By Thomas Lepper
Here at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) there is the Student Union Building or, SUB for short. At the SUB you can find many things, to quote from UNB’s website:
“The Student Union Building is the home of the UNB Student Union, the campus radio station (CHSR 97.9FM), our campus newspaper The Brunswickan, several independent stores and shops, a bar and other student representative groups. The building also has meeting rooms, a Blue Room lounge and the ballroom on the top floor.”.
And right by our offices here at The Brunswickan’s office on the first floor to the side of the building, is the accessibility door. Right by the door is a deck that has a wheel chair ramp.
For well over a year, the accessibility ramp has been chained off. Then in late November, construction started on the Wheel Chair ramp, where UNB’s construction crew was taking down the wheel chair ramp. Like many we at the Brunswickan were wondering why?
According to the construction crew working on the ramp, when the deck was examined the wood had rotted and the metal bracing holding up the deck had rusted, creating a hazard. They continued to state that there was a chance if someone walked on it they may have fallen through the ramp, hence why it was chained up. Since the SUB was constructed in the 1980s, this deck had endured over forty years of Fredericton’s finest rain and snow.
Replacing this ramp demonstrates accountability on the part of the university, something we as students are glad to see. They had a problem, made a plan, and fixed it.
This shows a progressive step moving forward.
If every problem on UNBF campus was dealt with like this – such as the lack of tampons across campus bathrooms or sketchy elevators – the student body would have a lot fewer things to complain about.
Photos captured by Thomas Lepper and Joel Rumson
