Blog 4: Safety First!

Safety First!! Yep that's it! Wearing protective gear is one of the most important aspects of this sport. BMX is a competitive sport where both the boys and girls get aggressive and for their safety it is important that they wear the proper protective gear. It is ABA rules that although you get to chose the amount of protection you want yourself or your rider to wear, the rider must sport an "approved basic helmet, long sleeve shirt, long pant, and closed toe shoe." You will not be allowed ride on the track without those basic items of clothing. Cause lets face it, you're going to get hurt in this sport, even its Olympic riders get hurt. Berlin "Bubba" Harris III a rider for the American men's cycling BMX team was practicing in the 2008 Olympics and dislocated his entire ankle, luckily he was wearing proper padding and gear or his injury could have been much worse.

So in this blog I will be telling you why it is important for ABA BMX to uphold these basic rules of safety for their riders. With the amount of concussions, fractures, and broken bones received in a riders lifetime, it is important to keep these rules and regulations. The process in which these events happen is somewhat mesmerizing. Friends that race together are not afraid to be competitive with each other and take them out in the burms and turns of the race track. The matter in which these crashes happens is by no means beautiful. 

While looking through my options of academic and non academic sources it wasn't to hard to find articles on bmx and its riders that have crashed.

Now we all think that we know why its important to wear helmets and full on gear, but lets pose the question why for a moment? Why is it really important for riders to wear the gear that they do? But before answering that all for lucid question of WHY, let me give you a little bit of background on the gear and its purposes.

So first The Helmet:
- This is obviously the most vital part of equipment worn in the sport because it protects the most important part of your body - the brain. The helmet in BMX is exactly like the one worn in motocross because it is a shock absorbing helmet that absorbs the impact of the blow to your head. After one good blow, it is recommended to get the helmet checked to see if the shock absorbency is still there, if not, that means its time to get a new helmet. If you have a $40 brain, then grab that $40 helmet.. This is the piece of gear where you don't want to skimp on price.

The Shirt and Pants:
- Race-specific jersey and pants are most recommended by ABA. The shirt gives more protection while keeping the rider cool with its mesh design. The pants provide more protection for your knees, hips, and shins. And believe me, you'll want that extra padding if you're getting ready to eat dirt. Although it is acceptable to wear short sleeves and shorts to the track it must be followed by full elbow and knee pads.

The Gloves:
- The gloves are not required to wear but are wanted if you have ever gone down in an asphalt turn and ripped up their hands. Gloves come in all sorts of materials and designs so your hands will feel normal, but safe.

The Shoes:
- Any tennis shoe will do for racing bmx, but the flatter the soul, such as skate shoes, the better the gription on a platform pedal. As you move up in the ranks (Intermediate and Expert) you might want to move to clips, a spring loaded pedal and cleated-shoe that clip your feet into the pedals so while riding your foot doesn't slip and cause you to crash.

So now that you know more about the gear used in the sport of bmx we will go back to the question of why.

Why wear this gear, and why be mandatory?

- Riders should wear the gear because if they didn't, there would be fatalities. It has never been heard of that at national races or local track races where not one kid or even adult doesn't crash. Whether it be fatal or not there are always going to be injuries in the sport of bmx racing. It should be common sense to parents and riders that wearing this gear is important. Plus its all you ever see people in at the tracks so it can also be a fashion statement. If you're not wearing gear most of the time you're a spectator in the stands, and from what I've learned so far that can be a little insulting to a rider haha.

Now that you know a little more about the sport and the gear that is required by the Association, I hope you may consider hopping on a bike and maybe riding down to your local track. The bxm community always welcomes new riders with open arms and are always ready to help.

for this video skip to 26 seconds.. The guy in all white in second place is my best friend. If he wasn't wearing his gear he would not have come out of this crash walking.

Blog #4 Lauren Geary- Expensive Athletic Shoes

Expensive Athletic Shoes

As you have seen in my prior blogs I have stated about the importance of athletic shoes. They say that the shoes are supposed to help with keeping injuries low. Such as preventing ankle sprains and back problems. Also in one of my last blogs I stated the price of some of these shoes. The Nike FreeRuns are a running shoe that can be used for causal jogs, walking, and running. They are known for being light weight and having good heel support. They usually run for about $100 at most stores. Another shoe that is important to its sport is the basketball shoe. You use your feet alot in basketball running around the court and what not, which can resort in broken ankles or plantar fanciitis which has to do with the sole of your foot. Most of the basketball shoes that are being produced today have more ankle support and are padded. For example Kevin Durants shoes called the KD 5's. They are priced at $115.

• In my opinion I think that it is the name of the shoe that sells and not the actual shoe and how it can help us. Most people know the name Nike and see celebrities wearing it and think it makes them one step closer to being a celebrity if they purchase and wear Nike. Nike is a billion dollar business and can afford to endorse famous athletes and make lots of prime time commercials which makes it seem like their shoes are better and can do more for us. Now on the other hand there are other running shoes and basketball shoes that can do the same thing but are way cheaper. There is a retired athlete and his name is Stephon Marbury and he has his own brand of basketball shoes.They have the same effect on your feet as Kevin Durants shoes but are little heavier but do the same thing. Whats the difference you ask?...While Kevin Durants shoes is 115, The Starburys are only $15 max. Mind blowing right? Now why is this? They are both basketball shoes and do the same thing.....Its all about the name and logo. If Nike really cared about your feet and thought their shoes were important why wouldn't they lower their prices so maybe families with lower incomes could afford the right type of shoe.

• As you have seen in some of my blogs already is that basketball shoes are very expensive. One of the most expensive brands are Jordans. There are about 25 pairs total, but only about half are really popular. There are many reasons to why they are so expensive. One is that footlocker only relases a certain Jordan every couple of years and only in a certain color. Also is that Jordans are the shoes of the greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan. People think that by wearing his shoe they will become a great player like him. I myself own a couple pairs of Jordans and love them but the prices can sometimes be ridiculous. For kid sizes 3-7 the prices can be all the way up to $150. For adult sizes the prices can go all the way up to $250. Ive even seen some cases where peole will buy like 10 pair and wait until stores are out of stock and then sell the shoes on websites such as amazon and ebay. Ive even seen some people ask for 700 dollars just for a shoe. Peole dont even wear them for basketball now. They wear them just for looks.

• Athletic Shoes shouldn't be so expensive if they are trying to help athletes out. Not everyone can afford $100 dollar shoes. Some of society doesn't even know about off brand shoes and how they can do the same as name brand shoes. They see name brand every where being endorsed and then see off brands and think that since they are off brand and less expensive that they can't get the job done.

Sources:

LexisNexis

SneakerHead.com

ProQuest Newsstand

Google Scholar

Blog #3 Lauren- Should Athletic Shoes Be So Pricey?

Should Athletic Shoes Be So Pricey If They Are So Important?

As you have seen in my prior blogs I have stated about the importance of athletic shoes. They say that the shoes are supposed to help with keeping injuries low. Such as preventing ankle sprains and back problems. Also in one of my last blogs I stated the price of some of these shoes. The Nike FreeRuns are a running shoe that can be used for causal jogs, walking, and running. They are known for being light weight and having good heel support. They usually run for about $100 at most stores. Another shoe that is important to its sport is the basketball shoe. You use your feet alot in basketball running around the court and what not, which can resort in broken ankles or plantar fanciitis which has to do with the sole of your foot. Most of the basketball shoes that are being produced today have more ankle support and are padded. For example Kevin Durants shoes called the KD 5's. They are priced at $115.

My arguement is that if we need to take care of our feet more and the shoes we wear for sports are so imporant, then why charge so much for them.

• In my opinion I think that it is the name of the shoe that sells and not the actual shoe and how it can help us. Most people know the name Nike and see celebrities wearing it and think it makes them one step closer to being a celebrity if they purchase and wear Nike. Nike is a billion dollar business and can afford to endorse famous athletes and make lots of prime time commercials which makes it seem like their shoes are better and can do more for us. Now on the other hand there are other running shoes and basketball shoes that can do the same thing but are way cheaper. There is a retired athlete and his name is Stephon Marbury and he has his own brand of basketball shoes.They have the same effect on your feet as Kevin Durants shoes but are little heavier but do the same thing. Whats the difference you ask?...While Kevin Durants shoes is 115, The Starburys are only $15 max. Mind blowing right? Now why is this? They are both basketball shoes and do the same thing.....Its all about the name and logo. If Nike really cared about your feet and thought their shoes were important why wouldn't they lower their prices so maybe families with lower incomes could afford the right type of shoe.

Athletic Shoes shouldn't be so expensive if they are trying to help athletes out. Not everyone can afford $100 dollar shoes. Some of society doesn't even know about off brand shoes and how they can do the same as name brand shoes. They see name brand every where being endorsed and then see off brands and think that since they are off brand and less expensive that they can't get the job done.

Sources:

LexisNexis

NBA.com

ProQuest Newsstand

Google Scholar

Blog # 2 Lauren The Importance of Athletic Shoes

The Importance of Athletic Shoes:

As a person who loves sports I love everything that has to do with the sport. I love the competition and action and fans but what I love most is the gear. Not a lot of people know why we were certain shoes for certain sports. I mean most people know you're not going to wear football cleats on a basketball court. The importance of athletic shoes can range from different things, such as for football or soccer you wear cleats on the grass or field so you wont slip and fall. Another important thing for shoes could be more ankle support in your shoe if you have bad ankles or you would to protect your ankle and not break it. Even the lightness of the shoe could be important, you wouldnt want to be running with heavy shoes on. Your feet are the root of everything and if they are healthy and taken care of with the right type of shoe then you should have no problem.

1. On ProQuest Newsstand I found an article called "FEET DON'T FAIL ME NOW ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS STRESS IMPORTANCE OF BEING WELL-HEELED: [Final Edition]"

• The article talks about this woman who had back surgery and was trying to get back in shape but it wasnt really working out because she didn't take care of her feet and have the right type of athletic shoe to work out in. The doctors say that people should find the right type of shoe and make sure that it is comfortable and fits. It also says that you're feet are very important and the right type of athletic shoes will prevent corns and calluses and even prevent back problems. A quote that I really like from the article is, "When exercising, the proper athletic shoes are key in protecting feet from problems. "Some of the athletic shoe stores have just raised the bar (on fitting shoes)," Hendrix said. "They are pretty much in tune with the shoes and the sports. You name it, there is a shoe for the sport."

-At first it was hard to find an article that explained the importance of the actual shoe. Most of the articles just talked about how it is important to take care of your feet. This article did alot of that also but toward the end they started to state that the shoe was also imporant to your feet. Overall it was helpful to my blog.

2. On Lexis Nexis I could not find anything on the importance of athletic shoes. I thought I would atleast find a magazine article or something small that was on the topic. This database was of no help to me for my topic.

3. For my last source which I googled was http://www.ehow.com/about_5531413_importance-athletic-shoes.html . It talks about how athletic shoes are an important consideration not only in traditional sports-related activities but also in everyday concerns for maintaining back, leg and foot health. Choosing the right shoes for daily tasks as well as for specialized activities such as exercise and sports can prove an important preventative measure against injury. Whether you are an avid jogger or a rushed parent transporting children from school to soccer practice, the right shoe can make a huge difference in the aches you feel at the end of the day.
- This article was really helpful for my article. They told you right off the top what would happen if you didnt wear the right type of shoe and what would happen if you did. They told you different types of shoes and how you could prevent injury.

Skateboarding#4

           Skateboarding is one of the most recent well known sports that have been made. It started out as a hobby that surfers took from the waves to concrete. It was founded in the 50's and has grown to become one of the United States favorite sports. A crazy fact I came across while doing research was that it's actually the sixth most popular sport in the entire world. The thing is that not everywhere is as full of skaters as California. California holds over half of all of the skateboarders in the entire nation! What was once a hobby definitely became a serious, yet smooth sailing sport. From street competitions to X-games, people are watching and loving skateboarding more and more. Statistics show that there are about 20 million skateboarders in today's age and date. Its amazing to think that just about 50 years ago we were riding planks of wood barely able to do an ollie and now people are flying off mega ramps doing 1080's. Skateboarding has come far in the last few years and intends to go farther. There is a big question that has been up in the air for the last 10 years or so and that is if skateboarding will ever be able to join in on the Olympics. There is a huge controversy with many people that skateboarding is still not considered a "real" sport. I find this quiet ridiculous and many other skaters do too. I mean just take a look at a video on Youtube.com and you can tell for yourself! It takes time, patience, skill, sweat, balance, passion and even a competitive mind set to further yourself to learn more tricks. Most skateboarders agree that every single person that loves to jump on a board wants to try a trick that no one has done before or find a spot that has been untouched by another. As a skater myself, every time I glance at a staircase I think of what tricks I could do down it or even up it. It is totally something that becomes more than just a hobby, it becomes apart of your every day life style. Even going down the street or going to class, you'll think twice about walking and grab a board off the wall and cruise over there. Many skaters are trying their best to be able to open up the Olympics to having skateboarding join the crew of sports. Unfortunately last we've heard from the Olympics is that International Cycling Union president, Pat McQuaid, gave information to ESPN that they abandoned the idea of letting skateboarding become one of their sports. But one response from a lead skateboarder that has come up in the past to years is word from Tony Hawk saying in a newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, "I think the Olympics needs skateboarding much more than skateboarding needs the Olympics". Ironic enough when I met Tony Hawk we talked about this issue and came to an understanding that it will most likely happen within the next several years. This happening still hasn't occurred but I'm sure many people other than me are keeping their fingers crossed. And its very true that the Olympics needs skateboarding more than skaters need it. Many people are starting to find the Olympics to be dying out because its the same thing every year. The problem is that one of the 28 sports has to drop in order to let skateboarding in to the picture. There is even a few skaters that oppose having skateboarding in the Olympics. Lance Mountain being one of them believes that skating is like an art. Having it in the Olympics would be like having Rush, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and the Sex Pistols all play a set, then judging them. I myself feel as though skateboarding should be apart of their gig. I don't even watch the Olympics but if skating was jammed up in there I would definitely put some time out of my day to watch it and I think a lot of others would agree with that notion. If the nation is still growing to see more than 20 million skaters when the sport has only been around for 63 years, I think it needs a little bit more attention than the X-games. There are so many combinations and tricks that can be made and would wow the audience. It's about time to wake up the Olympics and add some spice to their mix.










http://ezinearticles.com/?Interesting-Skateboard-Facts&id=1849719

http://xgames.espn.go.com/skateboarding/article/8253956/skateboarding-unlikely-become-olympic-sport
http://www.tmz.com/2013/02/18/tony-hawk-skateboarding-olympics/
http://skateboard.about.com/cs/boardscience/a/brief_history.htm
http://www.skateboardingskateboards.com/skateboarding-history/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skateboarding
http://skateboard.about.com/od/proskaterbios/p/ProTonyHawk.htm

Blog #4:Darling Argueta- Music&Emotions

How does music effect on people moods/emotions?

Music does have an effect on people's emotions. Through out my research a lot of different views of what emotions could be and how they can be express have come up. Furthermore music has an effect on the part of the brain were emotions are activated.

 Music, Emotions, and Truth:

In this article it talks about how music has been seen as way of people expressing themselves and how music is seen ass away to describe what people are feeling. Music is seen as something natural however music as been seen by scientist as something that has multiple theories. For example the Arousal Theory is “that music has properties capable of arousing emotions or feelings in listeners. The arousal may take place because of some causal mechanism in which sounds and the dynamic properties of music affect the human body and mind” (Elina Packalén). This describes how music music has an effect on people's mind and body. I really agree with this theory because everyone time I heard a sound that has a fast rhythm I would want to dance and I would feel happy, even though it is a theory I think it is true. Another theory is Cognitivist theory which is “the emotions expressed in music as unfelt, necessarily publicly displayed, and objectless.  In Davies’ view, emotions expressed in music are thus different from emotions felt by people.” (Elina Packalén). This describes how music is can be interpret differently by the listener than the artist. I personally disagree with this statement because I think that when an artist want to express their sadness, happiness, struggles the listener would feel it too because of what the lyrics say. The last theory is the Symbol theory which is “we express our emotions in utterance and behavior is at least to some extent dependent on our culture, personality, and temper.” (Elina Packalén). This shows how music is away of identity to people it can represent there personality, their culture, and there temper. I really agree with this Theory because the type of music someone listens too is a part of them and it can describe who they are and were they come from. For example i personally listen to music from my culture and more specifically the country I am from which is a part of me. 

Here is a video of the type of music from the country I am from 

which represent apart of who I am. 

Music and emotion: The effects of lyrics and familiarity on emotional responses to music:

This article describes how music influence what people feel and the way their body reacts. Film makers and artist take advantage of this to be able to sell there product. This article also talk about the fact that music is used as away to express what people are feeling and what the artist are feeling while writing it. Something very interesting about this article is the fact that apparently sad music changes the way people feel, and the way their body reacts. For example sad music causes changes in heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance, and temperature. Happy music changes people's respiration. While fearful music cause largest change in blood transit, and amplitude. I found this very interesting because when I think about emotions. I think about how people feel not about the way the body reacts to does feelings. I think emotions are connected to the way the way the body reacts depending on the emotions. 

Psychology of music:

This article talk about a study that was done where participants took individual test. They listen to multiple type of music. Where they would them describe what they felt when they listen to a particular type of music. In this study it was discover that only six basic emotions the participants felt which were happiness, anger disgust, surprise, sadness, and fear. However these emotions were not connected to people childhood or personal traits. This means people experience has nothing to do with what there feeling when they listen to music. I disagree with this because their are some songs that I listened to when I was little, and I have memories of my childhood or an event that happen. I think it can change the way people feel with a particular song.  

Here is a video that elaborate on the way music effects people's emotions. 

Links: 

http://www.livescience.com/25611-why-music-moves-us.html

http://0-search.proquest.com.opac.sfsu.edu/docview/305215316/previewPDF?accountid=13802

http://0-pom.sagepub.com.opac.sfsu.edu/content/39/4/503.full.pdf+html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SePL2w5f6dE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z71K-jQ4j2E

Blog#4-Chris A-Spirituality and Religion

So picking up from where I started from my last blog, I am both spiritual and religious even though both have different meanings. I lean more towards being spiritual because religion has too many obligations in order to classify yourself as "religious." This distinction between spirituality and religion is an important one because a lot of the time people say they are religious, but they what they really mean to say is that they are spiritual. It is important that those of you reading this blog understand and realize that spirituality is not the same as being religious.

This year, I have taken my spirituality to another level, a new direction, a different approach. I have began to train my mind to do certain things that is above what the mind can do. This will be a little hard for most to comprehend, but if you try to look past the material things in the world, and really try to put your mind in a state of "non thinking" you will realize that your mind has the ability to operate more than what we can perceive...

Through my research I have come to find that all of us believe that we live in the third dimension, but many do not know that there is the fourth dimension and the fifth dimension.   
Our reality comes from this 3rd dimension concept that revolves around space and time. There is a valley though, that comes between the 3rd dimension and 5th dimension. This valley is long and may take a long time to get across (meaning it may take a long time to enter the 4th dimension),  "Yet, by applying Love, Trust and a willing heart, you can create your own reality shift from the mundane experience of simple third dimensional living into a life of purpose, joy and flow as you cultivate your expanded spiritual self in the fifth dimension." - Spiritual awakening and consciousness website. 

1. http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/20568813?&Search=yes&searchText=meditation&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dmeditation%2B%26acc%3Doff%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff&prevSearch=&item=4&ttl=73017&returnArticleService=showArticleInfo (JSTOR)
2. http://www.lavoisier.fr/livre/notice.asp?ouvrage=1785777 (Google Scholar)
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15979795 (NCBI)

1. http://www.examiner.com/article/spiritual-consciousness-moving-from-the-third-to-the-fourth-and-fifth-dimension

2. http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/freedom/freedom_04.html