Oregon daily
emerald
Behind the Scenes
at Autzen Stadium
Section B
Wednesday, October 19, 1983
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 85, Number 33
-1
Special bicycle
aids injured girl
By loan Herman
Of the Emerald
As the saying goes.
When life hands vou
lemons, make lemon
ade."
Nine-year-old Macy
Stutz was handed a
lemon of sorts when she
was only 1b months old.
While riding in the fami
ly car, Macy and her parents were hit by a
large truck. Macy's parents, Kim and Ed
Stutz, were not permanently injured, but
Macy was paralyzed from the waist down.
She is now one of 500,000 paraplegics in
the United States.
And every year, as many as 15,000
Americans will suffer irreversible spinal
injuries. Traffic accidents — especially
when seatbelts aren't used — are respon
sible for most of these injuries.
The Stutz's sued the trucking company
for negligence and were awarded a trust
fund to meet Macy's special needs for the
remainder of her life.
That's where the lemonade part comes
in.
Macy has been on crutches since she
was 3-years-old. Although her handicap
hasn't prevented her from leading a
relatively "normal" life, using crutches for
any length of time exhausts the arms.
One day, when Kim was waiting for
Macy at the Oregon
State University campus
where Macy takes week
ly swimming lessons, a
triend showed Kim a pic
ture from the Oregonian
newspaper of a new
hand-powered bike
designed specifically for
paraplegics. As soon as
Kim saw the picture, “I
just knew Macy had to have that bike."
After several phone calls, Kim tracked
the bike's manufacturer to the tiny town
of Elmira, Oregon, about 20 miles west of
Eugene. Her mother's discovery of Chris,
Doug and Dale Schwandt's small
business. Recreational Mobilities, just
happened to coincide with their decision
to "come out of the closet and into the
business world," Chris says.
The business began three years ago
when Doug, then a masters student in
mechanical engineering at Stanford
University, was "challenged" by his ad
visor to design an arm-powered bike for
paraplegics. Stanford's engineering
department had been trying to orient
technical research toward humanistic
goals, Chris says.
Since that time, Doug's original design
has undergone "significant conceptual
changes." Chris, who constructs the
bikes, lends first-hand experience to his
Clockwise from top: A special hand powered drive train enables paraplegics to
enjoy one of Eugene's most popular sports. Macy Stutz, 9 has relied on crut
ches for the past 6 years. Now she rides her personalized bike around her
school playground. Designers Chris and Doug Schwandt have launched a
business building the first bikes made specifically for paraplegics.
part of the business. Before embarking on
hand-powered bike building, he studied
sculpture at the University and did
carpentry and metal work.
Dale, a University senior in the business
adminstration school, completes the trio
by bringing his business savvy to the
endeavor.
The Schwandts have sold three of their
special bikes at about $1,500 each.
Surprisingly, the versatile brothers were
the first to design and build a hand
powered bike specifically for disabled
people's recreation. It was not designed
to replace the wheelchair, but to supple
ment it, Chris says.
“It's an alternative to being in a
wheelchair continuously. People can go
out for a spin on their bike when they
want to."
The bike has adjustable sidewheels that
touch down at a desired lean and also
fasten down for four-wheel
maneuverability indoors. The sidewheels
have a sprung suspension for a smooth
touchdown and they castor for cornering.
The sidewheels also prevent the bicyclist
from tipping over.
To maintain the bike's balance, the rider
simply steers into the direction of the
bike's tilt — a quality especially important
for individuals with limited trunk stability.
The front wheel steers 180 degrees to
the left for backing up and turning around
in tight spaces. The bike can also go up
ramps.
Practibility aside, the bike is fun, Chris
says. "If you're with someone who’s
disabled and they get on the bike, they go
screaming down the road and come back
with a big grin on their face. And you can't
get them out of it. That feels good."
Since Macy started zooming around on
her new "toy," she's been a star of sorts at
her school. When Macy's parents took the
bike to the school playground, "all the
kids wanted to ride on it," Kim says.
"It's a real catalyst for her," Chris says.
"She has a focal point — a big pretty blue
bike with her name painted onto it."
Now Macy can go biking with her able
bodied friends or accompany her family
on long walks that would be too tiring on
crutches, Kim says.
The Schwandt brothers also are design
ing a tandem bike that would have a
disabled person in front and an able
bodied person in the back, and they are
marketing an arm-powered racing bike
that cruises at 25 mph — a world record
for arm-powered bikes, Chris says. One of
their racing bikes was sold to a
parapelegic triathlete, who will take his
bike to New Zealand for a 2,225 mile trek.
As with most burgeoning businesses,
Recreational Mobilities means "a lot of
sacrifice and countless thousands of
hours of work" for the Schwandt
brothers. "Until the sales start happening,
it's a big risk and a labor of love," Chris
says.
But the business is giving the three able
bodied brothers a deeper empathy for the
disabled person than most "normal" peo
ple ever will know. After many test spins
in the bicycle, Chris became "very cogni
zant about what architectural barriers are
and what a different perspective on the
world these people have."
Because disabled people are a relatively
small minority in the United States, caring
for them is a low priority in most people's
lives, Chris says.
"But these people have needs just like
the rest of us and those are special needs.
It's a pain in the butt to take care of them,
but it has to be done with some
sensitivity."
Photos by Jim Goodwin
Maximum refund is $375
Attention renters: The check's in the mail
By Brooks Dareff
Of the Emerald
The Oregon revenue department mailed 362,403 pro
perty tax relief checks worth $83.9 million to qualifying
Oregon homeowners and renters Monday — 103,000 fewer
and about $14.3 million less than last year.
Of the $83.9 million, $79.7 million went to low and mid
dle income homeowners and renters under the
Howeowner and Renter Refund Program (HARRP), which is
available to households with a maximum income level of
$17,500. Another $4.2 million went to renters under the
separate Renter Relief program.
People qualifying for HARRP and the Renter Relief pro
gram can still file Oregon Form 70R for 1982, says Informa
tion Officer John MacKellar. There is no “imminent"
deadline, and filers should expect to wait about 8 weeks
before receiving their checks.
Students living in dormitories do not qualify for either
program.
MacKellar says there are probably varying reasons for
the lower number of qualifying people filing this year. One
cause may be that the 70R forms were sent out separately
from the income tax return forms — and about three mon
ths later.
In January the Oregon Legislature asked the Depart
ment of Revenue to wait on printing and mailing property
tax relief forms because they expected to implement a new
property tax relief plan — and one that might have changed
the current HARRP and Renter Relief programs.
The forms mailed this April remain essentially unchang
ed from the forms mailed in )anuary of 1982.
The Property tax relief form should look about the
same next year. The property tax relief package that emerg
ed from the special session this month contains no altera
tions of HARRP or the Renter Relief program, aside from
the kind of inflation and cost-of-living adjustments made
this year.
The biggest refund available this year under HARRP is
$375. Under the Renter Relief program the maximum re
fund is $85. Overall, the average refund was $231, up from
last year's average refund of $224.