Page 18 - ThePhoenix1992-93

News October 1, 1992, Page 10 WMC WheelChair Accessible by 1995? ACC buildings. Wheelchair user From Page 7 Dan Schaeffer, sopho- "We have most of the problems of a more, believes the col- small city, it is quite complex meeting all lege has started to the needs and sometimes things are not make some changes. done as fast as we'd like them to be," "At least they are 00- Two major problems for wheelchair dressing the issues," he access are the old buildings and the hilly said. "They are also Jandscapeoncampus. "An old campus is willing to move my lovely and has history, but buildings classes and are not ex- were nOI built fifty years ago to accom- ~:~::~,gme from any j modate wheelchairs," said Dean Philip Sayre, vice president and dean of Student The fact that the school ~ Affairs. is on a hill also tums~ From 1972 to the late 1980$, WMC off many prospecnve f did very little adapt the older buildings for wheelchair users. "It's regrettable ~:~~~t~'M~~tst:~~~~!k~==~~~~,,=======~~;;!!~~::::i:1~~~~~ that alterations were not made," said in wheelchairs take one Memorial will be very expensive to make wheelchair accessible. Mingolelli. look at the college and say Iwant some- and we can't have a deficit like the U.S. help disabled individuals on campus deal When Martha O'Connell, director of place that is flatter. It is very difficult to government can," be said. "I try to take with challenges they might face. The Admissions, shows prospective students make it accessible," said Tom Gibbon, the position somewbere in the middle. office originally was run by a graduate in wheelchairs around the campus, she is coordinator of tbe Academic Skills Cen- My job involves an incredible amount of student part time. Now it has expanded to responsible for pointing out which build- ter. compromise. Should Ireduce the faculty include a full time professional assisted ings are accessible and which are not, she Some of the walkways between build- and financial aid to put elevators in ev- by a part-time graduate student worker said. ings have such a steep grade that they ery building?" and 16 volunteer workers. "I wouldn't tell a handicapped student would be virtually impossible to scale According to Phillips, it's an "ob- Tom Gibbon is the advocate on cam- that they could get into every building without an electric wheelchair. scenity" to put budget before the needs of pus for the disabled. He says that last and bathroom just like 1 wouldn't tell a The college intends to reduce the the disabled. "They've had twenty years year 56 disabled students received help student that we had a major that we slope of some of the bills and create (since the National Rehabilitation Act from his office. Forty-one had learning didn't," said O'ConnelL switchback trails that reduce tbe grade which forbade discrimination against the disabilities, two had closed head injuries, Chambers says that in the last three to are a part of the five year plan. As each handicapped) to change things," she and three had dyslexia. four years the college has faced handi- building is renovated the surroundings said. "If (bey bad budgeted it would be a Senior Lisa Bandel, wno is being capped accessibility head on. "We have walkways will be improved.P hill ips lot cbeaper" tested for dyslexia through the school gotten our act together. It is a formidable says she minks that the plan does not Most of the people wbo work here are utilizes books on tape from the Aca- problem," he said. "It is a formidable solve the access problem soon enougb. fairly new, according to Chambers. demic Skills Office. "The resources are problem; in fact the whole country has to "Every single day that the buildings are President Chambers came to the college very helpful formy classes. Tom Gibbon be rebuilt." not renovated is a day that 1 or another in 1984. "To be criticized hurts," he said. is an asset to the school," she said. Ac- According to Mingolelli, WMC has disabled person cannot enter it. 1 could The ADA and other laws go beyond cording to Sayre, WMC installed strobe already spent over $50,{)OOsince 1990 to be dead in five years," says Phillips. the needs of the wheelchair user. "The light fire alarms in all the rooms ofDMC, implement renovations in Little Baker Yet Chambers thinks that because of issues of accessibility apply to all those the Garden Apartments, and Pennsylva- Chapel, Harlow Pool area, and McDaniel the strained school budge, accessibility denied access to the same quality of life," nia Avenue. TDY telephones, housing, Lounge. By 1993 the school plans to needs to completed a littleata time. "We said Reiff. and signed interpreters for classes are spend $359,250 to renovate Alumni do not Jive in an ideal world. The budget In 1984, WMCcreatedthe5040ffice also available. Hall, Lewis, Smith House and other committee receives hundreds of requests (now called Academic Skills Office) to If a deaf student wants to live in a room that is not already equipped the school is willing to make the necessary IDE TO THE MOST COMMON changes. "A student should be able to SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES choose where he or sbe wants to live," said Sayre. DESCRIPTION SYMPTOMS TREATMENT Deaf student Monica Wall, a graduate deaf education major, said, "WMC is AIDS: Nature equipped ycu wilh an immune sr-Icm I" very accessible, I have never felt an ob- flghloffinfeclionanddi'>l'" ...-;e.TheAlDSvirusrloesn·lju.'lalUrk Swollen glandsin nl"<:k,!\foin orarmpil. Nighl S)mp!oms~belrelled,blltlodaleno swens. Unexplained ~n.'ilI\es.,,:lIld/orweighl jUurbody,ildeslroyslhalimmune,-ystemSOlhalyour!JoJyh cureexiSl~fortheAlDSvin.Jslt~.Althe stacle to communicate." morepronctow.'VelopdiSf.'".lSeSlikepncumoniaorCatlC,'r I"", prl'Sefll time, once AIDS is esabusbed, u is l'~rsi'lcnl dianill"a. 1000IataI However she wishes that the school CHLAMYDIA: Chlamydia (an inlt"<:tion "llh, offered free tutoring like Gallaudet Col- urinary tract and/or ,""~II')is the most common ~11)in liS GENERAL ChlmJydiaCllll be curedwnh antibiotics lege and interpreters for more public IromjUurdoctor. Thi~ishec-Juseith,,",fl",,'orllos-,mp!oms.Asare;ull.l\·s events. She says she misses many plays, possibtelOhaH·th~dise-.tSt"forsometime\\ithoulkno .. inKil SYMPTOMS speeches, and activities because most are Unusual amount, odor, or color not interpreted. "It is very hard to get an by Even though wans can be removed ~~~:e!n~~b~~I~]!J!:!!!l"~lh~h~· of discharge from penis, vagina, chemicals,cryother:l.py{frw:ing),ortaser interpreter because the school only has Human f':tpilloma\;n". (HI'V). Sincelheyl·"" 1)0.. p"",,,"~t "11 treatment,thevlrus~staywith)'OlJfor easily, and in Sul\W ,...,..., haw l>een linked locanc{·r"nilh.· or rectum. life. two and you have to ask two to one reproducti\eS)~lem, )""u~houldha\elhcm irean-d ",>unn a, months in advance:' she said. possible. Female"huuld h;tw yearly Pap Il'SIS . While no blind students are currently HERPES: H("rl"·.' baviru,which.inf,·ct> Ih.·,,,rlJn· Burning or pain Preseripuon drugs can rreanhe bhscrs, attending WMC, Barbara Disharoon, as- oflh~ ,kin and ~·hi,·h ranbe a Ihr~atlo babies bum [rUlIi illbl,·d when urinating. bUI Herpes cannOi be cured sistant dean of Academic Affairs, says moth~rs.AI{holJ~h')ll1rt"HI,c:lll1>r lre"JU:.hc"'!rldl"'"J.""'."·\l-n" immediately (this beinglhe onlyaccun\e 1 saw him riding a tandom bike with Skin rash or sores on or around I-"''',-,Y,":.:'"-="',,,"''=· .",,). _ guide lines attached to the teacher's braindamaA'····or'''·'',lil· GONORRHEA: 4ft umrl'"JIt-.J.GtllI"rrill" .• '"'' the sex organs or mouth. bike," sbe said. cauSl'SlCriliTyinn)t"Il.lld\;'innammalorydise-J.Will~u"u·".:",d AIltibioticsusuallycurcthedlseaseif If at least one out of every six persons early diagnosed arlhrilisint>olh.lll""JII:lhu"'·ttkinlhehl'"Jn,hf"Jin,ur'llill:lI,ord Swollen glands is disabled in this country, Marilynn TRICHOMONIASIS: TOch"""""",,,,, , Phillips says there is no reason that dise-....e wlilch {""J""... i"n:lInmallonofthevaWna.Allh()L,~h Trichomoniru;is is cured with prescription WMC cannot have disabled students drugs TncholoulliJ.,i>l'rin",ril) "Ih 1.'WOml"ll, ill 1lIlal""lx· Clnll"Ol.""i Pain in lower abdomen spread by m.'11 make up 10 percent of its population. See THE END, Pg. 11 Col. 1