Identity Politics Gone Wild

The Weekly Standard is out. Just like I said it would a few weeks ago. It has the title "Identity Politics Gone Wild." The author of the article made a reference to my past blog regarding an email response about my blogging Deaf Republicans website.

Like black underclass youngsters who diss their more studious classmates as "acting white," some deaf activists denigrate deaf people who use eloquent English as unacceptably "hearing." Mike McConnell, a 1991 Gallaudet graduate and active in the nearly oxymoronic (given the bent of Deaf culture) Deaf Republicans, posted this email he received from a deaf activist on his blog Kokonut Pundits: "Deaf Republicans website is not written by deaf people. its language is too hearing and it is written by Republican party."

I warned the author to expect back lashes from the Deaf community (and here in DeafDC) and needless to say when her editors read her article they were more or less "horrified" at what went on out there and how people or protesters, per the article, who constantly portrayed themselves as being the "victims." Or are they? Who are the real victim here?

Good or bad? A matter of difference in perspsective here? A little bit of harsh truth here or there? Incorrect factoids? Or too much of a myth, labeling or painting it with a broad brush here? Was the article a good one? Or a bad one? A bit of both? Depends on who you ask I would guess.

The Strong Silent Type

Ya'll must be wondering. Where's my Kokonut Pundits fix? If you must know I am putting in more of my time working out in preparation for my strongman competitions this year. I plan to attend a couple of those events and plan to video tape them as well.

I began working out about 7 weeks ago and I'm into my 8th week right now after a 7 month layoff. You can see all the details of my progress over at my Deaf Strongman blog including a subtitled video of my 620lb tire flip I did in my backyard yesterday.

There are so many things I can do and I can't do all them at the same time. If I'm going to devote more time like getting myself prepared for my strongman competitions, it means cutting back on a few things like my Kokonut Pundits blogging. But this doesn't mean there won't be any Kokonut Pundits blogs. There will be. Just less of it for now. I just need less distraction right from all of the silliness (yes, they're getting a bit silly out there now. You know what I mean) so I can concentrate on my working out and practicing with my strongman implements which I am currently ramping up with greater intensity and weight. This includes putting on additional bodyweight to get to 205lbs and eventually to 230lbs perhaps by next year. If I ever going to flip an 1000+ lb tire, I need to get my bodyweight up to 205lbs which I am only 17 lbs away.

And, if you're deaf or hard of hearing and like to lift weights? Do you think you have the "nads" to compete in the first ever North America Deaf Strongman (NADS) Games? Check it out and see the updated website on plans for 2008 with DeafNation.

Also, I have to do my annual pack test to get ready for next week for re-certification of my red card for forest fire fighting where I have been on 4 differents fires so far. But I may have to forego the actual fire fighting this year and next because it takes so much out of you and that puts a damper in my strongman preparation like it did last year when after I returned from fire fighting in August for 3 weeks worth and was totally worn afterwards.

But a few weeks ago I went with a crew for a 3-day prescribed fire down on the Guadulupe mountains in southern New Mexico amongst all the cactuses, prickly pears, and all plant things that have those pokey and painful barbs. And I did get injured by those thorns, too. My right poked-in knee is nearly healed after two weeks. It was my first prescribed fire and I was able to go since my red card for fire fighting was still good until my next pack test.




Arriving at the site to hike out to do some presciption burns.




Watching the line with other crew fire fighters to make sure the fire doesn't escape the fire line.




Can you find a live rabbit in this picture? The rabbit is just sitting there in the cool black burn. Here's a link to a bigger picture. Note the prickly pear cactuses.



Here I am making sure the fire doesn't cross the fire line which would be the road seen here along with other fire fighters. This was where smoke would get so thick you'd have to cover up your face to breathe a bit better. My eyes would water, too. Lots of standing around here and we bump up the line every 50 or 60 feet to monitor the fire's progress. We would watch and listen for the call "Bump Up!" and we move up another 50 feet. Sometimes the smoke would be so thick you'd have to listen for the call. I'd monitor my field radio and listen in to the chatter of the fire's progress.



An occasional torching of fire would happen during a prescription burn and would not last very long. Not a big deal. Everything was a success over the 3 days of prescibed burn.


Now, you may be asking yourself what is a presecription burn? Go here and learn.

Until the next time. Stay strong.

Article on Gallaudet, the Protest and Protesters

An article will come out soon either next week or the week after that that will discuss Gallaudet, the protest and the protesters in the The Weekly Standard magazine. The magazine is a very popular conservative political magazine whose magazine has a weekly circulation of 83,000 per week where the magazine is published 48 times a year. The article on Gallaudet, the protest and protesters may be available online but for sure will be available in the printed format at your nearest store that carries the magazine.

Several deaf and hard of hearing people who are familiar with the protest were interviewed. Some were interviewed to understand better what Deaf culture was like. Why the protest happened. And what other people on the outside are seeing/reading about the protest. All this boils down to is a matter of perspective. Either you can gripe about it and complain, or do something about it by helping educate people instead and create a better understanding. Despite that, it doesn't necessarily mean that our post-protest, positive pro-active response will erase the pictures or the feelings of what people on the outside saw about the protest that day when the campus was forcibly and illegally shut down. There is such a thing as "first impression". And you cannot blame them for that.

The Great Global Warming Swindle - Part 1 of 8. CAPTIONED!

This global warming video isn't captioned or subtitled so I decided to do this myself using BubblePLY as part of my own captioning work. And why not? There are some 15 million people here in the United States who are severely to profoundly deaf and having a video with no captioning would prove fruitless and of no use to them. A message would be lost by those who cannot even access the video and learn more about the big global warming swindle by scientists, politicians and activists. Even in the United Kingdom there are a few million people who are deaf as well. Not to mention many more millions around the world who do understand the English language and benefit from captioned videos.

If the producers had the common sense, intelligence and foresight they would've added the subtitle to the video which would have enabled them to reach more people who otherwise cannot hear or are unable to understand the spoken words in the video. It doesn't take much brains to figure out that there are millions of deaf and hard of hearing people out there who prefer to have captioned/subtitled videos.

I spent several hours listening to this video, typing in the spoken words in my digital Notepad and adding them into BubblyPLY as captions for Part 1 of 8 of a video clip found on YouTube called "The Great Global Warming Swindle." It's a 75-minute video that came out recently a few weeks ago in the United Kingdom. My subtitling work took several hours for just 9 minutes worth of captioning. The captioned work produced by me is probably 98 to 99 percent accurate. So, if you spot an error or see that a word need to be added or removed, please let me know and I'll correct it if it matches the audio portion. I plan to add captioning for the rest of the 7 other parts as I go along. Not a guarantee here since it does taxes my time doing this. So, enjoy this Part 1 of 8.

If you want to donate money as show of appreciation for my work go here.


THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING SWINDLE - PART 1 of 8.

Poll: Death Penalty be allowed for Deaf Person?

Here's a poll question. Should the death penalty be allowed for a Deaf person such as Daphne Wright? This is not about a retarded person but simply a Deaf person who is accused of committing an atrocious murder and dismemberment. If proved guilty, should she be treated like any other hearing person who gets the guilty verdict for murder and face the same death penalty punishment? Why or why not?

Death Penalty be allowed for Deaf Person - Daphne Wright?
	Yes.
	No.
	I don't know.
pollcode.com free polls

Watch Matt Hamill Fight on YouTube

Grab this 8 minute long video of Matt Hamill's 4-minute fight against Rex Holman before it disappears. At the end of the fight Matt was interviewed by Mr. Rogan where Matt described the techniques he used and how he was pleased with his performance and at the end of the video he says,

Matt "The Hammer" Hamill will be here for a long, long time!

Indeed. Let's hope so.

Watch Matt Hamill Fight on UFC Demand for $1.99

If you missed the UFC PPV fight a few niights ago or those who paid their $40 bucks hoping to see the Hamill vs Holman fight on PPV (it didn't show) you can now watch the rest of the fighters that didn't show up on PPV for $1.99 on UFC Demand via through your computer. Click here or on the picture above to link to the UFC On Demand video.

CFlannagan, who is deaf, said about the fight as he watched the 4 minute long video clip.

Watched the match.. hardly "worst striking ever" at all based on many MMA matches I've seen so that Sherdog guy is an idiot. Hamill dominated the fight. Funny to watch Hamill do some new moves.. spinning back kick for one! Well worth $1.99, IMHO.

So, instead of spending $40 bucks for a PPV cable fight, you can now pick and choose which of the fighters to watch on UFC Demand for only $1.99.

Go ahead and watch it and give me your opinion of Matt's fight. Has he improved?

Hat tip: CFlannagan!

UPDATE: See pictures of the fight.

Matt Hamill doing the "Superman" thing.

Rex Holman in pain.

Matt Hamill punching away.

Matt Hamill slugging at Holman's face.

Matt Hamill's patented "ground and pound" before the fight is called off.

Matt Hamill wins!

See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

Matt Hamill Follow-up Winning Fight Report

Matt Hamill won his 3rd UFC fight card last night in the first round with 1 mintue left in a 5-minute fight per round. It was supposed to be a 3-round fight but with Matt's wrestling ability he was able to take Rex Holman down and did his patented ground and pound for a win.

This event wasn't televised for those who paid for the PPV event hoping to see Matt though I didn't pay for it this time. Though from reports elsewhere it was reported that it was Matt Hamill who drew the biggest applause from the sold-out UFC crowd of 18,000 fans that night after his win.

The non-televised portion of the card was filled with three submission victories. Jamie Varner, Matt Hamill and Jon Fitch all won via rear-naked choke, with Hamill, the UFC's only deaf fighter, drawing the biggest applause from the sold-out crowd.

Interesting.

Matt's win was probably clinched early on with his "Superman" flying punch to Rex Holman's nose. Enough to slow Rex down and make him realize that he was fighting a serious fighter.

His opponent was former Ohio State Division I national wrestling champion and Columbus native Rex Holman. But it was Hamill who enjoyed the overwhelming support of the 18,000 fans in attendance at Nationwide Arena.

Hamill ignited the action early by landing a flying "Superman" punch that left a cut on the bridge of Holman's nose. Holman countered with kicks to Hamill's thighs as Hamill advanced.

The two former wrestlers clinched only twice, with neither fighter overpowering the other. Hamill pressed his boxing advantage with snapping jabs and straights to Holman's nose, while Holman came up short with awkward upper cuts to counter.

As the first round neared three minutes, Holman, 38, appeared winded. Hamill connected with a straight that dropped his opponent, who clutched onto Hamill from the mat. But Holman couldn't pull the better-conditioned fighter down and Hamill unloaded strikes to the side of Holman's head.

The fight was stopped by the referee at four minutes of the first round with Holman lying prone, Hamill straddling his back, punching Holman's head.

Would love to see the video clip of Matt doing the "Superman" punch thing.

Although in one report it says that Matt is still planning for the 2008 U.S. Olympic (not Deaflympics) hoping to get a spot on the wrestling team.

Hamill also plans to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic wrestling team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

This is something I'll have to confirm and verify if this is the case because I believe the discussion between Matt and I earlier last year had to do with contract with the UFC which may prevent him from doing the U.S. Olympic with a stipulation that he cannot do other sports which may cause him to injure himself which may prevent him from competiting in an UFC fight. Also, the tryout for the 2008 wrestling team takes place in Las Vegas this year.

The 2007 U.S. World Team Trials will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, June 9-10. This event will determine the 2007 U.S. World Team that will compete at the 2007 World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan in all three Olympic wrestling styles: men�s freestyle, men�s Greco-Roman and women�s freestyle.

But I hope I'm wrong or that things have changed where Matt can do both. Represent the U.S. and continue with his UFC fights. We'll see. In fact, an added factor of being well known in the UFC fighting arena may give Matt that extra intimidation factor when he (and if) wrestles.


See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

Matt Hamill Wins UFC Fight in Round 1

Matt Hamill wins his 3rd UFC fight (2-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC). From Sherdog:

First three minutes displays some of the worst striking from both fighters you will ever see in the cage. Hamill is cut under his eye but it doesn't seem serious. Hollman looks completely gassed. Holman shoots but Hamill stuffs the takedown. Hamil takes down the fatigued fighter and not long after gets his back. Hamill unloads with a series of punches that forces the referee to halt the action at 4:00 of the first round.

Matt wins it in the first round with 1 minute left to spare. It may have been an ugly one but when it comes to ground and pound, Matt takes it to the ground with punishing results. Though I wasn't able to see the PPV fight but Sherdog pulls it through and give us a play by play update for all fighters. Be sure to scroll down to the see the ongoing results of other fighters.

Congrats to Matt on his continued UFC wins and the first Deaf UFC fighter moving his way quickly to the top.

UPDATE: Read the recent follow-up report in today's blog after this one.


See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

Show Me the Captions!

Guest blogger, Curious Eyes (Patty Albee), tells a story that there are some people who will bend over backward for a deaf customer when asked about a television CC quality. Read on.


The other day, I went shopping for a 20” flat screen color TV, the analog kind. After doing my research on ShopLocal.com and Froogle, I decided to head for my friendly neighborhood Target store for a TruTouch TV on sale for $88.

You can tell what’s coming next, can’t you?

It can be such a hassle buying a TV when you’re deaf and only watch it with closed captions. First of all, I have never, ever seen any kind of audio-visual store where the captions were already on display. You have to ask for them. I estimate that at least 8 times out of 10, the salespeople have no idea what I’m talking about, and on the rare occasions they did, they haven’t the foggiest notion how to turn them on. These days, the fancier digital TVs have a remote control that requires a 200-page manual and an engineering degree to operate.

On to my saga. I went to the demo model in Target and turned it on. Nice picture, natural colors. I turned around and said to the salesperson, “May I please have the remote control so I can turn on the closed captions?”

She said, “I don’t have a remote control.”

I said, “I need to look at the closed captions before I purchase this TV, to make sure it works and looks nice. How about if I open the box and use the remote control on the demo model?”

She said OK, and proceeded to open the box with her box cutter. Luckily, the remote control was in a Styrofoam compartment right on top of the box, and she helpfully put in a couple of batteries from her stash under the counter. After pressing a few buttons on the remote trying to find the captions function, she handed it to me and asked if I could get them started.

Right around then, the floor manager came around and asked if he could help. He was a polite, youngish man with his long hair in a braid, a pierced eyebrow dumbbell stud, and the requisite computer-nerd horn-rimmed glasses and Dockers. I’d gotten stalled at the first menu list which did not list captions, so he quickly found the second menu page and turned the caption setting to “C1.”

The three of us waited for the captions to start playing on the demo TV. Nothing happened. No captions. Why? Because all the demo TVs were playing a tape from a central computer. The tape was all advertising, which of course was not closed-captioned.

I asked the manager, “Can you bring a DVD player, hook it up, and play a DVD?” He sent the salesperson to fetch it.

Attach DVD player to the demo TV, seek and find the remote for that too, and press play. Nothing happened. No captions.

Fortunately, the floor manager, Britt it says on his name tag, is a smart guy and good at problem-solving. He detached the DVD player and re-attached the cables to a Magnavox TV/DVD combo set on the shelf above. The salesperson scurried to find a remote for that one too.

Press “play.” Nothing happened. No captions.

I suggested to the manager, “I think you need to set the language options on the DVD itself. Can you go back to the menu of the DVD and select language options?”

Luckily, Britt is a smart guy who can accept direction and not question my every move (subtext: “just because I’m deaf.”). He went back to the main menu of the DVD, clicked language options, and selected English subtitles.

Press “play.”

Finally! Houston, we have captions. Very nice captions too, big and clear, on the movie “Lord of the Rings.” You’ve got a sale, Target. I happily jogged the half-mile to the checkout counters with my 50-pound prize stuffed in the red plastic shopping cart.

I wasn’t keeping my eye on the clock during this rigamarole, but think probably a good half hour was spent on this the transaction. I would call it successful because, due to some patient and creative problem-solving, I actually got to see the captions before I took my new TV home.

As I drove to work in the brilliant February sunshine, I reflected on what went right today. The one thing that probably made the biggest difference was that I went to Target during my lunch hour. I’m lucky that there is one within a 10 minute drive of my workplace. Between 11 and noon on a Friday, the store was practically empty. Less than a handful of customers were wandering around the audio-visual department at that time of day. The salesperson and manager were not busy, and able to give me their undivided attention. I had enough experience with TVs, DVDs, and remote controls that I knew what to ask for and when. I was assertive enough to express my needs. The salesperson and manager were savvy enough to accommodate me. I was polite and gracious. All in all, a win-win situation for me and Target.

Oh, and the TruTouch TV? It’s all right. Remember, you get what you pay for. The best thing that can be said for it is that the picture is nice and clear. It has one annoying idiosyncrasy, though. If you want to get a channel that has two digits, like 24, you have to push a button that labeled “-/--/---“. You have to push that button until “--“ shows, and then push 24. You have to do this every time! What a pain in the rear, because my favorite channels are 12, 24, 41, 42, 45, 50, and 67. Oh well. Good thing I’m not a channel surfer.

Matt Hamill is to fight on PPV tonight.

Don't forget folks. Matt Hamill, the first Deaf UFC fighter, is to fight Rex Holman tonight at 10 PM Eastern Time on Pay Per View. However, the first 10 main fighters will be the first to fight on PPV guaranteed. The other 8 relatively unknown fighters will fight on PPV only if the previous 10 fighters finished their fight early giving enough time for Matt Hamill and Rex Holman to fight next. There are a total of 18 fighters in this "The Uprising" UFC 68 fight and Matt is in the 6th lineup.




For a larger picture click HERE.

See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

When Stalkers Do Their Thing - A Stark Reality.

Big news item of the day is the Mike "Did you spit on your first wife" Stark nutroot under the radar attack on Michelle Malkin by pretending to be a fan. Number one, anyone who throws questions like "Did you spit on your first wife?" after pushing past guards just to get close to Republican candidate George Allen is simply a sign of a loose canon. Secondly, by pretending to be a fan just so he could get a photograph with her and believes that she likes him is another symptom of neuron synapses not firing all in the right sequence. Perhaps it was Mike's subconscious desire to be a Republican conservative someday or in the fact secretly in love with Michelle Malkin? Then again what we have seen so far is not a good sign if one reads a recent study on stalking.

A recent study by the National Institute of Justice found that stalking was far more prevalent than anyone had imagined: 8% of American women and 2% of American men will be stalked in their lifetimes. That’s 1.4 million American stalking victims every year. The majority of stalkers have been in relationships with their victims, but a significant percentage either never met their victims, or were just acquaintances - neighbors, friends or co-workers.

Not very encouraging information.

There are various forms and ways of stalking nowadays with technology into consideration. One is email. Another is to make use of a person's website or blogsite's commenting section. Or easily set up his/her own blogsite/website to describe the details or success of a stalking event. and describes the encounter with such emblazoned title as "Look who loves me!"

A typical stalker is described as such:

The typical profile of delusional stalkers is that of an unmarried and socially immature loner, who is unable to establish or sustain close relationships with others. They rarely date and have had few, if any, sexual relationships. Since at the same time they are both threatened by and yearn for closeness, they often pick victims who are unattainable in some way; perhaps she is married, or has been the stalker’s therapist, clergyman, doctor or teacher. Those in the helping professions are particularly vulnerable to delusional stalkers, because for someone who already has difficulty separating reality from fantasy, the kindness shown by the soon-to-be victim, the only person who has ever treated the stalker with warmth, is blown out of proportion into a delusion of intimacy. What these stalkers cannot attain in reality is achieved through fantasy and it is for this reason that the delusion seems to be so difficult to relinquish: Even an imaginary love is better than no love at all.

An erotic fantasy of Mike Stark's?

These delusional stalkers have almost always come from a background which was either emotionally barren or severely abusive. They grow up having a very poor sense of their own identities. This, coupled with a predisposition toward psychosis, leads them to strive for satisfaction through another, yearning to merge with someone who is almost always perceived to be of a higher status (doctors, lawyers, teachers) or very socially desirable (celebrities). It is as if this stalker says, "Gee. If she loves me, I must not be so bad." As Dean Martin compellingly crooned what could be considered the delusional stalker’s anthem: "You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You." It is not unusual for this type of stalker to "hear" the soothing voice of his victim, or believe that she is sending him cryptic messages through others

Yet he get to post on Arianna Huffington's blogsite about his time at CPAC while flying under the radar to report his story. Nothing wrong with that but to pose next to someone by pretending to be a fan while holding up a book that Michelle wrote is not what you'd call being of sound mind.

SLCC - much ado about nothing?

Check out all the links, presentations, visual drawings, plans, pdf files and slides about the SLCC building. To me the building looks to be about strong visual relationships with the people and that includes ASL. Heck, the Video Phone by Sorenson helped many people realize the value of technology and communication just as Marlee Matlin did in her presentation on Capitol Hill a few days ago on the importance of VRS. Where would YOU be without technology?

Also, read, "If you build it, we should come" and The challenge of next-generation on campus technology.

Technology, it's coming and it'll just get better. And it'll greatly add to ASL making it more widespread than ever before.

Lou Ferrigno "Hulk" Stops by at Bloggers' Row

The famous deaf actor known for his role as the mighty and temperamental green guy known as "The Hulk" stopped by today at "Bloggers' Row" where the 34th Annual Conservative Political Action Conference is currently taking place. And guess which booth he stopped by and greeted one of the well known Conservative blogger?


Lou Ferrigno with blogger Michelle Malkin


Are you a Republican or a Conservative? Deaf? Hard of hearing? Have you yet visited the Deaf Republicans website? Have you read the website's excellent article on "The Captioning Hoax Exposed! "? If you haven't then you may be missing out on getting the right info regarding some of the captioning myths you may have heard before.

Matt Hamill Fight Reminder - "The Uprising"

Don't forget folks. Matt Hamill, the first Deaf UFC fighter, is to fight Rex Holman this upcoming Saturday, March 3 at 10 PM Eastern Time on Pay Per View. However, the fights depend on the first 5 bouts between 10 fighters whether each of them finish early before the 3 rounds are up leaving enough time for the rest of the lesser known fighters to fight on Pay Per View (PPV). There are a total of 18 fighters in this "The Uprising" UFC 68 fight and Matt is in the 6th lineup.



For a larger picture click HERE.

See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

A "Voice Off" Rule at Gallaudet?

This idea of establishing a "Voice Off" rule on the campus of Gallaudet University for signing professors wouldn't be a new one. In fact, this probably could be looked at as the "holy grail" for many Deaf supporters seeing that such a rule be enforced among professors at Gallaudet University. I know that Dr. Davila has requested his vlog readers/watchers to submit ideas (greatideas@gallaudet.edu) in his vlog (see transcript). But there's seem to be some indications lately over the past several months leading up to now that people are perhaps now suggesting ideas of a "Voice Off" policy to Dr. Davila and/or the Administrators. Before going further, how would this work in light of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (see here, here and here) ?

Would this move be prudent? How viable would this be? Must it be established and enforced in all classrooms? Would this move in fact violate Section 504 by those who want voice and sign? And lastly, what kind of a technology could help solve this by allowing information not be lost by students at Gallaudet University?

I can think of one.

North America Deaf Strongman Games 2008

The first ever North America Deaf Strongman Games (NADS Games) is being planned for 2008 with the hope that it'll take place at one of the DeafNation expos location in 2008. This website has been around since 2006 but do check out the recently updated NADS website with more pictures, links to videos, and information for those who think they have the balls to compete in the first ever strongman (and strongwoman!) games specifically for deaf and hard of hearing athletes. Are you strong enough to flip a 300, 500 or even an 800 pound tire? How about lifting those large, round concrete balls ("Atlas stones") that can weigh anywhere from 120 to 300 pounds from the ground to a platform 4 feet high? Do you think your legs and back are strong enough to pull a large 15,000 pound truck for a distance of 75 feet for the fastest time? You want to try your hands on this new and fun competition and perhaps win cash and prizes? Check out the website for more information and who to contact. Just like the website says, "Go NADS! Only those with enough balls can compete!"

Gallaudet in the Year 2017 - Part II. The Readers' Version

"Curious Eyes" wrote an interesting piece about what Gallaudet University could be like in the year 2017 in terms of long distance education. That is, have a Deaf professor teach where he/she lives and the students at Gallaudet University can still learn and interact completely with the professor on campus even while being two thousand miles apart. It is possible and video conferencing in classrooms have been going on for some time now. Technology today has gotten cheaper, easiser, and faster in its capability of supporting such notions that "Curious Eyes" presented. on the campus of Gallaudet University.

Now, for you readers out there. Put down what you think the campus would be like in 2017 in terms of technology used in the classrooms and outside around campus. Or put down some ideas you'd like see and think what technology be like in 2017 on the campus of Gallaudet University. Write it up and I'll put your futuristic prediction/hope here on the Kokonut Pundits' blogsite.



===================
One reader, Sherry, says:
"My ideal use of technology on a college campus is utilizing a laptop with a remote captioner captioning the Professor's talk and then a "save as" capability so I have my own notes."

GALLAUDET IN THE YEAR 2017 - by guest blogger "Curious Eyes"

Ever since I was a graduate student at Gallaudet, I’ve wanted to return and teach at my alma mater. Especially now, after 15 rewarding years in the field of my chosen career. There’s so much I could impart to earnest young professionals who want to contribute to the well-being of deaf children everywhere in the world.

So why don’t I apply for job teaching at Gallaudet?

The answer is: I loathe the East Coast. You couldn’t pay me enough money to live there. Seriously, not for a million dollars. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine for those of you who already live there. I’m not criticizing your choice. I have a few good friends in the area, and a bunch more that I haven’t met yet but who could be my friends if I lived there. The area is pretty. Lots of cool museums. The weather, well, let’s not go there.

On the other hand, I’m so in love with the West Coast. San Francisco, Tucson, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Boulder, Santa Fe, Bozeman, and many other Western cities are among the most beautiful on the planet, and I am fully qualified to say that. The lands west of the Rocky Mountains are unparalleled for their eye-popping scenery, awe-inspiring grandeur, and unique variety. Not only that, the West is a Mecca for progressive, forward-thinking, free-spirited individuals everywhere. I will live in the West until the day I die.

Guess a job as a professor at Gallaudet isn’t in the cards for me. Or is it?

Let’s fast-forward to the year 2017…

Hello again! I’ve finally realized my fondest dream – to be an adjunct professor at Gallaudet. How did that happen?

Distance education. To counter diminishing enrollment, Gallaudet began offering online courses for university credit a few years ago. It collaborates with graduate schools around the country who have deaf education, counseling, psychology, and rehabilitation departments, and with local communities that have K-12 schools, community colleges and universities, and service agencies for the deaf. Here’s how it works.

To teach my “classes,” I go to a local university and use its distance learning lab and audio-visual technology (ATV) staff to videotape the course sessions. As an example, one of my classes is titled “Intellectual Assessment I.” Over the 18-week course, I demonstrate how to administer and interpret three major test batteries, the Wechsler, the Kaufman, and the Stanford-Binet. On the video, I lecture on the basics and then test deaf student volunteers from local schools with various hearing and communication abilities. The distance learning lab supplies technicians to edit video from several perspectives so that the essential parts of the session are visible. A second class I teach is “Psychoeducational Assessment,” a case-studies course that videos me throughout the entire assessment process from start to finish, including interviews, classroom observation, formal testing, interpretation, collaborating with teachers, and presenting the results at an IEP meeting. A third class is “Professional Report Writing,” in which I coach students to write clear, informative, and accurate psychological evaluation reports. This is a self-paced elective course.

Graduate students participate by taking online quizzes and exams in a proctored testing lab provided by the local university. They demonstrate their competence in the subject by going to the distance learning lab and having themselves filmed administering tests to other graduate students. They score test protocols in the proctored room which are scanned or faxed to my location for critique. Class discussions and participation are conducted through a web site that allows for asynchronous, multiple views via web cam.

Best of all, once the entire course has been filmed, it is archived and can be used again and again, and updated when needed. It’s like Pay Per View. The course can be shown to a group of students, or to a single student under supervision of another university professor. Gallaudet could conceivably earn royalties for the course into the indefinite future. Distance learning benefits working professionals also. The archived videos would make it possible to take the course without having to travel to DC or take time out from a full-time job.

Have you ever wanted to meet an audiologist or a speech teacher who is not an audist? Gallaudet’s deaf-centric graduate programs can be made even more integrated and collaborative. In my local area, I know both a Doctor of Audiology and a certified (CCC-SLP) Speech/Language Pathologist who are fluent in ASL and have many years of experience working with deaf children who use ASL as their primary language. I also know many skilled and experienced teachers of the deaf who are able to model academic ASL instruction. I’ve also met teachers of the deaf who use Visual Phonics, SEE, and Signed English to teach reading. They could be guest speakers in my online course too, or teach their own!

Best of all, people considered exemplars of their professions anywhere in the world can be hired to teach any of the core courses of the program, rather than being limited to those willing to live in the metro DC area. By opening up faculty membership to accomplished professionals world-wide, a greater diversity of ethnic groups, language preferences, types of students served, and communication modes could be achieved. Distance education could permit a variety of languages and communication modes to be added to the video, including foreign language subtitles, cued speech, signed English, ASL, or foreign sign languages, and it only needs to be done once. This would make the content accessible to any graduate student in the world.

My references are available on request…

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Kokonut Pundits' response: Great article! Who says that a professor has to be physically present at a Gallaudet University classroom? With technology today we have the capability to be able to teach class via long distance with video conferencing capabilities. That way we can still continue to live where we can live and teach at the same time! Imagine in a Gallaudet classroom in 2017 a large 15 ft long by 10 feet high very thin video screen against a wall facing a roomfull of students who can easily interact with the long-distance professor and vice versa.

Video of a Hearing and Deaf Man Conversing

What value would you give if you had the ability to sit down face to face at any time with a hearing person whether it's a business or personal meeting and not worry about communication issues if you are a deaf person? Here's a video of Jason Curry, CEO of sComm, Inc who is the developer, engineer, and manufacturer of the UbiDuo face-to-face communication device, go about his typical (yes, typical!) day on meeting with a hearing person. Jason has had more than 500 face-to-face encounters with hearing people using his UbiDuo communicator. In this video Jason enters a local coffee shoppe to meet up with a hearing buddy of his. There is no signing. No pen and paper. No third party. Absolutely no misunderstanding. And certainly no interpreters seeing/hearing what the private conversations are about between two individuals. Just the UbiDuo communicator and two people conversing with each other in real time while they type away and enjoy the day chatting, eating and joking. What kind of a price would that be worth to you if you had that power to converse with just about anybody? What kind of price would you put on the ability to do business with just about anybody? Think about that for a moment while you watch the video.