Petition Tag - access

ARE YOU LIKE ME?

My name is Shaun Fallows and I’m a disabled volunteer in Wigan. Many times I have been struggling to get adapted taxis at certain times of day and night which has affected my social life as I have had to stop going out.

I would like to start a campaign to see a greater number of accessible vehicles in Wigan Borough. No donations needed but please support my online petition. Without everyone together it won’t change.

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Earlier this year Reading Borough Council instigated a number of changes to disabled parking bays and the times during which they can be accessed.

These changes include restricting access to the majority of the on road bays immediately surrounding the town centre so that they may only be accessed from 11am to 4pm and again after 7pm.

The roads most affected are St Mary's Butts, West Street and Friar Street

This has made it unreasonably difficult for many disabled people to access the shops and other facilities in the town.

A council representative has claimed that the the majority of people are happy with the changes, this is obviously true as the majority of people are not disabled and have little or no understanding of the real life ramifications of these changes for disabled people.

Examples of things that are now virtually impossible for many disabled people to do include:

A drink out with work friends/ family after work,
A meal before seeing a show at the local theatre
Early morning shopping to beat the crowds
Staying in town after shopping to eat out
Getting to one of the opticians who has served the community for many years
Getting to a number of well known high street shops

The current proposals to resolve the access issues appears to be to force all blue badge holders into wheelchairs of some form (Shop mobility) regardless of their individual needs and to expect the local shops/traders to cover the cost.

With economic downturn comes cuts, and the proposals leave disabled people reliant upon the funding of retailers/traders and upon charities. If they decide to remove the funding in the future, disabled people will be yet again unable to use the town and its facilities

The only long term way to ensure access to the town for disabled people during the same periods as able bodied people is to provide appropriately placed kerbside parking that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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The parking lot, restrooms and pump out station at the Alum Creek Sailboat Marina are public facilities.

These facilities are not accessible to the boating public from the waterways.

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The online petition had 316 signatures by Sunday 10th July. In total 667 signatures were collected including those on paper and have been handed-in by Val Shawcross. Thank you to everyone who signed!

Crystal Palace Station is now run by the Overground operator, LOROL. They do what Transport for London tells them (and pays for); and TfL is chaired by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

This petition is supported by the local MP for Crystal Palace, Jim Dowd (Lewisham West & Penge constituency).

The petition will be presented by Val Shawcross AM to the Mayor at the London Assembly plenary meeting on 20th July.

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Technology is being developed that will reinvent the wheel literally! This technology is already
used by the US ARMY, US SPECIAL FORCES, NAVY SEALS ETC, in the form of remote controlled robots in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars that can go anywhere and climb just about anything and everything even stairs YES THAT'S RIGHT:- STAIRS! And just about any type of STAIRS!

Click each link to see this amazing chair in action!

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Link 4

Link 5

But what is even more exciting is that this same company has an engineering concept model to produce a wheelchair with this technology that will be able to go anywhere, the beach and climb anything, even STAIRS. I have emailed the company to find out when this wheelchair will be produced. They said in the future because of finances! The future, When? 3 months? Next year, or in 2050, when?

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We are writing as a group of concerned students and staff in response to the announcement on 9 May 2011 to set undergraduate fees from 2012/13 £9000 per annum.

We are aware that this decision is being taken by Goldsmiths as a consequence of the coalition Government's policies on Higher Education and sharp cuts to HEFCE funding and understand that it is motivated by the necessity to make up for this funding loss whilst keeping the institution financially viable. We should be clear however that no level of fees offers safety for the principles of access and educational quality to which Goldsmiths is committed.

We agree with Goldsmiths Students Union’s opposition to a rise in fees and its statement that:

‘participation in Higher Education should be based on a student's ability to benefit from it, rather than their ability to pay. All society benefits from large numbers of graduates (who if they are fortunate enough to earn more will of course pay more in income tax). Public funds spent on Higher Education generate a huge return on investment and forcing the costs onto students through tuition fees is misguided, shortsighted and will deter students from less well-off backgrounds from applying.’

The consequences of the vast majority of universities in the country deciding to charge £9000 fees are going to be disastrous for access to higher education in England, and will dramatically affect prospects for social mobility. With the economic viability of the fee system in shreds (a 70% default is projected) its imposition is manifestly driven by a reckless ideology of privatisation.

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The Newark Watershed (NWCDC) owns and operates reservoirs located in northwest New Jersey that make up the drinking water supply for the city of Newark, NJ. Four of the NWCDC reservoirs are open to the public for boating and fishing recreational use.

NWCDC regulations specify that: kayaks and canoes are NOT acceptable types of boats allowed on their reservoirs but row boats and bass boats with electric motors are fine. http://www.newarkwatershed.com NWCDC website "Boating Rules and Regulations rule #4": 4. Canoes, sailboats and inflatable floating crafts of any description are not allowed. Kayaks are also Prohibited.

Today, many people choose to fish from kayaks or canoes and this ban is unfairly restricts access to those people who choose to paddle their choice of craft.

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Currently Pedestrian Priority (40km/h) in Victoria St is LESS THAN 40% of the week.

On SUNDAY, the BUSIEST DAY OF THE WEEK, the speed limit is 60 km/h ALL DAY.

60 km/h is TOO DANGEROUS a speed at any time for Victoria St.

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The Dufferin Islands are a wonderful place to bring friends and family to enjoy the outdoors. It is situated just moments away from down-town Niagara Falls, steps away from the Horseshoe itself.

The idea has been proposed to reopen the Dufferin Islands to public swimming for the benefit of all locals and guests to the city. The Parks Commission has grown to be a large business influence in the region, and in all fairness it would be a financially reasonable request to reopen access to the ponds compared to the many other ventures the commission is undertaking.

Reopening would create new jobs for young people, and introduce a new generation of youth to the joy and beauty that our dear city has. We believe that in the name of progress and outdoor activity for the people of Niagara Falls, the Dufferin Islands should be reopened to public swimming usage.

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Transport Scotland are building a new section of Dual Carriageway at Etteridge that will have a closed barrier central reservation that will stop all off road non vehicular users of the 300 year old Wade's Road from Kingussie to Fort Augustus crossing the A9 here.

This is a popular route with locals, visitors and those doing across Scotland East to West Journeys. The original line of Wade's Road was slightly further North West but was moved back to the Etteridge Road end to avoid it crossing the dual carriageway section at the Crubenmore Railway bridge when the original New A9 was built in the 1970's. Now Transport Scotland wants to close this crossing point completely and they claim they have carried out a thorough consultation but few organisations even replied, especially the National Park who are the recognised Access Authority for this area.

The old military road is recognised as a formal right of way on both sides of the A9 and so should the crossing be considered the same. It is also possible thats closing this crossing breaches Scottish Access Legislation too.

Our campaign is currently supported by the Cairngorms National Park, the Local Outdoor Access Forum, Scottish Rights of Way, Heritage Paths Scotland, British Horse Society, Trekking and Riding Society of Scotland, British (Carriage) Driving Society, Various local Councillors, Various MP's and MSP's etc.
The photo above shows a simple livestock underpass further north on the A9 just like what is required at Etteridge to improve road safety for non vehicular users who want to cross the line of the A9 at that point.

During the consultation Transport Scotland told people and groups that "current levels of access for walkers, cyclists and equestrian users would be preserved when the dual carraigeway" - so of course people like the Scottish Rights of Way took this to mean that some form of crossing from the Wades Road on the East side of the A9 to the Core Footpath Network and Sustrans route on the other side of the A9 would be preserved.

However Transport Scotland did not see it that way and are refusing to accept the need for the crossing at all. This will out peoples lives at risk when they try and dodge traffic while trying to jump the central reservation on this section and possibly risk serious injury or even death.

PLEASE READ ALL THE GREAT COMMENTS LEFT ON THE PETITION, YOU NEED TO CLICK "VIEW" TO SEE THEM AND PLEASE GO AHEAD AND LEAVE YOUR OWN COMMENT TOO. MANY OF THESE COMMENTS BACK UP WHAT WE ARE SAYING AND SHOW THAT THIS CROSSING IS IN REGULAR USE BY HORSE RIDERS AND OTHER USERS. NOBODY THINKS IT WILL BE SAFE TO DO AWAY WITH THE CROSSING IN THE MANNER TRANSPORT SCOTLAND PROPOSE.

Please visit our Facebook Page for regular updates and pictures. Search for it on FB by name and ask to join.
"Stop Transport Scotland Closing the A9 Crossing at Etteridge / Crubenmore" or use the link below - paste it in to your Internet Explorer.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_189938627705256


The Hill Track Route 207 lifted from National Park showing the A9 road crossing at Etteridge.


An underpass at Aviemore for the Craigellachie Nature Reserve under the A9 - bigger and better than what we are asking for at Etteridge. Does it look like it would cost GBP#700,000.00 ?



Using another A9 Underpass near Kingussie, horses and ponies from Newtonmore Riding Centre - a much safer option than crossing a busy dual carriageway - and a much cheaper alternative to risking people's lives.

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SCAN TV (Seattle Community Access Network Television) offer Seattle and King County residents and organizations affordable production resources and access to various kinds of distribution technologies to become the Producers and the Content Providers of SCAN TV, allowing SCAN TV to showcase diverse expressions of thought, art and entertainment. SCAN airs on Comcast channel 77 and Broadstripe 23 in Seattle.

FUNDING: Public access channels come from Section 611 of the Communications Act. They are dedicated channel space on cable systems specifically for “use by the general public.” The cable channels pay for public access through franchise fees paid by subscribers; since 2006, those franchise fees are paid by Comcast to the City of Seattle, Department of Information Technology, and are held in the Cable Television Franchise Subfund. The Department of Information Technology contracts with SCAN as the “designated public access manager for the City of Seattle.” In 2010, SCAN received $650,000 from the City for this purpose.

Anyone can sign! Our first preference is for Seattle residents, then King County residents.

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There are approximately 400,000 children and youth working in agriculture in the U.S. The majority of these are foreign-born and without parents, access to health care, and suffer regular food scarcity.

These children and youth lack access to a regular, stable residence to obtain an education.

These children and youth fear the loss of temporary shelter and food, and therefore do not frequently report labor abuses.

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I was talking with a friend today, he’s got a severe case of visual and hearing loss, meaning he needs support to travel.

There’s a scheme called Direct Payments, that enables him to pay for someone to be his guide (normally around £7.50 an hour) to gets around – e.g., to keep well, to shop, to meet people, to find work, etc.

That does not cover travel expenses for the guide. In other words, he has to pay all the travel expenses for the guide, out of his own pocket. To get to the eye hospital in London, for example, (I’m sure you appreciate that it’s not easy to take a dog guide around London) he would have to pay his own travel expenses PLUS his guide's travel expenses - £36 each for Winchester to London (after railcard discount – a third off), £3.60 each for the Underground (Oyster), and refreshments – e.g., tea/coffee, water, etc. – about £3 each for the whole trip.

£85.20 is the total. All out of his own pocket. On a very low income too. If he was to be a sighted passenger, it’d have been only £42.60.

A large percentage of that is for the train fares. On this Winchester to London route, unlike elsewhere in the UK, there is no cheaper advance ticket.

If guide dogs for the blind can travel for free, shouldn’t guides in the form of human beings too?

If number of people with severe visual impairment and a guide travelling on the train is 1 out of 1,000 (honestly, I’ve never seen any myself), then is it not reasonable to expect the impact to train company’s revenues to be negligible.

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Out of the nine beaches over which Warringah Council has juridiction, dogs and their owners are not allowed on any of these at any time of the day or the year. The only dog swimming area they provide is at North Curl Curl Lagoon and it is heavily polluted.

Given that around 40% of Warringah house-holds own a dog this means that the Council is failing in its duty to represent its constituents. The issues they site are health and environmental. If a section of a well chosen beach were adequately set up with bins and bags and patrolled regularly by a Ranger this would be no more of an issue than the rubbish left by humans on our beaches.

Dogs do not pollute water simply by swimming in it. A compromise solution needs to be found.

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Currently, Shirley, NY is isolated from public transportation into New York City. The only trains arriving in the area after morning rush hour which ends at 11:15am are the 4:49pm from Jamaica and 5:09pm from Penn Station. MTA is trying to cut the earliest afternoon service (4:49pm LIRR) and increase the price.

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We, the residents living in the area around Frampton Road, Hounslow, call upon Transport for London to provide a bus link to our area with a regular bus service being provided along the length of Frampton Road.

Residents currently have a lengthy walk to the nearest bus stop, and many families are dependent on public transport to provide access to work, school, shopping, health facilities and leisure activities.

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Request the Australian Embassy in VN to call for the release of Ms. Tran Khai Thanh Thuy, a renowned novelist and democracy activist.

Calling For The Release of Democracy Activist Tran Khai Thanh Thuy

NB : We continue to also sign this petition at :
http://www.change.org/actions/view/calling_for_the_release_of_democracy_activist_tran_khai_thanh_thuy

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The Stetson Hills CC&R's were written towards the aim of protecting our largest investment -- our homes. The Stetson Hills board of directors does not recognize that allowing unfinished wood on the private access gates of the homes in our community to become blackened over time is a detracting element which is negatively impacting our homes' values. Furthermore, the board does not acknowledge nor recognize that this is in violation of the CC&R's, which is the governing document of our association.

Specifically, the CC&R's brought to bear read as follows:

1.27 "Improvement" means: (a) any Residential Unit, building, fence or wall; (b) any swimming pool, tennis court, basketball court, road, driveway, parking area or satellite dish; (c) any trees, plants, shrubs, grass, granite or other landscaping improvements of every type and kind; (d) any statuary, fountain, artistic work, craft work, figurine, ornamentation or embellishment of any type or kind (whether or not affixed to a structure or permanently attached to a Lot or Parcel); and (e) any other structure of any kind or nature.

3.8 Repair of Buildings. No Residential Unit, building, structure or other Improvement on any Lot, Parcel or other property shall be permitted to fall into disrepair and each such Residential Unit, building, structure and other Improvement shall at all times be kept in good condition and repair and adequately painted or otherwise finished.

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West Papua is one of the poorest areas in Indonesia where most of the people live at subsistence level with appalling health, welfare and education problems. This despite its vast reserves of copper, gold, oil, gas, and virgin hardwood forests. None of the profit from plundering these resources goes to the people of West Papua.

We support the West Papuans in their right to self determination to decide their own future. However, there is an excessively high number of Indonesian troops and military style police (estimates range between 12,000 - 30,000; we are unable to confirm these numbers due to lack of transparency) stationed in this region. There is no open and free access to the country.

The Red Cross is an impartial independent organisation with an exclusive humanitarian mission. Since 1949 the Red Cross has had an international mandate conferred on it by the Geneva Conventions, which task the ICRC with visiting prisoners, organising relief operations, re-uniting separated families and similar humanitarian activities during armed conflicts.

The Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement encourage these organisations to undertake similar work in situations of internal violence, where the Geneva Conventions do not apply.

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The easy access the public has to enter the hospital laboratory has caused many concerns. One main concern is the safety of the laboratory employees.

This concern has come to our attention when a courier threaten the life of an employee.

This would not have happened if our laboratory entrance had badge access.

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In a City the size of London, the Underground system is the quickest way to get around and we are disappointed with the Mayor's decision to shelve 22 of the 45 planned step free access projects across London only committing himself to providing step-free access at 29 per cent of all stations by 2017. This is a major step back from previous plans to provide step-free access on a third of the network by 2013. As a result, many disabled passengers, older people and parents with young children are being denied access to this mode of transport. This is particularly concerning in the run up to the 2012 Paralympics and makes us wonder how the Mayor is planning to keep his post-Beijing pledge to make London’s Games the most accessible ever.

It makes little sense that Finsbury Park, where the current 49.1m passenger journeys a year are likely to increase by 40% over the next 15 years, is not being made step-free whilst Kingsbury and Amersham, both serving less than one tenth of Finsbury Park’s passengers, are being made accessible. We believe that money would be better spend on projects in areas where a larger number of people would benefit.

The decision makes even less sense because Network is going ahead with plans to provide step-free access from the overground platforms to street level at Finsbury Park. It has now given Transport for London and the Mayor until the autumn to change their minds on working together to make Finsbury Park step-free.

These are the reasons why we (Jeremy Corbyn MP, Jennette Arnold AM, local councillors, the Islington Disability Network, Islington Mobility Forum and Transport for All) are working together to collect as many signatures to pass to the Mayor to convince him to change his mind. If you agree that Finsbury Park Underground station should be made accessible to all passengers then please sign this petition. We are aiming to hand the petition over to the Mayor in the Autumn.

Ps. Please provide your email address to ensure your signature counts!

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Bromley South is the 49th busiest railway station in the country with an annual footfall of over 6 million passengers. Located in London Travelcard Zone 5, it is a major interchange for thousands of commuters.

However, if you have difficulty moving around or using stairs, if you have a pushchair or are carrying heavy shopping, you may find the station extremely difficult or even impossible to use. This is because the platforms are accessible only by flights of steps. And there is no way a wheelchair user could gain access to the platforms.

Bromley South is due for accessibility work to begin between 2012 and 2015. This just isn’t soon enough!

This time scale makes a mockery of Mayor Boris Johnson’s pledge to make London transport accessible to all prior to the Olympic and Paralympics Games in 2012.

And to add insult to injury, of the 92 stations given priority for accessibility improvements before 2012, only 6 have a higher annual footfall than Bromley South.

Access All Areas: Bromley South want to see action taken to improve the facilities at Bromley South station ahead of the planned schedule and ensure the station is fully accessible by 2012.

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The Protected Land of Little Dover and Nova Scotia

In Little Dover, Guysborough County and the rest of Nova Scotia , Protected Land regulations and Natural Resources have just begun to be enforced and large fines are now handed out to all caught traveling on our old existing trails via our 4 wheelers and our community is concerned.

Government studies suggest that the Protected Land status is because our old growth forest contributes so much to the ozone. But the old growth forest as we all know it to be, is a ‘none harvestable forest’ and therefore of no economic valve.

Having our surrounding area of Little Dover recognized for its rugged
beauty and having that beauty protected for us to enjoy for many years is our goal and honor. The people of Little Dover have one goal in mind when it comes to our surrounding lands and waterways. That is to keep it the way God created it: rugged and beautiful scenery for us all to enjoy for many more years.

A lot of this scenery is only assessable by ATV’s when the tundra is frozen. And may I personally say stopping my ATV on top of “Hughie’s Mountain” and taking a moment to soak up the scenery, never gets old with me.

The ATV trails of today were the walking’ paths our great grandfathers. These men worked oxen, horses and traveled on foot many of these same trails we use today for ATV’s. Their reason was more one of survival and way a life for the time they lived in. But just the same I’m sure when they stopped for a moment on top “Hughie’s Mountain” it wasn’t any less beautiful or breathtaking to them as it for us today.

The people of Little Dover live in a different time then that of our great grandfathers but we do still live on the very same land that they worked so hard for us to enjoy today. What wood and game they’ve once roamed this Protected Land in search of for survival, we now roam in search of filling our digital cameras, full of memories and history. I can’t think of one reason as to why the people of Little Dover, the real protectors of our land, can have their access taken away from them.

There are many reasons as to why we the people of Little Dover deserve the right to access our remote and rugged land without being judged. To list just a few: fire roads, search & rescue, fishing gear retrieval, education of our youth, family & community functions.

If our trails become inaccessible to ATV’s and we end up loosing our fasted and most important attack routes on a threatening fire. Then we also loose our homes and lives! Fishermen of Little Dover use the shoreline ATV trails for recovering lost fishing gear that washes up. These same shores are inaccessible by boat on the best weather days.

Our Government leaders decide which areas and trails are closed for protection. But the only trail to The Big Lake that remains accessible just happens to be at the brook end of the lake that end that never freezes to safe condition.

If it’s a ride on back on my ATV they need, in order see our rugged and beautiful land, before making these decisions, just ask, all I want in return, is to go splits on the fine, but remember the view at Hughie’s Mountain is priceless.

- Nick Fanning
JULY/AUGUST 2007 CCNEws

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The "child protection policy undermines parents rights". It infringes on, Life liberty and security of a person! Parent’s right to be free from the psychological harm, caused by the apprehension of a child especially when
a decision to deprive natural parent's, of their children was particularly due to serious consequence, of the states conduct!

Make Ministry for Children and Families accountable! Deprivation is one of the Most distressing of all Human emotions, what is equally distressing is
when parent's have been wrongfully deprived of their children!

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Since the termination of the leases of the majority of the Lake Berryessa concession areas, boat launching and recovery has become a nightmare on the lake. The company known as Pensus LLC was supposed to sign a contract to improve concession areas around the lake.

The Bureau of Reclamation began terminating leases of the existing concession areas before Pensus LLC had signed a contract. To date no contract exists and access to the lake is severely impacted. The only choices that a angler or recreational boater has is the free launch at Capell Cove or the fee based launches at Markley Cove Marina, Pleasure Cove Marina, or Steele Park Resort.

The fee based launch ramps are extremely expensive to use and are very inconvenient to use for access to the upper lake because of their locations in the area known as The Narrows or southern end of the lake. The free launch at Capell Cove is a two boat wide launch ramp with one dock to service only one of the ramp lanes.

On heavy use days, people who use the free launch in early mornings have no problem launching their boats, but because of congestion on the ramp and parking area in the afternoon, recovery of your boat is extremely difficult.

Also parking can get dangerous as people are parking their boat trailers outside of the parking area on an extremely narrow and twisting 2 lane road known as Berryessa Knoxville Road.

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From 1 July 2007 the Queensland Government introduced a new graduated licensing system to reduce fatalities on our roads, particularly among young motorists. Young drivers aged 17-24 are twice as likely to be involved in fatal crashes than drivers aged between 25-59. That is why the Queensland Government introduced new laws to change the licensing system for young drivers.

The new changes introduced by Queensland Transport included the introduction of a logbook system to ensure learners get a good balance of experience before they drive solo on the road. Learner drivers are required to complete 100 hours of supervised on-road driving experience.

The extension of the learner period to 12 months and the completion of 100 hours of driving experience will expose learners to driving in various road conditions. During this time, they gain valuable experience, including driving at night. The requirement to accumulate 100 hours of supervised on-road driving experience before undertaking a practical driving assessment highlights the importance of the learner licence stage and ensures the learner accumulates extensive driving experience under a range of driving conditions before applying for a provisional licence.

Since the changes in law, many young people in state care face many barriers when trying to obtain their driving licence, such as foster carers not having enough time, residentials not having insurance for young people to drive company or youth worker owned cars and the average driving lesson costing $47 an hour and the likelihood of the Department of Child Safety providing an average of $4700 for each young person wanting to access there licence isn't high either.

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we should be able to access myspace from school... i think so because there are people that dont have a computer at home and i think it would be alot easier if instead of blocking myspace completely that they just have some little password code on the site and when people are done with there work they can just have a teacher sign them into the site and do their own little thing on myspace...

i for one get on mainly because im in a group home and i like to contact my mom through email because i dont like staff at the group home listening in on my conversations with my mom... sign if u agree..

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On 1 November 2008 security gates are to be erected outside the Sewerage Treatment Plant on Port Kembla Road, locking out all non-business related traffic to the northern Port Kembla harbour foreshore area.

This will come at a huge expense to the local community affecting access to the surf break known as "Oilies", as well as to the broader recreational amenity enjoyed by fisherman, swimmers, walkers, photographers, dog walkers, and cyclists for over 30 years.

Thousands of regular users will be displaced. An IRIS survey conducted on behalf of the Port Kembla Coal Terminal found that on an average summer weekend there are 165 vehicle trips per day to the foreshore in this area.

This closure is contrary to the State Government Policy of maintaining community access to foreshore areas. An ever growing Illawarra population, due to urban consolidation as well as promotion of the area as a tourism and day trip destination, the community needs access to more foreshore area for recreation, not less.

The proposed closure is based on dubious security grounds and has involved no public consultation. Whilst there is recognition of the Ports need for security and the important role that the Port plays in economic terms for the Illawarra and the broader national economy, opportunities exist to secure the facility whilst still permitting community access to the foreshore area.

It is incumbent upon industry to be good neighbours, sensitive to the needs of the community. A simple long term solution exists to ensure the foreshore area is retained in public ownership with free access to all.

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The opening hours of St Johns College library are far too restrictive. We recognise that students, in order to be properly supported in their academic studies, need access to essential materials whatever their working habits.

The college may argue that students shouldn't be studying late at night, but this stance simply fails to recognise that individuals know when they themselves work most effectively, and we believe that the college should endeavour to facilitate the study patterns of every student.

The college may argue that extending opening hours is expensive, reflecting the cost of lost books and additional overheads. We would point to that fact that Keble College incurs no additional staffing costs by providing a self-service "check out" system to allow students to take out books during non-staffing hours. Also, books can be protected by simple measures such as CCTV in the foyer, and locking up valuble and rare books during non-staffing hours.

The college may also claim that libraries that aren't constantly staffed quickly become untidy. However, tidiness is more a question of how well a library's rules are followed, and with sufficient staff enforcement, extended opening hours need not result in mess, as Magdalen college library exemplifies.

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Recent changes in state legislation have opened an opportunity for Durham to have its own Community Media Center and Public Access Television channel. We are the first major city in North Carolina to take advantage of the new legislative promise to invest and support local media and community technology access and training.

For the last decade, Durham Public Access has been managed by Time Warner Cable because previous laws required them to do so. The result was that the channel did not meet the needs of the community or fulfill its potential as a true accountable, community-driven operation. Durham now has an opportunity to change this dynamic and create a public-access television channel and community media center which would be truly reflective of its culture and diversity.

Public-access television was developed to provide local and diverse content to programming on cable systems. Functioning like a soapbox for communities, programming ranges from local news, events and entertainment, to inspirational, youth-oriented, and educational shows. The need today is even greater with the loss of locally owned and operated television, radio and newspapers due to media conglomeration.

Besides offering space (and a voice) on the cable line up, Community Media Centers provide training, access to equipment and facilities, and serves to build community through the production of media. Nationally, Community Media Centers and Public Access programmers produce 20,000 hours of new programs per week – more new programming than all the broadcast networks combined.

There is no one model for a Public-Access Television and Community Media Center; each reflects the needs of that particular community. However, one thing is consistent - they advocate for and maintain tools for creating media, provide media services and create venues for sharing community voices and showcasing creativity. Through technology, they provide a space to communicate in ways that are not available through traditional outlets.

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