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October 26, 2006
Searching for Answers at Gallaudet
As the fractious situation at Gallaudet University appears headed for some kind of resolution on Sunday, with a special meeting planned by the university’s Board of Trustees, supporters and critics of Jane K. Fernandes remain deeply divided over the core of the dispute about her possible ascension to the presidency.
Posted @ 5:47 AM
Deaf musician's charity gig
Being deaf makes Alan Higgins an unlikely musician. However, the South Norwood guitarist is using his knowledge of music to organise a charity rock gig in aid of breast cancer sufferers.
Posted @ 5:46 AM
Deaf lawyer is denied interpreter in court
A deaf lawyer has won a landmark settlement against a Peterborough court which refused to allow him the use of a sign language interpreter.
Posted @ 5:45 AM
Listening to the deaf
To "mainstream" or not to "mainstream?" That is the question that energizes student and faculty protests at Gallaudet University.
The return of protests at America's only liberal arts university for the deaf and hearing impaired has been obscured by other big stories in Washington these days. But in many ways, the complicated and emotion-charged politics of Gallaudet reveal a much larger story.
Posted @ 5:43 AM
Deaf activist honored with presidential award
Tom Cooney has interviewed baseball legends Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle and chatted with four presidents. Make that five.
President George W. Bush honored Cooney, of Dunedin, with the President's Call to Service Award on Tuesday. He presented the award to Cooney personally, after disembarking from Air Force One in Sarasota.
Posted @ 5:41 AM
Dean of RIT institute for deaf weighs in on Gallaudet
T. Alan Hurwitz is the CEO and dean of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a former president of the National Association of the Deaf. The son of deaf parents, Hurwitz grew up in a house that emphasized literacy, learning and the value of work.
Posted @ 5:41 AM
Man who beat deaf teen pleads guilty
A 20-year-old man who participated in the beating of a deaf teenager in City Heights because he didn't like the way the victim looked at him pleaded guilty Tuesday to assault and battery charges.
Jesse R. Ross could face up to seven years in state prison when he is sentenced Dec. 8 by San Diego Superior Court Judge George "Woody" Clarke.
Posted @ 5:39 AM
Global deaf fury hits London
British students join the global debate over heavy-handed US police treatment after more than a hundred students are arrested at a deaf institution, STEVE EMERY was on hand to witness the protest.
Posted @ 5:39 AM
Northern Irish scheme to boost deaf access to live shows
A scheme to increase access to live performances for the deaf and hearing-impaired has been launched in Northern Ireland by development agency Audiences NI.
Although theatre venues in the province regularly programme signed performances for the 219,000 people registered as deaf or hard of hearing in the region, which represents one in seven of the total population, the new initiative, In the Loop, will look at how those events are marketed to their target audiences.
Posted @ 5:38 AM
Deaf community rallies for reform
Last week 134 students at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC were arrested for protesting the university's incoming president, Jane Fernandes. Gallaudet is the nation's only liberal arts school for the deaf. The students look up to a new president as a national leader, and her impact is felt all the way to Idaho.
Posted @ 5:37 AM
Deaf trio uses dance to teach Northfield pupils sign language
Teaching kids to feel the beat. Before the assembly at Northfield Elementary School started, the kids in the audience learned how to clap in sign language. Instead of hitting their hands together as hearing people do, they were taught to hold their hands in the air and wiggle their outstretched fingers.
Posted @ 5:36 AM
Speeding ticket for deaf and blind man
Stunned Martyn Styles has been sent a £60 speeding fine - even though he cannot drive because he is deaf and blind.
Police say Martyn, 42, who has never even sat behind the wheel of a car, was caught in a speed trap doing 36mph in a 30mph zone.
Posted @ 5:34 AM
When silence isn't golden
In 1988 a student at Gallaudet University in Washington called that year's protests demanding a deaf president of the school the "Selma of the deaf." Founded in 1864, Gallaudet is the deaf world's premier institution, and yet it had never been led by a deaf person. The protests carried the same moral clarity as the legendary civil rights march, and they succeeded.
Posted @ 5:33 AM
Hearing-impaired Muwwakkil just one of the guys for Hilltoppers
The disclaimer is near the top of Munir Muwwakkil's MySpace page. Two words at the beginning of his bio.
"I'm deaf," it reads.
And that's it. The rest of the page is filled with everything you'd expect to see on a college football player's profile: pictures of his friends (277 at last count, including Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis), a list of his favorite movies (a NFL Films compilation from the 1960s, a DVD of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2002, the season they won the Super Bowl) and messages galore, most of them from young women.
Posted @ 5:30 AM
October 19, 2006
Fernandes says Gallaudet board now split
The embattled president designate of Gallaudet University now says some of the school's trustees no longer support her.
Jane Fernandes tells The Washington Post that some trustees have asked her to step down as the next leader of the school for the deaf. She says she's still not thinking of stepping down because if she does, the trustees would come under scrutiny from Congress.
Posted @ 8:11 AM
That ringing in your ears is not the phone
Well, let's see here. What shall we talk about today?
I've got a note here from a lady who says the other day she thought she heard on the radio that Ivan the Terrible, the ruler of Russia who lived in the 16th century, was really from America. She wants to know if that is right.
Posted @ 8:09 AM
Deaf students mount blockades, hunger strikes
Deaf students at one of the world's only universities for the deaf Wednesday were nearing the end of a second week of blockades and hunger strikes aimed at forcing a new president to step down. The ballooning dispute focusses on whether a deaf woman who only learned sign language as an adult and can speak with her voice - the newly named president of Gallaudet University, Jane Fernandes - adequately represents their community.
Posted @ 8:08 AM
Gallaudet classes resume as protests continue
At the main gate to the nation's only liberal arts university devoted to the deaf, student leader Christopher Corrigan sways his entire body to emphasize his sign-language chant before a crowd of about 300 students. His long hair waves as he signs "Gallaudet Unite." A drum bangs loudly. The chant ends with a high-pitched "ahh" and a visual cheer — palms held up high and shaking.
Posted @ 8:06 AM
RNID welcomes the increase of subtitling on BBC parliament
Leading charity RNID, welcomes yesterday's announcement from the BBC (Monday 16th October), that it is increasing subtitling provision on the BBC Parliament channel. An increase from 450 hours of output per year to 810 has been confirmed, meaning deaf and hard of hearing people will have greater access to important debates in Parliament.
Posted @ 8:03 AM
North Miami author finds hottest fashions among old clothing
She always had a good eye, seeing hot fashion where others saw old clothes. But about the time Madeleine Kirsh launched C. Madeleine's vintage clothing store five years ago, progressive hearing loss rendered her legally deaf.
Posted @ 8:02 AM
Cameras focus on city's deaf school
Pupils at Donaldson's school for the deaf are to be the stars of a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Camera crews will spend up to 18 months following pupils as they prepare for a move from the school's historic home in Edinburgh's West End to a new purpose-built facility in Linlithgow.
Posted @ 7:59 AM
October 16, 2006
NY subway noise levels can result in hearing loss
In a new survey of noise levels of the New York City transit system, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that exposure to noise levels in subways have the potential to exceed recommended guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to the research, as little as 30 minutes of exposure to decibel levels measured in the New York City transit system per day has the potential to result in hearing loss. The findings have just been published in the September issue of the Journal of Urban Health, a publication of the New York Academy of Medicine.
Posted @ 4:01 AM
Implant allows St. Joseph man to hear
Audiologist Kristen Dawson covers her mouth so firefighter Dennis Dornhoffer isn't tempted to read her lips.
As Dawson speaks, electronic pulses are created and sent into the St. Joseph Fire Department captain's brain, activating previously inactive nerves in his inner ear.
Posted @ 4:00 AM
When students can't hear
Many high school teammates talk and tell jokes on bus rides. The Solvay High School cheerleaders learn sign language.
Jena Kadlecik, a Solvay senior who was born deaf, teaches sign language on the bus to away meets. She is a member of the team.
Posted @ 3:59 AM
Group protests appointment at university for the deaf
About 50 members of the Florida and National Association of the Deaf came to St. Augustine on Saturday to protest the new president at Gallaudet University, the nation's only liberal arts university for the deaf and hearing-impaired.
Posted @ 3:58 AM
Protest, arrests shake D.C. college campus
Dozens of students at Washington's Gallaudet University were arrested Friday night as a protest over the choice of a new college president was broken up.
Washington police and campus police officers hauled in about 90 protestors at the school for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Posted @ 3:57 AM
Man accused of using phone relay for deaf to make obscene call
A Jacksboro man has been charged with harassment after he allegedly made an obscene phone call to a 10-year-old girl.
The Campbell County Sheriff's Office says Johnny Ledford, 19, used a phone system for the deaf to relay his vulgar message.
Posted @ 3:56 AM
Actors of 'F.B.Eye' series can be seen in other gigs
Dear Joan:
Whatever happened to "Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye"? The series ended with a note on the screen stating "The End, for now." I loved the show and watched the reruns on PAX, but those have ended now. Do you know if they have plans to film the series again? Are the actors Canadian? I detect an accent in some. Also, do you have any info on projects they may be involved in other than that show?
Jan M., cyberspace
Posted @ 3:55 AM
York welfare woe for deaf student
A deaf student is launching an appeal against City of York Council after it suddenly stopped her housing benefit - and demanded she repay nearly £2,000.
Louise Moody, 25, also receives incapacity benefit because her disability means she needs extra cash for her university studies.
Posted @ 3:55 AM
Classes set for Monday at Gallaudet
Classes were scheduled to resume Monday at the nation‘s only liberal arts university for the deaf and hearing-impaired after more than 100 demonstrators were arrested in a protest over its incoming president.
Posted @ 3:54 AM
Deaf boy saved from house fire
Vallejo firefighters rescued a 13-year-old deaf boy from his burning home Friday night after a firefighter scaled a ladder to a second-story window, slung the boy over his shoulder, and carried him to safety.
Posted @ 3:53 AM
San Francisco fleet week sailors visit school for the deaf
USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) and local area Sailors participating in San Francisco Fleet Week visited the California School for the Deaf Oct. 10.
“It’s a privilege to work with these students,” said Machinist's Mate 2nd Class (SS) Martine L. Willard, assigned to the Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) San Jose.
Posted @ 3:52 AM
State Ed Board to study closing blind, deaf school
The Idaho Board of Education hasn't decided if it'll close the state school for the deaf and blind in Gooding.
The panel says it will study just how to expand services for the state's hearing and sight-impaired students over the next year and a half.
Posted @ 3:51 AM
Student rebellion boils over at Gallaudet
Protests over the next president at Gallaudet University intensified yesterday when the football team decided after midnight to join the demonstrations by blocking the campus gates, shutting down the school for the deaf.
Posted @ 3:48 AM
October 12, 2006
Gallaudet Students Blockade Campus
Gallaudet University students blocked access to campus for a second day Thursday, escalating their protest against an incoming president they say lacks the skills to lead the nation's only liberal arts university for the deaf and hearing impaired.
Posted @ 6:18 PM
Calm down, Gallaudet
The story of Elisabeth Zinser may not be particularly well known, but a group of students at Gallaudet University would like incoming President Jane K. Fernandes to repeat it. In 1988, the University of North Carolina administrator was selected as the new Gallaudet president by the board of trustees.
Posted @ 6:14 PM
New service is hear to help deaf people
Deaf rights were given a huge boost after Wakefield Council unveiled its new communication and interpreting service. This means deaf people from across the district will now have access to council sign language interpreters, who will attend pre-booked appointments with places such as banks, doctors and solicitors.
Posted @ 6:13 PM
No funds for deaf OVC, says school head
The Government of Swaziland’s effort to ensure every child gets education by paying school fees for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) seems to be taken for granted.
Pupils of the School for the Deaf in Siteki were informed that their fees could not be paid for since they were benefiting a lot from government.
Posted @ 6:11 PM
Intensity of Gallaudet unrest surprised incoming leader
Until about a week ago, incoming president Jane K. Fernandes thought things were going well at Gallaudet University.
Since May, when protests erupted for two weeks after she was named the next leader of the school for the deaf, Fernandes said she has been trying to move forward, working with people on campus and developing a diversity plan to address issues of discrimination that are upsetting many in the community. And things were quiet over the summer. "So I was surprised by the intensity of this," she said.
Posted @ 6:09 PM
Tourney unites athletes
As another fall season switches into high gear, so does the 19th annual Mason-Dixon volleyball tournament. This year's tournament, hosted by Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, will kick off Thursday and run through Saturday. The first games of pool play begin 9 a.m. Friday at both VSDB and Grace Christian activities center.
Posted @ 6:07 PM
U.S. court backs decision on deaf drivers at UPS
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) may not use certain regulations to exclude deaf people from applying for openings as drivers on its lighter delivery trucks, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday, affirming in part a federal district court's ruling.
Posted @ 6:05 PM
Consolidated VSDB could open doors as early as 2007
A meeting of the advisory commission for the two Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind on Wednesday will include an early look at what a consolidated Staunton campus might look like.
The other issue on the table will be the implementation of a regional day program to take the place of VSDB-Hampton, said Sen. Emmett Hanger, who co-chairs the commission.
Posted @ 6:04 PM
Deaf woman 'faces 14-year wait' for NHS hearing aid
A severely deaf woman could face a 14-year wait for a new hearing aid on the NHS, it emerged today.
June Hews, 76, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was shocked to discover she was number 582 on the waiting list for a digital hearing aid to replace her analogue one.
Posted @ 6:03 PM
Gallaudet protesters staying in building
Students at Gallaudet University continued a third day of protest yesterday and vowed to stay hunkered down in a classroom building until the board of trustees reopen the search for a president.
They have no intention of leaving Hall Memorial Building, where a majority of academic departments are housed, said Latoya Plummer, a student protest leader at the university, considered a cultural hub for the deaf.
Posted @ 6:00 PM
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its help desk
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its Help desk and deaf and hard of hearing clients. Hearing Concern are a national charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for people who are deaf or hard of hearing by providing advice, information and support, promoting communication access and raising public and professional awareness of the issues associated with hearing loss.
Posted @ 5:58 PM
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its help desk
Hearing Concern has adopted Text-Connect™ to aid communication between its Help desk and deaf and hard of hearing clients. Hearing Concern are a national charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for people who are deaf or hard of hearing by providing advice, information and support, promoting communication access and raising public and professional awareness of the issues associated with hearing loss.
Posted @ 5:58 PM
Copper stripped from deaf school's historic cupola
Students and faculty at the Iowa School of the Deaf in Council Bluffs were stunned Monday to learn that more than 300 pounds of copper had been stripped off the school’s landmark cupola.
Posted @ 5:55 PM
Local protest over events at university for deaf
A new president at the world's only liberal arts deaf university has Austin residents up in arms.
Protesters formed a human chain outside the Texas Capitol on Sunday. They say they do not want recently elected Jane Fernandes as the President of Gallaudet University in Washington D.C.
Posted @ 5:54 PM
Fire truck collides with deaf man's car, hydrant
A fire engine rushing to a medical emergency Monday afternoon collided with a car driven by a deaf man at the intersection of Riverside and Merrill avenues.
Posted @ 5:52 PM
Sign of times
The Council is now offering a free British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting service on demand at Kensington Town Hall. The borough has installed a direct video link to skilled BSL interpreters enabling anyone to an effective three-way conversation with staff at Kensington Town Hall.
Posted @ 5:51 PM
Deaf burned by smoke alarm costs: hearing society
The Canadian Hearing Society's target for a special dart tournament in Ottawa is to raise awareness about a potential hazard: How people with hearing problems respond to smoke alarms.
Posted @ 5:49 PM
Letter from I. King Jordan about Gallaudet University
Dear Members of the Campus Community,
I was looking forward to announcing a peaceful resolution today to the campus building takeover. We actually had a signed agreement this afternoon with the president of the Student Body Government. He has since rescinded his signature.
Posted @ 5:44 PM
October 2, 2006
Volleyball tournament marks coach's greatness
Gallaudet University will honor retired legendary coach Peg Worthington in a special dedication ceremony at the inaugural Worthington Classic on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in the university’s Field House.
Posted @ 10:16 AM
Learning to ignore a nuisance
That may sound darn right rude but that’s all it is. A nuisance. Tinnitus is nothing but a nuisance, which interrupts your daily routine by driving you up the wall. Ever asked why it’s driving you up the wall?
Posted @ 10:15 AM
Soldier claims £40k for losing hearing
An ex-soldier who claims that firing guns has damaged his hearing is demanding £40,000 compensation. Barry Tamburrini, 32, insists ear protection provided was inadequate and the Ministry of Defence didn't warn him of possible harm.
Posted @ 10:12 AM
3-D hearing aid
About 30 million Americans have some form of hearing loss. Many complain about hearing aids, saying they produce poor sound quality, making conversations difficult and frustrating. Now, hearing scientists are fine tuning devices to help dramatically improve what patients hear.
Posted @ 10:10 AM
Phonak acquisition makes it world number one
Swiss hearing aid company Phonak is to buy the ReSound group from the Danish firm GN Store Nord for SFr3.3 billion ($2.63 billion).The deal will create a "global powerhouse" in hearing healthcare, Phonak said in a statement on Monday.
Posted @ 10:08 AM
Help your firm reach 9million deaf customers
You may not think your business needs deaf awareness training but it will soon be a legal requirement for many receptionists, shop assistants, supervisors and managers.
Posted @ 10:07 AM
Meet Dr. Smith, the pediatrician who is deaf
This week is Deaf Awareness Week--dedicated to creating an understanding of deafness and deaf culture. We had the opportunity to meet a doctor from Rochester who shows you that anything is possible.
Posted @ 10:06 AM
Device helps deaf musicians stay on beat
For their senior project last fall, Matt Marquette and his fellow student engineers set out to solve an unusual problem: How do you teach musical rhythms to a child who cannot hear?
Posted @ 10:05 AM
School for the Deaf's Children's Center opens
When students at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf finished performing a song at the grand opening of the school's new Children's Center on Friday, the audience was silent -- but the applause was tremendous.
Posted @ 10:04 AM
Deaf teen scores with helping hands
Stuart Jones hears with his eyes. The 15-year-old wide receiver hears Bill Kimrey’s praise through the curls at the corners of the Dutch Fork coach’s mouth. A furrowed brow and pursed lips translate into displeasure.
Posted @ 10:03 AM
NM School for the Deaf's Elias Montoya: Self-made player
As an eighth-grader, Elias Montoya could barely catch a football; now he’s a starting receiver and a backup quarterback. In a word, Elias Montoya was worthless.
Robert Huizar, the head football coach at New Mexico School for the Deaf, didn’t mean to be so harsh, but there were few adjectives to choose from to describe Montoya, then an eighth-grader, as a football player.
Posted @ 10:02 AM
New professor adds to ASL program
At the onset of the 2006-07 academic year at Goshen College, many changes were made within the administration and faculty. While some people transferred to different jobs, others were hired to new positions. Among these fresh members is Julie White Armstrong, a nationally certified ASL/English interpreter since 1993.
Posted @ 10:01 AM
Opera House unveils Grand improvements
The Grand Opera House's new programme of events and brochure design was unveiled in the Malmaison Hotel in Belfast last Thursday.
Theatre director John Botteley outlined all the additional facilities that visitors can enjoy when the building reopens in October: four additional bars, a new eaterie called Luciano's and improved access to all floors will complement a mouth-watering programme of events.
Posted @ 10:00 AM