Where's the link to the petition?

--- Tamar Raine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Good for her! yay! Go sign the petition.
>
> Tamar Mag Raine
> [log in to unmask]
>
> The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the
> unreasonable one
> persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
> Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable
> man.
> -George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
>
> IM: tamarmag48
> Oakland Mayor's Commission on People with
> disabilities
>
>
> > [Original Message]
> > From: Michai Freeman <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: berkeley-disabled
> <[log in to unmask]>; golden_embers
> <[log in to unmask]>
> > Date: 8/31/2004 7:09:49 PM
> > Subject: [berkeley-disabled] Disabled girl making
> waves-go girl!
> >
> > Girl With Cerebral Palsy Fights for Rights
> > 9-Year-Old Wants Wheelchair-Accessible Restrooms
> on Airplanes
> > By KRISTIE RIEKEN, AP
> >
> >
> >
> > COPPELL, Texas (Aug. 16) - Rasha Kawar, who
> suffers from cerebral
> > palsy
> > and depends on an electric wheelchair to get
> around, is determined to
> > live like any other 9-year-old girl - and travel
> like one.
> >
> >
> > Rasha has begun a crusade to make airplane
> restrooms bigger after
> > having
> > a hard time negotiating one in her wheelchair
> while flying home last
> > summer from a visit with her grandparents in
> Israel.
> >
> > She started an online petition asking Congress to
> pass a law that
> > would
> > require all new airplanes to have at least one
> wheelchair-accessible
> > restroom. The petition is up to almost 5,000
> signatures, and lawmakers
> > and organizations that help the disabled are
> taking notice.
> >
> > "It is one thing to be stuck on a plane with no
> accessible bathroom,"
> > said Stephen Bennett, president and CEO of United
> Cerebral Palsy.
> > "It's
> > quite another when a 9-year-old takes it to the
> level she has."
> >
> >
> > Last summer, Rasha and her mother burst into tears
> when they couldn't
> > get Rasha's clothes back on after she used a small
> airplane restroom.
> > Her mother, Laila Kawar, said Rasha looked at her
> and said: "This is
> > so
> > unfair. What are we going to do about it?"
> >
> > When she got home, Rasha typed a letter to
> President Bush. It took her
> > almost three weeks.
> >
> > Rasha has little control over the muscles in her
> body, but can control
> > her head. She can talk, but people who don't know
> her well have a
> > difficult time understanding her. Instead, she
> communicates by using a
> > pointer, attached to a piece of headgear, to type
> out words on a
> > computer keyboard. Machines translate her words
> into audio or written
> > text.
> >
> > Despite her limitations, she attends public school
> in suburban Dallas
> > with the help of an aide, and will enter the
> fourth grade this month.
> > She learned to read at age 4 and finds it
> exasperating when people
> > assume she is mentally disabled because of her
> wheelchair.
> >
> > "I am smart," she said. "My body just doesn't do
> what I want it to."
> >
> > The White House responded to Rasha with a letter
> signed by President
> > Bush, but it did not address her problem, her
> mother said. That's when
> > Rasha and her mother decided to start the online
> petition, which has
> > signatures from people around the world.
> >
> > Many people who sign the petition include short
> notes. One reads: "My
> > 8-year-old disabled son and I have had this
> experience too many times.
> > With all the space on airplanes, it is grossly
> unfair not to allocate
> > a
> > few more feet so that disabled people can travel
> with dignity."
> > Another
> > wrote, "You opened my eyes to something I could
> not see. I proudly
> > stand
> > beside you."
> >
> > Supporter U.S. Sen. John Cornyn contacted the
> Federal Aviation
> > Administration, which in turn contacted the U.S.
> Department of
> > Transportation. The department sent Rasha a letter
> explaining the
> > federal guidelines relating to accessible
> restrooms and said the main
> > barrier to including those restrooms on all
> airplanes is cost.
> >
> > "Many airlines are losing huge amounts of money
> these days," wrote
> > Robert C. Ashby, a regulation and enforcement
> attorney at the
> > transportation department. "It's hard for the
> department to tell them
> > to
> > lose even more."
> >
> > He said accessible restrooms would cost about
> $12,000-$13,000 each,
> > but
> > the major loss for airlines would be space. Adding
> one restroom would
> > take away two to four seats on most airplanes,
> which he said
> > translates
> > into millions of dollars in lost revenue.
> >
> > The Americans with Disabilities Act does not cover
> airplane restrooms,
> > he said, but the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986
> requires that airlines
> > be accessible to people with disabilities. That
> act requires airplanes
> > with two aisles to have one wheelchair-accessible
> restroom. Those with
> > only one aisle, like the one the Kawars were
> traveling on, are not
> > legally required to do so.
> >
> > Rasha and her mother plan to send her petition to
> the major airlines
> > as
> > well as the Department of Transportation later
> this summer. The United
> > Cerebral Palsy organization is helping Rasha
> collect more signatures
> > by
> > posting a short note from her and a link to her
> petition on their Web
> > site.
> >
> > Rasha says she will work as long as necessary for
> the change. She
> > knows
> > the fight will not be easy, but for a girl who
> faces daily battles
> > with
> > her own body to do the most basic tasks, dealing
> with adversity is
> > second nature.
> >
> > "Rasha has lots of determination," her mother
> said. "She does not
> > accept
> > that she cannot do things."
> >
> >
> >
> > 08/16/04 05:45 EDT
> >
> >
> >
> >
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