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Fitness is for everyone: Its one of our core beliefs here at Womens Health and Mens Health, and its been at the beating heart of everything we do at both brands.

The fitness industry, though, has a problem with diversity, equity, and inclusion. A big one. From educational and financial obstacles that prevent too many people from becoming fitness experts to empty and enduring assumptions about who and what fitness is for, a whole weight-rack full of systemic issues (racism, homophobia, ageism, sexism, to name a few) have consistently deprived trainers from marginalized communities the tools they need to build a career in fitness. They also prevent these men and women from bringing clients in their own communities the kinds of enjoyable, exciting workout experiences that make fitness fun. That needs to change now, and Womens Health and Mens Health want to help.

Our WH and MH Strength in Diversity Initiative, which you can apply for here, will offer trainers from marginalized communities the chance to work with a cadre of elite fitness professionals. Applicants will submit either an essay or video explaining their career goals and why they want to join the program. A six-person committee will choose the participants, representing different parts of the country, communities, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

If selected, participants will enter a 15-week program consisting of the following:

Our hope is that these trainers will share their knowledge in their communities, creating fun, exciting, and effective training plans and helping ensure better fitness and long-term health for everyone. This program is open to trainers and aspiring trainers worldwide. Lets get stronger together!

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Apply For The Women's Health & Men's Health Strength In Diversity Program Here - Women's Health

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Warm weather is here to stay in Western New York, which means its a great time to nail down your fitness routine for the season. After all, working out and staying active is one of the core components to looking and feeling your best.

Whether youre highly experienced in the world of fitness or just starting to embark on your health and wellness journey, River Row Studio has a variety of summer fitness classes for you.

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About River Row Studio

In case youre unfamiliar, River Row Studio is a one-of-a-kind fitness studio thats located in the Old First Ward.

Offering unique and highly individualized rowing classes for all fitness levels, their mission is to deliver high-quality, efficient, and beneficial physical training sessions to anyone thats up for the challenge.

You might be thinking: That sounds great, but what exactly makes River Row Studio so unique and unlike any other fitness studio in the area?

First of all, their location is absolutely unparalleled. Step inside the brand new Patrick Paladino Memorial Boathouse in the historic Old First Ward neighborhood for your class, and youll see exactly what we mean. Youll enjoy a fantastic view of the Buffalo River throughout your workout you wont find that at any other gym in Western New York!

During your workout, youll also be challenged to push yourself and maximize your potential in a positive, uplifting, and supportive environment. Hard work and teamwork are two core values at River Row Studio, and their experienced and enthusiastic staff is there to help you get the most from your class time.

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River Row Studio offers a variety of rowing classes to fit anyones unique needs, fitness goals, and experience levels. Some classes are more cardio-focused, while others are more strength-based its up to you to choose your own adventure!

From Paddle to Power classes that are great for beginners or first-time rowers, to Fatuous Forty-Fives classes that will push any athlete to their limits, every class will leave you feeling proud of the hard work youve put into your fitness that day.

If youre new to River Row Studio, you can try your first class $5 off (25% savings), but now is also the perfect time to sign up for a membership. During their summer sale (which is going on right now!), all memberships and packages are 25% off for a limited time. Pro tip: River Row Studio can also be be found on Class Pass which has great deals!

Ready to see what River Row Studio is all about? Head to their website to browse packages and see their full class descriptions, and get ready to sweat this summer!

405 Ohio Street

riverrowstudio.com

This article is a paid promotion sponsored by an SOB advertiser and designed to share valuable info with our readers.

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Looking to Shake Up Your Workout Routine for the Summer? River Row Studio Has You Covered - Step Out Buffalo

WASHINGTON The Washington Wizards practice gym surged to life at 8:44 on a recent weekday morning. The Kodak Black song I Wish roared through the loudspeaker, the soulful lyrics and steady beat echoing off the walls and the courts. Young players completed their stretching, rose to their feet and assembled near baskets, no more than two players per hoop.

In one corner of the gym, centers Vernon Carey Jr. and Jaime Echenique rarely stopped moving over the next hour. Player development manager Mike Batiste and assistant coaches Joseph Blair, Pat Delany and Mike Miller put the two big men through an arduous, structured workout, with the players alternating on the court. In drill after drill after drill, with the coaches often clapping and yelling encouragement, Carey and Echenique honed specific skills such as step-throughs, baby hooks and sharp rolls to the hoop. Within 20 minutes, sweat drenched the youngsters red workout shirts.

Forty minutes into the workout, Delany dribbled the basketball at the top of the 3-point arc, and Carey, going full speed, simulated setting a screen, rolled to the hoop and received a bounce pass from the coach. Carey caught the ball, elevated off his left foot and threw down a thunderous left-handed dunk over Batiste that would have brought fans to their feet. Blair, in his deep bass voice, bellowed: On his head! On his head!

At 9:45 a.m., the coaches concluded the workout, and Carey and Echenique, both spent, trudged off the court, hands on hips.

Its taxing, but its going to help you in the long run, Carey said, perspiration dripping off his forehead and chin. Pain doesnt last forever. Its gonna be a little painful for a little bit, but it wont last.

The centers grueling workout offered a window into the Wizards player development program under head coach Wes Unseld Jr., who arrived in Washington last July after six seasons as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets, a team well respected for developing young players such as second-round pick-turned-MVP Nikola Joki and point guard Jamal Murray. This offseason, Unseld and his assistant coaches are getting their first opportunity to work with Wizards players over an entire summer.

For players young and old alike, offseasons provide priceless opportunities to eliminate weaknesses, solidify strengths and set a tone for the season to come. For inexperienced prospects, such as 21-year-old Carey and 20-year-old forward Isaiah Todd, the spring and summer months offer chances for one-on-one coaching and time to hone their physiques. For youngsters who already have established themselves as rotation players like Deni Avdija, Daniel Gafford, Rui Hachimura and Corey Kispert this is the time to do the unglamorous work that will earn them more minutes.

Consistent incremental gains can pay big dividends down the road. Drafting well, making smart trades and identifying smart free-agent signings of course are essential to building a winner, but a franchise also needs to improve the players it already has and make them the best possible versions of themselves. Teams such as the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs are renowned for developing their players and for bringing the best out of players the rest of the league undervalues. Elevate players skills, and a team not only will win more games, but it also will raise its players values, which is an essential part of roster-building.

Every player can improve, said Tommy Sheppard, Wizards president and general manager. Every skill set has areas of improvement. Every skill set can be grown and continue to be sharpened every summer. We talk about (how) you find out in the winter what you did in the summer. You want to bring back a new aspect to your game or a new-and-improved area.

The younger a player is, the more room he has to improve, which largely explains why players typically make their biggest jumps between their rookie and second seasons, their second and third seasons and their third and fourth seasons.

This is the first full NBA offseason for Kispert and Todd, who were rookies in 2021-22. But its also the first full, uninterrupted offseason for Avdija, who spent last summer recovering from a right-ankle fracture he suffered as a rookie. And considering how the pandemic disrupted and shortened the 2020 and 21 offseasons, this also is the first full regular offseason for Carey, Todd, Gafford and Hachimura.

I have a lot of stuff to work on, and I know what I need to do better, Avdija said, adding he needs to take the next step in several areas of his game, including his dribbling with his left hand and improving his outside shooting.

Under Unseld, the Wizards keep a player development book with detailed action plans for each player, updating the entries in the preseason, at midseason and the end of the regular season. Unseld said the book is ever-evolving, with the teams coaches and staff constantly measuring progress (or lack thereof) and making any necessary adjustments.

This offseason, Unseld, his coaches, the front office and the medical staff have created personalized plans for each player, which is something other teams do, too. Wizards coaches and support staffers check in at least once a week with players who spend their offseasons away from Washington and regularly visit them to evaluate their progress. Even Kristaps Porziis, a veteran who spends most of his offseason in Europe, will receive at least one visit overseas and also is in regular contact with team officials.

As we map things out in the summer, how do we think a guy can play for us? Unseld said. What are his strengths? What are his weaknesses? What do we need to do to get him up to speed so we can plug him in and he can play? Then you get to midseason, and you look at it, and youre like, well, where is he as far as that first stretch of games? What are the things that we did or didnt do to help him get to where he should be? If hes where he should be, can we add more to his plate?

No two players in Unselds system follow the same path. For instance, Unseld said he initially did not expect Kispert to play significant minutes as a rookie, but when injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak hit the team, Kispert took advantage of his opportunities. He made consistent strides throughout the season, wound up starting 36 games and improved his field-goal and 3-point shooting percentages in the seasons final months.

Avdija and Hachimura made progress last season, too. Avdija appeared in all 82 regular-season games, a testament to his work and the medical staffs work during the summer of 2021. Hachimura missed the opening months of the season as he dealt with a personal issue, but he dramatically raised his 3-point accuracy from 32.8 percent in 2020-21 to 44.7 percent in 2021-22.

Meanwhile, Todd spent almost the entire 2021-22 season playing for the Wizards G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. Picked 16 spots after Kispert in the 2021 NBA Draft, Todd did not attend college and spent his year after high school playing for the G League Ignite. Because he was inexperienced and only 20 last season, team officials felt a patient but steady, long-term approach would be the best way to develop the lanky youngster.

He fits a lot of archetypes of the type of player thats very successful in the NBA, Sheppard said. If you want to call him a 3-and-D (player), he has the potential to do those things. But it wasnt going to happen if we threw him out on an NBA court. You can lose a ton of confidence your first year if youre not ready to go out there.

Sometimes its going to take some time, and you have to be patient, Sheppard added. But you have to stick with the plan. You can always adjust as you go. But you cant just bail on somebody if they had a tough week or a tough game or a tough month. Those players, theyve got to develop, and the only way to do that is to go out and play.

Todd, who is 6 foot 10, has been a regular at the Wizards practice facility this offseason. On the same morning Carey and Echenique were working out, Todd was on an adjacent court working with assistant coach Zach Guthrie and two additional staff members.

Todd said team officials want him to work on everything, with a special emphasis on rebounding, defending and learning how to be a pro. He has been motivated in part by a conversation he had a few months ago with a Wizards veteran. That veteran, whom Todd declined to name, said he made his biggest gains during the offseasons when he was 20 and 21, the formative age range Todd is in now. Its no surprise, then, that Todd is on the court and in the weight room every workday.

Every day when I come in, its specified for me and my development, the things that they want from me on the court and the things that are going to propel me forward in the league, Todd said. Like perfecting my shot, were talking about the details, not just getting up reps. The reps that Im getting up are high-quality, high-detail reps. Everybody in here is so supportive.

Sometimes I come in early in the morning, at 7 or 8 oclock, and there are six coaches here with me, and just me, on the court working on things. They watch hours of film before they even come to me, and theyre telling me the things that can help me propel in the league and get some time on the court.

Todd, along with new first-round pick Johnny Davis, is expected to be a central component of the Wizards team at the upcoming NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. To prepare, Todd and others, including Carey and members of the Go-Go, have played pickup games at the practice facility to apply their individual skill work to game situations.

Theyre showing they want to invest in their development, Unseld said. Its not us going to grab their hand and forcing them to be in the gym and put in the time and put in the work. Their willingness, thats step one. Theyre eager. They understand whats at stake. They understand the opportunity that this presents and the resources that they have at their fingertips.

It helps that the coaches and staff members attempt to make the work fun. That explains the music that blares on the gyms speaker system during skill workouts. During their recent session, Batiste, Blair, Delany and Miller who combined have 18 seasons of NBA assistant-coaching experience, plus additional experience coaching G League teams closely monitored Careys and Echeniques every move, and the coaches clapped and smiled throughout the hour-long session. As Unseld often says, there should be excitement and joy about going to work, not just for the players but for the coaches, too.

At 9:42 a.m., on the last rep of the morning, Carey, fatigued, finished a roll to the hoop with a soft layup and missed the shot.

Blair turned to Carey and said, Is that how you want to finish?

Carey picked up the ball and slammed it with a reverse dunk.

A few minutes later, still breathing heavily, Carey said, For every job, youve got to put in the work or youve got to study. Youve got to do the extra things.

(Top photo of Mike Batiste, Jaime Echenique and Vernon Carey Jr.: Courtesy of the Washington Wizards)

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Inside the Wizards player development program: Pain doesnt last forever - The Athletic

Branford Clay June 28, 2022

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) selected 731 teams from 441 institutions to the Scholar All-America Team for the Spring 2022 semester. Teams were selected based on their Spring 2022 grade point averages and represented 17,845 student-athletes. After finishing off the year with a 3.44 team GPA, Arkansas Swimming and Diving was named to the CSCAA (College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America) Spring 2022 Scholar All-American Team.

Success in the classroom is always a priority as a Razorback team, said head coach Neil Harper. Collectively with our success at the NCAA Championships and as a local leader in community service our team continues to maximize their opportunities as NCAA and SEC Student-Athletes.

It is the 12th consecutive semester that the Hogs have made the CSCAA Scholar All-American Team.

More InformationKeep up with all the latest news and information and get behind-the-scenes looks into our program on our social media accounts. Follow us on Twitter at @RazorbackSD and check out our Facebook page. Stats, news, and player information can be found at ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

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Arkansas Named to CSCAA Spring Scholar All-American Team - Razorbacks Arkansas

June 28, 2022

This fall, with the addition of 22 new programs, ASU Online will offer more than 300 undergraduate and graduate degrees, certificates and emphases.

Total enrollment for the 202122 academic year was more than 82,000 students seven times more than the 201213 year. In that same period, the number of graduates has increased more than tenfold to more than 11,500 for the past academic year.

But the explosive growth has been much more than numbers. Over the past few years, EdPlus, the Arizona State University unit that houses ASU Online, has worked intensely to create an experience for digital immersion students thats as close as possible to that of campus immersion students in all areas academic support, coaching, communication and fun.

Since the launch of ASU Online in 2010, it has been our goal to provide learners access to quality academic degree programs, in addition to the full university experience, regardless of their location or socioeconomic status, said Phil Regier, university dean for educational initiatives and CEO of EdPlus.

Through the advancement of technology, we have been able to expand our full online offerings from the social and soft sciences to a full suite of engineering and lab science programs. We strive to not bring anything online unless it can be as good or better than what is offered in a face-to-face setting.

Among the ways the ASU Online experience has improved:

Stronger academic support, with a new math initiative thats increased engagement and success.

Targeted communication to keep students on track.

A huge increase in engagement opportunities, with nearly 40 clubs and organizations for fully online students.

The opportunity for learners to participate in Barrett, The Honors College.

Some of the online initiatives have been so successful that theyve been adopted to help campus-immersion students, according to Julie Greenwood, vice dean for educational initiatives.

While ASU Online students access their program content in a different way than campus-immersion students, the degrees are exactly the same, she said.

Its important to emphasize that ASU, from the beginning, made the commitment to have the same faculty and the same learning outcomes, and to leverage the same content across the modalities for the exact same degree, she said.

So when a student graduates, it doesnt say, online criminology on their degree. It says bachelors of criminology the same as when a student graduates from a campus program.

We strive to not bring anything online unless it can be as good or better than what is offered in a face-to-face setting.

Phil Regier, university dean for educational initiatives and CEO of EdPlus

Of the offered degree programs, about half are undergraduate and half are graduate. Among the new additions are Master of Science degrees in addiction psychology and biological data science, and a Bachelor of Science degree in health care administration and policy.

The most popular degrees are the suite of biological sciences Bachelor of Science programs, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in psychology, the Bachelor of Science in information technology and the Master of Arts in special education (applied behavior analysis).

The individual colleges and schools at ASU can propose online degrees, and high-enrollment programs among on-campus students are often offered online, but new programs are also consumer-driven.

We look at Google search algorithms what are students looking for? That helps us to understand the market, said Casey Evans, chief growth officer.

Sometimes that means tweaking the name of an existing program to draw interest.

It is a very academic thing to make a degree sound interesting to a very specific part of the population, but when you go to the algorithm, if the degree is not called something theyre Googling, they wont find you, she said.

Its a strategic process of thinking about the needs of the learners, the experience of the faculty and trying to merge those two things in degrees that students want.

High enrollment is not the only factor.

We offer a masters in Indigenous education. We know for sure that theres not a huge market for Indigenous education, but these are learners who live on a reservation and want to stay in their communities and give back to their communities, and the ability to do that is important to them, she said.

Evans team meets regularly with the academic units to review degree programs.

Do we need to refresh the content? Perhaps a name change or adding courses or concentrations?

We have to think about how we keep that portfolio fresh as students are changing, she said.

Its an art and a science. There is no clear data set.

Her team has to look into the future to predict whats needed.

My dream is to know the jobs that will exist five years from today so that we can build degrees for those learners, she said.

When ASU Online began offering degree programs, it was critical to track success metrics. So the The Action Lab was created to analyze data.

Initially, it was, How does the learning of our students compare with the learning of campus students? How can we iterate and improve? Greenwood said.

Now, The Action Lab is focusing on equity and inclusion, she said.

As successful as ASU Online is, we are still, like most universities, seeing gaps in the success of students from underserved and underrepresented populations, she said.

So we continue to push the development and design of our courses so that all students can be successful. Sometimes we need to change our design or change our content to make it culturally responsive or culturally inclusive.

For example, faculty feedback is very important to populations who are underserved, she said.

Its important to students in general, but this population has expressed directly to us that knowing that someone is on their side and rooting for them helps them to stay in a course longer than they may have.

The Action Lab also is evaluating the effectiveness of new technology, such as Dreamscape Learn, as well as focusing on courses with a high failure rate.

When Greenwood came to EdPlus three years ago, she looked at high-enrollment courses that had high failure rates, and about 10 of those were math.

That led to Operation Math. Suzanne Galayda, associate director of Operation Math, said that math courses are barriers for all students, not just online. In 2020, EdPlus began working with the ASU math department, homing in on first-year courses that were problematic, including college algebra, college math and precalculus.

We thought, What can we do right now in the short term to immediately impact students and move the needle? Galayda said.

You never want to leave students behind when youre looking to the future.

The team implemented several changes right away:

Peer support: Inscribe is a system in which students are assigned to study communities, where they can ask questions when theyre stuck. Student-worker learning assistants monitor the communities, answering the questions or direct the student on to further help.

The response has been overwhelming, Galayda said, with students not only eager to answer their peers math questions but also provide emotional support. One of the things we see commonly is that students will say, Im really struggling, and then its, I want you to know youre not alone.

Instructors are available to answer math questions, but in reality, online students often study late at night or on weekends, she said.

Peer review: Math faculty started a system in which students review each others homework and give feedback before the final graded submission. The results were so successful that the Math 142 faculty added peer review in their campus-immersion classes.

You cant learn Spanish if you never speak Spanish, Galayda said. The faculty saw that peer review achieved its goal of getting students to talk mathematically to each other.

Strategic emails: Math students face several key points during the semester. For example, students must take an assessment before a course opens. In 2019, about a third of students had not taken the assessment by the fifth day of the math course. But after the emails, 85% had taken the assessment.

Overall, after the first year of increased communications, student success improved about 8% for college algebra and about 3% for college math.

Given the enrollments in those courses, thats roughly 500 students in just that year who were able to continue in their major and not have to retake a math course, Galayda said.

The math department also allowed students to split up college algebra over two semesters, but completing the course in the subsequent semester is key. For those who wait, the success rate plummets by 60%.

So now the advisers get a communication reminding them to contact their students about signing up to complete the course. This has led to better pass rates and lower withdrawal rates, Galayda said.

Exam wrap: In this new initiative, students take a survey and perform self-reflection exercises at the end of three courses: college math, college algebra, precalculus and brief calculus exams.

Exam wrap was designed with the help of The Action Lab to really get students to reflect on what they did to study, what they felt like going into the exam, what they felt like afterward and what they recognize they need to do differently about their behavior, as well as asking them to review their exam so they dont just take it and leave, Galayda said.

They actually think about what they did right and what they did wrong.

So far, students report feeling less anxious about taking exams after completing the exam wrap.

The team will analyze whether the exercise affects exam scores overall.

Longer term, EdPlus is working on Math Spine, an adaptive-learning platform similar to BioSpine, in which learning is personalized and students can review just the content they need without having to retake an entire course.

... We continue to push the development and design of our courses so that all students can be successful.

Julie Greenwood, vice dean for educational initiatives

One of the biggest initiatives thats now available is Barrett, The Honors College, which accepted its first ASU Online cohort in fall 2021.

Mark Jacobs, the dean of Barrett since 2003 who is retiring this summer, had wanted to offer the experience to ASU Online for a long time, but the challenge was how to make the signature honors course, which is discussion based, work on an asynchronous platform, according to Alexandra Aragon, director of academic planning and retention at Barrett.

But with the pandemic, we had to pivot all of our honors courses to be taught on Zoom quickly, and it went really well, she said.

So Jacobs decided to move ahead, Aragon said.

We invited ASU Online students who looked like they would be great candidates, with good GPAs and with some college experience, she said.

We had almost 100 candidates for 25 spots, and they were so strong that we actually took 48 students.

The students represented eight ASU colleges and included veterans, international students and nontraditional students. About half were in the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. They all agreed to participate in a live History of Ideas seminar course, logging in via Zoom, she said.

They immediately said, This is like nothing else Ive ever done. I have classmates and I know them and I see them weekly. I feel connected to my professors and to my fellow Barrett students, she said.

Besides the signature honors course, students also must earn honors credit in their major course requirements or electives by doing projects, such as a paper, a presentation or research with the professor.

We helped this cohort figure out how to earn that credit. People had great ideas and we encouraged creative thinking, she said.

Faculty play a huge role in this. Theyve embraced this notion of what high achievement looks like in online classes.

Its clear that this is a population of learners who are a great fit for honors. Theyre talented and curious and they want this experience, said Aragon, who noted that two of the ASU Online Barrett students are participating in study abroad this summer.

MORE:ASU Barrett Honors College online pilot program a success

ASU Online students were able to socialize together in person when they visited Tempe campus in early June to complete their lab courses. Photo by Charrie Larkin/ASU News

The isolation of the pandemic sparked a craving for socialization among online students. The number of student clubs and organizations has soared from a handful in 2019 to about 40 now, and most were created in the past two years, according to Brianne Frazier, director of student success and engagement for ASU Online.

New clubs include a student-run newspaper, the first online chapter of an honors fraternity and a group operating under Greek letters working to become the first-ever fully online sorority.

There have been some challenges to launching online student groups, such as gathering people who are scattered around the world. One ASU Online student who was in the military and stationed in Germany would get up at 3 a.m. for his club meetings, Frazier said.

And like many things, online can be less formal than in-person.

We started a pre-club option, because to be a full club, you need a certain number of members and three officers, and there has to be a constitution. Some students said, We want to get together, but thats a lot. We just want to connect, Frazier said.

So we created the pre-club option where theyre not required to go into all those things. Theyre still required to do some things, like their logos have to meet brand standards. Its an easier way to not be so strict and still allow students to connect and engage.

Students who attend on campus pay an activities fee, which funds student organizations. ASU Online students dont pay that fee, so EdPlus helps to fund their clubs, though the pre-club groups dont qualify for that.

Fraziers team has worked with Educational Outreach and Student Services to have traditionally campus-based organizations include online students. Some have embraced that, such as BeYouASU, a club for LGBTQIA2S+ students and allies, but some groups have an on-campus presence that makes it hard.

Some groups have gone fully hybrid, like government. ASU Online students created their own student government advocacy group in 2020, but in spring 2022, the campus-based Undergraduate Student Government and Graduate Student and Professional Association voted to allow ASU Online representation.

The online students work hard on their clubs.

A.J. Wolfe, a senior majoring in global health, is the president of the ASU Online chapter of Phi Sigma Pi, an honors fraternity. When he enrolled last year, he joined several groups and was interested in joining a fraternity.

As I researched, I saw Phi Sigma Pi, and it attracted me because its gender inclusive male, female, nonbinary, whichever umbrella you fall under, they will take you, said Wolfe, who lives in Virginia.

I reached out to the national staff and asked if they were interested in starting an exclusively online chapter at ASU, and they gave me the green light.

The organization requires a 3.0 grade point average for membership, and the ASU Online chapter has organized a book club, movie nights, workout sessions, game nights and meetups. The group will become involved in community service projects this year.

Building a chapter from the ground up has been a lot of work, Wolfe said.

The main thing was figuring out the bank account situation since our members are around the U.S. and the world. It was difficult to find a bank that would work with us, he said.

But they finally found a bank and should be chartered this summer, he said.

Emma Blunck, a senior majoring in mass communications and media studies in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is the editor-in-chief of The Spark, the newsletter by and for ASU Online students.

Its a place for anyone on the online campus who wants to write or design or edit or build out their resume, she said.

The Spark is produced monthly by students from a variety of majors. Students dont have to be a club member to pitch a story idea, work with the editors and then write the story.

We keep it engaging. Its not a full-time job and we cant expect them to write every month, she said.

Blunck said The Spark has received a lot of support from the university to build the club and offer professional opportunities, such as a seminar planned for the fall.

This is my first leadership role and Ive gotten a lot more confident managing a team, said Blunck, a senior who lives in New York City.

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ASU Online expands to offer more than 300 programs - ASU News Now

More than 900,000 North Carolina students rely on the nutritious meals and snacks served during the school year through the school breakfast, school lunch, and afterschool meals programs.

When school is out, Summer Nutrition Programs provide free, nutritious meals for children and adolescents ages 18 and younger.

As part of recovery from the ongoing pandemic, more families are struggling with hunger. Assistance with outreach regarding summer meals is needed to ensure no child goes hungry.

To find free, nutritious summer meals near you for kids and teens who are ages 18 and younger:

Text Food to 304-304 for information in English or COMIDA to 304-304 for information in Spanish.

Use the N.C. Site Finder Map at https://bit.ly/3MhnX1S.

Check your local school district website, social media, or other communications.

Learn more at http://summermeals4nckids.org.

For summer 2022, meals need to be eaten on-site and children must be present to receive food.

In addition to nutritious meals, N.C. Summer Nutrition Programs also provide fitness and fun through educational enrichment.

To find out about activities offered by Summer Nutrition Programs near you, search #NCSummerMeals on social media.

Summer Nutrition mascot Ray F. Sun may visit a summer meals event in your community. The F in Rays name signifies the food, fitness, and fun that take place throughout North Carolina as part of N.C. Summer Nutrition Programs.

Follow @Ray4NCKids on social media to learn where Ray will be next.

N.C. Summer Nutrition Programs are administered by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), with federal assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Summer Nutrition

Programs are typically located in economically distressed areas to serve the most food-insecure, vulnerable students. Meal sites may be located at schools, public housing centers, playgrounds, camps, parks, medical centers, faith-based facilities, libraries and other locations.

Meals are served to eligible children at no cost. Registration and ID are not required.

Additional information regarding N.C. Summer Nutrition Programs may be found on the NCDPI, Office of School Nutrition website. Citizens and organizations interested in getting involved as sites, activity providers, or volunteers should contact the NCDPI Summer Nutrition Programs Team at [emailprotected]

Read more:
NC summer nutrition programs offer free food, fitness and fun for kids - The Robesonian

Biden-Harris Administration is Driving a Multi-Pronged Response to Global Food Security Crisis

President Biden and G7 leaders will announce that they will contribute over $4.5 billion to address global food security, over half of which will come from the United States. President Biden will announce $2.76 billion in additional U.S. Government funding commitments to help protect the worlds most vulnerable populations and mitigate the impacts of Russias unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine on growing food insecurity and malnutrition. These new investments will support efforts inover47countries andregionalorganizations, to support regional plans to address increasing needs.

Vladimir Putins actions have strangled food and agriculture production and have used food as a weapon of war, including through the destruction of agricultural storage, processing, and testing facilities; theft of grain and farm equipment; and the effective blockade of Black Sea ports. Russias choice to attack food supplies and production have an impact on markets, storage, production, negatively impacting consumers around the globe. Putins aggression in Ukraine, combined with the impacts from COVID-19, increasing conflict, high prices for fuel and fertilizer, have combined to devastate already fragile global food security and nutrition. Millions of people living far from the conflict face an increased risk of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition as a result of Putins war. Estimates suggest that up to 40 million more people could be pushed into poverty in 2022 as a result of Putins war in Ukraine and its secondary effects.

While the entire globe will continue to be affected by Russias actions, themost immediate needs will present in theHorn of Africa, as it experiences a record-setting fourth straight season of drought, that may lead to famine. As many as 20 million people may face the threat of starvation by the end of the year. The prolonged drought is also having dire nutrition impacts, putting children at severe risk of malnutrition and in need of treatment.

To address and mitigate further impacts on global food security, the U.S. Government will continue life-saving food assistance to address these growing needs and leverage additional financial commitments. Of the newly announced commitment of an additional $2.76 billion in humanitarian and economic assistance, $2 billion will be to help save lives through emergency interventions and $760 million will be for sustainable near-term food assistance to help mitigate further increases in poverty, hunger, and malnutrition in vulnerable countries impacted by high prices of food, fertilizer, and fuel.

The U.S. governments multi-pronged response to combat global food insecurity includes:

Global Humanitarian AssistanceSince the start of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, the United States has provided $2.8 billion to scale up emergency food operations in countries impacted by the food security crisis. In addition to this funding, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is committing another $2 billion in international disaster assistance (IDA) funds for emergency humanitarian needs over the next three months. These funds include direct food assistance, as well as related health, nutrition, protection, and water, sanitation and hygiene services, in countries with high levels of acute food insecurity, reliance on Russian or Ukrainian imports, and vulnerability to price shocks, and will support countries hosting refugee populations.

Global Development AssistanceAs we continue to address acute humanitarian needs, the U.S. government will continue to strengthen food systems and mitigate medium-term impacts on food security. The U.S. Government is investing $760 million to combat the effects of high food, fuel, and fertilizer prices now being driven up by Putins war in those countries that need it most.

Expansion of Feed the FutureFeed the Future (FTF), the U.S. governments flagship global food security initiative led by USAID, is expanding its global footprint in eight new target countries from 12 to 20 target countries, in Africa that were also most vulnerable to the impacts of Russias war in Ukraine. The new target countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia. This expansion of Feed the Future countries delivers on President Bidens $5 billion commitment in September 2021 to end global hunger, malnutrition and build sustainable, resilient food systems abroad.

The U.S. government currently invests more than $1.9 billion per year through Feed the Future, which builds on existing technical expertise, programs and partners in more than 35 countries. In these countries, the U.S. government investments pave the way for further investments from the private sector, donors and local governments.

Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP)The United States through the U.S. Treasury, continues to exercise leadership in the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) a $2 billion multilateral financing mechanism that has helped the worlds poorest countries increase investments in agriculture and food security. The United States is contributing $155 million to support projects that raise agricultural productivity, link farmers to markets, improve livelihoods, reduce vulnerability, and enhance resilience to shocks. The United States is also newly serving as Co-Chair of the GAFSP Steering Committee. In this leadership position, the United States will help deepen and accelerate GAFSPs response to the food security crisis.

USG Leadership in Driving Global ActionFrom the beginning, the United States has been at the forefront of global efforts to confront this crisis.

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FACT SHEET: President Biden and G7 Leaders Announce Further Efforts to Counter Putin's Attack on Food Security - The White House

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a joint disease affecting the entire joint, including the cartilage, bone, and joint lining.

Lifestyle factors, age, joint injury, and genetics can all contribute to OA and cause the breakdown of cartilage in the joints.

This can lead to inflammation and changes in the bones and joint tissues. People may experience joint pain, stiffness, and reduced range of motion.

This article looks at the changes that occur in OA and how these cause symptoms.

OA is a disease of the whole joint, which includes:

In OA, cartilage breaks down, which results in changes to the bone and joint tissues. Alongside inflammation, this can cause pain, stiffness, and loss of flexibility.

OA can occur in any joint, but it most often affects the knees, hips, lower back, neck, and hands.

The symptoms of OA may appear gradually and can include:

OA causes inflammation, changes in bone shape, and cartilage deterioration. It is primarily a disease affecting the cartilage.

OA occurs due to a combination of factors, including:

People with the condition have higher levels of pro-inflammatory markers, which indicate inflammation, and proteases, which are enzymes that break down protein. These eventually cause joint deterioration.

In most cases, the first changes that occur in the body due to OA affect the articular cartilage. This is the cartilage covering the ends of the bones where they meet at the joint.

The articular cartilage may erode or become irregular, split, or frayed. If there are erosions in the cartilage, these may gradually expand down to bone level and affect more of the joint surface.

Cartilage consists of water and the matrix, which is a gel-like substance containing different types of protein:

Articular cartilage contains a group of cells called chondrocytes, which produce and maintain the matrix.

Injury or damage to the cartilage can cause damage to the matrix, resulting in chondrocytes multiplying and forming clusters. This causes bony lumps to form called bone spurs.

Damage to the matrix can also cause thickening of the bone underneath the cartilage and may sometimes cause fluid-filled areas in the bone called bone cysts.

Alongside these changes to the cartilage, there may be inflammation of the joints synovium.

These changes can occur gradually, and people may slowly start to experience symptoms of OA, such as pain, stiffness, and limited range of motion.

Learn more about cartilage damage.

Certain risk factors may increase the likelihood of OA. These include:

The complications of OA may include:

According to the Arthritis Foundation (AF), people with OA have an increased risk of falling, which, in turn, raises the risk of fractures.

This increased risk is due to the fact that OA particularly OA of the knees or hips can affect balance, weaken muscles, and reduce joint function.

If medications for OA cause dizziness, this may also increase the risk of falls.

The AF also states that weight gain may occur in people with OA if joint pain causes difficulty exercising. Carrying excess weight can lead to various health problems, such as:

If people have concerns about OA complications, they can talk with a healthcare professional about minimizing the risks. The healthcare professional may recommend lifestyle changes, exercise programs, and assistive devices to improve stability.

The following conditions may cause symptoms similar to those of OA:

Learn more about the possible causes of joint pain.

The outlook for people with OA may depend on which joints the disease affects, the severity of the symptoms, and how the condition affects everyday function.

Some people may find that OA has little effect on their day-to-day life, while others may have more severe symptoms that affect their ability to carry out everyday tasks.

Treatments can help people manage OA symptoms. In some cases, joint replacement surgery may provide the best long-term outcome for a person with OA.

OA occurs when the cartilage in joints breaks down, causing changes to the bone and joint tissues. The symptoms include pain, stiffness, and reduced mobility.

Various risk factors, such as age and genetics, can combine to cause production of pro-inflammatory markers and proteases, which eventually lead to joint deterioration.

Exercise, medications, and, in some cases, surgery can help manage the symptoms of OA and minimize further joint damage.

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Pathophysiology of osteoarthritis: Symptoms, causes, and risk factors - Medical News Today

Law enforcement agencies have been in the national spotlight in recent years for alleged use of excessive force. Some of those cases have involved people experiencing mental health crises. According to a Washington Post database, since 2015, nearly a quarter of people who died during encounters with police suffered from a mental illness.

The lack of mental health crisis services across the U.S. has resulted in police serving as first responders to most crises. Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training programs are intended to improve the outcomes of these encounters. Recently, the Notre Dame Police Department held CIT training for its officers, to better support the campus community.

The 40-hour training, held one week during the spring semester, included 26 presenters and was facilitated by two of Notre Dames own, 2002 alumnae Amanda (Dovidio) Zelechoski and Michelle (Sutton) Tyler. The presentations were dynamic, including experiential simulations and exercises, site visits and panel sessions.

CIT, formerly known as the Memphis Model, aims to bring trained law enforcement together with mental health professionals and other community partners to address a mental health crisis. CIT improves officer safety, engages mental health professionals and reduces the trauma a person may be experiencing. Benefits also include reduced arrests and use-of-force incidents.

Notre Dame Police Chief Keri Kei Shibata already had her eye on CIT training, particularly for the entire department. Since 2010, 12 officers have received CIT training, in the fashion that many departments use to train officers a few at a time and usually at an off-site location. But Shibata had something else in mind.

Mike Seamon, vice president for campus safety and University operations, recalled: Last summer when Keri Kei and I discussed what could have a lasting and meaningful impact on NDPD, she brought forth the idea of CIT training. When we pulled on that thread a bit more, it was Keri Keis idea that we could possibly build a CIT module specifically designed for NDPD.

In 2020-21, Shibata had worked with Zelechoski, a psychology professor and director of clinical training at Purdue University Northwest, to provide trauma-informed training for her officers. I reached out to her to see if she could conduct CIT training. She shared that her roommate and close friend from ND undergrad, Michelle Tyler, also had experience working with police departments on CIT.

At the time, the St. Joseph County Police Department was also working on a CIT program. Shibata decided to send Lt. Alex Novelli to the countys program, which included a train-the-trainer session. We also wanted to build our own program because of the unique systems, partnerships and resources at Notre Dame.

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Notre Dame students approached Shibata about CIT training. Another student group with a focus on mental health and peer support also came to Shibata.

With discussions about police reform and incidents involving police responding to mental health calls around the nation drawing national attention, CIT was a growing focus and best practice, Shibata recalled.

It was perfect timing that we had developed a relationship with Amanda, and she and Michelle were able and willing to help us build the program, Shibata said. Zelechoski, Tyler, Shibata and others began developing their program.

In addition to her work at Purdue University Northwest, Zelechoski is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist and attorney, specializing in trauma. She had been part of the team that created CIT training for the Philadelphia Police Department.

Tyler is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and the director of operations for Resources for Resilience, a nonprofit organization that offers resiliency-focused community education and professional development programs. She also has CIT training experience.

Zelechoski and Tyler brought their years of experience to bear as they designed a brand-new CIT training exclusively for NDPD that is to say, training for campus police. It would need to be different from the training that local officers attended.

Zelechoski and Tyler worked as facilitators along with Shibata and Jo Cecilio, the Cavanaugh Hall rector working with the NDPD, and the CIT Planning Committee to build the program.

Zelechoski is quick to point out that CIT training for a university police department needed to be different, recognizing that universities are somewhat in a world of their own.

Were covering a few developmental periods and zooming in on them, much more so than, say, a city or county agency would. They may be dealing with children or intervening on behalf of children and adolescents, where were focused more on the emerging adult and adulthood stages, she said.

Zelechoski explained the unique position campus police are in, encountering high incidences of the emergence of mental health symptoms because of the age of the population living on campus and attending classes. Additionally, campus police may also deal with faculty and staff as well as visitors to campus.

Weve worked hard to not just have the focus be on students, but really to make sure that we are covering all of the populations that the officers get called out to respond to, Zelechoski said.

This isnt just a training where officers come and sit for 40 hours at a week-long training and thats it. It is intended to be a team and a model with lots of preparatory work and with lots of follow-up. Its a model for transforming a department to be more responsive in these mental health crisis situations.

The NDPD CIT training was not a typical sit-and-be-lectured-to workshop. First, attendees received a pharmaceutical bag with medication in pill bottles. The medication was candy, but the instruction was for the recipient to take the medication as prescribed (and officers had different instructions). Officers were quickly thrust into the everyday world of a person with potential mental health concerns.

The exercise was designed to build empathy and understanding among our officers around how difficult it can be to manage a complex medication regimen over time. Our goal was to help them answer the frequently asked question, Why dont individuals just take their medication? Tyler said.

We know, of course, that there are a number of factors that contribute to challenges in following a regimen and/or decisions not to take certain medications as prescribed, Tyler said. For instance, there may be a lot to keep track of, there may be challenges in obtaining or paying for refills, they may feel shame or stigma around taking medication, they may start to feel better and decide they no longer need them, there may be uncomfortable side effects some of which affect their ability to perform their job duties.

Next, in a game called the Brain Architecture Game, teams were given a mix of straws, pipe cleaners, dice, connectors and weights, along with a deck of cards with various life scenarios the cards you are dealt in life, so to speak. The decks had an even number of positive, tolerable and negative influences. Company literature describes the interactive group activity as a game that builds understanding of the powerful role of experiences on early brain development what promotes it, what derails it, and with what consequences for society.

Teams were instructed to build a brain using the materials and influenced by the circumstances on the cards. Some teams had the capacity to build firm foundations; other teams clearly had a rocky start. As the teammates watched their pieces lean from the weight of the commands on the cards they drew, the inclination for at least one team was to cheat (they didnt).

I think it shows how our brains function, but it kind of shows us how different things make a stronger brain and how negative things impact our lives, Officer Jarett Gilpin said.

The training continued throughout the week with a number of speakers, site visits and role play simulations. One exercise, Hearing Voices, included use of headphones.

They were playing music and all of a sudden you hear voices yelling, Youre doing a bad job. Dont look up, dont look down, just focus, focus. We hear these voices in our headphones. And you are trying to go through these scenarios find people and talk to them, and then move on to the next person, all while you have these voices in your head, Gilpin said. It kind of gives you an idea of what people with schizophrenia go through in their day-to-day. It made you really think.

Officers also spent time in role playing, with the help of University staff and students, acting out parts in select scenarios.

Officer Ryan Steppe appreciated the hands-on portion of the training.

The de-escalation role-plays really helped me, going through them and getting thrown certain curve balls, because every situation is different, Steppe said. It helps me develop those skills rather than sitting here and listening to a lecture.

Each day officers also participated in self-care segments, with exercises directed at preventing burnout and helping to avoid the long-term damage of chronic stress. We know that responding to others who are in distress can take a toll on the mental and physical health of helping professionals and wanted to dedicate a portion of our CIT training to equipping our officers with some practical, easy-to-use tools that they can use to keep themselves healthy and resilient, Tyler explained.

"The tools that we introduced come from an evidence-informed public health curriculum called, 'Reconnect for Resilience.' They are designed to help first responders, educators, healthcare workers, caregivers, and other helping professionals better understand and manage their own and others' stress responses," she said.

Shibata said the training was well-received by her officers, giving them a much deeper understanding of options, resources and partners. For some it renewed their interest in certain topics and issues that they want to be involved in, such as domestic violence response.

They had the opportunity to practice responding to challenging crisis calls in a safe environment and to talk through and debrief how they handled it, and their options and resources, with mental health professionals, she said. I was very proud of their engagement and interest throughout the week and also grateful for the support of the officers who worked long hours to cover campus operations while the majority of officers were in the training.

NDPD also had a number of dispatchers and other staff attend some or all of the training, which Shibata said will also strengthen police response. Well have people answering the phone for the crisis call who will be able to ask better questions and have a better understanding of how officers will respond, she said.

Several members of the Notre Dame Fire Department staff also participated in CIT training.

When it was all said and done, the last thing to do was to present certificates of completion. Speakers included Marianne Halbert, the criminal justice director for National Alliance for Mental Illness Indiana, NAMI Indiana, and Seamon.

I give Keri Kei Shibata and her entire leadership team credit for being ambitious and bold in identifying CIT as a training platform that would be transformational, not only for NDPD, but for the entire University community, Seamon said. Their commitment of time, energy and resources was a clear indication that they knew that this training would be incredibly impactful on how they serve Notre Dame. The fact that they created a week-long, 40-hour intensive course for their department is a testament of how the NDPD team feels and cares about the campus community it serves.

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NDPD develops University-centered Crisis Intervention Team training - Notre Dame

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) also improved quality of life and physical activity levels while reducing anxiety and depression levels.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an effective training model for improving aerobic fitness and reducing dyspnea levels and lower limb fatigue in patients with moderate to severe asthma, according to a study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

HIIT was more effective at reducing dyspnea levels and lower limb fatigue and increasing physical activity levels (PAL) compared with constant-load exercise (CLE), researchers found.

Asthma management traditionally requires both pharmacological treatments, such as inhaled corticosteroids and broncodilators, and nonpharmacological treatment. Aerobic exercise is the nonpharmacological intervention with the most substantial evidence based benefits with increases in the physical activity, reducing asthma exacerbations, the authors wrote.

Adults with asthma treated at a hospital with clinically stable, moderate, or severe persistent asthma between the ages of 20 and 59 were studied.

A total of 55 adults with clinically stable, moderate, or severe persistent asthma were randomized into CLE (n=27) or HIIT (n=28) groups. The patients were between the ages of 20 and 59 years, had a body mass index of 35 kg/m2, and had been treated at a hospital. Participants attended an educational program prior to their exercise program, which required attending 24 sessions of respective exercise programs over a 12-week period.

Both interventions were found to increase the peak of oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and workload (P < .05) without differences between groups (P > .05). There were no differences found between the groups in dyspnea levels and lower limb fatigue after the interventions. (P > .05).

However, the HIIT participants experienced a reduction in dyspnea and lower limb fatigue during cardioplumary exercise testing between 4 and 10 minutes. The participants in CLE showed an improvement between 4 and 6 minutes but reported no significant change in fatigue perception.

Though both groups presented similar dyspnea levels, lower limb fatigue, and heart rates when evaluated during the exercise sessions (P > .05), energy expenditure in the HIIT group was greater than that in the CLE group between the 10th and 24th sessions (P < .05).

No differences were observed in clinical control or lung function for both groups in the 3-month follow-up period.

In both CLE and HIIT groups, similar proportions of participants observed a reduction in anxiety (63% vs 53%) and depression levels (74% vs 71%) after the interventions; however, these symptoms were only improved in the HIIT group during the 3-month follow-up period. Reduction in anxiety could be due to the reduction of dyspnea induced by HIIT, the authors speculated.

Similarly, only HIIT showed clinical improvements in the total score and in the symptoms related to emotional function that lasted 3 months after the intervention.

Generally, the effect size was greater for HIIT with 7 out of 9 outcomes in favor of HIIT. CLE reached higher outcomes for VO2peak and work rate. Only HIIT participants were shown to improve in moderate PAL and reach clinical improvement for asthma control and health-related quality of life.

The authors noted that further studies are needed to evaluate whether HIIT can be used to improve PALs in association with behavior intervention.

These findings conflict previous research demonstrating that participants of CLE achieve clinically significant better asthma control. However, the authors suggest these discrepancies are due to some CLE participants having good asthma control at baseline and difference in exercise modality from previous studies.

While both CLE and HIIT improve aerobic fitness for patients with asthma, the findings suggest that HIIT is more effective in reducing dyspnea and fatigue symptoms.

As the effects of CLE and HIIT were similar in several outcomes, our findings suggest that HIIT may be an alternative exercise training model to be performed for participants with moderate to severe asthma, the authors concluded.

Reference

Da Silva RA, Rocco PGL, Stelmach R, et al. Constant-load exercise versus high-intensity interval training on aerobic fitness in moderate to severe asthma: A RCT. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. Published online May 30, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2022.05.023

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HIIT Is Effective for Reducing Dyspnea Levels and Fatigue in Patients With Asthma - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

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