Wheelchair Days at MSOE
| Published: 10/09/2008 |
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Students from Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) will spend their days in wheelchairs Oct. 14-16 as part of MSOE's fifth annual Wheelchair Days event. Organized by the MSOE student chapter of the Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI), Wheelchair Days are an opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges that are met and overcome every day for people with disabilities. Last year, more than 100 students were involved, the most of any participating college or university in the country.
Organizers hope the experience will stimulate future architectural engineers, construction managers and nurses to imagine greater and more efficient systems, protocols, and opportunities for access and comfort (beyond the basic statutory demands of the A.D.A.) for those whose daily experience is lived two feet lower and several experiential miles less easily than everyone else.
Students will check wheelchairs in/out at the Student Life and Campus Center, 1025 N. Broadway, from 7:30 to 8 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 14-16. From there, many will head to the Science Building (432 E. Kilbourn Ave.) or the Engineering Center (912 N. Milwaukee St.) for classes.
Throughout the day, students will be traveling between buildings during class changes each hour. (Classes let out at 10 minutes till the hour and start on the hour. For example, a class will end at 10:50 a.m. and the next will begin at 11 a.m.)
Students are asked to go through their normal daily routine including going to class, working, going through the college food lines and negotiating their dormitory rooms. They are encouraged to go outside and experience curb cuts, sidewalk slopes and public access into various buildings.
Wheelchair Days are sponsored by AEI, the MSOE Office of Servant-Leadership, MSOE's Architectural Engineering and Nursing departments and the Milwaukee County Office for Persons With Disabilities. It is part of Tap the Potential, Disability Awareness Month.