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Hem / Album / Taggar Mike Auberger
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ADAPT (158)
Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo Saturday, May 12, 1984 PHOTO (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF PHOTOS BY BRYAN MOSS): In front of a McDonald's, two people in wheelchairs (Mike Auberger and a woman) talk with a man in a suit and tie. The arches appear over his head as someone holds up a sign behind him. A man stands beside Mike looking down at his hands, which are out of sight. Caption reads: Dennis Morris, McDonald's Denver operations manager; talks with people protesting lack of accessibility to the handicapped. A large quote beside the picture reads: "This McDonald's (at East Colfax Avenue and Pennsylvania Street) is one of the most inaccessible." Bob Conrad, protest leader Handicapped demand break from McDonald's By JERILYNN BLUM, Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Waving protest signs and shouting “We want access," 35 handicapped people in wheelchairs Friday blocked the entrances to a McDonald’s restaurant on East Colfax Avenue. The demonstration was the second this week at a Denver McDonald's restaurant, both of them launched by ACCESS, a group concerned with building access for the handicapped. ACCESS claims the McDonald’s chain doesn’t provide wheelchair ramps or other fixtures needed for handicapped access. The demonstration Friday was joined by handicapped people from five states, who are training in the ACCESS Institute in Denver for activities to expand privileges of the disabled. The conflict between ACCESS and McDonald’s began Tuesday, when members of the group picketed the restaurant at 200 16th St. Spokesman Bob Conrad of Denver said the group had targeted McDonald’s because the chain is not responsive to the needs of wheelchair bound people. “This McDonald’s," he said, referring to the restaurant at East Colfax Avenue and Pennsylvania Street, “is one of the most inaccessible because you have to step up to get on the sidewalk and then it's impossible to get in the bathroom in a wheelchair." Members of the demonstration carried signs that read "Ronald McDonald, stop clowning around and make your stores accessible," and “We deserve a ramp today at McDonald’s." Conrad said members of the group decided to go ahead with the protest, even though they had been negotiating with McDonald‘s Denver operations manager Dennis Morris, because McDonald‘s management was “stonewalling." Conrad said ACCESS requested a meeting with McDonald's officials and a letter authorizing Morris to make decisions for the restaurant. The letter didn't arrive by Friday. Morris confirmed he offered to give ACCESS a letter but said he was “shocked” when the members insisted on having the letter before the Monday meeting. “They have been changing the rules of the game the last two days," said Morris. “I was under the understanding everything was set for Monday." Many lunch patrons at the East Colfax McDonald's Friday were sympathetic but disgruntled by having to step over the protesters. “I'm sure they have a legal gripe but I don’t think they have the right to block the doors," said Ray Cook, a Denver businessman. Morris said that ACCESS wanted a meeting Wednesday, which he explained was impossible. He said ACCESS members then chose Friday but eventually agreed to Monday. “We are looking forward to meeting to clarify the facts of what McDonald's has been doing all along to meet accessibility needs of the handicapped," said Morris. Morris and Bob Keiser, media relations spokesman at the McDonald's corporate offices in Oakbrook, Ill., said McDonald's has been complying with building codes that allow for accessibility for the handicapped.
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El Paso Herald-Post PHOTO (Herald-Post photo by John Hopper): Of an angry looking protester, Jim Parker, sitting in a manual wheelchair. He has shoulder length hair, a bandana headband, a goatee and moustache, black leather gloves with no fingers, and a black biker t-shirt. He is chained with a white link chain, to the doors of a business and has a sign in his lap, but it's not readable. Caption reads: Jim Parker. a handicapped El Pasoan, readies his placard after chaining himself to a restaurant door Friday. [Headline] Handicapped criticize lack of support By Robert Palomares, El Paso Herald-Post A group of protesters chained their wheelchairs to the doors of the McDonald's restaurant on Piedras Street and I-10 to protest the chain's “lack of commitment” to handicapped people. Before his wheelchair was locked to door handles Friday, El Pasoan Jim Parker said that although McDonald’s provides funding for disabled people, the commitment doesn't include making the restaurants accessible to the handicapped. "McDonald's has raised money for disabled people, but they don't make their restaurants accessible to us” Parker said. “It's like saying, ‘We will give you this money, but you can't eat in our restaurants.”’ he said. “This doesn’t mean they are exempt from providing us accessibility." said Mike Auberger of Denver. Robert Keyser, a spokesman for McDonald's Corp. also was in El Paso for the protest. Keyser said the protesters are not accurate when they say that the restaurants do not provide accessibility for handicapped people. “Since 1979. McDonald’s standard building designs provide accessibility to the handicapped, even though local codes do not necessarily call for it.” Keyser said. "In new construction table heights are considered" Keyser said. “We're not saying the restaurants should be modified overnight," said Bob Conrad, another protester from Denver. “But certainly new construction should have handicapped accessibility plans.” Auberger, Conrad and others have traveled from city to city, protesting at McDonald’s restaurants. The protesters say the height of the tables in the restaurant make it necessary for those in wheelchairs to sit in the restaurant's aisles. “So far, these people have not made an attempt to talk to us,” Keyser said. “These people are using McDonald's to make a political statement. We don't do business as a result of threats,” he said. The atmosphere inside the restaurant remained calm during the protest although customers did not know what was going on. The protesters said they believed the action was successful and after about an hour unlocked themselves and left the restaurant. Keyser said that McDonald's provides accessibility, “and will continue to work on ways to make our restaurants even more accessible, including improvements such as tables that are more convenient for our disabled customers,” he said.
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Photo: A man in an old style motorized wheelchair (Mike Auberger) with long hair sits a half a body length above several people standing on the ground. His mouth is open in a yell and his arms are flung wide. Caption reads: 20 Disabled Protesters arrested in Washington: A wheelchair-bound protester being lifted abroad van after being arrested yesterday in Washington. About 100 disabled demonstrators turned out at the annual convention of the American Public Transit Association, demanding improved access to buses, trains, and subways. About 20 people were arrested after blocking two entrances to the convention center.
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May 22, 1986 - Cheyenne Wyoming State Tribune—27 [Headline] Handicapped Protesters Arrested CINCINNATI (UPI) — A group of handicapped protesters charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass refused to post bond and spent the night in the Hamilton County Justice Center. The demonstrators, protesting the lack of access to public transportation for the disabled, were arrested Wednesday for blocking entrances to the Westin Hotel and the building housing offices of the city's bus system. The Westin was singled out because the American Public Transportation Association was holding a regional conference there this week. Barricades had been erected to keep the protesters from entering the hotel. Several of those arrested were released on unsecured appearance bonds for medical reasons. The first defendant's trial was scheduled for next Wednesday. “If the Cincinnati transit system, police and judicial system deny access to disabled people, why can't the disabled block the access to the system,” said Michael Auberger of Denver before his arrest. “We just want to be treated like everyone else.” Auberger was among those who spent the night in jail. About 40 wheelchair-bound members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, based in Denver, participated in the demonstration. Fourteen were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Robert Kafka of Austin, Texas, George Cooper of Dallas and Auberger, all of whom had been arrested earlier in the week, were charged with criminal trespassing for blocking the entrance to the building where Queen City Metro's offices are located. The three men, confined to wheelchairs, had been arrested Monday for refusing to get off a bus they had paid to board. A Hamilton County Judge had ordered them to leave Cincinnati until their trial, but another judge rescinded the order Wednesday morning. Auberger, Cooper and Kafka attempted to speak to Queen City officials but were not permitted to enter their offices. When they returned to the ground floor, they chained their wheelchairs together to block the entrance. One worker was forced to use an alternative route to return to her office. "We asked one lady to wait a few minutes," Auberger said. “The disabled are told to wait a lifetime.” The Rev. Wade Blank, director of ADAPT, said some staff members would remain in Cincinnati and that local clergy would be asked to monitor and support those arrested.
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Cincy orders protesters out A May bus protest in Cincinnati has been described “as the most effective, courageous and fun action ever accomplished in the movement for disabled rights," according to literature mailed out by the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT). Some 85 members of ADAPT were in Cincinnati in mid-May to picket a regional convention of its arch-enemy, the American Public Transit Association (APTA) and to dramatize what a lack of accessible buses means to the disabled population of that Ohio city. The action began with the customary march on the convention hotel on Sunday, May 18. No arrests were made but marchers were greeted at the Westin Hotel by police and double barricades. None of the protestors was allowed into the hotel. Pointing out that other people were passed through the barricades, Bob Kafka of Austin, Texas, said the wheelchair protestors were being discriminated against. However, Cincinnati police captain Dale Menkhaus said that such actions, were proper when taken to protect private property from any group seeking to disrupt other lawful gatherings. The following day Kafka and fellow Texan George Cooper of Dallas dragged themselves onto a City Metro bus, paid their fares, and were arrested. They were reportedly told that “it’s not safe for disabled people to be on the regular bus.” The two were later released on $3,000 bond and ordered out of town, an action that ADAPT leaders described as blatantly unconstitutional. A third protestor, Mike Auberger of Denver, who is a former resident of Cincinnati, was arrested when he attempted to block the bus on which Cooper and Kafka were riding. Auberger said he originally left Cincinnati because of that city's “nineteenth century” attitude toward persons with disabilities. None of the Queen City Metro buses are accessible to the disabled, although 87 of the buses do have lifts which have been bolted down. Metro officials estimate it would cost them $350,000 to return those lifts to operational status. A local Cincinnati disabled activist said that's why she agrees with ADAPT’s goals, even if she can't go along with their methods. Dixie Harmon, co-chairperson of the Specialized Transportation Advisory Committee to Queen City Metro and a member of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, said that the city’s service for disabled riders was inadequate. A disabled person must request space 24 hours in advance from Access, the paratransit system, but even then there's not always a space. “They dictate our lives to us because we have to go and come as there's space available.” ADAPT members said that's why they were willing to go to jail to publicize their cause. Police, however, made no arrests when 15 wheelchair protestors rolled onto a highway where vehicles were traveling at 40 miles per hour and blocked seven buses that were carrying APTA delegates and their spouses to a dinner at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in nearby Canton. Police were caught by surprise, as they had barricades to turn back protestors at the entrance to the Hall of Fame. Two local disabled leaders who were accompanying the APTA delegation to the dinner were taunted as “Uncle Toms” in front of TV cameras. Early the next day ADAPT members were back in front of the Weston Hotel where they erected a huge cross and hung a wheelchair from it in a mock crucifixion. On the final day of the convention, 17 protestors were arrested when they blocked the hotel driveway and refused police orders to move. Many of those arrested were ordered to jail unless they agreed to leave town. Three protestors, Auberger, Cooper and Kafka, decided the time had come for disabled protestors to do “hard time” and ended up serving 10 days. Five other protestors were turned out of jail because they had special medical problems or speech impairments. Others were released after pleading “no contest” to the charges in hastily organized trials. “Even the story we had left town and the protest was over made TV news," an ADAPT spokesperson said.
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8B The Cincinnati Post, Monday,May19,1986 Title: Disabled activist group faces arrest By Edwina Blackwell, Post staff reporter Cincinnati police will arrest members of a national handicapped activist group today if they fulfill a vow to block and chain themselves to Queen City Metro buses to protest the inaccessibility of buses to the handicapped. Michael Auberger, community organizer for American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). said the group's civil disobedience will take a more disruptive turn as the week progresses. “Whatever it, takes to disable the bus, that's what we'll do to show that the bus is inaccessible," Auberger said during a Sunday protest by the group at the downtown Westin Hotel, where public transit officials are meeting. However, Police Capt. Dale Menkhaus said extra officers will patrol the downtown streets where protesters say they will block buses and chain themselves to bumpers while the buses are stopped for traffic lights. “We're prepared to do whatever necessary to protect them (the protesters) and the general public. If they elect to violate the law, they will pay the consequences," Menkhaus said. About 85 ADAPT members - who have been arrested during similar protests in other cities — made their way Sunday afternoon from the Newport Travelodge to the Westin Hotel, where the American Public Transit Association is meeting. With most of its members confined to wheelchairs, some of the protesters relied upon able-bodied members to push them through the streets. Several of the protesters were draped with chains and locks that they plan to use to chain themselves to buses. Extra Cincinnati police officers guided the march and some were waiting for the group at the Westin, where the protesters were greeted with barricades at each of the hotel's entrances. The demonstrators arrived at the Westin and picketed in front of the hotel's entrances on Vine, Fifth and Walnut streets. “We will ride!“ they chanted. There were no arrests Sunday, although police warned pickets they would be arrested if they blocked the hotel's entrances. Menkhaus met with the protesters Sunday and cautioned that they would be arrested if they disrupted bus traffic. Auberger, a former Cincinnatian who now lives in Denver, was pleased with Sunday's protest. Leaning back in his wheelchair with a lock and chain around his neck, he said, "I think we made a strong statement to APTA and Cincinnati that disabled people aren't powerless." Murray Bond, assistant general manager for Queen City Metro, said the city-owned transit company has been working with police for several weeks in anticipation of protests by ADAPT. Members of ADAPT, a Denver—based organization, arrived in Cincinnati to coincide with the eastern education and training conference of the APTA. Nearly 600 transit officials are attending the five-day meeting, which ends Thursday. The convention's general session was to begin this morning. U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo. D-Minn., will give the keynote address. On Wednesday, the conference will address the transportation needs of the disabled during a 2 p.m. workshop. Auberger said the risk the group's members take shows how important it is to them to be able to use public transportation at will. "The point is so vital to make," he said. Bond said Queen City Metro knows of the tactics used in other cities. “Our chief concern is for the safety of the people and our riders," he said. In Cincinnati, ADAPT wants Queen City Metro to operate the wheelchair lifts currently soldered into place on 87 buses. The group also wants all buses purchased in the future to be equipped with wheelchair lifts. At present, 19 vans are used to pick up handicapped individuals in Cincinnati through a contracted service called Access. Judith Van Ginkel, director of communications for Queen City Metro, said the service was recently expanded to include three more neighborhoods and [unreadable] for those who don't need wheelchair lifts. She added it would cost Queen City Metro $350,000 to make the lifts on the 87 buses operational. Albert Engelken, APTA deputy executive director, said money problems being faced by transit systems are at the root of transportation for the handicapped. "We don't see this as a civil rights issue," he said. "We see this as a funding issue." ADAPT disagrees. Jerry Eubanks lost his legs to gangrene as a child. On Sunday, he served as a group cheerleader pushing for what he sees as a civil right for the handicapped. "When you make transportation, it's public. It's for everyone," said Eubanks, a Chicago resident. “We're only fighting for what's already here. "
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California Magazine Column Title: California Reporter Title: Wheelchair Militants By Geeta Dardick Last September 29 marked a radical change in the tactics used by those seeking equal access to public transportation. Disabled demonstrators protesting the policies of the American Public Transit Association (APTA) defied police orders and and lay across San Francisco’s famed cable-car tracks. As the local and national media recorded the event, police arrested more than 75 picketers - the largest mass arrest of disabled people in California history. Now the activists who organized the action are hinting that similar tactics are in store for 1988. “When severely disabled people put their bodies on the line, it rivets public attention,” explains Joc Koontz, of the San Francisco Physically Disabled Quorum. “Few people had ever seen this sort of activity before September. Some California transit authorities may consider dropping out of the APTA because of its refusal to listen to the demands of the disabled.” Militant action by the disabled seems likely when the APTA reconvenes in Monterey, April 15-20, “There will definitely be demonstrations,” says Berkeley resident Michael Pachovas, a spokesperson for the California-based Coalition for Accessible Transportation (CAT). Mark Beckwith, another CAT member, explains why he intends to participate in the demonstration. “I don’t necessarily want to go to jail in Monterey, but I will if I have to, to get the point across.” PHOTO: A man (Mike Auberger) with long braids and a headband sits in his motorized wheelchair on the cable car tracks. Behind him, another person in a power chair is blocking a cable car. Several passengers are climbing out and standing beside the cable car and most are looking toward the camera and Mike.
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Time Magazine October 12, 1987 American Notes PHOTO by Michael Jones: Four men in wheelchairs block a cable car on Powell St. Left is JT Templeton, dark glasses, fist raised; the two men in the middle appear to be chanting. On the right side is Mike Auberger. Frank Lozano is sitting just inside the car and his service dog Frasier is on the steps going in the front of the car. A few people are standing on the sidewalk looking on. Caption reads: Protests: blocking the path of San Francisco's cable cars. Title: Wheelchair Warriors The whir of wheelchair motors and chants of We want access" filled the air last week. as some 200 disabled demonstrators from across the U.S. picketed the annual convention of the American Public Transit Association in San Francisco. The protesters blame association members for engineering the repeal of a 1979 federal mandate that required wheelchair lifts on all new buses and rail systems as well as the phased modification of existing systems. On Powell Street some protesters chained their wheelchairs to the city's century-old cable cars. Others crawled or rolled onto the tracks. shutting down the system for two hours. Many of the 134 arrested protesters were carted off in lift-equipped buses and vans.
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4B / Las Vegas Review-Journal Monday, April 10, 1989 [Headline] Disabled protesters arrested in Sparks Associated Press SPARKS — About 75 wheelchair-bound people blocked the entrances to a casino Sunday to protest what they called their lack of accessibility to public bus systems. Police said about 40 protesters were arrested by late Sunday evening and more arrests were expected. Members of a national group calling itself The American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit staged the protest by chanting slogans and blocking entrances to the Sparks Nugget. The target of the protest was the American Public Transit Association, which is holding its western regional meeting at the Nugget through Wednesday. The association represents the nation’s bus and rapid transit systems. The transit association opposes a move to install wheelchair lifts on new public buses and the disabled group sought a meeting with its leaders inside the casino to discuss the issue. “We try to make their conventions as inaccessible to them as they have made transportation to disabled people,” said protest organizer Mike Auberger of Denver. “They can't just come and have fun.” However, Nugget security personnel blocked outside entrances to the protesters and denied them access, saying they posed a threat to the safety of casino patrons. Police said four protesters were arrested on a charge of blocking a roadway on the group’s march to the Nugget, while 36 others were arrested at the casino on a variety of charges, including obstructing justice and blocking a fire exit. Protesters started out by blocking two entrances and later blocked all but one entrance for a brief time. Police said they were forced to drag several protesters away from the doors after they resisted arrest. In February, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled in favor of the disabled group, saying all new public buses purchased with federal funds must be equipped with wheelchair lifts. Auberger, who uses a wheelchair because of a neck injury suffered in a bobsledding accident, said only about a dozen U.S. cities now have buses with the lifts. “We want to be able to wait in the rain and hot sun and ride a bus like everyone else," he said. “The lifts would force integration and change the way most people view disabled people.” However, Jack Gilstrap, executive vice president of the transit association, said his group opposes the court ruling because of the cost involved. “Every lift costs $15,000 and they’re very expensive to maintain,” he said.
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San Francisco Examiner TITLE: Disabled protest for more funds for home attendants Subheading: Entrances to downtown Marriott are blocked By Wylie Wong of the Examiner Staff, October 19, 1992 About 300 demonstrators in wheelchairs blocked the entrances to the San Francisco Marriott, calling for more funds to allow the disabled to live outside of nursing homes. Sunday's protest was designed to drew attention to the 16 million disabled people who have no choice but to live in nursing homes, said the Rev. Wade Blank, a co-founder Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT). The protesters targeted the American Health Care Association, a nursing-home trade group whose members are staying at the Marriott on Fourth and Minion streets while attending a convention at nearby Moscone Center. ADAPT wants 25 percent of the $27 billion paid to nursing home operators under the Medicaid program to be used to help disabled people pay for personal attendants. But the Bush administration and the health care association, which represents about 10,000 nursing homes, oppose the plan. Only $600 million of that money currently is used for in-home attendant care, said ADAPT co-founder Michael Auberger. Police escorted the protesters on the eight-block trip from their Market Street hotel, and watched as they barricaded themselves at the Marriott's entrances. The protesters chanted. "Down with nursing homes, up with attendant care.” Police were able to keep some entrances open for hotel guests. No arrests were made. Kimberly Horton, who lived in a nursing home from age 6 to 21, described her experience as “living in a prison." "They take away your personal dignity," she said. "You had to eat what they put in front of you. They'd get angry at me for wetting my bed, but wouldn't help when I had to go.” Protester Blane Beckwith, a Berkeley resident, has a personal attendant who takes care of his everyday needs, from taking a bath to preparing food. But state budget cuts have slashed eight hours of care per month. As a result, he has only half an hour per week for grocery shopping with his attendant. "No one can shop for groceries in half an hour, My mother helps me, but she's 62 and can't do it forever." he said. Horton, who wants to take writing classes and become a free-lance writer, fear that more budget cutsar will force him to live in a nursing home. "A nursing home is stifling," he said, "You have no social life. You can't work." Conventioneers who walked past the protesters were unimpressed. "I have no argument with wanting more attendant care,” said John Jarrett, who runs a 79-bed nursing home in New York. "But they shouldn't take it from the elderly,” who would be hurt if ADAPT funding plan were implemented, he said. The demonstrators plan to protest the convention through Friday. A police commander said 90 police officers were on hand. “They haven’t been violent,” he said. “They’ve been very cooperative.“ Last week, officers took two hour classes at the Police Academy to learn how to arrest and search disabled people without harming them. PHOTO by Michael Macor, Examiner: The front of the ADAPT group marching down a downtown street and in the background the line of marchers goes out of sight. Paulette Patterson, Julie Nolan, Carla Laws, Brooke Boston? and Bob Kafka among those leading the march. Photo caption: Disabled people from the group ADAPT make their way down Mission Street to the Marriott Hotel.