We're not sit'n on the back of the van, damn it!

It has come to our attention that in the fall 1999 semester, the WVU Night Rider Program is finally using one of its four accessible vans to provide transportation services to disabled students.  This victory was achieved after seven months of fighting, which included an investigation by the U.S. Office of Civil Rights, ADAPT's win over the Yellow Cab Company, and two letters from our attorney.  At last we all can ride!

Handicapped accessibilty of Nite Rider vans

challenged by two students

By MIKE WOOD ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

   Although the Nite Rider service has been using a van that is not handicapped accessible, disabled students who fit the guidelines of the program can receive transportation. 
    According to Barbara Judy, West Virginia University coordinator for the Americans With Disabilities Act, the University will make arrangements if people in wheelchairs or other disabled students wish to use Nite Rider, provided that they live in the areas that it services.
    “We have a bus that is handicapped accessible, but it takes a lot of time for the driver to change out the van, so what we discovered is that it’s easier for us to pay for a cab to take the student home,” Judy said. “We can make arrangements for a taxi, and the University will pay for it. No one is turned away.”
    Two University students were turned away, however, although officials say it was for legitimate reasons.
    Mickey Finn, a senior general studies major, and Ken Ervin, a graduate student studying special education, were unable to use Nite Rider to get home from the Mountainlair Feb. 25. Both students suffer from cerebral palsy.
    According to Finn, he and Ervin called for a van around 9:30 p.m. Feb. 25. They were with Chris Sunseri, a friend who doubles as an attendant to push their wheelchairs. On this night, Sunseri was pushing Ervin’s wheelchair, as Finn had just recovered from a weeklong illness and needed a battery-powered chair.
    “My battery indicator light said it was too low to make it back to my apartment without running out of power,” Finn said. “So both me and Ken said we would ride a bus back to the apartment. The bus showed up around 10 p.m. or thereabouts, and when we asked the driver, he said he didn’t have anyone to take us, due to accessibility issues.”
    The two had been outdoors for about 30 minutes at this point, which can be detrimental for people with cerebral palsy.
“Neither Ken nor I are to be out in cold temperatures for an extended period of time,” Finn said. “One of the symptoms of our disorder is sensitivity to cold. Cold affects us more so than most people, so we had to warm up before we proceeded to go home. Chris pushed Ken home, and I went home a little later, even though my batteries were low.”
    According to Judy, the reason the two were denied usage was because they live in Arnold Apartments, which is not covered in the Nite Rider area. The Nite Rider program does accommodate handicapped students.
In fact, the University has purchased a handicapped accessible van and is in the process of preparing it for use.
    However, Ervin said he believes the University has still broken the law.
“We’ve been in contact with Federal Transit Administration, and they said program should have never been started,” he said. “The service should have been available to all students at the inception of the program and as it was advertised in the Nite Rider brochure.”
    According to Ervin, the brochures for the program make it clear that it is available for students with disabilities.
Although the two have not developed any specific plans of action, they are leaving their options open.
“At the moment we are waiting to see what they are going to do,” he said. “Hopefully if they get the new vans within a month or so, we will do nothing.”Ervin added that the two may consider legal alternatives.“We’re going to keep trying to use the service, and we’re definitely looking at the possibility at filing a complaint with FTA since the University hasn’t met their obligations under the Americans With Disabilities Act.”
    Ervin said he talked to officials prior to attempting to use Nite Rider, but at the time, they were still waiting on the van.
“I spoke to Barb Judy, the ADA coordinator for WVU, on the 17th, and she said new vans had been purchased but they were waiting on licensure and for the input of the Vice President Ken Gray to develop policies and procedures. So Mickey and I went down to the ’Lair on the 25th expecting to get a ride, but they still hadn’t arrived.”
    The van has arrived, however, and Judy said that it will be ready for use as soon as possible.
Moreover, she added that she never directly spoke to Ervin or Finn, or she would have explained the Nite Rider policy and accommodations regarding handicapped students.
Solutions to the problem may be on the way, but according to Ervin, the damage has already been done.
“This is ridiculous,” he said. “This is parallel to the civil rights movement to the ’60s, except we’re not in the back of the bus. We can’t even get on.”
    Although Nite Rider may be a little more inconvenient for disabled students, the University is working on the problem.
“Certainly our intention is to provide the service to everyone,” Mary Collins, assistant to the vice president of student affairs, said. “It is going to happen. It’s not something we simply overlooked.”