I made a contribution to CSUN!A week ago I came across to this Equity & Diversity website out of boredom at NCOD Library. When you enter the website you can see the link 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing' under Information for minority groups. But it was not 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing' a week ago, it was 'Hearing-Impaired'.
Truth be told, I was enraged to see a diverse university using politically wrong term to refer the people that cannot hear. I cannot leave it alone, because it is my university. So I emailed the website a long letter. I wish I save it so I can share with you. The email was pretty lengthy with throughout explanation of the term 'impaired' with thesaurus. Basically 'impair' is equivalent to 'damage', 'harm', 'spoil', 'weaken', 'blight', and 'mess up'.
My argument is that deaf and hard of hearing people are not damaged, harmed, spoiled, weakened, blighted or rather messed up. We are human beings with a missing sense that created barriers in communication. You deaf people know this stuff.
My email was not angry or criticism, it was rather a friendly and expressive letter. I asked the website to consider the change to fulfill its 'mission statement', if any. I explained a bit about how CSUN is so inclusive and diverse, and it can continue to be most diverse university in nation.
I received a response from the website saying that they cannot change it immediately, but it will be an item on their agenda to be considered. Meaning they did not promise me that they will change it.
Today, for some reason, it popped in my mind about the website. I returned to the homepage to find the link changed to 'Deaf and Hard of Hearing', and I am so ecstatic. I thought they probably not change it unless we take some drastic action like petition, have Dr. Roz the NCOD Director involved, or something like that. But it took just an email from one deaf student.
Of course I emailed the website again to give them my thanks. I wonder, is there any other CSUN websites that I can change? Hehe... :]
P.S.
NCOD just updated its website-- FINALLY! Check it out or be square.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Most Amusing Roll Call Ever
Tonight at Pols Sci 372 class, we went through the roll call. When it came to my last name, Hause, my female interpreter voiced "here" for me. The professor looked at us and realized that I am the one who use the interpreting service. Professor marked on her paper that I was present.
Then she asked me, "How do you pronounce your last name?"
"I have absolutely no idea," I replied.
Then she asked me, "How do you pronounce your last name?"
"I have absolutely no idea," I replied.
Back to the Past
today i had to make a call to Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf on behalf of NCOD Library. i called through ip-relay but it was busy so i decide to use tty for first time in years.
it worked just fine. when i began to type, i type so fast that the person on end of line asked me to repeat. it was neat to use tty for once a while. in the end we talked all right and i got what i needed.
it made me realize that tty is an ancient device for the deaf people. we are more integrated with the society through mobile communicators like blackberry and sidekick. but we, as deaf people, can't forget how hard Robert Weitbricht forged to invent this machine that served deaf people for decades.
it worked just fine. when i began to type, i type so fast that the person on end of line asked me to repeat. it was neat to use tty for once a while. in the end we talked all right and i got what i needed.
it made me realize that tty is an ancient device for the deaf people. we are more integrated with the society through mobile communicators like blackberry and sidekick. but we, as deaf people, can't forget how hard Robert Weitbricht forged to invent this machine that served deaf people for decades.
Another Quote
Finally there is something I disagree with Helen Keller.
She said," Blindness separates people from objects. Deafness separates people from people."
Look at me, a good student at world's largest mainstream Liberal Arts university. I am not being separated from people-- hearing or deaf. I bet you Helen will take her quotation back when she rises from the graveyard and visit CSUN.
A Quote..
"The purpose of this University is to liberate the human mind and spirit- to break down barriers. By being in contact with deaf students, hearing students at CSUN receive a liberating education."
- David Benson, former CSUN Vice President of Academic Affairs
- David Benson, former CSUN Vice President of Academic Affairs
As a Bicyclist Myself..
i have been thinking about the idea of less cars and more bicycles. this morning i rode on my bike to work at NCOD library. it is ten minutes ride. it is so easy that anybody can do it. at CSUN i often see aged professors ride on their bikes. i know a deaf and legally blind girl who always ride her bike around in Northridge. there is bicyclists' community here that people often overlooked.
bicycles are obviously environment-friendly, as opposed to cars. and people know it. people have been talking about global warming. yet they keep on driving. even after watching 'An Inconvenient Truth' they goes to food store down the block by car. CARS ARE NOT WORTH EARTH'S HEALTH
at Amsterdam with my own eyes, i fell in love with their traffic system inside the city. majority of people use bicycle as their primary transportation. there's always a bike in my sight. there are traffic lights for bicycles too. there are streets that's designed for bicycles only. i didn't see any police cars but police bicycles. indeed Amsterdam is the model city for world cities to look up to.
i can go on ranting about how bicycle is much better than car. i can write books on that. but i think i will leave it as it is. i better go back to workin' :]
bicycles are obviously environment-friendly, as opposed to cars. and people know it. people have been talking about global warming. yet they keep on driving. even after watching 'An Inconvenient Truth' they goes to food store down the block by car. CARS ARE NOT WORTH EARTH'S HEALTH
at Amsterdam with my own eyes, i fell in love with their traffic system inside the city. majority of people use bicycle as their primary transportation. there's always a bike in my sight. there are traffic lights for bicycles too. there are streets that's designed for bicycles only. i didn't see any police cars but police bicycles. indeed Amsterdam is the model city for world cities to look up to.
i can go on ranting about how bicycle is much better than car. i can write books on that. but i think i will leave it as it is. i better go back to workin' :]
What a Waste
know what bothers me the most? newspaper.
don't get me wrong, I'm addicted to reading news, editorials, and what else. the word newspaper means the news that are put on papers. washington post, la times, ny times, usa today, wall journal, and numerous paper companies circulate their newspaper around the nation on daily basis. not to mention outside united states newspaper companies.
in the middle sections, there are ads. about as thick as news, sports, entrainment, business sections-- combined.
picture this, on daily basis people throw away newspaper after done reading an article or two, sometimes whole section. who read the ads, besides penny-savers? who need more ads when there are already ads on rightside bar, leftside bar, top side, and between paragraphs on website articles? enough commericals on tv, or no?
there are same articles from those newspaper as to those on websites. you don't have to pay monthly for newspaper when there are same articles-- and even more articles online. by reading articles via online, papers are being saved.
this is terribly waste of papers. earth suffered too much already. we can do something about it by stop using newspapers and turn to internet.
First Entry
Reader's Note: The entry is old, I wrote it on other blog site. But I'm posting the old entries into here.
My new year's resolution along with exercise more and eat with better diet, was to get back into blogging. So here am I. :] 2 weeks late, I know, I know! Today I returned to NCOD to work in Library. And oh boy, I do miss NCOD! CSUN won't start until Jan. 29th. The top reason I miss NCOD is the politics that I am involved with.
When I was out at Arizona for winter break, just 2 weeks in Arizona and I got so bored there. I know almost no one there, and my parents are living with senior citizens. Enough said.
I definitely am looking forward to this semester. The classes I registered months ago are very exciting-- Deaf Theatre 405, 2 Political Science classes (Adm and Great Questions about Pols), Astronomy Lab and online Astronomy class. I am trying something new this semester with Real Time Captioning. It is like the CC you see on TV, only that the captionist is in classroom with laptop. The captionist types down the teacher's speech, verbatim. I had TypeWell captionists before, it is not fast enough as Real Time Captioning. I'll see how well the service is for me. Of course I have interpreters for other classes. :]
Deaf CSUNians can be little dull for me after one semester of hardworking, but I am looking forward to big events that we are planning all along. Miss Deaf CSUN Pageant, JASK (Just ASK! Deaf Awareness month in April), and Spring Banquet in May. This semester should be lighter on me since I worked hard in first semester to get the ball rolling for various committees, then this semester I will be able to focus on other items on agenda. Oh did I mention that I am Deaf CSUNians Vice President?
Other reason to look forward: fraternity! I grew to be fond of Lambda Sigma Pi. I enjoyed very much as Sergeant-at-Arms and other positions I am holding.
It was a rumor that we have 20ish transfer students to CSUN this semester. I know for sure more than 15 students, but this is exciting. It is my dream to see CSUN with 500-plus deaf/hh students. No wonder I'm majoring in Political Science! ;]
My new year's resolution along with exercise more and eat with better diet, was to get back into blogging. So here am I. :] 2 weeks late, I know, I know! Today I returned to NCOD to work in Library. And oh boy, I do miss NCOD! CSUN won't start until Jan. 29th. The top reason I miss NCOD is the politics that I am involved with.
When I was out at Arizona for winter break, just 2 weeks in Arizona and I got so bored there. I know almost no one there, and my parents are living with senior citizens. Enough said.
I definitely am looking forward to this semester. The classes I registered months ago are very exciting-- Deaf Theatre 405, 2 Political Science classes (Adm and Great Questions about Pols), Astronomy Lab and online Astronomy class. I am trying something new this semester with Real Time Captioning. It is like the CC you see on TV, only that the captionist is in classroom with laptop. The captionist types down the teacher's speech, verbatim. I had TypeWell captionists before, it is not fast enough as Real Time Captioning. I'll see how well the service is for me. Of course I have interpreters for other classes. :]
Deaf CSUNians can be little dull for me after one semester of hardworking, but I am looking forward to big events that we are planning all along. Miss Deaf CSUN Pageant, JASK (Just ASK! Deaf Awareness month in April), and Spring Banquet in May. This semester should be lighter on me since I worked hard in first semester to get the ball rolling for various committees, then this semester I will be able to focus on other items on agenda. Oh did I mention that I am Deaf CSUNians Vice President?
Other reason to look forward: fraternity! I grew to be fond of Lambda Sigma Pi. I enjoyed very much as Sergeant-at-Arms and other positions I am holding.
It was a rumor that we have 20ish transfer students to CSUN this semester. I know for sure more than 15 students, but this is exciting. It is my dream to see CSUN with 500-plus deaf/hh students. No wonder I'm majoring in Political Science! ;]
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