NTID FOCUS Publication of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623 Fall 1984

2 From the 11 A Movable Feast 26 Nancy Cook Smith: Director's Desk NTID offers an appealing menu of Spinning Gold resources on deafness. A successful cexrile designer shares her "words on confidence." 3 The Whole World Loves This Clown 13 Stepping Across the Threshold Debbie Rennie wows 'em in Brno. Co-op supervisors find out what it's like co hear the sounds of silence.

18 All Fired Up Patcy Vogel Mullins shapes her 29 FOCUS on ... destiny in ceramics. Jean.-GuyNaud Even sans panes, this teacher commands che respect of his students. 5 Building Dreams Brid11es, hi11hways, roads, and dams . ... This curriculum is orienced around "making things." 31 Newsline

NTID Focus is published by the Divi­ A "Force" for sion of Public Affairs at the National 8 Technical Institute for the Deaf and Disabled Persons Communications at Rochester Institute 21 ''Sexually Speaking" of Te chnology, Rochester, New York. He may «ear black, baa chi.I atRIT Director Writers acwr is no t•illain. Michael R. Franco Emily Andrcano The truch according co Dr. Ruth. Editor Ann Kanter Marcia B. Dugan Richard Schm1dle Publications Photographers Coordinator John Danicic 23 A Gentleman and Kathleen Sullivan A. Sue We1slcr Art Director Contributing a Scholar John Massey Photographers lan Cook Desi ner From Omaha, Nebraska, LO NTID g Steve Hocbtctn .... Professor Ed Scoucen's Rohert Chandler Th., Louis Studio distinguished career m deaf Rodman Reilly education. Peter Tigler

This material was produced through an agreement between Rochester lnstirute ofTechnology and the U.S. Department The shaded nature trails found behind Grace of Educauon. Warson Hall offer a cool alternative tO a hot summer day on campus. 1

Leadership in the Classroom .. . and Beyond

he term "outreach" at NTID You will read in this issue of NTID From the Director's Desk symbolizes the many ways in Focus about British actor David Prowse, Twhich the Institute shares infor­ better known to millions as "Darth mation about the academic programs of Vader" of the Star Wars film series, who NTIO and the other colleges of RIT, its is affiliated with NOD and other disabil­ students and graduates, and deafness in ity causes in his native England. general. Outreach goes beyond distrib­ You also will read about outreach that uting publications, brochures, and prod­ occurs when NTID hosts visitors who ucts to interested audiences worldwide; leave the Institute with a new perspec­ it also involves faculty and staff members tive on deafness and the technological who, in a variety of ways, share their programs available to deaf students expertise about deafness and represent through RIT. NTID at RIT outside the Institute. Radio talk show host Dr. Ruth West­ NTID outreach includes involvement heimer and textile designer Nancy Cook in organizations of and for deaf persons, Smith, both of whom recently visited such as the National Association of the RIT, are examples of this. Smith, a Deaf, the American Deafness and Reha­ hearing-impaired woman who has a suc­ bilitation Association, the American cessful retail career in California, related Speech-Language-Hearing Association, that her interaction with NTID students the Con fcrence of Executives of Ameri­ and faculty members has inspired her to can Schools for the Deaf, the Conven­ learn sign language, a skill that she did tion of American Instructors of the not acquire during her mainstreamed Deaf, the Registry of lnterpreters for the education. Deaf, and the Alexander Graham Bell Finally, outreach is accomplished Association for the Deaf(AGBAD), the every day through the efforts of faculty last of which I recently ended my term as members such as Ed Scouten and Jean­ president. Guy Naud, and graduates such as Patty The two years that I spent as leader of Vogel Mullins and Debbie Rennie. that organization were productive in NTlD is committed to continuing and terms of creating awareness of deafness expanding its role as a resource for edu­ -and NTID at RIT -for audiences cational and general information about around the world. I am fortunate tO still deafness and NTID. In so doing, we perform that role as past president of hope to inform an ever-widening audi­ AGBAD and through service on the ence that there is a place where hearing­ board of directors of the National Orga­ impaired persons can obtain a quality nization on Disability (NOD), a non­ technological education, and that place profit organization dedicated to improv­ is Rochester Institute of Technology. ing the lives of America's 35 million disabled persons, including those who are deaf. Prize of the Wo rld Federation of the "I haven't established rules," she says. lfo:hard Schmidle By Deaf. "l can actually run, or change to a mime "When they announced the winner, I run. I'm closer to clowning techniques. I t three minutes after 9 o'clock was confused," Rennie recalls." I thought prefer more of the traditional clown." on a dreary winter morning, the prize was being awarded to the Fair, Shunning the customary whiteface A Debbie Rennie bursts into the mount Theatre, to the whole group. l and black costume of formal mime, she room, rosy cheeked and a little out of didn't know that they had singled out breath, and tosses her coat onto a chair. my performance." She is animated and expressive, a petite President Reagan later wrote to con, engine running at full steam. The images gratulate her: "While some may con, fly from her hands and fill the room: a sider deafness a handicap, you and your greeting, an introduction, an explana, colleagues have dedicated yourself to a tion, an apology. very challenging art form with very Eyes wide, arms outstretched, she encouraging results. l commend your describes a monstrous pile of snow efforts and I hope that you continue to blocking her driveway. With her back meet with success." bent under the weight of an imaginary Tr aditional mime artists follow strict shovel, she works her way across the rules of movement, but Rennie has her floor: scoop, toss, scoop, toss, in search own style. of her buried car. The performance is spontaneous, her plight is genuine. In her snowbound tra, vcler you see Everyman and Everywo, man, beset by trouble and determined to overcome it. Empathy opens your heart bounds around the stage in bright and laughter tumbles out. checkered pantaloons, wide red suspend, Humor comes naturally to Rennie, ers, and a green cutaway overcoat. Her both in casual conversation and on hazel eyes, giant smile, and cherry,red stage. Last November, the NTID student nose are framed by a huge bow tie and wowed an international audience in wild curls of shoulder,length chestnut Brno, Czechoslovakia, where she com, hair. A single white daisy sprouts from peted with 200 mimes from 12 nations her tasseled hat. at the Eighth Annual international Pan, But Rennie is not a three,ring circus, tomime Festival of the Deaf. Her clown, pie,in,the,face clown. Her message is mime performancewith the Cleveland, simple and subtly delivered: open up, based Fairmount Theatre of the Deaf communicate, share joy, and appreciate won the festival'st0p award, the Grand life. broadened her acting skills. Last fall, she returned to RIT to study graphic design. "Debbie thinks she is underplaying, but she is three times bigger than life," says Jerome Cushman, associate profes­ sor of theatre ar NTID. "She can make things seem so vivid, so clear. "In the theatre, she has always played the comedienne, the clown-like charac­ "I love it when the audience falls in ter, mostly because of her pliable, expres­ "I want ro keep performing forever," love with my clowning," she says. "Then sive face. She is very intelligent. The au­ Rennie says. "But I can't depend on it I fall in love with the audience." dience laughs with her and at her, but at for a living. My plans are nor definite. Opening your heart to people on stage the same time is delighted by the intrica­ One possibility is a career in graphic can be risky, she admits, "but I'll give cies and complexities of her character. design with free-lance clowning. my love no matter what, even if they Basically, she is reaching sign language "One of my strongest desires is to don't give back. My love may still make and movement." work with deaf children. They miss an impression on them larer." Of all the emotions she displays on abstractions when they are young. lt is Love and pantomime may be univer­ stage, Rennie says sadness and dejection easier for them to learn concrete con­ sal, but Rennie recalls a skit in Brno are easiest to convey; anger is the most cepts-chair, book, table. Through the when local culture got in rhe way. On difficult. Offstage, the problem is the performing arts, they can learn ab­ stage, she struggled with an imaginary same. stractions." catsup bottle that refused to pour. In the "If I'm angry, people think I'm teas­ The humor sneaks in without warn­ United States, the routine draws laughs; ing. They don't think I'm serious." ing. She is fingerspelling, halfwaythrough the Czechs were only mildly amused. Rennie's frequent displays of im­ a long word, when her right hand stum­ Catsup, she discovered later, is not a promptu humor arc punctuated by bles. The conversation stops. She scowls common table item there. serious moments. A question about her in rebuke at the uncooperative fingers. Rennie began clowning in a high school deafness draws a long, thoughtful pause. They try again, and falter. In mock exas­ mime club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "Deafness is special and wonderful to peration, she cocks her left hand into a She came to NTlD from the Western me," she says. "My silence is important pistol and shoots the offending hand. Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and to me. It makes my eyes my strength, Then, as if nothing had happened, she received an associate degree in applied helps me to make my movements precise. slides back into the conversation. But art in 1980. National tours with NTlD's "The eyes are the key. I use eyes and you are smiling now, touched by rhe Sunshine Too and the Fairmount Theatre movement to convey the pictures in my magic, and she is pleased. mind. My deafness helps me to concen­ trate on communicating wirh body language." "Debbie has found a commitment to the theatre," Cushman says, "bur she is practical. She realizes that opportunities for deaf artists arc limited, so she's working on a bachelor's degree in graph­ ic art." BUILDING DREAMS The civil engineering technology pro­ Determined roommates By Emily Fonner roomn1'Ues O,.ei:qryTompkins, abo,,e left, Andreano gram is a natural follow up to NTID's and Richard Simpson are both gradillltes of CAST associate degree program in civil tech­ Simpson uent on 10 CAST from NTID, "'hile e orient our curriculum nology, and the construction option Tompkins 1ransferTedfrom another college. around making things," within the program seems to satisfy a says Assistant Professor common longing among the students to Kevin Foley, chairman of the civil engi­ have something concrete-so to speak on co-op as a drafter for the Milne Con­ neering technology baccalaureate pro­ -to show fortheir efforts. struction Company in his native Oregon, gram at RlT's College of Applied Sci­ Craig Marineau, a junior, enrolled as a a position he obtained with his father's ence and Te chnology (CAST). "There transfer student from Portland (Oregon) help. seems co be something attractive in that Community College, where he received Marineau does not enjoy having most to hearing and hearing-impaired students an A.A.S. degree in civil technology. of the country between him and his fam­ alike. Certainly, there are ample oppor­ Marineau had a conglomeration of edu­ ily, but feelsthat the challenge afforded tunities fora hearing-impaired person to cational experiences, like many hearing­ by RIT is worth the distance. He deeply work in this field without feeling handi­ impaired students: he went from kin­ appreciates the NTID Support Depart­ capped." dergarten through eighth grade at an ment at CAST, and has called upon its Like all hearing-impaired students at oralist school and then was "main­ tutors to help with some of his more RIT, those who enroll in CAST arrive by streamed" into a public high school. difficult work. means of a variery of circuitous routes. Marineau is of a somewhat artistic Even without the members of the Some have come right out of high school. bent. Drawing is his passion, but in the Support Department, Marineau feels Others may have transferredfrom other controlled (and lucrative) context of that RIT faculty members are a special colleges; and of course, there are those engineering. He was first attracted to group of people. ''They really care about who have finished a program at NTID civil technology because of an interest in the deaf students," he remarks. and will pursue a bachelor's degree. mapmaking, and intends to be a drafter, Although he does not attend classes What they share, aside from their hear­ perhaps someday designing computers. with other NTlD students, Marineau ing impairment, is a singular determina­ His sights are set firmly in the future. has chosen to live in a dormitory pre­ tion to succeed. He chose RIT because his academic pro­ dominantly populated by deaf students, That drive leads them to pursue a life gram includes the opportunity for a which "keeps me from feelingleft out." of extreme discipline, perhaps beyond cooperative work experience. He is now that required of other students. NTID FOCUS • Fall 1984 5 He has precious little time, however, The following summer, he worked as Never-ending work Transfer student Craig .v!armeau h,._esm a domurory to address social concerns. a drafter, doing topographic and subdi­ u uh severalNTID studenrs. lM says he has li11le 111ne "The work never ends for us," he vision drawings. That winter he became for socializing. says. "Sometimes l have to stay up until a supervisor in NTID's architectural two or three in the morning. But l really drafting lab, helping students with draft­ enjoy the challenge of my courses, and I ing assignments. culcy, but says, "If you try hard enough, won't give up until T grab chat bachelor's In the summer of 1980, he moved up you can do it." degree." to a position as designer-drafter, doing Simpson's former roommate proves Richard Simpson of Paoli, Pennsyl­ both preliminary and final drawings, as chat the life of a hearing-impaired RIT vania, was also mainstreamed at a public well as topographic drafting work. Ulti­ student may be disciplined, but is not high school. And, like Marineau, he has mately, he concluded that drafting was monastic. Gregory To mpkins, another artistic inclinations. Simpson expresses not enough of a challenge for him. '84 graduate of CAST, is engaged to be his in the areas of woodworking and The following spring he finally hit married to Diane Bokros of Parma, industrial drafting-he has won ribbons upon a co-op to suit his fancy. His title Ohio, who graduated from NTlD at the in both-and started out in the Wood­ was technician, and he mainly was in­ same time with a degree in accounting. working and Furniture Design program volved in correcting and making final Tompkins, who has a hearing twin at RlT's College of Fine and Applied drawings in ink, but he had his first taste brother, is rhe only deaf member of his Arts. of surveying, and there found his metier. family. He speaks with the faintest tinge Reality, or his perception thereof, That winter he took a position as an of a Southern accent, for he was born in intruded, as it did in Marineau's case. He assistant surveyor in the surveyor's of­ Louisville. His family uprooted them­ "started thinking about his future," and fic<:: of a department of public works. selves to Missouri, so that he might transferred to NTID, enrolling first in Simpson, who was deafened as a result attend the Central Institute for the Deaf the architectural tcchi:iology program of the rubella epidemic, has an 80 per­ in St. Louis. However, Tompkins stayed and then switching to civil technology. cent hearing loss. He wears a hearing aid at the school for only three years, trans­ He graduated from CAST last spring. and is able to talk on the telephone with ferring to a mainstreamed public school Simpson says that many factors the help of an amplifier that he carries in Ballwin, a St. Louis suburb. prompted him to choose civil technol­ with him. Although he graduated, he In high school, he decided to be an ogy. Surveying, landscaping, and struc­ still has one more co-op requirement to architect, but refined that desire to engi­ tural analysis are three activities he loves. fulfill, and then he is hoping that his neering when he realized he liked being Cooperative work experiences took communication skills, in tandem with in on che construction end of a project. him through many aspects of the profes­ his education, will land him a job with He enrolled in a pre-engineering pro­ sion. He praises the co-op concept for the Federal Emergency Management gram at St. Louis Community College, helping him winnow out those less ap­ Agency in Philadelphia. spending one year at its Meramec branch pealing to him. He feels strongly that other hearing­ and another at the Florissant Valley His first co-op, in the summer of impaired students could benefit from a campus. 1978, involved electronic drafting, sol­ journey of self-exploration such as rhe Tompkins then transferred to the dering computer equipment, and con­ one he took. He admits chat the tortuous University of Missouri at Rolla. There, ducting various tests on ship models and path he followed was fraught with diffi- he ran into his first stumbling block: the torpedos. upper level courses were hard to follow Choosing the fast track CAST graduate RaymondKovach,k settled in an area with a limiced deaf communiC),but felt the need co doso in his questfor upu•ard mcb1l11y.

Kovachik started at Clough, Harbour in July 1983; before that he had been employed by two Rochester firms. Al­ though he is relatively new, he says that the people in his office are "so nice that they make me feel as though I've been there for a very long time.'' He is the first hearing-impaired per­ son employed full time by Clough, Har­ bour, and still the only hearing-impaired employee. He first learned of the firm as a co-op student; they had a field office in Rochester, and he worked there along with a group of hearing co-op students. He presumes that Clough, Harbour hired him based on that experience. "I didn't seem to have any trouble fitting in with the crowd," he recalls. Kovachik is married to Allison Atkins, without the aid of interpreters or tutor/ He plans to take a licensing exam in an NTID graduate and medical record notetakers. Ohio or Missouri immediately-"lf I'm technician at Children's Hospital in During that year, he traveled to ready!" he gulps. He also hopes eventu­ Albany. They both miss the cultural Romania for the World Games for the ally to attain a professional engineer's vibrancy of Rochester's deaf commu­ Deaf, where he was a member of the license. Meanwhile, he has joined Simp­ nity, but have a clear-eyed sense of pur­ U.S. swimming team. One of his team­ son in pursuit of a job, concentrating on pose about the need to relocate to mates, an RIT student, strongly encour­ Cleveland, where Bokros is with an achieve upward mobility. aged Tompkins to apply. (While at the accounting firm. Kovachik hopes to attain a profes­ Games, Tompkins broke the world rec­ Tompkins has the air of a dreamer sional engineer's license when he com­ ord in the 200-mcter breaststroke.) beginning to see his ambitions take pletes the required four years' experi­ Tompkins' mother, a high school shape. ence on the job. So far, his experience teacher, had always wanted him to attend "All of my life, l've been building has included some thorny problems, RIT, so he decided to leave his friends things. As a child l made models, wooden such as one with which he recently had and family, and see if life as a student bridges, and a tree house. Later, l de­ to grapple. would be any easier with some support signed my own bed. For me, building He was assigned to help design foun­ services. With a laconic smile he allows bridges, highways, and dams is like dations to fit foreign-made structures, that even if he had not met his fiancee, he mountain-climbing. I want to see how and found it not unlike trying to fit would not regret his decision. far l can go, and I want to get there on my square pegs into round holes. The diffi­ "I have been extremely impressed by own." culty arises because American building the RlT faculty," he says. Raymond Kovachik has gotten there, materials arc sized according to U.S. Tompkins took two co-op positions or is at least part way up the mountain. weights and measures, while foreign while at RIT, the first as an engineering Another product of a mainstreamed products arc designed using the metric trainee, where he worked on the design education, he graduated from CAST in system. of an activated sludge wastewater treat­ 1981, having first obtained an A.A.S. But he is undaunted, and intends to ment plant for the city of Ithaca, New degree in architectural technology from stay at Clough, Harbour because of the York. His second job was as an engineer­ TlD. opportunity he sees for advancement. ing technician for a Rochester firm; Kovachik is a senior engineering tech­ With a puckish grin he explains the basis there, he did drafting and surveying, nician with the structural department of for such self-assurance: "Maybe I'm using several computer systems. He feels Clough, Harbour & Associates in doing a good job!" those two experiences helped ready him Albany, New York. In addition to con­ Like his CAST counterparts, Ray forthe job market. ducting investigations and writing re­ Kovachik is confident that his plans will "I picked up a lot of vocabulary while ports on proposed and existing struc­ coalesce. on co-op, and I learned that it's probably tures, and rehabilitating older dwellings, going to be awkward for me starting he helps design bridges, buildings, foun­ out-I'll just have to push myself to be dations and retaining walls, dams, park­ assertive. I'm fast becoming a work­ ing garages, and rapid transit structures. aholic," he muses. A rrpQRCE'' 0/SABLEUFOR PERSO � ient of the United Nations Award for his B:,· Kathleen Sullimn work with mentally and physically handi­ capped people. Not bad for an actor peek into Dave Prowse's closet whose first stage role was that of "Death" might reveal the following: one at London's Mermaid Theatre. well-worn Frankenstein mask; Prowse brought his own special oneA made-to-order Scottish kilt; and "force" to NTID in March, as part of one space-age nylon suit emblazoned, RIT's Special Speaker Series. Well­ "Use the Green Cross Code Man." known in England for his work with Missing from the closet would be the various disability groups, he spent three outfit that has made Prowse the most days in Rochester, talking to students at famous villain of recent film history: a RIT, whisking through the pediatrics flowing black cape, a chestplate fes­ unit of a local hospital, and entertaining tooned with switches and buttons, and a local school children with his own brand black headpiece. of road safety. Yes, Dave Prowse, 48-year-old actor, He even ventured to Niagara Falls, athlete, and consummate self-publicist, where he was promptly deported from is that most heinous of big screen villains Canada because he didn't have his -Darth Vader of "Star Wars" fame. passport. He also is Special Ambassador to the "Imagine that!" he good-naturedly United Nations Decade of Disabled Per­ exclaims. "Even though the customs sons, head of England's road safety officer recognized me, and had me sign campaign for children, three-time Brit­ all sorts of autographs for his family, he ish weightlifting champion, and recip- still deported me ... lovely!" Prowse happily estimates that he has troversial "A Clockwork Orange," and 'Scop, look, Ii.seen ...and chink' signed more than 70,000 autograph The Green Cross Code Man teaches che rules of the in the phenomenally successful "Star road to an enchusiasric l{'fOt•Pof English school cards since "Star Wars" premiered in Wars." His involvement in that film is children. 1977. But beneath his publicity-loving almost as intriguing as the movie's plot. l!Xtcrior, he is a man who understands­ "George Lucas L director of "Star from his own unique experience-the Wars"] rang me up and offered me two "In one scene, I appeared on a ledge, implications of disability. roles in the film," Prowse recalls. "The yelling to Luke Skywalker to 'join me As a promising English schoolboy first was Chcwbacca, a large, hairy char­ and rule the Empire!' " Prowse recalls. "I sprinter and rugby player, Prowse's acter. I was tired of playing roles that was as surprised as the person sitting Olympic aspirations were cut short when required costumes and masks, so I de­ next to me in the theater when I saw the he was sent to the hospital at age 13 with clined. The other role was Darth Vader, movie and discovered Vader admitting, suspected tuberculosis of the knee. Dur­ the villain of the movie. Villains arc such 'Luke, I'm your father!'" ing one year in the hospital, he sprouted great characters-people always remem­ Portraying Darth Vader for hours on from 5'9" to 6'3". ber them. it sounded good, but the catch end had its own "dark side," Prowse He spent the next three years "hob­ was that I would have to wear a mask. reveals, considering that the costume bling around stifflegged" in a brace, However, the appeal of being a villain took several hours tO put on and was hot until doctors finally admitted that the outweighed the inconvenience of wear­ as well as confining. suspected TB was merely "growing ing a costume, so I accepted the role." pains." Much of the "Star Wars" trilogy ( the Then 17 and an imposing6'6", Prowse original film was followed by "The bought a Charles Atlas course and dedi­ Empire Strikes Back" and "The Return cated himself to body building, a sport of the Jedi") centers around the battle that paid off in the form of three succes­ between good and evil in the forms of sive British Heavyweight Weightlifting hero Luke Skywalker and villain Darth Championship titles ( 1962-64 ). The fol­ Vader. Because of the enormous popu­ lowing year, he donned a kilt to partici­ larity of the first film, scripts forthe next pate in Scotland's Highland Games, two were cop secret, and many actors where he took third place in caber toss­ were given sheets with only their own ing. [ Caber tossers throwheavy wooden lines. poles straight up in the air; contestants In Prowse's case, the voice and lines of are judged on the accuracy of the pole's Darth Vader were later dubbed by an­ landing.] other actor. "l suppose they couldn't From there, it was on tO plays, televi­ have a villain with a Cockney accent like sion advertisements, and film roles, most mine!" he jokes. notably in a series of "Frankenstein" The dubbing, however, sometimes horror films, in Stanley Kubrick's con- produced comical results.

::_v�·· -... , NTID- FOCUS• Fall 1984 9 , ...: . . "ln one scene l was supposed to make this grand entrance," Prowse says, "pre­ ceded by Storm Troopers flaw enforce­ ment characters]. The special effects crew used explosives to produce an eerie, smoky effect. They used so many that they nearly blew the place up. The Troopers couldn't see, so they all tripped over one another as they went into the room. I started in, but someone stepped on my cape, sol was straining furiously to move forward.Wh en I finally broke free, l plunged into the room ...right on top of the pile of Troopers!" The overnight success of "Star Wars" in 1977 propelled Prowse into the American limelight, where he seized the opportunity to "try and let the world know that there was an actor inside that suit trying to get out."

But for the occasional aggravation of Prowse also appears in costume as the his relative anonymity, he admits that "ChiefDeafriender" of hearing-impaired being Darth Vader has its advantages. children in England, presenting "phonic "A year or so after the movie came ears" ( FM amplification devices) to chil­ out, my manager and I decided to drive dren and their families. to Disneyland in California," he says. Actor, athlete, ambassador, villain­ "lt used co be a joke that when we'd Dave Prowse admits that he's having a travel, we'd spread out all sorts ofDarth ball. Although he wishes that more peo­ Vader cards and paraphernalia on the ple would realize that his film career dashboard ...quite visibly, you see. didn't begin with "Star Wars," he rec­ "As luck would have it, we got pulled ognizes that the film has boosted his over for speeding. My manager told the popularity considerably. The cast mem­ policeman that he was in such a rush bers even penned a song about their because he was taking Darth Vader to new-found fame, which Prowse oblig­ Disneyland. The cop looked in at the ingly sings to the "Star Wars" theme: dashboard and his face lit up. He imme­ "Star Wars, made me a fortune, paid diately asked for autographs, and then off my mortgage, bought me a car ...." offered to escort us to Disneyland! Since Lovely. we were not going for an appearance, but merely as tourists, we had to do some fast talking to deter him from his offer." ) Aside from his rare public appear­ ances in costume (the movie company owns the rights to the Darth Vader char­ Taking a Morning Break acter), Prowse appears regular! y at sci­ Above, Prou,se chats with localralk show host Don Alharr, and wp, is surroundedby enrhusiasric fans ence fiction conventions nationwide and afrer his ralk ai NTID has donated his time to organizations such as the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, the National Organization on Disability, and the Special Olympics. He is especially proud of his involvement since 1976 with Britain's road safety campaign for children. Dressed as "The Green Cross Code Man," a popular figure among British children, Prowse has visited more than 1,000 schools in 200 cities. The cam­ paign has resulted in a 50 percent reduc­ tion in the number of children killed or disabled in road accidents. (-JOB ti/: INTERVIEWING FOR ··,.THE HEARING __IMPAIBED .,_,...... --

INSTR UCTOR'S OOID

A Movable Feast NTID Reaches Out with Resources

tor of NTlD marketing outreach pro­ sion Department (lTV), Veatch video­ grams. "When word of their success got taped a similar demonstration, using around, other people began asking for hearing-impaired interviewees. When each out and touch someone, them." she began to receive outside requests for suggests a telephone company A popular instruction package, Job the tape, Veatch and Instructional De­ advertising slogan. As a major Interviewing for che Hearing-Impaired, veloper Dr. Michael Steve created a stu­ Rresource on deafness, NTID at RIT grew out of an NTlD classroom project. dent activities guide and an instructor's reaches out to educators and other pro­ Debbi Veatch, manager of special proj­ guide to accompany the videotape. fessionals with research data, communi­ ects for NTID's Division of Career Op­ Veatch's book, How to Get thejob You cation development packages, curricu­ portunities, and Vern Davis, career de­ Really Wane, also grew out of her class­ lum materials and other information velopment counselor for the School of room experience. designed to improve learning oppor­ Science and Engineering Careers, taught "Job-finding is not an isolated task, tunities for deaf and hearing-impaired job-finding skills to TIO students. but a crucial part of a life-long career people. "Vern and I did a role-playing routine development process," she says. "Often, NTID reaches many of these profes­ in the classroom," Veatch recalls. "He students don't recognize the connection. sionals through personal contacts, jour­ was the interviewer, and I was the job­ The importance of developing effective nals and other publications, and through seeker. To illustrate a contrast, we did job-seeking skills cannot be over­ an annual product catalog. ln five years, two interviews-a bad one and a good emphasized. more than 150,000 copies of the catalog one. For the first, I dressed sloppily, "One of the goals of NTlD's place­ have been distributed nationwide. mussed my hair, and smoked a cigarette. ment office was to help students become Products offered by RlT through During the second interview, I dressed more independent in their job search," NTID range from videotapes of techni­ properly, sat up straight, and did all the Veatch says. "The bopk was written cal sign language to booklets on hearing right things. with that in mind. It's a workbook for aid care. Many of these materials are "We repeated this for many classes. It deaf and hearing-impaired people pre­ offered free or at minimal cost. was all right for Vern," she jokes, "but I paring to enter the job market, seek "Many of our products were origi­ had to change my clothes and adjust my promotions, or change careers." nally developed for use in TIO class­ hair for each interview." rooms," says Roch Whitman, coordina- Through NTID's Instructional Televi- . . NTIDFOCUS• Fall 1984 J) '� .,.,,_ ' - More than 1,000 copies of How co Gee nator, and Peter Schragle, captioning special communication strategies that chejob You Really Want have sold in two specialist, will be published this fall by you would not use in a face-to-face years. NAO. conversation." In 1975, NTID began a national proj­ Through an arrangement with outside Every year, in response to requests for ect to collect, evaluate, select, and record film and videotape distributors, NTID information, NTID's Public Affairs Di­ and share signs used in technical and captions educational programs, uses vision distributes thousands of bro­ career environments. As a result of that them free of charge in the classroom, chures and other literature. One of the project, NTID now offers a series of 32 and provides the supplier with a cap­ most popular is Tips for Communicacing videotapes and accompanying manuals tioned copy. with DeafPeople, now in its third print­ on subjects ranging from anthropology NTID offers the benefit of its experi­ ing, with more than 100,000 copies to mathematics and social work. More ence through publications such as Turn­ distributed. tapes and manuals are being developed. ing Points in che Educacion of Deaf Peo{Jle, "I have always felt fortunate to be able "Sign language, like spoken language, published this spring by Interstate Print­ to get your materials," says Judy Ting­ is evolving," says Dr. Frank Caccamise, ers and Publishers. Written by Professor ley, a member ofNTID's National Advi­ senior research associate and project Emeritus Edward Scouten, a veteran sory Group and program manager of director of the Technical Signs Project. educator and member of the NTID Services for Deaf Persons, California "As more and more deaf people enter faculty since 1970, Turning Points is a Department of Rehabilitation. "The technical fields, skilled signers are de­ detailed history of the people and events Tips booklet is one of the few on the veloping new signs through a natural that have influenced the education of subject that seems to cover all aspects of process based on communicator's needs deaf people. communication with hearing-impaired and natural means forsign development. A curriculum in Basic Sign Communi­ persons. We are recording the signs that develop cation, developed for use in NTlD's "We often provide training for em­ through this natural process and are training program for faculty and staff, ployers of deaf persons and also put commonly used, including synonyms has been adapted for use outside the together packets of information tailored and regional variations. Institute. The curriculum is designed for to specific audiences. The Tips booklet "We're recording signs currently used teaching natural signed English/Pidgin is always included, as it seems to fit every­ by many skilled signers, but we're not Sign English through the Direct Experi­ one's needs," she says. telling people what signs to use, or that ence Method, a no-voice "immersion" "It's exciting to see products devel­ one sign is better than another," Dr. method which allows for maximum stu­ oped at RIT through NTID used by Caccamise emphasizes. "These tapes arc dent participation. people all over the country,'' says Whit­ a dictionary that individuals and organi­ "This curriculum represents the first man. "By sharing information and ideas, zations can use for reference. Like all three of a series of 10 courses we will we're investing in opportunities for deaf dictionaries of living languages, con­ offer," says William Newell, chairper­ people everywhere." tinual additions and revisions are son of the Communication Tr aining For a free catalog of NTID products, necessary." Department at NTlD and co-author of write to Division of Public Affairs, De­ Recent customers include a public the curriculum. "It is a complete pack­ partment F, National Technical Institute library in New York State, a junior col­ age of materials with teacher's guides, a for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of lege in Georgia, a ministry of the deaf in student materials book, and a vocabu­ Technology, One Lomb Memorial Drive, New Hampshire, and a school for the lary book. The vocabulary book is also Post Office Box 9887, Rochester, N.Y. deaf in California. available separately." 14623. One of the newest tapes in the series is Soon to be available to the public is a collection of signs used in theatre. Words on Your Hands, a series of eight "We went to the National Theatre of self-instruction videotapes for develop­ the Deaf, the theatres at NTID and Gal­ ing fingerspelling skills. laudet College, and others, looking for "We've been using Words on Your skilled signers who were also proficient Hands in-house since 1977, and we've in theatre vocabulary," Dr. Caccamise had great success with it," Newell says. says. "From a vocabulary list, we made a The tapes will be available for purchase rough tape and sent it to theatre sign or free loan. users for evaluation. Once we knew the Hearing-impaired people are using the signs used by these groups, we made a telephone more effectively thanks to final tape, and are now developing a Telephone Training for the Deaf, a package manual to accompany it." of instructional materials created by Dr. NTID also offers signed and captioned Diane Castle, a telecommunication spe­ tapes on general education, theatrical cialist at NTID. performances, literature, and deaf cul­ "Hearing-impaired persons are often ture. Programs produced by NTID's confronted with a special set of prob­ Instructional Te levision Department lems when using the telephone," she have been aired by cable TV stations in says. "When you use a telephone you Rochester, New York, and Pinsburgh, cannot lipread or take advantage of Pennsylvania. A pamphlet, How co Write facial expressions, so you need to use and Caption for Deaf People, written by Ruth Verlinde, ITV captioning coordi-

.J SteppingAcross the Threshold

Workshops Prepare Co--op Supervisors

By Em,ly Andreano

he electricity of anticipation charges the atmosphere. Six medical record supervisors, all hearing women, ner­ vouslyT eye six medical record technology stu­ dents, also women, all hearing impaired. For one summer, the students will "co-op" at their hospitals. Which, they wonder, will be theirs? Neither group u:ears identification. The students hate never met their future su/JL'Tvi­ sors and are equally curious. Their teacher, NTlD Medical Record Technology (MRT) Program Director Marilyn Fowler, an­ nounces that each will have co identify the other by asking questions. The supervisors are seated at a horseshoe­ shaped cable, an empty sear separating them. The students are directed to stand on Without fanfare, she is ushered to her No-nonsense approach Dr. Willie Ruff, right, reaches s1udenc Keith Edelm the inside of the horseshoe, one in front of proper seat and the entire l{roupis welcomed rhe firsr of many lab procedureshe'll have w perform each supervisor. They are allowed lO ask the by workshop coordinators Fowler; Frederic uh,le on co-op at I loo,ard University Hospital. supervisors three questions abow themselves, Hamil, chairf,erson of NTI D's De/)artment rhe ans«•ers to which the students jot dot('ll of Applied Science/ Allied Healch Profes­ on the supervisors' name tags and return to sions; and Cynthia Mann and David Te m­ forrable about embarking on co-op and chem. The supervisors are to do the same of pleton, MRT instructors. to impose some form of "quality con­ the students, uho then tote the ans«'CTs trol" on the experience. The workshop around on their tags. also is designed to present aspects of Afterseveral minutes of desulcory conver­ Thus begins one of two annual super­ deafness to supervisors, and to inform· sation, the students, giggly and ap/JTehen­ visor workshops on the cooperative them of the specific activities in which sive, are told to move clockwise lO the next work experience, an opportunity for the co-op students will participate. supervisor, by means of a light briefly flicked deaf students at RIT to work at a full­ Next, the group settles down to watch on and off. All this is observed with a mix­ time job outside the classroom. The a film about NTID called "The Silent ture of wonder and amusement by the su/Jer­ other is geared coward medical laborato­ Drum," the title of which derives from visors, most of whom already have Joined ry technology (MLT) supervisors. Henry David Thoreau's Walden. ("lf a enthusiastically in this mutual "l{uessing Fowler concocted the original work­ man does not keep pace with his com­ game." shop eight years ago. With a wry smile, panions, perhaps it is because he hears Supplied by che next student with the she explains that the present format was the beat of a different drummer.") answers co rhe three questions, che supervi­ arrived at "through trial and error." The film, narrated by the late Rod sors gamely attempt to surmise whac che While such a plan might at first glance Serling, takes off from a Twilight Zone questions might have been, an awkward seem haphazard, there is craft underly­ theme. Serling appears and begins talk­ reprise of the television game show "Jeop­ ing the presentation, a canny mixture of ing, but no sound comes out of his ardy.'' One student has indicated char she is information and emotion designed to mouth. Then: "During that moment of a twin; six times, she is asked how it feels co elicit zealous enthusiasm from the super­ time, you stepped across the threshold be one. Apf,arently, her twin is hearing-no visors at the thought of turning volun­ separating sound and silence. You en­ one asks how she feels about chat. teer teachers for a summer. This year's tered the world of the deaf." Once the rotation is completed, the stu­ resulrs do not disappoint. dents are supposed co rake che empty seat The objectives of the workshop are next to their future supervisor. Just one stu­ explained to the assemblage. Mainly, dent is not sure u•hich supervisor will be hers. they are to make the students more com- Entering the 'worla of the deaf' Among che parricipants in che MRT workshop were Lorena Miller, lefc, assistanr direccor of the medrcal record deparcmenc ar The Bryn Mawr Hospital in PenTlS)lvania,and Helen Howe, righc, a member of the MRT adVLSory group.

sound, also amplifies the sound of the bag. Not only is the noise unpleasant, but Gauger can nor be heard well over it, graphically demonstrating why lunch­ time meetings may not be profitable for the co-op students. McMahon shows them a videotape of a conversation between a hearing-im­ ,, paired student and a tutor. It is a misera­ ble failure-the two arc not commu­ nicating. One of the supervisors, Sara Dogan, manager of medical record services for United Hospitals Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey, points out that such communication breakdowns also The film was produced in the early happen between hearing persons. "We expect the best of our students," 1970s, when NTID was in its infancy­ McMahon agrees, and then shows a Fowler replies tartly, with a meaningful saplings dot the RIT campus and the LBJ tape of another conversation between glance at those students present. building is a lump of loam hard by a the same two people. This time, how­ To demonstrate more emphatically steam shovel. But Fowler and Hamil ever, the student asks for clarification the potential student-supervisor rela­ choose to continue airing it because its and the tutor looks at the student while tionship, Hamil asks for a volunteer to message-that deafness separates man talking, uncovers her mouth, and at­ participate in a role-playing exercise. from man, and that NT1D is a ray of tempts to understand the student. The Helen Howe, training specialist for the hope in a silent world-endures. (Ed. improved communication level is Commission on Professional Hospital note: A multimedia presentation and video­ apparent. Activities in Ann Arbor, Michigan, cape co replace "The Silent Drum" will be Mann, who is hearing impaired, is up agrees to play the part of the supervisor. prepared jointly by NT1D's divisions of next. She presents several strategies for Howe is actually the only person pres­ Career Opportunities and Public Affairs in effective communication in groups, not­ ent who is not a bona fide supervisor. the latter part of r985.) ing that it is crucial that the doctors in One of the supervisors was unable to The group is visibly moved by the the various hospitals be informed that attend the workshop, and Howe, who is presentation. Already, the supervisors they will be working with a hearing­ a member of the MRT program advisory cast glances at their young charges with a impaired person. group, has been asked to pinch hit. fresh eye. The students, oblivious to "You know how impatient they are!" Howe's experience as a former teacher their newly perceived disability, hun­ she says. Merriment dances over her pays dividends in her encounter with grily drown everyone's sorrows in expression; she has no trouble communi­ Hamil, who plays the part of a student goodies during a coffee break. cating her ideas co the supervisors. who has committed several infractions Next, Audiologist Jaclyn Gauger, Weiss mainly addresses herself to the of hospital rules, through a combination Speech Pathologist Michael McMahon, students. of ignorance and lassitude. She is kind, Mann, and Lysbeth Weiss, an MRT "The work you

sculpture. With the exception of her first piece, a pipe organ, all of Mullins' creations feature sculpted hands and large, expressive mouths as an integral part of the design. "I can't write," she explains, "but I tell a story through my sculpture. I've developed this style for two reasons: Patricia Vogel Mullins First, because l use my hands a lot when I talk-and [her eyes twinkling] I have a big mouth. That's how I communicate. I All Fired Up like the shape of hands-they're expres­ sive, and they tie things together. In The approach to her studio lies along addition, of course, they are the deaf By Ann Kanter Route 52, past verdant lawns splotched person's �1eans of communication." with horses grazing near white, clapboard Mullins' collection communicates a oon after Patty Vogel was fitted stables. "Pots and Panes," as the studio sophisticated sense of fun and enjoy­ with her first hearing aid at the age is called, is part of the Pine Bush Arts ment of life. lt includes "You Won't Feel of 21h, she ripped it off and threw Center, which opened last July and a Thing," a visit to the dentist; "Vogue S includes shops for photography, quilt­ Will Love It," a photographer shooting it down the toilet, displaying early the spirit and independence that form the ing, Early American fabrics, printing, a nude model; "Army Induction," a ser­ core of her character today. and blacksmithing. geant supervising a recruit's GI haircut; Spirit and independence were quali­ Patty Vogel Mullins (she married "Playtime," two people in the bathtub; ties she would need in overcoming the Michael Mullins, an RIT photography and "Self-Portrait," Mullins at her pot­ many obstacles blocking a hearing­ student, in 1972) seems taller than the ter's wheel. impaired person's path to a career in S'S" she claims, and she moves with an When the ink of her bachelor's degree ceramics. athlete's grace. Her brown hair is braided was barely dry, Mullins was commis­ Some milestones in her pursuit of that into pigtails, which hide her twin hearing sioned to do three sculptures by a New career are her 1972 graduation from aids. Her eyes hint at fun and mischief­ York City executive who admired the RIT's School for American Craftsmen even as she relates her family history, works in her thesis display at New Paltz. with an associate degree in ceramics, her early childhood, and the discovery of He ordered a golfer, skier, and guitar December 1983 graduation from the her deafness. player as gifts for his boss and a major State University of New York College at Proudly conducting a tour of her stu­ customer. Mullins prices her sculptures New Paltz with a bachelor's degree in dio, she points out the tub-shaped kiln, a from $150 to $350 apiece. fine arts, and the recent opening of her brick-lined oven for baking clay pottery "I might do another golfer some day,'' own ceramics studio in her homecown and sculpture to hardness and durability. she explains, "but I would make it dif­ of Pine Bush, New York, a small town Her studio displays a selection of ferent from the first. I never make two lying west of the Hudson River at the bowls, pitchers, casseroles-even a sculptures exactly the same." foot of the Shawangunk Mountain grouping of doll-sized miniatures. But "Pots and Panes" basically is a studio, Range. the highlight of the collection is her explains Mullins, but shelves near the entrance make her pottery and sculpture grabbed for it. But when the uncle proviso that to continue taking further available to the walk-in trade. A stained repeated the scenario behind his back art classes, she would need to achieve an glass pane hanging in the window is an where they couldn't see the toy, her sis­ example of Michael Mullins' work, ter responded to the duck's squeak; Her first project was to make a pinch­ which also will be sold in the studio, and Patty didn't. Forced to face the reality of pot bowl, produced by pinching the sur­ which accounts for the shop's name. her deafness, Patty's parents sent her off face of the clay to make it increasingly To demonstrate the potter's craft, to a school for the deaf. thinner as it took shape. Mullins says Mullins scoops up a chunk of wet clay Home at that time was Queens, New that this project took most students two and "wedges it out," striking it against a York, and the school was P.S. 47 on weeks, but that she completed it in one plaster bat board co remove the air bub­ 23rd Street in Manhattan, where Patty 45-minute period. The instructor was bles and excess moisture. was bused daily. Sign language was for­ amazed to learn that she had no previous "Before I can put this on the wheel," bidden at the school-"We had to sit on experience with clay. She continued she explains, "the clay must dry out our hands," says Mullins. She devel­ astounding her teachers by getting enough to lose its sticky feel." She sets it oped a skill at speechreading that would straight "A's" in ceramics. aside and picks up a piece that has had later create problems of credibility for After graduation from Bryant High time to dry. Placing this on her potter's her as a hearing-impaired person. Mean­ School, Mullins held two part-time jobs wheel, she vaults onto a seat behind it. while, outside of classes, she learned teaching art to deaf children in New York Her foot presses a pedal activating the American Sign Language from children City: one at P.S. 158, the other at the wheel, and as it whirls around, she deftly in the playground. 14th Street Young Men's Hebrew Asso­ shapes the gray mass into a bowl. She Mullins' father is an artist and she says ciation (YMHA). She tells how the covers this with plastic sheeting and sets she yearned to work in clay "from the Smithsonian institution developed an it aside to dry. time 1 was born," but her first opportu­ exhibit called "Shouts in Silence" com­ "Drying can take a week or two," she nity presented itself when she was in prised of works produced by children in says, "depending on the thickness of the high school, and then she had to fight for her class at the "Y" that year. piece." At this stage, the bowl is called it. The school was Bryant High School in The purpose of the collection, she "greenware." When it is sufficiently Queens, a traditional public school. says, was to illustrate the mental work­ dry, Mullins will fire it in the kiln for Mullins recalls peeking longingly through ings of deaf children and their views of eight hours until it hardens and becomes the door of a ceramics classroom barred themselves in relation to their environ­ "bisque." Then she will apply a glaze to to her because "the teachers thought ment. The exhibit traveled throughout decorate it, which requires another 12 that deaf students couldn't function in the United States for 10 years, after hours in the kiln. Like most ceramicists, applied art settings." which time it went on display at New Mullins has perfected her own formulas According to Mullins, many teachers York City's Metropolitan Museum of for both clay and glaze and keeps them in those days tended to think of deaf Art. There, the children's efforts were carefully guarded secrets. youngsters in stereotypical roles: the displayed along with their more mature "One time," she laughingly recalls, "l women becoming typists or file clerks, current works, to show the growth that got a fabulous color by smashing some the men finding jobs as printers or had ensued. The hallmark of the show, volcanic lava, and another potter asked bakers. Mullins rebelled at the idea of according to Mullins, was a self-portrait me for the formula. Some chance!" working in the confines of an office, and by her brother, Wally. The drawing Laughter comes easily to Mullins, when an aptitude test in her senior year demonstrates his pain and frustration at arising from a joie de vivre, a way she has of high school indicated an affinity for his involuntary silence. of seeing the humor in everyday events, animals and art, Mullins thought of During her stint at the YMHA, Mul­ in telling stories on herself. She loves to becoming a veterinarian or working in a lins worked with Dr. Rawley Silver, an talk about her childhood, about how she zoo. Her counselor at the Office of Voca­ art therapist, published author, and col­ was a tomboy and loved to swing upside tional Rehabilitation told her that deaf lege instructor. Dr. Silver suggested that down from a neighborhood jungle gym. people couldn't do such things, offering Mullins apply to NTID. ln the process, her hearing aid, which in the rationale that, "If a lion were behind Thus it was that Patty became one of those days was a cumbersome thing with you, you wouldn't be able to hear him the 70 students who comprised NTlD's wires worn inside her clothing, invari­ roar." Mullins' characteristic retort was, first class. When the group arrived, ably fell out onto the ground. After "l wouldn't be so stupid as to turn my RIT's Henrietta campus was new, and innumerable repairs and replacements, back on a lion!" there were no separate facilities for Patty's mother finally fashioned a spe­ Despite her fearlessness, Mullins ad­ hearing-impaired students, who attended cial case which snapped inside her blouse, mits an aversion for the sight of blood, classes with their hearing peers. securing the hearing aid. which eventually dissuaded her from her This was a new situation for many of One of five children from a hearing veterinary aspirations. At the same time, the students as well as for the faculty. family, Mullins has a younger brother, she felt fit for greater challenges than Dr. Thomas Raco, director of the School Wally, who, like herself, is hearing im­ "picking up after zoo animals," which of Visual Communication Careers, at paired, and who is also aphasic. was the highest level to which her advi­ that time served as educational specialist When Patty was not speaking by age sors felt she could aspire in that arena. for the College of Fine and Applied 2 Yi, an uncle suspected a hearing prob­ Thus she determined to pursue a Arts, which included the ceramics pro­ lem. To convince her parents of this, he career in the field of art, and finally suc­ gram. In that capacity, he provided Mul­ devised a test using a rubber duck, which ceeded in convincing the advisor of her lins and other students with tutoring, he held aloft and squeezed. Like her ability and right to work in ceramics. notetaking, interpreting, and academic hearing sister, Patty saw the toy and Nevertheless, this was only with the advising, and assisted the faculty in

,.-. C...... "'O. ... �

• � -___.. 'r -- '>' ; ,.; �- .,. -- }fTll)F_£?US • Fall 1984 21 She is already known to many as the "Don't say '[' when you ask a ques­ Her lecture is sprinkled with statistics author of the bestselling Dr. Ruch's Guide tion," she cautions. "J use ask." {"Only 30 percent of all females are lO Good Sex, and as the grandmotherly Some of the criticism she has received orgasmic."). It is a clinical conversation person who requires the footstool -that she gives "how-to" sexual advice delivered in a folksy style: Masters and Johnny Carson reserves forhis smaller in an amoral context-seems to prompt Johnson cum Barnum and Bailey. One guests. An adjunct associate professor at her to answer her critics up front. minute she is deriding drug companies New York Hospital-Cornell University "Not for a moment," she says, her for not doing any research into finding a Medical Center, she teaches in a sex index finger jabbing the air, "do I think better contraceptive ("there's not enough therapy teaching program. She once that sex is everything in a relationship. money in it"), the next she is provoking taught a class of handicapped persons at There is love, intellectual and emotional laughs in her audience about the so­ Brooklyn College, but decided they stimulation, the raising of children, re­ called newly discovered "G-spot," sup­ should be "mainstreamed" with her sponsibility. I never ask a personal ques­ posed conveyor of a different kind of other students. tion-I never say 'Stand up and tell me orgasm and an ejaculation in the female. In years past, she fought for the inde­ about YOUR personal experience.' lam "Why should l encourage a woman to pendence of the State of lsrael as a careful not to violate religious or ethical say co her husband or lover, 'You idiot, member of the Haganah, the Israeli beliefs. In fact, I lecture to Catholic you can't find my G-spot?' We have underground. Now she fights battles priests to help them counsel couples enough problems already." against sexual ignorance. She emigrated about to be married." The formal part of her lecture fin­ to the United States with a young daugh­ Satisfied that her audience is suitably ished, she works the crowd with the ease ter to support. While doing so, often on impressed and properly chastened, she of a carnival barker. as little as one dollar a day, she earned a draws a sharp breath. "All right," she calls. "Who has master's degree in sociology from the "And," she burbles, pausing with a qvestions?" New School of Social Research and a comedienne's impeccable sense of tim­ She reads a question about aphrodisi­ doctorate in the interdisciplinary study ing, "I train the best lovers in the tri­ acs off a card. of the family from Columbia University. state area." "Coke lcocaine), pot (marijuana], She had her own television program, The ensuing lecture is a combination oysters-none of them are proven to "Dr. Ruth." TV viewers have grown of myth de-bunking and grandstanding. work," she replies. "All that's needed is accustomed to seeing her giggle with The idea that certain types of sexual between the ears, although there's no Johnny or David or Merv; her German­ behavior are "bad for you" is "sexual harm in a little wine and candlelight. For tinged accent has been imitated on "Sat­ illiteracy." most people, outside substances will not urday Night Live," and has led her to be The proposed "squeal law," which enhance sexual functioning." dubbed "Grandma Freud." She is de­ mandates that the parents of young peo­ Many of the students who hand Dr. lightfully sweet, perfectly charming. ple who visit federally financed clinics Ruth cards with questions, or those who But, for many, Or. Ruth conjures up be notified, would be a dreadful blunder approach the microphone, are freckle­ the image of the wicked girl in Charles -if teens had questions or problems faced, stammering youths who appear to Perrault's "The Fairies" who, though that they couldn't talk about at home, have stepped directly from the canvases beautiful, was dismayed to find chat they would be forced to seek help else­ of Norman Rockwell. But their well­ every time she opened her mouth, a toad where. scrubbed appearance belies a sexual popped out. For it is more than incon­ A male student asks Dr. Ruth what sophistication never dreamed of in the gruous to hear chis unassuming woman, method of contraception she would pages of the Saturday Evening Pose. a self-described "square," talking with recommend. "What is the etiology of homosexual­ such disarming frankness about topics "Congratulations," she says, smiling ity?" asks one. "What is the significance heretofore reserved for the bedroom. In beatifically in reward for his concern. of virginity in today's society?" the opinion of some, there arc toads "You must be a very good lover." She ends the lecture by answering a popping out of Dr. Ruth's mouth all the Contraception is never far from Dr. final question: What do you do when time. Ruth's thoughts. She often ends her you are involved with more than one She is not unaware of the controversy radio show with the cheery admonition person at a time? she has engendered, and warns her stu­ to "have good sex-and use con­ "You hope," says the doctor, a deli­ dent audience that she will be speaking traceptives!" cious gleam in her eye, "that neither one frankly about a number of subjects. She In her answer to the young man, Dr. finds out about the other." has already learned the signs for some of Ruth takes the opportunity to make them, and displays her newfound knowl­ another of her views known. edge to the delighted crowd. "Certainly not abortion," she says, Then she cxplains. the ground rules for with a vigorous shake of the head. "I still her lectures: listeners arc encouraged to believe it should be legal, but we have ask questions, either by writing them almost no scientific study of what re­ down on cards which were passed out to peated abortions can do to a woman." the students on their way into the audi­ Dr. Ruth would eliminate most chem­ torium, or by approaching one of the ically based forms of birth control for microphones strategically placed in the health and safety reasons, preferring audience. instead to rely on methods involving intervention. A Gentlemanand a Scholar

words flow from them, letter by letter, Turning point By Richard Schmidle Dr. Wdl,am Castle pays tribute w Professor and Mrs. as smoothly as music. Edu•ard Scouten ac a reurc�nenc party m Scoucen's Over the years, he has influenced honor. rom 50 feet away you can tell char thousands of young deaf people, and the Ed Scouten is a gentleman. There process of education itself, at the Roch­ teacher encouraged him to get some pro­ is an unassuming dignity in his ester School for the Deaf (RSD), Gal­ fessional training first. walk,F a gentleness in his appearance that lauder College, the Louisiana and Florida "l applied to Gallaudet College for belies the fact that the man is an expe­ Schools for the Deaf, and NTID at RIT. 'normal' [teacher] training," Scouten rienced fighter. Throughout, he has retained his remembers. "With my experience, I ln the ancient running battle over the modesty and sense of humor. He freely thought I'd be a natural. To my amaze­ best way to teach language to deaf peo­ admits that he learned fingerspelling ment and disappointment, they turned ple, Scouten is a respected veteran, a from the Boy Scour Handbook and sign me down." man whose philosophy has mellowed language from the deaf patrons of a invited to train at the California over half a century but retains its integ­ basement pool hall in his hometown of School for the Deaf (CSD) in Berkeley rity and intensity. To understand En­ Omaha, Nebraska. in 1937, he completed a one-year pro­ glish, he maintains, you have to hear Scouten's first experience with deaf­ gram for certification as a teacher of the it-or sec it-word for word. ness came in 193 las a counselor at a Boy deaf. ln the spring of 1938, the Iowa Scouten's ideals put him between two Scout summer camp outside Omaha, School for the Deaf, across the Missouri major camps. Disdained by pure oralists where he helped two deaf brothers pre­ River from his hometown, offered him a for his insistence that spoken language pare for their Second Class require­ job for $850 per year plus room and be supplemented by fingcrspelling, he's ments. That fall, he encouraged the board. Scouten was tempted, but the something of a heretic among the manu­ Nebraska School for the Deaf ( NSD) to Rochester School for the Deaf also made alists, whose language structure he po­ form a scout troop, and served as its him an offer. Scouten's advisor, Dr. litely but openly criticizes. consultant. At age 17, he was considered E.A. Stevenson, superintendent of CSD, None of this controversy seems to too young to be a scoutmaster. encouraged him to accept the job at bother him. With the gentle persistence His interest in deafness deepened RSD. of a mid western evangelist, he promotes when Harvey Christian, a dedicated in­ "The Rochester School for the Deaf his ideas to students, faculty, adminis­ structor, invited Scouten into his NSD was unique because no sign language was trators, visitors, and anyone else who classroom. Christian's personality and used," Scouten says. "The pay was bet­ will listen. signing skills left a deep impression on ter than Iowa's, too-$1, 100 per year A tall man with a penchant for bow the young man who, as soon as he was plus room and board." ties and pastel sporrcoars, Scouten is a able, grew a moustache in imitation of Intrigued by the RSD method of familiar figure at NTID, where he has his mentor. instruction, Scouten taught there for taught English composition and techni­ During his years as a student at the two years. cal English for rhe past 14 years. At age University of Omaha, Scouten was a "At that time," he recalls, "the tradi­ 70, his brown eyes sparkle with a gentle houseparent at NSD and later served as a tional programs of instruction, although wit, and a wedge of white moustache substitute teacher. He was offered a full­ largely oral in most schools, did permit punctuates his frequent smile. His slen­ time position in 1937, bur a supervising the use of sign language among the chil­ der fingers are as nimble as a pianist's; dren on the playground, in the dormiro- Scout's honor Scouten, far righr,

bomb the mainland. Ed was calm through the whole situation." The following day, when President Roosevelt's address to Congress was broadcast, Scouten again interpreted for his students."He was so accurate, grasp­ ing the very cone and emotion of Roose­ velt's statement, 'a

"Although I would have lost direct contact with my patients, as an officer I could have had a greater influence on their instruction," he says. It was a con­ flict that Scouten was to face several times again in his career-the choice between administrative influence and the deep personal satisfaction of teaching. Discharged from the Army in 1945, he returned to Gallaudet, where he remained for 15 years, first as an English instructor and later as chairman of the College Preparatory Department. Another close friend, Dr. Ross Stuck­ less, director of Integrative Research at NTlD, remembers those years: offered a position on the NTID faculty. Scouten chronicled his knowledge of "I got to know E

she'll need him along on calls tO help tions, and exploring the use of her By Emily Andreana speak for her, but confides, "I don't rely fabrics in other contexts, such as furni­ on words. l find it's best, whether you're ture. She likes furniture's dimensional­ t seemed the only logical step. Nancy deaf or hearing, to have everything writ­ ity, a property which attracts her to Cook Smith, fledgling textile de­ ten down." sculpture as well. ln addition, she docs signer, realized when she finished Smith says that she has used her tex­ all the photography for the portfolio schoolI that what she needed was some tile background to "create a different displaying her work. money. So she piled samples of her work approach to clothing." "My insistence on being a designer, an into an enormous wicker basket and She first designs and makes a hand­ artist, and a craftsperson," she says, tried peddling them door to door-on woven (handloomed) fabric. She then "has led to acceptance in clothing stores Beverly Hill's Rodeo Drive. works a garment around the particulars [in Los Angeles, New York, and other That first entrepreneurial effort of each fabric. She uses all natural fibers; places] as well as in galleries and shops proved disastrous. mostly rayon (a wood pulp product), that specialize in wearable art or craft." "I learned that people won't buy just cotton, linen, and some silk. She thinks Although she travels less than she did anything there-you need an air of pro­ of the threads as crayons and tries to as a beginner, she will visit a store that fessionalism," she says with a rueful arrange them in a harmonious pattern. indicates an interest in selling her smile. "You need business cards, sta­ They are all mill ends (remnants) to garments. tionery, and all the rest of it." ensure that her work won't be dupli­ "l have to check and make sure it's But Smith's gritty perseverance even­ cated, and, undoubtedly, to keep her qualified to carry my merchandise," she tually paid handsome dividends; her costs down. says unblinkingly. "But it's nice not to work is now sold not only on Rodeo "Each fabric, each piece is basically have to go out and find jobs anymore. Drive, but in some of the poshest bou­ one-of-a-kind," she says. "The concern Doing painting and sculpture is just too tiques in the country, and her list of with color, pattern, the hand [drape], risky. You have to have something com­ clients reads like a Who's Who in and simplicity of style give my work a mercial-like a scarf. It's like a race; Hollywood. recognizable mark." after six years in the business, I seem to These days, her business calls are very She concentrates on women's wear, have won." well organized. She is hearing impaired; but also makes accessories-scarves and Her outfits command high prices, artist-promoter-husband Peter Tigler is neckties. She is considering more shop though no higher than many other de­ hearing. She has learned to sense when accounts, pursuing gallery type exhibi- signer clothes, and less than some. Her 'WOl'ds on Confidence' Smtth delivers the Lyon lecture co an audience of rape scudencs. ties, which are reversible, sell for $32. A three-piece outfit consisting of a skirt, top, and unlined coat retails for $ l, 100. Sold separately, the skirt and top are $850. They have been seen in a number of movies, among them "Tootsie" ( on Jes­ sica Lange), "Flashdance," "The Oster­ man Weekend," and "48 Hrs.," and on television's "Dick Cavett Show," where Raquel Welch wore one of her scarves. Her creations also are frequently seen on actresses Louise Fletcher and Anne Ban­ croft, whom Smith says has "a great sense of humor and is very supportive." Smith's studio, which is staffed by five assistants, is, by design, at her home in Santa Monica, California. She speaks proudly of the self-sufficient enclave she much as possible. My work in the studio Smith's speech was titled, "Words on and Tigler have developed. They have helps us both." Confidence." She knows a lot about that made most of their own furniture, and Coco is learning Spanish from the subject-she has always had an abun­ live what she refers to as a "different and family's Spanish-speaking maid. Her dance of confidence in her own abilities, supremely satisfying life." She claims mother seems delighted at the prospect or at least in her ability to overcome that she need venture into the outside of a bilingual daughter. adversity. world only to stock up on supplies for She likens Coco's development to her "I learned it's okay to be afraid and her studio and her larder, which suits own growth as an artist. that there's no shame in foiling," she her fine. "For my little girl," she says, "there told the students. "The most soaring Singer Carole King writes in "Good- was a three-week period between crawl­ triumphs come simply from trying again. bye Don't Mean I'm Gone": ing and walking. When she knew how to Confidence sprouts from trying. I learn Missing you rhe way I do walk, she did not stop learning. She something important when I face a prob­ You knou• I'd like w see more of you found much more to do. She started to lem positively-I learn that 1 have it But it's all I can do w be a mother kick things, run, skip, step on things­ within me to go beyond what I've done (My baby's in one hand, I've a pen whatever looked good. Now I can't before. With this attitude I feel whole in the other) . ... recall what has happened to time, or despite my handicap." Smith is another artist doing a juggling whether that last hurdle was high or low. Her positive attitude was first nur­ act. Her 18-month-old daughter Coco, lt's the same for an artist. Once you tured at the Clarke School for the Deaf who is hearing, is as constant a topic of realize you have some talent, you chal­ in Northampton, Massachusetts. Origi­ conversation as her work-the two arc lenge yourself to try other things." nally from Glastonbury, Connecticut, intertwined. Since she is determined Smith takes on a faraway look when Smith feels that the speech and speech­ that Coco see her in her milieu as an she speaks of her family, and of the very reading skills she acquired at the oralist artist, she takes her daughter on occa­ private world the three of them have school were "absolutely necessary to get sional business calls. She even wove created. Yet she admits that she feasts on me where I am now." some bias strips ( pieces of cloth) together the interchange of ideas that takes place It was there, also, that she learned to for Coco, so that the little girl ( who was when she and Tigler entertain fellow sew, and discovered how much she around a year old at the time) would be artists at their home. enjoyed home economics. While taking able to see the process of weaving in le was her curiosity about people and an art course, she was photographed close-up detail. Coco is given a free hand ideas, perhaps, that prompted her to fly molding some ceramics for a brochure in the studio; she is even allowed co han­ cross-country to accept NTID's Lyon advertising the school. dle straight pins-"at least for now." Memorial Lectureship last spring. "One of the most important and valu­ The lectureship is named for the late able things to give your children is a Edmund Lyon, who is best known for good self-image and a strong inner self," devising a phonetic finger alphabet. Es­ Smith says. "l felt becoming a parent tablished by his daughters, it introduces was important for me. l can't afford not RIT students to the life experiences of to have the time for a baby, so in the end profoundly deaf persons who have dis­ I remain flexible between the cwo posts tinguished themselves in their profes­ -as an artist and as a parent. I make sure sions. to work my schedule around the baby as

-�. · � NTID FOCUS• Fall 1984 27 Smith saw the brochure, and liked Juggling act Sm11h mspecu the hand,,vork of one of herempl O)ees what she saw. In fact, she was so en­ while balancmgdaughter Coco on herh,p. amored of the image thar she decided to become an artist. After graduation from the Clarke School, she entered a public high school in Glastonbury, where she claims she was old enough to be everyone else's grandmother. "As the school's only deaf student, I had trouble finding my inner self," she says quietly. Her artistic inclinations did not wane, however-they may have been height­ ened by the enforced isolation of her high school years. She combined her two interests, art and sewing, into a tex­ tile major at the prestigious and highly competitive Rhode Island School of Design (RISO). While there, she did an apprenticeship with Elaine Wilmath, a fashion designer at Providence's hugely successful India Imports, a business be­ gun on a shoestring during the hip and her. For the first time, it occurred to her for her family was recently featured on heady days of the early '60s. She also that she might be missing something by the television show "Hour Magazine," worked there on a freelance basis, de­ not signing, and that she might like to as one that is coping nicely with a deaf/ signing handbags. learn. hearing relationship. The freewheeling atmosphere at India Another side of her is staunchly inde­ Smith's occupation was not mentioned Imports must have had some effect on pendent, almost fearful that an outward in the story. but she has had plenty of Smith. After graduating from RISO in display of deafness will somehow exposure elsewhere, including twice 1974, she and Tigler, a painting major "pigeonhole" her. being singled out as a "Best Bet" in Ne«· who was a year ahead of her, "bought a "My friends say they think of me as West magazine and as a feature spread in truck and drove around the United hearing," she asserts. "l take that as a Spring magazine. She also has been cited States for five months and sort of ran great compliment." for her design work in Craft magazine, out of gas in Los Angeles. Nevertheless, rather than spurning her The Daily News, The Hollywood Reporter, '' We wanted a taste of the unfamiliar, deafness, she seems to look upon it as a The Los Angeles Herald Examiner, The and it seemed right there," she offers non-issue. Los Angeles Times, The Los Angeles with an impish grin. "Big city, art scene, "My deafness has never really hin­ Weekly, Ornamem magazine, Playgirl, nice climate, a few contacts." dered my artistic development," she The Providence (R.1.) Evening Bulletin, Seeking out the unfamiliar-risk said in her speech. "But as a deaf person Slimmer, and Wee magazine. taking-seems endemic to Smith's in a hearing world, there are often Smith cherishes her privacy, but has nature. Her casual approach extends to reminders that lam not whole, not capa­ accustomed herself to being in the glare all areas of her life, even her deafness. ble. Little things can erode your will. of the public eye. She is thoroughly She relies completely on speechreading That could affect all aspects of my per­ charming and at ease speaking with to communicate with others, often star­ sonality, but the confidence that l fight strangers, who often mistake her accent, ing off into the distance to rest her liquid for in my artistic life I force on myself in she confesses, for that of an exotic blue eyes during breaks in a conversation. general. foreigner. She used to wear hearing aids, but "Opportunity will knock for deaf As part of the Lyon Lectureship, she found them distracting. One day, she people as it does for everybody else. addressed the group, Deaf Women of left them in her pants by mistake, threw Have the awareness to see it and the Rochester. One of them, an artist, asked them in the wash, and said that after that confidence to act on it. If you don't see Smith how long it takes her to construct experience they "worked like new." A the opportunity, prepare yourself and a typical garment from start to finish. week later, they were dead. look for it. Wise up! Your talent and Nancy Cook Smith squared her "I figure I had my chance," she says professionalism arc the issues, not your shoulders and parted her lips in a mis­ with a philosophical shrug. deafness. Make your embarrassing mis­ chievous smile. Ever the business­ She knows no sign language, but can takes, but improve and move on. If woman, she shot back, "A lifetime of fingerspell, and taught her husband to Jacobo Timerman, famous tortured knowledge." do so as well. Her stint at NTlD was the Argentinian survivor, can say 'There is first time in her 34 years that she had any more future than past,' certainly deaf prolonged exposure to sign language. people here can say that." While here, she recalls, she was fasci­ To some extent, she has come to terms nated by the hands of animated conver­ with being publicly identified as deaf, sationalists flyingthrough the air around By Ann Kanter

persistent rumor has it that NTID lured Jean-Guy Naud, chairperson of the Applied Photography/MediaA Production Depart­ ment, away from RIT's College of Graphic Arts and Photography in 1968 with the promise of a snowmobile to traverse the quarter mile separating the proposed NTID academic building from the existing buildings during the cold winter months. Naud denies that this is more than a long-standing joke, although he says it with a glint in his eye. He says that he came for the opportunity of getting in on the ground floor with a new institution, of seeing a new program develop, of accepting a challenge. And a challenge is something that Naud can not resist. During that first eventful year, he wrote the initial Applied Photography curriculum, taught the first set of courses, assisted in the design of the photographic facilities, and selected the equipment for the program. That was 16 years ago. In 1981, Naud received the National Advisory Group's (NAG) Outstanding Service Award, given annually to RIT staff members "who have made consistent and excep­ tional contributions to the goals of NTID and to the quality of life among students and colleagues." He is acknowledged as one of the top experts in the United States in the field of photo processing quality control. That field demands precision and or­ ganization, qualities that come naturally to "Dr." Naud ( pronounced "no"), as Character actor Snu:lenc Tom Willard used Naud for a class projea chac required photographing a "disbeltevmg" recipienr of a he is called affectionately by his stu­ bank'sfree gifr. dents. "Organization" could be his mid­ dle name. "If you need to locate a memo from 10 years back," says Assistant Professor Elaine Milton, "just ask Jean-Guy. He FOCUS will have it dated, stamped, bound, and filed so neatly that he can put his hands on it in five minutes." on "Skilled, logical, patient, and thor­ ough," is how Assistant Professor Patri­ cia Russotti describes him. "He's got a Jean-Guy Naud wealth of information," she adds, "and a strong urge to share it. He cares about people and always has time to help­ he's the same way with students and peers." Naud attributes his strong sense of organization to his French-Canadian grandmother, who was widowed at a young age and raised five children alone during the Depression. "She had. to be "If I have a problem finding the right communicate the thought would be to organized," he says. Naud was born in color at the custom color analyzer," she sign "when the sun is shining." The Jonquiere and grew up in Sept-lies, both explains, "he will help me out, but first result of the miscommunication: every in Quebec, Canada, where he lived until he'll give me a hint and see if I can work student in the class shot his pictures on a 1962, when he enrolled at the Brooks it out for myself." cloudy day. Institute of Photography in California. Does he ever get angry? "lf the ma­ Naud chuckles at that story and offers He came to RlT as a student in 1964 and chines foul up and everything's going another to prove that indeed he is not graduated in 1968 with a B.S. in profes­ wrong, he gets angry," says Eytalis, ''but perfect. But this one is not funny, he sional photography. when he does, he just explains what's says. "It illustrates a communication "Jean-Guy has a thorough knowledge gone wrong. He never yells. The only problem, and it's dead serious." In 1982, of his subject matter and a love of the way you can tell he's angry is by the he served as chairperson of NTID's Per­ discipline, a strong sense of organiza­ expression on his face-and by the fact sonnel Advisory Committee. A meeting tion, and a keen understanding of human that his sign language gets faster and was called to discuss a proposal. Naud nature," says Dr. Thomas Raco, assis­ takes up a larger area." thought all had gone well until a few days tant dean/ director of the School of Visu­ On the rare occasions when Naud's later, when he received an anonymous al Communication Careers. "He keeps anger shows, it seems to be caused by note saying that his signing and finger­ current in his field and leaves no room things and situations, rather than peo­ spelling were atrocious. forerror. When his students get into the ple. "He cares about what he's doing and "I was shocked," he says, "but then I market, they're glad they worked with the people he works with," says Milton. realized that I was only signing and fin­ him, because they find themselves doing "He's genuinely good. Sometimes he gerspelling half the time, because I was exactly what he trained them to do. He seems too perfect to be real. He hardly depending on the interpreter. I didn't prides himself on that." ever makes mistakes. In fact, his mis­ realize that some people weren't watch­ One of the ways in which Naud keeps takes are so rare, he can be sure to be ing the interpreter and were depending himself au courant is by serving as a con­ teased whenever he makes one." on my signing. I was grateful for the sultant to industry and government. In his free time, Naud likes to target note, because it taught me a valuable Perhaps his longest lasting consultancy shoot (pistol and rifle), and has served as lesson, and I won't make that mistake occurred in 1975-76, when he worked secretary and director of the Genesee again. But l never found out who wrote for the Montreal Headquarters of the Conservation League. Robert Dunne, the note." National Film Board of Canada. management analyst for Career Devel­ It's hard to find a story about Naud As acting chief of laboratory services opment Programs, and a fellow league that portrays him as anything but the for the 1976 Official Olympic Film, a member, lauds Naud's skills at com­ perfect teacher. However, Associate Pro­ photographic record of the games pro­ promise, which, he says, Naud utilized to fessor Vernon Davis likes to tell about vided by the host country, he supervised get a board of 21 strong-minded direc­ the time he was escorting a female visitor a staff of 85 people and a budget of more tors to make an important decision in a through the photography lab, a favorite than $2 million. According to Dr. Raco, fraction of the normal meeting time. tour destination because of the fascina­ Naud's expertise has resulted in frequent Other facetsofNaud's personality are tion of the photo color analyzer. job offers over the years. Why does he illustrated by his interest in flying (he When Davis and the visitor arrived, remain at NTID? has a pilot's license) and CB radio (his there was Naud, impeccable as usual, "l like working with students," he "handle" is "Maple Leaf," an obvious with a shirt and tie barely visible above says. "l stake my reputation on prepar­ allusion to his Canadian roots). He also his crisp lab coat. But as Davis glanced ing them to be the best employees a firm enjoys spending leisure time with his down, he noticed that between the lab can have. I am a bridge between school family. His wife, a medical secretary at coat and Naud's polished shoes and and the employer. But it's more than just Genesee Hospital, "is as organized as I socks, there was nothing covering his teaching technology," he explains. "In am. She has to be. She plans her menus a bare legs. Incredulous, Davis left the vis­ this department, we try to take the time week in advance and posts the day's itor occupied with the color analyzer and to talk with our students about things menus on a blackboard in our kitchen. whisked Naud off to a corner for an outside the realm of studies. We try to That way I can avoid eating for lunch explanation. fill them in on some of the general what we're going to have for dinner that Some chemicals had splashed on his knowledge and informationthat hearing night." trousers, Naud explained, and rather youngsters absorb without even trying." Enjoying a laugh at his own expense, than take time away from his students to The students appreciate this personal Naud tells the followingstory about one go home and change, he had simply interest. "When we get to class," says of his early teaching experiences. He rinsed out the trousers, hung them up to David Eytalis, "'Dr.' Naud encourages assigned students to take outdoor pho­ dry on the film dryer, and gone on about us to talk about the weekend and break tographs, with instructions to use var­ his business. So well is Naud liked and the ice beforewe get down to business." ious exposures to illustrate the different respected by his co-workers that even "He has the kind of personality that effects on the film. A crucial part of the this story, which might be considered makes you feelgood," adds Vicki Brown, assignment was to take the pictures on a embarrassing, is interpreted by Davis as another student in Naud's Quality Con­ bright, sunny day. However, he used an example of Naud's dedication to his trol class. "When he notices someone sign language to say "when the sun is students. looking gloomy, he teases them to cheer out" in the sense of the opposite of "in." them up. But when it comes to work, he While this makes sense in English, the sets high standards for us. meaning in sign language is "outside of" or "to extinguish." The correct way to • .r .,

NTID l\TEWSLil\TE f

Dr. Diane Casile, telecommunicauon Telecommunication spec,a/151 a1 NTID, admiresthe plaque Pioneer Honored preserued w Mr. and Mrs. George Weiibrech1. He ,s che brother of 1he /me The telecommunication labo­ 1elecommun1ca11on pioneer. ratory classroom at NTID has been named in honor of the late Dr. Robert H. Weitbrecht, inventor of the first telecom­ people to connect a telecom­ munication device for deaf munication device (TDD) to a people. regular telephone. Dr. Weitbrecht was a char­ "It is appropriate to honor ter member of the Oral Deaf the memory of Dr. Weitbrecht Adults Section of the Alex­ in this way because so much of ander Graham Bell Associa­ what occurs in the telecom­ tion for the Deaf. A gifted sci­ munication laboratory class­ entist and prolific inventor, he room is dependent on his in­ developed and patented a tele­ vention of the acoustic cou­ communication modem that pler," said Dr. William Castle, permitted hearing-impaired director of NTlD.

Pocobello Receives Eisenhart Award Donna Pocobello, sign com­ munication specialist in NTID's Communication Training Department, in April received RIT's Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching. A sign communication spe­ cialist at NTlD since 1980, she has taught faculty and staff members exclusively since 1982. She also has taught in local continuing education programs andat Monroe Com­ Broderson,second from nght, talks with student Peter Cook, Dr. William Cascle, munity College in Rochester. and Joan Ankrum of the Ankrum Gallery m LosAngeles, at a reception m h,s honor Pocobello, who is an artist, and feeling in communication the Sw,tterGaller"). at compares her teaching philos­ among people. I help my stu­ ophy co painting: "In a paint­ dents see purpose in com­ Watercolor Artist Exhibits at Gallery ing, every color, every stroke munication." Los Angeles artist Morris Washington, D.C., and has of the brush, every line, has a Pocobello has a bachelor's Broderson, whose watercolor placed much of his work at the purpose. A teacher leads a degree in art and art history, a became the poster for the University of Arizona and in student to that realization, and masters in the science of teach­ Broadway hit, "Children of a private collections throughout then it becomes a work of art ing in art education, and is Lesser God," exhibited his the Southwest. His work also to the beholder. There is a working on a doctorate in cur­ works in the Mary E. Switzer is in the permanent collections purpose ... for every response riculum and teaching. Gallery in April. of the Whitney Museum of The exhibit featured paint­ American Arcs and the Sum­ ings created by the artist from ner Foundation of Art, both 1969-84. Broderson works in in New York; the Los Angeles pastel, watercolor, oil, and County Museum; The Muse­ mixed media. He has paintings um of Art at Stanford Univer­ in the Hirshhorn Museum in sity; and Gallaudet College. NTID l\TEWSLil\TE

Mary E. Switzer Gallery Dedicated

The NTID Gallery has been deaf and deaf-blind persons, named the Mary E. Switzer she was a member of the board Gallery, in honor of the former of directors of Gallaudet Col­ National Advisory Group lege and twice served as presi­ member and rehabilitation dent of the American Hearing pioneer. At a May ceremony, Society. Between 1967 and a plaque in Switzer's memory her retirement in 1969, she was presented to her nephew was administrator of Social Richard Switzer, deputy com­ Rehabilitation Services and missioner for the New York before that commissioner of State Office of Vocational the Vocational Rehabilitation Rehabilitation. A copy of the Administration. plaque hangs in the Gallery. The Gallery exhibits a vari­ The Honorable Mary E. ety of media, including paint­ Switzer served on NTID's Na­ ing, sculpture, photography. tional Advisory Group from and drawings by NTID stu­ State Counselors Visit NTID 1967-73. A long-time advo­ dents, other deaf artists, RlT cate of extensive services for community members, and area More than 20 vocational rehabilitarion counselors who work with deaf artisans. persons visited NTID in May fcrr a training session coordinated by NTID's Department of Career Oppcrrtunities and Admissions. Standing, from left, are Dr. James DeCaro, directcrr of the Division of Career Opportunities; Carol Kelley, careeropportunities advisor; and Dr. Richard Hehir, director of special projects and state coordinator for the deaf at rhe New York State Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. Seared is Eugene Joyce, assistant state coordinator for the deaf with the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. ------MOVING? If you're moving, and would like to continue to receive more than one copy of Focus at the same receive Focus at your new address, please peel off address and do not wish tO, please attach all ad­ the address label on this magazine and attach it to dress labels, indicating which you'd like us to use, the space provided. Then fill in your name and new and return this form to the Division of Public address in the space below. You may also use this Affairs at the address on the back cover of this form if you wish to become a new subscriber to magazine. Thank you for helping keep our mailing Focus (subscriptions are free), or to let us know if list up to date. you wish to discontinue your subscription. If you

Name

Address ______City______State_____ Zip ______This is a change of address. ' ___ This is a new subscription. Affix Address Label ___ l no longer wish to receive Focus. ___ l receive more than one copy of Focus and do not wish to. L _J ------A Final Word ...

Outreach is an important component of each of RIT's nine colleges, but in the case of NTID­ the only Institute of its kind in the world- the charge carries even greater gravity. We are proud of the pioneering work of the Institute and congratulate all who give so greatly to hearing�impaired people throughout the nation and worldwide.

Dr. M. Richard Rose President Rochester Institute of Technology R. LT. COLLECTION Rochester Institute of Technology

National Technical Institute for the Deaf One Lomb Memorial Drive Post Office Box 9887 Rochester, NY 14623