Softballs

There is currently much debate about the safety of the sport of softball. Batted‐ball speed and average pitcher reaction time are factors often used to determine safe performance. Batted‐ball speed is shown to be the most important factor to consider when determining safe play. Average pitcher reaction time is explained and directly correlated to batted‐ball speed. Eleven aluminum multi‐wall, three aluminum single‐wall and two composite softball bats were tested with mid‐compression polyurethane softballs averaging 1721 ±62 N/6.4 mm to represent the relative bat‐ball performance for the sport of slow‐pitch softball. Nine men and six women were chosen for this study out of a test group of over three hundred slowpitch softball players. On average, aluminum bat performance results were within the recommended safety limits established by the national softball associations. However, when composite bats were used, their performance results exceeded the recommended safety limits which can pose a significant safety risk. Using aluminum softball bats, batted‐ball speeds ranged from 80 to 145 km.h^‐1. Using composite softball bats, batted‐ball speeds ranged from 146 to 161 km.h^‐1. The scientific relevance of this study is to provide performance information that can lead to injury prevention in the sport of softball.     

One Yankee’s Opinion,from the Outside Looking In

Abstract

This short piece examines the author’s experiences as an American residing in Scotland and examining the history of Scottish/British sport.     

The impact of the national policy on education on indigenous education in Nigeria

Indigenous education in Nigeria is contrasted with Western orientated education. The former includes both the traditional and more recent locally generated modifications of educational procedures. Until recently the two have been in equilibrium but this is now under attack. Nigerian society is undergoing rapid change. The Government is aiming to create a national identity, eradicate regional inequities, and eliminate parochial and inefficient indigenous educational practices. But the author challenges the assumption that the school system alone can accomplish these tasks. Quick implementation of the plan to regulate indigenous private educational institutions and craft apprenticeships could aggravate the employment situation, while local communities under an increasingly centralised education system will have little authority to initiate local adaptive responses to perceived weaknesses.

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Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel wird die einheimische Ausbildung in Nigeria mit der westlich orientierten verglichen. Erstere schließt sowohl traditionelle Erziehungsmethoden als auch neuere, vor Ort entwickelte Änderungen ein. Bis vor kurzem bestand zwischen beiden ein Gleichgewicht, aber jetzt soll sich das ändern. Plan der Regierung ist es, eine nationale Identität zu schaffen, regionale Ungleichheiten auszumerzen und lokale einheimische Erziehungspraktiken zu unterbinden. Der Verfasser bestreitet die Annahme, das Schulsystem allein könne diese Aufgaben erfüllen. Eine schnelle Durchführung des Plans der Regierung, lokale private Bildungs- und Ausbildungsgänge von oben zu regulieren, könnte die Beschäftigungslage verschlechtern und die Gemeinden hätten unter einem stärker zentralisierten Bildungssystem weniger Möglichkeiten, örtlich Maßnahmen zur Beseitigung wahrgenommener Schwächen einzuleiten.

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Résumé Le système indigène d'éducation au Nigéria est mis en contraste avec une éducation orientée vers l'Ouest. Il comporte les procédés éducatifs traditionnels aussi bien que des modifications plus récentes qui ont été développées localement. Jusqu'à récemment, les deux étaient en équilibre mais maintenant celui-ci se trouve menacé. La société nigérienne est en rapide évolution. Le gouvernement a pour but de créer une identité nationale, d'effacer des inégalités régionales, et d'éliminer des pratiques d'éducation indigènes qui sont trop localisées et inefficaces. Mais l'auteur s'oppose à la présomption que le système scolaire seul puisse accomplir ces tâches. Une exécution rapide du projet sur la réglementation des institutions d'éducation privées indigènes et de l'apprentissage dans l'artisanat pourrait aggraver la situation de l'emploi, alors que les communautés locales sous un système d'éducation toujours plus centralisé n'auraient que peu d'autorité pour introduire des adaptations locales visant à répondre aux faiblesses ressenties.

     

Bibliotherapy in a patients' library

This paper describes the involvement of patients in the Patients' Library at McLean Hospital, and the relationship between them and the librarian in library activities. The publication of a patients' magazine is discussed, with case histories of persons who had taken part in its production. The Patients' Librarian has a personal role in patient therapy, and accounts are given of various activities such as play-reading, poetry-reading, and the discussion of poems by established writers, with therapeutic aims in view. Actual clinical experiences are given.