'Access Must be Improved' 

Editor:

"'A Segregated Campus'" was a great article on CPHSU accessibility (Sept. 5). The campus topography is challenging but building access must be improved.

When the campus entrance at Laurel Drive and B Street was reconfigured I assumed it would be to install ramps. I was stunned that the finished project included steps.

Last year, I drove an elderly, disabled friend to the university and had to drop her off between the Library and Theatre Arts Building so that she could negotiate her way to Fulkerson without being challenged by steps.

She had a disabled person placard and a DP license plate but was not allowed to park at Gist (those spots are usually vacant) unless she bought a daily parking pass or one for the term. I was told she could park at one of the few metered spots behind the library, which would have more than doubled the walking distance to the music building.

The Transportation and Parking Service Department also said that if my friend drove her car she could pull up to the parking kiosk in G11 and the attendant would get her a daily parking pass.

Access to all buildings for everyone on campus should be made as easy as possible and mandatory.

I served in Macedonia with the Peace Corps from 2013-2015. Some older multistory buildings there were made accessible to all by retrofitting an elevator on the outside of the structures. Maybe something creative like valet parking from Library Circle or installation of a sky tram could assist the mobility impaired on campus.

Although I can still manage steps with my old, wonky knees, perhaps all of us will wish we'd been more outspoken and empathetic about an issue which is a physical barrier to others now.

Karen Sack, Eureka