6
University Daily Kansan
Campus/Area
Monday, Dec. 2, 1985
Access
Continued from p. 1
ne said the other five residence halls needed improvements before being accessible.
Stoner said one unit in Stouffer Place had been adapted for married students who might be disabled.
In February, Greg Boadin, Derby freshman, broke his back when he hit a tree while sliding on a cafeteria tray down a hill behind Ellsworth.
The accident left him in a wheelchair. This semester, Boaldin came back to KU and moved into Elsworth.
"I chose to live in Ellsworth even though I didn't have much of a choice." Boaldin said.
Everything that residence hall life entails has gone smoothly so far for Bouldin and the two other Ellsworth residents in wheelchairs.
"A few places are difficult, but nothing is impossible," he said.
Getting around campus sometimes can seem impossible for the disabled.
The Architectural Barriers Committee and Independence Inc. would have always easing the grade of the hills between the bottom and top of campus.
"The way the campus is situated on a hill makes it virtually impossible for a student in a wheelchair to get from the bottom of the hill to the top unassisted," McCoy said. "Either there are stairs, or the grade is too steep."
McCoy said that even people in electric wheelchairs needed help getting up the hills.
The University also needs to pay more attention to where they place curb cuts, Wilson said.
"I need a campus that doesn't have a wall around it," he said.
Wilson said he sometimes traveled two miles in his electric wheelchair between his home and campus.
The lack of curb cuts on the edges of campus places a wall between home and work. Wilson said.
The lack of curb cuts or having only one side of an intersection equipped with the cuts make people in wheelchairs plot round-about courses to get between two direct points, he said.
Mona McCoy
"My major complaint was the elevator in Strong Hall, and there are plans to fix it." Boaldin said.
Wilson said that most of the time he used the Student Senate-financed lift van to get to and from campus.
Boadin said that after the lift van dropped him off on campus he encountered few problems going from class to class.
Money - not desire - keeps the University from becoming completely accessible, he said.
Over time, the University will become totally accessible, but cuts in funds have limited the amount of work being done, Turvey said. Most
'If I had a disability, I'd think twice before going to KU if I knew what the services were like. The University isn't being callous, it's in an awkward period of transition.'
Executive director of Independence Inc.
accessibility changes occur during other building renovations or the construction of new buildings.
wison said that even when accessibility changes occurred, they happened as afterthoughts.
"A really well-designed accessible building doesn't look like it has been made accessible," he said.
Each year, the Architectural Barriers Committee compiles a list of projects in the order of need and turns it over to facilities planning, Turvey said.
Allen Wiechert, director of facilities planning, meshes the list with all the other needs of the University. The Kansas Legistature allocates money, and the funds go to the most pressing projects on the list, Turvey said.
This year, $90,000 was allocated to replace the elevators in Strong and
Dyche halls, Turvey said.
"It's conceivable, but hasn't happened, that the priorities during a year may exclude any improvements on accessibility," Turvey said.
"We'll always run out of money before we run out of ideas."
McCoy said that because the University received federal and state funds, it was legally obligated to make its programs accessible to the disabled.
She said federal and state laws did not require every building to be accessible, but every program had to be.
If a disabled student wants to take a class that meets on the third floor of a building without an elevator, KU is required by law to move the class to the ground floor or move it to another building.
More than the classroom, however,
needs to be accessible, McCoy said.
The equipment also must be adapted.
The Clyde W. Tombaugh Observatory atop Lindley Hall, where many students and local residents can go to get a glimpse of Halley's comet, be reached only by stairs. Another stairway bars the way for a person in a wheelchair to use the observatory's telescopes.
Temporary measures allow the disabled to view the comet from ground level, but the measures are not available for disabled students who want to take laboratory courses
Even during the 1982 renovation of Lindley and the observatory, the laboratory and the telescopes atop the building were not included in remodeling, McCoy said.
in astronomy, Bruce Twarog, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, said.
Potential conflicts with the astrometry program loom, but instead of working to prevent the accessibility problems, the University chooses to wait until problems arise, McCoy said.
The Facts.
The powerful Hewlett-Packard Series, 40 advanced calculators are expandable. Versatile. Reliable.
Hard Facts
Soft Facts
Soft Facts Thousands of software programs are available.
The most recent addition to the family, the HP-41CX, has
Timer Module
- Extended Functions Module
Enhanced Text-File Editor
And More!
HEWLETT PACKARD
HP-41 SERIES
CBS Records Have today's greatest songstress
Kief's $6.49
... today's newest sounds
... the Christmas gift for every Bob Dylan fan
L.L. Cool J
Kief's $5.99
... a guitar hero for today
5 record set only $22.95 at Kief's
Kief's $5.99
... the soundtrack from the biggest film of the season
Rocky IV Kief's $6.49
- Try Our Great Desserts
- Homemade Bread
- Breakfast Served Anytime
HOURS
HOURS
Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Sat.-Sun. 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
1801 Mass. 842-9637
---
CONTINUE YOUR EDUCATION WITH THE ARMY COLLEGE FUND.
So you've started college and you want to go on. You have the ability and desire but need the money. The Army College Fund can help you continue the education you've started.
By qualifying in an Army skill that entitles you to the Army College fund, you will be able to start a special savings plan. When you set aside part of your Army pay each month, the government will match your savings at least five to one. With a two-year enlistment, you'll accumulate $15,200. With a three-year enlistment, you could save as much as $20,100 for college.
Keep on growing in college with the Army College Fund. See your local Army Recruiter for details
CALL: 843-0465
ARMY. BE ALLYOU CAN BE.