Lytton: Handicap (in)accessibility: Winter months raise concerns

Column photo

By Melissa Lytton

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Although we’ve had a few dips back into sunny weather, winter is coming. Everyone should use more caution when the paths on campus turn icy, but they are especially dangerous for handicapped students.

The various modes of transportation employed by these students (traditional wheelchairs, motorized wheelchairs, canes and seeing-eye dogs) require a little more consideration when calculating maneuverability. As winter approaches every year, I inevitably hear conversations among some of these students about the difficulties of getting up Mount Oread in particular.

Many of these students prefer to take the bus; most students prefer to take the bus when it’s below freezing. But often, this just isn’t possible due to a time crunch between classes combined with the timing of the busses. Even if it were, handicapped students should have the option of safely navigating to class outside, just like the rest of the student body.

Some of the ramps going up Mount Oread are very narrow and curvy and only allow for one small wheel chair. During the sunny months, that amount of room is completely adequate, as long as the other students make room. But when snow and ice are factored in, they can become much more difficult to navigate.

Mount Oread does have several stretches of wide, sloping concrete, but they don’t extend all the way up. Money should be invested in widening the small side ramps as a safety precaution for the colder months ahead.

But the campus exterior isn’t the only place that needs upgrading. A few semesters ago I took a class in Smith Hall. We had to swap classrooms with another class on the main floor because there was no handicap access to the bottom floor of the building.

I went back a few days ago to confirm and wandered around to every unlocked door I could find. There was no elevator, and the only access to outside was a set of narrow concrete stairs rather than any kind of ramp. Many of the buildings on campus were built a long time ago, but the University has had plenty of time to upgrade.

The University has already had its fair share of critics on investing money to expand an already wonderful recreation center or on using funds to add tree cover for our sports teams to practice behind. I’m not going to say those ventures aren’t worthwhile projects, because I believe that improving the University’s extracurricular offerings enriches the college experience overall.

But the basics, such as access to all classrooms and unimpeded paths to class, should be taken care of first. And for a portion of the student body, those basics aren’t being taken care of.

— Lytton is a Kodiak, Ala., senior in creative writing.

Comments

Denver (anonymous) says...

Couldn't you be a bit more politically correct, Melissa? The offensive label "handicapped" is a hold-over from the 1950s. Certainly accessibility is an important issue, especially on a mammoth campus like KU, but attitudinal barriers and backward, illegal prejudices are also extremely prevalent on campus and arguably hold qualified people back a lot more than stairs and badly planned architecture and bus-clogged streets.

October 29, 2009 at 1:38 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Denver (anonymous) says...

Please don't patronize others either by approaching strangers you assume are having difficulty navigating when it's slick out and stupidly asking, "Need help?" People are more likely to fall out of the nervousness of being bothered by intrusive, prejudiced people than a slick sidewalk. This attitude is harassing and may be covered under the new hate-crime law, since it involves regarding and treating people unequally.

October 29, 2009 at 1:45 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

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