University procedure for fires includes wheelchair policy

Portland State University student and wheelchair user Heather Brooks was left stranded at the top of a flight of stairs last month when a fire alarm sounded. Elevators shut down, leaving stairs as the only exit. Students and professors didn't know how to get Brooks out of the building, and they eventually carried her, according to an article in Portland State's Daily Vanguard. The event raises questions on proper wheelchair user procedures during a fire. University of Oregon officials said that campus and city emergency agencies know how to respond to similar situations and said proper policies are in place. Most campus elevators will open to the lowest floor possible without smoke. Wheelchair users are advised to retreat to a stairwell because such areas are typically protected from fires.

We owe it to injured soldiers to make their lives as normal as ...

Flying flags and putting ribbons on our cars to support our troops are good, appropriate things to do. But isnt it time we really do something to help them? More than 20,000 soldiers are coming home injured, some without either leg. Dont we owe it to them to make their lives as normal as possible?
Many handicapped parking spaces are only normal-size spaces. The Americans with Disabilities Act states they must be 96 inches wide, to make room for wheelchairs and lifts. The diagonal lines between such spaces are not for shopping carts or cars, even if you have a handicapped placard. It is part of the space they need.
Handicapped placards and license plates are only for the person whom a doctor specified on a form. If you are driving and are not that person, or if that person is not getting out of the vehicle, you are illegally parked.