EDITORIALS

 

 


How hard is it to open a door– rather than to push a button?


Everyone has seen the handicapped doors around campus that allow people to press a button and open the door hands-free.

However, some people take advantage of this service without necessity. This overuse causes the batteries that operate these doors from the outside to not work. This leaves people who are truly handicapped without this useful function.

According to Sheryl Ballenger, director of the Access Center, these batteries open the doors from the outside leading inside. They have to be replaced every couple of days in the winter to ensure that they still work. During the cold weather, they use more energy than during the summer and therefore have to be replaced more often.

Everyone on campus can help with this problem. Do not use the doors unless you really need them. Also Ballenger stressed the issue of reporting when these buttons do not work.

Please report it to either the Access Center at (706) 802-5003 or the Physical Plant at (706) 295-6353 so that the batteries can be replaced as soon as possible.

Ballenger said that “universal accessibility” is something she desires at GHC. In other words, she wants to equip all of GHC with automatic door-opening buttons so that everyone will use them and handicapped persons will not have to be specially accommodated. What an interesting perspective.

Not to say that it is unreasonable to bump the button every once in a while when carrying a heavy load of books. But it is a regular occurrence to see people with nothing but a notebook or a backpack push the button with a perfectly able hand just because they are too lazy to open a door.

Think of the people who really need the function and how often it is not available. Do not use the automatic door-openers if it is not necessary and report them as soon as possible if you find that they do not work.