“Everything inside me was silenced”: (Re)defining rape through visceral counterpublicity

This essay advances a theory of visceral counterpublicity through two case studies of recent high-profile rape crimes in the United States – the cases of Emily Doe and Emma Sulkowicz. Both cases garnered considerable public attention, yet neither perpetrator was convicted of rape. This essay analyzes how Doe and Sulkowicz performed public responses to these outcomes, using their bodies to argue what happened to them was indeed rape. These embodied forms constitute what I call visceral counterpublicity: modes of public engagement that (1) proceed when discursive frameworks understood through liberal subjectivity fall short; (2) expose the body's threatened boundaries to incite an affective response, or bodily intensity, in audiences; and (3) illuminate a subjugated position within the public sphere. Together, these cases call into question how mainstream publics define and discuss rape and suggest a potential shift in public opinion over rape to include visceral frameworks. This theory provides utility for rhetorical theorists and critics attempting to make sense of a range of embodied protests by drawing attention to how legal structures appear in and create larger public discourse about the body and violence.     

The physical characteristics of match-play in English schoolboy and academy rugby union

The aim was to compare the physical characteristics of under-18 academy and schoolboy rugby union competition by position (forwards and backs). Using a microsensor unit, match characteristics were recorded in 66 players. Locomotor characteristics were assessed by maximum sprint speed (MSS) and total, walking, jogging, striding and sprinting distances. The slow component (<2 m · s^?1) of PlayerLoad^TM (PL_slow), which is the accumulated accelerations from the three axes of movement, was analysed as a measure of low-speed activity (e.g., rucking). A linear mixed-model was assessed with magnitude-based inferences. Academy forwards and backs almost certainly and very likely covered greater total distance than school forwards and backs. Academy players from both positions were also very likely to cover greater jogging distances. Academy backs were very likely to accumulate greater PL_slow and the academy forwards a likely greater sprinting distance than school players in their respective positions. The MSS, total, walking and sprinting distances were greater in backs (likely-almost certainly), while forwards accumulated greater PL_slow (almost certainly) and jogging distance (very likely). The results suggest that academy-standard rugby better prepares players to progress to senior competition compared to schoolboy rugby.     

Perfectionism predicts injury in junior athletes: Preliminary evidence from a prospective study

According to the stress–injury model (Williams & Andersen, 1998), personality factors predisposing athletes to elevated levels of stress may increase the risk of injury. As perfectionism has been associated with chronic stress, it may be one such personality factor. So far, however, no study has investigated the relationships between perfectionism and injury utilising a prospective design. Therefore, the present study examined perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns and injury in 80 junior athletes from team and individual sports (mean age 17.1 years; range 16–19 years) over 10 months of active training. The results of logistic regression analyses showed that perfectionism positively predicted injury, but only perfectionistic concerns emerged as a significant positive predictor. The likelihood of sustaining an injury was increased by over two times for each 1 SD increase in perfectionistic concerns. The findings suggest that perfectionistic concerns may be a possible factor predisposing athletes to an increased risk of injury.     

Children’s Self-Reported Effects of Stimulant Medication

This study determined the self-reported positive and negative physical, academic, and social effects of stimulant medication on middle/junior high school and high school students who have been diagnosed with AD/HD. The study also identified other students’ attitudes toward those diagnosed with AD/HD and receiving stimulant medication. Students in regular education classrooms, classrooms for students with an emotional disturbance, and classrooms for students with learning disabilities participated by filling out a questionnaire. A convenience sample of 925 students in Wisconsin and Minnesota participated in the study. Eighty-six of the students were taking stimulant medication for the treatment of AD/HD. Students did report experiencing side effects from the medication. The social and behavioural effects of the medication rather than the academic achievement enhancement effects appear to be the reasons for taking stimulant medication. Students not taking stimulant medication reported neither they nor teachers treated students taking stimulant medication differently.     

Effects of footwear midsole thickness on running biomechanics

Shoe manufacturers launch running shoes with increased (e.g., maximalists) or decreased (e.g., minimalists) midsole thickness and claim that they may prevent running injury. Previous studies tested footwear models with different midsole thicknesses on the market but the shoe construct was not strictly comparable. Therefore, in the present study, we examined the effect of midsole thickness, from 1-mm to 29-mm, in a standard test shoe prototype on the vertical loading rates, footstrike angle and temporal spatial parameters in distance runners. Fifteen male habitual rearfoot strikers were recruited from local running clubs. They were asked to run on an instrumented treadmill in shoes with different midsole thicknesses. We found significant interactions between midsole thickness with vertical loading rates (p < 0.001), footstrike angle (p = 0.013), contact time (p < 0.001), cadence (p = 0.003), and stride length (p = 0.004). Specifically, shoes with thinner midsole (1- and 5-mm) significantly increased the vertical loading rates and shortened the contact time, when compared with thicker midsole shoes (25- and 29-mm). However, we did not observe any substantial differences in the footstrike angle, cadence and stride length between other shod conditions. The present study provides biomechanical data regarding the relationship between full spectrum midsole thicknesses and running biomechanics in a group of rearfoot strikers.     

Multicultural literature: An essay

Effective teacher education should guide preservice and practicing teachers in comprehending and facilitating educational concepts and pedagogical practices that examine and promote equity for all learners. Teachers and young learners benefit from sundry opportunities to recognize their self identities and to celebrate both individual and shared cultural characteristics while increasing their understanding and appreciation of others and society. Teachers' cultural characteristics frequently do not match the cultural characteristics reflective of their young learners, and teachers may not be cognizant that their young learners do not see and operate in the world as they do. Critical pedagogy frequently fails to occur when dissonance lies between teachers' backgrounds, beliefs, and behaviors and those characterizing their young learners. Therefore, a major responsibility of pre-K-12 school administrators and teacher educators focuses on developing cultural self-awareness in teachers concomitantly empowering them to develop cultural self-awareness in their young learners. This article addresses how to initiate and further enhance the development of cultural self-awareness in educators by viewing a short yet provocative video titled, "The Lunch Date." A synthesis of university class discussion techniques drawing on the experiences of two professors provides guiding questions and useful suggestions appropriate for pre-K-12 teachers, administrators, staff developers, and teacher educators.     

Educational personnel's perceptions of mainstreaming and resource room effectiveness

Equivalent forms of a questionnaire were administered to elementary classroom and resource room teachers. The questionnaires were designed to elicit teachers' attitudes and perceptions as to the effectiveness and appropriateness of mainstreaming, regular classroom teachers' level of skill competency, assistance from the resource room, and communication between the resource room and regular classroom teachers. Results indicated that resource and regular teachers evidenced differential perceptions as to all factors investigated. Educational implications of the findings were discussed and specific recommendations were proposed.