Handicapped accessibility?
Stephanie Brown
Staff Writer
Amanda Stahl lives her life like any other Xavier student. She gets up, grabs a quick breakfast and is out the door on her way to class.
There is one difference that separates Stahl from other students: She gets around campus using a wheelchair.
While Xavier attempts to accommodate students with disabilities, there is still room for improvement.
Brockman Hall, for example, is inaccessible by wheelchair, making it hard for freshmen with disabilities to visit their friends.
Schott Hall can only be entered through the admissions office which closes at certain hours, limiting the times that students with disabilities can go to their professor’s office hours.
Stahl, a senior, lives on the first floor of the Commons and thinks that the school has tried to accomodate her specific needs.
She has a button which automatically opens the front door of the Commons as well as her apartment door.
Stahl’s kitchen supplies have been moved to a lower level, allowing her to cook.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sets forward laws that institutions like Xavier University are required to follow.
The ADA states that a college, university or school cannot discriminate based on disabilities and must also meet the specific needs of those with disabilities.
There is a specific group on campus for students with disabilities called Student Network for Accessibility Awareness for the Community (SNAAC).
Right now, SNAAC is working to get a ramp that will allow students with disabilities to enter the Women’s Center.
“I feel as though Xavier is taking the right steps to accommodate students with disabilities,” said senior Alicia Plachecki. “They recently built a ramp to access and connect the Dorothy Day House and Campus Ministry.”
Xavier makes sure that classes are easily accessible and that students with disabilities will not have class in the Armory, Elet Hall or the Cohen Center.
Women’s Center opens
Matthew Finger
Managing Editor
Erika Breese
The exterior of the new Xavier Women’s Center, opened last month on Dana Ave.
After more than two decades, Xavier University once again has a women’s center.
The new Women’s Center, located adjacent to the Village on Dana Avenue, opened last month.
Cheryl Nuñez, the Vice Provost of Diversity said, “The decision to revive the center was made in response to the organized demand of students, supported by faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and community members.”
The last women’s center at Xavier, called the Breen Lodge, opened in 1972; just three years after the university became co-educational.
It was established as a “resource center for women’s activities at Xavier.” The center was closed eight years later after it was decided that the center was no longer needed.
In the spring 2005, a proposal for the creation of a new women’s center was brought by SGA to the Academic Vice President and Provost Roger Fortin.
This is the first semester for Xavier’s new women’s center, but the Women’s Center Director Dr. Jennifer Wies is already excited about the Center’s potential. “We have a lot of friends here on campus,” says Wies, who has only been at Xavier since August.
Erika Breese
The interior of the new Xavier Women’s Center, opened last month on Dana Ave.
Although the Center is not open full-time right now, it will be next semester.
The Center, which is equipped with wireless internet, currently has coffeehouse hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and hosts brownbag lunches, which include guest speakers and discussions.
Topics for these lunches have included “Gender-Based Violence: Definitions, Prevalence and Interventions” and “Because I Have a Lot of Living Left To Do: A Cancer Survivor’s Story.”
“I want the Center to be a place for centering women and exploring issues that predominantly affect women,” says Wies.
Despite the Center’s limited hours, Wies is working to build relationships within the Xavier community, generate a budget proposal and create new programs for the upcoming semester.
The Women’s Center looked for feedback from the Xavier community in its recent “Three Wishes Campaign.”
Students, faculty and staff were invited to share their three most important visions for the Women’s Center. These ideas will be used to help create a Women’s Center that can best serve the Xavier community.
SGA voting goes hi-tech
Jeff McMurray
Feature News Editor
With technology playing a major role on Xavier’s campus, it was only a matter of time until the Student Senate elections would be held on the Xavier Portal.
That time has finally come as the recent Freshmen Senate elections were held online.
Key in supporting online voting was junior Katy Baldwin, Chair of the Board of Elections.
“I contacted Vic Andre, one of the portal programmers, and he helped develop the online ballot for us,” said Baldwin.
Overall, Baldwin was very happy with the turnout from the online vote, which doubled from last year’s freshmen elections. The total turnout was 594 students.
When asked what impact the online vote would have on Xavier, Baldwin said she is “still very curious to see how this affects future elections. I do think though that this will do better for SGA as a whole, which in turn benefits the students.”
One of the main reasons Baldwin worked so hard to institue online voting was because Xavier was one of the few remaining schools that still held elections with paper ballots.
Though Baldwin was a main player in bringing online voting to Xavier, she was not alone.
Helping her behind the scenes was senior Ray O’Brien, the Association of Affairs chair. He and the rest of the Association of Affairs rewrote the election code, which in turn allowed the online vote to happen.
Previously, the election code said that all senate elections must be held in person and all ballots had to be scantron.
Now the election code states that the voting procedure will be online and at anytime on one’s own computer or a public computer on campus.
“I initially thought we were moving too quickly but after seeing the product, I am definitely in favor of it,” said O’Brien.
When asked if there was any room for improvement for the online voting, O’Brien said, “There are still some glitches that need to be worked out but it’s coming along really well.”
John LaFollette
Editor-in-Chief
Rachel Peters
Ann Tassone
Darren LaCour
Senior News Editors
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