Challenging the Access Challenge

As far as modes of transportation go, not many opt to wheel through life when their legs are in perfect working condition. Last week, however, 14 students took this "Access Challenge" and saw college life from a different perspective. It is clear, both from last week's article and actually witnessing these students, that our campus is not the most handicap-friendly place to live. Although it is difficult to alter the landscape of, say, Guzman Hill, our administration should use the information gathered by these students to alter some of the other problems that have been reported.

As a university in the 21st century, with recent and impressive renovations and additions, it is surprising to see the accessibility issues of some of the older, more antiquated buildings ignored. My own experience with the handicap-accessibility of this college has been just as disagreeable as some of those written about last week, and to a surprising degree. Move-in day of sophomore year found my father unable to witness the superb decorating job I did with the one-third of an Aquinas room I was given. The reason? As a parapalegic, he had no way to enter Aquinas Hall at all. Looking around outside, my mother and I found that the only ramp leading into the building was designated as a fire exit. Despite my desire to set it off and refuse to pay the fine on account of the absurdity of such a building lacking a handicap entrance, we decided to just figure it out the next time they came to campus. Asking different members of the Office of Residence Life did not help, however-I received no straight answers about a possible handicapp entrance, and was told that this was a "security issue." In my opinion, it was an unnecessary hassle. Needless to say, my father never made it to Aquinas 309.

He has, however, experienced the suite life that my roommates and I are currently living. Sure, this is a relatively new building, and is subject to the enforced accessibility building codes that modern society has deemed necessary-and rightly so. But that does not lessen the importance of the rest of our campus buildings. It seems that if Suites Hall, the Smith Center, and the new Concannon Fitness Center are the epitome of accessibility, the older buildings should be offered the same "courtesy"- or at least their inhabitants should. As personally enriching as the Access Challenge was for individuals, their experiences and complaints should be used by the administration to better the accessibility of all campus buildings-not just the new ones.