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Weather......................... 2a

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obituaries...................... 3a

opinion.......................... 4a

sports.............................1B

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Indexhigh: 93 low: 76

the weatherman’s job keepsgetting easier. today’s forecastthat calls for partly cloudy skies,stray thunderstorms and hightemperatures in the mid-90s canbe repeated monday, tuesday,Wednesday and thursday in thehuntsville area.

WeaTher

sPORts

Best Bets

Page 1B

Pages 6A and 8A

By Winston spencer Jr.Wspencer@itemonline.com

The ongoing story of Jesse Bandamay seem like a tragedy to some.

However, life’s biggest tragediesmight be to have the experiences,yet miss the messages in their mean-ing.

Banda is not a changed man. He

is, however, a work in progress — ahuman being in transition from whathe once was to what he will one day

Jesse Banda, left,enjoys his firstmoments of freedomwith two of his friendsat a huntsville restau-rant. Banda talkedopenly and honestlyabout his troubled lifethat got off track earlyand landed him in thetexas Department ofCriminal Justice. hewas recently releasedfrom prison.

suBmitteD photo

ROCKY ROAD

Joshua Yates/the huntsville item

Zoe Clancy, pictured above, smiles as she shows off her prosthetic hand during her interview on Friday afternoon. Clancy was born with amniotic band syndrome, which hindered thegrowth of her hand at birth. By use of 3-D printing technology, researchers have been able to create a prosthetic hand crafted specifically for her condition.

sam houston state university using

By stepHen green

sgreen@itemonline.com

Two arms and two legs. Most everyonetakes those things for granted.

The unfortunate reality is that some peo-ple lose their limbs in accidents, some inbattle and some are simply born withouttheir arms and legs fully developed.

The Center for Innovation andTechnology at Sam Houston StateUniversity is using 3-D printing technologyto help people by addressing several issuesin the area of prosthetics.

Returning to normalBrandon Smith lost his right leg after

nearly being killed by a drunk driver. The2010 accident forced doctors to hollow outSmith’s bones and give him a straight leg.That leg got infected last year, whichforced Smith to make a decision.

“I just had my daughter and I was like,‘If it can spread down (to his ankle), it canspread up,’” he said. “So I opted to have the

amputation.”Smith now has a prosthetic — with an

SHSU logo on it, of course — that he uses.What’s important to him is trying to returnto the normal he knew before the accident.

Smith, who was 25 at the time of theaccident, played golf, softball, ran anddanced all of the time. The prosthetic limbhas helped him regain most of that ability,but there are little things he misses. Andthat’s where the CIT comes in.

Smith asked Dr. Pamela Zelbst, the CITdirector, for some help with footwear.

“I told her if we could make (a shell of a

to help people with extraordinary problems

21sT CenTury TeChnology

center at sHsu puts3-D printer to work onprosthetics production

Man who has spent much of his life behind barsin Texas prisons finally may be on right track

See rocky, page 3A

Item brings awards home from Texas Press conferencetHe Huntsville item

Writers and editors, and thepublisher at The Huntsville Itemwere thrilled with the news thatthey took home the second-placesweepstakes award in their divi-sion in the Texas PressAssociation’s Better NewspaperContest.

Newspapers large and smallenter the annual contest that wasjudged by editors, reporters andpublishers from the New Mexico

Press Association. The awardswere given out at the Texas PressAssociation’s annual meeting inCorpus Christi last weekend.

In addition to the impressiveshowing in the sweepstakes cate-gory, the Item picked up one first-place award, two seconds, twothirds and a fourth.

“I have the greatest newsroom

made up of people who are com-mitted to providing our readerswith local news and information,”Item Publisher Rita Haldemansaid after returning to Huntsvillefrom Corpus Christi. “To sitamongst publishers from all overthe state of Texas and win asmany awards as we did was aproud moment indeed.”

The Huntsville Item was therecipient of the following awards:

• First place in feature photog-raphy for former photographerMatt Weintritt’s images of theSam Houston State Universitylongboarding club. They hostedtheir May 2013 second annualSam Houston Seasonal race andslide jam in Riverside.

The award also recognizesWeintritt’s photo of Huntsville’s

See tecHnology, page 5A

Huntsville newspaper makes strong showingin photography, sports and column writing

See item, page 2A

6-29 editorial pages_layout 1 6/28/14 11:48 pm page 1

sunDAY, june 29, 2014 The hunTsville iTem 5A

By DaViD Barker

hiStorical interpreter

OK kids, gather round, andI’ll tell you a tall tale or two.

How tall a tale? I’ll leavethat up to you to decide. It’sone we tell our visitors at theSam Houston MemorialMuseum when we have thetime to just sit and visit.

The younger folks may notappreciate the story, but youolder kids and those adults whotake time to read this might,especially those who are mar-ried! (and those who have in-laws!)

Originally the story I heardwas that when Sam andMargaret were having theWoodland Home built, Samhad taken off to do some poli-ticking somewhere and wasgone for quite a while. Duringhis absences from the farm,

Margaret’s mother, GrannyLea, would often come overfrom her place in Independenceto help out in the day-to-dayoperations of the place.

During this particularabsence, the individual helpingto construct the house wasworking on the doorways to thebreezeway, or dog trot, portionof the house.

There is a pretty stout beamrunning from one side of thedoorway to the other.

Called a lintel, it has to bepretty hefty to hold the weightof the floor and structure above.So Granny Lea and Margaret,observing its installation, andknowing that Sam is a tad for-getful, had the carpenter set it

lower than usual. You see, Sam was a tall man.

We know that at one point inhis life he was measured at 6foot, 2 inches tall. Some say hewas even taller later in life.

Add in the fact that duringthat time, men generally worehats, and it was extremely rudeand ill-mannered to wear one into almost any building.

Well, the lowered lintelwould knock Sam’s hat back, ifnot completely off! Thus hewould remember to take it offbefore entering. Problemsolved.

Hold on, though. Here’sanother version of this story asrelated by one of our inter-preters, Miss Helen.

First, it could be said thatrumors have it that Granny Leawas, well, feisty. You know ittook strong personalities to goout to the wilderness, to thefrontier, to be a pioneer.

We hear a lot about the guys,not so much about the gals, andapparently, even at about 4-foot-8, Granny Lea was one ofthose gals.

The diminutive miss couldhold her own with just aboutanyone. She, with Joshua andMargaret, kept the place run-ning while Sam was off galli-vanting around the country. It’ssaid that it was she who had thelintel set low and for one par-ticular reason.

Mr. Houston? General

Houston? Governor Houston?President of the Republic ofTexas Houston?

Did not matter. Any manmarried to her daughter hadbetter show her daughter therespect she deserved.

This meant removing yourhead covering, bowing toMargaret and addressing herthe way a gentleman should.

And Granny Lea not onlyhad the lintel set low, she in nouncertain terms told him why.So, this was a way to remindSam to do just that when hecame into the house, even ifGranny Lea wasn’t there.

Can you picture this ladylooking up to the General, toeto toe and telling him what’swhat?

Gives a little different insightinto what life at the WoodlandHome might have been like inthose days, fact or fiction.

MuSeuM newS & ViewS: SaM houSton MeMorial MuSeuM

Have y’all heard the story about the Woodland Home’s lintel?Sam houston’s mother-in-law may have fixed hiswagon for failing to take off his hat like a gentleman

foot) with a split (between the first andsecond toes), I could wear sandals,”Smith said. “All I wore was sandals. Youcan’t find a picture of me without flip-flops because they were so easy.”

Right now he has what’s no more thana shell resembling a foot that covers histitanium prosthetic. Smith said he felt“dumb” because he knows there are manypeople with cancer and more seriousissues than being able to wear flip-flops.

Zelbst disagreed.“It’s not dumb, Brandon,” she said to

him. “Those are things we take for grant-ed and don’t think about. Wanting to getback to where you were isn’t dumb.”

Printing the foot is a relatively easyprocess. The high-tech machine getsdirections from a computer to layer heat-ed material over and over again until adesign is complete. The design is moredifficult, either done by hand on the com-puter or by 3-D scanning, the more pre-cise way.

Smith will have difficulty creating theshell with the split because of the titanium

foot. Zelbst says they might be able tocreate a specially designed titanium footwith a split with the right help from othergroups.

That level of cooperation has alreadybeen achieved on other projects.

Robohand

Zoe Clancy, a 6-year-old first-grader atHuntsville Elementary, was born withamniotic band syndrome, where the bandwrapped around her hand in the wombthat prevented growth. Her arm stopsshortly after the wrist area with tiny ballsof skin that would have been fingers.

Zoe’s mom, Jessica, said they neverallow her to say she can’t do something,which has become part of her personality.

“We don’t look at her as disabled,”Jessica Clancy said late last week. “She’sable to do anything she wants to do. Wejust find another way to do it.”

Although Zoe is able to keep up withher peers (including being able to climbmonkey bars), Jessica Clancy said she’dlike to give the option of a usable pros-thetic in case Zoe ever wanted one.

“There are a few instances where itwould be nice — to hold a plate and acup, or something like that,” JessicaClancy said. “It would make it a lot easi-

er.”She got word from Zoe’s kindergarten

teacher that there was a device that wouldallow Zoe to hold objects using 3-D print-ing technology.

Zoe’s mom started searching theInternet for a company that could helpher. She found one in Houston, butthought SHSU might have one also. Thatled her to Zelbst, who was more than will-ing to help.

“(Zelbst) took it and gathered all thesepeople together,” Jessica Clancy said.“She’d call me and say, ‘I’ve got thisgroup going and this group going. Thisdoctor is willing to help out with this.’”

Zelbst said the grandmother in hercouldn’t help but do what she could.

“You just look at (Zoe) and you knowyou have to do something,” Zelbst said.“She’s such a sweet little girl.”

But Zelbst said most of the credit goesto the companies and individuals thatpitched in to help. Her student, VictorGarcia, called companies across theUnited States to get them to help out withthe material. Many of them not onlydonated the material, but also sent it in thegirl’s favorite colors: pink, purple andyellow.

They also got material and help with

the practicality design from MarciHenderson, OTR, an occupational thera-pist from Huntsville Memorial Hospital.

“The first hand that they printedrequired a material called thermoplastthat we work with,” Henderson said. “Iput in warm water and mold it to the handthat I’m splinting. They got stumped anddidn’t know what thermoplast was. Imade component that molded to her littlehand.”

The hospital donated the timeHenderson spent on the clock and materi-al to the project.

There are problems, though. Becauseof how tiny Zoe’s hand is, the first designwas not only too big but also would slipoff when her hand got sweaty.

“We’re hoping to keep improving onit,” Henderson said. “We have to workout the kinks. We need to build what’sbest for her.”

The new design has already been print-ed and fits more size appropriate. Theonly holdup now is finding the right-sizedscrews to hold down the parts that causethe hand to contract.

SHSU students in APICS, a studentmanagement group, have agreed to raise

technologyContinued from page 1A

See 3-D, page 7A

6-29 editorial pages_layout 1 6/28/14 11:50 Pm Page 4

$100 toward the projectevery semester.

Wounded warriorsZelbst will go with Lt.

Col. David Yebra, former

ROTC director at SHSU,

to the Center for the

Intrepid to see what the

technology could do forsoldiers.

“I never experiencedloss of limb in three toursin Iraq,” Yebra said. “But Ithink any soldier wants to

be self-sufficient.Whatever it is we can do tohelp.

“They can do every-thing they can do for them-selves. Can it ever be com-pletely normal? Absolutelynot. Anything we can do to

help those people (is thegoal).”

Zelbst doesn’t have anyconcrete plans yet, but oneidea that’s been tossedaround is developing aprosthetic that would haveinterchangeable parts that

could be stored almost likea tool kit.

“Something for an oilfilter grip that they canwash off and put otherprothesis on after work orscrewdriver or whatever itis they do,” Yebra said. “Ifthey have a long drive,they might need somethingthat connects a little easierto the steering wheel.”

CostSome of these things

already exist but are afinancial burden.

For the interchangeableprosthetic, Zelbst said theywill use a durable plasticthat can withstand a lot ofpressure.

Smith said he used tohave to drive down toHouston three times aweek, and anytime heneeds a new mold for theprosthetic, it’s a three-dayprocess. Zelbst said byusing a 3-D scanner andprinter, it would cut downon both the time and cost.

The printing takes any-where from one to twodays and doesn’t requirethe same bulk of expensivemetals.

Zoe will continue togrow, and Zelbst said thatas that happens, newerhands can be printed thatmeet her size requirementsat a much cheaper cost.

“I don’t have the moneyto buy prosthetics,” JessicaClancy said. “I don’t knowif she’ll ever want them ona daily basis, but I wantedher to have the option. Thiswas kind of a cheaper wayto go about it and seeing ifshe’s interested in having aprosthetic. It is a goodresource to have to seewhere we want to go.”

Zelbst said these proj-ects have united many dif-ferent parts of Huntsvillefor the benefit of theseindividuals and others insimilar situations.

sunDAY, june 29, 2014 The hunTsville iTem 7A

The information in this col-umn is not intended as legaladvice but to provide a generalunderstanding of the law. Someof the information in this columnwas prepared by the State Bar ofTexas and is reprinted in thiscolumn with permission. Anyreaders with a legal problem,including those whose questionsare addressed here, should con-sult an attorney for advice ontheir particular circumstances.

While Iaman

advocate forthe use of aPower ofAttorney toavoid guardian-ships, I realizethere are timeswhen aguardianship cannot be avoid-ed. Therefore, in this week’scolumn I will address some ofthe more frequently asked ques-tions regarding guardianships.

How does one go about ini-tiating a guardianship?

Any interested party may filean application with the propercourt requesting that a guardianbe appointed for a personbelieved to be incapacitated.

What is the definition of anincapacitated person?

A person may be found to beincapacitated if due to a mentalor physical condition he or sheis unable to: (1) provide food,clothing, or shelter for himselfor herself; (2) care for his orher own physical needs, or (3)manage his or her own finan-cial affairs. A finding of inca-pacity will allow the person to

be placed under guardianship.A minor person (someoneunder 18 years of age) andmissing persons are also con-sidered to be incapacitated.

Once a guardian isappointed, does the incapaci-tated person lose all rightsand powers?

Not necessarily. A judge mayappoint a guardian for an inca-pacitated person, but limit theguardian’s powers so that allrights and powers except thosegranted to the guardian areretained by the incapacitatedperson.

Who may serve asguardian?

The court will appoint aguardian for an incapacitatedperson in the following order ofpriority: (1) the incapacitatedperson’s spouse; (2) the per-son’s nearest kin; and (3) aneligible person who is bestqualified to serve.

Do the types of guardiansvary?

Yes. Generally, there is aguardian of the person and aguardian of the estate. Theguardian of the person has theduty and power to provide theincapacitated person with cloth-ing, food, medical care, andshelter. The guardian of theestate has the duty and powerto manage the incapacitatedperson’s financial affairs. Oneperson can fill both positions.

Who is not allowed to serveas guardian?

A person may not beappointed guardian if the per-son is a minor, a notoriouslybad person, an incapacitated

person, a person who is a partyto a lawsuit affecting the inca-pacitated person (with someexceptions), a person whoowed the incapacitated personmoney, unless it is repaid, aperson with adverse claims tothe incapacitated person or hisproperty, an inexperienced oruneducated person, a person thecourt finds unsuitable, a personeliminated in a person’s desig-nation of guardian, or a nonres-ident without a resident agent.

Are there costs involved ina guardianship?

Yes. Obtaining a guardian-ship involves filing a lawsuitregarding a person’s rights andis therefore typically, very cost-ly. These costs include attor-ney’s fees, filing fees, attorneyad litem fees, and bond premi-ums to be paid out of the inca-pacitated person’s estate.

What rights are retainedby the incapacitated person?

The incapacitated person hasthe right to receive a copy ofthe application for guardianshipand other documents filed withthe County Clerk. He or she isalso entitled to be at the hearingto determine whether he or sheis incapacitated.

Is an alleged incapacitatedperson represented by anattorney?

Yes. When a guardianship isfiled, the court appoints anattorney ad litem to representthe interests of the alleged inca-pacitated person. The personcan also retain his or her ownattorney.

What happens at aguardianship hearing?

The person who filed theapplication must prove theincapacity through testimonyand medical evidence. Thealleged incapacitated personhas a right to bring his or herown witnesses to court and alsothe right to speak to the judge.The alleged incapacitated per-son may also request a jurytrial. The judge or jury willdetermine if the person is inca-pacitated.

How soon can a guardian-ship hearing be held?

The earliest date to schedulea hearing is the Monday fol-lowing the expiration of 10days after the alleged incapaci-tated person has been personal-ly served with the applicationof guardianship.

Upon appointment, howdoes a guardian qualify?

The guardian must file anoath and post a bond in theamount set by the court toinsure proper performance ofhis or her duties.

Does the guardian havereporting requirements to thecourt?

Yes. The guardian of theestate must file an inventorywithin 30 days of qualifying.The inventory must list allassets of the incapacitated per-son coming into the guardian’shands and all debts owed to theestate. The guardian of theestate must file an annualaccount to report all receiptsand disbursements. Theguardian of the person must filean annual report on the loca-tion, condition, and well-beingof the incapacitated person.

What if there is an immedi-ate need for the appointmentof a guardian?

A temporary guardian can beappointed without notice to theproposed incapacitated personif his or her person or propertyis in imminent danger. Usuallya temporary guardianship willnot exceed sixty 60 days.However, if a permanentguardianship application hasbeen filed and is contested orchallenged, the court mayappoint a temporary guardian toserve as temporary guardianuntil the contested guardianshipaction is resolved.

Does the person for whoma temporary guardianshiphas been appointed have anyrights?

Since that person is not pre-sumed to be incapacitated, heor she retains all rights andpowers not granted to the tem-porary guardian. He or she isentitled to be served with acopy of the documents that arefiled. The court must appoint anattorney to represent the allegedincapacitated person. The courtmust hold a hearing no laterthan ten 10 days after the dateof filing the temporaryguardianship to determinewhether there is a need for con-tinuation of the temporaryguardianship.

Pursuing a guardianship for aloved one can be a difficultprocess, emotionally and legal-ly. An attorney can assist you indetermining if a guardianship isappropriate for your particularsituation. If you have furtherquestions or are considering aguardianship for a loved one,you should consult your attor-ney.

The LegaL Corner

Frequently asked questions about guardianships

sam moak

3-DContinued from page 5A

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