Universitv Daliv Kansan, April 7, 1982
Page 7
Handicapped students lower barriers on
By LAURA ARMATO
Staff Reporter
When Tom Davis-Bissing first came to the University of Kansas in 1976, he could enter Watson Library only after maneuvering his wheelchair around to the back of the building and ringing a buzzer.
Now, six years later, he has not only seen many changes, but has helped to raise awareness about the issues.
Davis-Bissing, a Kansas City, Kan., graduate student, remembers when he first came to KU, the Student Assistance Center did not exist, many buildings were completely inaccessible to handicapped students, and there was no one available to suggest strategies for getting around campus.
He said he only went to those buildings he absolutely had to, such as Fraser, Wescoe and Joseph R. Pearson who were in the library, although it was a problem.
Now, Davis-Bissing said, Robinson Gymnasium, the Satellite Union and Green Hall were fully accessible to him. He no longer has to ring for entrance at Watson Library because he had completed last fall renovation.
So that other handicapped students could avoid such problems, Davis-Bissing helped start the Students Concerned with Disabilities group in 1978. This group operates through the Student Assistance Center. Davis-Bissing also has written a “Tips for Wheelers” booklet.
The booklet, which is available in the Student Assistance Center, "basically gives various strategies on getting help in a wheelchair," Dave-Bissing said.
His booklet tells how to reach all levels of the Kansas Union, he said. For example, the bookstore on the bottom level is accessible only through a fourth floor freight elevator, which some clients may not be aware of he said.
The booklet also gives suggestions for dealing with water sprinklers and dogs, Davis-Bissingham said, and lists telephone numbers on maneuvering around campus.
Baviss-DiSibs said that the student group he helped found "tries to present a unified voice for the students on campus who have disabilities."
Tom Kowalski, a Kansas City, Kan.
law student and vice president of the
group, said that trying to get members
to overcome negative attitudes was his
goal.
He said that sometimes negative attitudes were more of a problem than the physical handicap.
Davis-Biasiss said the group relayed complaints it received from handicapped students to the advocacy team through the Student Assistance Center.
Bob Turvey, chairman of the Architectural Barriers subcommittee and associate director of the Student Assistance Center, said that if a building did not comply with the American National Standards Institute Code, the committee could request a change from facilities operations.
If the building is under construction, however, the builders themselves can make a request change.
As an example, Turvey said, he recently received a complaint about the bathroom door on the second floor of a hotel where he was under renovation, Turvey said, construction workers could easily correct any problems.
Not all buildings must be accessible to handicapped students, but all academic programs must be accessible. The policies of the 504 Committee state that the campus must be accessible to all qualified students. Handicapped students are guaranteed access to all academic programs, but not necessarily to every building on campus.
For example, Turvey said, not all residence halls on campus must be accessible, as long as one women's and one men's residence hall is accessible.
Kowski has noticed all these changes because he still had his sight when he was an undergraduate student at KU in the early 1970s. He lost his vision six years ago, and the campus numbers how the campus looked then.
handle can sometimes be a barrier for handicapped people. Turvey said.
Now the elevators in most of the buildings have Braille covers on the buttons, as do the soft drink machine buttons, at least in strong Hollm, he said.
KU is making changes, but problems still remain, Davis-Bissing said. The Helen Foresman Spencer Art Museum
'We feel like we are ready to give ourselves an "A" in terms of accessibility, particularly since we are on a hill.' —Bob Turvey, associate director of the Student
Assistance Center
The 504 Committee was set up in 1976 and the 503 Committee in 1973 for 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1974.
The Architectural Barriers subcommittee of the 504 Committee checks the blueprints of buildings under construction for innovation for oversight, Turvey said.
KU is making changes in 10 buildings on campus in which the bathrooms are being renovated. Recently an entrance was added to Hall Yaylah Hall was added for easier entrance.
The Flint Hall renovation included enlarging classroom doors and adding a balcony.
When the Lawrence Fire Code and ANSI Code do not agree, Turvey said, problems can develop.
Snow Hall also has only a small elevator, which is difficult to reach, Davis-Bissing said. The elevator in Strong Hall creates problems for Davis-Bissing, too, as well as for Bill Miller, Topi Miller.
The fire code does not allow doors that simply push open, and a door
Miller said the elevator in Strong Hall was old fashioned and that a rider must open two heavy doors. Because Miller's handicap requires that he use crutches, these doors are too difficult and he simply uses the stairs, he said.
is still a problem for him because the basement and second levels are accessible only by stairs.
simplify once the student is blind. Kowalski said, "Even for a blind student, the elevator is terrible."
Davis-Bissing agreed that a new elevator was needed in Strong Hall, but noted that progress had been made in other areas, such as the installation of
automatic doors at the back entrance to the building.
Miller doesn't use the elevator in Robinson Gymnasium because it is down near the weight room, and from the opposite end of the building, he said, it is easier to use the stairs rather than walk all the way.
"It has been adapted," Miller said, "but was not designed with handicapped people in mind. What if I find someone on campus as the narking situation."
He said non-handicapped students frequently park in handicapped-designated spots.
Because he is usually hurrying to class, Miller said, there is not time to get a car moved and he is forced to park elsewhere.
Kowlaski said he had not really run into that many barriers because stairs and doorways were no problem for him.
But Carruth O'Leary was inaccessible for someone in a wheelchair, he said, because there are few accessors. He noted the halls and elevators were narrow.
The 504 Committee was working on these problems, Kowalski said.
Although these problems exist, David-Bissing, Miller and Kowalski agreed that KU was the most hard-to-accessible of the universities in Kansas.
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"I don't see any shrinkage of the University's commitment to accessibility so far," Turvey said.
Turvey also said that President Reagan's proposed budget cuts probably would not have much impact on the University's effort to make the campus more accessible, since most of its necessary funds came from the state.
At that time, Emporia State did not have the handicapped bus service that KU did, he added.
Kowalski said that he had visited universities in Kansas and found KU to be "right up there with the rest of them."
Turvey said in comparison to other universities, "We feel like we are ready to give ourselves an 'A' in terms of faculty, particularly since we are on a hill."
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Miller, who attended Washburn University for two years, said, "I would say that for a university this size, they handle the situation very well."
Davis-Bissing said he had visited Emporia State University and "was somewhat shocked." He said the university had the reputation for being the wheelchair's school in Kansas, but he found it not as accessible as KU.
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