UNC Mirror

Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Lindsey Walker Keith Inman is fighting for better disability services at UNC. He is working with the deans of several colleges on campus to make the buildings more accessible for students with disabilities.

Junior education major Keith Inman is fighting for better disability services on the University of Northern Colorado campus, hoping to bring up to code various buildings that are lagging behind for those with disabilities.

Inman has been targeting every building on campus, hoping to make them more inviting for students with disabilities. He also wants to make current students feel like they are not at any disadvantage in comparison to the average college student without a disability.

Most buildings have several problems Inman is working to bring up to code. Most buildings are older and have accessibility problems, such as no ramps or the doors are too narrow. But Inman said that he has not come across any problems while working to change the buildings.

"No deans were upset with what I am doing," Inman said. "I have gotten a positive response from everyone I have talked to. One of the first places I hit was the bathrooms in Candelaria. We talked about it on Friday a few weeks ago and construction began that following Monday."

Inman also wants to add a third stop for the Boomerang shuttle, which currently runs to just two stops outside of Candelaria and Gunter Halls. He hopes to make the third stop more handicap accessible, providing more than just the curb to allow physically disabled students to board.

Inman said the new additions would benefit more than just the students with disabilities. Things like kick plates that will not damage a wheelchair or damage the door will save money for the school in the long run.

Inman has had help in making these changes with Amy King, a junior education major, and Sarah Richie, a freshman education major.

Some UNC students said they agree with Inman's efforts to make the campus more accessible and think the change is long overdue.

"On campus, the accessibility is really bad," said Chance Horiuchi, a junior biology major. "During fire alarms in the library, it is too hard to get wheelchairs downstairs, so the policy now is to just leave them in the stairwells. That definitely needs to be changed and it is sad that it's not already up to standards."

Other students agreed.

"We are in the process of updating computers to be more accessible," said Nick Brushaber, a senior political science and philosophy major. "It is an overdue process, but when someone takes the first step, a lot of other things improve as well."

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