| The Truth About The Muscular Dystrophy Association
There are some traditions in life that are as American as apple pie. One of those traditions is the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. The telethon is held to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and is typically shown for 24 hours live, though sometimes they air pre-recorded stories in the wee hours while everyone is sleeping, instead of live footage. As the name of the telethon implies, it is hosted by comedian and actor Jerry Lewis. Lewis spends the entire telethon requesting donations to find a cure for the 40+ neuromuscular diseases that fall under the term Muscular Dystrophy. Unfortunately, unlike apple pie it may fail to leave a warm, sweet taste in your mouth. Instead, for some it turns out sad, bitter, and bigoted, which is not good for anyone involved. For the past 16 years a growing number of disabled people have been picketing the MDA telethon and the inclusion of Jerry Lewis in the organization that is meant to help people with disabilities.
SCAT cuts make disabled into unwilling homebodies
Sheila Trexler's parents live on the opposite side of Guilford County from her home at Bell House, a center for disabled adults near the old Carolina Circle Mall on Summit Avenue. But they might as well live on the other side of the world.
"I'm only getting home once a year because I have no way to get there," she said.
Trexler can't visit her parents' home because it sits outside - just outside - the official city limits, a point beyond which the SCAT bus she uses for transportation will not venture. Instead her parents visit her at Bell House and sometimes they meet closer to town, at the Wal-Mart on Wendover Avenue or the Four Seasons Mall.
Trexler, like many of the other Bell House residents, uses a motorized wheelchair to get around. Her disability hasn't kept her from securing a job at Wal-Mart, where she works three or four times a week, or participating at Reedy Fork Baptist Church.
UMass Transit adds five new buses
The University of Massachusetts Transit system added five new buses to its fleet in the middle of August, and plans to add another five by the end of the academic year.
The new buses were designed to be more accommodating to disabled passengers and are equipped with wheelchair-accessible ramps.
"On the older buses, passengers had to roll their wheelchairs onto the lifts in the back, and the bus driver would operate the lift. With the new buses, they can just roll on by themselves," said Transit Services manager, Al Byam.
The buses, which were manufactured by Gillig Corp. of Hayward, California, are run by the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA). They are blue and orange, seat 40 passengers, and are marked with the new PVTA logo.
"The new buses also have the most fuel efficient diesel engine," said Byam.
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