2017 FINA WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Just when it looked as though the nation of Australia could possibly end its aquatic campaign in Budapest without a single gold medal to its credit, reigning world champion Emily Seebohm came to the rescue. After collecting a bronze in the 100 backstroke and clocking a new Commonwealth Record in the 50m back for 4th place already at this meet, Seebohm saved her best for last and crushed a monster time of 2:05.68 to win the 200m backstroke.

For 25-year-old Seebohm, her gritty performance was not only a victory for Australia, but it was also a personal triumph for the national team mainstay whos had a difficult year. After cruising to the 100m and 200m backstroke titles at 2015 World Championships in Kazan,Seebohm went on an absolute tear across the 2015/16 World Cup season.

By the time Rio rolled around, however, it was clear to the Brisbane Grammar swimmer that something wasnt right, as shefelt tired, crampy and sluggish. Finishing a disappointing 12th in the 200m back and off the podium in the 100m at the 2016 Olympics, Seebohm waited until after the Games to announced she had been suffering from symptoms of and ultimately was diagnosed with endometriosis. She eventually had surgery in December 2016 but refused to blame her lackluster performance in Rio on her health problems.

Giving swim fans perhaps the most emotional performance of her career, Seebohm couldnt hide her satisfaction in knowing she persevered and never gave up in the race.

Honestly, Im pretty relieved, Seebohm said as she choked back tears.

Im just really honoured and proud, such a fast field tonight and I was going to be proud of myself whether I won or I came last because getting back into the pool after Rio was really hard.

Everything Ive gone through it just proves to myself that it wasnt me, that Rio was just one of those things that happens in life and sometimes youve got to go down, to get back up.

I guess for me it was really hard after Rio, I knew there was a lot going on in my body and I really pushed through in Rio, Seebohm said.

After the surgery (for endometriosis) I got my wisdom teeth out in January, and then I had to rush back into the water and train really hard for this and Im just amazed at what I have achieved tonight.

I think what I did last year helped a lot, I was very mentally and physically tough last year even though I was struggling a lot it definitely helped me coming into this year, feeling better inside myself, feeling better inside my head and to come into this year and just absolutely enjoy every moment that Ive had its just been a fantastic meet.

In many ways, Seebohms race strategy tonight in Budapest was representative of her personal journey, maintaining her composure through the 150m mark and charging to the finish with pure guts and fueled by the sheer will to win.

Said Seebohm after the race regarding her strategy, I knew that Kathleen Baker was going to take it out pretty hard, because thats her style.

I know that people have seen me race the 200 backstroke like this many times before so for them, I think it was about trying to take it out hard because they think that will hurt me more in the back-end.

But it is all about focusing on your own race and you dont get carried away with focusing on what people are doing around you, because at the end of the day, the perfect race plan for yourself works best and I stuck to what I know and what Im good at and it worked out really well for me tonight.

Even young 16-year-old Taylor McKeown, who earned a new World Junior Record in the event representing Australia, was in awe of her teammates electric performance.

I think I was more happy with her swim than mine to be honest, it was good to see her get out there and claim the world title again.

Australia Medal Table Through Day 7:

Rank/Nation/Gold/Silver/Bronze/Total

Oceanic Records Through Day 7:

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Seebohm's Gold Symbolizes Personal Triumph Over Adversities - SwimSwam

At 3pm next Saturday the worlds first and only vegan football club will make sporting history when they play in the Football League for the first time. Forest Green Rovers, who were founded in the 19th century by a man named Peach, and play in green at the appropriately named New Lawn, take on Barnet the Bees in their first fixture in League Two. They will use their new status to spread the message of veganism around the sporting world.

Were having a big impact because were counterintuitive, said Dale Vince, the multimillionaire who owns the club, the green energy company Ecotricity, and is a big donor to the Labour party. Spreading the vegan word through the world of football what could be more counterintuitive than that?

Vince, who ensures that only plant-based food is available to players and spectators at the stadium in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, is not alone. Famous athletes in a wide range of sports are forsaking meat and appear to be having a big impact on the number of people trying a plant-based diet.

Some of the worlds leading footballers, including Barcelonas Lionel Messi and Manchester Citys Sergio Agero, do not eat meat during the playing season, while England striker Jermaine Defoe has gone a big step further by taking up a vegan diet. Wimbledon finalist Venus Williams, an Italian rugby international, a US Olympic weightlifter, a number of hulking American football players, former heavyweight world champion David Haye, two snooker world champions and several top Australian cricketers are also on the vegan list.

Other sports with top-level vegans are wrestling, surfing, cycling, ice hockey, parkour the extreme gymnastics sport that may be added to the Olympic programme squash, bobsleigh, mixed martial arts fighting and ultra-running.

The surge had come in recent years, driven by digital media, said Vince. Its a mixture of people looking for an edge to improve performance, greater prevalence of knowledge, and more scientific evidence about the benefits, not just in sports performance but for human health, he said.

While Vince and the Vegan Society welcome the new wave of plant-powered sports stars, others are less happy because many are giving up meat for personal performance benefits, not because they are in tune with the vegan lifestyle and compassion for animals.

But Dominika Piasecka, media officer for the Vegan Society, welcomed the sporting newcomers and predicted there would be more. The sports stars influence has definitely helped to further the cause of veganism, she said. People really do take notice, especially if theyre a fan of the person.

The England-based Vegan Society, founded in 1944 when the movement began, is overseeing the fastest-growing lifestyle movement of the 21st century. Its researchers put the number of vegans in Britain at 542,000 up 260% in 10 years and estimate that about 1% of the population in Britain, Germany and the US is vegan. It is very likely that we will see an increase in the number of vegan sportspeople because more of them are starting to realise the benefits of a vegan diet, Piasecka said. Forest Green Rovers are breaking stereotypes and helping people to associate veganism with health, fitness and wellbeing.

Myths about the need to eat meat for protein have long since been disproved.

An aristocratic real tennis player who won a silver medal at the London 1908 Olympic Games was an early promoter of vegetarianism in Britain. Eustace Miles, a philanthropist, wrote Health Without Meat, which was a bestseller for years after it was published in 1915.

A few years later Paavo Nurmi, the Finn who was a vegetarian from boyhood, would establish himself as the greatest middle- and long-distance runner of the20th century. He won nine Olympic golds.

The Australian swimmer Murray Rose, nicknamed the seaweed streak because he ate a lot of seaweed in his vegan diet, was 17 when he won three Olympic golds in 1956.

In the television age Ed Moses, unbeaten for eight years at the 400m hurdles, and 100m world record holder Leroy Burrell were vegetarian, and the biggest name by far to adopt a vegan diet was Carl Lewis, the worlds most famous sprinter before the chicken-nugget lover Usain Bolt came along. The notorious boxer Mike Tyson also adopted a plant-based diet after he quit the ring.

But Lewis and Tyson stuck with it only for a few years and others may follow suit when their competing days are over.

Forest Greens vegan club label is not what it seems. The players are not vegan, they simply have to eat plant-based meals at matches and training. No animal products are on sale at the stadium. We dont check up on them away from the club but we hear that players are changing their approach [to their diet], and it happens with fans too, said Vince. Just doing these things and talking about it has an effect on everybody players, fans, even the media.

Venus Williams is widely seen, even by herself, as a cheagan, a cheating vegan who does not stick strictly to the lifestyle. A blogger on the ecorazzi website criticised Haye for using veganism as nothing but a vessel for self-promotion and adulation. For the sake of the animals we should pay no attention, nor give any credence to the positions of these athletes who are interested in nothing but their own careers.

But Vince believes this criticism is misguided. Its a mistake to be too purist about it. What we want to do is get the interest of the general public, we want them to know that a plant-based diet is easily available to them. It has to be accessible. Absolutely, these sportspeople can help.

Jason Gillespie, one of Australian crickets great bowlers until he retired in 2006, became a vegan during his highly successful five-year stint as coach of Yorkshire. Gillespie, who buys clothes in charity shops to support recycling, caused a stir when he suggested that a way should be found of making cricket balls without using leather, and when he questioned Yorkshires need to have a dairy company as a main sponsor. Hopefully one day the dairy industry can be shut down, he said at the time.

Gillespie is far more committed than most of the big-name vegans in sport, but he agrees with Vince. People who choose the vegan lifestyle on compassionate grounds will more likely stay with it as opposed to people who choose to eat vegan purely for performance or as a diet, Gillespie said from his home in Adelaide. I have no problem with athletes eating vegan purely for performance. If the vegan message is getting out there then that is a step in the right direction.

There is more awareness about veganism these days compared to when I was playing. I believe the vegan food industry is going to really expand in the next five years. Its very exciting.

Brenda Carey, owner and editor of Vegan Health and Fitness magazine in the US, is more wary than welcoming. As an idealist, I wish that everyone would choose to eat vegan to relieve the suffering of animals. I also wish that everyone would care enough about the environment to want to avoid animal products as the number one cause of environmental destruction on the planet.

There are many top vegan athletes who are vegan for these reasons and yes, they get a performance boost. However, there are many high-profile vegan athletes who never mention anything but their personal, selfish benefits from avoiding animal products and eating more plants. We call those people plant-based as they do not embrace a full vegan lifestyle, they just eat plants.

I get concerned about the people who simply follow this behaviour because their favourite athlete or celebrity has done so. Unfortunately people who choose to go vegan, which often equates to merely eating plant-based, for selfish reasons such as performance benefits or weight loss, tend to be the ones who fall off the wagon and go back to eating animal products later.

Carey is, though, a realist as well as an idealist, so Im just glad when anyone chooses to avoid eating animal products.

The strongest sporting voice against uncommitted plant-eaters is Neil Robinson, who became the first vegan footballer in Britain, and, he thinks, the world. He played for Everton, Swansea and others in a 16-year career from 1974, and says football is still in the stone age for vegans. He is critical of cheagans and fad dieters.

To a small degree I get what Dale [Vince] thinks but, I am a purist. Im always sceptical when I hear that a sportsperson or celebrity has become plant-based for health reasons. It dilutes veganism into being just a diet when in fact veganism is an ethos, a lifestyle of non-violence and compassion towards all living creatures.

Football is still in the stone age when it comes to embracing veganism. Clubs these days employ qualified nutritionists and it baffles me as to how these so-called experts can ignore the fact that animal foods are totally unnecessary for human health and, most importantly as far as theyre concerned, sporting performance. Individual sportsmen and women are now getting it but the clubs and authorities, with the exception of Forest Green Rovers, appear to be aeons away from embracing the plant food age.

Perhaps the best role model for plant-powered health is Fauja Singh, the 106-year-old runner who appeared alongside David Beckham in an advertising campaign and who ran the London marathon aged 101. He turned vegetarian in his 80s and eats mostly rotis, lentils, spinach and ginger. He takes only small portions and said:, If you ask me, more people die from overeating than starvation.

But when he wants a treat he goes to a place no vegan would ever visit McDonalds, for a milkshake. A small one, of course.

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A vegan diet helps them win but are sports stars committed to the ... - The Guardian

For perhaps the first time in the opening match of an away Test series, several things went Indias way. First, the coin flipped Virat Kohlis way and India had the chance to bat first on a flat track. Sri Lanka were then dealt a nasty blow when all-rounder Asela Gunaratne fractured a thumb on the first morning and could take no further part in the match. The strength of the home side was reduced again on the fourth day when spinner and stand-in captain, Rangana Herath, injured a finger on his delivery hand and didnt bowl for a major part of Indias second innings.

Those incidents, aided of course with a near-immaculate performance from the visitors, saw Sri Lanka capsize to a rather meek 304-run loss inside four day. India had left Sri Lanka with a 550-run target after declaring their second innings closed at 240/3. In reply, the home side managed just 245 that too largely due to a brilliant personal performance by Dimuth Karunaratne (97) and his sixth-wicket partnership of 101 runs with Niroshan Dickwella (67). In the morning, Kohli helped himself to his 17th Test hundred and 10th as captain.

Probably, the only real challenge that the Indian team faced thereafter was a dead track. But once again, as they did in their last domestic season, the bowling unit exerted constant pressure. The fast bowlers, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, secured early breakthroughs, and the spinners, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, demolished the lower order in quick time. The win comes following a rather messy coach selection process where if one is to believe the grapevine all the players wanted Anil Kumble sacked, Ravi Shastri back in the saddle. In a footnote, Virender Sehwag was rejected by the skipper as the Delhi dasher wanted his own support staff.

Just another Test match Kolhi, however, indicated that that affair was no longer relevant. Asked if a win like this helped to calm nerves, if any, he said: I think its another Test match for us, Kohli answered. The nerves being built up or the panic being created was all on the outside. Inside the change room, the atmosphere is absolutely same. We have just done what weve done in the past two years on a consistent basis. And weve just gone out there and focused on the game.

Thats all you think of doing and thats all that we are going to do in the future. That begs two questions: If everything is the same as it was in the last two years, then why was Shastri removed in 2016, and why did he replace Kumble in 2017? Answers can wait though, so lets return to the Galle Test and the huge win. India began the day at 189-3 with Kohli batting on 76. He hit Danushka Gunathilaka for a six to reach 89 and looked in no hurry as he scored the remaining 11 runs he needed to reach the three-figure mark in singles and twos.

He got there off 133 balls, with five boundaries and a six studding his innings. A key part of the innings was that he took 42 singles, 16 twos and a three on a wicket where finding the boundaries was difficult. Sri Lankas chase was a non-starter. They lost Upul Tharanga and Gunathilaka with just 29 on board. The Karunaratne- Dickwella partnership only delayed their demise. India ticked all the right boxes. The openers scored, the middle-order amassed runs, the fast bowlers picked early wickets, and the spinners found ways to snare wickets on a flat track. As Kohli said, Yeah, we would like to think so.

There are still some areas that we want to look at and try to improve upon; especially when you get four-five wickets and not letting the lower order to get away with the few runs in the latter half of the innings. Its something that we can still identify and work on in the next two games. But all in all, I think, playing Test cricket February is the last when we last played Test cricket and from then having played so much one-day cricket and not having the time to prepare so much in between, I think from that point of view it was good to get back into the groove and do things that are supposed to be done to win a Test match. There is always room for improvement. But as far as this series goes, Indian can afford not to improve. It is the Lankans who will have to entirely transform themselves if they are to take the fight to this Indian team.

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The Zing is intact - Ahmedabad Mirror

A theatre artiste invites an audience to read aloud their personal correspondence, and a love letter that Karl Marx wrote to his wife, in a new performance

A guest reads a letter at The Reading Room. Pics courtesy/Anuja Ghosalkar

Before the performance begins, Anuja Ghosalkar steps in front of a 10-member audience and declares that she is the 'postmistress' for the evening. She carries envelopes, which contain letters that guests carried with them to the venue. She distributes them at random, inviting each person to read them aloud. For an hour, the room is filled with different voices and diverse narratives as each member reads to a bunch of strangers in an intimate setting. This comprises the Bengaluru-based theatre artiste's new performance project, The Reading Room. Produced by her documentary theatre company, Drama Queen, it comes to Mumbai next week.

Letters curated for a performance

The idea of the performance emerged from her earlier production, Lady Anandi, where Ghosalkar used her family archive to tell the story of her great-grandfather and 19th-century theatre actor, Madhavrao. "It revealed a lot about my family history. I wanted to push that idea and invite people to share something from their lives. It gets more exciting when a stranger reads the words you may have written," says Ghosalkar, who blurs boundaries between the audience and performer with this project. "There is an absolute honesty when non-actors read." Since December, she has curated six performances in Bengaluru.

Anuja Ghosalkar

While there is no selection criteria for audience letters, they need to be in English and not more than four minutes long. She also invites the audience to read letters that she has sourced from books, online archives, friends and borrowed from the public domain.

One of them is a love letter that Karl Marx wrote to his wife, which Ghosalkar received from her writer-director friend, Asmit Pathare. "The language in that in unlike any love letter one has read. There's also a letter from the National Centre of Biological Sciences, where a female scientist wrote about the role of women in science. It is short and succinct. The idea is to include diverse narratives. At the end of each performance, I request people to donate their letters to me, if they agree. Letters are a great archive of stories and histories," she sums up.

ON: August 1, 6 pm and 7.30 pmAT: The Mumbai Assembly, KCA Hall, 16 Veronica Road, Bandra West.EMAIL: anu.ghosalkar@gmail.comCALL: 9886741331ENTRY: Rs 150 (by registration only)

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Read your personal letters out loud at his performance - Mid-Day

The COBRA sensor is more portable and cost-effective than existing indirect calorimetry sensors. It includes a chest harness and bite grip that enable hands-free use of the system during exercise and training. Credit: MIT Lincoln Laboratory

The U.S. military has great interest in more comprehensive measurement and tracking of metabolism, both for optimizing the performance of warfighters under demanding physical conditions and for maintaining the health and wellness of forces during and after their military careers. While sensors for making metabolic measurements have existed for decades, they are expensive, cumbersome instruments primarily intended for clinical or professional use. MIT Lincoln Laboratory, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine (USARIEM), has undertaken a research effort to create a low-cost personal metabolic sensor and an associated metabolic fuel model. The Carbon dioxide/Oxygen Breath and Respiration Analyzer (COBRA) enables individuals to make on-demand metabolic measurements simply by breathing into it.

"Besides assessing performance of soldiers in the field, the COBRA can be applied to broader purposes, such as training athletes for high-endurance activities, guiding weight loss by quantifying the impact of dietary and exercise regimens, or identifying nutritional imbalances," says Kyle Thompson, a member of the development team from Lincoln Laboratory's Mechanical Engineering Group.

Since the early 20th century, scientists have been using indirect calorimetry (IC) to calculate individual energy expenditure and metabolic rates. This method measures the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen in exhaled breath, which can be used to measure the levels of carbohydrates and fats being used by the body to meet metabolic energy needs. Information about energy expenditure rates is valuable for setting reasonable physical standards within the military. For example, limits on the distance and speed of foot marches can best be established by quantifying metabolic workloads of soldiers. The Soldier 2020 program is currently employing metabolic energy measurement to help establish job-related fitness requirements.

"For high-performance athletes or active-duty soldiers, optimally matching nutritional intake to the demands of a specific activity can improve performance and increase the likelihood of successful mission completion," says Gary Shaw, principal investigator on the laboratory's COBRA team. Physically demanding tasks can lead to glycogen depletion, which has a negative impact on performance. By tracking energy expenditure in real-time, soldiers could detect and avoid the onset of low glucose levels associated with glycogen depletion as well as other metabolic complications, such as heat stress.

While existing mobile IC sensors can make physiological measurements, they are expensive and complex to calibrate since their application has largely been limited to clinical studies, high-performance athletics, and field testing with small groups of subjects over limited periods of time. The COBRA sensor is smaller, simpler to use, and less costly to manufacture than existing IC sensors, enabling the measurement of individual energy expenditure for dozens of soldiers in a military field unit throughout the day. Lincoln Laboratory researchers hope to use such measurements to refine the personalized metabolic fuel model for individuals, track nutritional needs, and assess the impact of training on the individual's metabolic efficiency and endurance.

"The COBRA system is a breakthrough technology that promises to provide performance comparable to $30,000-$40,000 sensors at a fraction of the cost and with ease of use that makes personal ownership feasible," Shaw says.

USARIEM is currently testing and evaluating the COBRA sensor by comparing the COBRA measurements against those collected by laboratory-grade instruments. Once the sensor performance has been benchmarked in the laboratory, USARIEM will conduct small field studies to measure energy expenditure and nutrient consumption associated with different training exercises. Following successful field measurements, low-rate production of the COBRA sensor may be pursued in order to study energy expenditure and performance across dozens of soldiers over days of activity.

Beyond its use in studies of the performance of soldiers and athletes, the COBRA sensor and associated metabolic model can be applied to the management of the general population's metabolic health. It is anticipated that the COBRA sensor and metabolic model can be used to tailor dietary and exercise regimens for managing weight, inferring blood glucose and glycogen storage levels, and creating public databases on metabolic wellness and trends. This information could be used by clinicians and patients to aid in controlling obesity, which affects over one-third of Americans, and to provide a non-invasive indication of chronically high blood glucose, which is associated with the development of type-2 diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of the adult population in the United States is either diabetic or pre-diabetic.

There are several promising avenues for the COBRA sensor's future. The researchers have applied for a patent and plan to conduct single-subject experiments to demonstrate how the sensor can be used in assessing nutritional imbalances. The laboratory will also seek opportunities to collaborate with other researchers interested in using COBRA as a tool in clinical studies, including those concerned with weight loss and endurance training.

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Simple, low-cost respiratory sensor measures and tracks personal metabolism - Tech Xplore

The term empowerment refers to measures designed to increase the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities in order to enable them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. Empowerment as action refers both to the process of self-empowerment and to professional support of people, which enables them to overcome their sense of powerlessness and lack of influence, and to recognize and use their resources.

The term empowerment originates from American community psychology and is associated[by whom?] with the social scientist Julian Rappaport (1981).[1]

In social work, empowerment forms a practical approach of resource-oriented intervention. In the field of citizenship education and democratic education, empowerment is seen[by whom?] as a tool to increase the responsibility of the citizen. Empowerment is a key concept in the discourse on promoting civic engagement. Empowerment as a concept, which is characterized by a move away from a deficit-oriented towards a more strength-oriented perception, can increasingly be found in management concepts, as well as in the areas of continuing education and self-help.[citation needed]

Robert Adams points to the limitations of any single definition of 'empowerment', and the danger that academic or specialist definitions might take away the word and the connected practices from the very people they are supposed to belong to.[2] Still, he offers a minimal definition of the term: 'Empowerment: the capacity of individuals, groups and/or communities to take control of their circumstances, exercise power and achieve their own goals, and the process by which, individually and collectively, they are able to help themselves and others to maximize the quality of their lives.'[3]

One definition for the term is "an intentional, ongoing process centered in the local community, involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring, and group participation, through which people lacking an equal share of resources gain greater access to and control over those resources".[4][5]

Rappaport's (1984) definition includes: "Empowerment is viewed as a process: the mechanism by which people, organizations, and communities gain mastery over their lives."[6]

Sociological empowerment often addresses members of groups that social discrimination processes have excluded from decision-making processes through for example discrimination based on disability, race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. Empowerment as a methodology is also associated with feminism.

Empowerment is the process of obtaining basic opportunities for marginalized people, either directly by those people, or through the help of non-marginalized others who share their own access to these opportunities. It also includes actively thwarting attempts to deny those opportunities. Empowerment also includes encouraging, and developing the skills for, self-sufficiency, with a focus on eliminating the future need for charity or welfare in the individuals of the group. This process can be difficult to start and to implement effectively.

One empowerment strategy is to assist marginalized people to create their own nonprofit organization, using the rationale that only the marginalized people, themselves, can know what their own people need most, and that control of the organization by outsiders can actually help to further entrench marginalization. Charitable organizations lead from outside of the community, for example, can disempower the community by entrenching a dependence charity or welfare. A nonprofit organization can target strategies that cause structural changes, reducing the need for ongoing dependence. Red Cross, for example, can focus on improving the health of indigenous people, but does not have authority in its charter to install water-delivery and purification systems, even though the lack of such a system profoundly, directly and negatively impacts health. A nonprofit composed of the indigenous people, however, could ensure their own organization does have such authority and could set their own agendas, make their own plans, seek the needed resources, do as much of the work as they can, and take responsibility and credit for the success of their projects (or the consequences, should they fail).

The process of which enables individuals/groups to fully access personal or collective power, authority and influence, and to employ that strength when engaging with other people, institutions or society. In other words, "Empowerment is not giving people power, people already have plenty of power, in the wealth of their knowledge and motivation, to do their jobs magnificently. We define empowerment as letting this power out."[7] It encourages people to gain the skills and knowledge that will allow them to overcome obstacles in life or work environment and ultimately, help them develop within themselves or in the society.

To empower a female "...sounds as though we are dismissing or ignoring males, but the truth is, both genders desperately need to be equally empowered."[8] Empowerment occurs through improvement of conditions, standards, events, and a global perspective of life.

Before there can be the finding that a particular group requires empowerment and that therefore their self-esteem needs to be consolidated on the basis of awareness of their strengths, there needs to be a deficit diagnosis usually carried out by experts assessing the problems of this group. The fundamental asymmetry of the relationship between experts and clients is usually not questioned by empowerment processes. It also needs to be regarded critically, in how far the empowerment approach is really applicable to all patients/clients. It is particularly questionable whether mentally ill people in acute crisis situations are in a position to make their own decisions. According to Albert Lenz, people behave primarily regressive in acute crisis situations and tend to leave the responsibility to professionals.[9] It must be assumed, therefore, that the implementation of the empowerment concept requires a minimum level of communication and reflectivity of the persons involved.

In social work, empowerment offers an approach that allows social workers to increase the capacity for self-help of their clients. For example, this allows clients not to be seen as passive, helpless 'victims' to be rescued but instead as a self-empowered person fighting abuse/ oppression; a fight, in which the social worker takes the position of a facilitator, instead of the position of a 'rescuer'.[10]

Marginalized people who lack self-sufficiency become, at a minimum, dependent on charity, or welfare. They lose their self-confidence because they cannot be fully self-supporting. The opportunities denied them also deprive them of the pride of accomplishment which others, who have those opportunities, can develop for themselves. This in turn can lead to psychological, social and even mental health problems. "Marginalized" here refers to the overt or covert trends within societies whereby those perceived as lacking desirable traits or deviating from the group norms tend to be excluded by wider society and ostracized as undesirables.

According to Robert Adams, there is a long tradition in the UK and the USA respectively to advance forms of self-help that have developed and contributed to more recent concepts of empowerment. For example, the free enterprise economic theories of Milton Friedman embraced self-help as a respectable contributor to the economy. Both the Republicans in the US and the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher built on these theories. 'At the same time, the mutual aid aspects of the concept of self-help retained some currency with socialists and democrats.'[11]

In economic development, the empowerment approach focuses on mobilizing the self-help efforts of the poor, rather than providing them with social welfare. Economic empowerment is also the empowering of previously disadvantaged sections of the population, for example, in many previously colonized African countries.[12]

Legal empowerment happens when marginalised people or groups use the legal mobilisation i.e., law, legal systems and justice mechanisms to improve or transform their social, political or economic situations. Legal empowerment approaches are interested in understanding how they can use the law to advance interests and priorities of the marginalised.[13]

According to 'Open society foundations' (an NGO) "Legal empowerment is about strengthening the capacity of all people to exercise their rights, either as individuals or as members of a community. Legal empowerment is about grass root justice, about ensuring that law is not confined to books or courtrooms, but rather is available and meaningful to ordinary people.[14]

Lorenzo Cotula in his book ' Legal Empowerment for Local Resource Control ' outlines the fact that legal tools for securing local resource rights are enshrined in legal system, does not necessarily mean that local resource users are in position to use them and benefit from them. The state legal system is constrained by a range of different factors from lack of resources to cultural issues. Among these factors economic, geographic, linguistic and other constraints on access to courts, lack of legal awareness as well as legal assistance tend to be recurrent problems.[15]

In many context, marginalised groups do not trust the legal system owing to the widespread manipulation that it has historically been subjected to by the more powerful. 'To what extent one knows the law, and make it work for themselves with 'para legal tools', is legal empowerment; assisted utilizing innovative approaches like legal literacy and awareness training, broadcasting legal information, conducting participatory legal discourses, supporting local resource user in negotiating with other agencies and stake holders and to strategies combining use of legal processes with advocacy along with media engagement, and socio legal mobilisation.[15]

Sometimes groups are marginalized by society at large, with governments participating in the process of marginalization. Equal opportunity laws which actively oppose such marginalization, are supposed to allow empowerment to occur. These laws made it illegal to restrict access to schools and public places based on race. They can also be seen as a symptom of minorities' and women's empowerment through lobbying.

Gender empowerment conventionally refers to the empowerment of women, which is a significant topic of discussion in regards to development and economics nowadays. It also points to approaches regarding other marginalized genders in a particular political or social context. This approach to empowerment is partly informed by feminism and employed legal empowerment by building on international human rights. Empowerment is one of the main procedural concerns when addressing human rights and development. The Human Development and Capabilities Approach, The Millennium Development Goals, and other credible approaches/goals point to empowerment and participation as a necessary step if a country is to overcome the obstacles associated with poverty and development.[16] The UN Sustainable Development Goals targets gender equality and women's empowerment for the global development agenda.[17]

According to Thomas A. Potterfield,[18] many organizational theorists and practitioners regard employee empowerment as one of the most important and popular management concepts of our time.

Ciulla discusses an inverse case: that of bogus empowerment.[19]

In the sphere of management and organizational theory, "empowerment" often refers loosely to processes for giving subordinates (or workers generally) greater discretion and resources: distributing control in order to better serve both customers and the interests of employing organizations.

One account of the history of workplace empowerment in the United States recalls the clash of management styles in railroad construction in the American West in the mid-19th century, where "traditional" hierarchical East-Coast models of control encountered individualistic pioneer workers, strongly supplemented by methods of efficiency-oriented "worker responsibility" brought to the scene by Chinese laborers. In this case, empowerment at the level of work teams or brigades achieved a notable (but short-lived) demonstrated superiority. See the views of Robert L. Webb.

During the 1980s and 1990s, empowerment has become a point of interest in management concepts and business administration. In this context, empowerment involves approaches that promise greater participation and integration to the employee in order to cope with their tasks as independently as possible and responsibly can. A strength-based approach known as "empowerment circle" has become an instrument of organizational development. Multidisciplinary empowerment teams aim for the development of quality circles to improve the organizational culture, strengthening the motivation and the skills of employees. The target of subjective job satisfaction of employees is pursued through flat hierarchies, participation in decisions, opening of creative effort, a positive, appreciative team culture, self-evaluation, taking responsibility (for results), more self-determination and constant further learning. The optimal use of existing potential and abilities can supposedly be better reached by satisfied and active workers. Here, knowledge management contributes significantly to implement employee participation as a guiding principle, for example through the creation of communities of practice.[20]

However, it is important to ensure that the individual employee has the skills to meet their allocated responsibilities and that the company's structure sets up the right incentives for employees to reward their taking responsibilities. Otherwise there is a danger of being overwhelmed or even becoming lethargic.[21]

Empowerment of employees requires a culture of trust in the organization and an appropriate information and communication system. The aim of these activities is to save control costs, that become redundant when employees act independently and in a self-motivated fashion. In the book Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute, the authors illustrate three keys that organizations can use to open the knowledge, experience, and motivation power that people already have.[7] The three keys that managers must use to empower their employees are:

According to Stewart, in order to guarantee a successful work environment, managers need to exercise the "right kind of authority" (p.6). To summarize, "empowerment is simply the effective use of a managers authority", and subsequently, it is a productive way to maximize all-around work efficiency.[22]

These keys are hard to put into place and it is a journey to achieve empowerment in a workplace. It is important to train employees and make sure they have trust in what empowerment will bring to a company.[7]

The implementation of the concept of empowerment in management has also been criticised for failing to live up to its claims.[23]

Read more:
Empowerment - Wikipedia

A few weeks ago, Vanessa McDowell made the news when she was named the first African-American CEO of the YWCA Madison, which has been around since 1908.

But as the former interim CEO at the Y, McDowells not new to the job, and shes not new to the city, either. She grew up in Madison and is a longtime member, volunteer and former employee of Mount Zion Baptist Church and an active member of the Madison Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, where she currently serves as the chaplain. Plus, shes a DJ on the side, and mixes music around town at parties and events like Dane Dances.

Now, as CEO, shes on a mission to make sure that the community understands the YWCAs mission (like that it has nothing to do with the YMCA) and to empower the populations the Y serves.

As the first African-American CEO of the YWCA in Madison, youve said theres a banner that I carry with it, but also a weight that I carry with it. Can you explain that?

One of the great things about right now is I have a lot of support from the African-American community. Its like carrying this banner of victory, like Yes, were here, were doing it together! But with our mission to eliminate racism and empower women, to be in 2017 and this is just happening is kind of a weight, too. So weve come a way, but we still have a long way still to go.

With the emphasis on being the first African-American CEO, do you think that at all takes away from your personal accomplishments?

Not at all. I mean, for me, this is really not about me, per se. I just happen to be the vessel being used at this time. So I dont really take into account me personally, my accomplishments or things like that. To me, Im a believer in God, and I just believe that God positioned me at this time to carry this banner and take the baton during this part of the race.

What does it mean for African-Americans to look at a CEO and see someone who looks like them?

I think that makes a world of difference. Just like anything, if you dont see yourself represented somewhere, it makes you feel like you dont belong there. For me, its an opportunity that the door has been opened to say, "you belong here." Were able to get into different communities of color in a different way than we have in the past.

One of your focuses is moving from a charity model to an empowerment model. Some people might think, whats wrong with charity?

I think that model is problematic because it comes from a lens that I know better than you what you need. There is no real engagement with the person, its just kind of throwing this program at you and throwing this money at you, take it. Instead of, Let me walk alongside of you and see what it is that you need from me.

Can you give me an example of empowerment on an average day at the Y?

I think specifically about our YWeb Career Academy. The goal is to get women and people of color into the IT field that is currently predominantly white and male. I get to meet them at the beginning, and theyre all nervous and not sure about this. Like, Okay, Im committing 15 weeks of my life here to very intense training and hoping to come out on the other side. But by the end when they get to graduation, they have the ability to really change their lives forever, because the IT field is pretty lucrative. If you go from not really having much, to now youre able to make a family-sustaining wage, thats a major accomplishment. Thats empowerment.

It started in the home. I have phenomenal parents who have been advocates and community leaders here in Madison and have really done some trailblazing work. My mom was the first director of the Multicultural Student Center on campus.

It was huge, because they didnt really have anywhere for students of color to have a place on campus. She provided a lot of support to students of color who still call her mom. One of the inspiring things for me is that she was 36 (when she became director), and Im 36, so its like this whole legacy feeling.

What are your priorities as CEO, and have they changed at all from your time as interim CEO?

Were still working on those three areas I had in my interim: staff development and morale, building nontraditional partnerships and building an empowerment model, and theyre longstanding goals. It's not like magic happens and you're done with them. But my overall vision for YWCA Madison is that whatever touch you have with us, is an empowering touch that inspires you and uplifts you in some type of way. Whether if thats just you surfing our website, you should be empowered by that website. Things that seem small, they still have a way to touch you.

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Is there something that you want the Madison community to better understood about your work at the Y?

One of the things that were working on particularly is making sure that we do tell our story better in the community, just by our social media and things of that nature. And then were also trying to make sure we dont get confused with YMCA, which happens a lot. We have two very different missions; we have no affiliation, even though theyre great. Our focus is really on eliminating racism and empowering women. We dont have a gym.

How did you get into DJing?

I grew up in a musical family. The story of my house is kind of that on Saturday mornings, youre doing cleanup and the musics going, you listen to '70s music, '80s music. Probably about seven years ago now, I was always bringing a little iPod to parties. Everybody was like, Vanessa, bring the music! The a light bulb went off, and I was like, I could probably be making a little money, because I just have this belief that everyone needs a side hustle. (Laughs.) So I invested in some equipment, taught myself the software and the rest is history.

I feel like when you picture the CEO of a major nonprofit, and then a DJ, youd think, oh, that couldnt be the same person.

Ive had people run into me, and its almost like theyre scared to ask me, Are you DJ Ace?

Is there anything else you want to add?

I think we are in a pivotal time right now, not only as far as our country but our city. Theres this kind of glossing over sometimes of the tale of two cities here. Race to Equity really brought up a lot of conversation, a lot of discussions, which was good. But now I feel like were at a pivotal place where we can actually figure out a plan to get rid of these disparities. The question is, are we going to rise to the occasion?

Read the rest here:
Q&A: New YWCA CEO Vanessa McDowell emphasizes empowerment - Madison.com

COLUMBIA One by one,kids sat in the middle of an open room with helmets strapped under their chins and decked out in training pads.

Either Deputy Eli Burkholder or Detective Cody Bounds, wearing full RedMan training suits, would approach them and feign abduction. Each kid would punch and kick their way free from the officer and run to safety on the other side of the room.

The scene sounds bizarre, but its part of routine training for the Boone County Sheriff's Departments radKIDS program. The program, which stands for resisting aggression defensively, took place Saturday at the department building.The program is a personal empowerment and safety education program for children ages 5-12, according to the department website. The Saturday session was for kids ages 9 to 12.

RadKIDS is a national program that was started in 2000. The program that the Sheriffs Department currently uses, which includes more about internet safety for the modern generation, began in the spring of 2015 when Captain Martina Pounds from the Boone County Fire Departmentgot involved.

The program starts with what Pounds described as classroom time, where she and other instructors talk to the kids about general safety and the difference between good and bad people. Pounds said the class doesnt like to use the word stranger.

Just because theyre a stranger doesnt mean theyre bad, but just because you know them doesnt mean theyre good," she said.

Pounds said they stress that potential predators can be people the kids are already familiar with even family.

Unfortunately, most crimes against children are from people they know, she said.

After classroom time, the kids get a hands-on experience to practice the defensive techniques they learned against Burkholder and Bounds, volunteers to be punched, kicked and yelled at.

In the practice situation, Detective Andy Evans, another instructor, gave each kid an everyday scenario they may be in when an adult shows aggression towards them. When either Burkholder or Bounds approached them or grabbed them, the kids demonstrated techniques like a hammer fist or a heel kick to fight back against their fake attacker.

A tactile experience with that kind of a situation is something that Kirk Wing of Columbia wanted his sons, Bruce, 9, and Henry, 7, to have. That desire came from his own experience learning self-defense.

Me and their mother both took the self-defense course offered by (MU) and we found great value in the techniques we learned to deal with attackers and such, Wing said. I wanted them to get the same type of experience, including the simulation, that I did so theyll be better prepared for whatever they come across.

Despite the real problems theyre learning to defend themselves against, the kids have fun with the demonstration part of the class. Pounds said their enjoyment helps then learn.

Kids tend to remember better when its fun, she said. We try to make it fun for them, but on the other hand we try to make them understand, hey, if youre ever in this situation, you need to know how to defend yourself.

Wings sons now have a foundation of knowledge they can rely on if something were ever to happen.

Weve talked to them about these kinds of situations before, but it never went beyond telling them to avoid situations. This (training session) was unique because this taught them that in a time where they wouldnt be able to avoid it, how do you deal with it? he said. Nine out of 10 times theyre not even going to get in this type of situation because theyll know how to avoid it, but this covers the other 10 percent, so I really feel like theyre well-suited to deal with the situation.

Pounds has found that repetition helps to reinforce the ideas and the simple techniques in kids minds. RadKIDS is also a program implemented in elementary schools, usually in third or fourth grade.

We like doing it in the schools because we have the kids over eight weeks, she said. When you have the kids once a week over eight weeks, you really see them developing a confidence and seeing, oh yeah, I can do this.

They can also repeat the weekend class if they want to, as both the classroom time and the demonstration help to reinforce the ideas. Pounds said the kids are receptive to how important the material theyre learning is.

These guys understand that it could save their life, she said.

Supervising editor is Hannah Black.

See more here:
RadKIDS combines safety and fun | K-12 Education ... - Columbia Missourian

Paula Caucutt opened Natural Connection at 1012 Superior Ave., Tomah, 12 years ago. She describes the store as an alternative health emporium that sells vitamins, supplements and essential oils. She also carries beauty aids and organic foodstuffs. A very popular feature of the store is the old-fashioned soda fountain, where customers can get a good cup of coffee, mango smoothie or glass of Wisconsin wine.

Sandy LeCoursiere is a familiar local artist who has been on the Tomah art scene since 2002. While her art work is for sale, she is probably more well-recognized for the charities and organizations to which she contributes her creations. To name a few?

I donate a painting to the Hospital Foundation Golf Outings silent auction each year, she said. She is also a major supporter of the annual Wine into Water event, part of the Jesse Parker Foundation program, and she does the artwork for the Jesse Run theme each year.

For the last few Aprils, Paula has held an art show and sale as a fund raiser to support her daughters Chileda school in La Crosse. (The Chileda Institute provides progressive education and personal empowerment to children with developmental challenges.)

Sandy has been a major contributor to Paulas spring art shows. This year, however, she was unable to exhibit.

I felt bad that I couldnt participate, Sandy recalled.

So, over smoothies a few weeks ago, the long-time friends discussed ideas for selling Sandys art, while supporting local, area and national charities and bringing business into Natural Connection.

Im excited that Sandy came up with a unique idea, Paula said.

Beginning in August and continuing throughout the year, a piece of Sandys art will be on display each month at Natural Connection, with a chance to bid on it by patrons and visitors to the store. Fifty per cent of the final bid will be donated to a different charity each month.

The charities earmarked for the year are: Chileda School; Chasing Daylight; Family Promise; Families First; St. Clares Mission in Sparta; the Jesse Parker Foundation; Boys & Girls Club; Remedy Event, a La Crosse HIV/Aids Awareness group; Americana Music in the Park in Tomah; Feed My Starving Children; Last Paw Rescue, a national organization to save pets; and ACT, Tomahs theater group.

The first painting is on display now, and Paula said someone has already put a bid on it.

Asked whether the paintings will have seasonal themes, Sandy laughed.

I wont be painting a picture of Santa Claus for the December sale, she said.

How do the women see this project play out? Paula thinks bidding will be done by people enamored of Sandys artistry. Sandy, more modestly, believes that people who might have a special place in their hearts for the mission of Chasing Daylight, for instance, will bid on the picture highlighted the month that charity is featured. Either way, the program hopefully will bring people into the store to enjoy its friendly atmosphere over a morning Joe, indulge their interest in original artwork and contribute to worthy charities.

For more information, go to the Natural Connection Facebook page.

See more here:
Art auction to support local charities - La Crosse Tribune

I took an empowering women's self-defense workshop at a boxing gym, and here's why everyone should try it "); }

Weve all been there. Its after dark and youre walking alone to your car parked in an empty lot. You hear footsteps behind you. Or maybe you see your attacker standing in front of you, watching you and waiting. You may not know who they are, but most likely, you do. You feel that horrible drop in your stomach, that itchy, sweatiness in your arm pits, the hair on your arms standing on end. You sense youre in danger, but what do you do?

According to Jarrett Arthur, one of the worlds leading experts in womens self-defense, listening to your gut instinct is critical.

Ive worked with survivors for over 14 years, said Arthur during an instructional workshop at Los Angeles BoxUnion boxing studio this month.And the thing I hear [from them] over and over and over again is, Something didnt feel right, and I did it anyway.'

Recently, Arthur and Lynn Le, the founder of womens boxing glove companySociety Nine, led the empowering two-hour self-defense intensive for women in L.A., breaking down the basics of understanding verbals, body language, and commanding space, and coaching the 30-plus women in attendance in physical engagement, reviewing fighting stance, striking, and ground situations.

The inspiring event was a first for BoxUnion, a brand new boxing studio in Los Angeles that boasts state-of-the-art facilities and a community-building approach to boxing for fitness. The studio invited Jarrett to not only offer hands-on physical instruction, but also to engage participants in necessary conversations about the importance of establishing boundaries and self-advocating, imparting techniques that are particularly useful in situations where you know your perpetrator (which, Arthur pointed out, are the most common).

During the workshop,Arthur laid out the three stages of self-defense: the Pre-Fight (the moment when you believe a physical altercation is about to take place and the moments preceding the encounter), the Fight (a person has already engaged you physically), and the Post-Fight (the physical, psychological, emotional, etc. aftermath of a physical confrontation). Arthur said she does not provide Post-Fight instruction, but strongly suggested seeking help following a violent encounter and offered to connect participants with references and resources.

And according to Arthur, it is because of that Post-Fight piece of the experience that she stresses the importance of Pre-Fight boundary-setting using vocal tone and forcefulness, body language, and verbal commands.

I will literally go to all the ends of the Earth to avoid having to actually test my physical skills, said Arthur. I do not want that for me, and I really dont want that for you, so any way you can avoid being in a confrontation, shut it down and set boundaries, that is definitely what you want to do.

Should women find themselves in situations where fighting is necessary, however, Arthur offered a handful of simple strikes to cripple an attacker and create time and space for women to get away and find help:kicks and elbow throws to the eyes, nose, throat, and groin.

Though Arthur has found personal and professional empowerment in training and teaching self-defense, she admitted the everyday grapplings with self-doubt persist. I [still] deal with situations that are universal for women, in which someone makes you feel a little bit smaller, a little bit quieter, and takes away your power. Im not, like, this hulking she-wolf walking around with it all figured out, said Arthur.

No matter what your course of action when confronted with assault, though, theres no victim-blaming here. Arthur insisted whatever choice you make is the right one.

Nothing that you can do or cannot do can warrant being targeted for violence. Nothing. Not what you wear, not where you go, not how much you drink, not who youre with. Nothing.

So get yourself to a self-defense workshop, stat!

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I took an empowering women's self-defense workshop at a boxing gym, and here's why everyone should try it - HelloGiggles