The Statesman informing stony brook university for more than 50 years
Volume LVI, Issue 25
Monday, April 15, 2013
sbstatesman.com
Professor's mobility device going on market By Jaclyn Lattanza Staff Writer
Dr. Hari Pillai, a retired local physician, struggled to sit and stand on his own. For someone who had polio as a child and relapsed in 2000, the task is not so easy. In an attempt to aid him, Anurag Purwar, a research associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and a group of students designed the Portable Mobility Assistant Device six years ago. And now the device is on its way onto the market to help many others become independent. “There are lots of people out there who have trouble actually getting up on their own, especially people who had polio when they were a child,” Purwar said. The device resembles a walker with support bars, a pelvic harness and a patented six-part linkage feature controlled by the user with a remote. It allows someone to stand entirely on his or her own and can act as a walker. The device also keeps the body at a consistent posture and provides complete support to ensure that the user will never fall. “The best quality of the device which distinguishes it from any device in the market, is that it has what I call natural motion,“ Purwar said. The six-part mechanism lifts the body along paths that it would normally take, which in the longterm can reduce joint problems
because “the right kinds of joints and muscles are being exercised.” Upon the initial request, Purwar could not believe no other devices were previously designed to fit these needs. “When he called me, I thought, there must be devices like this in the market and there’s no way that somebody has not really looked at this problem and solved it,” he said. He found that although there are devices on the market with the ability to lift a person, the mechanisms are either too bulky or do not assist with the elevation or walking function. “So I said to myself, this is really not what we do, because mostly we are just working on developing new methods and new algorithms for machine design, but it was right up my alley,” he said. Purwar hired a group of students from the senior design class, whom he would advise, to take on the project. In addition to a $275,000 budget, the project has received grants from Pillai, the SUNY Research Foundation, with a $50,000 Technology Accelerator Fund award, the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR) program at Stony Brook University and the Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University. After a couple of years though, nothing came of the group’s efforts Continued on page 3
YOON SEO NAM / THE STATESMAN
The Staller Center presents Handel's "Orlando" on April 13 on the Main Stage. The production was completely done by the Stony Brook Baroque Players and Stony Brook Opera.
election results in Students debate gun control laws USG The After Party takes presidency
By Heather Khalifa Staff Writer
The issue of gun control, which is rising in natonal promience, took the stage here at Stony Brook University on Tuesday, April 9, when the Young Americans for Freedom, College Republicans and College Democrats went head-to-head in an organized debate held in Benedict College. The debate, arranged by the Young Americans for Freedom club and conducted by the Speech and Debate Society club, took place on the same day that the families of Newtown, Conn., took to Capitol Hill in an appeal for gun control action. Specifically, the families and President Obama are calling for the passing of gun control legislation, an initiative that was introduced following the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting but has since been stalled. But on Thursday, April 11, the Senate finally voted in favor of allowing the debate of gun legislation to take place, a process that will no doubt take another several months.
JESUS PICHARDO / THE STATESMAN
The Speech and Debate Society argues on the Republican side of the issues of gun control. The issues surrounding the debate of gun control and the fact that it is currently a hot topic in the news are ultimately what prompted the organizing of the event. “I think it’s something that’s very polarizing, that is very much a hot button issue right now," John Slanover, president of Young Americans for Freedom
and organizer of the event, said. “No matter where you fall in the equation, whether you are prorestriction, against restriction, this is the form to voice your opinion." The debate began with an interpretation of the Second Amendment from both sides, and whether or not gun control is infringing or enhancing the rights of U.S. citizens. The two sides, College Democrats and College Republicans, had very different ideas as to what the Second Amendment guarantees, and to what extent it should be reformed. “Every other one of our nine bill of rights is regulated in some way. Free Speech is restricted in certain aspects, as should the second amendment. There should be rules and regulations," Danny Awalt, a debater for the College Democrats who is pro-regulation, said. Awalt also argued the point that the United States leads all
Continued on page 5
By Emily McTavish Assistant News Editor
The Undergraduate Student Government election results came in Friday evening with The After Party boasting victories in all but one category. Adil Hussain, who also ran for USG president last spring, came out as the winner and beat current USG president Anna Lubitz. Hussain carried 1,260 votes, while Lubitz had 569 and Yiufat Lam had 333. However, many undergraduate students did not log into SOLAR to vote between Monday, April 8 and Friday, April 12, which is when voting occurred. Although the presidential race garnered the most votes with a total of 2,162 students participating, there are more than 16,000 undergraduate students at SBU. In addition, students also voted to increase the Student Activity Fee. The proposed increase was $5.25, raising the total fee to $99.50 per semester. “I think we should accept the
YOON SEO NAM / THE STATESMAN
Adil Hussain presents his platform at the USG debate on Tuesday, April 2.
recommended amount, to provide further funding for the increased clubs we have on campus,” Senator Kathryn Michaud said at the senate meeting on March 28. “I believe the $5 per student increase would benefit the campus community.”