VCU magazine (1990-11)

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1990 VOLUME 19, NUMBER3
Inside this issue:
With Honors: Dr. Tom Hall 2
Police Academy 2
RRTe: Supporting Employment 3
Letter from the President 5
Alumni Profil e: Dentistry's
Richard Barnes 8
A publication for alumni of the Academic and Medical College of Virginia Campuses of Virginia Commonwealth University
Opening the Doors to Perception
By Nancy StultS 78
Missed meetings and feelings of impa­tience
and frustration were common ex­periences
for faculty, administrators, and
students who volunteered to temporarily
assume certain disabilities during the Uni­versity's
fIrst Awareness Day Festival on
September 26.
The event was arranged by Possibili­ties
Unlimited, a year-old VCU student
organization which focuses on issues re­lating
to people with disabilities. Exhibits,
demonstrations, and activities were de­signed
to he ighten the sensitivity of the
University community and the gene ral
public to barriers which individuals with
disabilities face daily.
The tone was set by
keynote speaker James
Rothrock '78 Ms reha­bilitation
counseling,
executive director of the
Department for Rights of
Virginians with Disabilities,
who m allenged his aud i­ence
to see past disabilities
and recognize abilities.
arrived at his meeting, the council had
already dealt with his agenda item.
Dr. Alvin j . Schexnider, associate vice
president for academic affairs, donned
black glasses to blind him for part of the
day. He and his student aide stepped
haltingly out of Ginter House and onto
the craggy brick sidewalk, one of the
Academic Campus's many historic fea­tures
that would prove to be more of a
hazard than a hand icap. Because the cor­ner
at Shafer and Franklin Streets has no
traffic light, Schexnider listened closely for
the approach of cars and hoped fo r the
best before crossing. He found that his
memolY for detail took over as he neared
his office and, once there, his capabilities
increased. Although his
work was limited to the
telepho ne (wid1 lots of
he lp), his ability to navi­gate
his office, tinker with
his computer, and repeat­edly
fmd his coffee cup
was impressive.
Schexnider noted the
tremendous amount of
time it tOClk for routine
tasks and his feelings of
dependence on others.
As part of d,e trading
places activity, Dr. Elske
v.P. Smith went about her
routine rnpming as dean
of the College of Humani­ties
and Sciences in a
wheelm air. The usual
fIve-minute walk from the
business sctrool audita-
Stephen Moore's experience under­scores
that people aren't "handicaps"­barriers
are.
''You just can 't get any­where
quickly," Stephen
Moore, Jr. , said. Assistant
Vice President for Human
Resources, M()()re was
equipped with a walker
and weights on his ankles
rium on the Academic
Campus became a 20-minute ord",,,1 of
running into curbs and getting stuck in
sidewalk cracks. In order to enter Hibbs
Building through the area that provides
access to people with disabilities, she
found she had to travel twice as far.
Jeffrey Cribbs started his day as ass0-
ciate vice president for planning and
budget by missing a meeting of the Presi­dent's
Council. The d isability he assumed
was rheumatoid arthritis, which meant
wearing a brace on his leg, thick gloves
on his hands, and walking with a cane. It
slowed him down some. By the time he
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and wrists to simulate
post-polio syndrome. "1 thought I would
be clever and drive back to my office. But
I couldn't even get into the car. My
walker wouldn't fit in the space between
my car and the o ne parke d next to me."
Moore's experience was one of many that
underscores what people with disabilities
have been trying to emphasize: people
aren't "handicaps"- baJTiers are.
Dr. Nancy Avakian, ass<X:iate vice
president for academic affairs, lost her
hearing and speech for her morning's
IY" rticipation. Her assistants for the day
hooked up a te lecommunication device
for the deaf ('IDD) in her office so that
usual office communications could pro- reach out and show the public that we
ceed. But, they explained, if both caller are students with disabilities-but we are
and receiver don't each have a roD, one students first," he said. "A high discomfort
would have to call the Communications level when dealing with d isabled persons
Center for the Deaf (CCD), which would leads to poor communication. Certain ac-then
be able to ,...,-.",,-..... ..---. commodations
complete the need to be made,
communicarion. but often all that
is needed is just
common cour­tesy,"
said Coe.
Local disc
jockey celebrity
Steve Leonard was
struck by his
sudden "no nexist­ence"
when he
assumed a visual
At ftrst A ,,?kian
found a noiseless
vacuum restful, but
later it became
quite disturbing.
Forced to commu­nie-
dte by writing or
using simple hand
gestures, people
with whom she
interacted were
puzzled. Some
insisted on talking
Dr. Elske v.P. Smith went about her routine moming as de!ln impainn ent. When
of the College ofHOOl8nities and Sciences in a wheelchair. he asked for direc-to
her and were embarrassed when she
wrote them a note in respo~e; others
ignored her. Even if she'd had the advan­tage
of knowing Ame rican Sign Language
(ASL), so few hearing people learn ASL
that it wouldn't always serve her among
them. At lunch, she felt isolated; even
tho ugh she sat at a table with others, no
o ne made an attempt to communicate.
Repeatedly participants noted that,
while physical barriers were problems,
the toughest hurdles were the invisible
but very real s<xiaJ baniers. 'We want
people to realize our capabilities and to
be more comfortable when interacting
with us," said Malcolm Cae, president of
Possibilities Unlimited . "Our goal is to
tions on the street,
people responded to his aide instead of
to him. At a right-tum-on-red he was
nearly run ove r.
Judy Vido '85 BS psychology/'89 MsW
a charter member of Possibilities Unlim­ited,
compared current attitudes toward
people with disabilities to civil rights con­cerns
of the sixties. Laws to ensure equal
treatment are in place, but social attitudes
have not adjusted, she said.
Besides the faculty and administrative
participants, approximately 75 students
reached into a hat, pulled out a paper
marked with a disability he or she was to
simulate, and completed an assigned task.
TIlls kind of participation in the first
( Continued on page 4)
Master Site Plan Update
On November 15, President Eugene P. Trani announced that he will ask VCU's Board
of Visitors, at its regu!arly sclheduled meeting in January, to fonnally withdraw from
consideration by the Commonwealth the master site plan for the Academic Campus it
approved one year ago.
Citing the continuing controversy over the master site plan as the reason for his
decision, Trani said that VClls reputation for excellence and accomplishment is being
overshadowed by the "political sto= " that has developed over the plan. In an
opinion published in the November 18 Richmond Times-Dispatch, Trani stated, 'The
master site plan was intended to be a planning document to guide the University's
( Corrtinued on page 4)