By remembering and practicing these five core rules, you will vastly improve your game and will start building a solid foundation towards being an elite badminton player.

Racket up

• This is the biggest mistake most people make. Badminton is a very fast sport. Your racket needs to be up and in front of you ready to return the shuttle. Think of the center of your body as the center of a circle (your “badminton circle”) encompassing your entire body. The shortest distance to any point on your badminton circle is when you start from the center. So in order to reach the majority of shots in the shortest amount of time, you need to keep your racket up and in front of you. Read the rest of this entry »

  Tags: Badminton, basics, fundamentals, help, practice

Adult athletes generally have more specific nutritional requirements to ensure that their bodies can perform the rigors of athletic activity. However, young athletes in general can get the majority of the nutritional requirements necessary for athletic activities through their basic well-balanced everyday diets with only slight modifications. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Badminton, Carbs, dieting, health, lifestyle, nutrition, sugar

The back-court drop (BCD) is an effective tool used primarily during singles play. Beginning at the back court, you hit the shuttle at the slightly forward peak of your swing in such a way that the shuttle just crosses the net and (ideally) hits the floor within 1-2 feet of the net in your opponent’s court. The smash is rather obvious in purpose and application. It is meant as a tool to catch your opponent off guard or to simply power the shuttle past them. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: backcourt, Badminton, defense, drop, how to, mechanics, Smash, technique

Slobogin, C. (2007). Privacy at Risk: The New Government Surveillance and the Fourth Amendment. University Of Chicago Press.

In America today, privacy is slowly becoming a fleeting memory. After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, fear has become the fuel by which the Bush Administration has enacted some of the most far-reaching legislative acts to retract privacy protection in this country. From the USA PATRIOT Act to warrant-less wiretapping, the concept and protections of privacy have taken a backseat to the political interests of the state.

Traditionally, the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution has provided a measure of protection against unreasonable searches and seizures; and by judicial interpretation, a right to personal privacy against government intrusion. Ever since Katz v. United States in 1967, the Fourth Amendment has served as the yardstick for measuring the protection of personal privacy. However, recent measures of political and security related importance have belittled the citizen’s right to privacy in a variety of settings. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Amendment, freedom, government, Internet, intrusion, invasion, justification, law, legitimacy, privacy, Slobogin, surveillance, technology

Brandon Ching
PAF 602 (Fall 2008)

Farmer, David J., (1995), The language of public administration: bureaucracy, modernity, and postmodernity, The University of Alabama Press.

Abstract

In The Language of Public Administration, David Farmer argues that the modern language of public administration, by which its scholars understand and approach the field (bureaucracy in particular), is limited. He suggests that the language of public administration can be expanded through the advent and acceptance of postmodernity and provides justification through the analysis of distinct characteristics in modernity and postmodernity. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bureaucracy, David Farmer, deconstruction, deterritorialization, open-source, postmodernity, public administration, rationality

Well that title is certainly a mouthful! I wanted to take a little time to share my experience and knowledge about a partial parotidectomy so others who are faced with the procedure can feel more comfortable about undergoing this  type of surgery.

My Background

It was about 10-12 years ago when I was in high school that I first began to feel a small lump behind my right ear near where my earlobe ends just above and to the rear of my jaw bone. It pretty much appeared out of nowhere as I didn’t really notice anything “growing” there before that time. The lump was about the size a large marble, slightly oval, but smooth and firm yet slightly movable. It wasn’t really painful but occasionally it would ache. When pressed, it would be very uncomfortable and somewhat painful. Actually, what it really felt like was just a lot of pressure in that area. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: cancer, Dr. Chuang, ENT, experience, parotidectomy, Pleomorphic Adenoma, Robert Jacobs, surgery, tumor

Brandon Ching
PAF 602 (Fall 2008)

Abstract

Stivers, C. M. (2002). Bureau Men, Settlement Women: Constructing Public Administration in the Progressive Era (Studies in Government and Public Policy). University Press Of Kansas.

Camilla Stivers’ Bureau Men, Settlement Women is a historical reconstruction of the early days of public administration with a particular emphasis on gender influences. Focusing on the Progressive Era, Stivers dichotomizes municipal research bureaus and settlement houses as distinct yet complimentary forms of governmental reform organizations central to the rise of the administrative state. Research bureaus, focused on objective and procedural efficiency in administration, are identified as masculine; while settlement houses, focused on substantive social improvement, are seen as feminine. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: abstract, efficiency, Progressive, public administration, reconstruction

Brandon Ching
PAF 602 (Fall 2008)

Abstract

Denhardt, R. B. (1991). In the Shadow of Organization. Regents Press of Kansas.

Robert Denhardt’s In the Shadow of Organization focuses on the impact of individuals within organizations and how organizational efficiency or rationality is encroaching into our individuality. Modern organizations and organization administration have heavily borrowed principles of rationality and objectivity from the sciences. This has resulted in a one-sided focus of placing the rational goals of the organization above, and often in place of, those of the individual members of the organization. This, according to Jung, inhibits the necessary individualization required by people to become whole and balanced beings. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: abstract, bureaucracy, domination, morality, objectivity, Organization, public administration, rationality, Robert Denhardt

Yea, ok, so it may be weird. When I tell people that I’ve been listening to Christmas music for about three weeks now (and periodically throughout the year), I get weird looks and a, “man this guy needs help” kind of look. I mean, can I help it if I like the feeling of Christmas? So I wanted to take 5 minutes to explain why I begin listening to Christmas music in the middle of October. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Christian, Christmas, family, God, holiday, Jesus Christ, love, money, Muhammad, power, republicans, tradition, values