Current Release: September 11th, 2007 | Vol. XXIV Iss. 10

Photo by Eric Zitz

Handicap buttons are causing trouble

By Amanda Gertner

ajgertner@vwc.edu

There are few things that I complain about when it comes to the accessibility on Virginia Wesleyan’s campus. That is part of the reason that I decided to go here. The automatic door-opening buttons have just begun to break down regularly as far as I know, since I am only a sophomore. Towards the beginning of the year, they were mainly the buttons going in and out of VII. Then, eventually spread throughout the campus, sporadically breaking and being fixed.

While it is not a hazard to most, it is a tremendous inconvenience to me and anyone else who needs to use those buttons. Whenever they are broken on the doors going into my dorm’s building, I have to wait for someone to walk through the door so I can get in or out, or, if no one comes, I have to call a friend in my dorm to come and open the door for me. Also, not all buildings and rooms have buttons, like Birdsong, where I have two of my classes, and the dining hall.

Another problem on campus is the library; unless you have a motorized wheelchair, it is practically impossible to roll up. I have tried, and very few times have I made it. This is why I always get a friend to help me up; I am afraid that if I try alone, I will roll backwards! Unfortunately, going up this ramp is how I get to Blocker for another one of my classes. Besides the library, the school has made it impossible for me to get into any other dorm besides mine because none of them have ramps, limiting my visitation to my friends. Yet another building that is difficult for me to get into is the fine arts building. Once I am inside, one of the auditorium-style rooms is hard to get into because the ramp is like the library’s.

Whenever we have fire drills, I break the rules and go away from our hall and down the ramp in VII. This is because unless the policy has changed, my area of the building goes down stairs to get out during a fire drill. If there is an actual fire, I am getting out of the building the quickest way possible. I do not care if I get in trouble, at least I will be alive. Another safety hazard is the accessible Marlin Express; do not get me wrong, I’m glad that we have one. Yet, it would be comforting to know that the driver knows how to strap in a wheelchair. I have had bad experiences with that; last year, I was not strapped in well enough, and the bus stopped suddenly in the parking lot. I was thrown so far forward that I almost ate the driver’s seat.

These problems, while rather annoying, can also be dangerous. While some of the problems are taking away the dependence anyone in a wheelchair or with other special needs, they are also putting us into danger. Someone needs to address these issues before they get even more out of control than they are becoming.