Inside Iowa State

October 7, 2005

Murderball star to speak Oct. 18

by Daniel Kuester

Movies about Olympians can inspire (Miracle), motivate (Chariots of Fire) and even amuse (Cool Runnings). But never before has an Olympic movie done all three so well as the documentary Murderball.

Iowa State screens the critically acclaimed film at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, in the Memorial Union Great Hall. One week later (8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, in the Memorial Union Great Hall), one of the stars of the movie, Mark Zupan, will give a talk as part of Iowa State's Disability Awareness Month observance.

Zupan and his quadriplegic teammates in Murderball are members of the U.S. Paralympic rugby team that won a bronze medal in the 2004 Paralympic games in Athens, Greece.

These fiercely competitive world-class athletes play a full-contact, hard-nosed sport against the best teams in the world. And they do it while in wheelchairs.

Both the movie and Zupan continue to inspire. Rolling Stone said Murderball was "Mesmerizing! Creates a new definition of courage."

And Zupan, a civil engineer from Austin, Texas, recently was named U.S. Quad Rugby Association's Athlete of the Year and is training for the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, China.

Some still resist spirit of national disabilities act

by Anne Krapfl

Iowa State will observe National Disability Awareness Month with several events in the next two weeks.

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act is 15 years old, there remains some resistance to the spirit of the act, even on campus, said Carla Espinoza, director of equal opportunity and diversity.

"There's more we can do, maybe not earth-shattering or expensive things, that make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities."

She encouraged members of the ISU community to consider two points:

• Not all disabilities are easily apparent; look for indicators of an invisible disability.
• Before you hone in on anyone's disability, look first for ability.

Disability Awareness
4-7612

October 11

• 7 p.m., Film, Murderball (2005, R-rating), tough, highly competitive rugby players -- who happen to be quadriplegics, preceded by social time at 6:30 p.m., free admission, pop and popcorn, Great Hall, MU.

October 18

• 8 p.m., Lecture, Mark Zupan, paralympics rugby athlete featured in the film Murderball and a civil engineer in Austin, Texas, starter on the Team USA quad rugby team that won a bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, free, Great Hall, MU.

October 23

• 4:30 p.m., Costume contest and dance activities, for children and adults, children with disabilities especially invited, preceding dance performance, free, 196 Forker, 4-3047.
• 5 p.m., Dance, Dracula, A Comedy Noir, ballet, Iowa Dance Theatre *$12, 196 Forker, 334-0010.