Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / March 29, 1990, edition 1 / Page 6
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Focus March 29,1990 Barriers From Page 5 individuals takes much more than a cement ramp: it takes careful planning and genuine understanding. It takes knowing what it’s like to be restricted. Certainly, thwe are all sorts of handicaps: blindness, deafness, dyslexia... the list goes on. I concentrated on a specific physical handic£^. I arranged to be paralyzed from the waist down. I could move my arms and head, but not my feet OT legs. My eyes and ears were as sharp as ever, and I relied upon them in my research. What I saw, heard and exper^nced on that day will remain with me always. What is it like to be handicapped? I began at 9 a.m. in the Jorta Gym parking lot. Pendulum assistant editor Cheryl Kwn wheel^ me across the street toward the fountain. We reached the brick walkway, and I tried to propel myself. The bricks were uneven, and the slope of the walkway was far steq)^ than it had seemed all those times I had travelled by foot or bicycle. Pe(^le stcqiped and stared as I made my slow journey. At Alamance, 1 tried to get through the side door near Duke. This was my only point of entry because the front door and other side door near Carlton lay blocked by what had previously been a few cement steps. 1 wrestled with the door and finally managed to open it My wheek;hair was facing forward, but I had met an obstacle; the lip on the dooijam was so high that the chair couldn’t cross. To force myself over the lip, I needed to take a “running” start; but in the time it Ux^ to back up the chair and prepare myself, the door had swung shut. After several attempts, I gave up, andCheryl wheeled me through the doors. Once inside Alamance, I headed for the restroom to the handicapped stall. It was a tight squeeze, but I «it^ed the stall and turned around. I have no idea how a wheelchair- bound person makes use of such fEtcilities, so entering and backing up was about all I did. The sinks w^e low enough fcNT me, but they were so k>w that the counts* edge hit my knees. I strained to reach the faucet and soap. Hadmyarms been slightly shorter, I couldn’t have turned on the water. Exiting the restroom was anoth^ challenge altogether. A couch blocked my path as I tried to open the door. Again, Cheryl had to help me. On my way out of Alamance, I struggled through the door of the cashier’s office. It was a tight squeeze once I was inside, and the counts was too high to see over. A t College Coffee, I was greeted by more stares and questioning glances. I served my own drink, but I couldn’t hold the cup and wheel around. Most people were courte ous and made a path for me; others seemed oblivious to the chair and were in danger of having their toes run over. Navigating my way around the fountain was especially difficult because the bricks were uneven. I slowly moved to Carlum, trying to steer clear of the loose bricks on the walkway. My 10:10 sociology class was moved to Carlton, one of the few classroom buildings that is wheelchair accessible. If I were truly handicapped, my classes would be moved to Duke, Carlton, Jordan Gym or the Fine Arts Building, The ramp leading to Carlton was easy to climb, but I held up traffic by trying to open the door. Forawheefchair- IxMmd person, do(Mrs that open outward must be £^^roached in a systematic manner the chair is wheeled backward to the door’s edge. The person must then grab the handle and swmg around, forcing his or her way through the opening. _ GettingoutofCarltonwasadifferentstoryaltogether. The ramp that seemed so tame on my way in suddenly Mooney and Alamance makes for a di.r.cult appeared much steeper. I felt like I was on a roller coaster as I careened to the bottom. By this time, I felt confident in my own “driving” abiUties. I made my way to Mooney to meetCheryl, and we went to Long, which was once again unapproachable by the fnmt entrance. I used the wheelchair ramp next to the Grille. This ramp was much steq)er than the one at Carlton, and it was difficult getting through the double doors. One door was locked. I jockeyed the chair, blocking the locked door and swinging through the unk)cked one. I n Long, I retrieved my mail from a box coincidra- tally positioned at wheelchair height. In the lobby I met Jim Bush, aPendulum columnist who hadagreed to accompany me on my roun(k. Once again, exiting the building was an adventure. Rolling down the steqp ramp was terrifying. At the bottom of the rampisawaterpipethatpokes through the brick walkway. Had I hit this pipe at my warp-speed, I probably would have been thrown from the chair. Fortu nately, I spotted the pipe before any catastrophe occurred. Suppose I wanted to go to. College Chapel or see a SUB-qjonsored movie. Could I get into WhiUey Audito rium? If I conquered the uneven pavement from Long to Whitley, I could make it to the auditorium’s wheelchair ramp;butthehandicapped-accessibledoorwaslocked. Jim wheeled me through another door. Inside WhiUey, there is a nice space — an “aisle seat” — to rest a wheelchair However, I would not have been able to getto thestage from the auditorium. Jim said I would need to enter the building through another door and jqjproach frtxn backstage I couW get into the Print Shop provided that someone would open the door of Carlton on that side. The railing makes It nearly impwsible to “swing around,” as is neces- s^ when ^yproaching a door that opens outward. Iwould so need to master pretty fancy stewing maneuvers to avoid crashing into the water fountain or staircase as I tried to avoid falUng down the steps leading to the bathroom. To pay a p^ng ticket or visit the security office woukl be impossible. West is inaccessible to wheelchairs. E Ion students are expected tQ go to the Ul»ary at leastonceintheircoUegecareers. Woulditbepossiblefor a student in a wheelchair? The ramp leading to the libf3|^ was steep, but conquerable. Once again, the lip front door made for a difficult entrance, so Jim helped The wheelchairmoved slowly on thecarpeL Icould reacn the card catalog, but, again, with shorter arms I could*' have done so. The computers were accessible, as much of the refM’ence material. Naturally, books and magazines on high needed to be retrieved by someone else. Library wori^ said they could get microfilm from downstairs or bocdcs located on the second floor or in the basecne^ Moving through some of the aisles was inconceivab though. The bookshelves were so close that the chair wedged in between. My conclusion: a bound stud^t could use the library only with a great of assistance — and patience — from fellow students library staff. Eating. I couldn’t get through a day without i ^ But would I have to sacrifice my stomach because couldn’t function in McEwen Dining Hall? The the building was the steepest yet My arms and back ac as I propelled myself up the ramp. Again, the lip ^ door blocked my entrance. Someone pushed me Had I wanted to eat upstairs, I couldn’t, but downst^^ was fine. The employee checking cards directed me to wheelchair-level table, and I prepared to dine. ^ ^ As I rolled toward the serving line, people ^ focused on the chair. Someone sitting at a table smil j nodded. This was the big test: could I get needed and make it to the table without causing too n> of a scwie? ^ I couldn’t reach the silverware, but one of the handed me the utensils. Instead of handing my food over the counter, another server passed it un e protective plastic screen. ^ So far, so good. But how could I get the tray t table? Enter Janice Spangler, a sophomore and ® ^ plete strangCT. She offered to take my tray to the ta even got my drink. When I finished eating, she clear ^ • »plaice and returned the tray. Of every facility I enter ^ See Barrier^;”^^
Elon University Student Newspaper
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March 29, 1990, edition 1
6
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