Word: chertkov
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...There is no question that there is a stereotype," says Lisa Chertkov '85, president of Advocates for a Better Learning Environment, a group that lobbys for disabled students at Harvard. Chertkov says students take it for granted that a disabled person at Harvard is some kind of "super-crip," who must be all-capable after overcoming incredible odds...
...students often encounter similar insensitivity on the part of teachers (Kronick notes that "everybody has at least two examples"), they rarely report the problem. The student whose legal and moral rights have been violated "hates to push, for fear the professor will notice" and lower a grade, says Crooks. Chertkov agress, but adds that Crooks reinforces that fear, telling complaining students, "We'll push your complaint if you want, but this is the guy who's grading your term paper...
...students must suffer the loss of some shopping period privileges. The Registrar's office requires mobility-impaired students to submit a list of courses they intend to take several months before the start of each new term to insure those classes will be taught in accessible rooms. But as Chertkov asks, "If you can't visit a class, how can you know if you want to take it?" She also notes that if a disabled student decides to enroll in a course not on thier pre-registration list, the Registrar's office discourages the change. Thus, Harvard's pre-registration...
...improve that." Moser feels Harvard's system of mainstreaming disabled students leaves them without a clear sense of when to seek outside help. More fundamentally, the present University attitude makes disabled students feel annoying and burdensome. When students complain, "they're treated as if they were making waves," explains Chertkov...
...problem "is not Tom Crooks," Kronick asserts, but rather the limited emphasis the University places on the concerns of the handicapped. "Crooks has numerous other duties, and he's overburdened," notes Chertkov. Harvard must recognize that making the college suitable to disabled students represents a major commitment and should establish a central office dedicated solely to disabled student issues. Such an office could function as an outreach program, contacting and helping disabled students rather than shifting all the burdens to them...