Newspaper Page Text
Jay Brill
Director Brill leaves OPIDS;
new student director named
persons over the past few years.
Generally speaking, it <the University)
has provided the absolute necessities for
making an education possible."
OPIDS will not undergo any major
changes in its operation this year," she
said. “When you have a program that
has run well in the past, you don't want
to change it. because it has proven itself
effective."
Miller said the office will continue to
operate “with a pool of volunteers ’ “We
have a lot of fantastic volunteers now.
but we sure could use a lot more "
The mam OPIDS objective for fall will
be “to get our name known,” Miller said,
"to let people know we may be able to
help."
“What's strongest about OPIDS is the
fact that it exists. The people who really
need the office know that it exists, and
has been proven effective."
Concerning the office's operating costs
for the upcoming year. Miller said. "I am
not as aware of the funding situation for
OPIDS as I should be
However, she said the Athletic
Department this summer donated $750 to
OPIDS "to do with as we see would
better enhance the functions of this
office "
With Miller's appiontment. OPIDS has
gamed the additional status of having a
celbrity of sorts at its helm This past
week. Miller was notified that she had
been chosen 1979 s “Miss Wheelchair
Georgia."
The pageant is sponsored yearly by
interested individuals from statewide
business and civic organizations, she
said
Prior to coming to the University.
Miller served as a student senator and
vice president of student government
(which she was instrumental in
organizing) at Chattahoochee Valley
Community College.
By RANDY SOUTHERLAND
Staff writer
Jay Brill, a longtime leader in the fight
for handicapped students’ rights at teh
University is leaving this month to
assume the position of Counselor for
Handicapped Students at the University
of Wyoming.
Brill has spent the past six years at the
University at the forefront of the long
fight to break down psychological and
architectural barriers which stand in the
way of handicapped students. In the
course of that time he has become a
nationally recognised expert on the
problems of the handicapped in higher
education.
"Six years ago it was next to
impossible for someone severely handi
capped to attend the University. Now it's
merely difficult," Brill said in an
interview this week
One of the instruments of change has
been the Office to Promote Independence
for Disabled Students which Brill helped
organized
Named coordinator of handicapped
student services in 1973, Brill and several
other disabled students worked to make
OPIDS an arm of student government
and shortly thereafter an independent
organization
problems of a student in a wheelchair
than someone who's confined to one?"
Brill said
OPIDS has also worked with University
officials to come up with solutions to the
special problems faced by disabled
students
"We had a quadriplegic student who
couldn't find a place to live anywhere In
the city of Athens," he said "So three of
our students talked to the housing
department and got an apartment in
Married Housing adapted for him and his
wife.”
OPIDS also helped to establish the van
service which now terries the handi
capped who can't ride buses to and from
classes The group worked with the
motor pool in ordering a van and helped
decide what type of equipment was
needed
In addition to trying to break down the
many architectural barriers that keep
the handicapped from attending classes.
OPIDS has also worked to insure further
obstacles are not erected in new
University structures
“We’ve been going over the new
student union plans and analyzing them
in terms of accessibility.” Brill said "I
mean if you're going to spend several
million dollars for the thing it should be
open to all students."
University officials have been respon
sive to the needs of the handicapped over
the years, according to Brill.
"President Davison had a ramp built at
the door to his office and he’s told us that
his doors are always open to the
handicapped Let me say I've never gone
up there and not been well-received," he
said "But the University has certain
constraints placed on them Namely the
Board of Regents has turned down
funding requests to adapt more buildings
for the handicapped Still they're doing
as much as they can Overall, I'd say
people have been very sympathetic Of
course, sympathy by itself doesn't do a
whole lot "
Later a committee created under
Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilation
Act recommended the Dean of Student
Services establish an office of handi
capped student services This new
University organization took much of
the load off Brill and OPIDS
"Before if somebody had a problem.
OPIDS provided services on an emergen
cy basis." Brill said "We spent a lot of
time Just scrambling around. One year
we had 12 blind students on campus, all
of whom needed readers (for taped
lessons I The students (in OPIDSi and I
did the things necessary to publicize the
situation Well, we ended up having to
turn students away as readers
"All this lime we've been sort of
working with all the units of the
University and acting as a resource
center lor them and also the commun
ity,” he said "Now with Dr David
Fletcher being responsible for handling
student services through the Dean of
■Students office 1 see OPIDS as a source
of technical assistance and expertise ”
The experts in this organization are the
handicappe students themselves, because
they are more aware of the problems
they face than the non-handicapped
according to Brill
"OPIDS is gcng to retain this advisory
role. It'll be a source of peer services. I
ask you who would know better the
Because of this general responsiveness
handicapped students at the University
have never been particularly militant as
mother groups have, but they have been
firm in their stands, according to Brill
However, disabled students still face
great problems in attending a University
which has only recently been designed to
accomodate them
Brill said, "the fact is a lot of peoie are
still scared of having handicapped
students in the classroom When a faculty
member has a blind student in his class
he wants to know how he's going to read
the blackboard Well, he just shouldn't
stop talking when he starts writing It's
something new for teachers."
In order to overcome this apprehension
OPIDS will be conducting programs to
make people more aware of the problems
of the handicapped Brill, however, will
not be taking part and he views the
prospect with a mixture of sadness and
pleasure
"I'm really glad that someone else
volunteered for all the headaches, he
said "While I've been director of OPIDS
it's been very confusing for everybody
since I've played several different roles
at the same time One, I've been an
intern twith Affirmative Action), a
spokesman for OPIDS and everybody's
contact for handicapped services And
I’ve been going to graduate school as
well "
Brill, a 28-year-old native of Washing
ton. D C., will receive his masters degree
in rehabilitative therapy from the School
of Education at the end of this quarter
Council OK’s
noise ordinance
By SETH COHEN
City editor
A new noise ordinance, giving more discretion to police officers, and removino
limits as to when a complaint can In* filed, was passed Tuesday night by Athens
Mayor and City Council
The ordinance is part of the new city code, adapted by an unanimous vote, at
council's monthly meeting
Even though the code was approved. Mayor Upshaw Bentley referred the noise
ordinance back to the Public Safety Committee for further review
Committee could leave the ordinance as is. or could amend it, perhaps by
inserting a time restriction However, this is unlikely, at least at present time.
The old ordinance was never enforced before 11 00 p m . because this hour was
mentioned in the code. However, the new ordinance makes no reference to any
hour, and thus leaves it to the discretion of the officer as to whether noise is a
nuisance, regardless of the time.
John Noell. advisor for Sigma Chi fraternity addressed council in an attempt to
persuade the councilmen to reinstate a time factor in the ordinance.
"With the new ordinance, we may have opened a pandora's box." Noell told
council members
He was referring to the part of the ordinance giving police the authority to lodge
a complaint against a person or group of persons, without there having been a
prior complaint from a citizen
Under the old law. police officers would not write out a citation unless someone
first complained about the noise
Because of a mistake by the company that printed the code, the part of the
ordinance specifying that a police officer can act on his own, was omitted. The
code does say that a public official can lodge a complaint, but does not specify
exactly what a public official is
Thus, the company sent the specification to council in the form of an amendment
to the code However, council decided not to vote on the amendment at this time,
since the ordinance has been sent to commitee for further study
In other action, council decided to hold a recommendation from Finance
Committee to set the millage rate at 2.25 mills, because the tax digest has not yet
been submitted to council
Several councilmen seemed wary about setting the millage rate above the one
mill promised by city leaders in the past
However, an increase may be necessary because the city will not be receiving a
smuch revenue from the local option sales tax. as it had expected, due to an
arrangement with Clarke County that will net the city 50 percent of the tax. instead
of 67 percent expected
By MARCIA DEBNAM
Staff writer
Sheila Miller, a junior speech pathology-
major. has been named the new student
director of the Office to Promote the
Independence of Disabled Students.
She will replace outgoing OPIDS
director Jay Brill, who is leaving to take
a similar position at the University of
Wyor„...g.
According to Miller, she and Brill k met
informally August 2 with University
President Fred Davison who then
recognized her as the new director “to
serve indefinitely."
Miller said she plans to remain with
OPIDS “as a definite strong volunteer"
as long as she is at the University.
The new director said she believes she
is qualified for the position because of
"the fact that I have the desire to make
the University more accessible to the
handicapped individual, whether it is a
temporary or permanent disability."
Confined to a wheelchair as a result of
a spinal cord injury. Miller said she
thinks she has “inside knowledge" of
things that need to be accessible and
other problems of disabled students.
To prepare for the position, she has
been spending the summer working with
Brill. Miller said. “He has been trying to
teach me diligently the ends and outs of
how to assist people with varying types of
handicaps "
In addition, she has met with David
Lunde, associate director of campus
planning, and others on campus to look at
the blueprints for the new student center
"to make sure it is barrier-free for
disabled students." she said
"We ran into a few things that needed
to be changed, but OPIDS received very
good cooperation from campus plan
ning."
Miller said the campus has been made
‘semi-accessible" to wheelchair-bound
Candidates begin
gearing up for fall
Firemen save the neighborhood
Athens firelighters could do little more than contain a blaze which consumed a
one-story wood frame house on Julious Avenue Monday The entire building was
destroyed within 20 minutes The house had been vacant at the time of the fire and no
injuries reported Firemen reported slight damage to the roof and *idmg of the house
next door owned by Emmaline Davis, but the fire was stopped from spreading fur»ht»r
by the firemen's action
Turner lambasts committee action
Bv SETH C OHEN
City editor
Claiming it was one of 'he most
negative experiences that 1 have had
the opportunity to experience Athens
City Councilman Ed Turner lashed out
against the Planning and Communitv
Development Committee Tuesday night,
in connection with the way the committee
recommended distribution of excess
funds from the last two.*I
grant
Turner was referring to 'he July 2b
meeting at which the committee decided
where the excess funds would go The
councilman, a mernt-er of the committee,
felt more c» he mo»»e> should have gone
to Afhet.s cnild care centers
The money. EMS.buu. was lett over from
third and fourth year grants trom a five
year pmgrarn sponsored by Hl'D
Committee recommended and council
approved the distribution of only Sio.ouu
to the to Athens child care centers at the
monthly meeting of mayor and council
These cnefers have already received
$258.Ooo (or fl»e fifth year of the program
but Melissa Tate board member of
Athens Child Development claimed it
would lake an additional $49 tun for the
cneters *o function at the same level as
last year
Robert Carson chairman ot the
committee, said with the additional
SI* the center's total funds would
amount to $2*8 onn uhit h is S4 percent of
what the child care programs had
originally requested toi me tilth yeai
However Turner and the other two
black councilmen. voted against the
recommendation claim?!.g the commit
tees and council s priori'ies were not in
the right place
Turner said council has always done
more in the physical area 'han in the
area of human need*
He pointed to $72 ouo which was
allocated for two traffic light* and
acoustical improvements of >wo commun
ity centers as areas where the mony was
not as badly needed a* the child care
programs
one traffic light according to Turner
has not been approved bv the state,
which is necessary before the light can
he installed This is like putting the “cart
before the horse Turner said
Before voting on the recommendation,
there was an attempt by the black
councilmen to send the allocations back
to committee for further study This
motion wa* defeated by a 7-3 vote »7
whites-i black*
The vote on the acceptance for the
original recommendation wa* identical
wi»h the seven white councilmen voting
for the distribution and the three black
councilmen voting against the motion
Turner said the acous'icai improve
ments tor the community centers would
be of hnle value if the kids are in
Retdsville. meaning if not enough
money was allocated to child care, many
children could eventually end up in
prison
Loren Code. Fred Leathers and Cary
Scherer are the only candidates to
officially qualify for the city's Sept 18
primary since the local political season
opened Aug 4 leathers and Scherer will
compete with incumbent Ward Two
Councilman Robert M Carson for that
council seat Code is seeking the mayor's
office
Code 46. has never held political office
and is so far unopposed for the office
Mayor Upshaw Bentley has said he will
vacate next year Code is a partner in
Iv y-Code Dodige dealership of Athens and
has been in auto sales for 22 years
Scherer 29 is another political novice
and a stockbroker with Merrill, Lyncy,
Pierce Fenner and Smith He has said
his interest in local government was first
aroused by the involvement of his Ward
Two neighbors in the Sleepy Hollow
zoning and land use struggle Sleepy
Hollow is an apartment complex near
Memorial Park—Its developer has been
seeking to expand it, and local
homeowners in the neighborhood have
fought to prevent that expansion
Fred Leathers is no stranger to city
government, having served six years on
the Personnel Board, a duty he says will
give him an advantage over his
opponents in dealing with the city as a
councilman Leathers. 46. is regional
manager manager for Mademoiselle
Fashions
In the city's Ward Five, Nancy Denson
has said she wdl run against incumbent
Bryan Craft Denson. 39. is s Forest
Heights homemaker who. like Scherer
said she got interested in city politics
while involved in a zoning battle in her
neighborhood Though she has yet to
qualify for the primary, she has said she
will, if elected support Athens mass
transit, downtown re-development and
city-county consolidation
Incumbent councilman Dwain Cham
bers of Ward Four. George Hester of
Ward One and Lewis Shropshire of Ward
Three all say they will seek re-election
Closing date for candidate qualification is
Sept 3.