Anyone who witnessed campus in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Gustav quickly knew cleanup was going to be a tremendous task.The current state of campus is wonderful — especially considering the mess Hurricane Gustav left just last week — and the chancellor was right to praise Facility Services for a job well done.While most of us appreciate the simple aesthetics of a clean campus and the good fortune that most of our majestic oak trees are still intact, for some students in the University’s community a clean campus means much more.Early this week, mass communication junior Garrett Galjour had some frustration getting around campus. Galjour has cerebral palsy and must use an electric wheelchair to get around.”There was debris all over the sidewalks and curve cuts around campus,” Galjour said.With debris on sidewalks — often fully obstructing some walk areas — Galjour said he had to use different routes to get to class and to his apartment in ECA. More importantly, he was concerned about his safety when he had to use the streets to move around debris piles.Galjour quickly notified the Office of Disability Services about his difficulties — and Galjour was “pleased” with the response.According to Associate Director for ODS Benjamin Cornwell, ODS notified Residential Life and Facility Services about these concerns. The response, Cornwell said, was prompt and “remarkable.” ResLife made sure paths to the dining halls were clear, and Facility Services acted quickly to remove debris from walkways.Cornwell was quick to note that both Facility Services and ResLife always respond to any special needs issues quickly — “within a day or two.”In addition, Cornwell said before the storm, ResLife was provided with a list of all students with special needs and the department was prepared to handle any disabled students living on campus. Contacts were provided to those students, and Cornwell himself was on call most of last week.Cornwell — like this Board — is delighted with how diligently and swiftly cleanup crews around campus have labored to restore the University to its pre-Gustav beauty. One drive around the still damaged city confirms just how hard the cleanup crews have worked.The University has an obligation to address the needs of its students. Sometimes that isn’t easy, and sometimes the University may fail.Students with disabilities rely on that obligation the most in times of disaster — and it reassures this Board to know this time, the University got it right.