The Mountaineer

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: News

Media Credit: James Choy Legally blind Mt. SAC student Isaiah Hinnerichs sets high percentage zoom settings while reading through email on the computer.

For blind and visually impaired students like Brittney Mejico and Isaiah Hinnerichs, attending Mt. SAC is a challenge.
Mejico, a 19-year-old blind student, was recently denied access to ride the campus shuttle to get to her classes. Mejico's uncle, Emmanuel Mejico Jr., 44, said his niece was told that she was not allowed to ride the shuttle because she was capable of walking.
"Prior to 1998 we used to provide tram service for students that had visual impairments and then in 1998 we had a program review," Director of DSP&S Grace T. Hanson said. "…The [chancellor's office] found out that we were giving rides to students that were blind or had low vision and they told us 'absolutely not'."
However, the shuttle driver waiting inside his vehicle across the library, Gustavo Olachea, 20, said that no blind or visually impaired student has asked to ride yet on his shift. He also said that as part of the DSP&S program he must help anyone that is disabled who asks to ride the shuttle.
Mt. SAC's campus encompasses 421 acres and after getting orientation every semester Mejico, as well as all other blind and visually impaired students, are held accountable for memorizing the locations they need to navigate their way to classes, Hanson said.
However, when Mejico's uncle asked the shuttle driver to give her a ride on the shuttle because of the construction on campus, she was denied.
"Construction creates a risk," he said. "She can hear, but she can't see."
In response to Mejico Jr.'s construction concerns, Hanson said, "If fences go up and come down and go back up for contruction, we would call the [blind/visually impaired students], even in the middle of the semester."
If a student is still unsure about the familiarity of the campus, they can contact California's Department of Rehabilitation for mobility training, Hanson added.
According to the Americans with Disabilities ACT Web site at www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/cguide.htm, public educational institutions must ensure that interested persons, including persons with impaired vision, can obtain information about the existence and location of accessible services, activities, and facilities. They must also provide signage at all inaccessible entrances to each of its facilities, directing users to an accessible entrance.

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