Council for Disability
Concerns
Attending: Anne Chi, Margaret Hough, Jay Sennett
(Welcome, Jay!),
Breck, Jack Novodoff,
Carole Dubritsky, Jeffrey Tibbs, Jim Knox, Carey
Larabee (Welcome, Carey!), Tom Hoatlin (Welcome, Tom!), Douglas White
(Presiding), Anna Ercoli Schnitzer (Minutes).
Doug called the meeting to order and introductions of attendees
were
made. Doug stated that we would attempt to adhere
to the agenda and
cover all the items within an
hour. He asked whether the meeting site
(President's Conference Room) is agreeable to everyone (which it
was)
and announced that meetings
will probably be held there from now on
instead of the
Wednesday at
SNOW:
Snow removal problems were discussed with emphasis on curb cuts
being
covered with snow, and various
ideas were broached, e.g., since Grounds
cannot do 2nd tier buildings
immediately, perhaps snowblowers/salt could
be provided so that specified
individuals could clear areas that impede
accessibility.
As a first step, Carole will meet with heads of Grounds, Building
Services, Work Control, and Parking to set up a system that
identifies
buildings and needs and establishes
clear, uniform procedures. After
that, there will be a call for
public comments, which will allow Council
members to give input. It was noted that the city plows the city
streets on campus and snow is
often dumped on curb cuts.
CONSTRUCTION:
Discussion of proactive advocacy by Council to be accomplished by
a
committee that would advise all new
construction. Carole emphasized
that this is a good time for us
to assert ourselves with the
architects/engineers, to get things done right
the first time and thus
to feel empowered.
The number of wheelchair accessible seats and lack of
wheelchair-friendly bathrooms in the stadium
was the next subject of
discussion. There will be a Regents Meeting on March
17th, in which the
stadium construction may be on the
agenda.
There is an Architect/Engineering/Services (AES) web site that
lists all
UM construction projects, so there is opportunity for us to find
out
what is happening. Universal design helps everyone, those
with/without
mobility issues.
CALL for VOLUNTEERS to be on the Construction Advisory
Committee--please
contact Doug (dkwhite@umich.edu). So far, suggested members are: Jack
Novodoff, Tom Hoatlin,
Carey Larabee, Jay Sennett,
Vic Rosenberg, Mike
Harris?, Paul Guttman?. There should be an 18 month to 2 year
commitment. Committee members would meet with the
architects of various
projects and become part of the
process.
INVESTING in ABILITIES
We have to decide on a speaker or keynote event. Jim Knox presented
idea of having large screens
set up in Diag and having event broadcast
in and taken right to campus,
perhaps with Stephen Hawking or another
well-known figure in a video
conference. We could use SI technology. Jim
Abbott was mentioned along with Don Anderson.
Steven Kuusisto of OSU (wrote "Planet
of the Blind").
suggested a panel discussion on
voter accessibility issues, bringing in
experts from various states.
CALL for VOLUNTEERS to be on Speaker Advisory Committee--please
contact
Doug (dkwhite@umich.edu). So far, we have Doug, Jim, Anna and perhaps
Tom? or Mike Harris?
NEUBACHER COMMITTEE
CALL for VOLUNTEERS and for LEADER of Neubacher
Committee--please
contact Doug (dkwhite@umich.edu). So far we have Jay, Carole, Anna.
Carole has all the information and instructions to pass along but
cannot
be leader again this year.
$5000 fund was briefly discussed (available until end of June)--we
could
use to pay a portion of
speaker fee or to set up Diag video conference.
The meeting was adjourned promptly at
ADDENDUM:
For those of you who could not make the meeting, please consider
volunteering for one of the groups
listed above. The Council needs
*your* help. Thanks very
much.