DEAF WATCH----January 1998 Greetings, Super Sunday will have a super performance by Deaf actress Phyllis Frelich who will sign the national anthem for the hearing-impaired at Super Bowl XXXII, on Jan. 25, 1998, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego! This is one thing we should not miss! Deaf Workers of Orange County had their first meeting earlier tonight (Jan 22, 1998) at Lampost Pizza in Huntington Beach, California. The meeting brought in a good number of people which is a healthy start. I made a 40 minute presentation on the organization and charted out the objectives. Lampost Pizza was chosen because the manager has a Deaf daughter who is graduating from Gallaudet University this year. One of the attendees, a Deaf businessman, has invited me to speak at his business meeting tomorrow night. I am thrilled to see that my vision of a Deaf run, civil rights based organization emerge into reality! We will meet again in Fullerton, California on March 26, 1998. For more information, email me or point your browser to Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/dwoc.htm. Deaf Watch Newsletter announces it's support for World Association Persons with Disabilities's call for a boycott of the Greyhound Bus line. Greyhound continues to disappoint the disability community by using their political power to hide from their responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Greyhound claims that they do not need to put lifts on their buses, that they serve people with disabilities just fine without them. In addition, they claim they are complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If Greyhound has done such a lousy job of compliance in this interim phase, there is little reason to believe they will do better if they are excused from having to put lifts on their new buses. So far Greyhound has failed to comply with the following specific provisions of the ADA; Subpart G of the Department of Transportation ADA Regulations, Section 37.169, 37.173, and 37.5 of the interim requirements for over- the-road bus service operated by private entities. The results show that Greyhound, over seven years after the ADA was enacted, has hardly made an effort to meet either the spirit or the letter of the law and that the level of service they afford riders with disabilities, particularly those who use wheelchairs, can only be described as disgraceful. And Finally................. "People who are blind, deaf or have other disabilities are 36 percent more likely to be injured on the job than their able-bodied co-workers," according to a study by University of Iowa College of Medicine researchers which was published in last month's Journal of the American Medical Association. I have a gut feeling that this will create more problems for disabled workers and unnecessary red tape the same trying to find employment. I also have a strange feeling that this study might help many disabled people get and stay on Social Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance because it totally compromises our employability because it tells us that "Workers with disabilities, especially sensory impairments, appear to have an elevated risk for occupational injury" and that obviously will scare employers from hiring the disabled because insurers will raise their premiums if they do so. The Editor ************************************************************* ACTION ALERT! ACTION ALERT! ACTION ALERT! ACTION ALERT! Please call, write, email, fax your senators to support the administration's request for an $86 million increase in funding for better enforcement of our civil rights laws and work to end a backlog of employment discrimination complaints. These websites have information on contacting your senators: --- Http://home.hwsys.com/users/roehm/emailact.htm --- Http://www.house.gov/writerep/ --- Http://www.northernwebs.com/senate/ --- Http://www.pubtech.com/speakout/ ************************************************************* GALLAUDET STUDENT WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST MCDONALDS RESTAURANT Michael Bunjir on May 21, 1995 wanted to order a Big Mac, fries and a large Sprite by writing it on a piece of paper and handing it to the cashier when he pulled up to the drive-through window of a McDonalds restaurant neat Gallaudet University. He was first refused and told to park and go inside the restaurant. He insisted he be served there and after being served and given the wrong change and warm water instead of the Sprite he ordered he went in and complained. The management ordered him to leave when he refused to accept a refund and remained angry at the management. He refused and was arrested by an off duty D.C. policeman who was moonlighting as a security guard there. A U.S. District Court jury awarded $1,500 to Mr. Bunjir's claim of infliction of emotional distress. Judge Stanley Sporkin found that the franchise's drive-through facility "discriminates against the deaf and those with hearing impairments," who he said "have no way" to use it. Bunjer's attorney, John Carpenter, said his client testified because of his treatment "he wished he had never been born." According to the restaurant's attorney, the restaurant has a policy to treat hearing-impaired people exactly the same anyone else and that they serve 25 hearing impaired people each day and that this lawsuit is the first of it's kind. ************************************************************* DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES PASSES OUT 1997 TURKEY AND EAGLE AWARDS Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a major California based national disability law center gave their annual Turkey and Eagle Awards on Wednesday, December 17, 1997. The Turkey Awards are given to businesses and individuals who have demonstrated hostility toward men, women and children with disabilities. The Eagle Awards are given to those who have actively demonstrated fairness and sensitivity toward the aspirations and needs of people with disabilities. Larry Paradis, Executive Director of Disability Rights Advocates and a wheelchair user, says: "Sadly, the list of Turkeys is a long one. We have selected a few particularly bird-brained examples of prejudice against people with disabilities and violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act". (The ADA was passed by Congress and signed into law by former President Bush in 1990.) -The first awardee, The Hertz Corporation, receives a Triple Turkey award for three blatant acts of disregard for the needs of people with disabilities. The first turkey is for firing two workers with mental retardation because Hertz had a quarrel with their job coaches. The second turkey is for Hertz's second class service to patrons needing cars with hand-controls. The third turkey award goes to Hertz for its medical insurance plan which violates the ADA by placing a cap of $150 on benefits for hearing aids. -The second turkey award goes to Greyhound Lines, Inc for using all of its political power to keep from having to purchase its new buses equipped with wheelchair lifts. -The third turkey award goes to the President of Boston University Jon Westling for referring to the increase in the number of students with learning disabilities attending colleges and universities as a "genetic catastrophe" and his inventing a fictionalized learning disabled student--Somnolent Samantha--whom he described in detail in speeches to the Heritage Foundation and internationally to support his ignorant belief that students who claim learning disabilities are frauds and fakers. Lois Smiley, Board member of DRA who is deaf, comments: "Finding businesses deserving of the Eagle Awards can sometimes be as rare as the eagle itself. This endangered species deserves nurturing and recognition." +The first Eagle award goes to Nordstroms Department Stores, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, for their commitment to hiring people with disabilities to work in their stores. In addition, Nordstroms uses fashion models with disabilities for their mail-order catalogues. They also provide disability awareness training for all of their non-disabled employees. +The second Eagle goes to Marriott International, Inc., headquartered in Maryland, for putting emphasis on abilities, rather than disabilities. Approximately 6% of Marriott's associates are people with disabilities who work in a variety of positions at all levels of the company. The company's Equal Opportunity Department developed an ADA task force which provides comprehensive training to employees at all levels entitled "Breaking Down Barriers". In addition, the Marriott Foundation For People with Disabilities, funded partially by the Marriott family, has set up a program called "Bridges from School to Work" which helps high school seniors with disabilities find jobs with over 900 different employers in 7 major American cities. (Chicago; Atlanta; San Francisco; Washington D.C.; Los Angeles; Fairfax, Virginia and Rockville, Maryland.) +The third Eagle is to Noah's Bagels, headquartered in California, for its pro-active stance toward hiring people with disabilities and for providing managers of each store with extensive resources of vocational centers for people with disabilities. +The final Eagle award is to NBC Dateline for its groundbreaking expose of rampant discrimination against people with disabilities in employment and housing. One example: The Dateline reporter, John Hockenberry, interviewed a job applicant in a wheelchair after he and a non-disabled tester went on the same day, 15 minutes apart, to apply for a job at Crate and Barrel (a runner- up for the turkey award). On camera, the Crate and Barrel employer invited the non-disabled applicant to sign up for an interview immediately after she had told the disabled applicant that there were no jobs available. Liane Yasumoto, Board member of Disability Rights Advocates and a wheelchair user, said: "The Turkey and Eagle awards represent the spectrum of responses to the aspirations of people with disabilities." She continues: " We want what everyone else wants--a job, an education, and a chance to participate in society in all of its aspects. It is important that we give recognition to those companies that have enlightened responses that reflect the spirit of this season. It is equally important that we call public attention to those who are small-minded and ignorant." Disability Rights Advocates gives annual Eagle awards to spotlight and reward organizations and individuals who actively advance the rights of people with disabilities. We use them as models of corporate sensitivity and commitment. The Turkey awards are designed to make the public aware of people and entities that are particularly callous and regressive in their actions toward men, women and children with disabilities. The Turkey awards are given to those who have shown such deep-rooted insensitivity that it has set back the progress made by people with disabilities in the last 30 years. For more information, contact: Sid Wolinsky or Pat Kirkpatrick email: dralegal@aol.com ************************************************************ SEND CONGRESS A MESSAGE FOR VALENTINES DAY A Valentine for MiCASA HR 2020 "Home is Where the Heart Is!" In March `98 the Health and Environment subcommittee of the Commerce Committee will hold hearings on MiCASA, HR2020 You can help make MiCASA a reality by doing the following on the day before Valentine's Day, Friday,  February 13, 1998:        1)  Call or Fax the following a Valentine that says:         "Home is Where the Heart Is!  Support MiCASA, HR2020" * Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich                  202/225-0600       fax 202/225-7733                * Minority Leader Richard Gephardt                  202/225-0100        fax 202/225-7414                * Commerce Chairperson Tom Bliley                  202/225-2815         fax 202/225-1919                * Subcommittee Chairperson Michael Bilirakis                  202/225-5755         fax 202/225-4085                * Your Representative ____________________        2)  Send Speaker Newt Gingrich and Representative Richard              Gephardt the same Valentine.            Speaker Gingrich           Minority Leader Gephardt            Capitol Bldg H-232         Capitol Bldg H-204            Washington, DC 20515-6501   Washington, DC 20515-6537       georgia6@mail.house.gov    dem.leadership@mail.house.gov     Tell them you support MiCASA, H.R. 2020 and you want them to pass a National Attendant Services bill during this Congress. ************************************************************ JUSTIN DART JR. RECEIVES MEDAL OF FREEDOM Last week on January 15, President Clinton presented the "Medals of Freedom", the nation's highest civilian honor, to 13 people. Among those who recieved this medal are Justin Dart Jr., who has advocated the rights of the disabled for more than 40 years. His work resulted in the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that public facilities be adapted to accommodate the disabled. Way to go Justin! ************************************************************ HAD PROBLEMS WITH GREYHOUND BUS LINES??? The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) is interested in hearing your complaints about current Greyhound service. We are considering the possibility of some kind of legal action against Greyhound. If you have a disability or have accompanied someone with a disability who rode or tried to ride on Greyhound and have had one of the following problems with Greyhound buses, please contact Mark Breimhorst at DREDF at 510-644-2555 Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, or markb@dredf.org. Have you ever been denied purchase of ticket? Have you ever been denied boarding or disembarking assistance at a departure site, destination or a rest stop? Have you ever been denied service because you did not bring along a non-disabled companion? Has your request for the bus to stop at an accessible rest stop ever been denied? Have you been boarded or deboarded in such a way that reflects insufficient staff training? Did Greyhound ever ask for you to provide more than 48 hours advance notice that you would need boarding assistance? If you did not provide advance notice, did Greyhound personnel make a reasonable effort to assist you in boarding? Was your wheelchair accomodated to the extent possible in the passenger compartment? If not, was it not stowed in the baggage compartment although it would have fit? If your mobility devices were stowed in the baggage compartment, did personnel assist you with retrieving or stowing them at any stop? At a given stop, was your mobility equipment stowed in the baggage compartment before the other cargo? (Not including the cargo already on the bus from previous stops.) Have you ever been denied the accompaniment of your own service animal? Has Greyhound ever retaliated against you for exercising your rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act? Have you ever been charged more for a Greyhound service than someone who is nondisabled would pay? Please contact Mark Breimhorst at DREDF at 510-644-2555 Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons (Pacific time), or markb@dredf.org. ************************************************************ DEAF PROFILE : DEAF ARCHITECT HELPS DEAF REACH OUT FOR INDEPENDENCE Sterling, Virginia - Michael A. Gallagher, deaf since birth, is a licensed architect practicing in Virginia with capability of delivering projects anywhere in the world. "They realize how good I am to help them achieve their goals and accept their ideas and put on computers in 3-d realistic views. (then) They want to hire me.". Michael has also served on the Board of Directors of Deaf Reach organization since 1995. It is a non profit organization to support deaf people with other impairments gain more independence living. It all started when Michael was donating money to all Deaf organizations in Washington DC metro area. Deaf Reach was the only organization to write him a letter of appreciation for donating. "Naturally I was extremely impressed and called to visit" said Michael. Becky Clark was then president of Deaf Reach gave Michael a tour and then surprised him by offering him a seat on the organization's Board of Directors. "I could not refuse the offer" he said and was then elected to the Board on August 1995. Michael A. Gallagher AIAPresident 703/476-3636 voice Gallagher Architectural Works, L.C. 703/421-8367 tty 221 West Beech Road 703/421-8016 fax Sterling, VA 20164 e-mail: mgallagher@mindspring.com ************************************************************* DeafZONE hosts it's first annual DEAFCAMP on July 4 ~ 12 1998 Black River Wilderness Pk Near..Washago in Ontario, Canada. This campground is a comprised of 180 acres of Wilderness on the beautiful Black River. Enjoy the privacy of an island campsite in the midst of the beautiful Black River. Activities there include Rafting, Canoeing, Scuba diving, Horseshoes and Hiking on Interpretive trails. There are also a wide range of attractions and events for the entire family. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners will be provided on campsite and is included in the fees. Entertainment and games, cool prizes, and social night for drama, crack jokes, and consent games. Children will have fun games and arts along the prizes too. They will go to the CANADA WONDERLAND. For more information on the event, fees, etc... please visit the website at http://www.execulink.com/~bulbchippy/deafcamp.html DeafZONE website at Http://www.deafzone.com Any questions? E-mail to Terri Neville at bulbchippy@execulink.com or by snailmail Terri Neville #118-1725 Ernest Avenue,London, Ontario,Canada. N6E 2W3. ************************************************************* NEW ADDITIONS TO THE DEAFWATCH WEBSITE. 1) Deaf Health Resources : Information on the health of your eyes, ears, hands, thinking, and your guide dog. It's a large collection of reliable health links. 2) Deaf Politics : Will be a place where Deaf politicians and wanna-be's to air out their views over any issue. 3) Deaf "Net Chat" Resources : Resources and information for live chatting with Deaf people on the internet. Also info on where Deafs hang out in the internet. ************************************************************* RESOURCE OF THE MONTH: The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) is a nonprofit, professional membership organization of more than 2,700 lawyers from around the country who represent employees in employment matters. They have lawyers that handle disability discrimination cases. To request a state listing of employment lawyers, please send a written request along with a self-addressed, stamped letter-size envelope to The National Employment Lawyers Association, 600 Harrison Street, Suite 535, San Francisco, California 94107. Telephone and fax requests will not be accepted. ************************************************************* Disability Lawsuit List. Seniority clause trumps ADA duty to accommodate. Kralik v. Durbin (3rd Cir 12/12/97) The ADA does not require an employer to accommodate an allegedly disabled employee by granting an exemption from mandatory overtime. The exemption would have resulted in a more senior employee being compelled to work overtime, which would have violated the collective bargaining agreement. A dissenting judge argued for rejection of the per se test used under the Rehabilitation Act, in favor of a balancing test under the ADA. ************************************************************* This month's recipients of the Deaf Watch GOLD Award. American Sign Language @ University of Washington (Http://weber.u.washington.edu/~asluw/) Deaf Linx (http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Quad/9220/) Deafblind Link (http://www.s55wilma.demon.co.uk/) Dövadresser på Internet (http://www10.torget.se/jorgen/) Let's give these sites a round of applause! ... AND a visit too. ************************************************************* This month's recipients of the Deaf Watch Award. Bob Connor's HomePage http://members.tripod.com/~bconnor/index.html Great site! Silent Dinners http://www.erols.com/ztak Let's party at this great site! Satchers Designs http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Union/5568/index.html A very professional site! IRISHMAN (http://www.irishman2.com) Excellent Site! ************************************************************* "A lot of people don't understand hearing-impaired people," Marlene Melvin, wife of a 69 yr old deaf, blind, and diabetic who was jailed for refusing to get rid of many of the abused and abandoned dogs he had rescued and adopted. ************************************************************* "I believe in affirmative action because I believe it is one of the tools available to us to right the wrongs of the past," Retired Gen. Colin Powell endorsing Justice Department nominee Bill Lan Lee ************************************************************* Letters from readers. I am a fourth year veterinary student at The Ohio State University and have a severe hearing loss that I compensate for with a hearing aid, FM system, real-time captioning, lip reading, and increased sensitivity to body language. Before I applied to veterinary school, I spent countless hours searching for other hard of hearing/Deaf veterinarians and information regarding how to compensate for my loss while performing the duties required of a veterinarian. Luckily, I did find several mentors that provided me with the information I needed and encouraged me to pursue my dream. But admittance into a program is only the beginning of a road that can be discouraging. At times frustration occurs due to attitudes, general hearing and communication difficulties, and searching for a means to deal with hearing problems related directly to a medical profession. Through my interactions with other hard of hearing/Deaf veterinarians and veterinary students, I have come to realize that a real need is present for a medium of communication between medical professionals that are hard of hearing/Deaf. In order to create a method of communication between hard of hearing/Deaf medical professionals, I chose to create an electronic mailing list. Since you may not be familiar with electronic mailing lists, I will explain how they work. All members to a mailing list send electronic mail to a central address. If a member sends an e-mail to this address it will be automatically sent to all members. If someone wants to reply via the list, it can be read by all members again. If for some reason a member wishes to reply privately, they may. Mailing lists are beneficial because one can learn from others' questions/discussions. Any questions member posts are distributed to many potential answerees, and replies are typically immediate. NOISE (Network for Overcoming Increased Silence Effectively) is intended as a forum to discuss topics of concern to hard of hearing/Deaf medical professionals (human medicine, dental, nursing, veterinary, veterinary technicians, etc) world-wide. It is also intended to be a means of support by linking hard of hearing/Deaf medical professionals from various backgrounds and geographical regions. NOISE will also be open to professionals closely affiliated to such individuals (i.e.: disability offices and schools of education) in order to allow these professionals a means of collecting information in order to assist hard of hearing/deaf medical professionals. NOISEwill also be open to hard of hearing/Deaf students of at least fifteen (15) years of age, who are interested in a medical career. This will allow such students a means for collecting information so they may make an educated decision about the feasibility of pursuing a medical career. I am hoping that you may be able to help me publicize NOISE through Deaf Watch since some of your readers may be interested in subscribing to the mailing list. If you need more information or would like me to write an article for publication, please let me know. To subscribe the NOISE mailing list, the interested party should send an e-mail message to the administrative address: listserver@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu with the BODY of the mail consisting of the following: subscribe NOISE Firstname Lastname For example: subscribe NOISE Danielle Rastetter Since only subscribers are allowed to send to the NOISE mailing list, please make they send this original subscription request from the e-mail address they want to send and receive NOISE postings. They should receive a message acknowledging your subscription request. They will be added to the NOISE mailing list and begin receiving messages. Please feel free to contact me at the return address or rastetter.12@osu.edu if you have any questions or concerns. I hope to see some of your readers on NOISE soon! Sincerely, Danielle N. Rastetter The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine rastetter.12@osu.edu ------------------------------ I run an email list for people who are training service dogs for their own use. We have several deaf people who have trained their own signal dogs. Just recently a woman joined us who has recently begun her training and has a baby. She has asked how others have handled their signal dogs while also handling the child and apparently there is no one else on the list who is a mother. Could you possibly put me in touch with someone who is both a mother and has a signal dog who might be able to share her experiences with my listmember? Thanks Melanie Horne Training Aide Dogs Advocacy vinca@u.washington.edu ------------------------- Hello my name is James C. bond and I volunteer for the American Red Cross in San Jose California. Two years ago I met this Deaf lady, Lisa Markham, who I helped to become this chapters first Deaf instructor to teach CPR and first aid to the deaf community. This last September I lost her to the Peace Corps where she left and went to Kenya Africa to help the children there. She was a teacher at the Fremont school for the Deaf. Anyway I now have another Deaf Instructor, Don G., who has agreed to help Lisa,s and my program in teaching CPR to the Deaf. I believe that instead of using interpreters , Deaf instructors do a much job teaching ASL . I am learning ASL at Ohone College so that I can work with Don and Lisa when she comes back from Africa in three years. Oh Lisa and I did have two classes taught at the Red Cross before she left and now Don and I will have our first DEAF CPR class this FEB. 7th 1998. Sincerely James Bond jbondo@pacbell.net {my e-mail in San Jose} --------------------------- "Getting The Words On The Screen" A Guide to Low-Cost Captioning The result of three years of research into all types of captioning and subtitling equipment, "Getting The Words On The Screen" is a 30 minute instructional video and 50 page manual about three different low-cost methods of placing open captions on any video production. Two of the methods use free or inexpensive programs running on personal computers and the third uses a simple character generator. The video itself is open captioned demonstrating each of these methods. It is now possible for anyone with a minimal budget and ordinary typing skills to add captions to a video. These methods, by reducing costs, make it possible to comply with the ADA by captioning educational, emergency, and public information broadcasts. In addition, small independent video producers who have never before considered captioning due to the high cost, may now enjoy additional sales by serving the ten percent of the American public who need captions to enjoy television. "Getting The Words On The Screen" sells for $34.95 plus $5 shipping and handling, and is available exclusively from Self Help for Hard of Hearing, Inc.'s Publications Department. Orders are now being accepted for delivery in approximately 4 weeks. To order, contact: SHHH (301) 657-2248 Voice 7910 Woodmont Avenue (301) 657-2249 TTY Suite 1200 (301) 913-9413 Fax Bethesda, MD 20814 or on their World Wide Web site, at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/shhh Dick Burkhalter dickb@aloha.net SoundOff! Productions P. O. 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