COLUMN: U.S. should improve handicap accessibility

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by Anne Kimbol

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During the"Star Spangled Banner," Miss Louisiana signed the words for the hearing impaired. It is this kind of lip service (excuse the pun) to the handicapped which really made me angry. I had never before been so angered by something so small, but the more I thought about it the angrier I became.

I spent last semester in Australia, a country which does more than play the game of fitting itself to the handicapped. The walk signals have a characteristic sound which lets visually impaired pedestrians know when it is safe to cross. The walk signal button you push moves at different speeds for "walk" or "don't walk" to aid the visually and hearing impaired. Some highly used walkways have bumps which can be felt through the thickest soled shoes, allowing even a blind person to know where the sidewalk is. And do not get me started on the comparative availability of public transportation in Australia and here.

The United States, especially in the last few years, has been talking more and more along "politically correct" lines on issues involving the handicapped. We have all seen Christopher Reeves on television and heard him and his wife speak about how lucky they are to be rich. Politicians and celebrities gather in crowd-filled rooms and hear the Reeves explain how much harder their lives would be without money. People clap and applaud them for their courage. Afterward, they go home, and by the next morning the Congressmen and other officials who have the power to make changes have forgotten the Reeves' real message -- this country needs to be more handicapped-accessible.

Do not misunderstand me. I am glad that the national anthem is broadcast in sign language for such a widely watched event as the Super Bowl. I also strongly support the laws which do exist to help the handicapped. However, it is nowhere near enough.

As much as I laugh at some of our nationally declared holidays, I think the United States needs a "Handicapped Awareness Day." For that one day every year we would each have to live as a handicapped person and see how well we got along. I doubt I could function on a school day without my contact lenses, let alone if I were fully blind or physically impaired in some other way. Imagine what it would be like to live every day in a country which claims to provide equal opportunities for all but seems to forget that not all its citizens can see, hear or walk. Personally, I think I'd move to Europe or Australia. I doubt I could survive here.

Anne Kimbol is the business manager and a Baker College junior.

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the January 31, 1997 issue.

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