Deafweekly January 2, 2008 Deafweekly
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Deafweekly January 2, 2008 deafweekly January 2, 2008 Vol. 4, No. 5 Editor: Tom Willard Deafweekly is an independent news report for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community that is mailed to subscribers every Wednesday and available to read at www.deafweekly.com. Please visit our website to read current and back issues, sign up for a subscription and advertise. Deafweekly is copyrighted 2007 and any unauthorized use, including reprinting of news, is prohibited. Please support our advertisers; they make it possible for you to receive Deafweekly at no charge. ++++ADV+++++ADV+++++ADV++++ Receive VRS Calls Your Way! Use VRS? Get a My IP Relay Number and receive relay calls via your PC, wireless device or even VRS! My IP Relay Number Does It All: Relay calls available through a PC, wireless devices, or VRS Make and receive calls anywhere you are connected Your personal phone number is a local number Want more information? 1) Go to www.ip-vrs.com, and then 2) click on VRS Call Me to watch a video clip about this! One Site for All Your Relay Needs IP-RELAY.com > http://www.ip-relay.com/ IP-VRS > http://www.ip-vrs.com/ MY IP RELAY > http://www.ip-relay.com/myiprelay.html MY IP RELAY NUMBER > http://www.ip-relay.com/myiprelaynumber.html WIRELESS IP-RELAY.com > http://www.ip-relay.com/wireless.html ++++ADV+++++ADV+++++ADV++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NATIONAL http://www.deafweekly.com/backissues/010208.htm[6/16/2011 9:56:08 AM] Deafweekly January 2, 2008 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WOMAN LEAVES $6 MILLION FOR GALLAUDET Gallaudet University announced last month that it has received one of its largest gifts in history. Virginia May Binns left the bulk of her estate, more than $6 million, to the Washington, D.C. school when she died on February 26, 2006 at age 89, said the Daily Digest. Binns was a bacteriologist who retired from medical research in the 1960s to care for her parents and the family's business. "We are fortunate to have received significant gifts from people like Virginia Binns, ... who, while they did not attend the university, recognize its prestige and impact," said Gallaudet President Robert Davila. The gift is earmarked for the James Lee Sorenson Language and Communication Center, now under construction. NEW MEXICO WOMAN KILLED IN CAR CRASH An Albuquerque, N.M. woman who was well-known in the deaf community died in an automobile accident on Christmas Eve, said the Associated Press. Tanya Gilliam, 34, had degrees in deaf studies and clinical psychology, said her father, Richard Gilliam. She lost control of her vehicle while driving near Santa Fe and rolled several times down an embankment, said Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano. She wasn't wearing a seat belt, he added. 53-YEAR SENTENCE UPHELD IN ASSAULT OF DEAF WOMAN The Indiana Court of Appeals last week upheld the 53-year sentence of a man found guilty of sexually assaulting a deaf woman in 2006. According to the News and Tribune, Lavern Baltimore, 47, was convicted of breaking into his neighbor's apartment and dragging the deaf woman who lived there into the hallway by her neck and putting his hands under her shorts and on her breasts. "To victimize someone so vulnerable, as was the victim in this case, is an example of the ultimate predator," said Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson. Defense attorney Matthew McGovern argued that four errors were made in Baltimore's trial, including allowing the victim's interpreter to testify against him, but the panel ruled that the sentence was "not inappropriate." NEW JERSEY TEEN CHARGED WITH RAPING CLASSMATE A pretrial hearing was held December 17 in Paterson, N.J. for Ian Lazarus, 19, a deaf Paterson resident charged nearly a year ago with raping a fellow student in a class for the deaf at Mountain Lakes High School. Lazarus, who maintained his innocence, was indicted in September with second-degree sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, said The Record, after the alleged victim, also deaf, filed charges with police in February saying Lazarus forced sex on her in September 2006. "She alleges that he ignored her protests, that she told him 'no,'" said prosecutor Joseph Del Russo, "but he continued on and had intercourse with her." The girl was 15 at the time and Lazarus was 18. Defense attorney Paul Faugno described the relationship as "fully consensual" after the court hearing, which featured Lazarus' mother serving as sign language interpreter. COURT TELLS UPS, DEAF WORKERS: PROVE YOUR POINT United Parcel Service Inc. was ordered by an appeals court last Friday to back up its belief that letting deaf people drive the company's smaller trucks would be unsafe. "Because UPS has linked hearing with safe driving, UPS bears the burden to prove that nexus," said a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The judges also said, however, that the deaf workers must prove they can drive safely, said the Los Angeles Times. "The employees ... bear the ultimate burden to show they are qualified," said the panel. NAD COMPLAINT TARGETS FLORIDA HOSPITAL, CITY http://www.deafweekly.com/backissues/010208.htm[6/16/2011 9:56:08 AM] Deafweekly January 2, 2008 The National Association of the Deaf and private attorney Matthew Dietz have filed complaints against Palmetto General Hospital and the City of Hialeah, Florida on behalf of a deaf couple who were not provided interpreters during childbirth and a family emergency. Cynthia Cuevas and Erik Phillips say they did not have an interpreter during Cuevas' seven-day hospital stay for a cesarian birth despite their requests. The complaint against the City of Hialeah stems from two incidents before and after the birth, when Cuevas' mother-in-law called police and had the deaf woman involuntarily committed without the benefit of interpreters. "As this case shows," said NAD CEO Nancy Bloch in a news release, "not communicating effectively ... can have disastrous consequences." PARENTS SAY SCHOOL LEFT SON UNPREPARED Charlie and Wendy Kennedy have filed three three complaints against the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, saying the school did not prepare their son adequately for college. Chad Kennedy, 19, graduated in May as class valedictorian but "has to go through three additional years before he can go to college-level classes," Charlie told KVOA. ASDB Assistant Superintendent Robert Hill said in an email that Chad's third- grade reading level is "typical" of graduating deaf students, but the Kennedys find that unacceptable. "My tax dollars pay their salary," said Charlie Kennedy, "so they should be educating these people." COURT ORDERS REAL-TIME CAPTIONING FOR 2ND STUDENT The Glendora (Calif.) Unified School District lost again in its fight to get out of providing real-time captioning service at Glendora High School. According to San Gabriel Valley Tribune, a state judge ordered the district to offer the service to Victor Solorzano, 15, whose sister Samantha, 17, won a similar fight in May (with the school dropping its appeal in October). The siblings, both deaf from birth, say they need the service to keep up in fast-paced classrooms and will now be on equal-footing with their classmates. "We're thrilled," said their mother, Jackie Solorzano. HOME FOR DEAF SEMINARIANS FACES OBJECTIONS Father Tom Coughlin is due to appear today before the San Antonio, Texas Zoning Commission to request a special use permit to allow the 8,100-square-foot two-story house he purchased recently to be used as a religious community. Coughlin plans to house up to 10 seminarians by next year in his House of Studies for Deaf Seminarians, but the nine-bedroom, nine-bathroom home is in a single-family zoning district, said the Express-News. Residents denounced Coughlin's application at a December 4 hearing that he did not attend because he said he was not notified of the meeting. Others were more supportive, saying the seminarians were "merely a group of deaf priests trying to do some good." As for Coughlin, "I feel struck with terror," he said. SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOOL CHIEF RETIRING Sheila Breitweiser is retiring this week as president of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, said The Charlotte Observer. Breitweiser, 65, has been on the job since 1996, and after 11 years SCSDB "is pretty much considered the top school of its kind in the country," said Norman Pulliam, the former board member who hired her. Breitweiser will be replaced by Pamela Shaw from the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and the Blind and plans to retire to a farmhouse with her husband and work as a consultant. "I like to think I'm leaving while people are still applauding," she said. WEST VIRGINIA TO START GRADING INTERPRETERS State education officials in West Virginia plan to start grading sign-language interpreters this year, reported The Charleston Gazette. Interpreters must score 3.0 or above on the Educational Interpreter Performance http://www.deafweekly.com/backissues/010208.htm[6/16/2011 9:56:08 AM] Deafweekly January 2, 2008 Assessment, which offers a range of zero to 5. Officials at the Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Neb. will review test videotapes and award scores. Those who pass will earn a certificate; those who don't pass won't lose their jobs right away, but officials will be required to post the position and make an effort to hire a qualified interpreter. OHIO CHURCH REPORTS SODA POP THEFT From Dayton, Ohio comes news that a 38-year-man has been arrested for stealing soda and other items from the Agape Assembly of God Church for the Deaf.