Beyond Limits: Exploring Motivation and the Lack of Women in Ultramarathoning

An ultramarathon extends beyond the traditional 26.2-mile marathon (Tharion, Strowman, & Rauch, 1988) and includes 50 kilometers (31 miles), 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) and 135 miles. Participants must train for substantial periods of time and oftentimes in rough off-road terrain while dealing with dramatic changes in elevation and weather. Despite these challenges, participation rates are increasing; yet, most of these participants are men. For instance, for every woman participant, five men participated in the Western States 100 (Soderland, 2011). Very few researchers have examined the motives to participate in this unique sport or investigated the gender barriers of ultramarathons. This qualitative study was conducted to further explore and understand what motivates women to run ultramarathons and the gender barriers that may prevent or make it difficult for them to participate in ultramarathons. Telephone interviews were conducted with fifteen women who completed at least one ultramarathon. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were read in-depth and organized into common themes across all interviews using Creswell’s (2000) framework. Gender barriers in ultramarathons were identified as: 1) child-care and household responsibilities, 2) job-related obstacles, 3) lack of support, and 4) safety concerns. To overcome gender barriers, these women commonly stated they used the following as motivation to continue ultramarathoning: 1) the ultra-running community, 2) the challenge of the ultra, 3) the scenic nature of the ultramarathon, and 4) personal growth. Specific results and implications of our findings will be discussed in this paper

REVIEW: Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman\u27s Quest to Make a Difference

Review of the book Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman\u27s Quest to Make a Difference, by Warren St. John

The Kinematics of the Outer Galactic Disk from A and F Stars

The kinematics of stars in the outer Galactic disk is poorly known. In addition to constraining the Galactic potential, knowledge of the motions of stars throughout the disk facilitates studies of non-axisymmetric motion, such as streaming motions due to spiral arms. Understanding the kinematics of the disk in full, including the rotation law, will help to map out its structure, and set constraints on its formation and evolution. I explore the kinematics of A/F stars in two outer-disk pencil beams. I show that A stars in particular are useful probes of outer Galactic disk kinematics. The use of these relatively early-type stars is an alternative to the ISM gas tracers and clump giants that have been commonly used in previous studies. A/F stars offer the advantage of reduced kinematic scatter and asymmetric drift as compared to the older clump giants, and can provide a much denser sampling in the outer disk than ISM gas tracers. They are bright so can be detected out to great distances, and large samples can be efficiently selected from the IPHAS r-i, r-Hα plane. The sightlines were chosen to sample the strong shear in Galactic rotation (ℓ= 118˚), and as a control (ℓ= 178˚). Radial velocities (RVs) and extinction-corrected spectro-photometric distances are computed for the sample of >1300 A/F stars with the aid of MCMC parameter fitting. The rotation law measured at ℓ=118˚ using the RV data is sharply rising out from RG ~11 kpc, going against expectations of a flat or slowly rising law. Gaia DR2 astrometry, released in April 2018, provided proper motions for the sample. On combining these with the measured RVs and spectro-photometric distances, full space motions are obtained. The Galactocentric radial, azimuthal, and vertical velocity trends are constructed without any prior assumption about the velocity field. The measured rotation curve incorporating proper motion data is flat at ℓ = 178˚, but remains sharply rising at ℓ = 118˚, albeit less so than that determined using only RV data. I consider the detailed form of the observed Galactocentric trends with specific perturbers in mind, finding no clear interpretation in terms of perturbation from the central bar or spiral arms. The variation of observed trends with longitude and distance is a reflection of the complex dynamics in our Galaxy. The methods developed in this work and the use of A stars as tracers will be used in the future for fuller exploitation via spectroscopy on forthcoming massively multiplexed wide-field spectrographs. In particular, the PTMCMC method presented will be used to analyse WEAVE survey products. Future use of these young stellar tracers will help us to understand how our Galaxy is, and came to be, how it is now

Active Learning for the Millennial Generation

The article discusses the need for active learning in library instruction classes that have Millenial or Generation Y students who have short attention spans and prefer education in entertaining forms. To promote learning, such students reportedly have to be actively engaged with the material for them to do worthwhile research. It is stated that one teacher divided her class into small groups and let the students become the leaders, while she took the role of a student, which allowed her to raise points to direct the flow of the instruction

Claiming a Piece of Tradition: Community Discourse in Russian Mennonite Community Cookbooks

Russian Mennonite immigrants who settled south central Kansas in the late 19th century and their descendants naturally developed a discourse community that differentiates them from the dominant culture in which they reside. Changing regional dynamics regarding diversity along with continued acculturation impacts this ethnoreligious community in a kind of dual displacement; the descendants of these Russian Mennonites not only live in the shadow of their ancestors’ collected memories and traumas related to migration but have and are currently witnessing further shifts away from the once agricultural lifestyle they previously observed. Therefore, heritage preservation is increasingly vital for stakeholders engaged with the history of Anabaptist life in Kansas. This article elucidates aspects of the Russian Mennonite discourse community of south central Kansas by engaging with regional foodways as they appear in community cookbooks. Employing Anne Bower’s “cookbook narratives,” I explore texts that are representative of the Russian Mennonite community and assess the attitudes and assumptions each book exemplifies in regard to its intended audience. I also explore the positionality of these community cookbooks as important artifacts; community cookbooks in this region provide a history of women’s writing and exemplify how food traditions have altered throughout the decades. [Abstract by author.

Tracing Boundaries, Effacing Boundaries: Information Literacy as Seen by Multiple Disciplines

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The Teaching Librarian\u27s Toolkit

Engaging students is critical to maximizing the effectiveness of information literacy sessions. But when you\u27re faced with heavy teaching loads, back-to-back sessions, and balancing your other professional responsibilities, it can seem that there\u27s never enough time to develop effective, engaging, and creative classroom activities. Enter the Teaching Librarian\u27s Toolkit - flexible, modular activities that can be mixed and matched to align with student learning outcomes and enhance your information literacy sessions. In this interactive workshop, you\u27ll participate in sample activities, share your strategies, and develop a sample lesson plan to use or adapt in your teaching

Technology for Civic Data Integration

Efforts to collect, manage, transform, and integrate data across administrative systems into actionable knowledge to inform better policy decisions are becoming more common. However, the technical processes, procedures, and infrastructure they employ vary substantially. Variety in approaching data infrastructure, transfer, linking, and security is expected in this emerging field, but both established and developing efforts would benefit from cohesive guidance regarding the technical considerations of data integration, with focus on presenting a range of options that can be weighted based on context specific restrictions (e.g. cost, staffing, or existing infrastructure). Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP), MetroLab Network, and the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, are convening a working group to shape and develop guidance on information architecture and technical approaches for data integration efforts such as those in the AISP and NNIP networks and the AISP Learning Community. This guidance will help newly emerging efforts as well as established ones looking to update their current approach. It will also inform policymakers and researchers who need a primer to better understand the technical components and considerations at play for data sharing and integration. This presentation will present findings, best practices and recommendations from this brief that will be released in Fall 2018