The Deaf Perspective Tidbits

I bring to you relevant blog postings or news stories showing the deaf perspective on politics.

• The economic situation is hitting our deaf schools hard – Amy Cohen Efron outlines the grim situation in blog entry “Devasting Economy STRIKES Deaf Schools”
• Venerable deaf muckraker reporter/blogger Mishka Zena does some research and gives us the news on possible deaf school closings, budget cuts, and more. In her commentary, she suggests that “This would be a good time for you all to flex your civic muscle and contact all your fellow alumni to urge them to contact the governor how important state schools are for Deaf Children. Numbers speak the loudest : the more people they hear from, the more they will reconsider about the budget cuts.”
• Georgia schools Kathy Cox endured attack ads from Republicans blasting her for going on a game show while her schools were supposedly struggling. Then she won $1 million prize on “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” game show and declared that she would give it all to schools for the deaf and blind. Three schools were supposed to be the recipients - Georgia Academy for the Blind, the Georgia School for the Deaf, and Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. However, her husband’s home building business pulled the couple in deep financial trouble and they filed for bankruptcy. Now, the prize-money-turned-charity-award is in jeopardy and might not be awarded to the schools.
• This is actually pretty interesting. As a copy editor at the Buff and Blue this year, I remember practically every single article that passes through my hands (and eyes). One of the cover stories last fall semester was about how Gallaudet University could welcome new inductees in the deaf world – veterans who have been late-deafened due to military combat operations and other causes related to fighting in the recent Afghanistan and Iraq wars. This press release describes how Veterans With Hearing Loss are now Welcomed at RIT/NTID.
• Sean Forbes is a young deaf man who has always loved music and made it his passion to create music videos for both deaf and hearing people. He is now featured on the CNN website under “People Who Rock.” Congratulations! I especially loved his music video “Waiting on the World to Change” – the deaf interpretation of John Mayer’s song. John Mayer originally sang this song with some implicit political statements against the Bush administration. However, with the deaf interpretation it was almost like an anthem for the deaf people to go out and bring more changes to the world.
• Listen up, small businesses! If you make your business more accessible to the deaf, you might notice increased traffic and more money flowing in for your business – thanks to tax credits and general positive publicity as demonstrated in this article about a franchise that decided to bring in accessible ordering system for the deaf people at drive-in. Potential customers? This quote says it all: "In one month, we got 6,400 responses"
• And… I saved the best for the last: President Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech is captioned at HULU and Bill Creswell has it up at his blog. Watch and relive the historical moment again and again – with captions!