Tag Archives: Disability

The Aquatic Center will be receiving part of a $2 million allotment for upgrades. Photo by Marisa Caban
Mar 15 2013

Bond passage secures funds for campus improvements

Chelsea Ratterman

Editor In Chief 

 

The $22 million bond that Rose State sought passed on March 5 with a 64 percent approval rate. This means that RSC will be able to remodel the LRC, Aquatic Center and upgrade the IT systems equipment. Project start dates have yet to be set.

The Aquatic Center will be receiving part of a $2 million allotment for upgrades. Photo by Marisa Caban

The Aquatic Center will be receiving part of a $2 million allotment for upgrades. Photo by Marisa Caban

The most visible updates will be to the LRC, which has grown to house many services within the two-story building. According to Chris Meyer, dean of the LRC, with the new construction they will be able to offer more conducive spaces to the needs of Academic Testing, Tutoring, Disability Services, Distance Education and Instructional Support. Meyer also said he hopes to see the LRC lobby host more cultural events, guest speakers and community events.

“We are preparing to have a building that is a place where visitors find an inviting and welcoming environment to study, train, work, research, relax, and gather in clusters,” Meyer said.

In the opinion of many students and staff on campus, the most needed update will be to the equipment that provides the campus with Internet services. According to John Primo, vice president of Information Technology Services, the targeted areas will be the replacement of fiber optic infrastructure and the installation of a backup generator to keep campus resources running in the event of a power outage.

“The ability to provide robust, production-level quality wireless Internet access to faculty and students is going to improve their accessibility to online resources and course materials using their mobile devices,” Primo said.

Finally, the Aquatic Center will be receive updates to the infrastructure around it. Holes and wood rot have been found in the exterior walls, and these will be fixed alongside other upgrades.

Other projects in the bond election are for a Student Union lounge renovation, replacing ceiling tiles, flooring, lighting and exterior doors of various buildings, a sign on the S.E. 15th Street entrance and restroom renovations across campus to bring them up to ADA standards.

Feb 16 2012

Parking Wars spark controversy

Dennis Gosnell, Assignment Editor

Handicap parking thieves take disabled parking spaces away from those with actual disabilities.

Betsy Sparks, sociology major, pulled into the Rose State parking lot looking for a place to park. What Sparks witnessed was someone pulling into a handicap parking space and running off into a building.

“When people without disabilities take up these places, it makes it hard for people with disabilities to get to their classes on time,” Sparks said.

Sparks disability requires her to use crutches to get from place to place around campus.

“I am going to be getting a wheelchair soon, and having to pull it out of the car from a regular space is going to be difficult,” Sparks said.

There are various techniques for getting in and out of a vehicle with a wheelchair.  Some people find it easier to get into the passenger side of the vehicle, then slide into the driver seat, and then pull in their wheel chair. This difficulty is compounded when attempting to do it within a regular, narrow parking space.

“When students with disabilities enroll into the college I think the school should put a handicap symbol on their parking hang tag or give them a sticker to put in the window,” Sparks said, “So that the campus police can distinguish between who really has a handicap and those who don’t.”

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
Parking spaces required to be accessible:
Accessible parking spaces serving a particular 
building shall be located on the shortest accessible
 route of travel from adjacent parking to an 
accessible entrance.

Accessible parking spaces shall be at
 
least 96 in (2440 mm) wide. 
Parking access aisles shall be part
 of an accessible route to the building or
 
facility entrance.

Parked vehicle overhangs shall not reduce
 
the clear width of an accessible route. 
Parking spaces and access aisles shall be level
 with surface slopes not exceeding 2% 
in all directions.

Accessible parking spaces shall be designated 
as reserved by a sign showing the symbol of 
accessibility. For vans a "Van-Accessible" mounted
 below the symbol of accessibility is required.