Time for an Audible: Possible Solutions for NIL Collectives Seeking Tax-Exempt Status Following IRS Memo

The United States Supreme Court’s decision in NCAA v. Alston sent shockwaves throughout the world of college sports. The Court’s recognition of student athletes’ abilities to profit from their name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) revolutionized the landscape of collegiate athletics. Shortly thereafter, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (the “NCAA”) adopted its Interim NIL Policy, explicitly allowing opportunities for companies, entities, or individuals to pay student athletes for use of their NIL. Unsurprisingly, athletes capitalized on the opportunities immediately. For example, Hanna and Haley Cavinder, former women’s college basketball players with millions of followers on social media, completed an NIL deal with Boost Mobile, a wireless service provider, within hours of the NCAA policy’s enactment. Despite the almost instant onset of NIL-related activities, questions remained as to the permissible scope of parties’ involvement with these deals. Specifically, should student athletes individually procure their own NIL deals, or can organizations assist student athletes in the process

More Than a Coin Flip: Bielski v. Coinbase and the Presumption in Favor of Arbitration

Arbitration agreements are frequently found in consumer contracts, diverting disputes away from litigation and toward arbitration, in which a third party resolves the dispute and renders a binding award. Parties often challenge the enforceability of arbitration agreements and seek to bring the issue to court, where they believe litigation of a dispute would be advantageous under the circumstances. This can be viewed as a game, with arbitration on one side and litigation on the other. It seems obvious that, as with most games, both teams would begin on equal footing, each with the same chance of winning—think of the jump ball in basketball or the coin flip in football. However, challenges to arbitration agreements do not begin on a level playing field. Instead, arbitration starts with the ball— and that’s not a bad thing

From Prison to Homeless Shelter: Camp LaGuardia and the Political Economy of an Urban Infrastructure

At this time of increasing housing insecurity, recent reforms in homeless shelter policy have attracted the attention of scholars and activists. This research sheds light on these changes by placing them in historical and political-geographic perspective, focusing on the role of homeless shelters in stabilizing social displacement by destabilizing solidarity. It demonstrates historical continuity between prisons and homeless shelters in New York City through a case study of conditions surrounding the transition of Camp LaGuardia, a prison that slowly transformed into the city’s largest, and longest lasting, homeless shelter. The case study is an empirical demonstration of some of the theoretical underpinnings of an increasingly punitive and regulatory state, its class, race, and gender dimensions, and its rhetorical classification of itself as diminishing, aspects of social structural change that Ruth Wilson Gilmore describes as built on prison foundations. The research argues from a position and program of abolition

Talent Identification in Youth Soccer : Prognosis of U17 Soccer Performance on the Basis of General Athleticism and Talent Promotion Interventions in Second-Grade Children

Several talent identification programs in elementary school have implemented motor diagnostics to introduce children to groups of sports, like game sports, or even to particular sports like soccer. However, as in most other sports, in youth soccer, the predictive value of such early testing is still unclear. This prospective study evaluated the midterm prognostic validity of generic motor performance tests. The sample consisted of male second-grade children, which had received a recommendation to participate in soccer. The talent screening campaign was a basic check comprising two anthropometric parameters, five physical fitness, and three motor competence diagnostics of the German Motor Test 6–18. The test data were collected from the participating elementary school classes of the years 2010 to 2014. The soccer competition performance of those children having completed the age of at least 15 years (n = 502) up to the end of the season 2019/2020 (2020, September 30) was recorded. This group of U17 players was then assigned individually to five different competition levels. The prognostic validity of the physical and physiological tests was determined using ANOVAs, odds ratios, and a regression path analysis. All diagnostic methods exhibited medium-to-high prognostic validity over the 8 year time span from the talent screening to the later soccer competitions in the adolescent age groups. For later success in soccer on the province level, the 6-min run (OR = 4.28), dynamic balance (OR = 4.04), and 20-m sprint (OR = 2.46), as well as the participation in the training center of the German Soccer Federation (OR = 5.67) and the diversity of club sport activities (OR = 3.56), were of particular importance

Prognostic Validity of Statistical Prediction Methods Used for Talent Identification in Youth Tennis Players Based on Motor Abilities

(1) Background: The search for talented young athletes is an important element of top-class sport. While performance profiles and suitable test tasks for talent identification have already been extensively investigated, there are few studies on statistical prediction methods for talent identification. Therefore, this long-term study examined the prognostic validity of four talent prediction methods. (2) Methods: Tennis players (N = 174; n♀ = 62 and n♂ = 112) at the age of eight years (U9) were examined using five physical fitness tests and four motor competence tests. Based on the test results, four predictions regarding the individual future performance were made for each participant using a linear recommendation score, a logistic regression, a discriminant analysis, and a neural network. These forecasts were then compared with the athletes’ achieved performance success at least four years later (U13‒U18). (3) Results: All four prediction methods showed a medium-to-high prognostic validity with respect to their forecasts. Their values of relative improvement over chance ranged from 0.447 (logistic regression) to 0.654 (tennis recommendation score). (4) Conclusions: However, the best results are only obtained by combining the non-linear method (neural network) with one of the linear methods. Nevertheless, 18.75% of later high-performance tennis players could not be predicted using any of the methods

Identificación temprana de talento en tenis: un estudio retrospectivo

Talent identification often begins at the age of entry into a sport: namely, even under the age of 9 years old (U9). However, the success of such early talent identification is questionable. Therefore, the aim of this long-term retrospective study is to examine whether today’s more successful junior tennis players already differed from today’s less successful junior tennis players in terms of physical fitness and motor competence when both groups were U9. If significant differences in performance characteristics between successful and less successful tennis players were already apparent at this young age, such characteristics could be used to forecast talent at an early stage. Based on their current tennis success, a total of 174 junior tennis players were divided into national ranked players (n = 16: players who achieved a place in the official national junior tennis ranking list of the German Tennis Federation) and non-ranked players (n = 158). All of these players had already participated in two anthropometric and nine physical fitness and motor competence tests at U9 (e.g., sprint, endurance run, ball throw). Using a MANCOVA and a correlation analysis, we retrospectively examined whether the two current performance groups had differed significantly in their U9 test scores and whether these athletes’ U9 test performance scores correlated with their current playing success. No significant (p < 0.05) differences were found between ranked and non‑ranked junior players in terms of U9 body weight and height. However, with the exception of flexibility, all physical fitness tests and motor competence tests showed significant results. The ball throw was the most relevant test parameter, as it showed the highest prognostic validity (effect size ƞ2 = .157 and r = .360). This test was followed by the two test tasks standing long jump (effect size ƞ2 = .081 and r = .287) and endurance run (effect size ƞ2 = .065 and r = .296). Overall, the U9 findings are in line with the results from other studies of U12‒U18 tennis players. Therefore, it can be assumed that talent‑specific characteristics remain stable over a certain period of time and that U9 test performances may provide an early indication of later playing success.La identificación de talentos a menudo suele comenzar desde la edad de entrada al deporte, es decir, incluso por debajo de los 9 años (U9). Sin embargo, el éxito de dicha identificación de talento temprana es cuestionable. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de este estudio retrospectivo a largo plazo es analizar si los jugadores juveniles de tenis más exitosos hoy en día ya eran diferentes de los jugadores juveniles de tenis menos exitosos hoy en día en términos de aptitud física y competencia motora cuando los dos grupos eran U9. Si a esta temprana edad ya eran notables diferencias significativas en las características de desempeño entre los jugadores de tenis exitosos y menos exitosos, dichas características podrían usarse para predecir el talento desde una etapa temprana. Basados en su actual éxito en el tenis, un total de 174 jugadores juveniles de tenis fueron divididos en jugadores de clasificación nacional (n= 16: jugadores que obtuvieron un lugar en la lista oficial de clasificación nacional juvenil de tenis de la Federación Alemana de Tenis) y jugadores por fuera de la clasificación (n=158). Todos estos jugadores ya habían participado en dos pruebas antropométricas y nueve de aptitud física y competencia motora en U9 (ej. sprint, carrera de resistencia, lanzamiento de balón). Usando un análisis de correlación y el MANCOVA, analizamos retrospectivamente si los dos grupos de desempeño actual diferían significativamente de los puntajes en sus pruebas en U9, y si esos puntajes de las pruebas de rendimiento en U9 de estos atletas se correlacionaban con su éxito de juego actual. No se encontraron diferencias significativas (p < 0,05) entre los jugadores juveniles dentro la clasificación y por fuera de ella en términos de peso y altura en U9. Sin embargo, exceptuando la flexibilidad, todas las pruebas de aptitud física y competencia motora presentaron resultados significativos. El lanzamiento de balón fue la prueba más relevante ya que demostró la mayor validez pronóstica (tamaño del efecto ƞ2 = .157 y r = .360). A esta prueba le siguieron dos actividades de prueba, salto de longitud de pie (tamaño del efecto ƞ2 = .081 y r = .287) y carrera de resistencia (tamaño del efecto ƞ2 = .065 y r = .296). En general, los resultados en U9 están en línea con los resultados de otros estudios de jugadores de tenis en U12-U18. Por lo tanto, puede asumirse que las características de talento específicas permanecen estables durante cierto periodo de tiempo y que el desempeño en las pruebas en U9 puede ser un indicador temprano de futuro éxito en el juego

Schweigen und Verschweigen in Richard Wagners Musikdrama "Tristan und Isolde"

In Richard Wagners Musikdrama 'Tristan und Isolde' treten Schweigen und Verschweigen in den verschiedensten Ausprägungen und mit einer signifikanten Häufigkeit sowohl im Dialog bzw. in der Figurenrede als auch im Nebentext auf. Vor diesem Hintergrund setzt sich diese Diplomarbeit mit dem Phänomen auseinander, dass sich das Musikdrama in Bezug auf den künstlerischen Gehalt und die künstlerische Aussage des Stückes einer einfachen Beschreibbarkeit weitgehend entzieht, was sich auch in den teilweise stark voneinander abweichenden Meinungen zu und Interpretationen von 'Tristan und Isolde' zeigt. Die der Arbeit zugrunde liegende Hypothese geht davon aus, dass das häufige Auftreten von Schweigen und Verschweigen maßgebliche Ursache für dieses Phänomen ist. In der Aufgabenstellung und der Zielsetzung, die sich daraus ableiten, wird es darum gehen, im vorliegenden Musikdrama durch die Herausarbeitung eines kohärenten Interpretationsstrangs die Bedeutung der Schweigehandlungen und des Verschweigens zu ermitteln, um damit in weiterer Folge auch oben genanntes Phänomen näher spezifizieren zu können. Eingebettet in den vorhandenen Forschungsdiskurs wird die Deutung durch Heranziehen bereits verfügbarer Ergebnisse gestützt, aber auch in Abgrenzung dazu gesetzt, wenn dies notwendig und sinnvoll erscheint. Unter der Prämisse einer ganzheitlichen Herangehensweise liegt der Fokus zudem gleichermaßen auf dem Text als auch auf der Musik. Erkenntnisse und Ergebnisse werden dabei mit den Mitteln einer funktionalen Analyse der entsprechenden Textstellen, einer dialog- und verlaufsorientierten Wissensstand- bzw. Wissenstransferanalyse und einer motivorientierten musikalischen Analyse gewonnen. Im Verlauf der Arbeit stellt sich heraus, dass die schwere Beschreibbarkeit des Stückes im Wesentlichen durch das Unvermögen der Figuren zur mitteilenden Kommunikation sowie die auf Missverständnissen basierende Kommunikation zwischen den Figuren bedingt und dabei durch die äußere Handlungsarmut der Oper noch verstärkt wird. Das Spektrum der Ursachen für die scheiternde Kommunikation reicht vom Nicht-Kommunizieren-Wollen über das Ungenügen an der Sprache bis hin zur Unsagbarkeit. Weiterhin zeigt sich, dass sich neben der wortwörtlichen Bedeutung eine erst im Rahmen einer Interpretation sichtbar werdende, tiefer liegende Bedeutungsdimension auftut, auf die unter anderem auch die Verwendung allegorischer Personifikationen – Tag und Nacht – als dichterisches Mittel verweist

Variability in urinary oxalate measurements between six international laboratories

Background. Hyperoxaluria is a major risk factor for kidney stone formation. Although urinary oxalate measurement is part of all basic stone risk assessment, there is no standardized method for this measurement. Methods. Urine samples from 24-h urine collection covering a broad range of oxalate concentrations were aliquoted and sent, in duplicates, to six blinded international laboratories for oxalate, sodium and creatinine measurement. In a second set of experiments, ten pairs of native urine and urine spiked with 10 mg/L of oxalate were sent for oxalate measurement. Three laboratories used a commercially available oxalate oxidase kit, two laboratories used a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-based method and one laboratory used both methods. Results. Intra-laboratory reliability for oxalate measurement expressed as intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) varied between 0.808 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.427-0.948] and 0.998 (95% CI: 0.994-1.000), with lower values for HPLC-based methods. Acidification of urine samples prior to analysis led to significantly higher oxalate concentrations. ICC for inter-laboratory reliability varied between 0.745 (95% CI: 0.468-0.890) and 0.986 (95% CI: 0.967-0.995). Recovery of the 10 mg/L oxalate-spiked samples varied between 8.7 ± 2.3 and 10.7 ± 0.5 mg/L. Overall, HPLC-based methods showed more variability compared to the oxalate oxidase kit-based methods. Conclusions. Significant variability was noted in the quantification of urinary oxalate concentration by different laboratories, which may partially explain the differences of hyperoxaluria prevalence reported in the literature. Our data stress the need for a standardization of the method of oxalate measuremen