Senators Harkin and Wyden want blind musher to race in Iditarod

[Guest guest]

PLEASE CROSSPOST

 

From the Sled Dog Action Coalition, http://www.helpsleddogs.org:

 

Tell Wyden and Harkin that having a disability is no excuse for abusing

animals:

 

http://wyden.senate.gov/contact

Phone: (202) 224-5244

http://harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

Phone: (202) 224-3254

 

http://www.adn.com/front/story/3549838p-3580895c.html

 

Iditarod officials decide to reconsider blind musher's petition

Americans With Disabilities Act may apply for Oregon teenager

 

By ZAZ HOLLANDER

Anchorage Daily News

(Published: July 30, 2003)

 

WASILLA -- After putting off a decision in June, Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

officials will reconsider special accommodations for a legally blind Oregon

teenager bent on competing next year.

 

Iditarod Board president Rick Koch has scheduled a special meeting for Sept.

19 with an agenda focused on two questions, Koch said Tuesday.

 

Does the Americans With Disabilities Act apply to " the last great race, " an

1,100-mile odyssey through the Alaska Range to Nome?

 

And if it does, what can the board do to accommodate 18-year-old Rachael

Scdoris, who wants to run the Iditarod with radio guidance from two

snowmachiners

on some treacherous stretches?

 

Scdoris formally petitioned the board in early June, but members did not

specifically discuss her request then. They did, however, vote down Koch's

proposal for a broader policy that would allow them to consider accommodation

requests from any disabled entrants.

 

Later, Iditarod veterans such as Dan Seavey, a board member, said allowing

snowmachine assistance for Scdoris would change the nature of the race and could

jeopardize the safety of other dog teams.

 

Then, in early July, Scdoris paid her entry fee and signed up for next year's

race, one of 78 mushers and more than 25 rookies to do so.

 

Koch said he called for the September meeting after receiving numerous

messages urging the board to take action.

 

" I decided we should talk about this again, " he said.

 

Among letters sent to the board are several attention-grabbers: one from the

attorney who represented disabled golfer Casey Martin in his successful U.S.

Supreme Court bid to use a golf cart on the PGA Tour, one from U.S. Sen. Ron

Wyden, D-Ore., and one from U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, the Iowa Democrat who authored

the ADA.

 

All three urge the board to allow Scdoris to run the Iditarod with the type

of assistance she requested, and warn that a court battle over the Iditarod's

ADA obligations could be lengthy.

 

In his letter, Harkin says he has personally taken " a special interest " in

media coverage of Scdoris' Iditarod bid and believes the landmark legislation

enacted in 1990 does apply to her case.

 

" I can assure you that an exclusionary decision such as the one taken by the

(Iditarod board) ... is exactly what we in Congress intended to prevent when

we enacted the ADA, " Harkin wrote.

 

It wasn't clear whether Scdoris will travel to Alaska for the September

meeting, though that's a possibility, according to her agent, Paul Herschell,

with

Sports Unlimited in Portland, Ore.

 

" We understand this is a difficult issue the Iditarod is experiencing for the

first time, " Herschell said Tuesday. " We hope everyone will approach the

meeting with an open mind. "

 

Meanwhile, Scdoris is putting together her training plan and choosing

qualifying races, as required of any musher.

 

She tentatively plans to race in December's Seney 300 Training Run, an Upper

Michigan qualifier, Herschell said. Race organizers are allowing her to use

visual interpreters on snowmachines.

 

Iditarod officials previously have said that any race that allows outside

assistance violates the rules of the Iditarod and therefore can't be considered

a

qualifier.

 

Koch, who now supports Scdoris, said that thousands of snowmachines zoom up

and down the trail over the course of the race. Two more to aid the young

musher shouldn't make any difference, he said.

 

He said it will be up to the board to decide whether Scdoris can qualify

while using help.

 

Reporter Zaz Hollander can be reached at zhollander.