David Foster Wallace on dumb jocks and athletic genius

David Foster Wallace was genuinely troubled by what he perceived to be a serious incongruity in the mental lives of elite athletes. To perform with grace and beauty, elite athletes must be ‘geniuses,’ yet in conversation and prose these same athletes often exhibit such vapidity and banality that he was tempted to simply write them off as unintelligent or worse. In response to this puzzle, Wallace developed different philosophical conceptions of the elite athlete aimed at bridging the gap between genius and dumb jock. For Wallace, this was an exercise designed to help him live a more compassionate life.     

“Stop sending your kids across our border:” Discursively constructing the unaccompanied youth migrant

The recent migration of 65,000 children across the southwestern border, coupled with allegations of abuse by the U.S. Border Patrol, enables the investigation of an overlooked immigrant category: the unaccompanied youth migrant. Analyzing audience responses to news reports of the abuse, we find that established disparaging immigrant tropes apply, describing the children as an economic burden, disease carriers, and offspring of irresponsible families. We uncover two new themes: Youth migrants are channels whereby criminals may infiltrate the U.S., and manipulate legal authorities to remain in the U.S. Finally, we demonstrate how global compassion is strategically deployed to qualify harsh retaliatory measures.     

Shoe drop reduction influences the lower limb biomechanics of children tennis players during an open stance forehand: A longitudinal study

Compared to traditional tennis shoes, using 0-drop shoes was shown to induce an immediate switch from rear- to forefoot strike pattern to perform an open stance tennis forehand for 30% of children tennis players. The purpose of the study was to examine the long-term effects of a gradual reduction in the shoe drop on the biomechanics of children tennis players performing open stance forehands. Thirty children tennis players participated in 2 laboratory biomechanical test sessions (intermediate: +4 months and final: +8 months) after an inclusion visit where they were randomly assigned to control (CON) or experimental (EXP) group. CON received 12-mm-drop shoes twice, whereas EXP received 8?mm then 4-mm-drop shoes. Strike index indicated that all CON were rearfoot strikers in intermediate and final test sessions. All EXP were rearfoot strikers in intermediate test session, but half the group switched towards a forefoot strike pattern in final test session. This switch resulted in a decreased loading rate of the ground reaction force (?73%, p?=?.005) but increased peak ankle plantarflexors moment (+47%, p?=?.050) and peak ankle power absorption (+107%, p?=?.005) for these participants compared with CON. Biomechanical changes associated with the long-term use of partial minimalist shoes suggest a reduction in heel compressive forces but an increase in Achilles tendon tensile forces.     

Influence of Session Context on Physical Activity Levels Among Russian Girls During a Summer Camp

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of summer camp session context on Russian girls’ physical activity (PA). Method: Girls (n = 32, M_age = 10.7 years, SD = 0.6 years) from a resident summer camp taking place in the Vologda Region of Russia were exposed to 1 session context/day (i.e., free play, organized with no choice, organized with choice) on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for 3 weeks, with the context order counterbalanced across the 3 weeks. The organized session sport/game changed weekly. The primary outcome was accelerometer-assessed PA. Repeated-measures mixed models were used to analyze all outcome data. Results: Findings showed that girls spent a greater percentage of session time (%time) in moderate-to-vigorous PA (p < .001; effect sizes between free play and organized with no choice and organized with choice, respectively = .60, .42) and moderate PA (p < .001; effect size = .57, .39) and a lower %time in light PA (p < .001; effect size = .55, .52) in organized PA contexts compared with free play. Conclusions: This study provides novel findings in a Russian setting, suggesting that a well-planned, organized camp session can elicit higher PA levels in girls, relative to a free-play session.     

People's security: Okinawa's anti-bases movement

Abstract

The evolution of moral panics is dependent on the particular social context and the ability of certain issues to trigger concern within society. In this paper, the authors have employed a cross‐comparative study of the heavy metal music subcultures in Singapore and Malaysia to understand the differences in the issues that generate such panics based on the socio‐political context of each country and its current concerns. Although the youth involved in both cases are marginalised male Malays, the framing of their alleged deviance and criminality permits, in the case of Singapore, only a limited possibility for moral panic creation given the conservative socio‐political governance that limits allegations such as ‘Satanism’. In the case of Malaysia, where a ‘large‐scale’ moral panic involving black metal emerged in 2001, the recent trend towards Islamisation gave fodder for the condemnation of black metal based on the allegations of the anti‐Islamic behaviour of Muslim youth involved in the black metal scene. In both cases, such groups were exploited by parties claiming to defend the social fabric of the moral majority, but in the latter case it took on grave implications due to the extent of the state and public response. This paper thus argues that the framing of these moral panics is an important component determining the relative ‘success’ of the panic or its ability to capture public and state imaginings.     

Baby-Boomers to ‘Beanstalkers’

ABSTRACT

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the British teenager was presented as a symbol of generational rebellion in the popular press, social investigations, and much political debate. We draw on oral histories, newspapers and the archives of prominent social surveys to question this presentation. By examining how working-class teenagers and their parents experienced and remembered the post-war years, we identify a disjuncture between the literature on moral panic and the widespread evidence of intergenerational cooperation between parents and children. Many working-class parents, enjoying newfound economic security, felt able to encourage their children to enjoy more adventurous lives.     

论青年文化与极限运动发展

随着BMX竞速（小轮车竞速）被国际奥委会纳入2008年奥运会正式的比赛项目,极限运动被越来越多的人们所了解。极限运动起源于美国20世纪60年代,随着美国青年文化的发展与转向,极限运动从早期的叛逆特征,逐渐转向了以追求休闲娱乐、回归自然等为目的的多元价值取向,从而表现出了极限运动发展同青年文化发展的内在一致性。     

我国青少年女子足球运动员身体素质特征

以参加全国青少年女足冬训的运动员为研究对象,采用文献资料法、问卷调查法、专家访谈法和数理统计法,对我国青少年身体素质的特征进行了分析.研究表明:我国青少年青女子足球运动员身体素质发展的个体差异明显,上肢力量和腰腹肌力量差别较大;对于青少年女子足球运动员身体素质训练的方式比较单一.     

兰州市青少年体育舞蹈开展的现状调查与对策研究

随着体育舞蹈运动的逐渐普及,为了促进西部地区青少年体育舞蹈运动的开展,采用访谈、问卷、统计等方法,对兰州市青少年体育舞蹈开展的现状进行了分析与研究,针对教师专业水平较低,组织管理滞后,场地设施和比赛制度不完善等主要影响因素提出了对策。     

我国青少年女子垒球投手肩关节运动的检测分析

通过应用超声波动力学测量仪和等速仪器分别对8名青少年女子垒球投手和8名普通中学生肩关节内、外旋活动范围、内外旋肌力进行测量,探讨青少年女子垒球投手肩关节旋转运动特征。发现垒球投手优势臂的外旋活动范围明显大于非优势臂;而其优势臂的内旋活动范围则显著小于非优势臂,优势臂的整个旋转活动范围也明显比非优势臂小;对照组的优势臂和非优势臂旋转活动范围差异无显著性,垒球投手肩关节存在。内、外旋肌力不平衡,实验组优势臂外旋／内旋峰力矩比值明显小于非优势臂,实验组优势臂内旋相对峰力矩明显大于非优势臂（p〈0．001）,优势臂外旋峰力矩与非优势臂相比无明显差异（P〉0．05）。