Disabled students have a hard time at UH

By Jenn Boneza

Brian Kojiyama, who is currently pursuing his masters in education from the counseling and guidance program, is unable to meet with his professor’s inside their offices. Kojiyama can’t even check his own mailbox, he must rely on a department secretary to do it for him and he can’t even get to his department’s office because there is insufficient access at the Wist Annex building. 

Kojiyama, who is confined to a wheelchair, is not alone.  He and many other disabled students attending UH-Manoa face obstacles and accessibility problems on a daily basis.  But the problem runs much deeper than an inability to get around.  Kojiyama said that he feels like he is not really a part of the program because he is unable to access his own department. “It’s like I’m on the outside looking in,” he said.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) were created to eliminate situations like those Brian Kojiyama faces at UHM. Although UHM is currently working on modifying buildings to comply with ADA standards, the process is much more complicated than it seems, said Equal Employment Office (EEO) Director Mie Watanabe in a phone interview with Ka Leo Oct. 17.

“There are several hundred buildings at UH,” Watanabe said, “and the vast majority of them were built prior to 1976.”  Although the laws outline construction guidelines and measures meant to ensure equality, they apply to only facilities designed after the laws went into effect.

“Ultimately the buildings must be built according to the standard of the time,” said Ann Ito, the director for Kokua, a UHM program that assists disabled persons. “The fact that the building does not comply, is not a legal violation.”

Kokua helps students with disabilities in such ways as dealing with accessibility issues.  When there is a problem, the Kokua staff help relocate classes to areas that are accessible for the students.  UHM has been taking steps to rectify accessibility problems and comply with ADA standards.

“We’re almost finished making modifications on post-1977 buildings,” Watanabe said but many of the modifications are not really visible.  “They include changes such as lowering the height of door thresholds, lowering the placement of fire alarms, raising the height of floor outlets, restriping parking lots, accessible door hardware and altering the incline of existing ramps.”

Watanabe added that the only buildings that she thought would be fully ADA compliant are those built recently; however, despite the attention given to architectural design, problems might still occur.

For example: The Pacific Oceanography Science Technology (POST) building complies with ADA standards, except that the doors used to enter the building are too heavy for physically disabled students to open.

“You have to have doors that are not going to fly open with the wind,” Watanabe said.  She added that, the doors are a problem because they are too heavy, which makes it difficult for some students to get into the building.

Adding to the already complicated task of renovating and designing ADA- compliant facilities, is the budget cuts the University has dealt with from the legislature.
Budget cuts limit the amount of construction and design that can be done each year and they also contributed to the elimination of the full-time ADA architect at UHM.

Watanabe said they do have a part-time architect, but since she knows the full-time position is more effective, she plans on asking the legislature to give her department back the position and the money to support it.  “It’s one of the things on my wish list,” Watanabe said.

Watanabe said that the EEO, as well as departments, has tried to provide services with very little money from the legislature.  “It’s like trying to squeeze blood from a stone,” according to Watanabe.

Despite the lack of money and insufficient staff, Watanabe said that UHM was “moving along” in regards to implementing ADA standards, “but there’s a lot more to do.”Although persons with disabilities face many obstacles, those obstacles are not only physical.

“For all students with disabilities, there are many different challenges,” Ito said.  “One is the matter of attitude toward people with disabilities by people who don’t have disabilities.  What we try to foster is an attitude of respect.  “It is critical that we have this sense of respect,” Ito said.  “Without it, we have many problems.  Without it, a sufficient solution is never found.”

When it comes to respect, Kojiyama said that he does feel a sense of respect between himself, his peers and professors; however, he stressed that “the lack of access to one’s own department is really unacceptable.”