By Nicole Ignell

Contributor
CSUSM is known by another name you may well be aware of, “Cal State Stair Master,” due to the hundreds of stairs the campus has.

This athletic sense of architecture may seem like the perfect solution to the “freshman 15” and the “sophomore 20” and so on. However, while these stairs may cut off those cookie calories, most people don’t consider those unfortunate few who are unable to use this alternative means of working out.

Take me for example. I hate stairs. I mean I avoid them by all means possible. Whether it’s laziness or lack of motivation to actually get up and move, I try to avoid these beautiful stairs at all cost.

Boy, did my appreciation for these stairs change when I was faced with the challenge of being temporarily handicapped. My only way of accessibility is through the use of elevators and handicap ramps, which are inconveniently placed.

Long story short, I was in a car accident. One week after being in the hospital and recovering, I stuck out like a sore thumb when I returned to school. With a neck brace, two huge scars on my leg and one sexy scooter that I drove around campus in as I attempted to defeat the long day ahead.

My first day of classes absolutely sucked. I had to take an extra 20 minutes to maneuver around campus, trying to find the few elevators that weren’t past their safety inspection expiration date. I got stuck in an elevator twice, drove around in circles trying to find ramps, got trapped on the bridge from the parking lot and had to attempt to open doors by myself while operating the scooter.

Now don’t get me wrong, those nifty little buttons that open the door for people in my situation are great, but only when they are working. Attempting to successfully maneuver around campus is like solving a Rubik’s Cube, nearly impossible unless you know all the secrets.

 I will say one positive thing about being handicapped; the Disabled Student Services (DSS) staff on campus is absolutely outstanding at their job and exceeded in making me feel comfortable to come back to campus after my accident. Anyone who needs any type of assistance should go to DSS. The director, John Segoria, is awesome. As a person who is only temporarily disabled, I am very thankful that I had help in getting around campus.

From an insider’s perspective on “Cal State Stair Master,” I think that the school should attempt to become more handicap-friendly. Just one way the school could accomplish this is to have accessible maps to find all the elevators on campus. The blue handicapped push open buttons are very helpful, and so they should add more and make sure they are functioning well. All in all, being temporarily handicapped showed me the other side of things, and I hope that other people can speak up too so some changes can be made to make it easier for handicapped people to move around campus.