The unfriendly front of the student Health building and far location makes more inaccessible to all students on campus. 1525 Clifton Rd is about a 15-minute walk from the central campus of Emory. The route includes crossing roads and walking a small hill. Many non- chair user students have questioned why the building does not have a more centralized location. As college senior Ameesh Kapoor reported in 2002, "It's annoying to take time out of your schedule in between classes and then to walk all the way out there…” he said. "It's really inefficient." (Brill, 2002). The time to get to the building would only increase for a chair user. Especially if you factor in time crossing busy Clifton Rd. This road has a cross walk for students to use, and generally it is necessary to use because the traffic is heavy. For chair-users they would have to use the cross walk, since running between cars is not an option. Actually in 2002 at a University Senate meeting the chair of safety and security, Paula Bechtler, raised the issue of pedestrian traffic between the main campus and 1525 Clifton Rd building (Terrazas). The traffic and one cross walk makes crossing the road difficult. Student health’s location is not easily accessible for Emory students, wheel-chair bound or not.
If the building is difficult to access for non chair-users, it seems particularly inaccessible to chair-users. Aside from the distant physical location, the overt ramps in front of the building make it seem not wheel chair accessible. I say seems, since as mentioned above the building does house ramps. Upon closer inspection the ramps are of ADA approved quality. Both sides have handrails and the wheel-chair turning circle is under code. All the ADA codes were taken into consideration in the construction plans in all aspects of the building (Drawing Index- A 0.03). One personal note I noticed was that since the ramp was made out of concrete, it may be slippery in inclement weather. A non-slip pad could be added to reduce this problem. Even if the actual structure of the ramp is ADA approved, does that mean the entrance to the building is accessible? The overtness of these ramps makes it seem like it is not accessible. It raises the feeling that chair-users are not welcome. A feeling of legimate belongingness is included in the meaning of access (Titchkosky). It could be argued that if it is the case that wheelchair users do not feel they can participate it is a violation of their rights (Titchkosky). To design the student health building more evidently accessible is not a suggestion it becomes a demand.
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