If you were in a wheelchair crossing Main Street to go to the University Student Commons, you likely would want to enter the south entrance by driving your chair up the courtyard ramp and through the doors of the Commons.
After wheeling your wheelchair up the long ramp, imagine arriving at the door, pushing the handicapped door button and the door opening only halfway.
What would you do?
Student safety and facilities maintenance are goals of every university. To monitor and ensure these goals, The Commonwealth Times has decided to become a watchdog for the student body. This is the first installment of the Campus Watch series with reporter Isac Crouch. His responsibilities will include visiting buildings to find where there may be obstacles to security or safety.
“I have seen students in wheelchairs have to go around to another entrance,” said Kathy Gabriel, a junior English major. “That door has been broken for a very long time.”
Gabriel said she passes by the handicapped door at least twice daily thinking that it surely had been fixed-but it never opens all the way.
Finally, you make it into the Commons wanting to check your e-mail but find that only one of the three computers in the central dining area works. Then you see someone already using the lone working computer.
“If you want to check something online, it’s annoying if the computers don’t work,” said Nana Agyarko-Appea, a VCU student who doesn’t own a computer but uses others on campus. “Being able to check my e-mail in the Commons between my classes is vital for me.”
He explained that sometimes he doesn’t get a chance to check his e-mail at all, especially when no working computers are available.
“Why are the computers even there?” he asked.