Program Schedule
Thursday, March 4 – Symposium in Downtown Tacoma
Opening Reception (5:30 pm – 7:00 pm)
Location: Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, Foyer
Keynote 1 (7:00 pm – 8:45 pm)
“The Olympic Games, Social Activism and Responsibility: How Sport Can Affect Change in the World”
Olympic Gold Medalist, Darfur Activist and Humanitarian
Location: Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, Ballrooms C&D
Friday, March 5 – Symposium on the PLU Campus
Concurrent Session 1 (9:15-10:20)
A-1) “The Global Video Game Industry – Uniting the World through Fun”
Markets like China and Korea have become dominant players in the global game business with game companies in China valued in the billions on public trading, professional game players in Korea can earn over $100,000 USD a year playing games, the most used applications on Facebook and the iPhone are games like Farmville and Flight Control, and people are getting “married” in online worlds like World of Warcraft. What does this mean for the future of business, relationships, communication, sports, and learning? Are games just an excuse to be social? With 16 years in the industry including years at Microsoft and running a development company in China, Jason will provide a background on understanding where the industry has come from and where it might be going.
Jason Robar, General Manager, The Amazing Society
Location: University Center, Room 133
A-2) “HgH & Anabolic Steroids Bigger, Faster Stronger: Glamorized Perspective on Faulty Thinking”
This talk will address a brief history of doping in sport, organizations’ responses of drug testing as a deterrent to doping use by athletes, as well as the debate of testing versus technology’s ability to identify the guilty. Additionally, this talk will address athletes’ reasoning about doping in sport and how our current competitive culture impacts how we teach, model, and coach today relative to doping.
Jennifer Beller, Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology, Washington State University
Location: University Center, Regency Room
A-3) “Football, Futbol, Soccer – in Seattle”
Gary Wright, Senior VP of Business Operations, Seattle Sounders
Location: University Center, Scandinavian Cultural Center
A-4) “Olympic Nationalism: Narratives of Identity and Difference in the Beijing Games”
This presentation examines identities of the nation-state as they are imagined through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Through her studies of urban, educated youth, Prof. Hubbert shows how what she calls “Olympic nationalism” was not merely an expression of national identity through sport. Rather, Olympic nationalism was a response to global perceptions of a “China threat” in which students posed China instead as an example of a “gentle communism” that was meant to render the idea of global threat devoid of significance.
Jennifer Hubbert, Department of Anthropology, Lewis & Clark College
Location: University Center, Room 201
A-5) “Rowing to London, 2012”
Natalie McCarthy, a 2009 graduate, truly represents the new Paralympic motto, “Spirit in Motion.” Our speaker is in the midst of becoming a Paralympian. This presentation will focus on the transition from intercollegiate rowing and the extraordinary dedication required to compete in the Paralympic games. Her story helps to illustrate the inspirational character of the Paralympic Movement and the strong will of every Paralympian.
Natalie McCarthy ‘09, Paralympian-in Training
Location: Morken, Room 103
Chapel (10:30 – 10:55)
“How do you Want to be Remembered as an Athlete?”
Jordan Westering ‘11, Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Location: Mary Baker Russell, Lagerquist Hall
Keynote II (11:15 – 12:20)
“Goooooooooolllll!!!… Sports Can be More than Just a Passion”
Jaime Mendéz, News Anchor (Spanish language), KUNS-Univisión Seattle
Location: University Center, Chris Knutsen (CK) Hall
Concurrent Session 2 (12:30 – 1:35)
B-1) “Empowerment Football: a Grass Roots Initiative in the Ugandan Slum of Namuwongo”
Matt Kennedy and Margaret Chang will relate how in the summer of 2008 the program called “Empowerment Soccer” came to Namuwongo, an urban slum less than 2 miles from Uganda’s capital, Kampala. This sport based, life skills soccer program is designed to improve quality of life urban youth and men. In late spring 2009 Matt and Margaret returned to Uganda and ran the 2nd Annual Empowerment Soccer Tournament, living their believe that sports helps maintain unity between people of all cultures and backgrounds. In January 2010, Matt again returned, this time to help introduce the PLU J-Term Class, “Shattering Stereotypes; Documenting responsibility” to the richness of Uganda.
Matt Kennedy ‘07 & Margaret Chang ‘07
Location: Hauge Administration Building, Room 101
B-2) “The Norwegian Sport System – Potentials and Limitations for Social Policy”
Based on a breadth of research into sport policy, sport organizations, and adolescent sport, this presentation will introduce Norway’s Sport System and its use of sports for “social good” such as assisting the integration of new immigrants and in reducing crime in the cities of Norway. Also considered will be the relationship between voluntary sports clubs and health policy.
Dr. Eivind Asrum Skille, Faculty of Health and Sports, Hedmark University College, Elverum, Norway
Location: University Center, Room 133
B-3) “Beijing-The Paralympic Experience”
The world is experiencing a large expansion of athlete participation. The roots of the Paralympic games began in Great Britain in the summer of 1948 with injured service men from World War II. The Beijing Summer Paralympics had nearly 4000 athletes participate from 146 countries-an unprecedented level of participation. This presentation will follow the USA Para-cycling team in their race preparation and racing for the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games with a back stage look at the work required to help enable this event.
Erik Moen ’89, Physical Therapist, Corpore Sano Physical Therapy
Location: University Center, Room 201
B-4) “Born to Run (and Run and Run) – Barefoot”
If you were born a human being, congratulations, you are considered to be one of the finest long distance running animals on the planet, and most likely one the smartest. Based on experience running with people from different parts of the world and with minimalist footwear traditions this session will explore the questions: How as a species did we develop this extraordinary running capacity? Do we still have this capacity?
‘Barefoot Ted’ McDonald, Ultramarathoner
Location: University Center, Scandinavian Cultural Center
B-5) “WC10: Will the Next Leader Please Rise”
World Cup 2010 in South Africa is a pivotal moment in sport. For the first time in the competition’s 80-year history, an African nation will host the tournament for the world’s biggest sport. But soccer isn’t just a sport, it’s a business – a multi-billion dollar business. This presentation will follow the history of athletic and sportswear giant Nike on the road to becoming the most dominant football brand in the world.
Heather Dewey ’01, Assistant to the VP/GM for Global Football
Location: University Center, Regency Room
Concurrent Session 3 (1:45 – 2:50)
C-1) “Don’t Believe Everything You See and Hear About Sports, Even from Me”
The media landscape is changing so rapidly that it is unavoidably re-shaping our perception of sports, which is one of the few subjects guaranteed to drive TV ratings and web traffic. And with more media companies providing much of the teams’ operating incomes, hazards are many in the shift to lowest common denominator reporting.
Art Thiel ’75, sportswriter, SeattlePI.com
Location: Ingram, Room 100
C-2) “Everest: an International Affair”
Expeditions that climb Mt. Everest these days are not only supreme physical challenges, but also demand that climbing teams work together and cooperate in numerous ways. In the balance hangs the lure of the highest point in the world, against life in the most tenuous environment ever envisioned. Come join Jason Edwards’ program, as he guides you up Mt. Everest, and shares the story of his four expeditions that placed 41 people on the 29,035′ summit.
Jason Edwards ’84 ’89, mountain climber, guide and teacher
Location: University Center, Scandinavian Cultural Center
C-3) “The Dark Side of Global Sport: Gambling, Bias and Corruptions”
Recent scandals have vividly illustrated the “dark side of sport.” This presentation will first provide an overview of sports-related gambling, bias, and corruption, and using recent examples such as age fraud, match fixing, point shaving, illegal immigration, and even espionage to explain how such conduct affects sports and society. Second, this presentation will focus narrowly on NBA referees as a case study and discuss how the NBA provides an ideal environment to empirically test for possible bias by referees against league teams and affiliated individuals.
Ryan M. Rodenberg, JD/PhD, Indiana University
Location: University Center, Room 133
C-4) “Integrating Sport into Soldier Recovery”.
The U.S. Army has always incorporated sports into our physical fitness programs due to the team-building, learning and leading opportunities it provides. Sports are also a wonderful vehicle to help in the rehabilitation of wounded and injured Soldiers, though this sometimes requires adapting the sport to fit the audience. Our adaptive sports programs offer a holistic approach to increase physical rehabilitation, improve self-confidence and social interaction and to uplift the human spirit. We incorporate recognized techniques and equipment modifications to expand participation to almost every Soldier. The programs currently ongoing include archery, sit volleyball, aquatics, spinning, basketball, rowing and horseback riding.
LTC Stephen Hickenbottom, Warrior Transition Battalion, Fort Lewis
Location: University Center, Regency Room
C-5) “The Spirit of the Game: U.S Sports in South America”
Baseball is a great American tradition; Ultimate Frisbee is a new U.S. sport. This presentation will focus on the firsthand experiences of two recent graduates, Jackal Tenelorn and Alyson Theiman, who had the privilege of conveying the spirit of these two sports in South America. Tanelorn, while teaching English in Chile, with a generous donation from a 1950’s women’s softball team, introduced the great American pastime to a small rural school. Theiman was invited to coach and compete in the Ultimate community of urban Colombia as part of an elite Seattle team. These presenters will offer their experiences of how teaching a sport can offer an incredible window into another culture while also re-inspiring their own sense of sportsmanship.
Jackal Tanelorn ‘09 and Alyson Theiman ’09
Location: Hauge Administration Building, Room 101
Wrap-Up Roundtable (3:00 – 4:00)
(Organized in cooperation with “Wild Hope” project: https://www.plu.edu/wild-hope/ )
“Alumni Reflect on the Big Questions”
Margaret Chang ’07, student
Heather Dewey ‘01, Nike
Jason Edwards ‘84/’89, teacher and mountain guide
Natalie McCarthy ’09, Paralympian-in-training
Matt Kennedy ’07
Art Thiel ’75, sports writer
Moderator: Samuel Torvend ’73, Associate Professor of Religion
Location: University Center, Chris Knutsen (CK) Hall