| ASU student says local restaurant discriminates against handicapped
"Just because I'm confined to a wheelchair doesn't mean that I am supposed to sit at home. Does it? I have rights too," said the e-mail from Amanda McBay to The News Courier after finding the restrooms in a popular local chain restaurant inaccessible.McBay, an Athens State University student and winner of the title Ms. Wheelchair Alabama 2002 and current candidate for the 2007 title, ate at Captain D's restaurant on U.S. 31 on Jan. 31 and came away angry after being unable to use the restroom because it is not handicapped accessible.A Jackson County native, McBay said that then President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 into law as she was undergoing rehabilitation in Birmingham from a severe head injury she sustained in automobile accident. She said merchants and restaurant and business owners in her hometown of Scottsboro immediately began making their premises handicapped accessible.McBay was injured when she was thrown through the windshield of a car on University Drive in Huntsville in March 1989.
Woman was Redlands PD dispatcher
REDLANDS - As a teen, Mary Anderson would get behind the wheel of her old Rambler and challenge boys in her neighborhood to a race through the desert. The former Redlands resident always ended up beating them, much to their chagrin. From her years as a teen in Twentynine Palms to when she was a dispatcher for the Redlands Police Department and even when she battled a prolonged illness, the Mariposa resident was a feisty and independent woman who got things done, those who knew her recalled. "She made things work more effectively in dispatch," said her husband, Warren Anderson, "and she thought of becoming an advocate for people with disabilities because she was frustrated with the way people in wheelchairs get treated," . Mary Anderson died Jan. 29 at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno.
‘Sokoto is Far Behind in Education’
Secondly, Sokoto State is far behind in education. The information I have is that Sokoto in 2003 was last in NECO and WAEC examinations and if you look at the infrastructure in that sector, it is nothing to write home about. You will see a class where there are more than 50 pupils, tell me how someone can learn under that kind of circumstance. If you see the kind of food our boarding students are fed with, it is very pathetic, the same with accommodation. I know there are few cosmetic secondary schools that have been established, that is not what I am going to do. I will make sure that education takes the larger share of my budget because if you want development, you have to give people education. I believe that if I give my people good education, then I am laying a foundation for effective and efficient development of our state.
Student Accessibility Service assists Kent
Junior biology major Matt Potokar doesn't have too much difficulty getting into buildings. All it takes is the click of a button from a remote control on his wheelchair.
"It opens up all the handicap doors," Potokar said. "That's pretty cool."
Laura McGlothlin, accessibility coordinator for Student Accessibility Services, which provided Potokar's controller, said she thinks Kent State has one of the most accessible campuses around.
"I think we have one of the most outstanding programs in the United States, and if you ask people that, they'll probably agree," she said. "Kent State is known for its disability services, for the ease of getting through the program, working with our office. We make it very easy for students."
McGlothlin said the most common accommodations people receive are extended times for exams, the ability to take exams in a reduced distraction environment and the ability to tape record class lectures.
Our autistic children have a right to a decent quality of life and education
THE week beginning Monday, 8 January, is particularly full-on for our family: Jamie is returning to school after the Christmas break, while Andrew still has another week to run of his holidays. That meant there would be a disruption to our routine and, with autistic children, routine is all-important. When Jamie and Andrew were both on holiday it was fun and there was a routine, but Jamie going back to school means things are going to be very difficult. I have to take Jamie to school, but Andrew has severe autism and so needs a high level of supervision and care while I am doing that. I can't leave him with my mother because she is quite frail, so I have to arrange some respite care. Before all that, though, I have to get Andrew out of bed and ready.
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