Deafweekly June 15, 2005 deafweekly June 15, 2005 Vol. 1 No. 35 Editor: Tom Willard Deafweekly is an independent news report for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. It is mailed to subscribers every Wednesday morning and available to read at www.deafweekly.com. For information, contact [email protected]. To subscribe, please visit www.deafweekly.com. After you sign up, you will receive a confirmation email. Be sure to click on the link in this email to activate your subscription. If you've signed up but haven't received anything, please send a note to [email protected] so the problem can be resolved. The contents of Deafweekly are Copyright 2005. Any unauthorized use, including reprinting of news, is prohibited. Readership: approximately 4,500 including subscribers and website readers. Please support our advertisers; they make it possible for you to receive this newsletter at no charge. For advertising information, see www.deafweekly.com/advertise.htm. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NATIONAL +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NTID NOTES 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF LBJ BILL SIGNING Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the day President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed a bill to create the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle reported. To mark the occasion, NTID dedicated a garden in honor of the school's first director, Robert Frisina, who served from 1967 to 1979. NTID is one of eight colleges of the Rochester Institute of Technology, and some 5,500 students have graduated since the school's first class of 70 students arrived on campus in 1968. Today, about 1,200 students attend NTID or receive support services while attending RIT's other colleges, and another 100 are enrolled in the interpreter training program. Said RIT President Albert Simone, who has signed his own commencement addresses, "Our hearing population has learned that NTID students can be the best students in class, the best athletes on the field and the most fun to have at parties." NEW JERSEY MAN GETS 35 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MURDER Kevin Spragg Jr., 22, was sentenced to 35 years in state prison Friday for the August 2004 murder of Edward Woodside III, the Gloucester County Times (Woodbury, N.J.) reported. Woodside, described in court documents as hearing impaired, was struck in the head with a computer monitor and died from blunt force trauma after confronting Spragg, who had entered his Paulboro, N.J. home to steal coins. At his sentencing, http://www.deafweekly.com/backissues/061505.htm[6/13/2011 11:14:10 AM] Deafweekly June 15, 2005 Spragg heard from Woodside's daughter, 28-year-old Nikki Surber of Washington, D.C., who is also hearing impaired. Surber said she first met her father for a brief time when she was 11, and she had been trying to contact him again when she learned of his death. "I was robbed of the chance to give my father a second chance," she said. "I can never have my father in my life. I waited too long." JURY AGREES WITH MAN EARNING $5.51 AN HOUR -- HE'S UNDERPAID Eduardo Quiroga deserves $170,000 in back pay and for pain and suffering, an El Paso, Texas jury decided last week. Quiroga, 43, sued his employer, class ring maker Jonsil Manufacturing Corp., after learning that co-workers were earning up to twice as much in wages. Quiroga, who cannot hear or speak, was earning $5.51 an hour after more than 20 years on the job. Company manager David Cervantes denied that Quiroga's disability was a factor in determining his pay, but said the company "will abide by the decision and will be glad to put this behind us and move forward." A formal ruling from Judge Carlos Villa is expected July 6, the El Paso Times reported, and Quiroga continues to work for the company. SHERIFF IN UTAH INVESTIGATING TREATMENT OF HOMELESS WOMAN Beaver County (Utah) Sheriff Kenneth Yardley is investigating an incident in which his deputies dumped a deaf homeless woman in neighboring Millard County early in the morning of May 30. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Michelle Bradford, 39, was cited for trespassing, driven into the next county and left at a Cove Fort service station. "Why it happened I haven't had a clue," said Millard County Sheriff Ed Phillips, who planned to speak to his colleagues to the south. Dropping off transients at the county line was common 20 or 30 years ago, Phillips said, but it is largely a thing of the past. Transients are a problem for rural law enforcement, he added; neither Beaver nor Millard county has a homeless shelter. SUPERVISOR OF SCHOOL IN TEXAS ARRESTED ON SHOPLIFTING CHARGE The supervisor of the Regional Day School for the Deaf in Longview, Texas was arrested for shoplifting at a local mall over the weekend. Laura Lott, 56, was charged with theft and released on $500 bond a few hours later, the Longview News-Journal reported. An arrest report revealed that an off-duty uniformed officer working at Dillard's department store told police that Lott had intentionally taken and concealed property worth $226.99. Lott has worked for Longview schools since 1987, and currently supervises the school that educates deaf and hard-of-hearing students from a 20-county area in East Texas. The school district was informed of the arrest Monday and is still investigating, said superintendent Dana Marable. BROWN UNIVERSITY CHANGES MIND, ASL PROGRAM WILL STAY Brown University has reinstated its American Sign Language program after shutting it down in February. The reversal resulted from months of protests that included hundreds of letters from around the world and threats by alumni to end their contributions. According to advocate Willa Ives Mamet, pro-ASL T-shirts and buttons were distributed and some students even threatened their enrollment in the Providence, R.I. school. As a result, she said, 'Brown University's administration listened. They read your letters. They saw the support. And they changed their decision." As of September, Brown will have a fully-funded ASL program with a full- time faculty member. "For everyone who helped," said Mamet, "a thousand thanks." http://www.deafweekly.com/backissues/061505.htm[6/13/2011 11:14:10 AM] Deafweekly June 15, 2005 98-YEAR-OLD ILLINOIS WOMAN INJURED IN BRUTAL HOME INVASION Three teens have been arrested in the beating and robbery of a 98-year-old Springfield, Ill. woman who is nearly blind and deaf. Margaret Geldrich suffered numerous injuries in the attack, including broken bones in her face and arm and a dislocated shoulder. According to Evansville's WFIE, someone broke into her home last week and stole jewelry and other items. Bruce Lloyd, 18, and Danny Kuehner, 17, have been charged with attempted murder, home invasion and other charges. They are each being held on $2-million bond. A third suspect, aged 15, is facing similar charges. NAD CALLS SEATTLE FUNDRAISING GALA A GREAT SUCCESS The National Association of the Deaf announced this week that its fundraising gala in Seattle on May 21 was a great success. More than 70 NAD supporters gathered for the event at the elegant Mayflower Park Hotel, where keynote speaker Gertrude Galloway, a former NAD president, talked about the history of the organization and her vision for the future of the American deaf community. The fundraiser was part of the NAD's yearlong celebration of its 125th anniversary, and future plans call for fundraisers on Sept. 17 in Baltimore, Md. and next spring in Cincinnati, where the organization held its first convention in 1880. ++++ADV+++++ADV+++++ADV++++ Deaf Awareness Vacation Excitement cruise vacations for all hard of hearing and deaf people. My name is Terzino Bomprezzi, deaf owned and licensed travel agent of The Sunset Cruise Agency. Have done many trips with all groups since 1996. All trips come with professional and licensed ASL interpreters. Please visit this exciting website at www.deafcruises.com. You will find many interesting information and plenty of photos to see. Your trip will guarantee be the wonderful and best time of your life. Contact me fax at 870-339-4117 or email me at [email protected]. Will look forward to hear from you all. ++++ADV+++++ADV+++++ADV++++ Father's Day Shipping Offer at Harris Communications Harris Communications has lots of gift ideas for Father's Day including vibrating watches, signalers, ILY baseball caps, ILY keytags, and travel mugs. Plus, we have many books and videos that Dads will enjoy. Order now and receive free shipping for orders of $50 or more. (Free ground shipping to addresses within the continental U.S. only. Some product restrictions apply.) Hurry to take advantage of this offer--- offer expires June 19, 2005. Find out more at http://www.harriscomm.com/link/?www.harriscomm.com? sr=deafweeklynews or contact us at mailto:[email protected]. ++++ADV+++++ADV+++++ADV++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INTERNATIONAL +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SCOTLAND TRIBUNAL UPHOLDS DISCRIMINATION CLAIM An employment tribunal in Scotland has upheld a discrimination claim filed by the family of a deaf government worker who committed suicide last year. Nigel Osborn-Clarke was performing fully up to http://www.deafweekly.com/backissues/061505.htm[6/13/2011 11:14:10 AM] Deafweekly June 15, 2005 standard for Inland Revenue, the tribunal found, when in October 2003 he came under investigation for "computer misuse" after admitting to accessing his wife's file. The investigation dragged on several months, and on February 2, 2004 Osborn-Clarke hanged himself. According to The Scotsman, the tribunal found Inland Revenue in violation of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act for failing to provide Osborn-Clarke with an interpreter for training on the organization's policy on computer misuse.