The Office of Disability Services has canceled Disability Awareness Week because of staff shortage and the upcoming budget cuts.The University has had an organized week in the past, normally the second week of March, to inform students about disability needs on campus, said Wendy Devall, disability services assistant director.”This [week] would have been the 15th year for the awareness week,” Devall said. The reason for the awareness week was to give students “a snapshot” of what a student with a disability experiences at the University. The event is designed to increase student sensitivity, Devall said.With budget cuts looming, the office did not have the resources to promote the week, Devall said. Further compounding the problem, the department scheduled the week immediately after midterms. Though the event is canceled, a group of public relations students are working on raising disability awareness in their mass communication “Public Relations Campaigns” class, MC 4005. Lindsay Eagan, one of the five students working on the project, said the assignment started as a semester-long assignment to promote an organization. The group picked The Arc, a non-profit organization for people with intellectual and development disabilities. In the original survey the group put together, 80 percent of people had never heard of the organization, Eagan said.  The group is promoting $5 membership for The Arc during the campaign through April 27 and working on another campaign with Portobello’s Grill on Jones Creek and at Bocage Village handing out fliers, Eagan said. “Anyone who brings flier to the restaurant … will give 10 percent to The Arc,” she said, explaining 10 percent of client’s bill will go to the organization on Monday nights in March and April. The Arc serves about 500 children and adults with intellectual cognitive disabilities a day, said Paige Gagliano, The Arc Baton Rouge director of development and communication. The organization helps children with their speech, and one of the programs sends care-givers to children’s homes to help care for them, Gagliano said. Another program helps place disabled adults in jobs, she said. About 100 adults are in the program. “We have people we have placed in the community who have been at jobs for 30 years,” Gagliano said. In April, University students can volunteer to help at the inclusive  recreational events, she said. Kids with disabilities get the opportunity to play sports with other kids, she said.The organization is worried about the state budget cuts affecting the programs because about 80 percent of the funds are from government money, she said. The group of public relations students are working to create a larger membership base, Gagliano said.”The more [members in the organization] … the more power in the legislation when cuts come down, she said. “It gives us a larger voice.”- – – -Contact Joy Lukachick at [email protected]