By John E. Arnold

I’m concerned that Kansas University is not sensitive to all their fans and alumni. Specifically, there are no center railings in the walkways down to seats in either Allen Fieldhouse or Memorial Stadium.

Now, I know the athletic director and the chancellor watch games from protected suites in football and special seats in Allen, but if they would just venture down to the stands and watch us older folks try to get to our seats, they might have some understanding for the need.

See, when we get older, balance becomes a bigger problem than before. When we walk up and down steps, each step requires balancing on one foot. At some point advice suggests “don’t step on things with only one foot unless you have a hand on something.” As a younger man I had a sailboat and whenever a task was being done on the boat the mantra was always, “one hand for the boat, one hand for yourself.”

That’s what railings will do: allow us to stand on one foot while holding on to something.

I was at the KU-Texas game and I saw one man head down about 20 rows holding onto a companion and it took him ten minutes to get to his seat. I saw several older couples I know in Topeka have similar balance problems, holding onto each other and the shoulders of those on the aisle. One friend who ,for years, had an expensive suite but gave it up this year, doesn’t even come to the games because he and his wife can’t navigate the steps without railings

These are all people who are in the “what should I do with my estate” years.

K-State football and basketball venues have railings.

Our seniors are not less deserving and our potential contributors demand them..