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Graduate students growing adaptive sports program When Jared Rehm uses a wheelchair, he doesn’t think of it as a transportation device. He’s rolling on $3,000 worth of sporting goods. His chair, with its inward-tilted wheels that resemble mountain bike tires, enables him to go cruising for a bruising inside the Student Activities Center. This chair, with its ultra-light 20-pound frame, withstands the punishment that inevitably comes when Rehm and other members of Auburn University’s Adaptive Recreation and Sports Program jostle for rebounds and get serious about defense. business graduate. “Now, 20 years later, it’s neat to be able to see that they have opportunities I didn’t have at that time. “I’d love to see this take off where they’re competitive on the college level.” “There’s a lot of contact,” said Rehm, a biomechanics graduate student in the College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology. “It’s controlled chaos, definitely.” Wheelchair basketball isn’t so different than the game played by able-bodied athletes. Rehm and the other players shoot with precision, display artful passing on fast breaks and execute crafty set plays. The only real difference is the degree of difficulty. Let LeBron James or Kobe Bryant try to sink a 20-footer while rolling and firing from a seated position. “These things don’t have brakes on them,” Woody Thornton ’93 said of his sports wheelchair. Similarly, Auburn’s adaptive sports program isn’t equipped with brakes. It is steadily gaining momentum thanks to the energy and involvement of Rehm and Nathan Waters, a rehabilitation counseling graduate student in the college’s Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation and Counseling. The pair developed wheelchair sports activities through their assistantships with the university’s Program for Students with Disabilities and have invited participation from non-students. Even though Thornton is two decades older than most current Auburn undergraduates, the spirit of competition lures him to the Student Activities Center for basketball two days a week. Thornton, who has used prosthesis since losing his legs as an undergraduate student, said he sees potential for Auburn’s adaptive sports program to compete against more established programs at other colleges. “When I came back to school with my prosthesis, I basically just went to class and finished out,” said Thornton, a A formidable team Waters gained valuable experience in therapeutic recreation while serving as the outdoor adventure director at Camp ASSCA, an Easter Seals camp in Jacksons’ Gap, Ala., serving children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. Rehm brought a passion for the competitive side of sports, having played for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s wheelchair basketball program as an undergraduate student. Rehm has also competed in the National Collegiate Wheelchair Tennis Championships. Auburn currently offers basketball and tennis, but Waters and Rehm hopes the program can grow to include quad rugby. The specially modified sports wheelchairs necessary for basketball and tennis cost approximately $2,500, with wheels priced at $300 apiece. Rehm and Waters obtained a grant from the Christopher Reeve Spinal Cord Injury and Paralysis Foundation, but are seeking additional sources of funding. They have even gone so far as to host a hot dog-eating contest to raise money and awareness. “Whatever needs [students] have, we’d like to be able to give it to them,” Rehm said. Scott Scroggins, a graduate student in communication who plays wheelchair basketball, said Rehm and Waters have already given plenty. Growing up in Selma, Ala., Scroggins didn’t have many opportunities to engage in competitive sports. “If I wanted to play [wheelchair] sports, I had to go to Birmingham,” he said. “It’s hard to drive two hours one way. This has been great. I love sports. This is the first time I’ve played with an continued on next page 18 K e y s t o n e V o l u m e V I I , 2 010
S t u d e n t S u c c e s s Sandage earns postdoctoral fellowship grant Mary Sandage, a doctoral student in kinesiology, earned a highly competitive postdoctoral fellowship grant from the National Institute of Health for her proposed study of clinical treatment for voice disorders. Sandage is collaborating with Dr. David Pascoe, Humana-Germany-Sherman distinguished professor of exercise physiology and director of the Department of Kinesiology’s Thermal Lab. The project, entitled “In Vivo Measures of Vocal Function Response to Environmental Conditions,’’ seeks to improve understanding of how such factors as temperature, vapor pressure and humidity affect the voice. The study will examine what effect cold and warm environments have on voice as compared to the conditions of a typical clinical setting. “We know that the humidity level of the air we breathe can affect how voice functions, but we don’t currently know how the temperature of the air we breathe affects voice function,” said Sandage, a medical speech language pathologist of 18 years and a signing teacher for 20. “I am combining my long-standing knowledge of vocal function with my present study of skeletal muscle physiology and thermoregulation to determine if changes in air temperature either help or hurt voice function. This has important implications for professionals who use the voice in extremely hot or cold conditions and for better understanding of how voice disorders develop.” In 2010, Sandage received one of Auburn University’s Outstanding Graduate Student Awards and also earned the G. Dennis Wilson Endowed Graduate Award in the Department of Kinesiology. Sandage earned her bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University in English and linguistics and a master’s degree from the University of Iowa in speech language pathology. She plans to pursue a tenure-track faculty position in communication disorders. Burroughs earns research grant from SEATA Stasia Burroughs, a graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology, earned a $1,970 grant from the Southeast Athletic Trainers Association to facilitate a study of football helmet safety features. Burroughs, who is pursuing a master’s degree in exercise science, examined the Quick Release faceguard system developed by Riddell for its football helmets. The faceguard can be removed with the help of a push-button release system, an important feature for athletic trainers who find themselves faced with the prospect of treating an athlete who may have sustained a cervical spinal injury. According to Burroughs’ research proposal, certified athletic trainers are advised to remove the face mask from the helmets of any athletes who may have suffered a cervical spinal injury. This allows medical personnel to administer life-saving care while minimizing the need to move the patient’s head. Cordless screwdrivers and backup cutting tools are often required to remove the facemask and loop straps and commonlyused helmets. Burroughs has examined the reliability of the Quick Release function developed by Riddell. The sports equipment manufacturer’s push-button release system is designed to allow face masks to be removed faster and with less resultant head movement. Her study details the success rate and removal times of face masks on helmets with the Quick Release feature that have been used for at least one season of play. She will present her findings at the 2011 SEATA Clinical Symposium and Members Meeting. organized team. All of my experience playing basketball had been with able-bodied people and it was mainly shooting around in the backyard.” Waters expects the adaptive sports program to be transformational in the lives of other Auburn students. In addition to providing opportunities for exercise and competition, the program may also provide an as yet untapped research avenue. “Sports have always been a catalyst for awareness, in general,” Waters said. “We can do a lot of research on athletes with disabilities. It’s one of those things where we can pull from a lot of different departments and have a lot of people get behind it.” Building Awareness While Auburn University’s adaptive sports program provides a competitive outlet for students, faculty, staff and alumni, it also creates opportunities for education. An outreach component of program, Auburn Wheelchair Athletics and Recreation Education (AWARE), seeks to eliminate misconceptions about disabilities through demonstrations of wheelchair basketball. Team members are willing to visit schools or civic groups. For more information, contact Jared Rehm at jmr0020@tigermail.auburn.edu. A K e y s t o n e i n B u i l d i n g a B e t t e r F u t u r e f o r A l l 19
Page 1 and 2: Keystone VOLUME VIII, 2011 MAGAZINE
Page 3 and 4: page 39 Social climbing yields less
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Page 15 and 16: I n t e r n at i o n a l What is th
Page 17 and 18: I n t e r n at i o n a l From Tanza
Page 19: A round Auburn Fans pack stadium fo
Page 23 and 24: Two elementary education majors ear
Page 25 and 26: S t u d e n t S u c c e s s Barbara
Page 27 and 28: S t u d e n t A m b a s s a d o r s
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Page 31 and 32: The Reynolds Family Welcomes Jordan
Page 33 and 34: A launching pad for communication F
Page 35 and 36: e s e a rc h & o u t r e ach Federa
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Page 59 and 60: $1,619,238 $1,110,000 $2,060,000 $1
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Page 67 and 68: G i v i n g Mr. & Mrs. Gary Davis M
Page 69 and 70: AlumniNOTES 1960s Gloria Bond Danie
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A l u m n i n o t e s Craig Huff [B
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A l u m n i n o t e s of Trussville
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On the Cover: Researchers in the co
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