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The Battalion I 1.27.15
2
Initiative to accommodate students
with visual impairments moves forward
| CAMPUS I
Allison Bradshaw — THE BATTALION
Domed bricks have been placed at the north end of Military Walk to
signal the end of the walkway to students with visual impairments.
Wind chime project to reach
completion by semester's end
By Sam Scott
With some financial backing and
infrastructure in place, the initiative
to place wind chimes around campus
to better accommodate students with
visual impairments is expected to be
completed by the end of the semester.
Domed bricks were installed on Mil
itary Walk over winter break to signal
the end of the walkway, and braille
plates, which will be placed outside cer
tain buildings including the Liberal Arts
and Humanities Building, Wehner,
Koldus and other buildings across cam
pus, have been ordered and are slated
to be implemented in the near future.
So far nine of the 10 chimes have
been sponsored, with the Aggie Honor
System Office sponsoring eight chimes
and Cengage, a textbook provider,
sponsoring the other.
Kaitlyn Kellermeyer, the interna
tional studies junior who came up with
the idea, said student organizations will
be able to adopt a wind chime for a
flat fee in the near future through an
Adopt-A-Wind-Chime program, in
volving the opportunity to decorate the
chimes as well as the responsibility to
maintain them in the future.
“That fee will go toward the Brazos
Valley Center for Independent Liv
ing,” Kellermeyer said. “We’ll donate
it there because they do a lot of work
around the community for people with
disabilities.”
Kellermeyer and other students be
hind the project met with Merna Jacob
son, University Risk and Compliance
vice president, on Friday to talk about
the implementation and maintenance
of the wind chimes.
Kellermeyer said issues such as the
height of the windchime placement as
well as Silver Taps considerations were
discussed.
“We’re planning to put a wind
chime in Academic Plaza, and we actu
ally came up with this idea to get some
sort of fabric cover for the chimes dur
ing Silver Taps so that we’re respecting
that tradition,” Kellermeyer said.
Collin Kruger, accounting junior
and SGA vice president of student ser
vices, created a detailed memorandum
to give to the Council for the Built
Environment, which is in charge of
campus changes. Joseph Hood, student
senator and political science junior said
they expect the council to approve the
project.
“And then when that goes through
they’re going to want more plans from
us as far as maintenance, who’s going to
be in charge of that within SGA, all that
kind of stuff,” Hood said.
Kruger said a portion of the visual
impairment bill, which was passed by
Student Senate last semester, has already
been implemented.
“The visual impairment bill consists
of two parts: The wind chimes, and the
places of truncated domes and braille
plates on campus,” Kruger said. “The
domes have been installed on the north
end of Military Walk, and the work
orders for the braille plates has been
submitted. ”
Hood said the Americans with Dis
abilities Act and administration has
been helpful in facilitating the eventual
implementation of the wind chimes.
“They listened to what we had to say
and they had legitimate concerns that
they brought forward that we really ap
preciate,” Hood said. “They were mak
ing sure that our project was going to
work. They weren’t blocking it in any
way, they were there to make sure that
what we had to put forward was the
best project possible.”
TECHNOLOGY
Dean joins deck of fame
Grade Mock, The Battalion news reporter, sits down with
senior associate dean for academic affairs Valerie Taylor
to talk about her recent inclusion in a Kickstarter project
funding a “Notable Women in Computing” card deck.
THE BATTALION: How did you get started in
computing?
TAYLOR: I got started in computing when I was in
high school. I took my first programming class when
I was a sophomore. We learned Fortran at
that time. I was excited by the things that
you could do with wiring software. I recall
one of our main projects was focused
on developing a very simple reservation
system. Now my research is focused on
efficient use of multiple computers simul
taneously — or parallel processing — to
solve complicated problems.
THE BATTALION: How were you ap
proached to be featured in this project?
TAYLOR: I was approached by Susan
Rodger at Duke University, and Kathy Dickinson
with Everwise approached me in September about
being including with the Notable Women in Comput
ing deck of cards. I was honored to be included and
thought the deck of cards was an innovative way to
engage young children.
THE BATTALION: Were you influenced by any of
the women featured in the deck? If so, who and
how?
TAYLOR: I was greatly influenced by Anita Borg, who
along with Telle Whitney started the Grace Hopper
Celebration of Women in Computing Conference.
Anita was a phenomenal woman who was an excel
lent researcher and had great passion and dedica
tion to advancing women in technology. I met Anita
when I was a graduate student at UC, Berkeley. She
helped me with my research as an assistant profes
sor at Northwestern University. Because of Anita, I
attended the first Grace Hopper Conference in 1994
in Washington, D.C. Anita was very supportive of
the start of a group focused on women of color and
computing. One of Anita's famous quotes is, "Well
behaved women rarely change the world."
I also know Fran Allen, who was the first woman
IBM Fellow and the first woman to receive the pres
tigious ACM Turing Award for her work with optimiz
ing compliers. She also had a role in intel
ligence work on programming languages
and security codes for the NSA. Fran is an
excellent role model who is recognized for
her research excellence and her passion
for helping other women.
THE BATTALION: What is your proud
est moment as a woman in computer
science and engineering?
TAYLOR: In 2013, when I received the
recognition as a Fellow of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
for my research in high performance computing.
IEEE Fellow is a distinction reserved for select IEEE
members with extraordinary accomplishments in
fields related to IEEE.
THE BATTALION: What kind of impact could this
project have on young women trying to find a
career path?
TAYLOR: Having the deck of cards allows young
children to learn about the contributions of women
in computing while engaged in the games that they
play regularly. As is well known, when you combine
knowledge with everyday play you can have a sig
nificant impact on young children. In this way, young
children will have the correct information about the
significant impact of women in computing and know
that for young girls, they have many excellent role
models.
Valerie Taylor
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BAT1
Mark Dore, Editor in Chief
Aimee Breaux, Managing Editor Brandon Wheeland, Sports Editor
Jennifer Reiley, Asst. Managing Editor Carter Karels, Asst. Sports Editor
Lindsey Gawlik, News Editor Shelby Knowles, Photo Editor
Samantha King, Asst. News Editor Allison Bradshaw, Asst. Photo Editor
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THE BATTALION is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and
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