizza Hut started its business from India in 1996, and opened its first restaurant in Bangalore. Pizza Hut maintained significant growth and acquires a maximum share of pizza market and sustained growth rate of above 40 per cent per annum. Pizza Hut operates through 95 outlets across 24 cities in India which gave employment nearly 5000 people by the end of 2009. When entering the delivery-segment of the pizza industry, Pizza Hut opted to use a computerized Customer Answering Service that would field all the calls from a particular area and then electronically send orders to the closest delivery-only units. Thus customers would only have to call one number and not have to talk to individual delivery unit managers. Pizza Hut believed that this system would reduce the costs needed for maintaining separate workers who would answer the phone at each unit. However, this system had several problems in its initial installation such as orders being mixed up and other inefficiencies. As a result, Pizza Huts reputation was damaged as consumers lost patience and faith in the company; this allowed Dominos, Pizza Huts main competitor to increase its market share.

Understanding The Term Of Agenda Setting Media Essay

Understanding The Term Of Agenda Setting Media Essay Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw first coined the term agenda-setting in their article The Agenda Setting Function of the Mass Media (McCombs and Shaw, 1972). However the McCombs credits Walter Lippmann as the intellectual father of agenda setting (McCombs, 2004: 3). Walter Lippmanns thesis Public Opinion  [1]  described the concept of a pseudo- environment; an imagined reality of the world constructed from the media we consume. Lippmann suggested that man lives in a fictitious world, hence whatever we believe to be true picture, we treat as if it were the environment itself (Lippmann, 2007: 7-10). Walter Lippmann speculation that the Mass Media played an important role in the publics understanding of the world they inhabited. The influence that he implied suggested the mass media agenda played an important role in influencing/shaping the public opinion or public agenda. Hansen writing 88 years later reaffirmed this relationship theorised by Lippmann, suggesting the media play a role in educating the public: While the roles of formal education in acquainting us with the public word and image vocabulary of the environment should not be overlooked, much, maybe most, of what we learn and know about the environment we know from the media. Hansen utilises the Habermasian concept of a public sphere, suggesting that the mass media provide a public arena for national and transnational debate of environmental issues: Since the emergence and rise of the modern environmental movement in the 1960s, the mass media have been a central public arena for publicising environmental issues and for contesting claims, arguments and opinions about our use and/or protection of the environment. (Hansen, 2010:6) The issues discussed within this public arena, can be described as the media agenda. However as much as the mass media provides a forum for discussion, it is not all inclusive. Environmental issues have to compete against each other for widespread coverage. As the environmental agenda, isnt always at the forefront of the public agenda, often multiple environmental issues are fighting for limited coverage from the press: While many issues compete for public attention, only a few are successful in doing so, and news media exert significant influence on our perceptions of what are the most important issues of the day. (McCombs, 2004:2) McCombs, Lippmann and Hansen all suggest that the media dictate to some level, what are the most important issues of the day. The conundrum becomes; how do the cultural gatekeepers decide which issue is the most important on the media agenda, and thus deserves media coverage? What influences the Media on environmental issues? To understand these questions it is necessary to address the fundamental obstacle for environmental issues to overcome to become newsworthy. Visual media utilises imagery as a source of legitimacy. However as environmental problems develop over a long period of time they often appear invisible: a large proportion of the processes associated with the most difficult environmental problems tend to be inaccessible to the senses, invisible until they materialise as symptoms (Adam, 1998:12; Hansen, 2000: 56). Hence although some environmental issues may be more serious in the long-term, they are not always deemed newsworthy as they have no iconography attached to their cause. Pressure groups utilize the issue of invisibility by creating spectacles and press stunts in order to make the invisible issues visible. Greenpeace in particular are hugely successful at utilizing iconography  [2]  . Iconic images of icebergs, crashing into the sea or Fathers for Justice scaling the Houses of Parliament can define an issue, and penetrate public consciousness, much easier than text based media. However Hansen argues that the effects of visual spectacles are short term; they only allow the issue to gain visibility as a trigger to create wider media interest for the issue: The newsworthiness of environmental pressure groups would soon wear off it had to rely solely on their creation of spectacular protest performances[they] are of course eminently newsworthy and visually striking, but they are not sufficient for remaining on the media agenda or for maintaining media visibility in the long term. (Hansen, 2010: 53) Hansen argues that successful pressure groups are able to maintain visibility of the issue in the media by targeting issues that are already being discussed in the forums which the media regularly report on (i.e. Political forums, e.g. Parliament) (Hansen, 2010:53). This would suggest that the media agenda is directly and indirectly influenced by policy agenda, suggesting a symbiotic relationship as the media influence the public agenda, which in turn influences the policy agenda by terms of voting. James Dearing and Everett Rogers (Dearing and Rogers: 1996, Rogers and Dearing: 1988) visualised this concept [see figure 1] suggesting that all three agendas are interlinked: exposure through the mass media allows a social problem to be transformed into a public issue (Dearing and Rogers, 1996:4). When something becomes a public issue it is propelled into policy agenda through the government; who represent the majoritys best interests. However the mass media commentate on the policy agenda so pressure groups are able to exploit this cycle, by elevating topics they deem to be of most importance higher on the media agenda and in turn policy agenda via public pressure: The agenda-setting process is an ongoing competition among the proponents of a set of issues to gain the attention of media professionals, the public, and policy elites (Dearing and Rogers, 1996:6). Figure However the relationship between the three agendas is not without its flaws; For environmental issues to be addressed by the press, they must propel themselves as the most important issue on the agenda to the media. However this does not correspond to levels of importance or seriousness to the public: The relative prominence of a social issue is not in any way a simple reflection of levels of public concern; it is heavily influenced by the activities of issue sponsors such as politicians, or successful interest or pressure groups (Anderson, 1997:30). The notion that issues that appear in the media agenda are not necessarily the most important suggests other actors play a role in setting the agenda. So whilst we rely on the news to dictate what picture of the world we consume, the news agenda can be influenced by amongst other factors, celebrity endorsements. Dan Brockington (2008) suggests industrial society has only a fleeting interest in the environment: their rare glimpse of the environment is often through highly romanticized representations of the environment rather than their own experiences. Hence celebrity endorsements of environmentalism help to replace the lack of experience in society: celebrity support for conservation fulfils a modern social need. The alienation from nature that characterizes capitalist urban living drives the demand for celebrity involvement in conservation (Brockington, 2008:558). Criticisms of the agenda setting model Agenda setting theory is based on long term effects. In order for an issue to become central in terms of public opinion, McCombs argued that the frequency or prominence of a given issue in the mass media, placed significant influence on how important the issues was perceived by the public: Those issues emphasized in the news come to be regarded over time as important by the public (McCombs, 2004:4-5). However McCombs analysis of the prominence of a given issue doesnt take into consideration how the issue is framed within the mass media: Social movements have increasingly focused on the media since it plays such an influential role in assigning importance to issues facing the public. But gaining attention alone is not what a social movement wants; the real battle is over whose interpretation, whose framing of reality, gets the floor. (Ryan, 1991:53) Issues are at the mercy of the press, when they are pushed into the media forum. Different papers frame the issues within their ideological constraints. What becomes essential for claimsmakers and pressure groups, is the ability to manipulate the mass media, so the issue at hand remains at the focus within the different ideological representations. The quantitative approach also only looks how many times an article was published, not how many times the article was read. Obviously circulation figures are a rough guide that an article is being read by a high percentage of that readership. However this is no guarantee that the article is digested. This becomes a bigger problem when considering new mediums such as the internet, is that the quantity of articles on environmental issues is so vast that it would be inconceivable to assume that prominence related to prevalence to the public. Robert Burnett and P. David Marshall suggested that the problem readers have is filtering the vast amounts of information they have access to, to find the right news stories (Burnett and Marshall, 2003: 153). Since then digital news has grown significantly in popularity; the problem thus becomes how can the media influence public opinion when the public have become their own filters, so can solely digest stories based on their interests rather than only being able to choose from a limited set of stories in a newspaper based on an editors choices. Another criticism of the quantitative analysis model favoured by McCombs is that it doesnt take into consideration how something gets adopted by the media. Anderson argued that agenda-setting theorists such as McCombs do not look at the initial triggers that cause issues to be included into the media agenda: Agenda-setting studies have tended to ignore the whole process through which social issues are taken up by the media (Anderson, 1997:25). Within Dearing and Rogers Model, the public are not deemed to be pivotal for the agenda setting process. However when considering the trigger that propels an issue into the media and policy forums (specifically on environmental issues) it can sometimes be attributed to a small group of public individuals who insight direct action, to spark wider interest. Brian Doherty et al. describe direct action as: Protest action where protesters engage in forms of action designed not only or necessarily to change government policy or to shift the climate of public opinion through the media, but to change environmental actions around them directly. (Doherty, Paterson and Seel, 2000:1) The term public is contestable itself; how do differentiate between ordinary members of environmental non-governmental organisations and members of a concerned community? Within different contexts we can all be described as the public. Protesters can be seen as belonging to the public, so the direct action that often provides the trigger for the uptake of issues into the media agenda could be described as coming from a small proportion of the public. The key component of agenda setting research should then be considered minority influence. The minority groups or opinion leaders disseminate their concerns on certain issues by influencing others by empowering their causes by form of protests, publicity stunts and media performances. Environmental Agenda Setting Looking specifically at the Kingsnorth Six case study and applying the Agenda Setting theory to it, we can expose the complexities involved in the agenda setting process and how they may or may not be relevant when looking at it through the perspective of a non-governmental organisation, deciphering whether they are successful in utilising the media to fulfil their aims. The Kingsnorth Six direct action protest involved the David Pepper claims that environmentalism is less a coherent movement and more of a turn in late-twentieth-century thought arguing that in its simplest definition an environmentalist; is one who is concerned with the environment. Thus the majority of the West can be described as environmentalists (Pepper, 2000:445-6). Whilst openly sharing oppositional views is widely acknowledged as a social taboo, the amount of active environmentalists are less popular. Hence by gathering attention to the Kingsnorth case, Greenpeace could turn a minority cause and propel it to the masses, thus gaining the issue serious political significance by bringing it to the environmental sympathisers domain; as nobody wants to be seen as actively damaging the environment, for fear of commercial and political repercussions from the sympathizing majority. Hutchins and Lester argue that journalists have an environmentalist bias as it is in their readers interest: Journalists acknowledge the saliency of environmental issues to readers and audiences because of the threats posed to natural environments and peoples wellbeing by degradation and the unchecked activities of capital. (Hutchins and Lester, 2006:434) Environmental issues have been of particular relevance since global warming was posed as a theory, ever since it has been at the forefront of media and science agenda, seeing with it the rise in popularity of political parties such as the Green Party in the United Kingdom yet also a rise in green policies. Environmental concerns transcend all classes so are useful for the media in targeting large concerned audiences. This scaremongering tactic validates the work of pressure groups and non-governmental organisations and disguises the profit motives of the media reporting it. However Hutchins and Lester ignore two key oppositional concepts: the influence of corporations as advertisers and journalistic objectivity. The first point can be dismissed as only one corporation is being targeted the money lost from attacking E.ON can be easily filled by other businesses from other sectors. The second point journalistic objectivity, allows a platform for debate, whereby environmental sceptics are allowed an equal platform to discuss their opinions. This creates a dilemma similar to the religion versus science debate; influential sceptics are allowed to pollute the influence of pressure groups with little grounding in scientific fact or common sense. The media is more than a site for environmental action; it plays a significant role in shaping debate and influencing outcomes. It is here that representations are determined, images softened or distorted, and power granted or denied. (Hutchins and Lester, 2006: 438) Hutchins and Lester bring up a fundamental point of the nature of the media in influencing outcomes of protests. Whereas the media validated Greenpeaces protests, specifically broadsheets such as The Guardian, projecting the Kingsnorth Six onto hero status; even premiering the Nick Broomfields short documentary A Time Comes: The Story of the Kingsnorth Six (Broomfield, 2009). This presented the Kingsnorth Six as ordinary members of the public with no activist history, whom simply wanted to right a wrong. Dieter Rucht describes how in some rare instances the mass media can potentially be considered an ally for the social movements such as The Guardian in this case. However he warns that social movements would be wrong to rely on this as the mass media carry their own agenda different from the aims of the social movement (Rucht, 2004: 55). The protest/publicity stunt clearly intended to insight media interest. Nick Broomfields short documentary (Broomfield, 2009) highlights the directness of Greenpeaces tactics to achieve press coverage. The activists assumptions of the media reaction were highlighted by a quote from Ben Stewart one of the Kingsnorth Six: because my parents live near there (Kingsnorth Power Station), I gave them a ring and said you might see on the news that I am on top of this power station (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). This arrogance becomes justified when noting the previous newsworthiness of Greenpeace protests in gaining media attention (Carroll and Hackett, 2006:87). Stewart then goes on to state Greenpeaces exact intentions, emphasizing the performance aspect of the protest by having what is implied as press conferences on top of the chimney: I got up and did the interviews with the media and tried to justify it (the protest) to the public when we were up there, and of cause this thing is always a bit controversial (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). Then implying that it would disseminate the issue into public discourse/forums: you get lots of public ringing into the talk radio stations saying were nothing (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). The whole direct action performance comes across as merely being a platform to receive media coverage to then disseminate their issue into the agenda. However Greenpeaces performance tactics resonate well with the medias agenda as they provide the media with pre-packaged news stories: Greenpeace has always been inherently fascinating and newsworthy as far as the media are concerned. It presented them with totally pre-packaged, simplistic but very powerful images of confrontation that were very new and exciting (Gallie cited in Anderson, 1997:35) The Kingsnorth Six protest certainly did this; providing photographs, videos and interviews to the various interested media. Allowing Greenpeace to remain in control of how their imagery was framed and represented. On an interview with ITV Meridian Tonight Stewart justified their actions by highlighting Greenpeaces agenda on E.ONs proposed plans: Gordon Brown wants to build a new one of those carbon dinosaurs and thats why were up here, were trying to stop that happening (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). The telephone interview from the top of the tower to new stations emphasises the link between performance and agenda setting. Whereas the protest may give the guise of trying to shut down the Kingsnorth plant in order to stop the polluting power station, the primary objective of the press stunt prevails: securing communication with the media, thus allowing Greenpeace to dictate the news agenda. However their story only reached local level on television news coverage, receiving coverage from ITV Meridian Tonight and BBC South-East Today. Contrary to the regionalised coverage of the initial protest the subsequent trial received national attention on the respective channels. This would imply that the Kingsnorth Six protest functioned as a trigger to greater media coverage rather than gaining the substantial media coverage needed for an issue to become adopted into the national media and public agenda. It would be easy to assume that Greenpeace had expected more coverage than they received initially. However the issue was already in the political forum, with the Governmental body The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform due to release a white paper on the carbon capture and storage regulations. This reflects Hansens sentiments (mentioned earlier), suggesting it is a deliberate tactic to target issues already in political forums (Hansen, 2010:53). Critiques of Greenpeace reaffirm Hansens observations. Chris Ross writing for Greenpeace highlighted some of myths surrounding the Brent Spar case study; that Greenpeace had the potential to act on issues that they themselves stood to gain positive framing, in other words easy battles: Greenpeace had given little though to the issue it was going to tackle, or its consequences. In short, the Brent Spar was a good photo opportunity for an organisation faced (in some countries) with a decline of its membership and visibility. (Ross, 1998:40) This could be said of the Kingsnorth Case, Greenpeace knew that the proposed plans were controversial within the economical and political climate, so had predicted an easy win which would create a good photo opportunity. This is not to say that Greenpeace was not interested in the issue beforehand, but simply chose a strategic target out of the many environmental criminals in the world. Greenpeace should not be solely attributed with pushing the Kingsnorth case into the media, public and policy agenda after all other non-governmental organisations were also active such as Climate Camp and Friends of the Earth. This poses the dilemma; did Greenpeace activate this protest network by projecting the struggle into the agenda? However it is evident from the polaric media representation of the protests that the Greenpeace protest yielded a greater media influence (than the Climate Camp protests) due to its previous validation within the media because of previous successes in gaining media attention (Carroll and Hackett, 2006:87). Whereas Climate Camp was undermined by their history of negative encounters with the police. The Kingsnorth Six Coverage/ Analysis On October 8th 2007 six Greenpeace representatives climbed the 200 metre high smokestack at the Kingsnorth power station in Medway, Kent, attempting to paint the words Gordon bin it on it. Whilst another 20 activists chained themselves to the stations conveyor belt, immobilising it from burning coal. The Kingsnorth Six as the media labelled them (see fig.2 ), successfully managed to draw significant media attention from October 2007 till September 2008 when the activists were acquitted of the charges of causing  £30,000 of criminal damage to the smokestack on the defence that they were acting to prevent climate change, a landmark case in legal history  [3]  . Figure : 5 members of the Kingsnorth 6 Greenpeace activists. Greenpeace aspired to highlight the plans of the government and the German energy corporation E.ONs proposed plans to build a new coal powered power station at Kingsnorth which was proposed to be operational by 2012; the first of its kind in Britain since 1986. Greenpeace claimed itself that the ensuing direct action led to the postponement of E.ONs plans. Much like the Brent Spar case in 1995, as Hansen described: Greenpeace succeeded in stiring up sufficient media, political and public interest (Hansen, 2000:57) to force E.ON to reconsider its position. The question is how much responsibility can Greenpeace claim? Did the subsequent media coverage really have the effect that Greenpeace claimed? Hansen (Hansen, 2010) repeatedly coins the term claims-maker in reference to pressure groups suggesting that groups such as Greenpeace take a conservative option in their choice of issues to propel into the spotlight. He suggests that claims-makers choose topics which are already involved in policy agenda or Legislator: Most of the issues on which successful pressure groups campaign and successfully gain media coverage are issues which already have an institutional forum rather than completely new issues which have not been problematised in some form or other before. (Hansen, 2010:53) This would suggest that Policy Agenda influences the pressure groups choice in agenda: as they are more likely to have success in influencing the three agenda setting processes if they are able to frame and elaborate existing issues that are already in the public domain (Hansen, 2010:54). Hansen suggests that Greenpeaces spectacular protest performances are great at creating a visual spectacle; however they are not sufficient at maintaining media visibility in the long term (Hansen, 2010:53). In other words apart from the newsworthiness of the Kingsnorth-Six stunt, the more important factor in agenda setting, was the subsequent trial that kept the Kingsnorth issue visible. Hansen suggests that it is not as simple as just setting the agenda as McCombs suggested, the quantity is not of coverage is irrelevant if the coverage is framed in the wrong way: While an environmental pressure group such as Greenpeace has the ability to secure media coverage for its claims its capacity to influence or control the way its claims are framed and inflected by individual newspapers is more questionable. (Hansen, 2000:71) Hansen looked at a selection of the three traditional types of newspapers from the British press: Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror and their respective Sunday editions (Hansen, 2000: 58). Analysing each newspapers output over the period following the Brent Spar protests to determine how the coverage was framed; looking specifically at the gulf between commanding attention for an issue and securing legitimacy (Hansen, 2000:56). He found that individual media exert ideological work upon their differential accessing of sources and their differential choice and promotion of particular lexical terms (e.g. Greenpeace as terrorists, a nuisance, undemocratic) (Hansen, 2010: 57). Hansen implied that Greenpeace media coverage was at the mercy and scrutiny of each outlets ideological allegiance. Although the initial protest is the most visible in terms of photos and iconic moments, in its initial aftermath the majority of press coverage was localised. A search of the Nexis newspaper database shows none of the national newspapers covered the protest in the week following the incident, with the majority of coverage remaing on local television broadcasts and regional newspapers. Between October 15th 2007 and September 10th 2008 there were 42 articles containing the keywords Kingsnorth and Greenpeace. Of these 19 were from The Guardian and The Observer and 10 were from The Independent (both of which could be described as having an environmental bias), hence only 13 were from other UK national newspapers. Applying McCombs quantitative methodology of agenda setting stating that the most prominent public issues are synonymous with the most important public issues (McCombs, 2004:5) One could conclude that Greenpeaces publicity stunt had failed to garner notable national coverage of the Kingsnorth plight compared to its previous successes of gaining the presss attention (e.g. Brent Spa). However out of the mediocre coverage 76% was from UK national newspapers with a history of environmental concern; echoing once again Ruchts notion that the media can potential act as an ally for social movements (Rucht, 2004:55). The Observer notably, exclusively broadcasted Nick Broomfields documentary, which utilised, among others David Gilmour on the soundtrack. Whereas there was a total of 21 national newspaper articles covering the Kingsnorth-Six trial verdict between the 11th and 15th of September 2008; suggesting the mainstream coverage was more interested in the verdict of the court on the Kingsnorth Six; as the result could set a precedent for future environmental policy agenda. Therefore in this case the Kingsnorth-Six stunt was more successful in becoming part of the media agenda in its aftermath. In Hansens Claims-Making in the Brent Star Controversy (2000) He suggests that the Telegraph utilised a negative overlexicalisation of descriptors to describe Greenpeaces actions (Hansen, 2000:62). Throughout the Kingsnorth coverage The Daily Mail, The Mirror and The Express conformed to this convention, often sensationalising the news with doom-mongering extrapolations. The Daily Mail framed the verdict of the case with a negative sensationalist set of descriptors, being highly critical of the ramifications that the case may have for the future of civil order. Whilst being highly critical of Greenpeaces actions the focus was shifted from the agenda of climate change, towards the unlawful nature by which the activists disseminated their message; framing the Greenpeace activists as potential threatening to the public: Green Light to Anarchy; Greenpeace Verdict will Encourage Lawbreakers, Warns Widdecombe (Sears, 2008:12). Hansen observed a similar instance/tactic in the Brent Spar case whilst analysing the framing of civil protest suggesting that The article served a functionlinking together and interpreting a series of vaguely related events or activities as symptoms of a deeper problem or social malaise (Hansen, 2000:61) Emily Highmore: What Greenpeace did was hugely irresponsible (Cited in Sears, 2008:12) So is it OK Now to Kill Gary Glitter? (Littlejohn, 2008:17). So next time some self righteous vegan in cycling shorts is caught smashing up a Range Rover in the name of the polar bears, dont be surprised when they try to use this not guilty verdict as their Get Out Of Jail Free card (Littlejohn, 2008:17). The Mirror NOT LAWFUL.. JUST AWFUL. (Routledge, 2008:29) This is judicial lunacy. It opens the way to all sorts of violence by flat-Earth nutters bent on halting the construction of vital new generating capacity. (Routledge, 2008:29) The Express Judge is an Ass for this Ruling. (Hamilton, 2008:31). The judges direction clearly encourages politically motivated acts of mayhem and is a threat to public order (Hamilton, 2008:31). In all of the above examples the verdict is framed as being giving anarchic powers to Green protesters, sensationalising the potential ramifications. The Greenpeace activists are seen as the Villains disturbing the peace and creating disharmony in the legal system. The Judge and Jury are thus portrayed as the Anti-Heroes being too easily swayed by the glamour of the environmental celebrities paraded by Greenpeace in defence. The Independent For the jury that acquitted the six activists may have done more to frustrate the Governments plans to build coal-fired powered stations than the pressure group has achieved in years. (Lean, 2008:54) The People are Ahead of the Game on Climate Change. (Lean, 2008:54) The Daily Telegraph severe embarrassment to the Government (Clover, 2008:33). So the Greens are Right About Coal (Clover, 2008:33). The Guardian Climb Every Chimney . . .: The Kingsnorth Six Admitted Causing  £30,000 Worth of Damage to a Coal-Fired Power Station Yet a Jury Still Refused to Find Them Guilty. The Verdict Has Left the Governments Energy Plans in the Balance, Says John Vidal, and Given a Huge Boost to Climate Change Protesters. (Vidal, 2008:4). The Maidstone verdict has changed all that and could prove a turning point both for the protest movement and industrial policy (Vidal, 2008:4). If I was E.ON or Owned an Airport, Id be Very, Very Worried: Activists from Other Groups Hail the Kingsnorth Victory. (Van Der Zee, 2008:7) Mel Evans a Climate Camp activist: When you take the arguments to a jury, then they respond in this way because they can see what the reality is. (cited in Van Der Zee, 2008:7) Goldsmith accused the government of a profound lack of imagination when it came to examining alternative energy solutions (Henley, 2008: 6) Beyond all Reasonable Doubt: How Four Witnesses Put the Government in the Dock. (Henley, 2008: 6) The above examples utilise the David versus Goliath analogy or as Vladimir Propp would suggest the Hero character type, suggesting that the case stood as a shift in the

Computer and Hardware :: essays research papers fc

Report and Bibliography Electronic-mail or Email is the process of sending messages electronically using your computer. You can send messages when it is convenient for you - even at 2 am. Your recipient responds at his convenience. Email can be sent anywhere in the world using your computer and a modem. Email is almost instant in its delivery and it is very cheap to use especially for international messages, costing only the price of the telephone connection to the Internet Service Provider. You may send many messages at one time or just one to a designated location. Messages can be sent internally on a local area network that might cover a building or an organisation like Northern Institute. For example in this Institute people on all 6 campuses can at no cost exchange email over the computer network that joins all the campuses. By using email you will be able to electronically   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  send messages or memos   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  receive and read messages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  reply to messages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  forward messages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  send the same message to a list of people with one stroke   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  attach a text file such as a report to your email message   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  save mail to a file and print the message Internet Whilst email is associated with the Internet you do not necessarily have to have an Internet connection to be able to send and receive email. For example many organisations have email facilities within their own local area networks, but do not have Internet links. However usually email is part of your Internet connection and it is one of the most used Internet facilities. Email Address In order to receive or send email you need to have an email address and you need to know the address of the person to whom you wish to send a message. Addresses are made up in a standard way using the following elements:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  User identification eg. Joelg your name or a name you wish to choose. It is usual to have part of your own name to make it easily identifiable   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the @ or at symbol to locate the person   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the domain name of the computer receiving your mail eg. gcit for Gold Coast Institute of Tafe   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the type of organisation eg. edu for an educational institution or gov for government   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  and finally au to locate the address in Australia the final address will look like this: How Email Works An electronic mailing system works in much the same way that the postal service we are used to operates.

The Benefits of Tai Chi Essay -- Research Essays Martial Arts Papers

The Benefits of T'ai Chi History of T'ai Chi One of the most relaxing forms of martial arts, T'ai Chi, can help to overcome such problems as arthritis, rheumatism, back problems, lack of balance, high blood pressure, stress, post-traumatic stress, lack of energy, and more. T'ai Chi is a non violent form of the martial arts whose roots are derived from the Chinese and correlated with Traditional Chinese Medicinal techniques. There are many forms of T'ai Chi, including T'ai Chi Chuan and T'ai Chi Chih; all of which have been studied for thousands of years to improve the Chinese way of life. There have been many records of the origin of T'ai Chi reaching as far back as over 3500 years ago. In addition to a Chinese Martial Art, T'ai Chi has origins related to Taoism, which revolved around calmness, "tranquillity of mind," and the improvement of health and persona (wysiwg://25/http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/tai-chi.html). Monks employed T'ai Chi as means of be coming more in tune with their bodies and their environment. Ther efore, this martial art helped them to "defend themselves against bandits and warlords through physical health and spiritual growth" (http://www.maui.net/~taichi4u/overview.html). What is T'ai Chi? T'ai Chi is an entire body experience meant to relax its participant and allow one to "effortlessly experience the vital life force, or Chi, in one's body" (http://www.fitnesslink.com/mind/chi.htm). T'ai Chi is literally translated to mean "Supreme Ultimate," and it teaches one to be more relaxed through a greater connection with one's body and awareness of one's movements and thoughts (http://members.tripod.com/~donalo/introd.htm). This experience differs from other "hard" martial arts, by i... ...every aspect of our lives and the world around us" (http://www.maui.net/~taichi4u/overview.html). Bibliography Lai, J. S., Lan, C., Wong, M. K., Teng, S.H. (1995). Two-year trends in cardiorespiratory function among older Tai Chi Chuan practitioners and sedentary objects. Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 43, 1222-1227. Jin, P. (1992). Efficacy of Tai Chi, brisk walking, meditation, and reading in reducing mental and emotional stress. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 36, 361-369. Schaller, K. J. (1996). Tai Chi Chih: an exercise option for older adults. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 22, 12-16. Wolf, S. L., Barnhart, H. X., Kutner, N. G., McNeely, E., Cooler, C., Xu, T. (1996). Reducing fraility and falls in older persons: an investigation of Tai Chi and computerized balance training. Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 44, 489-497.