NEWS The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 6, 2004 - 5 Hoops tournament supports spinal cord research Experts analyze American transport By Sarah Sprague For the Daily A group of Unversity nursing students see an aspect of basketball beyond the hype of college varsity hoops. Students in the class Nursing 214, which focuses on spinal cord injury raised hundreds of dollars for cord research by holding a three-on-three basket- ball tournament yesterday. The class raised $700 for the Daniel Heumann Foundation for Spinal Cord Research. Teams of students not in the class competed in the tournament for the first prize of basketballs signed by University basketball coach Tommy Amaker. "We just figured out what sport would work the best and be of most interest to students, and we came up with basketball," said LSA senior Jeff Kominsky, "This is the b who had the oppor- tunity to instruct the of class, that credit. for academic are approach The tournament was disability iss part of the one-credit ~ S nursing seminar. Guest real world, n speakers visit the class every week to talk in the classr about issues related to spinal cord injuries and other disabilities, some sharing their per- LSA senior, Nut sonal stories. "The class goes through the progressive process of spinal cord injury," Kominsky said. "For instance, one week we had a doctor come in to talk about physiologi- cal aspects and the next week a physical therapist. We even had a class in the hospital to learn about technology and one with the Law School's dean of students."a The class covers a wide range of topics, from disability law to technological systems to the care of disabled individuals. "It is one thing to learn theory in a class- room, but it is entirely different to see and hear the reality of a situation. That is the pur- pose of this class, to expose the students to the realities of life," Kominsky said. The e laseoueeires each estuentte he imnolved By Amber Colvin and Emily Liu Daily StaffReporters Sue Zielinski, a former transportation plan- ner for the city of Toronto, used to have a 45- minute bike ride to work every morning. In her new hometown of Boston, however, she longs for the days when she'd commute to work by bike, which she described as a highly efficient and accessible mode of transportation com- monly overlooked by Americans. Speakers from all over the country laid out the problems with American transport. They gathered at the University's Art and Architecture Building Friday for a sympo- sium on sustainable transportation called "From Mobility to Accessibility." The five speakers - professionals in the field of transportation planning - discussed topics such as traffic congestion, public transit and the development of alternative modes of transportation. Douglas Kelbaugh, dean of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, said the topic of more accessible transporta- tion, such as better road systems and mass transit, is "a pressing and complex issue that U-M's interdisciplinary strengths can begin to address," Literature available distributed at the symposium explained the current dilemma Urban transportation planning considers only travel convenience and speed, particularly for motorists. in which urban transportation planning con- siders only travel convenience and speed, particularly for motorists. Such narrow views disregard alternative travel modes that could allow residents to get around in more efficient and less costly ways, the speakers said. "From Mobility to Accessibility" aims to bring these modes back into the planning pro- cess. The pamphlet stated that "the purpose (of sustainable transportation) is not to eliminate the use of private cars as much as to enable other forms of accessing desired places," for example, "by using public transit, biking or walking, and enabling shorter trips by what- ever mode." Kelbaugh said a goal of hosting the sym- posium was to discover and then frame some of the most promising research questions in the field. Zielinski, whose speech was titled "Toward Integrated Mobility Solutions," said a common belief among Americans that because transportation is necessary and cars are the only means of transporta- tion for them, cars must be indispensable. Instead of sticking to this belief - which Zielinski said is unfavorable to American mobility - she proposed integrating differ- ent modes of transportation. She showed an example of her ideal system with a video that documented transportation in Bremen, Germany, where a mix of bik- ing, walking, public transportation - such as buses and trains - and a car-sharing program. The video portrayed the German city as being more efficient and having more space because of this integration strategy. The other speakers included Hank Dit- tmar, president and chief executive officer of The Great American Station Foundation, an organization that attempts to revital- ize communities by building and restoring train stations; Anthony Downs, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; Susan Handy, an environmental science professor at the University of California at Davis; and John Pucher, a planning and public policy professor at Rutgers University. Kelbaugh noted that the symposium attracted a variety of people from indus- try, government, nonprofit organizations and academia from Michigan and neigh- boring states. I 1. r ,l 1{ 'C tr. in a community service project, and everyone got involved in one large group effort to plan the bas- ketball tournament, which Kominsky said proved to be a great success. "At first I was doing this because I had to as part of a class project, but then I met a bunch of great people while organizing it, and as I learned more through the class, I began to really care about the issue (of spinal cord injury). "I would get overwhelmed with work, but then I would listen to another speaker who was living with injury or paralysis and be motivated all over again," said Pam Clay, co-chair of the organization committee. Students in the class worked for months on the project, starting out with basic plans. "You wouldn't believe the work that can go into a three-on-three basketball tournament. I have organized events before, but none of them were as )est part involved as this," Clay said. students The tournament was ping set up so that eight teams were playing at a time. ues in the The original goal for the tournament was to get lot just about 60 teams to sign up. But with less than a Dom. week before the event and just four teams reg- istered to play, students - Jeff Kominsky became more than a little rsing 214 instructor worried. "Luckily, there was a surge at the last min- ute of teams registering, and now we have 18. It ended up being a great number for the event," said Pharmacy graduate student Sarah Werner. The atmosphere was laid back as some teams laughed at their own lack of skill while others played with the intensity of professionals. "I'm excited to be here, and it's great to see that there are so many other people willing to contrib- ute. ... Everyone seems to have come out to play basketball and have a great time while supporting a good cause, no matter how good they are a bas- ketball," Clay said. "That is the best part of the class, that students are approaching disability issues in the real world, not iustinaelassromee.m"Kominessaid. Winter Commencement Sunday, December 19, 2004 Crisler Arena Doors open at 1:15 p.m. Ceremony begins at 2:00 p.m. and lasts about two hours. Eligibility Summer Term 2004 and Fall Term 2004 graduates and candidates are eligible to participate in Winter Commencement. Ticket Distribution Tickets will be distributed Monday, December 13 through Thursday, December 16 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. in the Pond Room of the Michigan Union. Graduates and candidates are eligible to receive up to six (6) tickets during this time. Additional tickets will be distributed on Friday, December 17 from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Pond Room of the Michigan Union. Academic Attire (Cap & Gown) Michigan Book & Supply, Michigan Union Bookstore and Ulrich's Bookstore all carry Bachelor's attire. Both Michigan Book & Supply and the Michigan Union Bookstore carry Master's attire, while Doctoral attire is only available from the Michigan Union Bookstore. Individuals With Disabilities Graduates or guests with disabilities should call (734) 647-6037 for information about accessible seating and special parking arrangements. For more on Winter Commencement, call (734) 647-6037 or visit the Graduate Guide Web site: http://www.umich.edu/~gradinfo I