Beads, string and wire equaled hope as customers fi lled The Ophilus, a boutique and home décor store in downtown Brevard. In an effort to support un-

derprivileged women in Central America, the local shop began selling bracelets two years ago. Each purchase of the accessories stimulates a fund that links directly back to supporting women in need thousands of miles away. “I had a friend that was going on a medical mission trip. Originally, she was making the brace-lets to fund her way to Guatemala. Once she got over there, she taught the women of the village to make the bracelets,” Martha Carlton, owner of The Ophilus said. “This way the women could continue to support themselves off of the newly acquired skill. Also, the customers that bought the bracelets felt good about their purchase.” Unknowingly, these consumers were partici-pating in an economic trend commonly referred to as “compassionate consumerism.” The system of selling merchandise for a cause has evoked much controversy in the recent years. Whether or not good marketing translates into good support is debatable. TOMS, generally the trendiest contender, donates a pair of shoes

to a child in need for every pair sold. However, buying poor children shoes that cost $25 is not the most cost effective transaction. By taking advantage of a consumerist culture that is fi xated on the newest fad, the founder of TOMS, Blake Mycoskie, has become suc-

cessful. With a net worth of $5 million and his own personal sailboat, it is debatable whether the en-trepreneur is stimulating his own personal wealth or his cause. “I do not feel that you can make a blanket state-ment to answer whether compassionate consum-erism is negative or positive in a society,” Carlton said. “Each situation is unique. It simply depends. As in every area of life, there are always going to be those that do things for selfi sh gain.” Yet, according to www.povertycure.org/issues, this class of assistance and donation can lead to an increased dependency on foreign aid. The use of these products also infl uences local economies. Sending in a supply of shoes into an area harms the income of individual sellers of shoes and in a sense “gives a man a fi sh” rather than “teaching him how to fi sh.” “I think that perhaps these companies donating and giving products away might lead to dependen-cy. But you never know until it actually reaches that point. It is still a positive aspect of our society. It is

great that businesses would actually do this,” freshman Jacob Hensley said. “Shoes are a necessity, and that is never going to change.”

OMG, did you see that Robert changed his rela-

tionship status to single?” Completely meaningless.

Calculus, physics, politics, arts, current events. All sexy. Entirely attractive. To me, any

person who can actually hold a conversation and not bring up the infamous Snooki baby or other pop culture trend is more than OK with me. Let me set the scene for you — a date with your new signifi cant other where the two of you spend the evening discuss-ing the pros and cons of future space exploration or expressing hatred for those who forget to add a constant after integrating. I get shivers just think-ing about it. How amazing would it be to have an in-telligent conversation with another person for once? Having to trudge through the day dealing with vapid excuses for conversation that only include biased comparisons of who is dat-ing whom and which girl is a skank for whichever reason. I admit I do talk about Facebook in public, and I confess to thoroughly enjoying Jersey Shore, but I am more than a pop culture feeding hermit. People nowadays see intel-ligence as a form of weak-ness, using awful slander terms such as nerd, geek, dweeb and so forth, but I challenge you. I say, em-brace the label and take it as a compliment. Ten years from now how cool you were in high school based on your good looks and which girls you dated will mean nothing. Our nerds will be your bosses and CEOs, and that one little kid you never talked to because he was a dweeb might be the next Steve Jobs. I cannot express how attractive intelligence is. I am not saying there is any-thing wrong with people who have less than perfect GPAs, but I want to convey to students that there is absolutely, positively noth-ing wrong with being a nerd. I love when people can share their turmoil for integration by parts and their love for synthetic division. I don’t care about who wore whom at the Oscars, but I do care about distinguishing correctly when to use who or whom. When someone calls you a nerd, what they are really saying is, “I wish I could be as smart as you, but instead of trying to reach that level I will put down your achievements to make myself feel less like an under-accom-plished dunce.” So all you geeks, dorks, nerds, dweebs and weirdos unite! Do the right thing, embrace it! I am a nerd. And I am proud.

As he walked off the plane and onto the ground of Argentina, Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS

shoe company, saw families in extreme poverty with horrifi c health conditions. Children walked around barefoot in the streets with deformed feet because they lacked shoes. That’s when Mycoskie decided he had a responsibility to these innocent people. He revolutionized the traditional Argentine alpargata shoe and reinvented it for the U.S. market. His mission had begun, and TOMS was born. “I was so overwhelmed by the spirit of the South American people, especially those who had so little,” Mycoskie said in his biography, “and I was instantly struck with the desire — the responsibility — to do more.” Podoconiosis, also known as “Mossy Foot,” is a debilitating and disfi guring disease. It is a form of elephantiasis that affects the lymphatic system of the lower legs, according to Mossy Foot Project. The disease is transferred by walking around barefoot in volcanic soil that’s rich in

silica, which is commonly found in rural parts of developing countries. “Mossy foot” causes ulcers, ma-jor deformity and swelling in the legs. Between 500,000 and one million people are currently affl icted with podoconiosis, and the people who develop the disease suffer from extreme pain and are con-sidered outcasts by their communities. Podoconiosis is one of the main reasons why Mycoskie started the TOMS busi-ness. “Giving does not just feel good; it’s really good for business, and it’s good for your personal brand,” Mycoskie said. Mycoskie, an entrepreneur from Arlington, Texas, founded TOMS in 2006 after returning home from Argentina. He based TOMS shoes in Santa Monica, Calif., which also operates a nonprofi t subsidiary called Friends of TOMS. The company donates a pair of shoes to a child for every pair of TOMS sold. “I really like the idea that TOMS has created,” sophomore Ryan Owen said. “The idea that they will donate a pair of shoes to a kid in need for every pair someone buys, gives people who usually don’t donate to charities an opportunity to be a part of something.”

HEY to the WOOD

5featurewingspan • march 30, 2012

Smarts are sexy, too

ASHLEYHEYWOOD

Media uses marketing for aid

TOMS shoes popular way to giveSUZANNE ENGLISH

feature writer

LAUREN STEPPcreative director

AMY TAYLORfeature editor

BACK

As junior Jennifer Reaume plugged her head-phones into her ears, she felt a sense of satisfac-tion knowing that the CD she had just bought on

iTunes was going to help people in need. Reaume had just bought the album Hope for Haiti Now; A Global Benefi t for Earthquake Relief, featuring artists such as Mary J. Blige, Justin Timberlake, Coldplay and Beyonce. “I bought the CD because I felt bad for the unfor-tunate people who had been victims of the disaster over there,” Reaume said. “I like doing things like that because it gives me a good feeling knowing that I was a part of something that helped out other people. The fact that the album’s proceeds went to a good cause made me want to buy it more just because I realize how bad some people have it in Haiti; they don’t have anything, so that made me purchase it.” Recently, charitable organizations have been taking a new approach to raising money for their causes by us-ing the proceeds from the sales of music and movies. “Products like these make a difference. I’ve been to a church concert that was for Red Cross. I think compa-nies are beginning to realize America is very fortunate, and we have a lot of money compared to these third world countries so we need to help out,” Reaume said. “I think that it is a great idea because it will help us look good and feel good about ourselves by helping out. I think this will also make business sales go up.” Sophomore Melany Perez has not only purchased songs to benefi t charities, but she has also bought tick-ets to several Disney movies that support the animals featured in the fi lms. The movie Chimpanzee donated a portion of its proceeds during the fi rst week to the Jane Goodall Institute. “I decided to see those movies because I love animals,” Perez said. “I think I would’ve seen the mov-ies either way, but I like helping them. I also bought a benefi t CD when the earthquakes hit in Japan. I bought some songs off of that CD and the money went to Japan. I decided to buy these songs because I really like the culture of Japan, so I wanted to help out.”

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GIVIN

G

One for One24% of girls own Toms

3% of males own Toms

24% of students werein� uenced to buy TOMSbecause of the charity

15% of students wear Toms

1% of students wear Toms once a week

44% of students think Toms is a charity worth supporting

Charitableconsumerism

on the rise

•In 2007 Toms was honored with the prestigious People’s Design Award from the Smithsonian Institution

•50% of sales go to the Global Fund to fi ght AIDS for each item sup-ported by Product Red

•42% of those who are aided by

Krochet Kids International now own their own home

•Falling Whistles aids war-aff ected peoples in the Congo by selling whistles for $34 to $104

FLATS STATS

(Information from cooltomsshoes.blogspot.com/2009/09/toms-shoes-facts.html)

(Wingspan survey of 231 students)