University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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ACCESSIBILITY r Before driving to downtown Lawrence, Ron Regan collapses his wheelchair. (Cheryl Cavaness) A lot of people do a lot around here to help students out Bob Turvey, Chair- man, Architectural Barriers Committee doors are too heavy. With the assistance of the Student Assistance Center, these problems are minimalized. Lorraine Michaels who saw to the academic needs of handicapped stu- dents said, We have volunteer stu- dent aids who meet them outside of class if the door is not as accessible to the students, and we also have volunteer notetakers. We inform the professor at the beginning of the se- mester, and have everything situitated so everyone is comfortable with the accomodations. There ' s a lot more that can be done, said Wicina, but the univer- sity listens to everything we say and they try to help as much as they can. Since this school is so old, it can ' t be totally accessible like Johnson County Community College, or Emporia State, but I don ' t think that will deter other students that want a good education. What we ' re trying to do, is meet their needs as best we can, but it just takes time, said Turvey. -by Kimberly Dean 21

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Sophomore Jeff Wicina prepare to drive himself to class. (Cheryl Cavaness) He wheeled out to his van, pressed the button for the hydraulic lift. When well situtated, sophomore Jeff Wicina drove his van to campus. Wicina, one of the handicapped stu- dents at KU, had a fairly easy time getting around the campus, but there were still things that need to be im- proved. The university had done a lot since the mid-seventies to accomodate handicapped students, or at least students in wheelchairs. The university has done quite a bit for me, said Wicina. I can ride to class in the Motorpool, have someone in my classes take notes for me and the university re-built this apartment to suit some of my needs. The apartment Wicina and two non-handicapped students lived in was located in the Jayhawker Towers. The bathroom had been re- designed in order to make room for a wheelchair, and everything in the bathroom was accessible for Wicina. The Department of Housing paid for all the reconstruction to be done which cost approximately $25,000. Ken Stoner, head of housing made all the arrangements for Wicina ' s apartment. He had hopes of converting more than just one apart- ment to suit the needs of handi- capped students also. Also installed in Tower A, was an automatic door which Wicina had a remote control for. But, there were a lot more plans to help the students on campus that the university was trying to activate. Bob Turvey, chairman of Architectural Barriers Committee was in charge of putting plans into action. Our job is to look at blue- prints of codes and requirements in order to make it, (buildings, side- walks, etc), more easily accessible to handicapped students, said Turvey. We try to do as much as we can to help them. In the mid-seventies, the university installed curb cuts, remodeled bath- rooms and installed elevators in some buildings on campus through federal grants. There are a lot of people respon- sible for getting these things done, yet we still do get some complaints. ..there are still things we are working on, said Turvey. One of these things that Wicina thought should change was the parking stalls on campus. Some- times, when I drive my van to class, I have to make my own parking stall since the university handicapped stalls aren ' t big enough for my lift, he said. And then, sometimes I get blocked in and have to have someone back the van up just so I can get in. Besides the external barriers on campus, handicapped stu- dents have problems when they get into the classrooms. Some of the aisles aren ' t wide enough, or the 20

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PLACIMG FACES Members of Theta Chi fraternity and Chi Omega orority walk down Sunrise Drive with their win- ning float in the moving category- 22