Opinion

Accessibility for all a basic right

From the fleet of mopeds and the occasional Segway to the multitudinous mass of students walking during our beloved break between our professors’ digressions, we take advantage of our ability to get to class on time and with ease. Well, most of us. The rest are kicked to the curb and are still crawling to class.

I wonder how some students get to their lectures on time — because I’m out of breath walking halfway up Bascom. I marvel at the hypothetical crutch-bearing handicapped individual who has to get to a chemistry lab in 15 minutes.

Even when such handicapped students get to their destination, it seems elevators are either filled with lethargic peers, or they’re nowhere to be seen. It’s pitiful to see people hobbling up stairs with crutches or those in wheelchairs being overshadowed in the hoi polloi. It might mean a little self-sacrifice, but make some room for them.

It is unforgiveable that all buildings aren’t equipped with the necessary means of getting everybody to class safely. Our school has an obligation to accommodate students, just like it has an obligation to tolerate all people of different skin, creed and sex.

Take, for example, the esteemed Meiklejohn House, the humble abode of the school’s ILS Program. Those who have dared to walk through the kitchen of this house know it would be impossible for a student with any sort of fracture or sprain to make it inside. If a student in a wheelchair somehow managed to teleport in there, he or she would be surprised to find that classroom B1 is in the basement and the only way down is via an emaciated, skeletal circular staircase, which even the larger-than-normal student would have trouble descending.

So does this student just not show up for their discussion? It would be a burden that some days would persuade even the most committed student to stay home.

And what about the Humanities building? Even with two functioning legs, it’s a challenge navigating the labyrinthian hallways, up the cement stairs and through frivolous outdoor courtyards. One could spend his or her entire undergraduate career ranting about the design of the Humanities building — at least until it’s torn down — but how is someone in a wheelchair supposed to get around in that building? Hovercraft?

Come winter, Metro’s Paratransit services will have to include helicopter pick-up for those in wheelchairs; otherwise one has to question how they’re going to get to class.

In September 1998, NewMobility.com’s Rachel Ross rated University of Wisconsin among the nation’s best “Disability Friendly Colleges,” though the Humanities building still stands, as do a great many other buildings on campus, with parts that are not accessible by wheelchair.

According to Section III of the ADA Campus Policies, “Mobility impairments can impact students in several ways. It may take longer to get from one class to another, enter buildings, or maneuver in small spaces. In some cases physical barriers may inhibit entry into a building or classroom.”

Thankfully, however, the McBurney Disability Resource Center can help the dozens of students with mobility problems endure their struggles. The McBurney Center deals with relocating students to buildings and classes that can accommodate those with limited mobility, including injured athletes, impaired undergraduates and those confined to a wheelchair. Without them, I would be curious to see the correlation between mobility problems and tardiness in lecture or academic performance.

Accommodations Specialist for the McBurney Center Jennifer Wersland emphasized the successful efforts of the university to accommodate all students and staff, citing the design of the universally-accessible Kohl Center as an example. It’s just surprising that classes are still held in classrooms out of reach for people who physically can’t make it inside.

Taking into consideration the consequences of a broken leg on college students’ day-to-day life, I have greater respect for the handicapped individuals who have to fight for their education. They don’t have the freedom to hop on a moped; it’s a physical feat for them to get to class, let alone to be ready to sit through a lecture with a broken leg.

Make way for the wheelchair and the disadvantaged pair of crutches coming your way, even if it means straying from your amoeba of friends. Take notes for your handicapped comrade in absentia. They need your help, and sometimes the university can be a touch insensitive to them when it comes to having classes where all students have a fair chance at getting in the door.

Patrick Johnson (prjohnson3@wisc.edu) is a freshman majoring in English and journalism.