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Research Paper Progress Report

I’ve expanded my topic to include as many forms of inclusion as I can, including people with special needs, people from a low income area, and people of a different sexual orientation or are trans. To start, special needs athletes may not have been given the ability to perform at the same level as other people, but if they want to compete then they should definitely be allowed to. More places need to expand their infrastructure to include more special needs athletic programs. Also, lots of people struggle with being able to afford everything they want, and the same applies to athletes. Some athletes can’t join a team because they have no way of making up the funds to cover things such as equipment, food, or transportation. Schools also need to dedicate more time into figuring out options for people who are struggling financially. Lastly, nobody should be treated differently dependent on their preferences because it has no effect on how hard of a worker they are. Current athletes and coaches also need to change their language toward this section of people because it’s more common than people think to tease people with the threat of being gay. This language only scares potential talent away and doesn’t promote an inclusive environment.

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Update on my research

Right now in my research, I’ve started to analyze my own personal experiences with diversity within swimming. I actually come from a relatively diverse area so I’ve directly seen the impact that being inclusive to everyone has on athletics. My school has a majority Hispanic population (54%) so not only in swimming, but in our other sports as well there was always someone from every walk of life. Our head coach was even chosen to be head coach of a very large multi-cultural swim meet in Ohio because the Goshen swim team had a high percentage of non-white athletes.

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Interesting Points

For this weeks blog post, I’ll be sharing a couple of interesting facts about my research paper, which is about why there’s a lack of diversity within swimming. Something interesting related to my topic is that the first African-American to win a gold medal in an individual swimming event at the Olympic Games was Simone Manual of the United States and she did so in 2016. On top of that, she ended up tying Penny Oleksiak for first place. This just shows how long it’s taken for diversity to show in the sport of swimming. And, it only proves that no matter what ethnicity someone may be, they can participate in any sport they want as well as be one of the best performers. Another interesting fact is that butterfly, the most recently added stroke in swimming which was made official in 1933, was created from breaststroke when the swimmers tried to tweak certain parts of the stroke to make it faster. One change that they tried out recovering their arms above the water instead of pushing them through the water like in normal breaststroke. They also ended up switching out the frog kick for a dolphin kick and the result was a much faster but much harder stroke to swim.

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My Chosen Research Topic

The research topic that I will be using is swimming. I chose this topic because it’s something that I’ve been heavily influenced by and know a lot more than the average person knows about it. I know the specifics to each stroke that are essential to learn if someone wants to be proficient at it, I know proper technique while doing a start and doing a turn, but most importantly I know what it’s like to be on an actual swim team and how much of an impact it can have on someone. Friendships are made, memories are created, and it’s just a great time full of enjoyment. The traditions that our team, as well as other teams, carries on show how dedicated we are to each season and the experience that I’ve had with so many different coaches can reveal how much effort they have to put in. Swimming will be a good topic for me to cover because it just comes naturally and I will have plenty to talk about. If I find it hard to obtain more resources online, I can always include actual opinions from real people that I know that also know a lot about swimming.

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Annotation #2

Kostich, Alex. “Why Swimmers Shave Their Bodies.” ACTIVE.com, Active.com, 15 May 2001, www.active.com/swimming/articles/why-swimmers-shave-their-bodies.

               Getting asked if you shave your entire body is a question that a lot of competitive swimmers get all the time. Cyclists shave their bodies so that if they fall, their hair won’t act as Velcro and tear off skin. Swimmers shave to get an enhanced feeling for the water by removing the outer layer of dead skin and to reduce drag. Double blade razors are best. For longer, thicker hair such as leg hair, it should be trimmed electrically and then shaved in order to save razors. Menthol shaving cream can provide more sensation after a shave and improve the feel for the water.

               I can tell that the source ACTIVE is accurate with what they’re saying because their entire site is dedicated to athletics and not only do they have articles written on almost every sport, but they have a shop for athletic gear as well. I know that Alex Kostich is a reliable reporter because he was a swimmer himself with a very successful career and serves as the vice president of creative advertising for Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI)

               I plan on using this to help provide a background for when I explain why we shaved our heads so that people know the science behind it. We mainly did it for fun and tradition, but there are definitely performance benefits from it as well.

Meltzer, Matt. “America's Top 25 College Sports Fan Traditions.” Thrillist, Thrillist, 12 Apr. 2014, www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/sports-traditions-america-s-top-25-college-sports-fan-traditions.

               College sports teams are the best-known examples, but sports team of all levels have their own traditions that can either be acted out by the fans, the players themselves, or both simultaneously. Most can stem back to a single moment where it all started. Some can be weird like how the University of New Hampshire throws a dead fish onto the ice of their hockey games.

               Thrillist, the publisher, is a small company established in New York City that covers many topics and doesn’t appear to show any reason for why they would be untrustworthy. The author is a senior editor at Thrillist as well as another website so what he reports is most likely accurate.

               I plan on using this article to show that it’s totally normal for sports teams to have weird traditions, and then set me up to explain the reason behind why we shave our heads.

“The Importance of Team Bonding.” ArbiterSports, 23 Feb. 2018, www.arbitersports.com/importance-team-bonding/.

               This article started by stating that team bonding is important to the success for a team. Getting to know each other makes everyone more comfortable, making sure that everyone is able to contribute in an athletic scenario. Also, creating a friendly environment can be the difference between someone quitting or someone staying on the team.

               ArbiterSports, the publisher, is the official software company for the NCAA so they’re constantly exposed to plenty of team sports. They obviously know what they’re talking about when it comes to team bonding and would have no reason to make something up. I couldn’t find the name of the author of this particular article.

               I plan on using this to show that a bonding activity means more than just being closer as teammates, but also that I can actually help with how well a team performs and competes. It relates to the other articles because it’s just building onto the fact that shaving our heads has so many benefits, and that it can be very impactful for someone.

T, Ashley. “Alabama.” Why Swimming Is One of the Toughest Sports, Alabama Writing Tutor, 2018, www.alabamawritingtutor.com/Swimming.html.

This page starts by listing off some sports that almost everyone can agree with are very tough sports such as football and soccer. But then they add that people tend to overlook swimming and not put it in the category of tough sports. It backs up this opinion by stating that swimmers get a very short off season, and completely drain themselves with their twice daily 2 hour workout sessions.

The organization at the top of the page, Alabama Writing Tutor, suggests that this author, Ashley T., either belongs to a college or is just well educated on the subject manner that they report over.

I plan on using this article to show how demanding the sport is and all the sacrifice that goes into it. If people are aware of the other things that swimmers have to deal with, then maybe they’ll see that losing all of their hair is just part of the grueling but rewarding experience. This article relates to the others because it can help provide proof for why shaving your head can be an impactful moment in someone’s life.

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Involvement

For my podcast group, our fandom was dogs. We did a lot of research on this topic and went very deep with why people are so obsessed with dogs. I would describe my own personal involvement in this fandom as high than average. This is because I’ve owned my own dog for four years and have lots of family members who also own dogs, so I’ve had a lot of experience with them. I’m not involved in any competition around dogs, such as dog shows, but I have a fair bit of knowledge on how to raise and care of a dog. Plus, I do follow a fair amount of dog pages on other social medias, so that I can keep up with the new dog trends or popular pictures. I don’t feel pressured to be involved with this fandom, but I would guess that someone who isn’t a dog person feels a lot of pressure from their peers. I have friends who feel like dogs are the most amazing things on the planet, so the not dog people would definitely get a lot of pressure from them. Also a parent might feel pressured to involve themselves with dogs because every kids dream is to own a dog.

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Ewens, Hannah. “Why Millennials Are So Obsessed With Dogs.” Vice, Vice, 31 July 2018, www.vice.com/en_uk/article/wjkgam/why-millennials-are-so-obsessed-with-dogs.

               This article focused on how even though dogs have been classified as man’s best friend for a long time, millennials in particular have made it sort of a generational trait to obsess about dogs. A large portion of millennials consider dogs as practice for children. Instead of meeting up with other parents, dog owners meet up with other dog owners. Doggy daycares are also more popular, and an owner of one of these businesses noted that LGBTQ singles and couples consider their dogs their actual children. Instagram profiles for dogs have also become more popular, meaning that dogs can have the ability to be monetized. People love viewing media around dogs, and it tends to make people feel more compassionate. This article also noted that in this “age of loneliness” dogs are a great way to get people out of a depressing slump.

               Hannah Ewens, the author of this article, is a reporter for the well-known, alternative/ “underground” type journalism corporation VICE. The article contains a lot of interviews with actual people who give their viewpoint on the topic being reported, in this case it’s “dogs”. There is a lot of diversity in the people being interviewed, implying that the information present isn’t leaning towards one set of ideals more than another.

               I plan on using this article to highlight how dogs have blown up with popularity because of generationally specific traits, such as personality traits of millennials and technology mediums such as social media.

Messer, Jennifer. “Healthy Affection vs. Obsession.” Modern Dog Magazine, 2018, moderndogmagazine.com/articles/healthy-affection-vs-obsession/760.

This article was created because there is a need for information on how to distinguish between a healthy relationship and an obsessive relationship with a dog. It talked about if someone constantly smothers their dog with affection and doesn’t leave them alone for a while, the dog can develop separation anxiety. Dogs can have problems with mental health too, and they need physical, emotional, and intellectual stimulation just like people. Training a dog right from the beginning to be ok with alone time is a great idea. Telling a dog to do something like sit in order to get a treat can help with separation anxiety because the dog realizes that they can manipulate their environment to get what they want.

The author, Jennifer Messer, graduated from medical school in Cincinnati and has been practicing for 15 years. The page that allowed her to put out this piece is also completely dedicated to dogs, so there is most likely a rigorous check to see if the information is accurate before they allow it to be published.

I plan on using this article to help me discuss the negative side about obsessing over dogs. It can cause health issues for both the owner and the dog by increasing anxiety while they’re separated. It relates to the other articles because the other articles fail to discuss about the negative repercussions that peoples actions can lead to.

Greenwell, Megan. “How WeRateDogs Turned a Pet Project Into Profit.” Esquire, Esquire, 12 Oct. 2017, www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a54940/we-rate-dogs-matt-nelson-interview/.

               This article was written about the creator of WeRateDogs, a twitter account that rates pictures of dogs in a unique and recognizable tone and language. The creator of this page is named Matt Nelson, studies golf management at Campbell University but has recently shifted his focus to the twitter page due to its success. Every dog is rated 10/10 or higher, and Nelson has managed to patent a couple phrases such as “oh h*eck”, which he put on merchandise such as mugs and hats and is making quite a lot per month off of this. He’s said that he spends almost all of his time managing his social media accounts, and the reason for it all is to provide an escape from all of the horrible news that is all over our feeds nowadays.

               The creators of this article, Esquire, have been around for a very long time. Their popularity shot up during the great depression, and they’re classified as an “American men’s magazine”. Building their credibility for so long has made them a pretty recognizable name in most households. The author, Megan Greenwell, was also hired as the top editor of Deadspin, making her the first female chief editor.

               I plan on using this article because it shows how making a career around dogs can make people extremely successful due to this generations obsession around dogs. Even if someone isn’t as popular as WeRateDogs, it’s not too difficult to gain a following on Instagram from creating a dog page. This article relates to the other articles because it shows just how large of a fandom dogs can create, and how much people obsess over them.

Thorpe, JR. “Why Do Dogs Like Humans, Anyway?” Bustle, Bustle, 17 Dec. 2018, www.bustle.com/articles/187869-why-do-dogs-like-humans-in-the-first-place-part-of-the-answer-has-to-do.

               This article, instead of talking about why humans like dogs, talks about why dogs like humans. It goes in depth with a lot of scientific research to provide points such as they have genes that make them seek help when they encounter a problem. Also, the same gene that causes autism in humans affects dogs differently and makes them friendlier towards people.

               The production company that made this article, Bustle, is considered an “American Women’s magazine” and was established in August of 2013. With some fact checking research, I found a page that rated them high in accuracy, plus Bustle has made articles over what news sources to avoid due to misinformation.

               I plan on using this article to go more in depth with the science for why people and gods have such a close relationship. The others articles explain more generational traits or societal norms, but this one is purely factual and very compelling.

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Fandom Participation

Some fandoms that I participate in are music, swimming, and video editing. These are all things that I enjoy so I try my best to keep up with what’s happening and what’s new. For music, I check Spotify all the time for new releases, as well as get music suggestions from my friends. For swimming, I pay attention to social media such as Instagram and Twitter to see what training people are doing and if there’s any results posted from a large meet. And lastly, for video editing, I scroll through YouTube to see if any of the editors I’m subscribed to have created and shared something new.

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My First Post

My name is Logan and I’m a first year student attending Ball State University. I’m majoring in Telecommunications with a focus in production. Some of my interests are swimming, video production, video games, and nature.