Students who have temporary mobility issues at California State University, Long Beach will be able to rent a motorized scooter, starting fall 2015.
“These scooters will help assist students [access] lower and upper campus,” Director of DSS David Sanfilippo said.
The Associated Students, Inc. Senate passed a resolution last semester to allow students the option to rent a motorized scooter when needed to get from class to class.
ASI Sen. Marvin Flores spearheaded the idea of the resolution after he tore his ACL and was on crutches for four months.
“I would have to walk from [upper campus to lower campus] in crutches and my entire hand was filled with blisters,” Flores said. “It was unbearable.”
Flores said that he tried to find help on campus so he could get to his classes on time but there was no program at CSULB to help students with temporary disabilities.
“I just wanted to make it better for students to move around on campus,” Flores said.
ASI, DSS and Student Health Services each will purchase two scooters, each scooter will costing $1,300.
The scooter rental program for temporary disabled students is the only program of its kind in all of the California State University system.
The scooters will be stored in two different locations on campus: one will be at SHS and five will be in a storage room located near the Chartroom, a restaurant on campus.
DSS is cleaning out the storage room in multiple stages this semester to make room for the scooters. They have removed much of the larger items and have tagged what remains to be removed.
“We need to clean this out, fix and check the power,” Sanfilippo said.
The storage room is currently filled with materials used for the Kaleidoscope Festival that used to be held here at CSULB every April.
Students who would like to use the scooters will need to place a $50 deposit and have a reference of proof they need to use the scooter.
“We don’t want to make it too expensive for students,” Flores said. “They will get it back once they return the scooter so it won’t be that big of a burden … obviously if it is a big burden we will figure out a way to help them rent the scooter.”
The scooter will be available to the student for the duration of their injury. Each scooter will be numbered, and when a student is not using the scooter they will be expected to place it in the storage room, Sanfilippo said. Only students who are renting the scooters will have access to that room.
Sanfilippo said that the ASI senators are following through with their resolutions after they are passed.
“I really want to let our students know that we are here for them,” Flores said. “We are here for their needs and if they need anything, they can come to us and we will figure out a way to help them.”