A&E CHECK OUT OUR INTERVIEW WITH POET JERUSHA MATHER PAGE 4 Independent Student Press Since 1971 BERKELEY’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1871 BERKELEY, CA • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020 AWARD-WINNING NEWSPAPER COMMUNITIES HISTORY OF ACTIVISM INSPIRES DISABILITY ADVOCACY Disability rights movement influences student efforts at UC Berkeley EMILY BI | SENIOR STAFF BY KATE FINMAN | SENIOR STAFF students then formed the Roll- Memorial Hospital to Unit 2, really more about being the an- [email protected] ing Quads, an advocacy group in part to reduce the stigma tagonist, poking the bear and for students with disabilities. In against the students, according changing the system,” James the 1970s, he helped found the to the website of the current said. “It was the Civil Rights C Berkeley is known inspire students working in dis- Physically Disabled Students’ Disabled Students’ Program. Movement; people were pro- as the home of the ability rights today: He initially Program, or PDSP, and a resi- In 1982, PDSP was also re- testing a lot of things.” U disability rights struggled to find housing that dence program with a staff of named the “Disabled Students’ Eventually, TheCIL ex- movement due to a rich his- could fulfill his needs. attendants was founded to help Program,” as it is known today, panded from a student group tory of student activism and “We almost gave up because the students with independent to include students with learn- to a community organization. advocacy. of that,” Roberts said in an epi- living in the hospital. ing and mental disabilities. One of its main early actions, This history largely began sode of “The Berkeley Remix” “Berkeley was the antago- In 1972, Roberts, with UC according to James, was par- in 1962 when Ed Roberts, who podcast. “It seemed like wher- nist in that story. … They de- Berkeley students Hale Zu- ticipation in an almost month- was paralyzed by polio and re- ever we went, it was like, those nied him and they segregated kas and Jan McEwan Brown, long occupation of the federal quired the use of an iron lung places are too freaked out to him (in the hospital),” said founded the Center for Inde- courthouse in San Francisco. for survival, became the first se- deal with me.” campus senior Alena Morales, pendent Living, or TheCIL, The protest was held in favor verely disabled student at UC He eventually moved into who helped form the ASUC and went on to start the inde- of the implementation of the Berkeley after originally being Cowell Memorial Hospital and Disabled Students Commis- pendent living movement, ac- Rehabilitation Act of 1973’s rejected from campus. Admis- inspired other disabled stu- sion, a descendant of the origi- cording to Stuart James, the Section 504, which guaranteed sions, however, was not the last dents, about 12 in total origi- nal Rolling Quads group. current executive director of challenge for Roberts, whose nally, to come to campus. The residence program TheCIL. efforts for campus accessibility Roberts and the other was later moved from Cowell “At that time, it was MOVEMENT PAGE 2 STUDENT LIFE EDITORS’ NOTE UC BERKELEY STUDENT ADVOCATES Long before the Ameri- residents and students face. ADDRESS ACCESSIBILITY, DISABILITY cans with Disabilities Act, or The Daily Californian’s ADA, was passed in 1990, “30 Years of ADA” issue BY MELA SEYOUM School of Social Welfare at UC Student Coalition for Disability the disability rights move- looks at the varied expe- STAFF Berkeley. Morales is a campus Rights. Then, along with Savin, ment was born in Berkeley. riences of students with [email protected] senior and the interim chair of Morales created the Disabled The city and UC Berke- disabilities and presents a the commission. Campaigns Student Leaders Coalition. In ley are inextricably tied to broader perspective of is- UC Berkeley student ad- spearheaded by the commis- May 2019, both groups were the fight for the ADA, which sues people with disabili- vocates Katie Savin and Alena sion over the past few years absorbed into the ASUC Dis- advanced many important ties navigate. Though the Morales recently reflected on have included a disability cul- abled Students Commission. protections for those with ADA was passed in July their work and progress toward tural center, funding for inclu- “A lot of the organizing was, disabilities. But now, 30 1990, October marks Dis- making campus accessible and sive programming at the Rec- in some ways, a survival mecha- years after it was passed, ability Awareness Month, welcoming for students with reational Sports Facility and a nism for me; I really struggled there are ongoing efforts making it an apt time to disabilities. co-pays fund for students with in my program with basic ac- to make both the city and reflect on how the campus Savin, previously a medical disabilities. cess needs and constant micro- campus more accessible to and city can improve their social worker in San Francisco, Morales joined the Disabled aggressions,” Savin said. “The people with disabilities — relationship with and out- is a member of the ASUC Dis- Students’ Union during her and COVID-19 has only ex- reach to Berkeley’s disability abled Students Commission freshman year, and the program acerbated the barriers some community. and a Ph.D. candidate in the eventually became known as the PROFILE PAGE 8 COMMUNITIES ‘WE’RE A FIXTURE’: LOOKING INTO BERKELEY’S DISABILITY RESOURCES BY THAO NGUYEN Roberts, a leader in the indepen- said. “It’s the culmination of the Recreation Program, or BORP, with physical disabilities. SENIOR STAFF dent living movement of persons independent living movement, is one of the seven ERC partners Since then, BORP has devel- [email protected] with disabilities, according to the where we’ve got this beautiful and focuses on improving the oped into a million-dollar non- ERC website. The ERC consists building. It’s very visible, very physical quality of life for people profit organization dedicated to Sitting on the edge of South of seven partner organizations, open to the public, and it’s com- with disabilities. adaptive sports and recreation, Berkeley and formed by various two state agencies and six non- pletely designed by people with BORP’s history began in 1976 according to Rick Smith, BORP disability organizations, the Ed profit organizations that offer disabilities for people with dis- after UC Berkeley alumna Susan executive director. The organi- Roberts Campus, or ERC, pro- more than 100 different services abilities.” Sygall was denied access to a zation offers various adaptive vides resources and services at a with a disability focus, according Services provided through swimming class due to her be- sports, fitness and recreation universally accessible transit hub. to Eric Smith, ERC executive di- the ERC include technology and ing in a wheelchair. Sygall then programs, including an adaptive Considered a global model rector. medical services, counseling, le- worked to raise awareness around of universal access and disabil- “It was designed to be a one- gal support and adaptive sports. the need for adaptive sports and ity rights, the ERC celebrates Ed stop shop for disability,” Smith The Bay Area Outreach and a recreation program for people RESOURCES PAGE 7 2 NEWS THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020 ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS DESCRIBE CHALLENGES, BY KATE FINMAN | SENIOR STAFF SUCCESSES WITH REMOTE DISABLED STUDENTS’ PROGRAM [email protected] UC Berkeley students share experiences with online learning, support from program UC Berkeley’s Disabled on her own at the beginning of Students’ Program was one of the semester was more challeng- several campus programs that ing than in normal semesters transitioned to online services when she met with a counselor in in response to the COVID-19 person. pandemic, but the change has re- “Sometimes, there’s accom- sulted in challenges for many. modations that I forget I need or Now, 3,600 Disabled Stu- didn’t think I needed,” Marchant dents’ Program, or DSP, students said. “The DSP counselor would are meeting with their counsel- have known.” ors remotely, according to Karen For campus graduate student Nielson, executive director of Nate Tilton, a major concern DSP. She said in an email that is that the accommodations he the abrupt switch to online edu- receives, including “time and a cation was challenging, but DSP half” on exams and a quiet, pri- has not changed its service model vate exam environment, are not and continues to provide all of its conducive to at-home learning. services remotely. He added that as a student- “We have learned a lot in a parent with disabilities, his “time short amount of time,” Nielson and a half” and quiet environ- GISSELLE REYES | STAFF said in an email. “We as DSP are ments are often interrupted by his According to Karen Nielson, executive director of campus’s Disabled Students’ Program, the switch to online education doing everything we can to make children, who are also in school, was challenging, but DSP has not changed its service model and continues to provide all of its services remotely. sure that students get timely ac- and he said the accommodation commodations and services to for exams should be extended to which is one of his accommoda- ton said. “Being a note taker for Zoom. support their success in the on- twice the amount of time during tions, for any of his classes. someone else is a lot right now.” According to Nielson, DSP line environment.” remote learning. Tilton attributed the lack of Nielson added that getting has fulfilled students’ live, syn- Remote instruction has not “Basically, we’ve been doing note takers to the high general live and media captioning for chronous captioning needs but come without challenges, stu- the same type of socializing and stress levels of all UC Berkeley students in DSP has been an- still has wait times for asynchro- dents in the program said.