A Love-Hate Relationship: The Ups and Downs of Elevators

Primitive elevators have been used since third century BC. These elevators were run by water wheel, animal, or even human power. By the mid-nineteenth century, elevators were steam operated, and used for transporting materials in factories and mines. In 1853, Elisha Otis invented a safety device that prevents an elevator from taking a plunge if a supporting cable were to fail. In that same year, Otis established an elevator manufacturing company and eight years later, he patented the steam elevator. In 1857, the Otis Brothers installed the first public (steam powered) elevator in E.W. Haughtwhat and Company's five story department store in Manhattan. In the 1870's, steam powered elevators began to be phased out; they were replaced by hydraulic machines. However, by the end of the 19th century, electric elevators were introduced; the first one was built by Werner von Siemens of Germany, in 1880. Alexander Miles of the United States patented the electric elevator on October 11, 1887.

The design of the elevator dramatically improved over a short span of time, and I am so thankful that all the kinks of the elevator were worked out before my time; I can now experience the benefit of having an elevator available to me in most buildings that have multiple floors. However, there is a problem: the key word being "most". Not every building with multiple floors has an elevator to create equal access to people of all abilities. This does not just include older building that were constructed many years ago (and therefore grandfathered in), but newer buildings as well. 

In section 4.1.3 of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) under Exemption One it states, "Elevators are not required in facilities that are less than three stories or that have less than 3000 square feet per story, unless the building is a shopping center, a shopping mall, or the professional office of a health care provider, or another type of facility as determined by the Attorney General." The irony of this is, while the ADA was written to improve the lives and accessibility for those with disabilities, this act also allows architects/businesses to discriminate against many persons with disabilities. As a person who uses a wheelchair, I am unable to utilize the stairs and therefore, cannot reach an upper or lower floor without an elevator. Why should it be okay to give the majority of society the right to access all parts of a building, but not give another person that same opportunity just because that person cannot walk up the stairs? 

I have encountered many buildings that are not equipped with an elevator and therefore, do not allow for equal access. This is most common in condos, motels and hotels. I am frustrated when I cannot cannot enter a friend's condo. However, what about a resident in a wheelchair who wants to take her new neighbor cookies, who recently moved in the condo above her own, but cannot do so as there is no way for her to access the second floor? Would it not be rude for her to call up her neighbor and say, "I have cookies for you, but you have to come get them." 

It is also frustrating when my family cannot stay at any given hotel simply due to lack of accessibility. Many hotels will locate all of their accessible rooms on the ground floor, so it is assumed there is no need for an elevator. However, many hotels only provide one bed in accessible rooms, while providing the option of two in others.What about the family of four, with a son in a wheelchair, who cannot stay in the handicap room at their preferred hotel because that room only has one bed, so they would like to rent a room (that happens to be on the second floor) with two beds? Is it right to tell this family they have to rent two rooms just because their son is in a wheelchair? 

Unfortunately, inaccessibility (with regards to elevators or lack there of), does not stop here. The greatest irony that I have found is if I (or any other person in a wheelchair) were to visit the Bellingham School District's Special Education Office; a meeting would have to be prearranged as this office is on the second floor of Roeder. Roeder is a historic building here in Bellingham and therefore, is grandfathered; this building is not required to be accessible. It is also under three stories (and each floor is under 3,000 square feet), so to my understanding, would not have to have an elevator anyways. None the less, the special education office is on the second floor. Whoever planned this out is completely ignorant to the fact that there are students in the Bellingham School District that are in special education who are unable to access stairs. However, there are not just special education offices on the second floor, and not everyone who cannot access the stairs is in special education, Bellingham School District's problem of inaccessibility would not be solved by just moving the special education office to the ground floor. Now, this would solve the ironic problem of students with disabilities not being able to get to the special education office, but in turn, it would introduce a new problem. This would now be a stereotypical problem; not all students with physical disabilities are in special education. If the special education office was moved to the ground floor of Roeder, then all offices should be made accessible to all students, disabled or not, Roeder does not necessary need to be made accessible, but as a public school district, Bellingham is obligated to give an equal, but not separate opportunity with all aspects of education. If Roeder cannot be remodeled to accommodate all students and their parents, then the school district should move their offices to meet this crucial courtesy.  

What about a building that has an elevator, but that elevator does not allow access to every part of the building (that the rest of the public can get to via stairs)? The YMCA here in Bellingham is the perfect example. The YMCA is located in an older building; however, it has been remodeled since the ADA was written. The elevator does not allow access to the upstairs party room. I found this out when I went to two of my friend's birthday party. When their mom rented the room at the Y, she explained that her daughters had a friend in a wheelchair attending the party. The lady who booked the party said it was no problem, and that she would place us in the party room on the ground floor as the room on the second floor was not accessible. When we arrived, we found out that someone else wanted the room on the ground, so we were bumped to the lesser of the two room; we ended up in the room that was up a long flight of stairs. We explored the building. The elevator goes to the second floor dressing rooms; on the other side of the dressing rooms is that party room, but a wall stands in the way. When the Y was upgraded, why were they able to get away with not putting a hallway to that room? Another thing that we encountered at the YMCA is that the only way down to the rock wall is via a skinny staircase; there is no elevator. The ironic thing is that there is an adapted harness that people with disabilities can use when climbing.     

Even though elevators are an amazing tool for providing equal access, they can be quite a pain and I try to avoid them at all cost. When I sign up for college classes, I try my best to not take a class that would involve me using an elevator. I will try my best to create future schedules that are not located on an upper floor of the environmental science building. In this building, there are two elevators (one at each end of the building). The elevator closest to the main door goes to the half and whole floors (there are doors that open on both sides of this elevator). The one that is on the other side of the building only gives access to the whole floors; this is the elevator that I use and will continue to use, even though it is out of the way, until I have to get to a half floor. This is due to the main elevator trapping people inside more than an elevator should; I heard of two different occasions of this occurring during my first year at WWU. I have also had my own experiences with this elevator; during my third quarter at WWU, there were many times that I sat waiting for the elevator, and then was told that it had not been working all morning or even all week. After a couple of times of being late to class, I just started using the elevator at the other end of the building. I am thankful for that second elevator; if it did not exist, I would have missed many classes. I would have also had to travel to another building to use the bathroom (as this building's accessible bathrooms are in the basement).
Along with the main elevator in the environmental building, I also try to not have to use the elevators in Arntzen Hall. They are older, and I am pretty sure they are not calibrated as often as they should be. Twice this past quarter, the elevator (on the same wall/side as Subway) hit the bottom floor hard, bounced around, and then the doors did not open for at least thirty seconds. This was quite painful and nerve racking. Both my mom and I called the maintenance department (on separate days), as this happened to her as well! I heard others talking about it too, so it could not have happened just a couple of times. I am hoping that the elevators are now fixed, as the bathrooms are in the basement, and the Political Science Offices are on the fourth floor.    

I also try to avoid taking classes on upper floors when I would only have ten minutes in between those classes, as it is most likely that I would be late to class if I had to use an elevator. When I signed up for my classes last winter quarter, I picked a communications class and an economics class that were scheduled ten minutes apart. I thought it was going to work perfect for me, as both classes were located on the main/bottom floor of their respective buildings (both of which are located on the south end of campus). Before classes began, I mapped out my route to make sure I could make it to economics on time after leaving my communications class. From the communications building to the business building, I found that it only took me about four minutes. Perfect! However, when the quarter started, I learned that after the first two weeks of my comm class, we were no longer going to meet in the large class room on the ground floor; we were going to be split up into smaller groups, and meet on the second floor. This means I would now have to access my class via the elevator. This situation probably would have been okay because there were two elevators -- which typically means the wait is not too long (no more than two minutes) -- however, for the first half of the quarter, the second elevator was broken! Okay, I know that because there are two elevators and one was broken, I still could get to class, but when there is only one elevator for five floors, the wait dramatically increases. One day, I waited seven minutes for the elevator. This is the longest I have ever waited for an elevator that works. Needless to say, I was late to my next class. For the majority of the quarter, I barely made it to class on time, and when the only place that you can sit is in the front of the classroom, everyone watches you arrive and get settled. My suggestion would be for professors to indicate in the catalog entry the locations of all the classrooms that may be utilized, as disabled students base their schedules on where the class is relatively located to other classes. My other suggestion is directed towards the maintenance department: there is a purpose for that second elevator, so when it is broken, please do not allow it to be out of order for six weeks.

This past Spring quarter, I had an amazing history class that happened to be in a crazy location: on the fifth floor of Old Main. To access this classroom, I had to first use the elevator on the south end of the building (which only goes to the fourth floor); then, I had to cross the entire building to the second elevator (which cannot be accessed on the first floor) to finally make it up to the fifth floor. This venture took me anywhere from four to ten minutes (depending on the elevators) to get to the classroom (once I entered the building). I understand that Old Main is an old building; it was the first building to be built on Western Washington University's campus in the late 1800's, so I am guessing that the elevators were not a part of this building's original design; the elevators in Old Main were probably installed at a later date. It is not this design that particularly bothers me; what does peeve me is when I had made it all the way to the second elevator just to find an able bodied person waiting to go down when I needed to go up. I know that others have just as much of a right to use the elevator as I do; none the less, it would be greatly appreciated that anyone who is able to please take the stairs. I am not able to use the stairs as a back up. So, the next time you are deciding whether to take the stairs or the elevator, remember back to that time that you got so fed up with waiting for the elevator, that you just took the stairs. Those of us who are in wheelchairs may also get fed up with waiting, but we cannot resort to taking the stairs.

Here is an informational video on elevator etiquette created by the spectacular Yomara Bedolla! 

Check her blog out at http://yoyoyomara.blogspot.com

Finding the Silver Lining: Another Fall Quarter Review

Two Thursdays ago, I took my last final of the quarter. The past three months have flown by, but in this short time, so much has happened. This past quarter, I took Intro to Law (PLSC 311), Politics of Inequality (PLSC 346), and Human Geography (ENVS 204). This load definitely stretched me as a student, but even so, I will remember this quarter as my favorite quarter so far at Western. However, there were trials that I had to face and therefore, overcome.
This past quarter started right off the bat; I felt as if I was tossed into a cold, raging river without any life preserver. The work load that we started with at the beginning was unexpected and ended up being overwhelming at times. In the midsts of all the new assignments and keeping up with the readings, I had to get my paperwork from the DRS and deliver it to my professors. I ended up e-mailing two of my professors and asked them to meet me at the top of the classroom to sign my paperwork, so I could take it back to the DisAbility Resources for Students (DRS). I had two classes (PLSC 346 and ENVS 204) that were both in classrooms where I could not access the front. Arntzen Hall 100 and Environmental Science 100 are the two largest classrooms on Western's campus, so I understand why so many classes are only offered in those classrooms. However, on top of not being able to access the front of the classroom to ask my professor a simple question, I am also not able to get close enough to read the board nor the overhead. I am visually impaired, so being limited to sitting in the very back is detrimental to my learning success. I would love to have the equal opportunity to choose to sit in the back or the front of the classroom, just like any other student. Since, these two buildings are older and do not have to be accessible, I cannot complain about the inaccessibility of these said buildings. Never the less, I would have hoped that newer buildings would have been built with equally as large and with equal accessibility to the front and the back of the classrooms. However, even if there were equally as large of classrooms that were more accommodating, I would not be able to get the classrooms switched, as the DRS has made it clear that they cannot switch a classroom for one student, as then they would have to switch classrooms for any student that asked. The DRS was even reluctant to move a class that I could not even get to, they said to just take another class. The DRS ended up moving my class, and now that building has recently been remodeled. Another way that this college could accommodate legally blind students who cannot access the front, is provide us with a device called the Da Vinci (or a similar device). This device is one that is very much like one that I used in grade school, but 100 times better; technology has improved and so has the Da Vinci. This device allows a student to point a camera at the blackboard or the overhead, the picture is then streamed to a screen and can be enlarged to suit the student's needs. Would it shock you if I said Western does not have this device? Well, they do not, but Bellingham Technical College does.
The other problem with Anrtzen 100 is even though a wheelchair accessible platform exists, it is not big enough for a table (that I can fit under) and my wheelchair. This means that I have to hold my notebook when taking notes. I do have a table top but since I am visually impaired, I cannot see what I am writing if my notebook is sitting on it. I prefer a higher table, as my notebook can sit closer to my face, and I can see what I am writing.
In ENVS 204, we had a quiz on six of the ten Fridays during the quarter. My professor projected the quiz each week up onto the overhead screen. Since I could not read the screen, I asked my professor if he could print me out a large print copy of the quiz (as I did not want to take a five question quiz at the DRS). He told me that I would have to remind him every Friday morning before each quiz. I forgot to call him before the second quiz and he also forgot to print me out a copy of that quiz. I had to go up to his office after class in order to take my quiz. I then ended up taking every future quiz in his office (for some reason he did not want me to take my quiz in the classroom). Something strange that he did eight weeks into the quarter was he brought me a piece of paper (that was typed in such small print that I could not read it) and he told me that he was going to shine that same document up onto the overhead screen. My friend sitting next to me took a look at the document and said that it was from Chapter Nine study guide. This document never showed up on the overhead screen during class.
After taking my first test for ENVS 204, I received an e-mail from professor telling me to make sure that my scantron form was filled out and made it to him after the next test. I do not fill out the scantron, the DRS bubbles in my answers on the scantron that I circle on the actual test. I had specifically written at the top of my test that I needed the multiple choice answers to be transferred onto a scantron. For the next test, my bubble sheet did turn up, but my professor did not receive the written part of my test. It is very unnerving to see an "F" in the grade book and not know why! A couple days later, the other half of my test did finally show up.
My PLSC 346 final was scheduled for Tuesday of finals week at 8:00 A.M. I showed up to the DRS fifteen minutes early and there was a line that stretched through the DRS, out the door and past the bathrooms; there were at least thirty people already waiting in line when I arrived. At about 8:00, I finally reached the front of the line (not bad because that is when my test taking was supposed to commence). None the less, when the lady distributing the tests handed me my final, it was the wrong test. See, there is a Mrs. Singleton on campus, who teaches political science; she taught my class this past quarter, and there is a Mr. Singleton on campus, who teaches accounting; he created the test that I was handed. When Mrs. Singleton did not send a copy of the PLSC 346 final to the DRS, the DRS just assumed that the test sent by Mr. Singleton was the test I was supposed to take. Singleton and Singleton, okay same last name; but political science and accounting? I explained that this was not the correct test and I would like to not have to complete the final for a class I have never taken. The lady who handed me the wrong test relayed the message to the main testing lady in the DRS. She then went and asked one of the counselors to please go pick up a copy of the correct final. The environmental science building (where my PLSC 346 class was located) is half way across campus. It took the counselor about fifteen minutes to go fetch my test. By the time I actually get my test I had been in the DRS for over 45 minutes.
While I was waiting for my test, the the main testing lady took me into the testing room and placed me at the new table that they finally got this past quarter. The new table that they purchased, they bought because of me. When I could no longer take my test in the room that I had for five quarters, I explained that I could not fit under the table that was in the main testing room, and it was extremely uncomfortable to take my tests. So, two quarters later, they finally got accessible tables (until then, they did let me take my tests in the other room, but the table that worked well for me had disappeared). The ironic thing about the accessible table in the main testing room is it does move up and down, but I cannot physically push the buttons to make it do so!
Okay, I did finally get my test; however, when it was handed to me, it was not in large print. I could read it, barely, but I could manage. I was already in the testing room, squished like a sardine with every other student who takes their final in the DRS; I could not move without running into three other people and disturbing everyone in that room. When I leave the room, I cannot shut the door behind me, meaning I would have to leave the door open. So, I decided that this time I would not go ask for the essay questions to be enlarged. However, to my surprise, the testing lady came into the testing room about five minutes later and took my test back. She then returned with an enlarged copy of my test! I even received my first genuine sorry from someone in the DRS. I later found out that my mom and her friend saw me taking my test through the windows of the testing room (the whole one side of the room is windows). My mom asked the testing lady if my test had been enlarged. She exclaimed, "well, she should have told us." The first final that I received (the accounting final), was already enlarged when I arrived to take my test. It is on my file that I need large print, I should not have to ask.  
Never the less, with every storm, comes a rainbow. The reasoning for this being my favorite quarter at WWU is, this past quarter I made many genuine friends that see me as me and not my disability. Another reason is, for the first time, I had a professor not just accommodate me, but went above and beyond to help me succeed in his class. By all means, I do not mean that he treated me "differently" or set lower standards for me, but he made it clear that he was there if I ever needed his help; he e-mailed me and talked to me in person many times in order to make sure that he got the accommodations I requested correct. He even asked me if it was legal to not have handicap access buttons on all the doors (even the classroom doors); he was concerned that I had to wait for someone to open the door for me. I explained that to the best of my knowledge, handicap access buttons are only a curtsy and do not need to be placed on any doors (inside or out). The other neat thing that he did was every test that he sent to the DRS was already formatted with large print (so the DRS did not have to do so). I have never had a professor enlarge all my tests before sending them to the DRS! Thank you Professor Chen; you are an amazing professor and I am excited to take another class from you next quarter.
Two more really awesome things happened, both have to do with better accessibility on campus. The first one happened towards the beginning of the quarter. By Old Main, there was a bump up from the parking lot to the brick walkway; this bump was close to two inches and when in a wheelchair, going up this size of bump can be painful. It is also dangerous to anyone walking who is not paying attention. I saw two maintenance workers that were near the bump, so I pointed it out to them; I voiced my concerns and asked if they, or whoever was responsible for that sort of thing, could fix it. Nothing happened with regards to the bump, but the parking lot next to Old Main was patched. A couple weeks later, a friend of the family, who has connections to the maintenance department, told me to let him know if I ever needed anything done around campus. I explained to him about that bump by Old Main and within a week, that bump had been ramped!

 No more bump!

The other neat thing that happened is still in process. Towards the middle of the quarter another maintenance worker saw me traveling up the sidewalk parallel to the drive next to Arntzen Hall. Towards one end of the sidewalk, stood a light pole. This light pole had a large base that greatly protruded into the sidewalk. The sidewalk bends out around the base of the light, and this obstacle reveals who the bad drivers are. The part that bends around the light is skinnier than the rest of the sidewalk; I have a small clearance on either side of me (and I have a small chair)! An even worse structural issue about this sidewalk was the railing that curved around the exterior of the sidewalk. This railing did not do anything except get in the way. The railing did not prevent anyone from rolling off the sidewalk, as there is a concrete lip that does that, nor does it prevent anyone from driving onto the sidewalk. Large trucks use that parallel drive and one smashed into the railing, bending it into the pathway, preventing anyone in a wheelchair from using that sidewalk altogether. It is not safe for anyone to travel in the same driveway as crazy truck drivers.
The railing was the first thing to go. Then during dead week, a new light pole was put in place behind the sidewalk. Then during finals week, the light pole was removed from the base. Now all that is left is the great protruding concrete base, which should be gone by the end of break! Thank you to all the maintenance workers who are improving Western's campus and making it accessible to all.  

A beautiful autumn day on campus