DEAF WORKERS OF ORANGE COUNTY PROJECT -- DEAF WORKERS WEEKLY BULLETIN -- July 11, 1998 Greetings, Interesting week! It began with the news of Marcella Meyer's retirement plans. Went from there to a verbal fracas with a SCRAD-OC member over the Disneyland New Years Eve party. The SCRAD member accused me of trying to politicalize the organization and scare people away. My message was we need to more supportive of the community of people with hearing disabilities and be more careful with who we patronize as theyr'e oftentimes misinterpreted as full endorsements. These 2 items filled my head with heavy thoughts. A price for being an activist. I want as many as people knowing about the GLAD CEO position opening as much as possible because from a trusted source, they may already have someone in mind. I want to give as many people qualified people as possible the the opportunity to go for the CEO position. The more people that apply the the less chance the next GLAD CEO will be a plantationist like the one that we've had for so long. I also want as many activists with hearing disabilities to keep a very close eye on GLAD the next few months because this is critical because the next CEO will take us into the 21st century and should lead us toward the promised land of fairness, equality, and justice. Richard Roehm ---- GLAD HAS OPENING FOR A NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER The Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness has on their website, the long awaited opening for a new Chief Executive Officer. CEO job announcement at http://www.gladinc.org/ceo.htm Employment page http://www.gladinc.org/gladjobs.htm We are sure this news will will direct a lot of people's attention toward GLAD when they choose their new leader. My prayers go to GLAD's board as they go through the difficult task of choosing the next person who would take the helm of the organization and their new futuristic headquarters in Eagle Rock. ---- AMERICORPS HAS OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Project Inclusion, in collaboration with Tri City Shalom AmeriCorps program in Troy, NY, is looking for qualified individuals with disabilities to serve. ****Full Time One Year positions-- AmeriCorps members serve 1700 hours and earn an educational award of $4,725 and a monthly stipend of approximately $830/month. Service is performed at human service organizations in the Capital Region. Members must be at least 17 years of age and a US citizen. Educational awards are granted at the completion of the term of service and can be applied towards current or future academic enrollment (or even existing student loans) for up to seven years from the end of service. Tri City Shalom is accepting applications NOW DEADLINE -August 10, 1998. Term of Service begins October, 1998. For further information and/or an application please contact Peter Fish at 518-271-9520 or Muffi Lavigne at 800-872-5827, ext. 7144. What is Project Inclusion? Project Inclusion is a demonstration project working in collaboration with four National Direct AmeriCorps Programs to recruit and retain Members with disabilities. Project Inclusion, funded by the Corporation for National Service, is managed by United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc. (UCP). Project Inclusion’s goal is to recruit and retain 20 qualified individuals with disabilities to serve as AmeriCorps Members for the 1998-99 service year, in the following cities: San Francisco, CA; Long Beach, CA; Seattle, WA; Pittsburgh, PA; Providence, RI; Albany, NY; Miami, FL; Houston, TX; San Antonio, TX; Omaha NE; and Columbia, SC. The AmeriCorps service year begins in September. What Project Inclusion Can Do For You ¨ Connect you with an AmeriCorps Program in your area ¨ Assist you with the recruitment procedure ¨ Assist you with reasonable accommodation ¨ Help you solve any issues related to becoming and remaining an AmeriCorps Member What is AmeriCorps? This national service program, modeled in part after the GI Bill and often referred to as the “domestic Peace Corps,” engages Americans of all ages and back-grounds in service to address the education, public safety, human, and environmental needs facing American communities. In return for one year of service, AmeriCorps Members receive a living allowance and/or an education award to help finance future college, graduate school, or vocational training, or to pay off student loans. By “getting things done,” AmeriCorps Members are given a unique opportunity to meet and address the challenges of local communities. For further information on Project Inclusion contact: Margaret “Muffi” Lavigne, Project Director, Project Inclusion, 1660 L Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036 or 800-872-5827, Ext. 7144, or via email: mlavigne@ucpa.org ---- 50 WAYS TO GET POLITICAL 1. Vote. People have sacrificed their lives for the right to vote, yet in the US, fewer of us do it every year. Voting is your hard-earned right and your official voice. 2. Don't vote - and let people know why. If you feel strongly that you have no genuine choices or that the system is broken beyond repair, then say so. But speak up about it; don't just "let it slide." 3. Register people to vote. One reason the political game's gone sour is that too few of us play. Many of the non-players are on the low end of the economic ladder. Sign them up - they have important things to contribute. 4. Vote with your dollars. Buy selectively! Boycott companies or products that violate your principles, and write those companies to tell them what changes you think they should make. Then buy what you need from companies that are socially responsible. (See Shopping for a Better World, published by the Council on Economic Priorities.) 5. Travel. Get some first hand experience in how things happen in other places, and bring home some questions about how you do things at home. 6. Don't travel. Travel wastes energy, and your troubles come with you. Stay home and concentrate on improving your community. 7. Grow a garden (or support local growers). It makes you less dependent on agribusiness, and more aware of your dependence on - and relationship with - the Earth. 8. Recycle. First reduce consumption, then re-use what you can, then recycle everything possible of what's left. Promote this practice in your community and workplace. Besides voting, recycling is currently one of the few ways we participate in public life on a mass scale voluntarily. 9. Write letters to the editor. Published, they can change minds, and even unpublished, they impact the newspaper. 10. Write a song. Political songs are great tools for organizing and inspiring people. Where would the anti-war movement of the 1960s have been without the music? 11. Learn about unions. If you don't belong to one, get someone who does to explain their purpose, history, and current status. Unions are where many of the most important political battles of our era were fought - and often won. 12. Get to know your neighbors. It's hard to reclaim politics without some sense of community. Once you know and trust each other, maybe you could even talk politics! 13. Start political conversations. You can do this anywhere, with anyone. Talking politics (and listening) is critical for a vibrant democracy. Start with a question: "So what do you think about ... ?" 14. Make friends with someone of another race, ethnicity, age, ability, or sexual preference. Ask questions, and learn to listen to the answers. 15. Learn another language. This will expand your political (and cultural) horizons in manifold and unexpected ways. 16. Teach someone to read. Politics is a dialogue, and those who can't read can't participate as fully or as easily. 17. Mount a "slow streets" campaign. Downtown pedestrian malls and low speed limits mean more pedestrian traffic, which means more personal interaction, which can support development of a true civil society. It won't happen if we're all driving around fast in metal boxes! 18. Ride a bike. You'll get healthier, make a statement, and add yourself to the constituency of cyclists calling for slow streets and bike trails. 19. Call a radio talk-show. The good ones are often the town meetings of the air waves. Talk-show hosts will especially appreciate you if you talk common sense about a currently divisive topic. 20. Buy produce at a farmer's market. If your community doesn't have one, help get one started. 21. Be eco-wise. Compost, save water, conserve energy, car pool - all of these contribute to the public good, model good behavior, and shift the political center of gravity in a green direction. 22. Correspond with someone in prison. The United States imprisons a larger share of its population (.4%) than any other nation. More than one million Americans are in jail, either awaiting trial or serving time. Yet prison is one of the political institutions some people say we need more of. Get to know more about it and see whether you agree. 23. Join a study circle. Self-education is a fast track to political empowerment. Pick an issue you care about, hook up with some friends who feel likewise, and start reading, thinking, and talking about it. If you then come up with some better ideas than the people currently holding the levers of power and get your plans adopted, it won't be the first time such things have happened. 24. Carry a camera. Amateur video and photographic records can shine light on an issue, sometimes raising it to national prominence overnight. 25. Adopt a creek (or a tree, or a hillside, or ... ). Learn to care for it, learn everything you can about it, and we guarantee it will heighten your political sensibilities. 26. Promote military conversion campaigns. The fact that a sizable portion of our economy is dedicated to the technology of killing contributes to a political climate that tolerates war. Support efforts to wean industry away from the military. 27. Run for elective office. Attend meetings of local government - city council, school board, park district, whatever - to learn how they work and be a voice for reasoned sanity and balance. Then run for office, or volunteer for an appointment to an advisory council. The "system" really is a product of the individuals who participate in it. 28. Support campaign reform. This is a must. Anything that elevates the quality of political dialogue above the level of "sound-bite" and reduces campaign dependence on big money will help people to reclaim politics. 29. Start a shadow government. If you're thoroughly disgusted with the decisions of your legislature or city council, start your own! Your mock resolutions won't have the rule of law, but they will help you articulate your concerns and values - and you might draw some media attention to your point of view. 30. Be a media guerrilla. Use fax, e-mail, photocopies, T-shirts, newsletters, bumper stickers or whatever to broadcast the message of your choice. Spread empowering information! 31. Buy third-world products. Especially those produced by small family-owned businesses and co-ops. 32. Don't buy third-world products. Especially plantation crops like coffee, cocoa, and bananas that displace food production for local people, unless you know they were bought directly from small farmers. 33. Spend less money. The less you spend, the less you need to make and the more time you have available to talk, read, campaign, etc. 34. Earn less money. The less you earn, the lower your tax rate, and the less you support things like nuclear weapons programs. 35. Earn a lot less money. Many people arrange their lives so that they can live simply and pay no taxes at all, which has obvious political advantages (but might not endear you to taxpayers). 36. Earn more money - but live simply and give away the surplus cash to efforts to promote a sane and livable world. 37. Give away your inheritance. If you come into money, use it to support efforts to create change for the better. Or invest your money, live off the interest, and devote yourself to volunteer work. 38. Reclaim your inheritance. National forests, the airwaves, public parks - all of these belong to you. What would you like to do with them? 39. Use a condom. For lots of reasons. Protecting yourself from AIDS, reducing population, and reducing the chances of an unwanted birth are all profoundly political acts. 40. Adopt a politician. Write a monthly letter to your representative, senator, or president. Invite a school board member to lunch. Sometimes making friends is the most politically effective thing you can do. 41. Eat lower on the food chain. Food is the most under-recognized confluence of the personal and political. Eating less meat will positively impact everything from your health to public land management. 42. Fly an Earth flag. National borders are human inventions, but the planet isn't. Pledge yourself to the service of your planet, bioregion, and community. 43. Write to foreign governments. Let them know that you care about what they do, and hold them to the same standards of human decency as you would hold your own government. 44. Write to your own government. Let them know you care about what they do, and hold them to the same standards of human decency as you would hold a foreign government. 45. Get rid of your television set. Spend the time you save on political activities. This is easily the most radical item on the list, as it involves permanently unplugging yourself from the national propaganda campaign we call advertising. 46. Watch television - critically. If you don't want to pull the plug (or want to plug back in), tune in with discrimination. You can learn wonderful things from TV and use it as a tool for political education, or you can pollute your brain and get drowned in propaganda. It's up to you. 47. Buy a share of stock. This entitles you to attend a company's annual meeting of shareholders, vote, and voice your opinion. Praise or chastise the company's directors, as appropriate. 48. Don't get mad, get involved. If you don't like something, work with others to try to change it. If you can't change the big things, change the small ones. Politics is not someone or something "out there" - it's something we create together. 49. Expect success. When you approach a problem expecting failure or defeat, you'll be defensive, and that's more likely to generate opposition than if you demonstrate an expectation of cooperative problem-solving. 50. Don't worry, be happy. No, we're not kidding. "Worry" comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning to choke, strangle, injure, or violate. Worrying doesn't do much political good. "Happy" - which comes from the same root as "happen" - is a state of mind. It's not about denying our problems, but deciding to do something about them with a creative mind, a compassionate heart, and a courageous spirit. Easy choice, right? (www.context.org) ---- Current job list on the Jobs for Deaf page. Santa Ana, California (2-15-98) Carson City, Nevada (2-23-98) Framingham, Massachusetts (3-2-98) Nationwide USA (3-22-98) Santa Fe, New Mexico (4-9-98) ---------------------- Letters from Readers & site visitors I AM LOOKING THE JOB ASSEMBLER/OPERATOR MACHINE IF ANY OPEN THE JOB POSITION LET ME KNOW PLS SEND ME EMAIL jlope@webtv.net THANK YOU (Juan Lopez) ============================================================== DEAF WORKERS OF ORANGE COUNTY Orange County, California Richard Roehm President Internet : Deaf@activist.com Deaf_Workers_OC@usa.net Website Nesmuth@worldnet.att.net Http://www.i-sphere.com/eyedeaf/dwoc.htm =============================================================== Circulation Information Direct Email subscribers : 39 Indirect Email Subscribers : 39 Feel free to redistribute this newsletter in it's entirety and if you are planning to add a mailing list as a subscriber then let me know for my records. 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