http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120135,00.html

Three years ago, the US Supreme Court ruled that state employees had no
right to sue their employer for failing to comply with the ADA's guarantee
against discrimination in the workplace. However,  a landmark decision
handed down today, in a Tennessee case, says that private citizens do
indeed have the right to sue the individual states for failing to provide
services in compliance with the requirements of the ADA.

This ruling has broad impact on us at UTC. An example would be the
continued blocking of the handicap ramp to Hunter, Race, Hooper, Founders
and the gravel road we must cross to use it.  Last  week it took me 20
minutes, some of that in rain, to get a barrier moved so I could cross to
the ramp in my wheelchair from the construction in front of the Guerry
Center. In coming back to my truck,  I was asked to roll past the direct
blast of  a backhoe muffler, 6 inches from my face. The continued ignoring
of such ADA hazards invite lawsuits in the face of this new decision. I
trust we will work together to be more aware of requirements of workplace
safety as a whole and ADA issuses and the unique needs they present.

The access of students to the courts for individual relief will no doubt be
of great interest in the future and will hopefully make the issue of
barrier free access a matter which is planned for, rather than patched
along the way.

I do want to say that Jim Pulliam and Dr. Barbara Wofford do a superb job
of addressing these issues. Let's lobby for the cash flow they will need to
prevent these ever pesky needs from being court house issues. That's the
way a family works together, we can do this for the better campus we all
deserve.

Jim Bowman; Manager, Student Technology
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Mail Code: 1611
My Office: 423-425-4517         Fax: 423-425-1754
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.utc.edu/StudentMicroLabs
We are in Siskin room 106. Information on our eventual move to the UC is
pending re-construction of restrooms in the UC lab.