develop the prototype helmet
technology, called Mitigatium,
for the Head Health Challenge
III. This competition was created
to encourage the development of
materials that better absorb or
dissipate harsh impact.
The prototype Arruda and
her colleagues are developing
has different capabilities than
traditional
football
helmets
already in use, the team said.
“It has the ability to dissipate
impulse, or take kinetic energy
out of the brain, (and) prevent
it from being transferred to the
brain,” Arruda said. “It does that
by visco-elastically dampening
the stress wave as it goes through
the helmet.”
Co-author Michael Thouless,
professor
of
mechanical
engineering,
said
before
beginning the prototype, the
researchers worked together to
look at the mechanics of impact
and try to understand what
aspects of the mechanics actually
contribute to injury.
According to the NFL 2015
injury data report released in
January 2016, in 2015 there were a
total of 271 concussion incidences
in both the preseason and regular
season, with only 37 concussive
injuries occurring during practice
and 234 occurring during a game.
This report indicates that 2015
holds the highest amount of
concussions in the past four years.
2014, only one year before, held
only 206 total incidences.
At
the
University,
the
question
of
how
to
handle
concussions in athletes gained
significant attention over now-
former
football
coach
Brady
Hoke’s actions regarding then-
sophomore quarterback Shane
Morris’ concussion in the Sept.
27, 2014 game against Minnesota.
Morris was involved in a hard
head-on hit, yet continued to play
despite what was later confirmed
as a concussion.
Speculation arose that Hoke
took the wrong steps in ensuring
Morris’ safety and health for
the sake of the game. Former
University
Athletic
Director
Dave Brandonspoke with the
Daily following the incident in
2014 to discuss the importance of
student-athlete health. Brandon
resigned from the University
soon after the incident. Hoke
told media sources that he was
unaware of Morris’ condition
during the game.
University
President
Mark
Schlissel
later
also
released
a
statement,
demonstrating
concern for the health of student
athletes
and
apologized
to
Morris, his family and his
teammates for the way the
situation was handled.
The incident, among others,
led to the Big Ten moving to
institute independent medical
spotters during games.
Associate Kinesiology Prof.
Steven Broglio said concussions
can have a multitude of effects
on any athlete. Broglio said
concussions are typically seen
as an alteration in mental
status with or without loss
of consciousness. He added
that in many cases, symptoms
include
disorientation,
feeling unbalanced or mental
confusion. Because it is not
possible to complete a CT scan,
MRI or X-ray to determine if
an athlete has a concussion,
the diagnosis is purely based on
clinical evaluation.
Oftentimes,
Broglio
said
players might not report their
injury in fear of having to leave
the field.
“Certainly it’s an issue if (the
athlete doesn’t) report their injury
to a medical professional,” Broglio
said. “Only about 10 percent of the
(concussion) injuries result in a
loss of consciousness, so it’s very
easy to hide the injury if you’re an
athlete.”
There are many cases in which
the athlete continues to play
during the game but reports their
injury afterward, Broglio said. He
said this might be because head
injuries do not always result in
concussions.
“(However),
signs
and
symptoms can slowly develop and
that can be anywhere from 40
minutes after the impact to days
after the impact,” Broglio said.
“Certainly athletes that continue
to play after they’re concussed, if
they chose not to report, they are
going to prolong their recovery
period. If an athlete is suspected
of the injury, then they should be
immediately removed from play
and then evaluated by a trained
professional.”
However,
this
does
not
necessarily happen as sports
become
more
competitive,
Broglio said.
Researchers
Thouless
and Arruda found that in the
mechanics of a concussion, there
are two parts of a hit that matter
in determining medical outcome:
the force and the impulse, which
are both developed during an
impact.
The first trial for the prototype
only had to meet the Head Health
Challenge’s entry requirements,
Arruda said. Researchers dropped
a weight on the prototype and
measured the rebound height of
that weight.
The testing Arruda and her
colleagues are doing now uses a
cylindrical prototype, to which
they added a skull and brain
surrogate using materials that are
similar in mechanical properties
to a real skull and brain, Arruda
said. Using the cylindrical skull
and brain, the researchers put
layers of helmet material around
it and allowed the prototype to
roll.
Researchers
then
filmed
the trial to observe the speckle
pattern,
which
shows
and
measures strain on the brain on
the surface of the brain, and saw
how it stretched and deformed.
They were then able to compare
the calculations of their helmet
design versus existing helmet
designs.
Arruda and her colleagues are
one of five finalists in the Head
Health Challenge, to which they
will send their refined version to
compete by the end of the year.
She said the researchers are
currently focusing on finding the
best combination of materials for
optimal performance.
However, she noted that no
matter what the outcome of the
competition, she believed overall
better technology needs to be put
into helmets. Current helmets
are easily cracked or broken
during high-contact sports such
as football, and producers of the
equipment have not yet begun to
reduce the force and impulse of
an impact. As a result, helmets
would ideally be replaced more
often. However, this solution is
not practical in the long-term,
Arruda said.
“You can’t just stop the game
after every impact where the
helmet has been fractured and
get a new one,” Arruda said. “It’s
not only impractical from the
standpoint from the flow of the
game, it’s very costly. A strategy
like that would probably never
make it down to the little kids
playing football who often don’t
have very expensive helmets.”
Thouless agreed with Arruda,
saying football helmets are unlike
helmets used for activities such as
riding a bike. If a person falls off
their bike, his or her helmet likely
cracks to dissipate the energy
from the fall, and is replaced
before the next use. With football
and other high-contact sports,
this is a less practical system.
In addition to better quality
helmets, Broglio said he thought
that to resolve the issue there was
a need for better-defined rules in
games such as football, hockey
and lacrosse, stricter enforcement
of them, harsher penalties for
violating the rules and better
education about concussions.
However, research in the field
on the impact of concussions —
and therefore, how they should be
approached — remains contested.
In a presentation in December
2014 by Jeffrey Kutcher, the
national director of the Sports
Neurology
Clinic,
Kutcher
addressed
misconceptions
about concussions, specifically
the
distinction
between
a
concussion,
post-concussion
syndrome and chronic effects
of playing sports. Kutcher was
previously an associate professor
of neurology at the University,
director
of
the
NeuroSport
program and a Michigan football
team physician.
Despite some findings, Kutcher
said in an interview with the
Daily on Sunday he believes
there are many misconceptions
about concussions even today,
particularly an overemphasis on
the concussion itself.
“The vast majority of these
injuries do not result in any long-
term problems,” Kutcher said.
Rather than being a progressive
problem, Kutcher said in many
cases potential effects might
include
having
a
one-time
decrease in the brain’s ability to
form cognitive tasks.
“(Long
term
effects
are)
not about how many times
a
concussion
has
occurred,”
Kutcher said. “More, it’s about
how many times that brain has
experienced force … For each
individual, there’s going to be the
amount of force that will become
problematic. We don’t know what
really sets those thresholds, those
levels, but we do know that it’s a
multifactorial thing.”
In
contrast,
an
article
published in the International
Journal of Psychophysiology, of
which Broglio was a co-author,
observed an association between
the
number
of
concussions
resulting in a loss of consciousness
and greater variability of reaction
time in various tasks.
The study noted that its
claims support similar findings
done in previous research that
has
observed
a
relationship
between concussive injury and
impairments in cognitive tasks.
However, the study added,
“further
research
is
needed
to better address the apparent
importance
of
sensory
and
attentional demands for detecting
concussion related deficits.”
3-News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, February 16, 2016 — 3
NAACP threatens
mass civil
disobedience if
Flint infrastructure
is not repaired
The National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
People, says it will recommend
disruptive civil disobedience on
a mass scale in Flint if Gov. Rick
Snyder does not present a plan
with a clear deadline for replacing
the piping infrastructure in the
next 30 days, the Detroit Free
Press reported.
Snyder recently released
his budget recommendation
for the upcoming fiscal year
which allocates $195 million for
Flint with $25 million of that
immediately available for the
city’s infrastructure needs.
Of Flint’s pipes there are
approximately 5,000 known lead
lines, 25,000 made of known and
unharmful materials and 10,000
pipelines of unknown material.
Cornell Brooks, national
president of the NAACP, said he
expects a comprehensive timeline,
deadline and budget for replacing
the waterlines in the city.
The pipe’s corrosion was a
result of the switch from Detroit
city water to Flint River water in
April 2014. The switched caused
lead to contaminate the water
resulting in reports of adverse
health effects by residents.
Schlissel
recommends new
position of VP
for information
technology
University President Mark
Schlissel is recommending that
the Univeristy create the new
position of vice president of
infomation technology and chief
information officer. The Board of
Regents will consider Schlissel’s
recommendation Thursday,
according to a press release.
The new information vice
president would report directly
to the current president and serve
as a member of the executive
leadership team.
For Schlissel, this new position
is important because the ability
for the University to harness the
power of information.
“To optimally position the
University for the future this is a
critical domain , I propose a new
vice president of information
tecnology,” he said. “This position
will ensure that information
strategy is appropriately
considered.”
The responsibilities of the new
position would involve creating a
integrated information technology
strategy for the University across
all colleges and campuses.
Schlissel will begin his search
to fill the position following the
approval by the Board of Regents.
‘U’ awarded $3
million to move
health intervention
program to Chicago
The School of Public Health
has been awarded a $3 million
grant from the National Institute
of Child Health and Human
Development of the National
Institutes of Health to be used
over the next five years, The
University Record reported.
The grant will fund research
to determine if the Fathers and
Sons Program — an initiative to
strengthen the father-son bond
in order to reduce risky youth
behaviors — can impact African-
American fathers and sons in
Chicago.
The program was originally
funded by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and saw
successful implementation in
Flint after partnering with several
community based organizations.
The parenting program
encouraged communication
and other factors that lead to a
decrease in behaviors such as sex,
violence and racial issues.
-LYDIA MURRAY
NEWS BRIEFS
HELMET
From Page 1
in SAE.”
Ross said he believes the way
administrators at the University
of Oklahoma handled the issue
demonstrates his theory “Three
Izes Equal A Miss.” The theory
suggests that when large institu-
tions are accused of systemic rac-
ism they individualize, minimize
and trivialize the issue.
Before Ross took the stage,
Monroe
acknowledged
that
reflecting on race relations at the
University would be a difficult
conversation to have for some stu-
dents.
Several incidents have drawn
attention to racism at the Uni-
versity in past years. In 2013, the
University’s chapter of Theta
Xi planned a “Hood Ratchet”
themed party,which resulted in
the fraternity’s suspension. Also
in 2013, a twitter campaign driv-
en by the #BBUM inspired social
media users to share their expe-
riences with race and racism on
campus.
“We accept this challenge with
the understanding that Michigan
has always been a place where we
explore the realities that make us
uncomfortable,” Monroe said.
Ross’ research has focused on
four areas of campus racism; the
legacy of segregation, campus
symbolism, the Inter-Fraternal
and Panhellenic Council and
racial microaggressions.
Though Ross divides his book
into four areas of racism, he said
he believes each are interconnect-
ed and all create a sense of ostra-
cism for students of color.
Ross acknowledged that while
the University’s campus may not
have blatant symbols of racism,
many campuses throughout the
country do, citing examples rang-
ing from buildings to football sta-
diums named in honor of racist
figures.
He noted in particular a build-
ing at Clemson University built
and named after Benjamin Till-
man, a 19th-century governor of
South Carolina who is known to
have espoused racist views.
“When you still have buildings
to this day like Tillman’s build-
ings that still stand, typically that
building is spray painted almost
every single day because they
are basically saying we need
to get rid of this,” he said.
“Because what you are basi-
cally telling them is not only do
you not belong there but these
buildings, these honors reflect
the values of the University.”
Ross is a member of the
Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity
and an advocate for Greek life,
but said he discovered in his
research that Interfraternal
Council and Panhellenic orga-
nizations have been the source
of the most consistent instanc-
es of racism on college cam-
puses over the past 40 years.
Many IFC and Panhel-
lenic members do not actu-
ally know what is happening in
their communities, he added,
so they cannot adequately
address issues with race rela-
tions.
“This
lecture
is
called
‘Know Better, Do Better’ and
unfortunately what typically
happens, my IFC and Panhel
friends do not actually know
what’s happening, so they can
not do better, and so we see the
exact same thing,” he said.
The final area of racism Ross
discussed were racial microag-
gressions, which he referred to
as “A Four Year Plan to Drive
Black
Students
Completely
Crazy.” Ross said he believes
racial microaggressions are
the hardest to translate to
those who do not personally
experience them.
“Because people always say,
‘Well you know you talk about
racial microaggressions how bad
can they be?’ ” he said.
Ross concluded his lecture by
saying that anyone, regardless
of skin color, can fight for racial
justice. He encouraged audience
members to learn to acknowledge
racism in their homes and com-
munities.
“Get out of your comfort zone
when it comes to your place in
racism,” he said. “A lot of times
when we come to college we think
we are the enlightened ones.”
In an interview after the
event, LSA freshman Alexandrea
Somers said she was shocked by
the findings of Ross’ research.
“I am a first-year student, so
this was really enlightening to
show that there are so many insti-
tutions that come into the college
experience and those do shape
and mold the presence of race on
campus,” she said.
Another student, LSA fresh-
man Salwan Butrus, said he
attended the event because of an
interest in the topic.
“It has always been an inter-
est of mine, racism on campus,
especially related to Greek life,”
he said.
RACE
From Page 1