Spring Break
Undergrad study finds disabled access poor
Issue date: 11/8/07
"The trips to the library would certainly be discouraging, and I can imagine that someone could be turned off by it. A responsibility of a university is to provide reasonable accommodations, and I expect the library is obligated to do it under the law," Villenas said.
It takes a person in a wheelchair eight minutes to enter Levering Hall, the Levering group remarked, a stark contrast to the amount of time it takes for someone simply to walk up the entrance steps. Another main issue the group had was the Arellano stage, since it would take one with a wheelchair tremendous effort to get on stage, which may discourage them from theatrical pursuits. "As a student union, Levering is a really important social building - it should be the most socially conscious building, but it reinforces negative stereotypes where people in wheelchairs can't even get up onstage," Levering group member Lelia Chaisson said.
Students also found that if someone in a wheelchair was on the second floor in the event of a fire, the only way for that person to evacuate the building would be through elevator use.
Additionally, the Center for Social Concern is only accessible by a narrow staircase, making it out of the way for those who are physically disabled. "That the Center for Social Concern is not accessible for people with disabilities is not acceptable at all," Villenas said.
The O'Connor Recreation Center had a few problems with inaccessibility, but the group determined that 100 percent of the users were not disabled, which is tracked by the JCard swipes at the entrance of the Center.
Shriver Hall also posed a few problems to a physically disabled person in a wheelchair. According to the Shriver Hall group, there is no direct path to an accessible entrance, since there are no signs directing one to the alternate entrance. The auditorium has no designated handicapped seating, and the only way to get on stage is by a free elevator.
"For a university with a large endowment for health, it is surprising that there aren't more accommodations," Villenas said. "I had the students do this project for two reasons. I wanted them to go out there and be health professionals who are better equipped to deal with problems with people disabilities and treat them better and treat them equally in the way they deserve to be treated. I also wanted [the project] to lead a mini-movement in making campuses more accessible to people with disabilities. I would like to see the University make changes with regard to accessibility and show other universities how to move in that direction."
It takes a person in a wheelchair eight minutes to enter Levering Hall, the Levering group remarked, a stark contrast to the amount of time it takes for someone simply to walk up the entrance steps. Another main issue the group had was the Arellano stage, since it would take one with a wheelchair tremendous effort to get on stage, which may discourage them from theatrical pursuits. "As a student union, Levering is a really important social building - it should be the most socially conscious building, but it reinforces negative stereotypes where people in wheelchairs can't even get up onstage," Levering group member Lelia Chaisson said.
Students also found that if someone in a wheelchair was on the second floor in the event of a fire, the only way for that person to evacuate the building would be through elevator use.
Additionally, the Center for Social Concern is only accessible by a narrow staircase, making it out of the way for those who are physically disabled. "That the Center for Social Concern is not accessible for people with disabilities is not acceptable at all," Villenas said.
The O'Connor Recreation Center had a few problems with inaccessibility, but the group determined that 100 percent of the users were not disabled, which is tracked by the JCard swipes at the entrance of the Center.
Shriver Hall also posed a few problems to a physically disabled person in a wheelchair. According to the Shriver Hall group, there is no direct path to an accessible entrance, since there are no signs directing one to the alternate entrance. The auditorium has no designated handicapped seating, and the only way to get on stage is by a free elevator.
"For a university with a large endowment for health, it is surprising that there aren't more accommodations," Villenas said. "I had the students do this project for two reasons. I wanted them to go out there and be health professionals who are better equipped to deal with problems with people disabilities and treat them better and treat them equally in the way they deserve to be treated. I also wanted [the project] to lead a mini-movement in making campuses more accessible to people with disabilities. I would like to see the University make changes with regard to accessibility and show other universities how to move in that direction."
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Cara
posted 12/11/07 @ 6:22 PM EST
What a brilliant idea to have students make observations and comment on what can be done! I applaud Prof./Grad Student Villenas for coming up with such a demonstrative study!
CaraDiCicco33
Cara
posted 12/11/07 @ 6:33 PM EST
What a brilliant idea to have students make observations and comment on what can be done! I applaud Prof./Grad Student Villenas for coming up with such a demonstrative study!
Nancy Johnson
posted 3/24/09 @ 1:06 AM EST
That looks like lots of fun. When I was in college we didn't had so many fun activities.
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