The Slate Green Challenge with TreeHugger: Electricity

Dear Sweeties....I get this newsletter in the e-mail every week, and I'm gonna post it here, too, in case y'alls don't read Slate much. Slate is an online magazine that I like, and if you sign onto MSN, you can see the link to it there.

Last week's Slate Green Challenge was bout wearing clothing that reduces our impact on the environment, that is, cotton, linen, wool....natural fibers. That's a hard one, especially now when all the L.L. Bean Christmas catalogs are arriving with all their luscious fleece garments!! Fleece is made out of polyester and that kinda stuff...petroleum derivatives. Ouch! Maybe a nice cashmere sweater instead??

From: Slate and TreeHugger [newsletter@treehugger.com]
Date: Nov 20, 2006 17:03
To: ...
Cc:
Subject: The Slate Green Challenge with TreeHugger: Electricity


Slate Green Challenge with TreeHugger

Welcome to Slate and TreeHugger’s Green Challenge weekly newsletter! This week, we address electricity and gadgets, and what you can do to keep your related CO2 output to a minimum. If you haven’t started the Challenge yet, or if you missed a weekly segment, don’t worry, you can learn what it’s all about ::here or pick up where you left off anytime.

ALL CHARGED UP Most of us take electricity for granted: Flip a switch, and there it is. In lots of ways, that’s a beautiful thing. But behind our well-lit rooms and entertaining flat-screen TVs, the generation of electricity is our country’s largest single source of CO2 emissions overall. That’s because most of our electrical-power supply comes from burning fossil fuels—natural gas, oil, and, especially, coal. While you can’t pick where your energy comes from (unless you move off the grid by installing your own solar or wind power generator, say), there’s plenty you can do to help follow a lower-carbon diet when it comes to electricity usage. Switching out light bulbs for more efficient models, unplugging electronic devices when they're not in use, and choosing energy-saving appliances are few things we suggest in this week’s Green Challenge. We’ve got plenty more tips, too, and not a single one suggests that you live in the dark. ::Slate Green Challenge: Electricity

htgreen_468x60.gif [this is a picture, and if you can figure out how to see it, good]

Last month, Wells Fargo bank purchased enough renewable energy certificates to offset 40 percent of its energy consumption, about equal to removing 75,000 cars from the roads for a year. (The company has also financed $720 million worth of green buildings.) In terms of renewable energy purchased, the move puts them neck in neck with Whole Foods Market, which bought enough credits in 2006 to offset 100 percent of its energy use. ::more and ::more

As our consumption of gadgets such as DVD players, cell phones, MP3 players, and PDAs has increased, so have our country’s greenhouse gas emissions—not to mention our household utility bills. We’re not against modern technology, but we do like the idea of using it wisely. You too? Check out Energy Star’s three-part podcast on the recent explosion of consumer electronics, its effects on energy consumption, and tips for reducing your personal impact. ::more

Founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute and a contributor to TH, Lester Brown knows a few things about improving productivity when it comes to energy. In his book Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, he presents realistic solutions to a more sustainable future by outlining simple actions that individuals can take and explaining environmental policy at large. Another eco-spin: the book can be downloaded on-demand for free. ::more

Did you know?

Believe it or not, 40 percent of all the electricity we use in our houses is used to power electronics that are plugged in but aren’t in use. Nationwide, that’s equivalent to the annual output of 17 power plants! You can avoid wasting energy in this way by unplugging electronics from the wall, or plugging them into a power strip that can be switched off completely.

For additionall tips on how to become even more environmentally savvy when it comes to electrical gadgets and power, check out TreeHugger's latest Green Guide, How to Green Your Electricity.

th_banner468x60.gif [Another picture...]


So far, 27,457 Green Challenge participants have pledged a total of 47,705,759 pounds of reductions in CO2 emissions.

Stay tuned for next week’s installment of the Slate Green Challenge, when we celebrate the Holidays.

Special thanks to our friends at I'm Organic, T-shirt prize sponsor for the Green Challenge.

Yours on a carbon diet,
Slate and TreeHugger


Want to learn more about environmentalism or the world at large? Sign up for a TreeHugger newsletter here or get on the Slate train here.

Pssst...If you can convince a few of your friends to get on the Green Challenge program, you’d be making an even bigger contribution to our collective carbon diet. Technically speaking, you wouldn’t lose more carbon pounds yourself, of course, but why not pass this newsletter along to others who might enjoy it?
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Radical Deaf Culture

From today's Boston Globe:

Radicalism in the Deaf culture
By Cathy Young | November 6, 2006

SINCE LAST MAY, Gallaudet University, the world's only university designed entirely for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, has been rocked by protests over the selection of a new president.

Jane K. Fernandes was scheduled to take over from I. King Jordan in January. On Oct. 29, after protesters shut down the Washington campus for more than two weeks, the board of trustees revoked Fernandes's appointment. This fiasco is a striking example of identity politics gone mad.

In 1988, protesters rebelled against the appointment of a hearing president, Elisabeth Singer [sic...her name is Dr. Elizabeth Zinser, now president of Southern Oregon University], and demanded a deaf president (something Gallaudet had never had since its founding in 1864). Singer [sic] resigned , and Jordan was appointed in her place.

Fernandes, the Gallaudet provost whom Jordan wanted to see as his replacement, is also deaf; but to some, "not deaf enough." She grew up lip-reading and speaking and learned sign language only as a graduate student.

In recent weeks, anti-Fernandes students and professors have denied that their objections had anything to do with her not being deaf enough, and have accused her of raising the issue to pose as a victim of political correctness.

However, the Washington Post reports that the protesters backed off the "not deaf enough" complaint only when they realized that it wasn't likely to garner sympathy from the outside world. They focused instead on Fernandes's supposedly autocratic and intimidating leadership style and her alleged lack of interpersonal skills (one critic quoted by the Inside Higher Ed website even noted that she didn't smile enough).

There were also vague charges that she is insufficiently committed to fighting racism. Yet none of these gripes seem sufficient to justify the passion that led to her ouster: the protests included hunger strikes and threats of violence.

Some of the criticisms publicly leveled at Fernandes are overtly rooted in identity politics.

In a letter to the Post , Gallaudet English professor Kathleen M. Wood excoriated both Fernandes and Jordan for taking the position that Gallaudet is for all deaf students. This misguided inclusiveness, Wood asserted , had attracted deaf students who were "not integrating into Deaf culture" and resisting the use of sign language. She ended her letter by stating, "The new Gallaudet will not be for everyone."

"Deaf culture" -- that's Deaf with a capital D -- has flourished at Gallaudet. It is a radical movement that views deafness not as a disability but as an oppressed minority status akin to race, and also as a unique linguistic culture. The movement holds that there is nothing wrong with being deaf, only with how society has treated deaf people.

Few would deny that, historically, deaf people and others with disabilities have endured stereotyping, bias, and unfairness. Much progress has been made toward seeing people with disabilities as whole individuals, toward focusing on what they can do, not on what they can't . But it's a leap from this understanding to the bizarre idea that the lack of hearing is no more a disability than being female or black. (Verbal communication aside, surely being unable to hear environmental sounds often places a person at a serious disadvantage.)

The majority of deaf people do not belong to Deaf culture. It is estimated that at most a quarter of profoundly deaf people in the United States use sign language. Yet at many schools for the deaf, signing has been dogmatically treated as the only acceptable communication; children with some hearing have received little training in auditory and speaking skills. Deaf schools that promote "oralism" have been targeted for protests.

More harmful still, Deaf activists have railed against cochlear implants, which enable many deaf children to gain functional hearing; some deaf parents have denied implants to their children on ideological grounds. The activists also oppose research into cures for deafness through gene therapy and other means.

To them, attempts to "fix" deafness amounts to nothing short of genocide.

Fernandes herself embraces Deaf culture, but she does not want it to be isolated from the hearing world or exclude those who don't meet purist standards of "Deafness." She also believes that the deaf community must deal honestly with the challenges posed by advances in medicine.

When this sensible view is rejected under pressure from a handful of radicals, it is a testament to the madness that can prevail when oppressed-minority status becomes a weapon to silence critics.

Cathy Young is a contributing editor at Reason magazine. Her column appears regularly in the Globe.



© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Op Ed in Rochester Democrat and Chronicle 11/3/06

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/OPINION02/611030381/1039/OPINION

Gallaudet is isolating its deaf students

By Jack Slutzky


(November 3, 2006)--I am totally dismayed and more than a little angry over the events at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. The trustees voted late last month to terminate the appointment of incoming president Jane Fernandes, the subject of months of protests.

These feelings have been aroused in me by phrases being bandied around: "not deaf enough," "not my kind of deaf," "deaf culture," "not adequately committed to American Sign Language" and "Gallaudet, the leading college for the deaf."

I taught at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology for more than 27 years. My son, who was born profoundly deaf, is an assistant professor at an upstate university teaching hearing students.

I have worked with and for people across the country who are deaf or hard of hearing for more than 40 years. I mention these facts to give credibility to my words.

Gallaudet University is not the leading university for the deaf. It might be the oldest, but it is far from the best. Judging by the success of Gallaudet students in the classroom and workplace, Gallaudet is not even a close second to NTID.

To say that Fernandes is "not deaf enough" or doesn't "use the right kind of communication" is as insulting as it is bigoted. I worked at NTID with a dedicated faculty and staff, deaf and hearing, to enable students who are deaf to reach their potential and become full-fledged members of society. And they have! To have shut themselves in a small enclave a few radicals call "deaf culture" would have insulted the vast numbers of people who are deaf, people who are as heterogeneous as any
group in this country.

The dictionary defines culture as the development of intellectual and moral abilities; enlightenment acquired by the study of the fine arts, humanities and the sciences; and the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that depends on the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. Ergo, "deaf culture" is a misnomer!

American Sign Language does not make a culture. When Fernandes spoke in January of expanding Gallaudet to embrace all forms of deafness, and all modes of communication deaf people use to communicate, she ruffled the feathers of a few defensive hermits afraid of sharing, of growing, of becoming.

Most Americans who are deaf or hearing impaired do not embrace American Sign Language as their language of choice. Most parents of deaf children do not embrace ASL as their language of choice. Most employers and educators of deaf people do not embrace ASL as their language of choice.

I have told my son and hundreds of students I have worked with: I care not how you communicate, but that you communicate. I care not what you choose to study, but that you can and do choose. I care not what you choose to do with your life, but that you have choice in life. Embracing a biased, bigoted misnomer called "deaf culture" and an absolute adherence to ASL will only inhibit your participation in society.

Shame on you, Gallaudet trustees, for caving in to threat and for failing to defend the rights of people across this country who are deaf.

Slutzky, of Le Roy, has been a writer since he retired from RIT 10 years ago. E-mail him at jsocsai@gmail.com.

On Nonviolence and Civil Disobedience - by Dr. Jane Hurst

Dr. Jane Hurst is the chair of Gallaudet's department of philosophy and religion. She has this to say in a post on the Gallaudet website (http://news.gallaudet.edu/?id=9583) today about the current protest:

On Nonviolence and Civil Disobedience

By Dr. Jane Hurst, Department of Philosophy and Religion

I want to clarify the terms nonviolence and civil disobedience. These terms refer to a specific approach to challenging power. Nonviolence is the idea that each person has the power to change things not by inflicting suffering on others but by being willing to undergo suffering for a cause. Hence there are nonviolent hunger strikes and marches and protests in which the protesters show their inner dignity by standing for a cause. Nonviolence never attacks other people, but rather attacks issues and power structures. As Martin Luther King stated, "Nonviolent resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding."

According to this definition the current protest at Gallaudet has not been nonviolent. The threats to students who are trying to get an education (email, photographs taken if they attend classes, personal coercion), the threats to various members of the campus community (faculty, staff, board of trustees), and the personal retaliatory attacks on I. King Jordan and Jane Fernandes are all indications of the violent nature of this protest, whether or not anyone has actually been physically assaulted or not. The mood of this protest is not the way a nonviolent protest feels. In a nonviolent protest, the spirits of the protesters are uplifted. Their anger is transformed to hope. The feeling tone of the current protest is angry and vindictive. Emotions are running high, and spiritual dignity is lacking. This is NOT nonviolence.

Civil disobedience is a technique of breaking the law and being arrested to achieve a goal. As Wikipedia says: "In seeking an active form of civil disobedience, one may choose to deliberately break certain laws, such as by forming a peaceful blockade or occupying a facility illegally. Protesters practice this nonviolent form of civil disorder with the expectation that they will be arrested, or even attacked or beaten by the authorities. Protesters often undergo training in advance on how to react to arrest or to attack, so that they will do so in a manner that quietly or limply resists without threatening the authorities." Gandhi, who essentially developed the idea of civil disobedience, taught that civil resisters should harbour no anger against the opponent, but rather seek to transform the opponent through the justice of the resister's cause. Again, personal attacks are not acceptable.

The current protesters, faculty and students, can't have it both ways. If this is true nonviolent civil disobedience, the anger and attacks and threats must stop. The complaints about being arrested are ridiculous, since being arrested is the point of civil disobedience. "How could King do this to us?" He did not do anything that was not requested by the protesters wilfully breaking the law. He was acting his part in the drama of civil disobedience. The protesters were acting theirs. These are the rules of this kind of protest.

The continued complaints, anger, threats, and retaliation (which is how I read the shameful vote of no confidence in President Jordan at the faculty meeting yesterday) show that this protest is NOT civil disobedience and it is NOT nonviolent. There is no hiding behind these labels while disrespectful, angry and threatening behaviour and words as well as wilful lawbreaking continue. This shows disrespect for the protesters' opponents, and worse, disrespect by the protesters for themselves and their ability to achieve their goals peacefully.

For reference, below are listed the principles of nonviolence from Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

I. Mahatma Gandhi's rules for civil disobedience (from Wikipedia)

1. A civil resister (or satyagrahi) will harbour no anger.
2. He will suffer the anger of the opponent.
3. In so doing he will put up with assaults from the opponent, never retaliate; but he will not submit, out of fear of punishment or the like, to any order given in anger.
4. When any person in authority seeks to arrest a civil resister, he will voluntarily submit to the arrest, and he will not resist the attachment or removal of his own property, if any, when it is sought to be confiscated by authorities.
5. If a civil resister has any property in his possession as a trustee, he will refuse to surrender it, even though in defending it he might lose his life. He will, however, never retaliate.
6. Retaliation includes swearing and cursing.
7. Therefore a civil resister will never insult his opponent, and therefore also not take part in many of the newly coined cries which are contrary to the spirit of ahimsa.
8. A civil resister will not salute the Union Jack, nor will he insult it or officials, English or Indian.
9. In the course of the struggle if anyone insults an official or commits an assault upon him, a civil resister will protect such official or officials from the insult or attack even at the risk of his life.

II. The Principles of Nonviolence as Outlined by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. From the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia

1. Nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards. It does resist. The nonviolent resister is just as strongly opposed to the evil against which he protests, as is the person who uses violence. His method is passive or non-aggressive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, but his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken. This method is passive physically but strongly active spiritually; it is non-aggressive physically but dynamically aggressive spiritually.
2. Nonviolent resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding. The nonviolent resister must often express his protest through non-cooperation or boycotts, but he realizes that non-cooperation and boycotts are not ends themselves; they are merely means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent.
3. The attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who are caught in those forces. It is a struggle between justice and injustice, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.
4. Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform.
5. Nonviolent resistance avoids not only external physical violence, but also internal violence of spirit. At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love.
6. Nonviolence is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. It is the deep faith in the future that allows a nonviolent resister to accept suffering without retaliation. The nonviolent resister knows that in his struggle for justice, he has a cosmic companionship.

The principles of nonviolence, based on a speech given at University of California, Berkeley, June 4, 1957, and an article published in Christian Century in early 1957.

Posted: 19 Oct 2006

So He Cancelled Homecoming!!!

Dear Reader complaining about Gallaudet's Homecoming being cancelled:

It blows my mind that people don't realize the danger of having all those people in such a large space with only one egress/exit. I mean, the place is fenced in for blocks, and the "students" (well, that's what they call themselves, but they don't seem to be studying) have barricaded all but one gate!! I'm sure the fire department and the emergency people would say no. I'm sure IKJ consulted with them--or maybe they even came to him and said "Forget it."

If Gallaudet did go ahead with Homecoming and there was a fire or medical emergency and the trucks could not get there in time because of the crowding and lack of egress, then everyone would blame IKJ for not cancelling the Homecoming activities.

Who the hell are these people who think they can second-guess absolutely everything the man does. He's just an ordinary schmuck like the rest of us but with tremendous responsibility. I mean, he's got a campus full of "students" who are blocking the gates and trashing the grounds, he's got a bunch of asshole faculty voting no confidence every time he turns around, he's got a board of trustees telling him to stay the course, and a successor who wouldn't quit even if Donald Trump said "You're fired."

Dear Reader, give the guy a break! He was just a popular teacher when DPN propelled him into office. Please don't add your voice to the chorus of bloodsuckers.

This protest is all about personality, not about justice, not about
education. It's not a worthy cause. It sucks.

Any suggestions?

The impasse at Gallaudet University over Dr. Jane Fernandes and the protestors is into its second week (if you don't count what happened last spring, too). It's time for serious suggestions on how to resolve this.

The protestors--a couple of hundred students strong plus some alumni and faculty--can't stand Jane Fernandes. They say she's cold, snobbish, evil, mean, power hungry. They say she ruined a lot of people's lives at the Clerc Center but also at Gallaudet. They say she doesn't listen to people, especially students. They say she laughs at them when they try to talk with her. They say she doesn't smile or say hello in the elevator. They say you need a course in Kremlinology to learn how to work with her. They say she's not black. They say she's not culturally deaf. On and on. It's all pretty much like this. THEY. DO. NOT. LIKE. HER. And they sure don't want her as Gallaudet's 9th president--which she is, almost.

Jane Fernandes's supporters, who include Dr. I. King Jordan (the current president), the Gallaudet Board of Trustees, and many of the nonprotesting students, faculty, and staff, say she's the best qualified candidate. They cite real educational gains achieved under her watch, especially at the Clerc Center, where she installed a number of programs. They say she's the best equipped to deal with the new technology that will be the future of deaf children in this country: cochlear implants and stem cells. They resent the fact that the protestors so far have pretty much destroyed two weeks of the academic calendar.

Both sides refuse to back down. Jane Fernandes refuses to resign, and the Board of Trustees refuses to fire her. The student protestors refuse to leave the gates until she quits.

How about some suggestions for a resolution?

In the eyes of our public

The following posts appear today, October 15, 2006, in the local DC media.

from WJLA.com:

I find it very funny that the press release from the Faculty Student Staff Alumni Coalition talks about the protesters not being willing to live "in an oppressive, fearful, environment any longer."

So what do these frightened student leaders do? They turn around and create an opressive, fearful environment for any student or faculty member that does not join the protest or does not share their view. My kid called me all upset and my wife and I have our child home until the administration can regain control and punish the offenders. Punishment is what they deserve and I hope that they do not give into the demand for no retaliation.

My kid went to get help from his teacher at the fence on Wednesday, the first day of the campus closure and what happens? A few of the protesting students take pictures of those meeting with their teachers. What followed was bullying, intimidation and threats of bodily harm. Of course these thugs were also making note of the teachers there and I would hate to be in their shoes if the administration caves to their demands.

In civil society we hold those who hold others hostage accountable and the students, staff and faculty who are responsible should have the guts to stand up and take what is coming to them. That is leadership; these folks, they want to pass the buck or deny accountability.

I may not know a lot of things but I know this. If you do not like your boss, you resign and find another, you do not insist that the boss resign. I also know this. We are looking for other options for higher education because if the thugs and disgruntled faculty win, higher education and Gallaudet loses.

From WJLA.com

I drove by the university today and the front gate is still manned by a mob. There a signs draped all over calling the students who were arrested 'heros'. I say they are cowards. It is very clear from their demands that that want to take no responsibility for their destructive actions. The brave stand up, take a stand and take responsibility. These cowards want to hide refuse to take the consequences.I was told that the students did damage to the major classroom building when they were holding it hostage. Are the students going to pay for this damage? The grounds from what I could see look like a pig sty. There was litter everywhere and it is clear that they are not cleaning up after themselves. They have absolutely no pride in this university that they say they love so much. No, I think they love creating chaos for others. I think they like bullying students who do not share their views and I think they like to feel that they are in control. God forbid they ever are. By their actions I think they must enjoy dragging the name of their university through the mud.

The students protesting complain about the lack of leadership and yet the students and faculty behind this debacle have shown zero leadership. I hope the Board and the university administration hold those who created this havoc accountable. If they do not, maybe the students are correct in saying that the leadership is weak.

Keeping the Angst Alive

More than 130 Gallaudetans are in jail right now, including one very popular deaf professor-and-all-around-mensch, and there are many angry, anxious people here today.

If everyone feels he or she is absolutely right, and it's the other guy, girl, or She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named who is causing all the trouble, let all these righteous ones either cultivate personal serenity or go away. Then there will be nobody left at Gallaudet with anger and long-festering resentment in their hearts, and the education of those who are deaf and hard of hearing can proceed.

Question: If all the cranky ones go away, will there be anyone left so that this education can proceed at Gallaudet? Or will it take place somewhere else in the big, bad [hearing] world?

Another question: Was "Deaf President Now" [the first one, not this imitation] actually the death knell for Gallaudet?

Police have begun making arrests!

The following are recent posts to various blogs regarding the protest:

from NBC4.com:

I read everyday the blogs and news articles on the Gallaudet protest and my heart is just crying for what is happening to Gallaudet but I cannot say I am surprised.

There is so much hate on the side of the protesters and so much anger that I am not sure how they expect anyone to be able to negotiate with them and listen to their concerns. The over the top name calling and the demonization of President I. King Jordan is uncalled for and those who are calling for social justice have done him a huge injustice and owe him an apology.

Students also seem to forget that the position of President is not a life appointment. If the President designate cannot do her job, she can be removed from her position.

The protesters talk a good deal about Deaf oppression on campus and yet President Jordan has been a wonderful goodwill ambassador for the Deaf community. It seems to me that the protest is undoing much of his good work. They are making the Deaf community look intolerant and unable to come to the table and have a civil conversation. Unilateral demands will get them nothing because they leave no room for negotiation.

I am a hard-of-hearing graduate of Gallaudet and I had to deal with my own oppression while a student there for 4 years. There is definitely a Deaf elite who think that their native sign skills make them superior to those that learned to sign later in life (like the President Designate). Maybe they do not like Dr. Fernandes because she represents the reality of the deaf community and all of its diversity.When I was a student,I put up with bullying and name calling for the duration of my time there because I was determined to get an education. However, many of the people who were in the New Signers Program never made it to graduation and several did not even make it through the first semester. It was not that they were not smart enough to do the work, they were not thick skinned enough to brush off the nasty comments in class. I saw a friend leave a class in tears because someone in the class made fun of her sign and the teacher did NOTHING.

I think that the Deaf community ought to be taking a long, hard look at themselves before they go pointing fingers and complaining about lack of diversity when they cannot even tolerate the diversity of communication preferences on campus. Maybe that has something to do with the dreadful graduation statisitics that some have talked about.

I also agree that lots of the students think Gallaudet is a great big Deaf social club instead of a university for higher education. They party all night and don't go to classes or do the work. The library was always a ghost town and there were more people chatting then there were doing course work. They do not care if they fail because the tax payers are footing the bill for many of the students.(didn't know that did you?)

You do not value what you do not pay for and maybe if more of these students had to pay for school, they would take it more seriously. I am tired of my tax dollars going to pay for students who do not even care about doing their work. That is not the fault of the administration but it is the fault of the students.

For those who say well, they should not let in students that are not prepared for college work, how long do you think Congress will pay for a university that has only a few students? How many faculty will you be able to have if the student body shrinks? What do you think these kinds of protests do to your enrollment?

I can tell you that Gallaudet is the LAST place I would send my children for an education at this point. Thank goodness for the ADA that allow more choices than I had when I went to college. Now my very bright Deaf daughter can go to a university with classmates that actually value education and my hard-of-hearing nephew will not have to put up with the bigotry of the Deaf Elite that are running the show.(yes, I come from a deaf family but a mainstreamed one)

If they win this fight, they should call it Gallaudet Deaf Club and Congress should look and see what their millions of dollars are buying.

[Signed]

from NBC4.com:

While the protest itself is not illegal, the methods in which it has been carried have gone too far.

As a graduate of this school, I feel greatly ashamed that some faculty are taking part in this primitive protest.

When we participated in DPN, we set a one time precedent that would by all means stand the test of time.

For the students and faculty who are now raping this great school, remember there are many of us who do not agree with your methods of dissent. We gave you a good man for your president, and by making his exit such shameful, you are insulting DPN and those who participated in it - because you are initially calling us fools who gave you a bad president.

Likewise, by making Dr. Jordan's exit from Gallaudet so shameful and disgracing, you are dishonoring all the sacrifice, all these years he gave to Gallaudet, and all the progress he made, and all the development he brought to Gallaudet.

Dr. Fernandes remains one of the most well-qualified administrators who is in place to bring academic discipline back to Gallaudet. If you succeed in forcing her out, 10 years from now, or even sooner, most of you will look back and say "We should have let her assume her presidency, she would have done a better job"

My heart bleeds, and my sorrow is deep, at the immaturity and hindsight of the current dissenters.

Remember also, there is a large percentage of students and faculty who are not with you in this. Assume that the tables had been turned, and a candidate of your liking had been picked. Would you be very pleased to be on the other side? Held hostage and your education put on standby by a mob scrawling insults and plain childish grafiti on the walls of HMB and locking up an entire campus? Judging by your character so far, probably we would be moaning someone by now!

I commend those on the other side who have patiently held back, been humble and respected the institution of Gallaudet.

[Signed]

Old Deaf vs. New Deaf

Gallaudet University is closed again. The students remain adamant in their demands. Here's one perspective they haven't mentioned: They're in a losing battle against technology and the clock. The following is a comment on the St Augustine for Gallaudet blog:

This protest is, of course, the key event in the evolutionary process we're seeing in the deaf community.

The protesters are all about the old deaf guards who don’t believe in the re-integration of deaf people back into the hearing society.

The deaf communities are facing major evolutionary changes in the near future which enable them to mainstream and re-integrate back into the hearing society. They are cochlear implants and recently, stem cells, which are promising to be part of the final solutions to addressing deafness. These medical marvels have enabled deaf people to function almost like hearing people. This has created a new deaf society in the past decade and this new deaf society has been slowly taking over Gallaudet University operations.

The protests you’re seeing is the old deaf guard's last stand against the changes in the future of deaf society, against the new deaf society taking over Gallaudet University.

Jane's leadership has the support of the new deaf society and is best one to lead the new deaf society which comprises 80 percent of the students at Gallaudet into the future.

The protesters are about the past deaf society, about the old deaf guards who have become the scourge of the deaf communities.

They have to give it up because they can’t beat the evolutionary process the deaf society is facing.

[signed]

No amnesty, please....

The protestors have listed "no reprisals" as one of their demands. I don't freakin' think so, folks. You got "no reprisals" last spring when you marched around being obnoxious after Jane Fernandes was announced as the 9th president of Gallaudet. And here you are again, being even more obnoxious. So please, President Jordan and the rest....DON'T GIVE THEM AMNESTY AGAIN! Throw them out, mail their letters of expulsion (and termination...don't forget the faculty) home, and let them know they will never be welcome on campus again. Otherwise, there'll be more crapola when Dr. Fernandes takes over the presidency in January. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Victims of the Protest Bullies

The following posts are from various online blogs regarding the seizure of the Gallaudet campus by protesters and how this is affecting their lives. A couple hundred students and some faculty members are holding the entire campus hostage. This is terrorism. When are they going to call the police and arrest these jerks? I call on the administration to clean house and start over with teachers and students who are willing to throw their weight into learning. When Jane Fernandes was a student, she got up every weekday at 5 a.m., went to aerobics, grabbed a cup of coffee, and was in her office at the University of Iowa by 7 a.m. She worked, taught, and studied all day and did not return to her apartment until after the University of Iowa library closed at midnight. THAT'S a student worth emulating, not the whiners and bullies at the gates now who are blowing off their classes and making it impossible for others to study, work, or even get food for their young children. For shame!

From WJLA-TV7 blog:

I am an average citizen, concern husband and father who resides at Gallaudet University. My family and I just moved to Gallaudet University this past weekend. We want to learn and live in peace and security at an Institute of learning that we have always loved and admired. I have to tell you, the Protestors are OUT OF CONTROL!!!!! We are living in seige…. My wife and I had no food in our refigerator because of the recent move. We have to eat and feed our baby. Well aware of the protestors and the emotions taken place, my wife and I were trying to figure out WHAT WE WILL EAT FOR DINNER!!!!!! everything is closed on Campus… My wife and I decided to drive up to the main gate and explain to the protesters that we needed food and we would need to enter Gallaudet with our car…. Protestors made it clear that we can go to the food store but when returning we would have to find parking out side then --university and WALK WITH OUR GROCERY BAGS…. While negotiating with the Protestors a vehicle entering Gallaudet was allowed to enter. I asked the Protestor “Why that car?” He signed “This person works at MSSD”. Ladies and Gentleman, the Protesors are picking and choosing who is worthy of entering “THEIR” School. We were finally “ALLOWED” to go food shopping. When finished, I went to Gallaudet and was forced to call DC Police so that my family and I could enter unharmed to our place of Residence!!!! I ask you, What has my family done to deserve this??? To live in fear and insecurity!!!! I respectfully ask the administration for HELP!!!!! There are innocent people being help “Hostage” in a dangerous atmosphere….. Order has to be restored….. My family recognizes the right of the protestors to protest, but to hold the University under SEIGE??? No this is not fair…I ask for help on behalf of my family and all legal residents…….

From WJLA-TV7 blog:

Yes, many, many people from young children through single parents trying to get through college are having their education held hostage by a few people. The scale must be understood: only 200 students of nearly 2,000 have made things horrible. Here is the message of the majority. Note it doesn't criticize the tactics, jsut when they interfere with other people's education rights.

Don’t let your education be held hostage by a few!

A CALL FOR THE RETURN TO EDUCATION

From the “Concerned Students of Gallaudet University”

We represent students who want to continue their education without interference, in a safe and peaceful environment. We strongly oppose any actions that disrupt teaching and learning. This applies to all members of this community, including the administration.

We are not taking a position on the protest. While we have a variety of views about the choice of President, we are united by a desire to protect our beloved university.

The protest is now interfering with our education. Our classrooms are inaccessible and our minds are distracted.

So that we get the precious education for which we have paid, we demand:

• Ending of the barricade of the Hall Memorial Building (HMB).
• Tactics of dissent that do not disrupt our concentration on our studies.
• No more bomb threats or personal intimidation.
• Faculty and staff who are part of the protest put their hearts and minds into their teaching.
• Toleration of expression of diverse views, if conducted in respectful and peaceful way.

All reasonable people will agree with these points. The Washington Post editor wrote on October 9th, “to hold hostage the educational hopes of their classmates…strikes at the heart of the nation’s leading institution of higher education for the deaf.” Even when we disagree, we must protect the heart of Gallaudet University: teaching and learning.

From WJLA-TV7 blog:

These students are fortunate to even have this college available to them. Many of them are getting a federally funded education(at least partially)due to their deafness. They are now affecting the education of the elementary through high school kids as their schools on campus have been closed. No where else in the USA would a campus put up with this protest. They would never be given this much leeway on a HEARING campus. It is time to send them home, cancel their enrollment and let those who want an education get an education.
--Concerned Mother of a deaf highschool student.

From WJLA-TV7 blog:

How about all the "proud parents" go down to the school, grab all their little brats by the ear and tell them to stop acting like immature little thugs and get back to class.

Why don't you believe their story? Obviously you have never seen a Union Strike before. Of course this type of activity is occurring, these thugs feel as if they are in control and are running the roost.

It is beyond time that MPD come to the campus and put a stop to this mess. Drop a couple conisters of CS in on these idiots and see how fast they disperse.

What are they going to do when they make it to the real world and a new CEO comes in that they do not care for. Let them try to protest then and see how far it gets them?

Walking on thin ice at Gallaudet

In today's huffingtonpost.com, former "Late Show" comedy writer Merrill Markoe had this to say about narcissism and North Korean president Kim Jong Il:

...A friend of mine once explained the credo of the narcissist as "I'm the piece of shit the world revolves around." It is a psychological syndrome in which extreme insecurity finds cover and comfort in self obsession.

Therefore, every response you make to a petulant, irritable, childish, tantrum-inclined narcissist finds you walking on thin ice....

It's important to understand that a narcissist operates out of only two constantly flip-flopping states of emotional being; grandiosity and humiliation. So, if you are not feeding the grandiosity of someone like Kim Jong Il, than you are humiliating him. Period. Those are your choices. That is the part of this equation you can't change.

Change Kim Jong Il to "Gallaudet Protestor," and you know exactly what kind of nightmare the administration is dealing with on campus right now.

Send them home!

It's Wednesday night, and the Gallaudet campus is still controlled by a bunch of unruly students plus others. WHY are they still there? WHY is the administration tolerating this idiocy? Clear them out and let them go somewhere else to whine about their miserable lives as deaf victims. Let the rest of us come back to study or to do our jobs. They have no right to interfere with our livelihood.

Jane Kelleher Fernandes

Jane Frances Kelleher Fernandes was my introduction to the deaf community in 1985--22 years after I lost my hearing. Then, as now, she is an impressive, warm, exuberantly inquisitive, gutsy, and intelligent woman. She had, in those days, a hearty, head-thrown-back laugh with which she greeted all the insults and stupidities the hearing world visits upon the deaf. I hope she can still use it against the insults and stupidities the deaf now are visiting upon her. Although she has been deaf from infancy and has accomplished everything in her c.v. as a deaf person, the protesters today say she is not deaf enough. According to their criteria, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet would not qualify these days for the presidency of the institution he founded.

They can't say, however, that she's not bright enough. Here is Jane's curriculum vitae, minus a couple of things--she can read and write Italian, too..."Fortuna aiuta gli audaci"...you rock, Jane:


Gallaudet University

Curriculum Vitae - Jane K. Fernandes

EDUCATION

* Ph.D., The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Comparative Literature 1986
* M.A., The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Comparative Literature 1980
* B.A., Trinity College (Connecticut), French and Comparative Literature 1978

* Dissertation: Literature by Deaf Iowans: Linguistic Form and Social Function, 1986; Advisor: Alan F. Nagel

Supplementary Education

* Louisiana State University Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education. Certificate: Emergency Response to Domestic and Biological Incidents: Operations Level. January 30, 2003
* Department of Justice and Office for Domestic Preparedness Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center. Certificate: Preparing for and Responding to Terrorism/Weapons of Mass Destruction. March 18-20, 2003
* Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C., American Sign Language and Linguistics courses, Summers 1981 and 1982
* National Theatre of the Deaf Professional Summer School, Waterford, Connecticut, Summer 1982
* St. Paul Technical-Vocational Institute, St. Paul, Minnesota, American Sign Language courses, Summer 1981
* Trinity College, Cassis, France, French literature, Summer 1977
* Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont, French language and literature, Summer 1976


EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

* Provost, Gallaudet University, 2000-present
* Vice President, Gallaudet University, 1995-2000
* Administrator, Hawaii Center for Deaf & Blind, 1990-1995
* Coordinator, Interpreter Training Program, University of Hawaii at Kapiolani Community College, 1988-1990
* Chair, Sign Communication Department, Gallaudet University, 1987
* Acting Director, ASL Programs, Northeastern University, 1986-87

Selected University Teaching and Academic Administrative Experience

Provost: Reports to President. Responsible for the academic programs and academic support components of all units in the division of Academic Affairs and a total budget of $83,200,000. Current student enrollment: 1,274 undergraduate students; 446 graduate students; 173 professional studies students; 141 elementary students and 226 high school students. University faculty total 230; Clerc Center teachers total 60; 440 staff members in all units of Academic Affairs. Direct reports: Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Sciences and Technologies; Dean, Graduate School and Professional Programs; Dean, Student Affairs; Dean, Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center; Executive Director, Office of Enrollment Services; Executive Director, University Library; Executive Director, Academic Technology; Director, Honors Program. Chair, Crisis Management Team. Senior administrator in charge in president’s absence.

As Vice President of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center I reported to the President. I was responsible for a total budget of approximately $28,000,000. I provided leadership to the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, the Model Secondary School for the Deaf and their national mission to develop, evaluate and disseminate innovative curricula, materials and teaching strategies to schools and programs serving deaf and hard of hearing students throughout the nation. A National Mission Advisory Panel (N-MAP) was convened. National mission efforts were focused on three priorities: literacy, transition, and family involvement. Working closely with the Clerc Center management team, we developed an innovative national mission project management system for working collaboratively with schools and programs throughout the nation. Financial and human resources were directed toward national mission projects at each stage of their development, evaluation and dissemination. We strengthened dissemination mechanisms by utilizing the Gallaudet University Regional Centers to conduct training programs. Last year, more than 450 schools throughout the United States adopted the Clerc Center’s innovative curriculum, materials, and programs. I have contributed to numerous projects of national significance, all of which were collaborative efforts. Selected examples include the Shared Reading Project (with Mr. Dave Schleper), the Families Count! Project (with Ms. Leslie Page), and the Cochlear Implant Education Center (with Ms. Debra Nussbaum).

As Administrator of the Hawaii Center for the Deaf and the Blind I was a member of the State Department of Education Superintendent’s staff. My total budget was approximately $2.5 million. I worked together with teachers, parents, staff, students and community members to plan strategically for the future. Our work resulted in a document, In Search of a Brighter Tomorrow, the implementation of which included the establishment of a new preschool modeled on best teaching and learning practices, a curriculum centered on literacy development in all grades and age levels, theme-based instruction, and a new and statewide program of triennial evaluation, outreach and technical assistance. Working in close partnership with local community members and invited experts from the U.S. Mainland, the Hawaii Center for the Deaf and the Blind was transformed into a vibrant statewide resource to support innovative teaching and learning strategies for all of the state’s deaf, blind and deaf-blind children and youth. The Center is thriving today.

As Coordinator of the University of Hawaii’s Interpreter Training Program at Kapiolani Community College, I founded the permanent program to teach hearing people to become American Sign Language/English interpreters. Working with local community experts and invited experts from the U.S. Mainland, we developed a two-year curriculum to teach American Sign Language and Interpreting skills to hearing students desiring to work as interpreters. All members of the initial student cohort became certified interpreters, many of whom are still interpreting today.

Department Chairperson, Department of Sign Communication, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, June – December, 1987

Acting Director, American Sign Language Program, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, 1986-87

Supplementary Teaching Experience

* Adjunct Faculty, Department of Special Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Spring 1995
* Instructor, Hawaii Department of Education, Signing for Educational Assistants Seminar, Islands of Oahu, Maui and Hawai’i, 1990
* Teaching Assistant, Program in Comparative Literature, Departments of Speech Pathology and Audiology and English, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1984-86
* Research Assistant, Program in Comparative Literature, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1979-84
* Educational Aide, Iowa City Public Schools, 1981-84
* Instructor, Grant Wood Area Education Agency, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1982
* Areas of Teaching Competence and Courses Taught:
* American Sign Language, American Sign Language/English Interpretation, Deaf literature, American Sign Language literature, Introduction to Deaf Education, Introduction to World Literature
* Workshops and In-service Training Sessions Conducted:
* American Sign Language Skill Building, Interpreter Skill Building, Language and Communication Issues in Deaf Education, Issues in Literacy of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students, American Sign Language


AWARDS AND HONORS

* 2001: Alumni Fellow, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, The University of Iowa
* 1993: Alice Cogswell Award, Gallaudet University Alumni Association, Laurent Clerc Cultural Fund for the Cultural Advancement of the Deaf Community
* 1990: Outstanding Woman in Communication, Hawaii Headliners, Women in Communications, Inc.
* 1987: Distinguished Service Award, Iowa Association of the Deaf
* 1986: Philip G. Hubbard Human Rights Award, The University of Iowa Committee on Human Rights
* 1984: Graduate Fellowship, Gallaudet University Alumni Association
Third Runner-up, Miss Deaf America
First Runner-up, International Deaf Woman of the Year, Quota Club International
* 1983: Graduate Fellowship, Gallaudet University Alumni Association
Stokoe Scholarship, National Association of the Deaf
Braverman Award, Iowa Foundation
Outstanding Disabled Student, Citizen’s Committee
Miss Deaf Iowa, Iowa Association of the Deaf
* 1982: Graduate Fellowship, Gallaudet University Alumni Association
Rehabilitation Award, Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity
DeCairano Fencing Trophy, National Theatre of the Deaf
* 1981: Rehabilitation Award, Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity
Mallory Disability Award, Easter Seals Society of Iowa
Abt Honor Award, Alexander Graham Bell Association
* 1980: Braverman Award, Iowa Foundation
* 1978: Comparative Literature Book Prize, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
Underwood Memorial Poetry Prize, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut
* 1977: Underwood Memorial Poetry Prize, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut


PUBLICATIONS

Major Books, Periodicals and Reports

* The Case for a Deaf Child’s Constitutional Right to Communication, (co-author with Mr. Larry Siegel), in development.
* Signs of Eloquence: A Study of Deaf American Public Address, (co-author with James J. Fernandes), DawnSignPress, forthcoming under book contract.
* Towards an Inclusive Deaf University: Achieving Equitable Outcomes for All Students: Action Plans for Gallaudet University Strategic Goals #1 and #5, (with Judy Berglund, MJ Bienvenu, Jeffrey Hardison, Frances E. Kendall, Carolyn McCaskill, Jane Norman, and Leslie Page), Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, January 2006.
* Keys to English Print, special issue of Odyssey, Contributing Editor, Fall 2003.
* Deaf Education Today, A State of Emergency, A Sharing Ideas Paper, Gallaudet University Pre-College National Mission Programs, Washington, DC, 1997.
* The National Mission Plan, principal author and facilitator, the strategic plan for Pre-College National Mission Programs at Gallaudet University, 1996.
* In Search of a Brighter Tomorrow, principal author and facilitator, the Strategic Plan of the Hawaii Center for the Deaf and the Blind, Office of Instructional Services, Department of Education, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1993-98.
* Guidelines to Educational Programs and Services, Hawaii Center for the Deaf and the Blind, Office of Instructional Services, Department of Education, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1992.

Selected Articles and Chapters

* Literacy: Pieces of a Successful Program, Missouri Innovations in Education, September 2003, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 10-11.
* Literacy in a Nine-Piece Program: Applications at Home, Odyssey, Summer 2000, pp. 4-5.
* Cochlear Implant Technology, Odyssey, Winter 2000, pp. 17-19.
* From Dinosaurs to Light Bulbs: Collaboration for Progress in Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students, SDAD News, a publication of the South Dakota Association of the Deaf, Winter 2000, Vol. 15, Issue 5, pp. 24-26.
* Closing Remarks: Addressing the Gap between Research and Teaching Practice, Proceedings. Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice in the Fields of Learning Disabilities and Deafness, Harry Markowicz and Cristina Berdichevsky, eds., Gallaudet University College for Continuing Education, Washington, DC, 1998, pp. 189-192.
* The Biggest Puzzle in Nine Important Pieces, Perspectives in Education and Deafness, Spring 1999, pp. 189-92.
* Restructuring Deaf Education, Preview, Winter 1996-97, pp. 1-8.
* A New National Mission, Preview, Spring 1996, pp. 1-8.
* Reaching Out: An Interview with the New Vice President for Pre-College National Mission Programs, Preview, Fall 1995, pp. 1-4.
* Signs of Eloquence: Selections from Deaf American Public Address, (second author with James J. Fernandes) in Readings in the Language, Culture, History and Arts of Deaf People: Selected Papers from the Deaf Way Conference, Gallaudet University Press, Washington, DC, 1994.
* The World According to (the) Deaf: The Place of ASL Literature in a Comprehensive Deaf Studies Curriculum, (primary author with James J. Fernandes), Proceedings of the Deaf Students for Educators National Conference , Gallaudet University Press, Washington, DC, 1992.
* Homer’s Odyssey and the Deaf Community in Iowa, article in program of Hancher Auditorium in conjunction with the National Theatre of the Deaf’s performance of The Odyssey in Iowa City, Iowa, 1990.

Verse

* Father and In Wind, verse in Gallaudet Today, Summer 1983, vol. 13, no. 4, p. 33.
* The Broom and Letter from Martha’s Vineyard, verse in Gallaudet Today, Spring 1987, vol. 17, no. 3, p. 33.


VISUAL MEDIA PRODUCTION

* Telling Tales in ASL: From Literature to Literacy, Executive Producer with Dr. Jane Norman and Dr. James J. Fernandes (and panel member with Dr. Benjamin Bahan and Dr. Marlon Kuntze), teleconference and training manual, sponsored by Gallaudet University Pre-College National Mission Programs, College for Continuing Education, and Department of Television, Photography and Educational Technology, April 18, 1997.
* Literacy: Share the Word, Executive Producer with Dr. Jane Norman and Mr. David Frank, (and panel member with Dr. Thomas Holcomb and Ms. Jacqueline Laldee), a national teleconference and training manual, sponsored by Gallaudet University Pre-College National Mission Programs, College for Continuing Education, and Department of Television, Photography and Educational Technology, November 13, 1996.
* As a consultant for the Hawaii Department of Education, transliterated into Sign English and interpreted into American Sign Language, the Hawaii State Test of Essential Competencies on videotape (test required to receive a high school diploma), 1989.


SELECTED MAJOR PRESENTATIONS

* Invited keynote speaker, First World Congress on the Power of Language: Theory, Practice and Performance, Bangkok, Thailand, May 22-26, 2006.
* Back to the Future, Ahead through the Past, invited keynote speaker, CAL-ED IMPACT Conference, “Our Children, Our Community, Our Future,” March 3, 2006.
* Convergence and Balance, two public addresses at the Hardin Library, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, at the opening of the History through Deaf Eyes exhibit, November 4 and 5, 2005.
* Are Deaf People Disabled?, keynote speaker, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency, Washington, DC, October 20, 2005.
* A Brief History: Gallaudet University’s Role in the Development of Deaf Academics and Researchers, welcome remarks, Deaf Academics and Researchers Conference, Gallaudet University, February 19, 2004.
* Family Involvement: A Critical Factor in Student Success, keynote address, National Symposium on Deafness, Sioux Falls, South Dakota., October 19-22, 2003.
* Emergency Preparedness at Gallaudet University, guest speaker, Vocational Rehabilitation Connections Conference, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, April 9, 2003.
* The Future of Gallaudet University, guest speaker (with President I. King Jordan and Dean Carl Pramuk), Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, February 24, 2003.
* Scenes from September 11, 2001: Reflections on Leadership in Crisis, presentation to the Honors Program at Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, September 12, 2002.
* Addressing Crisis in Schools for the Deaf, presentation with Dr. Diane Morton, Conference of Educational Administrators Serving the Deaf, Fremont, California, April 28, 2002.
* Cochlear Implants and Sign Language: Putting it All Together, opening presentation at the National Conference on Education of Children with Cochlear Implants, Gallaudet University, April 11, 2002.
* Like the Fiddler on the Roof: Winds of Change in the Deaf Community, keynote speaker, 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Cedar Rapids Association of the Deaf, October 20, 2001.
* Impact of New Technologies on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, invited presenter and “Wrap Up Session” facilitator, “Next Steps … in Providing Effective Early Intervention with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants” conference, Boston Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children’s Hospital and the Gallaudet University Regional Center, Boxborough, Massachusetts, May 14-15, 2001.
* The Shared Reading Project: Improving the Literacy Skills of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Nationwide, University of Iowa Alumni Fellow Presentation, Iowa City, Iowa, April 23, 2001.
* Building an Effective School Literacy Program, keynote address, Illinois Teachers of Hard and Hearing/Deaf Individuals Conference, Rockford, Illinois, March 3, 2001.
* The Promise of the ADA for American Society, panel member, ADA presentation hosted by Senator Tom Harkin, July 20, 2000.
* From Local Ideas to National Roll-Out, luncheon presentation, Conference of Educational Administrators Serving the Deaf, The Learning Center for Deaf Children, Framingham, Massachusetts, May 6, 2000.
* Luncheon Presentation, Bridging the Gap II: Integrating Research and Practice in the Fields of Learning Disabilities and Deafness, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, April 14, 2000.
* Why did Bessie sit with me in the cafeteria and not with the other black kids?, Multicultural Deaf Conference, Implications for 2000 and Beyond, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, March 9-11, 2000. Summary reprinted in Gallaudet Today, Fall 2001, p. 48.
* Making a Successful Transition from High School to Further Education, Careers and Success, keynote address at the Cross-Agency Forum of Transition – Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students, Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, St. Augustine, Florida, November 12, 1999.
* Signs of Eloquence: Foundations of Deaf American Public Address, Poster Session (with James J. Fernandes), William C. Stokoe and the Study of Signed Languages conference, Gallaudet University, October 16, 1999.
* Teaching an Elephant to Dance: The State of Emergency in Deaf Education and Making Connections: The Nine Components of an Effective Literacy Program, Statewide Teachers Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma, September 23-24, 1999.
* The Nine Parts of an Effective Residential Literacy Program, training workshop (with Dr. John Balk), Iowa School for the Deaf, August 11-13, 1999.
* Diversity within the Deaf Community, keynote speaker, Seventh Annual Metrowest Community Prayer Breakfast, Framingham, Massachusetts, April 9, 1999.
* Strategies for Improving the Academic Achievement of African American Students at the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, Andrew J. Foster Forum on the Needs of Black Deaf Students, Gallaudet University, November 20, 1998.
* The Crystal Ball, conference wrap-up speaker, Intermountain Special Study Institute, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, June 8-16, 1998.
* Changing the Face of Deaf Education: The Educational Reform Movement at Gallaudet University,” (keynote address) and “Nothing But the Best: Strategies for Incorporating Best Practices in Reading and Writing for Deaf Children in School and at Home, (breakout session), Oregon Conference on Educating Students Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Salem, Oregon, May 1-2, 1998.
* The Shared Reading Project and The Pre-College National Mission at Gallaudet University, presentations, Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 18, 1998.
* Teaching an Elephant to Dance: The State of Emergency in Deaf Education, President’s Scholar’s Banquet, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, November 20, 1997.
* Parent Involvement as the Key to Success, keynote address, Family Learning Weekend, American School for the Deaf, Hartford, Connecticut, March 21-23, 1997.
* The Future of the Iowa Deaf Community, banquet speaker, Iowa Association of the Deaf Convention, Fort Dodge, Iowa, August 2, 1997.
* Reading to Deaf Students: What We’ve Learned from Deaf Adults, keynote presentation, Intermountain Special Study Institute, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, June 9-17, 1997.
* S-U-C-C-E-S-S, commencement speaker, Iowa School for the Deaf, May 25, 1996.
* Putting It All Together: An Outsider’s Perspective on the Roles and Demands of Campus Child Care Centers, keynote speaker at the National Coalition for Campus Children’s Centers Conference, Washington, DC, April 16, 1997.
* Deaf Education: A Look at the Future, keynote presentation, Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 4, 1996.
* Nothing But the Best: Words for Deaf Children, keynote address, New England Teachers of the Deaf Conference, Boston Massachusetts, November 2, 1996.
* Reading, ‘Riting and Relating, workshop conducted at the Techniques and Technology in the Education of Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing conference, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, October 16, 1996.
* What Happened to the Dinosaurs? Lessons for Pre-College Programs, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, August 28, 1995.
* Perseverance and Success, keynote presentation, Outstanding Deaf Student of the Year awards luncheon, Kapiolani Community College, Honolulu, Hawaii, April 27, 1995.
* Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students: Educational Service Guidelines, Language Acquisition in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children: Educational Implications, and Everything You Wanted to Know about Relay Services, Deaf Empowerment Conference, Guam Hilton Hotel, Tumon, Guam, January 5-8, 1995.
* Deaf Community and Sign Language Issues, (second author with James J. Fernandes), invited presenters, “Language: Race, Politics, Culture” conference sponsored by the InterAgency Council for Immigrant and Refugee Services and the University of Hawaii, held at Tokai University, Honolulu, Hawaii, October 8, 1994.
* Affirmative Action and People with Disabilities, keynote panel, Na Pono O Na Lahui conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, July 9-10, 1992.
* Awards Luncheon for Deaf Students, keynote speaker, Kapiolani Community College, Honolulu, Hawaii, May 10, 1990.
* Together We Make a Difference, panelist (with Ms. Valery O’Brien, Ms. Gayle Oguro, Ms. Josie Woll and Ms. Pat Ramia), Special Parent Information Network Conference, Leeward Community College, Pearl City, Hawaii, May 5, 1990.
* Breaking through the Culture of Silence, discussant (with Mr. Shanny Mow) at the ASL Literature symposium, Iowa City, Iowa, March, 1990.
* English-to-ASL Interpretation: Developing Techniques for Creative Visualization, workshop facilitator, Iowa State Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Deaf Services Commission of Iowa, and Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, The University of Iowa, March, 1990.
* Early Intervention with Deaf Infants and Toddlers, presenter, First Annual Hawaii Early Intervention Conference, University of Hawaii, February 5, 1990.
* Employment: A National Priority, guest speaker, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Fort Shafter, Honolulu, Hawaii, October 27, 1989.
* Signs of Eloquence: Selections from Deaf American Public Address, presenter (with Dr. James J. Fernandes), The Deaf Way International Festival and Conference, Washington, DC, July 11, 1989.
* Deafness in Literature, consultant and presenter, National Consortium of Programs for the Training of Sign Language Instructors – Region IX, California State University at Northridge, April, 1989.
* Help, I Need an Interpreter, presentation, Statewide Transition Conference for Deaf Students, Hawaii Department of Education, January 6, 1989.
* The Disabled Experience, panelist, Rehabilitation Association of Hawaii Annual Conference, October 21, 1988.
* The Future of Interpreter Training in Hawaii: Goals and Outcomes, presenter, 48th Annual Conference, Fourteenth District, Quota International, Inc, September 16, 1988.
* ASL Literature and Deaf Culture, invited presenter, Connecticut Association of the Deaf, New London, Connecticut, 1987.
* Recent Developments in ASL Literature, workshop presenter, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, 1987.
* Literature Generated in ASL: A Recent Link Between Research in ASL and Education of Deaf Children, invited presentation, Cleary School for the Deaf, Ronkonkoma, New York, 1987.
* Sign Language and Deaf Culture in Iowa, paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Modern Language Association, Chicago, Illinois, 1986.
* Poetic Usage of American Sign Language, paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Modern Language Association, St. Louis, Missouri, 1985.


ADVISORY ACTIVITIES AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

* Joint Executive Committee, American Annals of the Deaf, present
* Advisory Board, National Organization on Disability, Emergency Preparedness Initiative and Special Needs Conference, 2004
* Consultant, U.S. Secret Service, Emergency Preparedness Program, 2004
* Advisory Board, American Sign Language Program, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 2001- present
* Steering Committee, Potomac Regional Educational Partnership (PREP), 1998-2000
* Advisory Board, National Deaf Education Project, 1997- present
* University President’s Liaison, Gallaudet University’s Task Force on Hispanic/Latino Issues, 1997
* Primary Facilitator, Gallaudet University Pre-College Programs’ Committee to develop The National Mission Plan, 1995-96
* Editorial Review Board member, Perspectives in Education and Deafness, Pre-College Programs, Gallaudet University, 1994-97
* Commission on Persons with Disabilities (appointed by Governor), Member, 1988- 1995; chairperson (elected), 1993-95; member of executive and legislative committees, 1988-1995
* Goodwill Industries of Honolulu, Inc., Board of Directors, 1992-95
* Hawaii Services on Deafness, Board of Directors, 1989-1995
* Aloha State Association of the Deaf, Board of Directors, 1991-1993


PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

* Developed curriculum and co-taught (with Ms. Barbara Pretty) in-service programs to improve the American Sign Language fluency of educational assistants working in public schools in the State of Hawaii, 1988-1989. Outreach provided to all of Hawaii’s islands.
* Developed curriculum for and conducted (with Dr. James J. Fernandes) a comprehensive training series for Telephone Relay assistants at GTE Hawaiian Telephone Company. “Learning the Art of Cross-Cultural Mediation,” 1989.
* As recipient of subcontract from Interpreter Training Grant 84.160A from the U. S. Department of Education and The University of Arizona, conducted a series of three-day workshops on the islands of Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii: “ASL/English Skill Building: Attitude, Ethics, Skills and Professionalism,” 1989.


PUBLIC RELATIONS EXPERIENCE

Selected Magazine Interviews

* Murder in a Silent Place, interview by David Van Biema, Time magazine, June 25, 2001.

Selected Television Interviews

* Off-campus Safety, on-camera interview with Greg Starddard, Channel 4 News, NBC Affiliate, November 3, 2005.
* A Day in the Life of a Gallaudet Student from Japan, interview with Masato Fukushima, Director, Golgo, Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan. October 17, 2005.
* Sound or Silence, interview with Larry Confino, Discovery Health Channel, November, 2002.
* New Challenge, interview with Betty Ann Bowser, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, February, 2001.
* The Gallaudet Murders, interview with Pierre Thomas, Peter Jennings ~ World News Tonight, February 5, 2001.
* People, interview with Carole Peterson, PM Magazine, August 17, 1984.

Selected Newspaper Interviews

* Article in process on the current status of deaf education, interview with Burton Bollag, The Chronicle of Higher Education.
* Article in process on new scientific developments impacting the deaf community, interview with Christen Brownlee, biology writer, Science News.
* Gallaudet University’s First Deaf President to Retire, interview with Susan Kenzie, The Washington Post, September 2, 2005.
* More College Students Sign Up for Sign Language, interview with Rebecca L. Weber, Christian Science Monitor, June 30, 2004.
* Interview with Nori Sawaki, The Tokyo Shimbun, June 7, 2003.
* Ideas & Trends: Written Notice: Another Language for the Deaf, interview with Margalit Fox, The New York Times, September 15, 2002.
* Moral Obligation to Halt Distribution of Tower Clock, interview with SCJ reporter, Student Press Law Center Journal, Volume 6, Issue 6, March 2002.
* Interview with Frank Gluck, Cedar Rapids Gazette, October 22, 2001.
* Gallaudet: The Latest, Interview with Provost Jane Fernandes on the Gallaudet Murders, Washington Post.Com Live Online, February 7, 2001.
* Student Fought Attacker, interview with Manny Fernandez, Arthur Santana and Alan Lengel, The Washington Post, February 6, 2001.
* Second Homicide in Four Months Grips Gallaudet, interview with Manny Fernandez, The Washington Post, February 5, 2001.
* Among the Deaf Ubiquitous Sign Language Faces a Challenge, interview with Lynne Holloway, The New York Times. June 22, 2000.
* The Changing Deaf Culture, interview with Anita Manning, USA Today, May 2, 2000.
* Knocking Down Walls, interview with Fredeelyn Freeman, Honolulu Star Bulletin, September 18, 1995.
* ASL Gave Kelleher a Voice, interview with Wendy Kaczerski, Northeastern Edition, February 26, 1987.
* Deaf TA Criticizes Society’s Indifference to Deaf, interview with Jerry Duncan, The Daily Iowan, February 26, 1985.
* She Wants to Teach Hearing Students to See the Invisible, interview with Barbara O’Reilly, Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 17, 1984.
* Miss Deaf Iowa Visits Fort Dodge School Kids, interview with Delores Jochimsen, Fort Dodge Messenger. May 3, 1984.
* Meet Miss Deaf Iowa, Iowa Spectator, October, 1983.
* Deafness is only a hurdle on path to doctorate for Rehabilitation Scholarship Winner, Kappa Kappa Gamma Key, Winter, 1982, Vol. 99, No. 4.
* Deafness hurdle cleared on way to doctorate, interview with Ken Koepper, Waterford Daily.
* Atypical Deaf Person Sets Sights on Teaching Career, Cedar Rapids Gazette, July 31, 1983.
* She’s Miss Deaf Iowa, Iowa City Press-Citizen, August 19, 1983.


INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

Congressional Relations
Met and communicated with members of Congress and Congressional staff on numerous occasions. Examples: negotiating language for the Education of the Deaf Act amendments, clarifying the University’s concerns about our rating in the Performance Assessment Rating Tool (PART).

Major Donors
Cultivation meetings with Mr. James LeVoy Sorenson to seek support for international projects and additional support for the Sorenson Language and Communication Center (SLCC).

Cultivation meetings with individual donor who recently gave $500,000 in support of the SLCC.

Fully involved in all aspects of the presentation to and meeting with the Sherman Fairchild Foundation resulting in $2 million dollar gift to the SLCC.

Alumni
Annually attending Gallaudet Club events for alumni at each of the regional Academic Bowls; updating alumni on current events at the University; cultivating their help and support in recruiting future students, in donating their time and money to support the University and continuing their sense of connection with their alma mater.

Attending meetings of the Gallaudet University Alumni Association Board and participating actively in their events.

Home: Presidential Search
Related Links

Updates
Open Letter to the Gallaudet Community from Celia May Baldwin, Interim Board Chair
5 May 2006
Gallaudet Board's Review of the Search Process
29 Apr 2006
Message from Ms. Celia May Baldwin, Interim Chair, Board of Trustees
28 Apr 2006
Presidential Search Finalists - Campus Visits
13 Apr 2006
Search Committee Update
5 Apr 2006
Search Committee Progress Update
24 Mar 2006
General Search Guidelines And Best Practices
17 Feb 2006
Gallaudet University Invites Nominations and Applications for President
17 Feb 2006
Campus Community Open Forum
18 Jan 2006
Presearch Study to Launch the Presidential Search
13 Jan 2006
Academic Search Consultation Service Selected to Lead Gallaudet University Presidential Search
23 Dec 2005
Search Committee Progress
1 Dec 2005
Campus Community and Alumni Members of Presidential Search Committee Named
9 Nov 2005
Board members selected for Presidential Search Committee
28 Oct 2005
Board of Trustees sets presidential search in motion
11 Oct 2005



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More Thoughts on Gallaudet

Today's Washington Post editorial on "Standoff at Gallaudet" brings up a question. The editorial talks about the administration's frustration in trying to negotiate a peaceful solution with the students only to have them take back their demands once they've been accepted. Last night, President Jordan said he thought they were ready to announce a major breakthrough only to have the student body president rescind his signature. My question is "Is everyone involved in this dispute sitting at the table for these discussions?" Perhaps the students are being advised by either faculty or alumni who are not present at the negotiations. I think it's cowardly of any other persons contributing their voices to the students' unrest to sit back and let the students work things out and then tell them "NO, we won't do that!" Is this what's happening? Or are the student leaders truly incapable of making up their minds or actually leading (in the positive sense) the other students?

Also, I keep seeing fire trucks and emergency vehicles roaring onto the campus here periodically over the past week or so. Are these emergency responders being summoned for actual emergencies? Or are they responding to false alarms such as the two bomb threats? As a citizen of this community, I'm aghast that the DC emergency services, stretched very thin to begin with, might be spending their time rushing over here to Gallaudet if all that's involved is student rebellion.

Gallaudet: Love it or leave it

Sigh. The protests at Gallaudet have started again.

It was wonderful last spring when everyone went home, and the campus returned to normal. In the interest of honoring the students' and faculty members' right to dissent, the board of trustees promised the protestors there would be no repercussions for their activities last spring: nobody would be fired, nobody would be expelled.

Unfortunately, nobody got any similar promises from the protestors--something on the order of "we won't cause a ruckus again if you don't kick us out for all the chaos we created this time" or "we'll agree to disagree politely and to work hard at showing you the seriousness of our purpose and our love for Gallaudet, a unique institution." Either that, or the protestors broke their promises this week.

Yesterday, the protestors jammed into the art building and disrupted a celebratory unveiling of the newly named "Linda K. Jordan Gallery." The protestors felt the gallery area should have been named in honor of Deborah Sonnenstrahl, a longtime Gallaudet art professor and member of the culturally deaf community. Shouting and catcalls--"No No No...Deb Deb Deb"--interrupted the speakers as they honored the contributions of retiring President I. King Jordan's wife, a skilled potter and teacher, to the art department. The Jordans' children and grandchildren watched in horror.

Today, a mob of students barricaded HMB, the largest classroom building on campus. They interrupted classes and disturbed offices. Gallaudet's security personnel told them to leave, but the students ignored them. When the campus police tried to escort them from the building, there were scuffles. Now the students are claiming "police brutality." So far, the offenses (duly written up in the news items by the local media whose quest for ratings ascendancy cause them to live for bloodshed and turmoil) include a torn shirt, being "shoved," and being "choked" (though not fatally, of course). I think "throttled" might be a better description. I've seen the videotapes, and I can only sympathize with the police.

The colleges I attended--a great Midwestern land-grant university, a well-respected women's college--are serious institutions, and serious work goes on there. Our hard-working parents (or we ourselves) paid a bundle for us to attend these places. It was understood that we were there to learn, and learn we did. There were pranks--inebriated girls walking around the window ledges on third floor Whitby--but those were different days. What was there to demonstrate against at a Catholic women's college in the 1950s? Then, as now, however, anyone who disagreed with the administration or the school policies went elsewhere. Nobody was forced to attend these institutions. You voted with your feet.

I hope the current crop of protestors will do the same. If they don't like Gallaudet, they can get out, go somewhere else if they can. The VR might be only too happy to send unhappy Gallaudetans to their less costly local community colleges for a couple of years while they gain some maturity and appreciation for what they're being handed. I fear these protests are making Gallaudet vulnerable. With the huge federal deficits, all programs will be cut eventually, no matter whether they involve education, health care, environmental programs, or social security. If Congress takes a look at what's happening at Gallaudet--hundreds of students creating turmoil in the middle of a semester instead of knuckling down to educate themselves for life--Gallaudet may find its funds drying up, and the school will go the way of the dodo bird. My alma mater now is coed--the grand tradition of women-only education has been modified there to meet the financial and social realities of the 21st century.

One of our student workers, a young woman who is hard of hearing, said the past two years at Gallaudet have been the worst two years of her life. The culturally deaf, who represent approximately 1 in 25 deaf or hard of hearing persons in this country, want their agenda passed to the exclusion of any other considerations. Gallaudet likes to claim that it is open to all deaf. But only those who are late-deafened, like me, or hard of hearing--two groups that make up the great majority of deaf persons in this country--know how marginalized we are at Gallaudet. We are ignored and often passed over for positions if we cannot sign as fluently as others. I have never heard of a culturally deaf person at Gallaudet weeping in their dorm room for loneliness and frustration because no one will socialize with them. But I have heard many stories like this from those whose audiograms might show profound clinical deafness but whose culture has been formed in the hearing community.

Who are the leaders for good at Gallaudet? Who are the humane, thoughtful members of the Gallaudet community who are working out of the limelight to mend fences and to encourage the young rebels to learn how to cooperate for the attainment of their goals? We probably won't hear anything from or about them. But that's a crying shame. There are two sides to this issue, and one side is getting all the publicity and making all the noise. It's hard for me not to be shocked at the faculty members who are supporting this disruptive, upsetting protest. They could be teaching their students to...well...study.

This week was the the annual meeting of Gallaudet's board of trustees, and the dissidents did their theatrical best to make their position known. However, as the board president wrote today in a letter to the campus community, "Just because we don't agree with you doesn't mean we have not heard you."