DEAF WORKERS OF ORANGE COUNTY PROJECT -- DEAF WORKERS WEEKLY BULLETIN -- August 15, 1998 Greetings, Yesterday's meeting with Sheriff-elect Mike Carona was a blast! Mike who is familiar with Deaf issues, is already setting a good example of how law enforcement officers utilize effective communication skills. We discussed the importance effective communications and the tragedies that oftentimes occur when this is missing whenever law enforcement officers do their businesses with people with hearing disabilities. We both agreed that education is the best way to maintain relations. Education is a 2 way street in this case with the law enforcement becoming more familiar with deafness and it's aspects and the community of people with hearing disabilities understanding law enforcement procedures when they deal with people with hearing disabilities. Even though his knowledge of signs is extremely limited, I am still happy I will be helping Sheriff-elect Mike Carona to tailor his law enforcement agency to become a role model for other law enforcement agencies to follow. I will be appointed to his Community Advisory Council as a representative of the Deaf community. I am very excited about this opportunity to help make Orange County a better place for people with hearing disabilities. This bulletin will be the last one you will receive this month. I will be getting married next weekend and take the honeymoon right after the wedding. See you in September! Richard Roehm ---- ORANGE COUNTY DEAF ADVOCACY CENTER CALLS ATTENTION TO DISABILITY FACTS Despite the efforts of our disability advocacy centers so far, there hasn't been a REAL dent in the disability unemployment problem according to the report by National Organization on Disability. This same report also says that barely 54% of adults with disabilities have heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Other reports show that disability plaintiffs have a hard time in court and recent studies are showing the disability community still have a hard time obtaining access and accommodations. Orange County already has a few well established disability advocacy centers. The questions are : Who's responsible? Are we getting the support we need? Who shall we blame for all these negative findings? Are they doing anything to promote the disability community? Shall we keep these disability advocacy centers? Shall we replace them? Serious questions to ponder right now!!!!!!! On the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center's website under the "Check out these FACTS" link, you will find links to this National Organization on Disability report and as well as other disability data and information. The location for the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center's website is at: Http://www.deafclubs.com/OCDAC Http://www.deafclubs.com/OCDAC/facts.htm Check out the FACTS and you will see a strong need for highly aggressive Deaf/disability advocacy centers like Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center is not glamorous, it is essential if we were ever to become productive and contribute to the community. Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center is vital to the future of people with hearing disabilities and won't have any impact without your help. ---- DEAF WATCH NEWSLETTER GETS UNITED NATIONS RECOGNITION Deaf Watch Newsletter was officially recognized August 13 at the United Nations Disabled Persons Bulletin as one of the participants in last year's United Nations Disabled Persons Day which took place on December 3, 1997. Thursday's bulletin will be posted shortly at this location: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/disb973.htm Pleased and excited to have some of the most dedicated members of the disability community helping me out with the newsletter. Dorothy Balesh, Harry Phillips, and William Cross all served their purposes to promote the community of people with hearing disabilities. Special thanks go to Stephen Hardy, Dorothy Balesh, Thor Halvorsen, Thomas Schmokel, and Stephen Sutton for helping out with Deaf Watch Newsletter's special advocacy projects. Even though most of us live very far from each other, we remained united as one and got the job done! As of today, we remain united to help people with disabilities. This recognition furthermore strengthens our bond. This year the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center will participate the 1998 United Nations Disabled Persons Day. ---- PIRG'S HIGHER EDUCATION PROJECT SEEKS YOUR HELP Urge your Representative to vote against cuts to financial aid! The House labor-health-education appropriations bill for FY 1999 contains significant cuts to student financial aid programs. Though it increases funding for Pell Grant and TRIO, the bill cuts or eliminates allocations for other important financial aid programs. Under this bill, the Perkins Loan program, SSIG, and other programs are all cut or eliminated. Because the bill has encountered significant opposition among House Republican moderates, a floor vote has been delayed until after the August recess. Rep. Bob Livingston, Appropriations Committee Chair, has admitted that there are currently not enough votes to ensure the bill s passage on the floor of the House. The bill was previously approved by the Appropriations Committee on a 32-23 party-line vote. Opposition of Republican moderates gives time Many House Republican moderates oppose the elimination of funding for the Summer Youth jobs program and significant cuts to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). There is also opposition to funding cuts for Goals 2000 and a provision that would require parental consent before teens could receive family planning services. However, it is possible that the House could approve an amended bill that addresses moderates concerns, while maintaining cuts to financial aid. Without more pressure from constituents, it is unlikely that financial aid funds will be restored. Phone calls are urgently needed to push representatives into supporting financial aid. Urge your representative to vote against any appropriations bill that -- * Does not match last year s Pell Grant increases. * Cuts funds for the Perkins Loan program. * Eliminates State Student Incentive Grants (SSIG). ========================================================================== The U.S. House of Representatives switchboard number is (202) 225-3121. Or call the Alliance to Save Student Aid s hotline: 1-800-574-4AID. Pass this alert on to students, faculty, and administrators. ---- MIAMI AREA INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES NEEDED AT THE ECUMENICAL PROGRAM FOR URBAN SERVICE (SION/EPRUS) AMERICORPS PROGRAM AmeriCorps Recruits Local Individuals With Disabilities For Service Project Inclusion, in collaboration with the Shalom Interfaith Outreach Network (SION), in Miami, FL, seeks qualified individuals with disabilities to become AmeriCorps members for the Ecumenical Program for Urban Service (EPRUS). Applications are being accepted through August 18, 1998. AmeriCorps is a national program that involves people of all ages and backgrounds in strengthening America’s communities through service. Project Inclusion links persons with disabilities to a local AmeriCorps site, such as the EPRUS program as well as helps local AmeriCorps programs to recruit and support qualified persons with disabilities into service positions. (Project Inclusion is sponsored by the Corporation of National Service and is managed through the national office of United Cerebral Palsy in Washington, DC.) The SION/EPRUS AmeriCorps program is currently seeking AmeriCorps members with a strong ethic of service to serve the children and youth of South Florida and the Florida Keys. What is the SION AmeriCorps Program? The SION AmeriCorps program seeks to help the children and youth of Miami and South Florida through helping local community organizations to realize their full potential. During the 1998-99 program year, the SION program is the sponsoring organization for the SION/EPRUS AmeriCorps program which has members at several youth programs throughout Miami(Coconut Grove, Little Haiti, and Marathon), Dade Marine Institute (a School Success/Department of Juvenile Justice Program), and a music mentoring program (Little Havana) that works with children and youth throughout Miami. Program Goals: Academic Skills for Children and Youth AmeriCorps members will serve as reading coaches to at-risk children and youth, resulting in a substantial increase in the child's reading ability. Youth Service-Learning Projects AmeriCorps members will help to implement service-learning projects which help youth to give back to the community, while enhancing the self actualization and human-development process of the person doing the service. These service-learning projects will also help to make our community a better, richer place to live. Enrichment Activities AmeriCorps members will lead 100 children and youth in out-of school enrichment activities, resulting in the formation of positive relationships with adults and peers, increased self-esteem and skills competency and decreased negative behavior. Community Partnerships AmeriCorps members will form partnerships with schools and community resources to support the implementation of programs to address needs in student suspension, truancy, tutoring, parental involvement and core values development, resulting in increased success of the youth affected by the program. Why Become a SION AmeriCorps member? *AmeriCorps members receive a $8,340 living allowance and health coverage. After completing a year of service, they receive an education award of $4,725 to pay off student loans or to finance college, graduate school or vocational training. In addition to these benefits, AmeriCorps members learn new skills, acquire qualities of leadership, and gain a sense of satisfaction from taking on responsibilities that directly affect peoples' lives. Most importantly, Corps members receive the satisfaction that comes from making a difference in communities and improving the lives of citizens in the Community. For more information on the program contact Steven Benjamin at shalomzone@bigfoot.com or call (305) 443-0880 ---- BIG INDUSTRY'S COMMENTS ON FCC'S PROPOSED SECTION 255 RULES RELEASED Below are selected industry comments on FCC's proposed Sec. 255 rules. Congress intended these rules to make possible greater accessibility of telecommunications equipment and services for people with disabilities. The reality may not turn out as intended if industry has its way. The backlash against independence and full participation has already begun. It is not too late to stop these critters. Reply comments from the positions below are still being accepted by the FCC. You can even e-mail them in. Go to http://www.fcc.gov and go to the disability issues task force home page there to find the details. The full text of all of the comments summarized below are available and completely accessible to all. Let's not end up as roadkill on the information super highway. MOTOROLA (annual sales $28 Billion) --They have suggested to the FCC to fine people with disabilities and forbid them from filing complaints in the future if during the complaint process confidential information is disclosed. MULTIMEDIA TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION (MMTA) They assert that the FCC should rely on market mechanisms as primary enforcer of Sec 255. MMTA also said the FCC should require people with disabilities to complain to employer first if the equipment is not accessible in the workplace. BELL SOUTH (telco with net income about $500 million a quarter): --Says they are not responsible for lack of disability access if they didn't assemble the product, even if their name is on the product. --They only want complaints to be made to them by disabled customers, no one else and must be made within two years (presumably of product release). INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY COUNCIL ( representing more than forty company members in addition to trade associations) --Says that manufacturers do not have control over software features and functions in their equipment so they should not be responsible for accessibility defects. --They also state that if another company makes 'accessible equivalent products' then a company has met its obligations. BRIGHTPOINT (net income first quarter 98 $8.8 million) --Says they don't think they should be responsible for accessibility even though they do light assembly, programming and labeling of products. BUSINESS SOFTWARE ALLIANCE (BSA) Includes IBM, Microsoft, Compaq and DEC, and Intuit, Intel, Adobe, Symantic. --They say "it's wholly impracticable and contrary to the public interest" to include voice mail, email, etc. under Sec. 255. CONSUMER ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION (CEMA) --They state FCC doesn't have statutory authority to promulgate mandatory rules for 255. --They also stated that the financial resources of the parent company shouldn't be considered to make things accessible if readily achievable. --They also want the FCC to require complainants with disabilities to contact manufacturer first. CELLULAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (CTIA) --They want the costs associated with complying with any FCC's regulations for 255 as part of the determination of a readily achievable product. --They also wants Congress to allocate money to them to make the network accessible for disability! NEXTEL Communications Company (98 first quarter revenues of $327 million) --They want regulations that make them "free from frivolous and harassing complaints". PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (PCIA) --They want readily achievable to include an `intricate set of factors' that go beyond current ADA definition. LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES (annual sales exceed $26 Billion) -- They say definition of disability should be only people who experience, as a result of physical or mental impairments, difficulty accessing telecommunications equipment and CPE and not use the ADA definition. SBC (NET income $912 million first quarter of 98) --They see no difference between "accessible to" and "usable by" (i.e., as long as the product is accessible, there is no need to have supported documentation or technical support that addresses needs of people with disabilities). TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (TIA) (representing over 900 large and small companies) --They said the FCC should require people with disabilities who are directly aggrieved by a perceived lack of accessibility to go to manufacturer first, not the FCC; --They add that FCC should require people with disabilities with complaints to provide detailed information about his or her disability; --Also that the FCC should require people with disabilities with complaints to report what steps they have taken to obtain an accessible product before filing a complaint with the FCC; --TIA predicts dire consequences if they are forced to make things accessible for people with disabilities under current FCC proposed rules: - "[Sec. 255 compliance will] damage the innovation process", and "distort industry towards inefficient small firms", and "encourage the export of design and manufacturing employment to overseas". --They say Sec. 255 is "`excessive regulation" which will have a "`devastating impact on manufacturers". UNIDEN (with annual sales of $87 Billion) --says that telecom manufacturers should not have to use the Access Board's guidelines because they "do not offer the level of specificity nor the level of detail required by the manufacturers". Note: Uniden was not at the table during the TAAC process. (Special thanks to Kelly Pierce kelly@ripco.com for bringing this to our attention) ---- HEY DEAF RV'ERS. THIS SMALL NEW MEXICO RV SITE CATERS TO DEAF RV'ERS Enjoy the great outdoors and support the Deaf Community! A special rate of $18.50 per night is a great deal! For each night, $6.00 will be donated to the new Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center in Santa Ana, California. Visit and bookmark the website at http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/8449/ ---- 'CORRUPT POLITICIANS PROTECTION BOARD' IDEA MUST BE SQUASHED! Congressional Reform Briefings August 3, 1998 Provision in appropriations bill would create a "Corrupt Politicians' Protection Board" to help shield Members of Congress from federal prosecution. House floor vote expected tomorrow or Wednesday on Hutchinson Amendment to remove "Corrupt Politicians' Protection Board" from House Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary appropriations bill (H.R. 4276). Please call your House Member to support the Hutchison Amendment. U.S. Representatives Joe McDade (R-PA) and John Murtha (D-PA) have attached a provision to the House Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary appropriations bill -- dubbed the "Corrupt Politicians' Protection Board" -- which could help corrupt Members of Congress interfere with federal prosecutions against them. The McDade-Murtha provision would establish a Justice Department "Misconduct Review Board" with extraordinarily broad subpoena powers to demand secret information about ongoing federal criminal investigations, and to harass federal prosecutors. Information, evidence, and testimony obtained by the Board -- including grand jury testimony, investigative files, identities of potential witnesses, and information covered by the Privacy Act -- would presumably leak to a Member of Congress facing federal prosecution, because the Board would have two non-voting Republicans and Democrats appointed by congressional leaders, and Board meetings would be open to the public. "The Corrupt Politicians' Protection Board is a corrupt Washington politician's dream come true," said Gary Ruskin, director of the Congressional Accountability Project. "It would help corrupt politicians and other politically powerful defendants to interfere with and to subvert federal prosecutions against them." Rep. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) has announced that he will offer an amendment to strip the McDade-Murtha provision, the so-called "Citizens Protection Act of 1998," from the House Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary appropriations bill (H.R. 4276). The House is expected to vote on the Hutchinson Amendment on Tuesday, or perhaps Wednesday. "We urge citizens to call their House Members in support of the Hutchison Amendment to prevent Washington politicians from enacting the Corrupt Politicians Protection Board," Ruskin said. Attorney General Janet Reno will urge President Clinton to veto the entire Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary appropriations bill if it includes the McDade-Murtha provision. Last week, Associate Attorney General Raymond Fisher said that the provision is "fatally flawed" and that it could have "disastrous" effects. Fisher said that the Board could intervene "on the basis of vague allegations against department attorneys and would enable the targets of investigations, and their attorneys, to obtain access to all of the evidence obtained by the government, including the identities of potential witnesses or confidential informants." The McDade-Murtha provision is opposed by Attorney General Janet Reno, FBI Director Louis Freeh, the National Sheriff's Association, FBI Agents Association, Federal Criminal Investigators Association, National Association of Attorneys General, National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, and other law enforcement groups. Please call or e-mail your House Member today or tomorrow in support of the Hu tchinson Amendment to strike the McDade-Murtha provision (Title VIII) from the House Commerce, Justice, State, Judiciary appropriations bill (H.R. 4276). The Congressional switchboard phone is (202) 224-3121. For e-mail addresses of Members of Congress, see the Electronic Activist at http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist/. If you call today, please also voice your support for the Shays-Meehan campaign finance reform bill. The Congressional Accountability Project is a congressional reform group affiliated with Ralph Nader. For more information about the McDade-Murtha provision, the Hutchinson Amendment, or other congressional reform issues, send e-mail to gary@essential.org or see http://www.essential.org/orgs/CAP/CAP.html. Gary Ruskin | gary@essential.org | Congressional Accountability Project | 1611 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite #3A | Washington, DC 20009 Phone: (202) 296-2787 | Fax (202) 833-2406 ---- DEAF WATCH NEWSLETTER WILL SOON ASSIST WITH CHOOSING MLM BUSINESSES There is still much confusion among members of the community with hearing disabilities over which multi level marketing (MLM) programs work for people like us. Some are purely fraudulent and others are good models. Starting October, Deaf Watch Newsletter will be in the business of endorsing MLM businesses and encouraging people with hearing disabilities to explore acceptable MLM programs. Deaf Watch Newsletter has already decided on who will have the first endorsement. Deaf Watch Newsletter met with people involved in that particular MLM business earlier this week and determined they have good potential on getting people with hearing disabilities off the welfare rolls. The rules are simple. 1) No buy-in costs. 2) Offer physical products. (Membership packages are NOT considered products) 3) Monthly commission plan. 4) No complaint files in Better Business Bureau or Federal Trade Commission. 5) Operators must not have pushed any illegal schemes in the past. 6) Not required but will seriously consider MLM's that actively engage in anti-fraud education. (Deaf Watch Newsletter will even help MLM businesses locate and obtain free materials for their anti-fraud education plans) The establishment of this special program remedies what is seen as great confusion with the Deaf operated multi level marketing businesses in the eyes of the community with hearing disabilities who view them as out of touch with reality, fraudulent, suspicious, and bad examples for people with hearing disabilities. Deaf Watch Newsletter will be offering guidance to people with hearing disabilities in their quest to be independent and free from the welfare rolls and to help them seek productive lifestyles and to become contributors to society. ---- 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 ---- Current job list on the Jobs for Deaf page. Carson City, Nevada (2-23-98) Framingham, Massachusetts (3-2-98) Nationwide USA (3-22-98) Santa Fe, New Mexico (4-9-98) ----------------- Letters I have recently heard of several job opportunities in Southern California. If you are looking, please call me ASAP. I can be reached at 909-986-1251. Later, Mark Mehringer President, CCD ============================================================== 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 : 42 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. Thank you. =============================================================== Deaf Workers of Orange County will continue to aggressively pursue justice, fairness, and equality for the Deaf Community. =============================================================== Education is the best gift that lasts a lifetime! 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