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Greensboro. N.C
The effects of a temporary on-campus handicap
D'Nise Williams
Staff Writer
When I was a child
my great-grand
mother often told me, "you
never truly appreciate the
small things in life until they
are gone."
While I took this advice to
heart and made a daily agen
da to recognize and appreci
ate each sunset and sunrise
and all that came between,
somehow I forgot to evaluate
the importance of one of the
most practiced yet unappreci
ated activities done by man -
walking.
Handicapped from a dislo
cated knee after jumping over
a fence during an FYE expe
dition, I found myself needing
crutches for 6 weeks. Already
feeling frustrated and con
fused, Guilford's lack of
handicap accessibility only
added fuel to the fire.
None of Guilford's six
dorms have an elevator
enabling students to reach
upper floors, though most of
them have handicap ramps
Mealin' and wheelin': Slow down and savor the flavor
Kale Griggs
Staff Writer
The fluorescent draw of drive
thru's may lead us to believe
that we are accomplishing more, but
moments saved eluding the second
hand can be precariously empty.
Often our challenge with the clock is
not how to gain more time, but how
to learn to spend what we have wise
ly-
Pushing the envelope of deadline
upon deadline, it seems that many
Americans bow to the clock's altar. I,
too, have been conditioned for
speed, but recently, as I rushed to
win my daily round of "Beat the
Clock," I fell weak to the temptation
of leisure. At first I felt guilty, but a lit
tle taste of freedom led to a timely
revelation.
At a quarter past five most morn
ings, I find myself alone on the high
way. With little room to spare and no
one around to justify myself to, I
often forego my own sensibilities and
head for one of those time-saving
drive-ins. But last Tuesday, though I
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WWW.COFP.COM
enabling access to the build
ing. I realized this was a
problem when, living on the
third floor of Milner, I had to
lift myself up three flights of
stairs several times a day.
I realized that Archdale, the
home of many professors'
offices, was anything but
accessible. While it too had
the misleading lure of handi
capped ramps I discovered
that once inside I was either
restricted to the first floor or
forced to painstakingly drag
myself up a flight of stairs.
Even Dana auditorium and
the Alumni gym, sites of
was headed for McDonald's, I aban
doned the watch of reason and sat
down to place my order at my
favorite cafe.
"Been a while," said a set of eye
brows. With a flick of the wrist, my
hostess of a decade slapped the
daily news on the table and put her
back to me.
"Well now," I thought, my face hot
with blush, "could this be why I
strayed? No one treats me like this
at the other place." At McDonald's, I
just whip my car around to the win
dow of one of over 27,000 restau
rants world-wide and a faceless arm
trades me a bag of goodies for
money. I'm not ashamed; getting
what I want two-thirds of the time is
darned convenient.
In fact, not one member of
Ronald's pin-striped team cares if I
skip breakfast. With stores in 119
countries on six continents, they
understand raw productivity. They
say I deserve it. Besides, with a
drive-thru on almost every corner,
fast-food is available whenever and
wherever I want it
FORUM
many of Guilford's largest
events, became major chal
lenges, neither one having
elevators or easily accessible
ramps for the disabled.
Tedious as my trials with
Guilford's buildings were, the
real test was with the side
walks. Though many of the
sidewalks leading to main
buildings have been or are in
the process of being re
paved it is the sidewalks in
between dorms where the
true peril lies.
For example, one night,
under a vaguely lit sky, I
decided to visit Bryan. On
There, no eyes ever meet. Rarely
do I feel compelled to confess my
madcap indiscretions to a crackle in
the microphone. Beneath the glow of
golden arches, I simply slink away
into a world of 43 million customers
served.
But alas, musing about my hiatus
into autonomy was interrupted. One
distinctive clank of porcelain striking
table dropped my mouth open. With
all of the composure of Pavlov's dog,
I salivated as my eyes lay witness to
what had arrived.
Scrambled eggs, firm not runny,
two delectable slices of tender pork,
and a half order of crispy on the out
side, tender on the inside, hashed
browned spuds from above.
Without saying grace, I took in a
fork full of delicious. Hot, steaming,
robust eggs complimented the sharp
taste of a utensil slipping between
my iips. The first bite passed my
mouth and without haste I felt the
first zing of salt and silk touch my
tummy. Reload, repeat. I think may
have moaned a little as I savored
each delectable morsel, right down
this journey I discovered the
large gaps in the crosswalk
leading from Milner to Bryan.
At one point I fell victim to a
hole in the pavement and had
to be escorted back to my
dorm via golf cart.
Dismayed and angered I
asked myself where is all of
our tuition money really
going?
Can Guilford College not
afford to renovate its build
ings and add elevators, or to
repave the sidewalks so that
handicapped students are
able to get around, and able
students don't hurt them
selves and become handi
capped?
If the safety of students has
always been the school's
number one priority, why
aren't these changes being
made? Is the school blind to
their necessity?
While the reality of the situ
ation may be that many of
Guilford's buildings are too
old to support the renovations
required to bring them up to
par, the fact still remains that
Nov. 19, 2004
Www, guilfordian. com
this is a growing problem. As
Guilford's enrollment increas
es each year, so too does the
probability of handicapped
students attending: handi
capped students that Guilford
does not currently have the
capacity to support.
I propose that every able
bodied student take a walk
around campus. Examine
every crack in the sidewalk or
lack of elevators; things that
may be minimal to them but
hampering to another.
Then, I propose, we show
campus life our concern:
sending e-mails, letters or
making calls until I, in my dis
abled state, can safely walk
on every side and crosswalk
on campus, and casually
access any floor of any build
ing.
It is the duty of the students
to make our voices heard,
and make the necessity of
these changes understood.
Who knows when you may
be down and out and unsup
ported by Guilford?B€
to the...
"Hey, what's with the toast?" I
demanded, our parallax threatening
to end my euphoria. '
"Fast fixing your hunger," she said.
"It makes you fat."
It was when I found myself negoti
ating both human and food that I
realized I had found something worth
sharing. Stepping inside this little
greasy spoon is no nemesis to time;
it's quite the opposite. McDonald's
and its fast-food counterparts may
shave seconds off my commute into
daily life, but for moments like this
one, time and the world that revolves
around it actually come to a halt.
You see, no matter where the jour
ney of life has led me, a fireball
named Maria has been here to start
my day with a cup of bottomless caf
feine and a dose of quick wit. In the
midst of my chaos, she blends
stargazing with reality in an attempt
to satiate a free radical like me.
These one-of-a-kind insights are
both valuable and free. Truth is you
just can't match this kind of experi
ence at the other place. 3S