I am writing in regard to the editorial written in the Tuesday, Jan. 28 edition of The Northern Star, entitled “NIU’s budget already stretched.”

It is this student’s belief that scheduled classes are being canceled because of the requirement for full accessibility for students with disabilities. As a concerned student, I would appreciate any articles that discriminate against any group of individuals be required to include the data that led them to make their conclusions. I would like to know on what basis did this person decide his rights were being violated by allocating school funds making classes accessible to someone who is disabled? (Accessibility must be something this person takes for granted.)

Imagine yourself disabled, trying to achieve an education here at Northern Illinois University. In addition to the everyday struggles, such as, deadlines, hours of homework, and social stress, you are attempting to attend your scheduled classes. As I am sure you can imagine this would not be an easy task, which would make you discover why programs such as the Disabilities Act of 1990 are so important.

Because of these views displayed by the author of this editorial, I hope that he or she never has to experience first hand how much more difficult life could be when you have a physical disability. But, this letter is not directed at the narrow-mindedness of the student who wrote this editorial, but at the lack of good judgement on the part of The Northern Star for printing it.

Andrew Sherman

Senior

Computer Science