become too narrow or collapse.
According to Scott Hollister,
a
professor
of
biomedical
and mechanical engineering,
tracheobronchomalacia occurs
once in every 2,200 births. In
the United States, that averages
about 1,500 to 1,800 patients a
year with the condition, with
ranging severity. While some
kids with a mild form of the
condition will not need medical
intervention,
those
with
moderate to very severe forms
require treatment that can
potentially be life-saving.
“The kids exhale, which
puts a negative pressure in
the airway that tends to want
to collapse the airway,” he
said. “With normal cartilage
it will hold up the airway, but
with these kids it collapses
completely and they can’t get
air out of their lungs.”
Hollister
said
he
began
working
with
3D
printing
technology as an approach
to
treating
the
condition
when he met Glenn Green, an
otolaryngologist at C.S. Mott
Children’s
Hospital,
in
the
summer of 2011. Green suggested
working on an external device
that
could
directly
treat
tracheobronchomalacia.
The
splint
used
for
tracheobronchomalacia
is
three-quarters of a cylinder,
with a small opening on one side
of the cylinder. Since a person’s
airway is similar to a tube, and
part of that tube is collapsing,
the splint is placed surgically
on the exterior of the airway to
pull the airway open.
“We do a CT scan for the
child prior to the surgery, and
so when the child exhales we
can see where the collapsed
segment is and how long the
collapsed segment is,” Hollister
said. “Then from the inhalation
scan, we get an idea from the
diameter of the collapsed region
under inhalation pressures.”
The
doctors
take
measurements from both scans
and use those measurements
to design the splint. While all
splints have the same general
geometry, the diameter and
the length of the cylinder are
customized for each patient.
Hollister said the doctors
were worried about whether
or not the splint would allow
for growth of the patient over
time. To address this challenge,
doctors took periodic imaging
to look at the size of the
airways, and determined that
airways still grow, even with
the attached splint.
Hollister said he was already
familiar with Materialise, as
he had previously used their
software to teach a class and
employed it while developing
the splint.
Hollister said the company
contacted him upon hearing
about
the
first
procedure
using the splint in 2013, and
wanted to help develop the
technology for clinical use. The
company, which has a branch
in Plymouth, Mich., used its
technology to help design the
customized splints. Since Green
and Hollister work on the
project through the University,
Materialise needed to work
with the University to come up
with a licensing agreement for
the technology.
“This agreement is a critical
step in our goal to make this
treatment readily available for
other children who suffer from
this
debilitating
condition,”
Green said in a press release.
Polycaprolactone,
the
material used to make the
splints, is bioresorbable, so
fluids in the body will cause the
polymer to break down over
time. This particular polymer
takes about three to four years
to be completely resorbed by the
body, making a repeat surgery
unnecessary.
While
currently
the
technology is not approved
by the FDA, the agency has
given clearance to use it for
emergency life-or-death cases.
The splint has been implanted
in four children, all of whom
were between about three and
16 months of age. The doctors
reported that the patients all
responded well to the surgery.
“Here
at
Materialise,
we strongly believe in the
transformative
power
of
great
collaborations,
such
as the one we have enjoyed
these past two years with Dr.
Green, Dr. Hollister and all
others who have contributed
to this life-saving application
of 3D printing,” said Bryan
Crutchfield, managing director
of Materialise U.S.A. in a press
release.
“This
collaboration
is proof that when the right
skill
sets
and
technologies
are combined, solutions can
be found for problems once
thought impossible.”
to begin with, so managing all of
that is going to be difficult,” he
said. “We all have to reel in our
expectations a bit about what we
can do as a staff and what we have
the resources for.”
The search for a new city
administrator
is
an
extensive
process that could take up to
three months. The administration
committee, with the help of a
search firm, will narrow down
the potential applicants for the
post. After finalists are selected,
a series of public interviews and
forums will be held before a
recommendation is made to City
Council.
Tom Crawford, Ann Arbor’s
chief financial officer, is serving as
interim city administrator.
Ackerman said it will be crucial
in the coming months to find
suitable replacements for these key
positions.
“We will need to hire a terrific
city administrator who can oversee
the whole operation, hire a strong
community service administrator
who can improve those customer
service aspects of City Hall,”
Ackerman said. “Then, make sure
we have a good building manager
and planning manager to make sure
that any development that does go
forward is attractive and safe.”
In
November,
council
unanimously
approved
City
Administrator
Steve
Powers’
recommendation to appoint James
White as Ann Arbor police chief.
Currently an assistant police chief
with the Detroit Police Department,
White begin his new position in
Ann Arbor on Jan. 11, 2016.
Police-community relations
The year started with continued
protest against police brutality
in light of the death of Ann Arbor
resident Aura Rosser, who was shot
by an Ann Arbor police officer last
November.
In late January, the Washtenaw
Prosecutor’s Office concluded Ann
Arbor Police Officer David Ried
would not face criminal charges for
the fatal shooting.
Following the ruling, protesters
gathered outside City Hall to
protest the decision. Protesters
filled downtown streets, disrupting
traffic
and
shouted
chants
including “Black Lives Matter.”
Late December 2014, council
voted to appropriate $173,760 to
upgrade the police in-car cameras
and
body
cameras.
However,
in 2015, discussion continued
surrounding the use of cameras, as
many activists say that policy does
not go far enough. Austin McCoy,
a Rackham student with the
grassroots activist organization
Ann Arbor to Ferguson, said he has
seen no evidence of progress from
the police.
“We don’t know if the police are
using them yet, we don’t know if
the police is undergoing diversity
training,” McCoy said. “We just
know that it was announced a long
time ago.”
Ann Arbor to Ferguson was
created
after
Rosser’s
death,
aiming to fight for justice of
Rosser’s death in the spirit of the
protests in Ferguson, Mo., where
a Black man was shot by police in
2014.
City Council’s Human Rights
Commission announced in January
it would explore the creation of a
Civilian Police Oversight Board
to review police conduct. In
September, Council unanimously
approved a proposal to grant the
Human Rights Commission the
authority to review individual
discrimination complaints brought
forth by residents. As of now, there
is no explicit Civilian Oversight
Board.
Also this year, John Seto, former
AAPD police chief, announced
his retirement andaccepted a role
as director of the University’s
Housing
Security
and
Safety
Services.
A question for many, like McCoy,
is how City Council will address
police-community interaction in
the coming year, especially with
the new Police Chief James White.
McCoy said it’s been difficult for
the Ann Arbor to Ferguson group
to hold conversations in Ann Arbor
about these issues.
“In terms of Aura Rosser’s
killing specifically, folks have
been able to rationalize it,” McCoy
said. “They say there’s only been
one shooting in the last 30 years,
this was a mistake. Ann Arbor is
typically seen as a progressive,
small city. Then it’s like, with all
these sorts of discourses around
the city circulating, raising the
issue becomes a little tough. There
are people who just believe that
this is an anomaly and that there’s
not really a problem.”
McCoy said he hopes that White
will enter his role with context of
the Rosser shooting in mind.
“We would hope from any
new police chief here would first
be an acknowledgement of what
happened last year with Aura
Rosser and the shooting,” McCoy
said. “We also want to see that the
police chief has done some studies
on police-community relations,
especially as it pertains to people of
color in this city.”
Among questions from those
like
McCoy,
several
council
members said they believe White is
well positioned for the job.
“Chief White has experience
working with a civilian review
board in Detroit, so I think he’ll be
very useful to help us navigate that
process,” Warpehoski said.
“Moving forward, we need
to work so that we have a very
comprehensive look at race and
policing, and really incorporating
a commitment to that into our
training
and
processes
and
programs,” Warpehoski said.
Councilmember
Chip
Smith
(D–Ward 5) said he is confident in
White’s ability to take on the role of
police chief.
“The new chief was selected
largely because he’s been a leader in
the police community interactions
in Detroit,” Smith said. “They were
fraught with a lot more issues than
we were. I’m really excited to see
the new ideas he brings in and I do
think there will be a considerable
push to have the police be more a
part of our community.”
Pedestrian safety and
transportation
In early 2014, City Council
designated a citizen-led task force,
dubbed the Pedestrian Safety and
Access Task Force, to research and
produce recommendations to City
Council in regard to pedestrian
and cyclist safety in the city.
In August 2015, the task force
released a 59-page report, detailing
the causes of accidents involving
pedestrians in Ann Arbor. The
report also provided dozens of
recommendations and suggestions
regarding crosswalks, sidewalks
and roads.
In September, the task force
presented the report and its
findings to the council in awork
session. They unveiled Vision
Zero — an initiative that strives
to eliminate fatalities or serious
injuries to pedestrians.
The study found that crashes
involving
pedestrians
only
represented about 16 percent of all
crashes in Ann Arbor. However,
pedestrians account for one-third
of the fatalities and one-fourth of
all serious crash-related injuries.
It also noted a 22-percent increase
of pedestrian crashes per year over
the five-year period 2010-2014.
In an October meeting, the
council voted to adopt the Vision
Zero initiative and made it an
official city goal to have zero
traffic-related fatalities by 2025.
Despite the adoption of Vision
Zero, Smith said there is a long
way to go before he will be satisfied
with pedestrian safety in the city.
He said City Council needs to
reevaluate how they are budgeting
for pedestrian safety.
“We
allocated
$115,000
to
implement the recommendations
of the Pedestrian Safety Task
Force,” Smith said. “That’s the cost
of one rectangular flashing beacon.
This doesn’t reflect what people
want here.”
Smith said he hopes that council
will continue to work on improving
these issues through 2016.
“We’ve had two cyclist deaths
in the last month,” Smith said.
“You never want tragedy to define
policy solutions that your city
develops. However, what these
two tragedies say to me is that we
have a need in Ann Arbor for non-
motorized infrastructure. As we
look forward to how do we create
better conditions for walkers and
bikers, we have to be able to fund
those infrastructure ordinances.”
Deer cull
Winter is looking dreary for
the deer population of Ann Arbor.
Council voted in September to
implement a deer management
program. Then, in November,
the
council
agreed
to
hire
sharpshooters to carry out a
deer cull. The cull — or selective
reduction of wild animals —
was implemented in hopes of
controlling the deer population in
Ann Arbor. The cull is set to begin
in January 2016. Whether deer
will be killed on campus property
remains unclear.
Surprisingly to many council
members,
the
cull
received
significant
uproar
in
the
community. At an early November
council meeting, roughly 200
people filled the council chambers
to provide input on the cull.
Ann
Arbor
resident
Sabra
Sanzotta also decided to take
matters into her own hands.
Last Monday, she filed a petition
to recall Councilmember Kirk
Westphal (D–Ward 2) due to his
vote in support of the plan.
If the petition receives 1,791
signatures from registered 2nd
Ward voters, this would force a
special May runoff election ahead
of the August primary.
Warpehoski said the deer cull
has been a significant challenge for
the council in the past year.
“The deer cull has been the most
controversial issue we have faced
this year,” Warpehoski said.
Many community members felt
that the cull was a violent solution
or that the deer population did not
pose a threat to the community.
However, not everyone was against
the cull; some residents attended
the November council meeting to
express their support.
Council will continue to see
the effects of the cull into the
coming year and re-evaluate how
to further address the influx deer
population in Ann Arbor.
Smith said he hopes Ann Arbor
will begin to address different
issues in 2016 and move on from
the deer cull.
“It disappoints me as a resident
of this community, that if you were
to ask me what the biggest story of
2015 was, it would be the deer cull,”
Smith said. “We have so many
other issues: pedestrian and bicycle
safety, the ongoing discussion of
police community relationships,
several high level city people at
the city leaving. People are going
to look back at 2015 as the year
that the deer debate dominated
everything.”
Housing affordability
Housing affordability in Ann
Arbor has also been a hot topict this
year. Throughout the year, several
different housing plans have come
forward for debate..
In
January,
council
began
discussing
accessory
dwelling
units. Accessory dwelling units are
located within a home’s interior or
serve as a new addition to a home.
The council began to discuss
loosening the city restrictions on
accessory dwelling units to allow
for more of them.
In February, council approved a
new set of affordable housing goals,
committing the city to work with
other partners in creating nearly
2,800 affordable housing units by
2035.
In August, council voted to
amend the 2015-16 budget to
provide
additional
funds
for
affordable housing in Ann Arbor.
They
allocated
an
additional
$450,000
toward
improving
and expanding the supply of
affordable housing in the city.
This gave the Ann Arbor Housing
Commission money to use toward
the demolition and redevelopment
for 64 new apartments.
In other development-related
decisions,
council
considered
several other housing projects
and re-zoning ordinances. Among
the largely discussed were the
properties on State Street south
of the Stadium Boulevard bridges,
which received final approval at
a September meeting. The new
apartments will offer affordable
rates to households earning 60
percent or less of the area median
income. Tenants will pay rents
equal to 30 percent of their income.
In 2016, council will continue
working toward the goal of making
rent in Ann Arbor cheaper. Smith
said he hopes affordable housing
will be a top priority for council.
“Our budgeting process needs
to be improved and it needs to be
reflective of what our priorities
are,” he said. “It’s a wants versus
needs; we need affordable housing
in order to be a sustainable
community.”
Smith said that finding the
resources
and
allocations
to
achieve the 20-year goal will be
difficult.
“For us, nearly 3,000 units
doesn’t sound like that much, but
when we’re barely doing 20 units
a year, it’s a big deal,” he said. “We
need to find interested partners
and put our money where our
mouth is.”
Timeliness of council meetings
Council meetings are known
for running late into the night,
keeping city staff and council
members in council chambers into
early Tuesday morning. Though no
significant changes will be made to
the agenda format in the coming
year, a few changes are under
consideration.
Warpehoski and Councilmember
Julie Grand (D–Ward 3) proposed a
change to thecouncil’s set of rules. A
section of the agenda, new business,
usually consists of a non-contested
itinerary of resolutions proposed
by city staff. Typically, items of new
business concerning staff are voted
11-0 with little discussion. Grand
and Warpehoski said they wanted
to move the section to the beginning
in sake of the city staff’s time.
“By putting them at the end of
the meeting, staff or people that
have something to do with that
resolution are sometimes there
until 11 p.m., midnight, 1 a.m. in
the morning to be ready to answer
questions about an agenda item
that we don’t even talk about at the
end,” Warpehoski said.
The
council
approved
the
new set of rules on Monday in a
unanimous vote. New business will
now come before consent agenda
and ordinance readings. City staff
involved in the ordinances would
then be able to leave after their
responsibilities were fulfilled.
“We weren’t running meetings
in a way that is optimal to staff,”
Grand said. “We almost uniformly
vote on (staff-related proposals)
unanimously, with little or no
discussion. Staff has been staying
until the end of our meetings,
which often go until very late into
the night, instead of being home
with their families, or doing just
about anything else.”
Ackerman, who started as a
council member in November, said
he felt that council had not been
working efficiently as a team.
“As a body, they weren’t working
collaboratively enough,” Ackerman
said. “There has to be a basic
understanding that we all want
to see a healthy and vibrant Ann
Arbor. The approaches might be
different, but at the end of the day
we should be operating in mutual
respect and collaboration.”
Laboratory
and
Research
Safety
Committee.
Sheen said there are various other
committees that address specific
safety concerns, but there previously
wasn’t one designed to investigate
general
safety
in
research
and
academic labs.
The
policy
explains
that
the
committee
will
function
much
like
other
University
oversight
committees, such as the Institutional
Biosafety Committee or the University
Committee on Use and Care of
Animals. Committee members will
monitor how well laboratories adhere
to the policy, and serve as liaisons
between unit safety committees that
work with academic laboratories.
The
committee,
composed
of
faculty and staff, will review incidents
and concerns regarding safe practices
in labs and research, and amend
policies where necessary.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, December 10, 2015 — 3A
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
LEFT: New city council members Zachary Ackerman (D-Ward 3), Sabra Briere (D-Ward 1) and Jane Lumm (D-Ward 2) recite the oath before being officially inducted to City Council on Nov. 16, 2015. RIGHT: Protesters block cars as part of a march
organized by Ann Arbor to Ferguson on Monday in protest of police violence on the one year anniversary of the shooting of Aura Rosser by Ann Arbor Police Officer David Ried on Nov. 9, 2015.
CLAIRE ABDO/Daily
REVIEW
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