page 2
daily nebraskan
monday, march 24, 1980
Handicapped . . .
Continued from Page 1
"If I were putting a gauge on the importance of the
money, he said, 1 would say it is an important step
rather than a huge step.
Munn said he is certain that even before the recent
allocations the university had complied with federal
standards.
"I have every bit of confidence that the university is in
compliance with federal law, he said. "I know what
other institutions are doing and I feel good about what
we're doing.
The federal law referred to is Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which was not signed into law
until April 28, 1977. The thrust of the legislation is to
ensure that education programs be "equally effective" for
disabled persons. This applies only to programs which
receive federal financing.
The legislation says program accessibility should be the
guide for modification plans. It does not require that all
buildings be accessible, and says capital construction
should be the last resort in redesigning.
Munn said federal agencies are supposed to conduct
periodic compliance reviews, but added that universities
rarely undergo such reviews. The purpose of the program
under review determines which federal agency will check
on compliance. For example, the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare would conduct a review for a
university.
There are also investigations by federal agencies, but
those are conducted only after someone has charged dis
crimination, Munn said.
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"The law says we will make reasonable accommo
dations, but that is not to say we are doing everything,"
he said. "You can't do overnight what hasn't been done in
a century.'
The current accommodations offered at UNL include
provisions for access to new buildings or those being re
modeled, parking places, modifications in residence halls
such as lower rods in closets and special showers, and
assistance in finding aides if necessary .
There is a list of capital construction items prioritized
and waiting for funds, Munn said. The $161 ,000 will take
care of tome of these items, which are determined by the
individual needs of physically handicapped students, he
explained.
Munn must depend upon the cooperation of other
university offices to help with the handicapped since he
had a full-time job before he began working with the
disabled.
The auxiliary staff which helps him includes food
service, housing and maintenance, plus his staff-one
secretary.
"I just don't have the time to dp the job," he said.
Oklahoma State University is the only other Big Eight
school which puts responsibility for handicapped students
on the Affirmative Action officer. However, he is assisted
by a committee and a student club for disabled students.
Iowa State University and the University of Colorado
also place handicapped services with the Affirmative
Action office, but there ae six people on the staff at
Colorado and four at Iowa State.
Advisory committees are used at the University of
Oklahoma where they have a coordinator for handi
capped students services and an assistant. A committee
is also used at Kansas State University, where the group
works with the Center for Student Development under
the Educational Opportunity Center. The University of
Kansas has an ongoing task force, originally created to
assure compliance with federal legislation, and a Student
Assistance Center to help with the handicapped.
The University of Missouri, which began working
on programs for the handicapped in 1960, has a
Handicapped Student Programs Office, which includes
a director, an- interpreter, a secretary, two work study
students and part-time help.
Schools in the Big Eight also differ in their methods
of financing construction for handicapped accessibility.
Iowa State, Colorado and Kansas have line items in
their budgets for construction costs relating to accessi
bility for the disabled. At Iowa State, $2 million has been
received since 1975, when they set up a plan for modi
fication of facilities. Funds at Kansas are also added from
the housing budget.
From 1960 to 1966, there were special funds for
working with the handicapped at Missouri, but costs are
now absorbed by various departments. Special services
provide funds at Kansas State, in addition to $850,000
which has been provided by the state legislature. The
Kansas Legislature is also considering a request for
$600,000 to be used for modifying the exterior of
buildings.
At Oklahoma, funds come from various budgets and at
Oklahoma State, most of the money to work with the
disabled comes from maintenance funds.
Budgeting at Oklahoma State is similar to UNL where
money for construction, such as access ramps, curb cuts,
elevators and bathroom renovations, comes from the
physical plant budget.
Harley Schrader, director of physical plant operations,
explained that the budgeting process varies from year to
year.
For the past six or seven years, the 'lion's share of
money has come from special maintenance or fire and life
safety," he said. The "beg, borrow and steal" techniques
have also been used to try to locate funds, according to
Schrader.
Money to help remove barriers for the handicapped has
been available for the last three years through the
provisions of LB309. This year the $875,000 allocated
was divided among all state buildings, according to
Carolyn Eberly, administrative assistant for the task force.
She said UNL received limited funds the first two years
of the program because the money was spent on buildings
used every day such as the Beatrice State Development
Center and the Nebraska City School for the Visually
Handicapped.
JLast year, UNL received about $25,000, which was
used for renovations in the 501 Building and for modifi.
cations in the parking lot between Bancroft Hall and the
Health Center, according to Jim Money, physical plant
administrator in charge of deferred maintenance and fire
and life safety.
The year before, Schrader said the university received
no money from the LB309 funds.
One reason for the limited money is that the physical
plant began modifications for the handicapped before it
was required by law. Therefore, they are ahead of most
state agencies and have not received money relative to the
percentage of state buildings at UNL, Schrader said.
There is, however, a limit to how much can be taken
from the maintenance budget.
"There has not been adequate amounts of money to
take care of major kinds of maintenance items that have
been deferred and deferred and deferred," he said.
When the situation merits, there is also some money
available through the chancellor's discretionary fund.
Money said the chancellor gave them $5,000 to help with
the parking lot and the 501 Building.
"We're picking away as best we can," Schrader said.
The LB309 Task Force was designed to help control
the costs of preventive maintenance. Work with the handi
capped was added as shown by the appropriations budget
hearing held before the bill was passed. During that
hearing, Grand Island Sen. Ralph Kelly said the "attention
for the handicapped and so forth" was an excellent
addition to the bill because. such provisions were not
included elsewhere.
Eberly said the building inspectors involved in the
project emphasize preventive maintenance. She said
Continued on Page 6
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