An article about anti-disabled email on a campus

[Scott Luebking <phoenixl@netcom.com>]

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) - A California State University employee is in
trouble with the university for posting a computer message urging
opponents of handicapped parking to do `something nasty' to people who
use wheelchairs.

`If anybody wants to start up an anti-handicapped parking coalition let
me know,' Jody Dunkel wrote in a message posted on a university bulletin
board Jan. 6. `You vow to yourself that the next cripple in a wheelchair
you see you're going to do something nasty and annoying to them.'

Dunkel, 22, said Friday that the message wasn't meant to be taken
seriously.

`I wrote it to be controversial and stir things up,' he said. `It was
extreme humor.'

He said a disabled person who was offended by the message sent it to
university officials.

Dunkel has worked as a Web page designer at the school's Monterey Bay
campus since he graduated last spring.

University President Peter Smith would not say how Dunkel was being
disciplined, citing employee confidentiality.

Dunkel also wouldn't say what his punishment was, but he said he still
works at the university.

The message frightened some of the university's 100 disabled students.

`It may be a joke, but subtle things like that hurt just as much as
overt statements,' said Greg Lukas, 52, who uses a wheelchair.