THE
BLUE &GRAY
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON STUDENT NEWSPAPER
SEPTEMBER 24, 2015
VOLUME 89 | ISSUE 3
PRESS
SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE
1922
Disability accomodations under scrutiny by student body ANDY UNGER Staff Writer
Isata Sesay/The Blue & Gray Press
Student senate represents student concerns, extends dining hall hours EMILY HOLLINGSWORTH News Editor
Leaders from UMW Dining Services met with the Student Senate on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in the first floor lecture room of Monroe Hall to receive feedback and provide additional information regarding the recent changes in University Dining. Students’ main concerns have been those regarding University Dining’s hours of operation. An extension of the dining hours occurred with three of UMW’s dining options on campus beginning Sept. 14 and continued through Monday of this week. Roy Platt, general manager of Sodexo in UMW Dining Services, Rick Pearce, vice president for administration and finance and Juliette Landphair, vice president for Student Affairs, attended the meeting and listened to feedback from members of the student senate. The UMW dining hall restaurants “Simple Servings” and the “Sustenance” salad bar will be open until 9 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. The changes were enacted on Monday of this week. Beginning on Friday evenings, “Simple Servings” and “Sustenance” will close at 7 p.m. “Blackstone Coffee,” the retail
IN THIS
ISSUE
Extended Hours
restaurant located across from the Information and Technology Convergence Center will remain open until 11 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and close at 9 p.m. on the weekends. The extensions, according to Landphair, are meant to address concerns from students about operational hours. “We were hearing a lot of feedback that students with later afternoon/early evening obligations were having a hard time getting to the dining center in time,” Landphair said through an email message. According to Landphair, “Simple Servings” and the “Sustenance” salad bar provides proper dining options for students who would previously be unable to dine at earlier hours. “Simple Servings and Sustenance were chosen because they best meet the needs of the students and the responsibilities of the dining center staff who need to clean up and begin preparing for the next day,” Landphair said. During the meeting, students brought up concerns such as the viability of gluten-free options on campus, such as gluten-free pasta or including gluten-free sauces. Members of the student senate also believed creating posters of the vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options •DINING | 11
Simple Servings: Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sustenance WWSalad Bar: Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Blackstone Coffee: Mondays through Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
University of Mary Washington students have many different takes on the University Center, from the new dining options to the studying corners. However, something that most students might not think about is the new accessibility options that it provides. Before the University Center opened, most dining services were provided in Seacobeck Hall. This building was largely inaccessible to disabled students, as the only way for people in wheelchairs to get into the building was through the College Avenue entrance. Part of the reason for this was because Seacobeck Hall is 84 years old and was built in 1930 when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had not been created. So does the UC provide improvements for disabled students where Seacobeck did not? According to freshman Ren Salman, it has. The wheelchair ramp, for instance, is clearly visible in front of the building for students living on campus and there is a parking lot behind the building with easy access to the elevators. The only problem, according to Salman, is that the way to the elevator is not commonly known, and so could prove to be a problem for people who do not know where they were going. While the UC has improved the resources available for students with disabilities, there are other problems around campus that have not been resolved. According to commuter transfer student Chloe Rippel, a freshman and disability advocate, there are only a few disability parking spaces around campus, making parking for disabled students very difficult. Rippel, who drives to the school every day, has to compete with other students and even faculty for the two parking spots near Combs, a building she spends a good deal of her time in. In addition to their inaccessibility to Combs, both Rippel and Salman mentioned Monroe Hall as being difficult to get to. “There isn’t a railing up to the accessible door,” Rippel mentioned. Not to mention the fact that smokers regularly hang around the entrance, and the smoke from their cigarettes could easily affect someone with hypersensitivity, such as a student with autism. “The accessible entrances are always tucked away and difficult to find. It feels •DISABILITY | 11
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