The Battalion
OPINION
Tuesday, December 5,1989
Handicapped minority
needs majority respect
Last semester, I had an experience
that “opened my eyes” so to speak.
Somehow, I had the misfortune of
spraining my ankle. It was just a sprain,
not a break. And after a quick trip to the
health center, my foot was all bandaged
up and I had two nifty crutches to play
with.
My injury was only temporary, but
for many students here at Texas A&M,
being handicapped is a way of life. I
started to wonder how students who are
in wheelchairs get into buildings. I
started to wonder how blind students
read signs that have no braille equiva
lents beside them. I wondered how stu
dents who are deaf “hear” what their
professors’ lectures. I wondered what
problems these students had.
A recent article in U. magazine said
Gavin Miller, a student at Northeast
Louisiana University who is confined to
a wheelchair, changed his major due to
inaccessibility of the building where his
classes were. It also described the situa
tion of Teresa Carroll, a student at the
University of Rochester who is also con
fined to a wheelchair, has problems with
inaccessiblity to buildings and a lack of
services for handicapped students.
Handicapped students from all over the
nation are facing problems like these on
their college campuses.
And how well is A&M doing? Accord
ing to Charles Powell, director of hand
icapped and veteran services, 90 per
cent of the buildings here at A&rM are
accessible to students in wheelchairs.
Powell said that many of the buildings at
A&M are extremely old, and that ramps
had to be added wherever it was possi
Damon
If
Arhos
^f» *** Jf
Columnist
ble. This often means that ramps are
added to the back of buildings, Powell
said.
Powell also said that A&M is one of
the top schools in the Southwest Confer
ence for accessibility and handicapped
services. He said that while it often takes
a lot of time to make handicapped addi
tions to buildings, the University is defi
nitely making an effort to cooperate
with handicapped student’s needs.
The only concern that Powell noted
was the construction that is now going
on at A&M. Powell said that construc
tion areas are potentially dangerous for
those students in wheelchairs and for
blind students. He said that sidewalks
are always carefully marked off so that
these students will be able to get by
safely.
The University seems to be aware of
the needs of handicapped students.
Even so, the statistics on handicapped
student enrollment are stunning. Of the
over 40,000 students here at A&M,
there are approximately 25 students
who use wheelchairs. There are approx
imately four totally blind people en
rolled here, and only about eight who
have limited vision. And there are ap
proximately seven students enrolled at
A&M who are deaf.
It is amazing that a University of this
size has such a low handicapped student
enrollment. Where do the problems lie?
One problem may lie with the recruit
ing of handicapped students.We need to
tell handicapped high school seniors
that we welcome them and that A&M
does everything it can to accomodate
handicapped students.
Secondly, we need to make the stu
dents, faculty and administration of
A&M more aware of the needs of the
handicapped students. Although hand
icapped students are a definite minority
at this University, their needs deserve
majority attention.
Thirdly, we need to go beyond 90
percent accessibility. Every building on
this campus should have easy access by
any handicapped student. And “easy”
should mean “easy.” A person in a
wheel chair shouldn’t have to enter
through the back of a building. They
also shouldn’t have to “go around the
block” to get into a room that is right in
front of them.
A&M should be commended on it s
efforts to help the handicapped student
population. However, more work needs
to be done. We shouldn’t stop the mo
mentum that has begun. Changes to the
University might take some planning,
money and time. Changes in our atti
tudes and our awareness could take
place immediately.
Damon Arhos is a senior journalism
major and the Assistant Opinion Page
Editor for The Battalion.
Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs
Mail Call
Dorm repair charge full of holes
Over the weekend of the A&M — t.u. game my suitemates in Aston Hi
were written up for having visitors after hours. During the encounter the res
dent advisors noticed that holes had been drilled in the ceiling for additior;
lighting. The R.A.s explained how the shelves and lights would havetoben
moved and that it would cost $ 12 per hole to repair.
Twelve dollars? $144 for 12 holes, each no larger than the size of a pc
cap? «^
My suitemates were further told that it wasn’t likely the holes even won
be patched and if my suitemates were to patch the holes themselves tfe
would still be charge because “it doesn’t work that way.”
So where does this money go, Ags? It obviously doesn’t get used for wit
it is collected. This is easy to see by the numerous other holes that havener
been repaired but for which I’m sure someone was charged. $144couldi‘
pair all the holes in every room of the whole hall.
How does the University arrive at this figure? I guess it is hard to male
white paint once it turns yellow. Think about it, Ags.
Tim Batt ’93
Thanks, Ags, bonfire was great
Editor:
I want to write and thank the student body for making last Friday’sb
fire one of the best ever.
Because of the extensive controversy that has surrounded this tradit®
over the past few months, everyone directed their attention toward thisyeaii
ceremony.
We have shown that, as Aggies, we can work together with the Universe;
administration and community leaders to act in the best interest of Tea
A&M University. We have set a precedent for the students who come helm:
us to follow.
Have a safe and happy holiday season, good luck on finals, and, out
again, thanks.
Gig ’Em!
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Kevin Buchman,
Student Body President
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Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to ditla-
for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author's intent. Each letter must btsipuc';.
must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
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e:
Couple meets through mail; lives happily ever after
Lewis
Grizzard
Syndicated Columnist
I wrote a column about them when
they married. And the calls and letters
came flooding in.
One wrote, “How could you love
somebody youTilet through the mail?”
The deal is this: magazine like the one through which
Don’t write or call me anymore. I they met. I’ve seen the first issue, and
can’t help you with any answers, but the young ladies are beautiful
Tim and Rose! can. Tim and Rosel want to give others the
They now publish their own pen-pal same opportunities they had. If you are
interested, write them at Amerii
Asian Couples, P.O. Box 590, Alp:
retta, Ca. 30239-05.90.
Or call them at 404-664-3664.£
tell them how they can’t be hap;
I met Tim Jarvis in Chicago 13 years
ago. He is a good and honorable man.
He realized right away that I, a native of
the South, had no business in the frozen
regions of the North, and he befriended
me.
For one thing, he drove me to work in
his 1961 Volkswagen through snow,
sleet and mounting despair.
I moved back South in 1977 and Tim
followed me a couple of years later. He
experienced a sundown in August, sin
gle bars with 400 ex-Phi Mus and a
Georgia-Florida football game and he
was hooked.
But he began having some of the
problems in Atlanta that 1 had in Chi
cago.
He hit the singles’ bars, and that can
get to a man after a while. Tim was
nearing 40 and all the ex-Phi Mus he
met couldn’t understand why he wasn’t
driving a Mercedes.
But then he found something. It was
in a magazine. It was a deal where
American men could correspond with
English-speaking Asian women.
Tim found Rosel from the Phil
ippines. They corresponded. Then,
Tim flew to the Philippines and met
Rosel for the first time.
They fell in love and they got married
in San Jose, Calif., last spring. I was the
best man.
If you’re looking for any bad news, go
buy a newspaper. Tim and Rosel are not
only happy, they’ve just moved into
their new house and they’re expecting a
baby early next year.
What I mean to communicate here is
that Tim Jarvis, now 41, got tired of the
singles bar thing and found his love in
life through corresponding with a
woman in the Philippines.
Former A&M worker gives telephone hints
warnings on use of Student Locator servict
a i
As I put a close to three years as a stu
dent worker at the infamous “Student
Locator,” I feel it is time that someone
shed a light on my former occupation.
What we are: Student Locator is a
free service that lists the telephone
numbers of students, faculty and staff,
and departments on campus. We have
up to seven operators working at peak
hours, and as few as two working the
graveyard shift. We are open 24 hours a
day, seven days a week.
What we are NOT: As of yet we are
not computerized. Instead, we have a
three foot wide telephone book, so
please be patient.
When we take a long time to answer
the line it is because we are busy taking
other calls. We take from 600 to 800
calls an hour.
I think I should clarify a few things
that seem to be recurring misconsep-
tions about Student Locator:
1. We do not know all 40,000 stu
dents personally.
2. We do not have a “more recent
number;” only one per customer.
3. We do not list women by their
first name and bra size. Please get a last
name.
4. We do not have listings for the
athletes. You have to call Cain Hall. And
no, we don’t know why no one answers
there.
5. Please don’t call us while you’re
eating. If you heard it once you’d never
do it again.
6. Please don’t call us from a
speaker phone. We can never hear the
first letter of your words.
7. Please at least try to spell the last
name. “Your guess is as good as mine”
doesn’t work; our guess is they aren’t
listed.
8. Please find a pen and paper BE
FORE you call, and use it when we give
you the number.
9. Please don’t call A&M informa
tion if Student Locator doesn’t have the
number. We are the same people and
we know it’s you.
10. You cannot dial Beijing direct
from the library. Don’t try.
11. You cannot get pizza delivery
places on the elevator phones. Don’t try.
12. We can’t give you someone’s ad
dress. Don’t try.
13. We can’t give out the numbers
for Resident Advisors. Don’t ask.
14. We are people too. While most
students say “please” and “thank you,”
some choose not to bother. It never
hurts to be nice.
15. Please turn down the stereo be
fore calling us. Most of the return calls
we get are because the student couldn’t
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possibly have heard the number when
we gave it to them the first time.
16. Don’t ask where we are located.
We can’t say, and some of us aren’t real
sure ourselves.
17. We don’t take messages. See
number one.
18. Please don’t call us to update
your listings for the Dallas/Fort Worth
Metroplex Hometown Club. We can
only give out two numbers at a time. Be
realistic and go by Heaton Hall.
19. Please don’t get upset if we don’t
have a number. Students are not re
quired to list with us, and we cannot give
you a number we don’t have.
name lor someone
William Alexander Buttersworth I
Junior and Chip are also nicknames
someone “The Second;” and atleasi
to 20 percent of the students are kne
by their middle names but are listed
their first name.
Considering the bureaucracy«
volved with getting information out(
this place, I think the staff behindSn
dent Locator do a pretty good job;
pulling it all together.
I must admit that the past fewyeani
Student Locator have been fun. 11
been like having a bird’s eye view oft
at A&M. So, if anyone is lookingfo
low-paying job with a lot of works
fringe benefits and a lot of great peof
to work with, call Student Locator
tell them that Mike sent you.
I would like to thank Charlene,&
neva, and all my former co-workersi
a lot of nice memories, as well as"
“the Debbies,” “Jenny,” “Mindy,”
the countless other students I ne«
met, who have invited me to pai
called just to say hi, or even just
few minutes out of their lives tobe» 1
You made an otherwise mundane
enjoyable, and I thank you all.
As with all columns, opinions
20. We are not psychic. The stu
dents are listed by their real names, not pressed by Guest Columnists are
Scooter, Skippy, Tiger, Bubba, or any of necessarily those of The Battalion.^
the many, many others we hear. Please sons interested in submitting guests ^
try to get their real name before calling umns should contact the Opinion ^
us. Also, Trey is in many cases a nick- Editor at 845-3314.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Scot Walker, Editor
Monique Threadgill,
Managing Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor
Melissa Naumann, City Editor
Cindy McMillian, Lisa Robertson,
News Editors
Richard Tijerina, Sports Editor
Frederick D. Joe, Art Director
Mary-Lynne Rice, Lifestyles Editor
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NOW HIRING
The Battalion
is looking for two Texas A&M faculty members to write bi-weekly
columns for The Battalion Opinion Page during the Spring '90 semester.
Applications can be picked up in Room 216 Reed McDonald and are due in
Room 230 Reed McDonald by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17.