Special Olympcs: Literature Review

The Special Olympics is a community service organization formed to empower people with physical and mental disabilities through sport. Anne McGlone Burke, a physical education teacher in the local Chicago school district, founded the organization in Chicago in 1968. She was able to do it with the support of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of John F. Kennedy, who would provide $25,000 and gather over 1,000 athletes for the first International Special Olympics Games. Shriver made the commencement speech on Soldier Field in Chicago on July 20, 1968 saying, ”Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” (Market Wire, 2008)

The Special Olympics has grown to over 2.8 million athletes in over 180 countries participating in over 29,000 events (Market Wire, 2008). Even in Blacksburg, the Special Olympics has become an important organization. The Special Olympics of Virginia has a southwest district office located on 205 Church St. in downtown Blacksburg. This is the office where they plan and organize fundraisers, charity events, and most importantly sports leagues for the athletes (specialolympicsva.org, 2008). The Virginia Tech community too has become involved in one of those events. In February of 2005 the Special Olympics Virginia sponsored the Southwest Virginia Regional Basketball and Power Lifting Tournament at Cassell Coliseum, where student athletes were able to volunteer in the day’s events. Members of the men’s basketball team, the football team, and the women’s lacrosse team helped run events and led the athletes in the Special Olympics Oath. Nancy Morehouse, the Blacksburg office head, had this to say, “There were quite possibly 100 Virginia Tech varsity athletes.” The athletes of Virginia Tech really appreciated the unique opportunity to give back to the community and experience the meaning of sport that others have. Coleman Collins of the men’s basketball team had this to offer, “(The men’s basketball team) all play and get used to just playing. Everyone here doesn’t play except for the joy of coming out and doing their best. They get so excited just to get here” (Loeffler, 2008)

References:

1. Loeffler, Jen. Cassell Coliseum hosts Special Olympics. February 2005. 24 September 2008 .
2. Market Wire. "Special Olympics Celebrates 40th Year of Changing the Lives of People With Intellectual Disabilities Through the Power of Sport." Market Wire (2008).
3. Special Olympics Virginia. Special Olympics VA - Home Page. 29 September 2008 .

Here is some other information that I've written about the Special Olympics in the News: Link

Articles About the Special Olympics

2008 Summer Paralympic Games
by Alan Taylor, for boston.com

This article from boston.com (a website that is associated with the Boston Globe, a subsidiary of the New York Times) is by Alan Taylor for the "The Big Picture: News Stories in Photographs" section. It is a wonderful piece of photojournalism; there are 36 great high-resolution photos that capture the intensity and ceremonious nature of the paralympics. Here is an excerpt from the article:

From September 6th to September 17th, Beijing is once again hosting athletes from around the world. Over 4,200 athletes - from six different disability groups - from 148 countries are taking part in the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games. Not only are the sports divided into events, but the events are divided into different disability categories, to even out the playing field as much as possible. The slogan for this years Paralympic Games is the same as the one for the Olympics held just last month: "One World, One Dream".

The article seems credible and has photographs that really capture messages of passion, determination, and power. If a picture is worth 1,000 words than this article is a novel (36,000 words).

For Paralympians Around the World, Assistance Varies
by Joshua Robinson and Alan Schwarz, for the New York Times

In this article Robinson and Schwarz analyze the way paralympic organizations are funded in different countries. The survey includes the following countries: France, Switzerland, Canada, Britain and Germany. Every nation has a different way of funding their national team atheletes because of the structure of sports programs and health care systems. The different areas in which the countries differ include: compensation for time taken off from work to train, medal bonuses, pure funding, and health-care programs. Some of the countries, like Switzerland and France, have national health care programs that provide for their athletes. In some countries the amount of money put into Paralympic programs is disproportionately underfunded than Olympic programs. The article aims to reveal the inequality of the provisions made by different countries, especially in an international competition.

FRANCE The national Paralympic sports organization, known as the Fédération Française Handisport, supports athletes by compensating their employers up to €1,200 per month (roughly $1,800) for time missed while training for major events. All 20,000 athletes under the organization’s umbrella also receive stipends of approximately $1,560 per year. No health insurance is provided because of France’s comprehensive national health care system. Medal bonuses are awarded by the individual sports’ national governing bodies.

My Course Goals

Here are some goals that I hope to achieve by the end of the semester of English 1204H:

1. I hope to become a better observational writer by improving my ability "to show and not tell."
   
2. I hope to become a better researcher through the community project that I'm doing with the Special Olympics.
3. I hope to have more fun with English, I don't picture myself as a liberal arts type person, but by enjoying writing more I hope to find it less daunting.
   

Interview Questions

Permission Questions:

• May I quote you in my research paper?
• Are there any delicate details that you wish I do not include in my paper?

Factual Questions:

• How long has the Special Olympics in Blacksburg, VA been in existence?
• What types of "events" do you host for the Olympians?
• How many olympic events have you hosted?
• How do many of the volunteers get involved with the Special Olympics?
• How many Olympians and volunteers do you have?

Tell Me About Questions:

• Tell me about the most important event to the Special Olympics Blacksburg?
• Tell me about how you got involved with the Special Olympics?

Magic Wand Questions:

• If you could change something about the Special Olympics community what would it be? Improved funding? Better Equipment? More Volunteers

EDIT: I did not intend to ask questions in this order, but just wanted to put the my questions into the categories that we had gone over in class. :)

Serve It Up

There are six players on each side like the indoor volleyball games but they never have that many in actual beach volleyball. There were only two girls, one on each team. Team representatives play rock-paper-scissors to see which side goes first and after that dilemma is settled, they begin to play. Serve it up, one person says, excitedly. It seemed like the game was a really serious competition between the two teams. They were all rooting each other on, and criticizing each other whenever the ball was missed. There was one impressive play, however, the ball is served and crosses the court at breakneck speed, and the guy on the other end flutters his arms and manages to toss it up. He calls his teammate in desperation, “come set this up,” his teammate digs into the sand and gets it up just before the ball hits the ground. The ball is still, “up in the air” so to speak, they haven’t hit it over the net yet. One of the guys eventually whacks the ball over the net. The other team is in awe, they probably have never seen the ball exchanged and sent back by an opposing team in such an impressive fashion. The ball crosses the net, and its trajectory is toward one guy. He looks confused and unsure as to what to do. He asks everyone, “Should I hit it?” as if he were taking a survey in the middle of the volleyball game. Due to his hesitation, the volleyball pelts him in the face, and he’s left standing there in embarrassment and shock.

How do you know that you know what you know?

Our group had no difficulty agreeing on the answers to the questions. The answers seemed really obvious to all of us, and so we didn't argue or need to revise any of the answers. We agreed that fact is a widely believed opinion that has enough evidence to support it, beyond reasonable doubt. We also thought that context plays an important role in seeing the truth, because we are not all the same and we view the world through different lenses, we may understand the truth differently. Also, when two experts disagree, I feel that it is important to gather from them their knowledge and opinions, and then assimilate those ideas with yours in order to create an opinion that makes sense to you. There are some things that have definite answers and those deal with things like math or science (not all questions are answered, but there are definite answers). Answers to other questions, like those that concern moral judgement, are harder to pin down and so can have indefinite answers. If the truth were to change the next day, I would feel uncomfortable and unsure, because what I once considered to be true isn't any more and now I have to seek the truth, again. (I'm sorry if this is incomprehensible, I'm tired, and I fear dolphins).

Special Olympics Virginia

I could not for the life of me find a cooking club in Blacksburg. So I found a Special Olympics organization in Blacksburg. I'm very impressed by the people who help the disabled in the Special Olympics. I think this community will be really fun to research, and I'll feel really good doing it. I would really like to design a community action project group for the Special Olympics. Does anyone else think this is a good idea?

Bibliography Indents (Microsoft Office Mac 2008)

Click to Enlarge (That's what she said?)

The bibliography indent is called a hanging indent in Microsoft Word.
Here are the steps:

1. Separate your bibliography entries (by creating each one in it's own paragraph).
2. Highlight all your bibliography entries by clicking and dragging.
3. Go to the top toolbar and click the drop down titled "Format."
4. Out of the drop down menu, select "Paragraph..."
5. There should be a section titled "Indentation"
6. There should also be a drop down with a title "Special"
7. Select the "Hanging" Option.

You're all set. There's a screenshot up top of what you should see.