During the past few weeks, I have been crutching around on campus with a broken foot. It has been quite difficult. I will try to keep my complaints of slippery buildings, pathways, stairs and rude people out as I look at the situation logically, but no promises. That said, NIU does offer many helpful services to students with a variety of disabilities.

“Northern is very open to get things done and help students with disabilities which is not true with all schools,” said Health Services Director Nancy Kasinski.

Undoubtedly this statement is true. However, there is a lack of service for people who are temporarily immobile though this may be beyond the control of the university.

“If I were a student who had a mobility problem, Northern is not a school I would go to,” Kasinski said. “Not because they don’t help but because of the winter, and there is nothing we can do about that. A lot of the buildings are very old, so a lot of them were around before the building codes required handicap access or they have been retrofitted, but many of the buildings are handicap accessible.”

There are two services offered by NIU that drive disabled students around campus. One is the Huskie Bus Line and the other is the Freedom Mobile. The Freedom Mobile provides transportation to students who are “unable to walk independently” or have “a serious health condition which requires travel accommodations.” It only provides class-to-class transportation under special circumstances for those severely immobilized.

Therefore, for those like me who are temporarily on crutches, the crowded Huskie Bus, with bus drivers who have the audacity to tell me the bus is too full for me to get on, is the only option if one doesn’t have a car on campus.

Many strangers on campus who ride the bus are overwhelmingly kind while others wouldn’t give up their seat if their life depended on it. People with disabilities should have priority seating on the bus, and bus drivers should make sure of it, not turn them away or ignore the fact that no one moved for them.

“I think that is wrong if they are handicapped. The bus should be taking care of handicapped people before regular passengers,” said business major David Mathew Thomas. “I was on crutches for orientation, and it was not fun. I had to walk really far, but everyone was really nice.”

I was also very kindly offered the option of temporarily moving to a lower floor due to the fact my dorm has no elevator, and I am four flights of stairs up. So there is evidence that NIU does provide what it can.

Kasinski thinks NIU is very friendly and accommodating to students.

She eagerly awaits improvements, such as new assisted technology devices for those with learning disabilities. At the very least, NIU provides a staff with their hearts in the right place, excluding certain bus drivers.

It would be outstanding if the school could install elevators in every building and pick up every student who physically has trouble getting to class; but that’s highly unrealistic.