[nfbmi-talk] and michigan is worse

Tue Nov 19 21:27:15 UTC 2013

I agree. I've documented violations of the ADA including at tthat building 
to MPAS and others for years.

However, getting back to the severe nursing home abuse issue there is 
something tthat is very relevent including to BSBP. That is Michigan ranks 
43rd nationally in abuse and neglect and other reported severe issues with 
nursing homes.

And who had regulatory oversight of them for LARA until Ed Rodgers snatched 
him out to work for BSBP along with longtime Administrative Assistent Katie 
Belknap? That's right Mike Pemble Deputy Director of BSBP and Ed Rodgers 
so-called "rainmaker".

Oh yes and back to the Ottawa building they lock the accessible door tthere.

What criminals they all are.

Joe
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terry D. Eagle" <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 4:15 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] and michigan is worse

> In my opinion, apologies and expressions of regret don't make the grade 
> for
> non-compliance with the ADA and accessibility to programs, services, and
> facilities by persons with disabilities.  Perhaps, just perhaps, cutting 
> off
> all federal funds will bring about compliance, and then likely only if it
> eliminates the paycheck funding in positions of authority and the power to
> make compliance reality.
>
> For example, LARA director Steve Arwood and Deputy Director Mike Zimmer's
> paycheck should be stopped until persons with disabilities can freely and
> easily enter the north Ottawa building entrance designed in 1980 to permit
> unemcumbered entrance to the state building where individuals should have 
> a
> shot at justice through the administrative hearing system.  Heck, in
> Michigan, we don't even have the pleasure or honor, or should I say we 
> even
> lack the respect and dignity to even ring a second-class citizen bell.
> Perhaps MPAS will sue for the bell.  Oh yeah, that's right, MPAS is busy
> suing for the civil rights of dead persons!  We could sue Mr. Rodgers,
> however to serve him the lawsuit complaint would be impossible, as he is
> continuously out-of-state on taxpayer funded extended conference trips,
> likely to avoid the media seeking his comment on stupidly planned services
> for Tim Hortons, or to aboid service of process on a variety of law and
> regulation violations, that unfortunately, do not benefit or serve the 
> needs
> of unemployed and under-employed blind citizens and clients.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of joe
> harcz Comcast
> Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 1:29 PM
> To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: BRIAN SABOURIN; Elmer Cerano MPAS; MARK CODY
> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] and michigan is worse
>
> Shoot are VR entities including BSBP and most CILs here aren't fully
> accessible to the very people with disabilities they are to serve.
>
> Joe Harcz
> Disability studies meeting wasn't accessible to those with disabilities |
> Inside Higher Ed
>
> No Access
>
> November 19, 2013
>
>
>
> By
>
> Megan Rogers
>
>
>
> At a gathering for scholars interested in the intersection of health,
> humanities and disabilities this weekend, a professor who uses a 
> wheelchair
> was asked
>
> to ring a bell to gain access to the meeting.
>
>
>
> William Peace, a visiting professor at Syracuse University, wrote in a
>
> blog post
>
> he hadn't seen a sign directing people to "ring bell for access"- which he
> likened to "white only" signs - since the Americans with Disabilities Act
> was
>
> passed 23 years ago.
>
>
>
> "Before the ADA was passed into law, I rang many such bells for access to
> buildings. Half the time no one answered the bell. The other times after 
> an
> extended
>
> wait someone would arrive to open the door," Peace wrote. "In short, I
> quickly learned 'Ring bell for access' really meant there is no desire or
> commitment
>
> to wheelchair access."
>
>
>
> The blog post has attracted considerable attention among disability
> scholars, who report that they do regularly confront issues with
> accessibility, but
>
> that they expect better -- or should be able to expect better -- at 
> meetings
> that involve disability studies.
>
>
>
> Peace's post elicited apologies from the president of Hobart and William
> Smith Colleges, where the event was held, as well as from the organizers 
> of
> the
>
> humanities, health and disabilities studies working group. The
>
> group
>
> is co-sponsored by the Central New York Humanities Corridor and the New 
> York
> Six Liberal Arts Consortium.
>
>
>
> When Peace and Stephen Kuusisto, a professor of disability studies at
> Syracuse University and honors program director, arrived at the working
> group's meeting,
>
> they first saw an "enter here" sign directly in front of a row of steps. 
> The
> pair navigated around the building to find a wheelchair accessible ramp,
> Kuusisto
>
> said, but when they entered the building they discovered more steps 
> leading
> to the meeting room.  They entered the meeting through a back entrance 
> that
>
> instructed them to ring a bell for access.
>
>
>
> "These kinds of setbacks are so wearing and frustrating and humiliating 
> that
> it's hard to absorb," said Kuusisto. "The organizers of the conference are
>
> well-meaning people and yet they were insufficiently mindful of ADA 101."
>
>
>
> A spokeswoman from Hobart and William Smith Colleges released a statement 
> on
> Monday: "Hobart and William Smith Colleges regret the accessibility
> challenges
>
> faced by Professors Kuusisto and Peace. The conference organizers
> immediately apologized and the president of Hobart and William Smith also
> personally
>
> expressed his regret. We remain committed to ensuring that our facilities
> and programs are accessible to all members of the community. We have taken
> immediate
>
> steps to create more appropriate signage and to mitigate access issues."
>
>
>
> Peace said the college has taken appropriate steps by issuing an apology 
> and
> he looks to see how the working group will make its meetings more 
> inclusive.
>
> Conference organizers did not respond to requests for comment. Peace said 
> he
> will only participate again if more scholars with disabilities are 
> included
>
> in the group.
>
>
>
> But the incident is just one example of unequal access to higher education
> facilities, Kuusisto said. He said he's never seen a lectern on a stage 
> that
>
> had a ramp, making the "passive assumption that nobody in a wheelchair 
> would
> be delivering a lecture." He also spoke of a university that has its 
> student
>
> disabilities office located in a basement with no emergency exit, which
> would prevent those who used wheelchairs from exiting if the elevators
> stopped
>
> working. Peace said the issue of equal accommodations illustrates a larger
> issue that higher education is not welcoming to scholars with 
> disabilities.
>
>
>
> "Access is a problem. No thought is really put into cultivating professors
> with a disability or students with a disability. And what happens is
> disability
>
> becomes a spectacle and it becomes a problem that has to be managed and
> solved," Peace said. "What took place at Hobart and William Smith Colleges
> was
>
> a microcosm of what could happen at any place."
>
>
>
> The ADA was passed almost 25 years ago, but those with disabilities must
> continue to call ahead to make sure public and shared spaces will be
> accommodating,
>
> said Tammy Berberi, president of the Society for Disability Studies. She's
> frustrated by colleges and universities that pay lip service to equal 
> access
>
> by insisting they'd like to offer equal access, but say they do not have 
> the
> resources to do so.
>
>
>
> "The kind of accommodations we can make to benefit people with 
> disabilities
> would benefit everyone," said Berberi, an associate professor of French at
> the
>
> University of Minnesota at Morris. "Any one of us should be afforded 
> access
> to public and shared spaces."
>
>
>
> She pointed to the Bodies of Work festival hosted by the University of
> Illinois at Chicago as an example of an academic meeting that provides 
> equal
> access.
>
> The festival provides an
>
> accessibility manual
>
> that outlines accessible travel to the conference, access to services
> (including exhibitions, tour routes and lectures), access to amenities 
> (such
> as restrooms
>
> and public phones) and empathetic and appropriate terminology. The Society
> for Disability Studies also provides recommendations for presenters. The
>
> recommendations
>
> range from providing audio descriptions of all graphics to speaking at a
> comfortable pace to allow for accurate American Sign Language 
> interpretation
> and
>
> Communication Access Realtime Translation transcription.
>
>
>
> Source:
>
> http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/19/disability-studies-meeting-was
> nt-accessible-those-disabilities
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