Vol. 128, No. 85 Tuesday, February 5, 2019
OPINION
SPORTS
ARTS & CULTURE
Stop using the term ‘politically correct’
Football releases 2019 schedule
5 creepy true crime shows to watch
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During the winter—especially when it is snowy or icy—it can be difficult for students with physical disabilities to get around campus. While University facilities does their best to keep ahead of the snow, when winter conditions get gradually worse it can be hard to keep campus clear for pedestrians. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ASHLEY POTTS COLLEGIAN
Winter threatens campus disability access By Jorge Espinoza @jorgespinoza14
Lyn Huff said they were on a trampoline when they shattered their ankle. “I broke every bone in that area, and they had to put it back together using a screw,” Huff said. “A screw is the only reason my ankle can work, but it’s also not natural. My body hates it.” With winter settling in, students with physical disabili-
ties face more challenges than their able-bodied peers. For disabled students like Huff, a third-year studying history, the winter can make it harder for them to navigate campus. “I’m physically disabled,” Huff said. “I have chronic pain in my ankle and my shoulder, and some days when it’s cold I have to use a cane in order to walk.” In an email to The Collegian, Rosemary Kreston, director of the Student Disability Center,
said the snow causes many of the challenges that students with disabilities face. “The biggest challenge for students who use wheelchairs or who have other mobility limitations is basically the same challenge anyone has on campus, the snow,” Kreston wrote. “However, for students using wheelchairs or (who) have difficulty walking, it is particularly important that the walks are cleared, ramps are cleared and curb cuts are cleared,
with no ice accumulation.” Kreston wrote that with a campus of this size it can be very hard to manage snow clean up. She wrote that when snow is moved with vehicles, they push it to the curb which can become an obstacle for people in wheelchairs or with mobility limitations. “The average ambulatory person can usually step over piles of snow at the curb or in parking lots, but not someone in a wheelchair or who has difficulty walking,”
Kreston wrote. Huff said the winter is particularly hard for them because it makes their chronic pain more obvious. “The beginning of winter is always the hardest for me because I can feel it in my ankle especially,” Huff said. “In the morning I can feel it like crazy. It doesn’t hurt so much as it’s just present and obvious. Winter is definitely harder.”
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