Story by Mindy Vasquez

Mariah Wright struggles to go up the ramp in front of Milton Hall. (Photo by Mindy Vasquez)

The last thing on a New Mexico State University student’s mind is how to get around on campus if he or she is disabled or becomes injured.

“The most difficult thing about getting around was the stairs and the inclines. There was no way to get around down a hill or up one or even the stairs sometimes,” said Virginia Kautz, an NMSU student, who was on crutches for six weeks.

NMSU is mostly accessible

NMSU Student Accessibility Services’ Coordinator Diana Quintana said NMSU is described as accessible, according to the American with Disabilities Act standards. She also said a few things need to be more accessible on campus, and incorporating sign language is one issue.

“I think we could use some improvements. Overall, yes, I think our campus is accessible,” Quintana said.

What is Accessibility?

Accessibility is the description of a building or site that meets the ADA guidelines, according to the ADA Accessibility Guidelines.

“We have a whole law for like ramps, elevators, doors and parking lots. It goes into everything,” Access Specialist for the State of New Mexico Governor’s Commission on Disability Hope Reed said.

“A lot of the handicap doors wouldn’t open, and it was difficult for me to get over the bumps on the doors. They also weren’t wide enough,” an NMSU junior Mariah Wright said.

Mariah Wright enters Milton Hall through the handicap door. (Photo by Mindy Vasquez)

There are ADAAG rules about cracks in the walkways or sidewalks.

“They call it change of elevation and it is a quarter inch to a half-inch maximum for the height and width of a crack. The cracks have to be perpendicular or left to right,” Reed said.

Difficult to access

While NMSU is up to all of the requirements, according to Quintana, students still find it difficult to get around on campus while they are injured or disabled.

“I was in a wheel chair for eight weeks, and going up the international mall was really difficult because I would always get stuck on cracks,” Wright said.

“The campus has slope and its work, but people can drive between those areas,” Reed said.

The ADAAG requires a minimum of one handicap parking spot for every one to 25 spots and six for every 151 to 200 spots. Their (Its?) requirements specifically show how many handicap parking spots are needed in comparison to regular parking spots.

“When there was a parking spot that was great, but often times I had to go to a different parking lot just to get a space,” Wright said.

“There could be a little bit more and a little bit closer,” Kautz said.

The ADAAG show that handicap parking spots may be provided in a different location, but only if that location is equal to or has greater accessibility, in distance to the entrance, than a regular parking spot.

Time and distance

Besides parking spots, students also have a tough time getting across campus to their classes within the 10-minute period between classes, Wright pointed out.

Distance is also part of accessibility, according to Reed. Accessibility has a minimum requirement of 250 feet between buildings and benches so that the disabled can rest if needed.

“The most difficult thing for me was getting to class in the time frame available between class periods,” Wright said.

“I was late a couple of times. A couple of my professors understood and a couple others didn’t. I got yelled at a couple of times,” Kautz said.

“My professors were really tolerant about me being late to class, but it still felt like I was interrupting when I came in,” Wright said.

Getting Assistance

“What we do is we provide memos – a memo that outlines that they are disabled and list the reasonable accommodations we provide for them. The instructor would have to decide from there,” Quintana said.

The NMSU Student Accessibility Services offer accommodations for students with permanent disabilities only.

Quintana said NMSU defines a student with disability the same as the ADA regulations, anyone with a permanent physical or mental impairment. She also said there is such a thing as being temporarily disabled, but “Our office isn’t responsible for those who are temporary disabled.”

“I didn’t know if there were rides for anything like that for people on crutches. I pretty much just gimped around, but I found elevators real fast,” Kautz said.

“I didn’t really receive any help except from a couple of random students and my friends,” Wright said.

“Tons, actually, a lot of students offered to hold my books. The people in the golf carts offered to give me rides sometimes. A lot of people offered a lot of help,” Kautz said.

Injured students on campus mainly seek help from other students since the department of student disabilities doesn’t offer accommodations to them. It is difficult for students to get around, but there are many things that make it easier.

Accessibility on our campus

When asked what was the easiest thing about getting around on campus with crutches Kautz said “the elevators and the automatic handicapped doors, plus the people opening doors for me.”

This ramp to the speech building is one of many accessible entrances on campus. (Photo by Mindy Vasquez)

“They should add more handicap parking spots and fix the international mall. Plus they should also fix the doors so they should open when they were supposed to … ,” Wright said.

“The only thing I would change is to have some golf carts to take people on crutches or wheel chairs around campus,” Kautz said.

“There are a number of different things that need to be reviewed. I plan on doing an inventory across campus,” Quintana said.