DEAF WATCH----SEPTEMBER- 1999 Editor's letter As the Labor Day Holiday approaches next week, and our attention is drawn to the celebration of workers with hearing disabilities, all is not well in our community. True, we have many labor driven issues to advance, better living wages for workers with hearing disabilities, improved job security for workers with hearing disabilities that have hearing aids or cochlear implants, the need for full-time jobs for people with hearing disabilities, health benefits that includes coverage for interpreter expenses, and the list goes on and on. But rarely do we focus on the underlying causes that result in the pressures we oppose such as the ideas pushed on by segregationist deaf organizations that make it difficult for employers to hire and fully accommodate workers with hearing disabilities. It's time that we put our eyes on those deaf organizations because they go against almost everything that helps workers with hearing disabilities enjoy and keep their jobs! We'll just start that next monday! Richard Roehm ************************************************************* EEOC RELEASES NEW GUIDE ON DISCRIMINATION Three recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and a June guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have sent a strong message to employers faced with employment discrimination suits: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Consequently, management attorneys are advising corporate clients to strengthen harassment and anti-discrimination policies, make it easier for employees to report complaints, investigate promptly and correct harassment. Some are even suggesting employers take steps beyond the requirements of the law. The incentive to do so is twofold: Aside from creating a more peaceful workplace, employers who can demonstrate significant efforts to comply with anti-discrimination laws may avoid or minimize liability. In two of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Burlington Industries Inc. v. Ellerth, 118 S.Ct. 2257, and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 118 S. Ct. 2275, which were handed down more than a year ago, the High Court found employers vicariously liable when a supervisor harasses an employee and consequently demotes, fires or denies a significant job benefit to that employee. However, the Court gave employers an affirmative defense to such claims if the employee did not suffer the loss of a tangible job benefit as a result of the harassment. Employers can assert an affirmative defense if they "exercised reasonable care" to prevent and promptly correct any harassing behavior, and the employee "unreasonably failed to take advantage" of the employer's preventative or corrective opportunities, or otherwise failed to avoid harm. EEOC GUIDANCE On June 21, the EEOC released a guidance on workplace harassment that suggests steps employers can take to meet the affirmative defense. While management attorneys do not support every recommendation, most agree that the guidance is useful. One day after EEOC issued its guidance, the High Court reiterated the importance of employer prevention in Kolstad v. American Dental Association, 119 S. Ct. 2118, which clarified an employer's liability for punitive damages for discrimination claims. The Court held that punitive damages can be awarded in intentional discrimination cases when the employer knew that its discriminatory conduct might violate federal law. However, the Court ruled that employers are not vicariously liable for punitive damages when an employee's discriminatory action is contrary to the company's "good faith efforts" to comply with anti-discrimination laws. While few lower courts have yet interpreted what qualifies as a good faith effort, most employment attorneys believe the Court had in mind the elements of the Faragher and Ellerth affirmative defense. "These decisions emphasize the critical importance of prevention as a key component of staying out of employment hot water," said Paul Salvatore, a partner with Proskauer Rose. To keep employers out of hot water, Mr. Salvatore and other management attorneys are encouraging employers to adopt many of the EEOC recommendations. For example, they are urging employers to expand harassment and discrimination policies beyond sexual harassment to cover race, color, religion, national origin, age and disability. Several lower courts have ruled that the reasonable-care affirmative defense applies in all cases of unlawful harassment by supervisors. To meet the first prong of the affirmative defense, employers must show they took reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct harassment. Beyond creating and disseminating a strong anti-harassment policy, the EEOC suggests a number of additional steps employers should take. These include encouraging both employees and supervisors to report any harassment they observe; offering flexible complaint procedures; investigating claims quickly, taking immediate corrective action, correct the effects of harassment and ensure it does not recur; and stepping up training for employees and supervisors. Although isolated incidents of harassment do not violate federal law, management attorneys agree that employees at all levels should be encouraged to report harassment, even if it is not pervasive or severe. While in reality non-managers may be reluctant to report their colleagues, Michael Barabander, a partner with Grotta Glassman & Hoffa, said the message such a policy sends is what is really important. "You are not going to discipline a line employee if they don't report harassment that they see," he said. "But it sends a signal. The whole idea is that you should nip it in the bud." All supervisors should be required to report what they see or hear even if the harassed employee is not under their supervisory authority, added John Canoni, a partner with Nixon Peabody. "You don't want them wondering if they are high enough up to be required to report it," he said. DISCUSSION GENERATED The procedures an employer provides for filing harassment complaints are generating a great deal of discussion between employment attorneys and clients. Plaintiffs routinely ask for complaint records to show a pattern of harassment and demonstrate that an employer failed to take steps to correct the unlawful activity. Furthermore, if the company's complaint procedures are considered too onerous, an employee may be able to meet the second part of the reasonable-care affirmative defense by proving that it was reasonable to bypass those procedures. The EEOC cautions employers to avoid rigid complaint mechanisms and to designate individuals outside the employee's chain of command to hear harassment complaints. Management attorneys praise both ideas. "Form and formality has to be thrown aside," agreed Felice Ekelman, a partner with Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman. "Employers should not require employees to make complaints in writing. That would limit the likelihood that they would make a complaint, which undermines the whole procedure." Employees should be able to report to any manager in the organization that they feel comfortable talking to, adds Mr. Canoni. "We want to make it as free as possible," he said. Employees should also have someone in the organization to talk to if they are not happy about the way a complaint is handled. "Sometimes employees think they are making a complaint but don't make it clear that they are doing so," said Ms. Ekelman. "By designating a second layer of management for employees to go to if they are not satisfied, the employer provides the employee with another opportunity to seek redress of their complaint." PHONE LINE Concerned that employees may be reluctant to report complaints, the EEOC guidance advises companies to offer a phone line through which individuals can ask questions or discuss concerns about harassment anonymously. Yet management attorneys have strong reservations about the idea. Employers are obligated to investigate all harassment complaints, they say, but this is tougher to do when they come in anonymously over the phone. Management attorneys also dismiss the EEOC's suggestion that employers include information in an anti-harassment policy and complaint procedure about the deadlines employees need to meet to file harassment charges with the Commission or state employment agencies. "We do not recommend this unless [a] company is so civic-minded it actually enjoys defending against an increased numbers of workplace harassment complaints," joked Mr. Canoni. Mr. Salvatore suggests that a better place for this information is the EEOC posters that employers are required to post in the workplace. In light of the first prong of the Faragher and Ellerth affirmative defense, plaintiffs attorneys and courts are scrutinizing the actions employers take once harassment has been detected. To stop harassment and prevent it from recurring, the EEOC suggests an oral or written warning, a transfer or reassignment, demotion, reduction in wages, suspension, discharge, training or counseling the harasser. APOLOGIES ACCEPTED To correct the effects of harassment, the EEOC guidance suggests requiring the harasser to apologize to the employee, monitoring how the complainant is treated by the harasser and others in the workplace, and expunging any negative evaluations in the complainant's personnel file that arose from the harassment. Despite these suggestions, the guidance also cautions employers that discipline should be proportional to the seriousness of the offense. Discipline that is too weak may leave the employer liable if the harassment does not stop, and punishment that is overly harsh may subject the employer to a wrongful discharge claim, the guidance points out. Management attorneys praised the EEOC for acknowledging this conflict. Explained Mr. Barabander, "Sometimes you will want to terminate the person. Sometimes a warning letter or additional training is appropriate. You want a graduated response because people make mistakes." An equally difficult decision is what information to give the complainant about how the company disciplined the harasser. The EEOC recommends relaying the punishment or discipline to the complainant, but concedes that some may be reluctant to do so for fear of a defamation claim. The EEOC asserts that employers should not worry about this, since many courts allow them to assert a qualified privilege defense for such disclosures. Regardless, management attorneys do not welcome the idea. "It is true, as the Commission notes, that employers have a qualified privilege defense," said Mr. Canoni, "but avoiding litigation entirely is preferable to winning in litigation." Instead, he and other management attorneys favor a more cautious approach. "We tell the complainant that the complaint has been addressed and that appropriate action has been taken," Mr. Canoni said. "You need to tell the person who filed the complaint generally how you handled the situation," added Mr. Salvatore. "But you don't want this to become the buzz at the company and impair someone's career unless it should. Sharon Huffman Legislative Analyst Kansas Commission on Disability Concerns 1-800-295-5232 http://adabbs.hr.state.ks.us/dc ************************************************************* FEDERAL RESOURCE CENTER FOR WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES ADDED TO THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S HEALTH INFORMATION CENTER The Office of Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) today announced the first-ever federal resource center for women with disabilities as part of the expanding National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC). NWHIC serves as a single gateway to thousands of federal and private sector publications and organizations on women's health through its Web site (http://www.4woman.gov) and toll-free information number (1-800-994WOMAN). "There are more than 10 million women living in the United States with physical disabilities and millions more with mental and developmental concerns," said David Satcher, M.D., Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary on Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. "In addition to their roles as mothers, wives, friends, workers and community volunteers, they have these added challenges. This special feature is part of our continuing commitment to provide reliable and practical health information relevant to all Americans, no matter how unique their health needs." The new resource center will offer summaries about critical health issues for a variety of disabilities, including physical, neurological, hearing, speech and visual impairment. The website section will also provide information on mental, learning and developmental disabilities. There will be information on federal and state laws and regulations that protect disabled citizens, news about medical research, statistical information on disabled women for researchers and journalists, and information for health care professionals on what they can do to improve health care access for women with physical limitations. There will be links to sites sponsored by private sector advocacy groups, and special information on the unique needs and concerns of minority women with disabilities. "Women with physical or mental challenges are often preoccupied with the health issues surrounding their disability, and find it difficult to get information on other important health issues," said Wanda Jones, Dr. P.H., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Women's Health). "We hope this new section will encourage its users to seek the same preventive care so important for all of America's women." The NWHIC Web site provides links to more than 1,000 federal agencies and publications on women's health as well as a number of related private sector organization Web sites. NWHIC also provides frequently asked questions on top health issues of concern to American women. The site, in operation for less than a year, has already received more than seven million hits from users seeking information on a wide variety of women's health issues. The toll-free number connects the caller to a health information specialist who will refer the caller to the right source of information. Women and their health care providers can also order fact sheets, brochures and other printed materials by phone. Women will be able to offer feedback on the section through NWHIC's e-mail service or toll free telephone number. Information specialists are available on its toll-free telephone service from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern time. NWHIC is the only combined comprehensive health Web site and hotline service offered by the federal health agencies. It is designed to provide information on how women are uniquely affected by health concerns that threaten the general population, as well as on health issues that are exclusive to women. Other special areas recently developed are a general Spanish-language section, a section devoted to the health concerns of women of color, and a section on men's health designed to help women better understand the health issues of the men in their lives. The U.S. Public Health Service's Office on Women's Health provides national leadership in advancing women's health. It acts as a catalyst for new national and regional initiatives to improve women's health, including support for 18 Centers of Excellence in Women's Health that serve as models for integrated and comprehensive women's health care services and research. ************************************************************* ASL FIRE IN NORTH CAROLINA STILL BURNING New sign language directive continues to be controversial. Controversy continues to surround the new policy governing staff sign language skills at Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf. The new policy, which became effective July 30, lowered the proficiency requirements for most student contact jobs. It dispensed altogether with required communications skills for jobs that do not call for student contact. "Never supporting and then stopping the requirement of minimal American Sign Language and excluding many employees continues to foster an atmosphere of discrimination and oppression of both deaf employees and students at all levels," said Steven Hardy-Braz, who recently resigned as school psychologist at ENCSD. "Schools for the deaf in North Carolina should be paragons of accessibility, not another barrier to basic human rights." Troubling to some parents and deaf education advocates is that the policy allows the hiring of people who have little or no sign language skills for jobs such as teacher, dorm parent, nurse and school psychologist. Most newly hired employees have two years to come up to a skill level that is at least one step lower than the preferred level. That, in turn, is one step lower than the former requirement. "Would they accept a teacher in the public schools who had minimal English skills and give the teacher two years to improve?" asked Sandy Farrow, the mother of a former student at ENCSD. "What about all those kids she teaches for two years? Where do they go? They go through life thinking that they're stupid. "Nobody ever tells them what they're missing. We wouldn't accept it in the public schools and we shouldn't accept it at the schools for the deaf." Mrs. Farrow alleges that ENCSD discriminated against her son by not giving him access to teachers who could communicate with him in American Sign Language. Her civil rights complaint to the U.S. Department of Education touched off a federal investigation of the state's three residential schools for the deaf and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services that oversees them. That investigation revealed that DHHS has had a policy on sign language proficiency, Directive 20, in force since 1993, but has never implemented it. Frank Caccamise of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. is a consultant. He was recently hired by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to train its staff to do the testing and training for any policy on sign language proficiency. Caccamise has called the old policy, which had been in effect since 1993, unethical. "It was basically something that could never have been fulfilled," he said. "You cannot hire people and then put expectations on them that you can't achieve." He is one of the developers of the test that DHHS is using to measure staff members' skills. He said that DHHS used the test in the 1993 policy without consulting with him or with Bill Newell, his co-developer. The 1993 policy called for annual testing of all staff and training for those who did not meet the required proficiency level. As of February, just 140 of 284 staff members covered by the old policy had ever been tested. Some were tested once over several years. School superintendent Steve Witchey reported in a Feb. 8, 1999, memo to Craig Greene, who is deputy director of the Division of Services to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, that just 39 of the 101 student contact staff members had reached their required levels. Three were five levels below the standard, five were four levels below, 18 were three levels below, 18 were two levels below and the remaining 18 were one level below. The staff training called for in the policy had never been put in place. Because of pressure from the investigation, DHHS now has asked Caccamise to help develop staff training and to prepare employees to do the testing. "We refused to come down unless they revised Directive 20 because we considered it unethical," he said. "It wasn't that the intention of Directive 20 was not a good one. It just expected too much and without consulting the people who developed it (the test)." The new policy still is not completely consistent with Caccamise's guidelines, however. The guidelines call for the minimum standard at hiring to be the same as the preferred standard for the job. However, they do provide a loophole if no qualified candidate for the job can be found. Caccamise believes that some critics of the new policy are ignoring the needs of each individual because of their commitment to one form of communication. "We're not working with ASL and English, we're working with people," he said. "The language is just the tool, not the goal. The goal is communication between people." Mrs. Farrow says she doubts that DHHS is any more committed to the new policy than the old one. But Hardy-Braz said that promising to at least implement a weaker policy is a step forward from ignoring a stronger one. You may reach Margaret J. Stair at mjstair @wilsondaily.com. ************************************************************* PAULETTE CASWELL BRINGS UP A VALUABLE ADA REMINDER Under Section 42 USC 12102 of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336, July 26, 1990), deaf people are entitled to "AUXILIARY AIDS AND SERVICES." This includes: 1.) QUALIFIED (not "Certified") interpreters, or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials (information) available to individuals with hearing impairments. 2.) [For deafblind people] QUALIFIED readers, taped texts, or other effective methods of making visually delivered materials (information) available to individuals with visual impairments. 3.) Acquisition (getting) or modification (changing) of equipment or devices. 4.) And other similar services and actions. Most people know that all Federal, State, and Local government offices and programs must provide accommodations, even before the ADA. BUT, many people still DON'T KNOW that many private businesses and offices are also covered under the ADA! These privately-owned locations ALSO MUST PROVIDE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR DEAF PEOPLE, TOO! * For "short visits," they can train their employees to be courteous to a deaf person, be patient, and write notes when necessary. * For places with TVs they should have captions available. * For places with loudspeaker or announcement systems, they must find a way to give you the same information visually. * When more detailed or long communications are necessary, they MUST provide a QUALIFIED interpreter (if you use ASL), or a QUALIFIED transliterator (if you use Total Communication, ASE, Cued English, or oral communication), or another way of making information accessible to you (CART, FM system, etc.) * For places with pay phones, they must also provide TDD pay phones. * For places where the public calls them, they must provide EITHER a TDD line, or else TRAIN THEIR EMPLOYEES how to properly handle TDD relay calls. If you request an accommodation from one of the places listed below, you MUST also inform them of the ADA requirements (many business and private place owners and managers still don't know about this yet). If they have been notified, and they STILL refuse to obey the law, then you have the right to file a federal lawsuit against them in federal court. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS COVERED UNDER TITLE III OF THE ADA -- THIS APPLIES EVERYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES. [Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, Public Law 101-336, adopted by the United States Congress on July 26, 1990. Title III, 42 United States Code, Section 12181 (7).] (A) Inns, hotels, motels, and all other places of lodging (temporary living). [This does not include a house where there is less than 5 rooms for rent, where the owner lives there, too.] (B) Restaurants, bars, and all other places that serve food and drink to the public. (C) Motion picture houses, motion picture theatres, other theatres, concert halls, stadiums, and all other places of exhibition or entertainment. (D) Auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls, and all other places of public gatherings. (E) Bakeries, grocery stores, clothing stores, hardware stores, shopping centers, and all other places that sell or rent things to the public. (F) Laundromats, dry-cleaners, banks, barber shops, beauty shops, travel services, shoe repair services, funeral parlors. gas stations, offices of an accountant, offices of a lawyer, pharmacies, insurance offices, professional offices of health care providers (medical people, doctors, psychologists, chiropractors, etc.), hospitals, and all other places that provide services to the public. (G) Terminals, depots, and all other stations used for public transportation. (H) Museums, libraries, galleries, and all other places of public display or collections. (I) Parks, zoos, amusement parks, and all other places of public recreation. (J) Nursery schools, elementary schools, secondary (Junior High and High) schools, undergraduate (AA/AS/BA/BS) programs, or postgraduate (MA/MS/Ph.D., etc.) programs in private schools, and all other places of education. (K) Day care centers, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, food banks, adoption agencies, and all other social service center locations. (L) Gymnasiums ("Gyms"), health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses, and all other places of public health and recreation. [ATTENTION! PRIVATE CLUBS AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS ARE NOT COVERED BY THE ADA.] ============================== PUBLIC PLACES LISTED ABOVE ARE ALSO FORBIDDEN FROM DISCRIMINATING AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. 1.) CAN THEY DENY A DEAF PERSON FROM PARTICIPATING IN THEIR BUSINESS OR OFFICE? NO! They CANNOT deny your participation in their goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations, and they CANNOT deny you full and equal status to non-disabled persons. 2.) CAN THEY GIVE A DEAF PERSON A "SEPARATE" OR "DIFFERENT" WAY OF PARTICIPATING? YES, but it must be EQUAL and AS EFFECTIVE compared to what hearing people get. AND, you still must be allowed to participate with hearing people, with accommodations provided for you, if that is what you want to do. 3.) CAN THEY GIVE DEAF PEOPLE A SEPARATE LOCATION, SO THE DEAF PEOPLE AREN'T NEAR HEARING PEOPLE? NO! They cannot "segregate" or "separate" you from hearing people simply because you happen to be deaf. They must provide the most INTEGRATED setting for you, so you are an equal participant with everyone else. 4.) CAN THEY DISCRIMINATE AGAINST MY INTERPRETER OR OTHER COMMUNICATION ASSISTANT, OR MY HEARING FRIENDS OR RELATIVES? NO! The ADA says that it is illegal to discriminate against anyone who has a relationship or association with a deaf person. 5.) DOES THE ADA APPLY TO "INTERPRETER SERVICES" BUSINESSES, TOO? YES! Interpreter services businesses are covered under section (F) above. Interpreter services agencies and businesses CANNOT discriminate against any deaf person, and must treat all deaf people equally to all hearing people, with the same respect. They cannot "order you around," they cannot force you to accept services that are bad, they can't force you to accept services you didn't request, etc. If you want an ASE (English) Sign Transliterator, and they give you an "ASL Interpreter," because THEY think it is "the best thing for you," then you CAN take action against them under the ADA. If an "interpreter services agency or business" makes a contract with a school or business or office to provide services that do not meet your needs, you CAN take legal action against BOTH the Interpreter Services Agency AND the place that is paying the agency. [NOTE: This is why you need to specify EXACTLY what you need, when you ask for communication assistance. * If you want ENGLISH (to get equal information to hearing people), then you MUST ask for a Transliterator, and also the KIND of Transliterator you want (Oral, Cued English, or Signed English/Total Communication). * If you want "pure ASL" (the SIGN language that is completely different from English), then ask for an "ASL Interpreter." * If you want real-time captioning, then ask for "CART Services." If you ask for the wrong assistance, it is your own fault.] ************************************************************* CALL FOR DEAF ACTORS American Conservatory Theater 30 Grant Ave., Sixth Floor San Francisco, CA 94108 The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is looking for actors to be invited to audition for this season's production of A Christmas Carol . The show runs from November 27 through December 26. Actors with a classical training background and stage experience are invited to submit their resumes and head shots along with contact information as soon as possible to : Meryl Lind Shaw Casting Director American Conservatory Theater (address above) Actors must be willing to join Actor's Equity, if necessary. Auditions will be held September 11, 12 and 13. Interpreters will be available as needed for auditions, rehearsals and performances. Please direct questions to the Casting Office at (415)439-2407V or email Kathleen Clark, Casting Assistant at: Kclark@act-sfbay.org. ************************************************************* NEZ'S CYBER MALL SUPPORTS THE DEAF COMMUNITY Nez's Cyber Mall is a fundraiser project that will help support the newly created Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. This mall has been designed with accessibility in mind. All commissions generated by sales activity within this mall will be used to support the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. Nez's Cyber Mall can be found at: Http://www.i-sphere.com/eyedeaf/deafmall.htm ************************************************************* Attn: President of the TV network Sunday, August 22, 1999 Dear Presidents of all TV Networks, This is to notify that in the upcoming new fall season, the portrayal of people with disabilities is minimal at best, and Handicaps United Means Accountability by all Nations (H.U.M.A.N.) will take action. The action will powerful and will depend on much you will open communication with us to assure that there will be a change. There are 54 million people with disabilities in the US. With more than a fifth of the population of the US disabled there should more people with disabilities on TV. I can only count a few people with disabilities on TV. This is not an accurate representation of your view audience. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that no employer shall discriminate against people with disabilities. By your employment rate of people with disabilities, you are discriminating. H.UM.A.N. defines a person with a disability in your industry as a person who portrays his or her disability on a show. Not a non-disabled actor portraying a person with a disability. You might not know where to get actors who have a disability. H.U.M.A.N. can help you find them. But stories must be written with people with disabilities in mind. To change, you will have our complete cooperation to help you. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me. Paul Cannaday President of H.U.M.A.N. H.U.M.A.N. Paul Cannaday, President 4971 Wixson, Croswell, MI 48422 Home Phone (810) 679-0236 Website: http://members.aol.com/disablenet/Main/DisableNet.html Email: disablenet@aol.com ************************************************************* RESOURCE OF THE MONTH: Not Dead Yet is an organization to bring the attention of infanticide of babies with disabilities to the public. They hold rallies, meets, and have a website that has information on infanticide of babies with disabilities. Http://www.notdeadyet.org ************************************************************* This month's recipients of the Deaf Watch Award. Florida Association of the Deaf, Inc. http://www.fladeaf.org Trying to be a good resource! ************************************************************* "Someone should tell the doctors working on a cure for spinal cord injury they are wasting their time. The Supreme Court just beat them to it." -- John Hockenberry ************************************************************* Letters from readers. Dear Friends, there are strong indications of establishment by government Workfare Program for deaf society, that accounts the largest segment of SSI recipients population. The main if not a single task of Departments Vocational Rehabilitation that run by Departments of Labor was always psychological enslavement their customers via degradation their self-esteem and acceptance proposition that Constitutional right for Aspiration to Happiness has no relation to them and it is a privilege of wealthiness and nobility[American born one]. The current policy includes substitution agenda discrimination of people with communication disorders that prevents them from equal education and employment opportunity by problem employment at all! Politicians don't want bother businesses that supply them campaign money by enforcing ADA, they prefer satisfy their demand for cheap and stable work force that secure low inflation if any in environment notable reduction low paid work force fed by illegal immigration affecting especially US agriculture and low skilled job market. Observation media reveals allocation considerable funds by HUD for development agriculture areas affected shortage illegal immigration from Mexico along with empowering DVRs in California, that has the highest % deaf population. Observation SSA biannual Disability Update Report reveals identical to DVR aspiration to persuade that one have take any available job, not one is able to perform now but can't obtain due discrimination! 1. If one worked or been self-employed with amount earned? 2. If one attended any school or work training program? 3. If doctor told me that I can work? 6. If you have a surgery? This sounds as a push for being guinea pig! ~ Would you be interested in receiving Vocational Rehabilitation and related services which can help you obtain employment? [that means employment at job reserved for mentally challenged, naturally customer have to admit own inferiority]. It have to be noted that DVR now requires to sign an obligation to admit a job that it'll suggest to take! They imitate study you mental capability, including determination IQ, but without revealing the rating in case demonstration average and higher points. The main aim those mental evaluations is to point areas where the customer has problem as a tool conviction of inferiority and necessity to get any job and keep it by any means. Evaluation DVR includes even option establishing a small business for the same aim, since logical help in case will establish one isn't available at all! SBA has Section 8[a] Program, but it excluded recipients SSI at all due pre requirement of enrollment is "existence the business at least two years and presence sufficient funds for running one!" Dear friends, we were able to defeat legislation in NJ allowing hearing aid dispensers legalize keeping customers in dark about matters billed, however we failed to get any bill protecting customers or even enforce existing legislation requiring them inform if hearing aids are new or recycled along with itemized billing. We can't provide campaign contributions contrary hearing aid dispensers and dentists, but we can defend our status quo and consideration our consumer rights by following example of SU native Jews - they have no money for campaign contributions too, but they became politically active, they all cast their voters and cast against incumbents. That bore notable fruits. Both main parties of Israel started consider their vital needs as housing and pension. Let's act! Let's urge state legislators to sponsor a bill correcting current legislature discriminating consumer on behalf dentists and/or hearing aids dispensers? It should be kept in mind, that you are not the one entitled to their endless preferred treatment based on your inactivity in consumer protection area that secure their excess profit! Your resignation is inevitable. It is only a matter of time when you’ll face them as an ordinary customer - subject of excess charges for enabling them supply elective candidates campaign contributions. And they quite possibly contribute more to a candidate you like the least! Their abuse means not only excess profit - it causes progressive deterioration of health condition! They can’t charge now anything they want, they can charge only for something that can be reasonable for treatment customers condition and most likely they cut corners of services that beneficial for their condition. That means customers are charged but not delivered services that can improve their condition and so deterioration those conditions. Particular in dentistry such cut corners in addition to huge charges cause: 1. Pain and sensitivity to cold and heat of teeth; 2. Pain and bleeding to gums; 3. Irritating discomfort by dentures; 4. Teeth loss due lack adequate and timely treatment teeth and gums. Particular in hearing aids dispersing such cut corners in addition to huge charges cause deterioration hearing due destruction hearing hairs causing by subjection patients to exclusive loudness sound of noise in frequencies that patients are not aware since they can’t hear them at all. Think please about these aspects the problem lack customer protection in dentistry and hearing aids dispersing areas! They are tailored exactly as Middle Age Professional Guild - claiming care about quality services but really pursuing monopoly for securing excess profit of members the guild! Sincerely Lev Pribytkov ------------------ Dear Mr. Strassler: You have "congratulated" Gallaudet and RIT for being ranked as "Regional Universities" by U.S. News and World Report, but your "congratulations" are wrong, and definitely misleading to the deaf community. As a publisher, you have the duty and responsibility to tell the TRUTH to the deaf community, especially when it involves education, which is crucial to future employment. The TRUTH is that the HIGHEST-ranked colleges and universities in the USA are called "National Universities." The TOP Universities in the USA are the "Top 50." Then, there are 70 more in "Tier 2," 56 more in "Tier 3," and 52 more in "Tier 4," for a total of 228 National Universities in the USA. The next best for undergraduate (BA/BS) and initial graduate (MA/MS) studies are the National Liberal Arts Colleges, and they are ranked by "Top 40," and then "Tier 2," "Tier 3," and "Tier 4." There are 162 of these in the USA. There are a total of 390 colleges and universities in the USA that are ranked HIGHER than "Regional Universities" like RIT and Gallaudet. Why are you giving "congratulations" to Gallaudet and RIT when they are in the LOWEST-RANKED group of colleges and universities? Further, Gallaudet is basing even its low ranking on their Graduate programs, which include many hearing students. They are NOT basing their ranking on the deaf BA/BS program. And, the ranking for RIT is for the regular hearing university programs, overall. RIT is not a "deaf" program university -- it is a regular, mainstreamed, hearing university. The NTID program is a COMMUNITY COLLEGE program based on the RIT campus, and it is not included in the RIT rankings at all. Further, NTID consistently refuses to provide information to US News and World Report (for unknown reasons), so US News and World report doesn't have any information about NTID, even in its Community College assessments. Why don't you tell the deaf community the TRUTH? It is essential for the deaf community to know that any degrees from either Gallaudet or RIT will be seen by other colleges and universities, and also by employers, as being from the LOWEST-RANKED educational institutions in this country. Because of the ADA, ALL colleges and universities must provide support services for deaf students. Isn't it time that deaf students are told about the BEST places to get a degree, so they can get the best jobs for their future lives? The BEST USA Universities are listed at http://www.usnews.com , in the "National Universities" section of the college rankings. Look them up! Paulette Caswell, JD, MS, ABPDC ------------------------------------------------------------- - DEAF WATCH - Federal ID Number : 33-0765412 - Chief Editor/Editor : Richard Roehm - Orange County, California - Internet : Deaf@activist.com - Nesmuth@worldnet.att.net - ICQ #: 7389913 | Handle: SilentKnight - DEAF WATCH Http://www.deafwatch.com - Http://www.i-sphere.com/eyedeaf/deaf.htm - Visit Http://www.i-sphere.com/eyedeaf/nez.htm ---------------------------------------------------------- - Education is the best gift that lasts a lifetime! - Help someone subscribe to The Deaf Watch Newsletter ---------------------------------------------------------- - SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION - To be added to the mailing list, send "SUBSCRIBE" - To be deleted from the mailing list send "DELETE" - to this address DEAF@ACTIVIST.COM - - Mailing lists are not sold/given to anyone. ------------------------------------------------------------- - Need to stay on the net? 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