- . . . to advance access in our community?
- The US Justice Department today formally released the terms of an ADA settlement agreement on behalf of our clients against a chain of Wendy’s restaurants. The University of Iowa Legal Clinic investigated and conducted ADA access surveys, wrote demand letters that went unheeded, drafted and filed the complaint for Peer Action Disability Support and seven individual members, filed it with the US DOJ and assisted with the Title III ADA investigation.
The complaint was filed in April 2006. The settlement includes $7,000 in damages paid to our client, PADS, a grassroots disability education and advocacy organization, $4,000 in civil penalties and significant barrier removal and modifications in six Wendy’s restaurants. Press Release.
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- . . . to make NiteRide more accessible? (asked December 2008)
- According to our Department of Public Safety, a vehicle like the Bionic Bus is hard to use for Nite Ride, which has a route that takes it into narrow streets which make maneuvering that size vehicle difficult. The new Nite Ride van will have a center aisle, which will improve accessibility. Other options include the regular Cambus services. In addition, the Nite Ride driver will stay with a Nite Ride patron with disabilities to arrange for transportation through an alternative resource at DPS expense. If alternative transportation is not available, they will contact a patrol officer to respond.
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- . . . to learn more about disability?
008:163
Identity and Social Issues:
“Wounded Warriors: Veterans in Literature and Film”
Professor Stephen Kuusisto
Course Description:
Disability has always been a difficult subject in literature and film. Disabled characters often challenge cultural ideas of “normalcy” while they also complicate the symbolism of the “heroic” body. This course explores the contradictions in the representations of disability in literature and film by focusing on the experiences of veterans with disabilities.
Specifically we will analyze representations of veterans with disabilities in literature and film and seek to understand the wounded body in its political, social, and cultural contexts. Additionally we will explore how literature both reflects and distorts the experiences of returning veterans.Films and books will include Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic (with the accompanying film by Oliver Stone starring Tom Cruise); “Specimen Days” by Walt Whitman (a description of America’s Civil War hospitals); selected handouts on the central role of veterans in the development of disability rights in America; “The Deer Hunter”; “The Best Years of our Lives”; “Johnny Got His Gun”; selections from the writings of Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway, Tim O’Brien, David Huddle,Sam Hamill, Studs Terkel, Norman Mailer, and many others.The course will require one short essay and a longer 10-15 page essay or creative writing response to the readings, films, and class discussions.
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- . . .to promote an academic focus on disability studies? (asked December 2008)
- There are a number of faculty and staff who are interested in collaborating on research focusing on issues related to disability. Please contact us for more information.
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- . . . to report accessibility issues related to snow removal? (asked October 2008)
- In winter months, please see the Winter Weather link on our main page.
- To report a problem in a parking lot, call Parking and Transportation at 335-8312.
- For all other areas, call Facilities Management Work Control Center at 335-5071
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