Adaptability: Student emerges from accident with new attitude
■ Continued from Page 1
Friends pass end shout greetings over
their backs Krostag smiles and ocknowl
edges them and continues on his way A
rushed woman jtlam.es down af him. then
quit kly shifts (ter gaze Krostag doesn’t
seem to notice
"it's more difficult to get ilose to jk«>
pie." he savs "In reality, I don't know that
mulls (ample
The early morning i rush of students has
filled l ast I 1th Street Students and pro
lessors hurry to i lass, hardly paying atten
tion to Kite.tag He jiesses quietly through
their midst At one point, a large group of
I ample standing on the mad i a use krostag
to veer ius wheelchair into the grass He
smiles and t ontinues on his way
■‘I’m more of a person who would get
out ol the road." tie explains "Kvnryhody
has problems with people blocking side
walks "’
But in a whueh hair problems are com
pounded hspec ially during the winter,
krostag runs a continual risk of getting
stin k in mud and slush
“People an* nice.'" he sins "Once, some
one slopped their iat and got out to give
mo n push."
His first class this morning is (apanese.
in Villnrd He has already mapped out a
path to Villnrd, free of dIhIm |« and < urir.
He arrives, not at the inviting front door
of Villnrd. but at a smaller side door par
tially i our staled by construction scaffold
ing The blue sign on the door tarries the
universal symbol for "wheelchair act es
slide "
Hut this is not an electronic door
Whisdchair at i wssihle" merely means that
the door is wide enough to accommodate
a whet’ll hair On this day, someone holds
the door for Krostag Other day* he is not
so lucky and must carefully guide his
hair up to the door ojien it and »;«•!
in by himself.
To the left is the elevator, Krostag * only
possible way to his class The door slides
open, and he < orelully hacks himself in.
The door closes, and the hardest part of
the morning< ommutafo< but has<om
to an end
Krostag said the University is fairly
wheelchair friendly Only Friendly is not
The Japanese < lass he is now taking had
to be moved from the second floor of
Friendly to Viltard, a more accessible hall
We have well over 50 students with
some kind of mobility limitation," said
Hillary Gardes, the University counsilor
for differently aided students Not all of
those people would be wheelchair users "
After the ai indent. Krostag spent much
of his time thinking atxmt his position and
c omplaining He took ns many prose np
Hon drugs as possible to keep himself out
of reality
And, lie talked to God
“I did a lot of soul searching, talking to
f.od." he said. "'1 was asking questions,
complaining "
1 he accident c hanged krostag s life in
more ways than limiting movement He
emerged from it w ith a unique perspex tive
on the world.
"You are what you make out of it.” he
s,nd "You get out what you put into it
It's noon The dnv has warmed a little,
and the early morning chill has thawed to
brighter sun The first class is over for
Krostag It's time for lunch
In Canon cafeteria. he wails patiently
for an employee to come help him get his
food When the helper arrives, kmstag fol
lows him through the line, telling him
what foods he would like to eat
"I think what 1 miss the most, in very
vague terms, is the independence.’' he snvs
Because he cannot use his fingers.
Krostag needs a special harness on his
hand to hold the spoon “I'm always drop
ping things.'' he admits
Later that evening he sits in his dorm
riHim talking about life. His room looks
like any other - slightly disorganized, jier
sonal. vibrant But look < loser, and then
are differences The phone has a special
handle so he can answer it The door has
a bar, not a handle, to easily push open.
Everything is organized for someone in a
wheelchair.
"I miss playing basketball.'' he says in
his quiet voice.
He thinks a moment, then sits back in
his chair "I miss just being able to go
somewhere and be totally alone." he says.
"Like going on a walk.”
Be cool... Make a better world.
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Notre Dame fan sues
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NEWARK. N.J. (AP) — Dan
O'Connor is (taking mad. Not
"fighting." "fighing "
The Notre Dame fan went to a
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Airline passenger
accused of defecating
on food-service cart
NEW YORK (AP)— An invest
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defec ating on a food-service cart
during a drunken rampage on ■
United Airlines flight.
Gerard B. Finneran, 5H, man
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federal authorities said the
Greenwich, Conn., executive
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self during a Buenos Aires-to
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When flight attendants tried to
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Later, Finneran was spotted
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He used linen napkins as toilet
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Teacher who operated
on live cat sentenced
to work at shelter
MUSKOGEE. Okln. (AF) — A
high school science teacher
whose classroom operation on
a live cat was halted bv its loud
t riss has boon ordered to spend
100 hours helping out at an ani
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Mickey Duncan pleaded no
contest Tuesday to a misde
meanor animal cruelty charge
and was given a deferred sen
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The charge carried a maximum
sentence of a voar in jail or a $500
Duncan, helped by at least one
student, shaved the cat, attempt
ed to knock it out with chloro
form and used a sterile blade to
make a 3-inch incision down its
left rear flank, prosecutor John
David Luton said.
Midway through the Oct. 3
demonstration, the cat awoke and
began crying loud enough for stu
dents in other classrooms to hear
The animal was later treated by
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