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November 07, 2006
Where can you go in a wheelchair?
To highlight the accessibility to university facilities, Access Now took students across campus on wheelchairs on Oct. 26.
Some locations on campus were easier to get to than others. The trip to Drew Fine Arts wasn’t difficult, and to get to the Hub one just had to wheel him or herself down a long hallway and take a trip down an elevator. “I love tile!” first-year Adrienne Johnsen said in response to the smooth floor in the Student Center and the Fieldhouse.
“You really begin to notice textures,” senior and Access Now president Aryn Arnold said of the tile, grass, and uneven concrete.
Crossing Hewitt Avenue, and especially Snelling Avenue, to get to the the Office of Admissions house (which is not wheelchair accessible) was stressful. The pavement wasn’t always smooth; cars often sped by when students were still on the road and the intimidating orange countdown on Snelling Avenue marked the seconds until the stoplights released the waiting traffic.
In addition to the difficulties in crossing the street, some of the lifts on campus occasionally break down, which can trap those in wheelchairs in their dorms or keep them from getting to important places like the Counseling and Health Services Center.
About a dozen students came to participate in the race across campus, with stops at the HUB, the Admissions House, Drew Fine Arts building, Residential Life in the lower level of Manor, and Sorin Mall. Groups of two or three students in wheelchairs plus a walking tour guide collected stickers from each location as proof of their visit, and the first group back to Old Main Mall won $10 gift certificates to Target.
Posted by dwright at November 7, 2006 08:59 PM
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