For Immediate Release

 

Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor

Phone: (307) 766-3571

E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

 

Date: April 6, 2005

President Bush appoints UW graduate to national board

            President George W. Bush has appointed a University of Wyoming graduate as a public member to the U.S. Access Board. The board is an independent federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities.

            The appointment was announced April 5 by the board, which develops and maintains design criteria for buildings, transportation, telecommunications equipment, and information technology under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws.

            Mason, a community programs specialist for the Wyoming Governor’s Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities in Cheyenne, will be sworn in at the board’s May 11 meeting in Washington, D.C.

            “To my knowledge, I am one of the few, if not the only person with dwarfism to be appointed to the board,” says the 3-foot-2-inch Mason, who was born with a form of dwarfism called Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia. “I am hoping that not only will I be able to increase access for people of short stature but for people with varying disabilities.”

            The 1995 Cheyenne Central High School graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences from the UW College of Agriculture in 1999. Her program option was textiles and merchandising with a minor in interior design.

 “I’ve had the opportunity to interact with Tricia at several professional conferences. She represents the state and our department very well. We’re proud of her accomplishments,” says Karen Williams, associate professor and head of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Mason is president of the Little People of America, a non-profit organization for individuals of short stature and their families. As LPA’s representative, she is an active member of an American National Standards Institute committee which maintains design standards for accessible buildings and facilities.

“Oftentimes access is demonized as being too expensive and burdensome on businesses,” Mason says. “All people should have equal access to all of the things that every other person has access to. I’ve come to realize that access doesn’t have to be as complicated, as expensive or as unattractive as we’ve gotten used to in our society. My goal is to help others see what I’ve already realized.”

Mason has made numerous presentations on “universal design.” Principles of universal design – which apply to everything from communication and transportation to building construction – are in place across the country to provide independence, dignity and quality of life for people with disabilities. Mason says she studied the principles in-depth while earning her UW degree.

She also has consulted on a number of projects and worked with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office to educate county clerks and election officials across the state on the importance of voter access.

“As a result of these accomplishments, it was suggested to me that I seek appointment to the U.S. Access Board,” says Mason, who notes she began that quest two years ago.

Mason will travel to Washington, D.C., approximately once every six months to participate in board meetings and to sit on various committees. She is one of four new appointees to the board.

On the Web: www.access-board.gov

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