Sunday, July 29, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Don't Let Anyone Tell You You Can't
Im set the first world record of the London Olympics on Friday, breaking his own mark in the 72-arrow event and helping South Korea set a team record in the opening round. He broke the record he set in Turkey in May by three points with a score of 699, hours before the opening ceremony of the 2012 Games.
"This is just the first round, so I will not get too excited by it," said Im, who has 10 percent vision in his left eye and 20 percent in his right.
He combined with Kim Bub-min and Oh Jin-hyek, breaking the record for 216 arrows with a score of 2,087. That was 18 better than the mark South Korea set in May.
The 26-year-old Im does not wear glasses in competition, saying he relies on distinguishing between the bright colors of the target. He won gold in the team event at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
South Korean coach Jang Young Sool also didn't seem too impressed by his team's accomplishment. He said his archers must get ready their next test.
"We will have a day of rest now and prepare for tomorrow," he said of the gold-medal match Saturday.
France finished second in the team event, followed by China and the U.S., which was ranked No. 1 coming into the event. The U.S. men beat South Korea last October in London.
Brady Ellison, world No. 1 individual archer, said the conditions were ideal Friday and he wasn't surprised the individual world record fell.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Quadriplegic Cheerleader
Sixteen-year-old Julia Sullivan uses a powered wheelchair because she has no arms and legs, but the plucky Nebraska teen didn’t let this stop her from trying out for the cheerleading squad at Aurora High School. When the school gave her low marks on certain physical aspects of the tryouts and denied her the ability to be a cheerleader every year for three years, Julia and her parents took on the school board and negotiated an agreement to let the teen try out again with certain accommodations.
The teen has participated in other school activities like marching band, and the school had no problem accommodating her disability by allowing her to attach the symbols to her wheelchair. Her parents say the cheerleading official’s inability to make similar accommodations for the teen are frustrating and unfair. “For us,” said her father, Mike Sullivan to the Omaha World-Herald, “It’s the basic principle. Any handicapped child in Nebraska could be kept out of activities.”
The school district superintendent, Damon McDonald, told local news sources, “The Aurora Public Schools policies and guidelines are appropriate and legitimate for all students.” The superintendent went on to say that the school district didn’t violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and that to accommodate Julia would “fundamentally alter” the cheerleading program. The school board is seeking legal advice on their policies regarding students with disabilities and programs like cheerleading.
Recently, Mike and Carolyn Sullivan, Julia’s parents, have reached an agreement with the school board on accommodations so that Julia can try out for the squad again in the spring. According to LiveWell Nebraska, the agreement between the parents and school officials levels the playing field for teens that have disabilities who wish to participate in sports and other school-sponsored activities. In the agreement, the district acknowledged that they are obligated to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities under the law.
“To us, this wasn’t simply about cheerleading,” stated the Sullivan’s attorney, Kevin Schneider. “It was about how we’re going to handle” such cases in the future.
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UPDATE: According to the Ionia Sentinel-Standard, Julia has achieved her goal of becoming a cheerleader! The Portland High School Varsity Cheerleaders of Michigan invited Julia to come cheer for their school after hearing she was not being allowed to cheer at her own high school in Aurora, NE.
http://blog.amsvans.com/50060-disabled-nebraska-teen-challenges-school-cheerleader-policy/
Demi Says Disney Promotes Unhealthy Body Image
Published December 27, 2011
FoxNews.com
Demi Lovato attacked the Disney Channel on Twitter last week for mocking eating disorders and using increasingly smaller stars in their shows that cater to tweens. The network was quick to offer an apology, but experts say Lovato opened the Pandora’s Box about the dangerous effects television shows can have on the negative body image of young women.
“The producers and writers should have known that a comment like this is ridiculous to be said on air by a character on any program targeted at teens,” nutritionist Rania Batayneh tells Fox411.com.Lovato’s beef was with a joke made about eating disorders on the show “Shake it Up.” One of the show’s characters joked: "I could just eat you up, well, if I ate."
"It is not a notable character trait to ‘not eat,'" Batayneh said. "We have seen time and time again Disney actresses who struggle with their weight who are a bit obsessed as adults with their physique or just lose control all together and let themselves go. There needs to be a focus on health and wellness and for teens.”
After watching the offensive episode, the “Skyscraper” singer and actress, who has been very public about her own struggles with eating issues, tweeted: “What are we promoting here? #notfunnyATALL. I find it really funny how a company can lose one of their actress' from the pressures of an EATING DISORDER and yet still make [a] joke about that very disease."
She followed it up with another message. "And is it just me or are the actress' getting THINNER AND THINNER.... I miss the days of RAVEN, and LIZZIE MCGUIRE. EATING DISORDERS ARE NOT SOMETHING TO JOKE ABOUT," she tweeted, referencing the actresses Raven Symone and Hilary Duff.
A rep for Disney told Fox411.com they are aware of Lovato's concerns.
“We issued a response via Twitter on Friday evening (pasted below). The “Shake It Up” episode premiered one year ago (December 12, 2010) and has been televised periodically since then. We also pulled an episode of “So Random” from the schedule to evaluate it.”
This is the tweet the rep was referencing: "We hear you & are pulling both episodes as quickly as possible & reevaluating them... It's NEVER our intention to make light of eating disorders!"
Indeed the Disney Channel is not entirely bereft of positive body role models. The character Trish, played by the actress Raini Rodriguez on the show “Austin & Ally” is not a classic size 2. But Trish is an outlier on television, which experts say features mostly very thin young girls.
“This controversy goes beyond Disney. The fact that they apologized to Demi Lovato, for possibly making fun of eating disorders, is proof that the media, parents, needs to be very careful in the messages we give to our girls and boys regarding body image,” explains Dr. Jeffrey Gardere, an assistant professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine. “The fact is we have become an obsessive and prejudiced society when it comes to body image and being thin for girls. By constantly portraying these so called perfect bodies in the media, it can promote unhealthy eating, diet, and food disorder practices that can cause injury and sometimes death, not to mention the psychological damage that can severely impact self image and self-esteem.”
Networks and shows that cater to children need to be more mindful in both casting and writing to ensure that children of all shapes and sizes are represented and that serious eating issues are not mocked or marginalized, says psychotherapist Dr. Jenn Berman, the creator of the “No More Diets” iPad app.
“Corporations have a huge responsibility when creating programming for children, tweens and teens to be sensitive and help create positive body image instead of helping to create eating disorders,” Berman told Fox411.com. “They need to put girls and boys who have all different types of bodies and sizes and shapes in their shows and be very sensitive when talking about eating disorders to not make jokes about restricting and disorders.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/12/27/demi-lovato-says-disney-promoting-unhealthy-body-images-to-young-girls/#ixzz20o7T2SB7
Teen Ink Essay
The following is an essay published in the June 2012 issue of Teen Ink, a magazine for teen writers.
He’s no idiot, he may not be the smartest person to ever walk through the bland hallways of our school, but he is no idiot. You, you who mock him and taunt him, you are the idiot. I almost feel sorry for you, because the only way you can seem to be able to obtain happiness is by torment those that you don’t see as a threat. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous of him. Jealous because he is able to find happiness in the average, mundane day, where you are not able to. You, so angry for no reason, torment him because you aren’t as happy as he is.
You laugh at him as he walks around our lunch room, playing with a bendy straw. It is easy to see how happy he is just to bend and strained the blue plastic vessel. It is even more obvious how happy you are made by making fun of how happy he is, overlooking the fact that your life would be a lot better if you could only get enjoyment from simple things as he does. Of course you do not realize that, you’re too big of an idiot to realize that.
For the entirety of this school year I have watched you, mocking him. it has never stopped disgusting me, as well as many others. Perhaps this is the reason why, when you took his straw away no one offered to help you. No one offered to help you not be beaten almost senseless by the boy that you saw a being a weak and weak minded person. Instead we all watched, students and teachers as he, in a blind rage from the crime committed against him, beat the living heck out of you.
I usually do not condone violence, but you had it coming to you. That boy never did anything to you. That boy is the sweetest, biggest teddy bear of a person who has ever lived. Yet you choice to hurt him. you choice to hurt him in the hopes that he would cry and for that I will condone that boy creaming you. He can’t defend himself in words by asking for the straw back, so he defends himself the only way he can, which I think is what he should do.
It was quite the fight indeed as he went on exacting his revenge against you. I truly hope that you thanked God that the boy just lost interest in beating you and just walked away. I also hope, as you sit looking at your battle wounds, that you will never be so stupid to underestimate someone again. Because now he has a new straw, no longer wanting the one your touch soiled, and you have new scars to remind you of what an idiot you are.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Tye Dye Shirts and Booth
Count us in, we'll be there! For the TyeDye shirts, what do you guys think about ironing on letters and then soaking them in TyeDye? Would like to make a few t-shirts for the open house and if it's ok, maybe sell them to members, or give them out if people sign up? Thoughts?? Stacey, would they be allowed to be worn on Spirit Day?
Ideas for 2012-2013
We had our last meeting
. Below are the ideas we would like to develop for next year. Some of these will have to be organized over the summer. We worked on the website during the meeting so we would have a place to congregate over the summer! Thanks for a great start to what is going to be an amazing group.
Back to School/Membership:
- Booth at Back to School BBQ and Open House
- Please let me know if you are able to attend this!
- Posters to increase membership
- TyeDye T-Shirts
- Sponsor a Spirit Shirt
- Bracelets, bows, stickers
- Website
Videos:
- General Club video for membership
- Disability awareness
- Monthly character skits
School Activities:
- Blowing bubbles to represent number of individuals with disabilities
- Sponsor a problem solving box
- Have a “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” event
- Sponsor Bullying 5K Event in October
Community:
- Join or create a walk in Town Center
- Create a Fun Day and include students with disabilities
- Have a booth at Christmas or 4th of July Rotary events
- Consider merging with Problem Solver
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