Special Olympics Saturday Night Dance around the Olympic Flame of Hope
Threatening clouds and the rumble of thunder didn't dissuade dozens of law enforcement personnel and a few of their family members from running the distance between Amherst Police Department headquarters on Main Street and the UMass Southwest Quad area three miles away, where they were warmly greeted by hundreds of exuberant and thankful Special Olympics athletes.
All the money raised goes towards supporting the Special Olympics ... the good will goes everywhere.
Group shot just before the gun goes off
Amherst town center
AFD in front of Central Station stands and salutes
Group runs by former "Frat Row" just outside campus
University Drive with Southwest towers looming. Final stretch
10 comments:
We should be proud of them all! Nice shot of the Fire Dept. saluting. Thanks for making us realize what's important.
Np problem. Some stories are way more fun to cover than others.
I have three problems with the Special Olympics -- it is inherently patronizing, it presents cognitive disabilities as being binary while the reality is that they are a continuum, and it furthers the perception that individuals with disabilities are children, not adults.
An analogy: Women. Presume all that the feminists say is true about how women once were treated -- that is what we are doing now with the disabled.
The Special Olympics is well intended, but what it does is create a binary above-or-below line where one is either fully able or completely unable. It is like treating every woman as if she is in the 9th Month of a high-risk pregnancy. Or like treating every woman like she is a "trophy wife."
The Special Olympics is not like the infamous "Swedish Bikini Team" advertising campaign -- the women working in the brewery argued that it created a "hostile environment" toward them -- and in a like manner, the Special Olympics creates a "hostile environment" toward individuals with disabilities.
There are those of average intelligence who participate in the Special Olympics because they like to feel smarter than someone else. It is the same thing as the guys who beat up women -- in both cases folk seek self esteem by showing that they are stronger than someone else.
Now I think the police are well intended in this -- and what no one is mentioning is that this is probably one of the few times that people are genuinely happy to see them, and the officers undoubtedly get a lot out of that themselves.
But I am as offended by the Special Olympics as most women would be were there to be large posters of cute bare-chested babes on the sides of the PVTA buses....
You're starting to sound like Ed.
I disagree. And a thousand or more of the Special Olympics athletes/ participants would probably disagree as well.
I noticed no thanks went to UMass, so I will do it here.
Okay, go ahead.
Anon 10:33
You are a misanthrope.
"You are a misanthrope."
mis·an·thrope/ˈmisənˌTHrōp/
Noun:
A person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society.
I'm guessing that comment was directed at the person with problems with the Special Olympics.
By the way, even if you use big words, it's still name calling.
Glad I was not the only one who had to Google it.
I fully support Special Olympics. As someone who has 2 different friends whose children are in the games in their areas, I can tell you that the participants get a lot out of it.
Nice job to those that ran in the run, and to APD for hosting it.
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