OPINION
10
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
Accessibility at Guilford is a major accomplishment
While Guilford College's goal to achieve total accessibility for
all students has bloomed, look forward to it blossoming.
I hope to see Guilford keep growing and to continue to
see botii faculty and students working to make Guilford as
accessible as possible from many angles.
Thankfully, the Accessibility
Subcommittee does consider the issue in a
multifaceted way.
The subcommittee approaches their
charge from multiple perspectives
concerning information, physical ability
and attitude.
"Our accessibility plan is ambitious, but
achievable," said Chair of the Accessibility
Subcommittee and Director of the Learning
Commons Melissa Daniel-Frink.
Considering their ambition combined
with their perspective-based approach,
Guilford is leagues above its peers in
making the campus and its services
accessible for everyone.
Still, there are always other steps to be taken.
Looking at information, the Learning Common's Dragon
Naturally Speaking software assists students who are hearing
impaired by converting speech to text. AKurzweil Reader and a
Jobs Access with Speech screen reader provide a text-to-speech
output for students who are visually impaired.
"The college has purchased a Brailler in order to make
information accessible for all our students," said Daniel-Frink
Yet, the range of services available to make textbooks
accessible is significantly more restricted.
BY
CHRISTIANNA
VAN DALSEN
StARF Wiemisk
"I couldn't take advantage of (the text-to-speech readers)
because it requires the binding of the book get cut off," said
senior Emma Debby.
The bookstore doesn't offer any similar substitutions, but
is willing to look into possible solutions if approached by
Disability Resources.
"But (The Learning Commons) were extremely kind and
helpful," continued Debby.
The members of the Learning Commons do their best to have
information available for its students, even if there are some
limitations to the services offered.
Looking at Guilford's accessibility from a physical standpoint,
many measures have been taken.
"Most recent is this Summer when Hege-Cox Hall was
outfitted with ramps, and door openers were placed on the
doors (as well as) in King Hall," said Assistant Academic Dean
for Academic Support Barbara Boyette. "Every year we try to
think ahead for accessibility and make it better."
Some improvements can be made, such as having door
openers for the bathroom stalls. The stalls comply with
regulations regarding their size and also have the necessary
bars. However, none of that matters if the students can't enter
the restroom.
Some other places on campus also remain inaccessible for
some students. However, Fadfities has shown and continues to
express their willingness to adjust beyond the code to continue
making renovations to help Guilford become more accessible,
like the lowering of the elevator buttons to a height reachable
for all students.
In the realm of attitude, Guilford is above and beyond.
"I have always seen disabilities as human variation and I hope
For more information
about Guilford’s
Disability Resources,
follow the QR code;
(To view the PDF of
the Accessibility Plan,
clink the link under
“Accessibility Plan”)
that attitude becomes pervasive in our community to where
we imderstand and embrace differences and not look at them
in a negative light," said Coordinator of Disability Resources
Georgie Bogdan.
Faculty and staff at Guilford have gone the extra mile to
ensure Guilford's evolution towards accessibility for everyone.
"The people that we work with are dedicated to making
(complete accessibility) happen, and we know we have to
change, to grow, and we're aU up for it," said Boyette.
Daniel-Frink also expressed Guilford's drive to make not only
itself but the whole world accessible as a living, emergent force.
'Take what you learn about accessibility and the mind-set
you gain here and take it into the world, because that is where it
grows," said Daniel-Frink
Hopefully, as Daniel-Frink described, Gmlford has sown
seeds in both its community and the minds of its students to
take accessibility to heart and work towards a more accessible
world for everyone.
Stereotypes, myths and Batman; it’s time to stop teasing the ‘fake’ geek girl
BY OLIVIA
NEAL
"Real nerds were not born knowing
everything about Batman," said
TheMarySue.com writer Susanna Polo at a
convention panel.
This statement
was a reaction to the
circulating idea of
an attention-seeking
"fake geek girl-"
Girls are constantly
accused of not being
knowledgeable enough
about their nerdy
interests and shamed
out of enjoying things
they truly like.
There is no such
thing as a "fake" geek
girl. Women — just like
men — start enjoying things like comics
and video games at different ages and to
varying degrees.
"There's no reason to join a fandom
unless you enjoy it, and if someone accuses
you of otherwise it ruins the experience,"
said Early College first-year Erin Goeke.
This attitude doesn't come from every
male in fandom, but it does come from a
wide scope of people, and from many who
have definite authority in the subculture.
Tony Harris, comic book artist for
"Iron Man" and "Ex Machina," posted
on Facebook last year criticizing female
cosplayers — slang for fans who dress up
as their favorite characters — claiming
they don't know anything about comics.
"Hey quasi-pretty-not-hot girl, you are
more pathetic than the real nerds who you
secretly think are really pathetic," said
Harris in the post. "You don't know s—
about comics, beyond whatever Google
image search you did to get ref on the
most mainstream character with the most
revealing costume."
B
KEEP
CALM
THE
DOCTOR
This attitude must stop.
Harris was the breaking point between
annoyance and distress for many who deal
with this on a near daily basis. To hear this
from someone you admire, a creator of the
products you love? It's beyond hurtful.
"There is a female comic book market
out there," said Associate Professor of
Mathematics Ben Marlin. "51 percent of the
population is women. You have to figure
out how to deal with them."
The mistreatment of geek girls is not
just verbal. Women everywhere in fandom
experience harassment based on how they
choose to express themselves.
"There have been numerous reports
that young women were being sexually
harassed and accosted at conventions,"
said Joe Scott, owner of Geeksboro
Coffeehouse Cinema, in an interview with
The Guilfordian. "My friend was harassed
at a con in Georgia and was greeted with
complete indifference by con organizers.
I'm inspired by heroes who would never
accept that behavior."
A lot of this harassment is focused on
women who cosplay. They're accused of
wearing skimpy outfits to attract attention,
despite the fact that these costumes are
exact replicas of male-designed outfits.
"If you want to cosplay Chun Li (of
Street Fighter) you don't have much choice
but to wear relatively skimpy clothing,
and that comes from the game makers,"
said senior Emily Eadie, commodore of
the Guilford Yachting Club. "They need to
be held accountable for their portrayal of
women."
A lot of time, money and effort goes into
these contributions to fandom, yet female
cosplayers get little respect from their male
counterparts.
"A woman can spend 30 to 50 hours
building a Wonder Woman costume, and
a guy can roll up in an Avenger's T-shirt
he bought at WalMart," said Scott. "He's
going to be instantly accepted whereas she
has to work hard to gain approval from
male attendees. It's not fair."
Eventually, these judgmental members
of fandom will have to acknowledge the
existence of diehard geek girls and their
prevalence in nerd culture.
"Gaming is just another form of media,"
said Eadie. "No one says that girls can't
go to movies, or read or listen to music, so
why can't girls get into gaming?"
Superman and Captain America
wouldn't accept this kind'of behavior. Why
should we?