Sweet home Wisconsin
For the 100th Homecoming game, the undefeated Badgers will face the very defeated Indiana Hoosiers + GAMEDAY University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, October 13, 2011
UW-Madison behind in wheelchair access Story by Scott Girard Tyler Engel transferred to UW-Madison for its engineering program, but he faced more challenges than the average transfer student. Engel, a wheelchair-bound fifth-year senior who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, had to deal with accessibility issues he rarely faced at UW-Whitewater. Engel is constantly confronted with buildings with only one handicapped-accessible entrance, bathroom stalls that are too small and doors without handicapped buttons, which Engel cannot open because his hands lack the strength. “It’s an old campus, it’s a huge campus and it’s definitely hard to do what Whitewater does because their campus is a block,” Engel said. He said the Whitewater campus has a better reputation when it comes to accessibility for people with mobility disabilities. “They just have everything set up really well,” he said. “I think it’s a lot of their culture too. Because Whitewater is known for [accessibility], and it’s not that big of a deal to have someone with a disability in a class there, it happens all the time. Here it’s more of a bigger deal. They don’t know what to do in a way.” On UW-Madison’s campus, approximately one out of every 2,000 students uses the McBurney Center for wheelchair mobility resources. At UW-Whitewater’s much smaller campus, a higher percentage, 20 out of every 2,000 students, utilizes campus accessibility resources for the same purpose. Elizabeth Watson, director for UW-Whitewater’s Center for
Students with Disabilities said a long history of prioritizing accessibility on their campuses contributed to their success today. UW-Whitewater received funding from the UW System Board of Regents to become the systems’ model campus for accessibility following the Rehabilitation Act in 1973. The federal law guaranteed equal access to education for people with disabilities, which required the system to create at least one accessible campus in
the state. Michael Lenser, a UW-Whitewater physical therapist, said accessibility has been built into the campus mission ever since. “It’s not just ‘accommodate this student,’” Lenser said. “It’s a full-blown, campus-wide, dedicated effort to make everything as accessible as possible and taking great pride in that.” Eventually all UW campus-
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Accessibility at UW Federal Rehabilitation Act becomes law, bans discrimination in federally funded agencies and programs
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1973
1977
UW System establishes UW-Whitewater Center for Students with Disabilities to ensure campus accessibility
UW-Madison ADA establishes Amendments Act McBurney passed to update Disability accessibility Resource Center standards
1990 Accessibility programs expanded to meet regulations outlined in Americans with Disabilities Act
2008 2010
Berquam: UW will supply IDs for voting By Anna Duffin The Daily Cardinal
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Revised regulations: new governmentfunded buildings should be constructed to meet ADA standards
mark kauzlarich/the daily cardinal
Tyler Engel, a fifth-year engineering student, found more accessibility problems after transferring to UW-Madison.
mark kauzlarich/the daily cardinal
Dean of Students Lori Berquam said the university will provide students with IDs that comply with a new voting law.
Although a new state law disallows students from using their student ID as identification to vote, Dean of Students Lori Berquam said UW-Madison will provide students access to identification cards that will allow them to vote. Under the new law, student IDs are acceptable voter identification if they have an issuance date, expiration date within two
years of the issuance date and a student signature. UW-Madison’s IDs do not meet the requirements. At an Associated Students of Madison meeting Wednesday, Berquam said university administration is considering two ways of attaining eligible voter identification for students. “We’ve been working very steadily on this,” Berquam said.
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Benches reinstalled on State After many citizens e-mailed him with complaints, Mayor Paul Soglin unilaterally decided to replace benches on State Street after city officials voted last week to remove them from the 500 block. City officials decided last Thursday to remove the benches in front of Taco Bell and Jimmy John’s in response to recurring complaints from business owners about repetitive drug deals conducted by individuals loitering on the benches. According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, several citizens e-mailed Soglin over the weekend with complaints about how the benches are not there for law-abiding citizens to rest on. Others said it was an attack on the homeless. Verveer said Soglin’s main
argument in replacing the benches involves tackling the root of the problem, which is addressing the drug dealing occurring on State Street, instead of removing benches drug dealers use. “I did express my displeasure [to the mayor] that the benches were reinstalled despite the committee’s very well-reasoned approach,” Verveer said. “With winter approaching it won’t be an issue over the upcoming months, but it will be an issue come spring.” Verveer said Soglin intends to create a city staff team to examine issues such as overcrowding downtown, especially concerning the placement of sidewalk cafes, merchant vending, benches and bicycle racks. —Taylor Harvey
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”