UNCW has been involved in an ongoing effort to go beyond the rules and regulations laid out in the Americans with Disabilities Act in order to make UNCW more accessible to students with disabilities. Currently there are over 400 students registered with Disability Services.

Despite the fact that UNCW has undergone many structural changes to accommodate students with disabilities, many feel that some important details regarding access are often overlooked, or in some cases ignored. Last Monday Disability Services received a call from a student with limited mobility who could barely get into Leutze Hall because a bicycle was chained to the railing of the handicap ramp.

Dr. Peggy Turner, Director of Disability Services, says that she sometimes gets as many as five complaints a week regarding bicycles parked on the handicap ramp.

“It is not done deliberately, but people don’t realize that a person with a wheelchair, or someone who simply needs to grab on to the railing cannot enter the building if bikes are chained to the ramp,” said Turner.

According to Turner, chaining a bicycle to a handicap ramp is the equivalent to parking in a handicap space. The school has the right to impound the bicycle, but they seldom do. There are plans to have signs posted around disability entrances by next fall.

“I don’t think that UNCW is doing enough to ensure equal access. There are several minor changes that would not take much time or money, but would make an enormous difference for students with limited mobility,” said Jenifer Bianchi, a student with ALS.

According to Bianchi, several of these changes would include making sure that bikes are not parked on the ramps, or adding handrails to entrances without them.

Complaints received regarding bicycles parked on the handicap rails have far outnumbered complaints regarding other access-related issues on campus, even construction.

“We really get very few complaints [about construction],” says Turner.

Turner said that this is due to the success of the Access Committee which was formed to minimize the impact of campus construction projects on people with physical disabilities.

“The committee has been really helpful in identifying disability access problems beforehand,” says Turner.

However, some feel that the lack of complaints is for a different reason.

“Most people don’t complain because nothing gets done, the answer is always ‘We can’t get to that until we renovate.’ What is the point in complaining?” said Bianchi.

Students who would like more information about disability services and the impact of construction can visit the disability services website at http://uncw.edu/stuaff/disability/.