While Chancellor Donald Mash’s tour of campus in a wheelchair in honor of “Disabilities Awareness Week” might have had good intentions behind it, the effort likely fell short of actually accomplishing anything.

First of all, Mash could not have possibly experienced all the difficulties of being in a wheelchair by touring for a short time. Not only did he probably miss some trouble spots, but he also missed problems not related to accessibility.

For example, Mash didn’t have to maneuver a wheelchair through a crowded Davies Center while trying to get lunch. He did not have to experience the discrimination that some individuals who are disabled might feel at times on this campus.

Other problems with the wheelchair tour are that it was not only offensive to some individuals, but incomplete in its scope. There are all sorts of disabilities besides being confined to a wheelchair. Mash’s tour, for example, did not address the problems confronted by blind students and faculty.

Hopefully, this tour will lead to some results in making the campus more handicap accessible. Administrators have known for years that the footbridge ramp is a trouble spot – it is hard enough for people on bikes, let alone people in wheelchairs.

Perhaps the university could better serve those recognized in “Disabilities Awareness Week,” and all other such weeks, by setting up fundraisers and better promoting the events. This way, money could be raised to help out a cause.

In essence, the idea of various awareness weeks is honorable, but putting the chancellor in a wheelchair is little more than creating a spectacle.