Further thoughts on the writing of stories: a response to Michael Gard and Ian Wellard

The terminological disunity in the usage of the terms 'sport' and 'physical culture' leads to controversy over their meanings. This study recapitulates their content (substance) in a broader sense than is usual in common usage and points out some possible philosophical connections. The first part focuses on an analysis of the terms: 'culture' and 'body' and their joining together to form the term 'physical culture'. The author first calls attention to other levels of human corporeality than sport and movement (such as hygiene, body aesthetics, eroticism, etc.), which show us that the implications of the term 'physical culture' is too broad. On the other hand, the term 'sport' is delimitated too narrowly, because the cultivation of human motion is a concern in school physical education and recreational physical exercise as well. The second part gives reasons for the use of the term 'kinanthropology' and allows us to grasp its philosophical conception as 'philosophical kinanthropology'.     

Perspektywy --Ten Years of Rankings

The editor-in-chief of Perspektywy, a major educational publication house in Warsaw, Poland, describes a major activity of his organization, namely the ranking of secondary schools and higher education institutions. Indeed, Perspektywy is the major Polish organization providing rankings and elaborating league tables of Polish higher education institutions. In particular, Perspektywy has teamed up with a leading Polish newspaper, Rzeczpospolita, to produce major rankings in separate listings of the main state-operated and private higher education institutions. The author explains the methodologies employed for both sets of rankings and argues that his organization provides a valuable service to college-bound youth and their parents.     

Ranking and League Tables of Higher Education Institutions

Pointing out that globalization is a continuous process of adaptation and standardization affecting all aspects of social life in all societies, the author argues that higher education is essential for the facilitation of globalization. In the Eastern and Central European transition countries, higher education has been a main engine of transition, but it too must adapt to change, particularly to the rigors of a market economy that, among other things, requires that it be available to all and that it be financed from various sources, including tuition fees payable by all students. Also, governments must promote excellence to the extent of offering special funding to recognized centers of excellence. Higher education must be the engine that stimulates change and development throughout society.     

Is Higher Education a Public Good? A View from a Serbian Perspective

With particular reference to Serbia, the author discusses the claim that higher education is a public good and must be fully supported by the public authorities. She examines the proposition from an economic perspective, a legal perspective, and a normative political perspective and concludes that any scheme that offers free education to some while requiring others to pay tuition fees will be perceived as unfair by those who have to pay. And the situation of higher education in Serbia cannot improve until the general economic situation of the country improves.     

Effects of plyometric training on maximal-intensity exercise and endurance in male and female soccer players

In a randomised controlled trial design, effects of 6 weeks of plyometric training on maximal-intensity exercise and endurance performance were compared in male and female soccer players. Young (age 21.1 ± 2.7 years) players with similar training load and competitive background were assigned to training (women, n = 19; men, n = 21) and control (women, n = 19; men, n = 21) groups. Players were evaluated for lower- and upper-body maximal-intensity exercise, 30 m sprint, change of direction speed and endurance performance before and after 6 weeks of training. After intervention, the control groups did not change, whereas both training groups improved jumps (effect size (ES) = 0.35–1.76), throwing (ES = 0.62–0.78), sprint (ES = 0.86–1.44), change of direction speed (ES = 0.46–0.85) and endurance performance (ES = 0.42–0.62). There were no differences in performance improvements between the plyometric training groups. Both plyometric groups improved more in all performance tests than the controls. The results suggest that adaptations to plyometric training do not differ between men and women.     

THE ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION OF 80% OF YOUTH IN THE YEAR 2000

This article explores some of the probable consequences of the objective, elaborated throughout the French political spectrum, in favour of expanding French higher education enrollments such that by the year 2000, 80 percent of each age cohort will hold the baccalauriat and 90 percent of the latter will enroll in higher education. So far, the consequences of this objective have not been faced, particularly the tremendous changes required so as to make higher education in France universal. Certainly they will bring an end to the traditional elite nature of the French university with its emphasis on research and on the imparting of theoretical knowledge. Ineluctably, the emphasis will have to shift to practical courses and to career preparation. The author therefore suggests that the move to universality might best be accomplished by the development of numerous short‐term and vocationally oriented courses to be offered in distinct institutions to provide training to the bulk of the new entrants who will, for the most part, have completed high school in technical baccalaur éat sections. A traditionally oriented core within the university system will continue to offer long‐‐cycle courses admitting only the cream of the traditional general education baccalauriat holders and the best graduates of the new short‐cycle institutions. All the enrollees in the latter institutions should be encouraged to avoid over‐specialization so as to guarantee their professional flexibility with respect to future employment.

     

Higher Education in Latin America

This article presents an analysis of, and proposals for, international co-operation in higher education. It focuses on Latin American higher education, its current situation, and the expected transformation of the goals of higher education in the context of international co-operation. Education in the Twenty-First Century must be part of the world economic order. As such, it must attend to human necessities. One of the most important goals of the Twenty-First Century should be the building of a new kind of solidarity among human beings, one in which higher education systems will play an important role. The author describes the challenges that globalization poses to Latin American higher education.     

Sympathetic Activation in Response to Infant Cry: Distress or Promptness to Action?

SYNOPSIS

An increase in sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity or reactivity in response to stimulation is usually interpreted as an index of heightened maladaptive distress. However, sympathetic activation also underlies promptness to action, so it is not clear whether the same relation could stand for parental responses to infant cry given that a ready and prompt parental response to infant cry favors more adaptive cognitive, social, and emotional development in the infant. Previous studies have not been consistent in the interpretation of sympathetic activation which occurs in response to infant cry. We discuss these two opposing proposed interpretations. A possible alternative interpretation may be that medium activation of the SNS is adaptive because it prepares the organism to act promptly, whereas too low or too high SNS activation is maladaptive because it underlies a lack of empathetic reaction or a highly distressed response.     

Globalization and Catholic Higher Education: A Dialogue for Harnessing the Impact of Globalization

The position and the role of Catholic higher education in the ongoing globalization of higher education are discussed. The author, the Secretary-General of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (FIUC/IFCU), presents a number of arguments in favour of the participation of Catholic universities in the processes of globalization while, at the same time, remaining true to their basic Christian values. The axis of this participation should be one of striving to humanize the phenomenon by serving "as the voice of those who have no voice".