IT IS TIME TO PROTEST AG BELL
"I am coming to Washington DC on July 24th to have a peaceful protest on front of Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia on July 27th and 28th. If you wish to participate, making up signs, etc, email me EgbertPress@mac.com. More information coming later on this post."
For more information, see:
http://blog.deafread.com/agbellxinfo/2007/07/05/the-big-bang-event/
Dr. Harold Johnson, a recent hire from Kent State University to chair the Deaf Education program at Michigan State University, invited Dr. Claudia Pagliaro to oversee the programming while Dr. Johnson focuses on grant writing.
Dr. Pagliaro's educational background:
According to a source, Dr. Pagliaro has received training in ASL/English Bilingual Education pedagogy from CAEBER (Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research). If this is true, then it is a great news for us! Hopefully, she will be a positive agent of change at MSU- pushing for ASL/English Bilingual program to take place of the unproven and misused educational philosophy, Total Communication.
Everybody, please give Dr. Pagliaro a warm welcome to our beautiful state!
This letter came from a member of the Michigan Signing Community...
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I know this probably wasn’t what the Deafhood presenters had in mind when they talked about Deafhood last Saturday but this fence issue has been a hot topic lately and has touched the core of each of our MSD Alumni “Deafhood centers”.
Remember when the Deafhood presenters said there was always that something that links each of us. Well – this is one. Every alumni I’ve talked to cringes each time we think about a chain link fence bisecting our own campus! A chain-link behind Fay Hall and Supt’s Cottage! How dare they! Lansing’s reason for this decision is this - Fay Hall and Supt’s Cottage no longer belongs to MSD and they can put a fence anywhere they want.
Dave Sanderson, MSD Administrator, is meeting with Lansing folks on Monday November 27th to talk about this very issue. We need letters from the community – sending a strong message that we do not want an ugly fence through campus.
Many of us feel strongly about NOT having the fence cut through the campus. If there has to be a fence – it should be out front by Court and Miller Roads. We also feel strongly that it should be cast iron/wrought iron with brick – and not chain link!
I’m attaching two letters. One I wrote and sent to Dave this morning. The other one was written by Dawn Taylor. Feel free to edit, copy, paste, add, delete whatever you want – and send your own letter to Dave Sanderson (sandersond@michigan.gov) BEFORE this Sunday November 26th.
If you have sample letters – feel free to send to others for ideas of what to say in the letter.
If we could get a whole bunch of letters to Lansing – they will see the error of their ways and reconsider the fence placement. The more letters – the better.
Thanks as always for your help! Forward to other alumni and friends of MSD. For those who work at MSD – share with other staff and students.
We will tackle other important projects soon – but first let’s beat this fence thing. Grin.
Again – your letter needs to be sent to Dave Sanderson (sandersond@michigan.gov) ASAP – before the meeting on Monday November 27th.
See below for sample letters:
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Sample Letter #1:
November 21, 2006 Dear Mr. Dave Sanderson: As an alumni and a parent of a first grader at Michigan School for the Deaf, I’m writing to express my concerns about the decision to fence-in parts of the MSD Flint Campus.The Michigan School for the Deaf has a rich 150-plus history and is treasured by every deaf citizen in the state. My heart never fails to fill with pride and a strong sense of belonging each time I drive by the massive Fay Hall with the huge columns and carved-in-stone words saying “Michigan School for the Deaf”. My husband and I are very passionate about MSD - so much that we choose to celebrate our wedding vows at the historical Superintendent’s Cottage on campus in 1994.Current school children walk pass the Fay Hall and the Superintendent’s Cottage every day between the Heck Building, our cafeteria and Stevens Hall, our dorm. With today’s dwindling enrollment and lack of access to high curricular standards for deaf children – there aren’t very many things for our students to feel proud about. For years, students have been walking past a closed, cold, empty, bleak-looking building but today Fay Hall is being filled daily with deaf-centered organizations. It’s become alive and the sense of ownership is now stronger than ever.Separating the two buildings - Fay Hall and Superintendent’s Cottage from the rest of the campus is akin to ripping a person in two. Placing a chain-link fence behind Fay Hall and the Cottage means every day our students will be walking by something that symbolizes – incarceration, poverty, and hopelessness. Separate from the two powerful buildings on campus that symbolizes – our pride, our history, and hope for a better future.I’m writing this to ask you choose a fence design that our proud, historical campus deserves - classic wrought iron with bricks - and place it alongside Miller Road and Court Street. From the Miller Road Main School West Entrance all the way around to east end of the campus – past the Old Brown Hall Annex.. Thank you, Stevie NaeyaertMSD Alumni – Class of 1986MSD Parent – Class of 2017Sample Letter #2
November 21, 2006 Dear Mr. Dave Sanderson, This letter is in response to the proposal to install a chain-link fence on the campus of the Michigan School for the Deaf. I, as a member of the Deaf Community, a parent, and/or an alumnus, would like this proposal amended. Instead of running the fence behind the Superintendent's House and Fay Hall, I strongly support the fence being run around the perimeter of the campus (along Court Street and Miller Road) and that the fence sections within public view should be made of cast iron and brick instead of chain link. It is important to understand the importance of residential schools for the deaf within the Deaf Community. Schools for the Deaf are often the first place a deaf child truly feels like he/she belongs. These campuses are viewed as "meccas" to us. We cherish them and aim to preserve them as important parts of our heritage. By placing a chain link fence through the campus, its history will be marred along with the self esteem of the students forced to walk alongside it as if in a prison instead of at their home-away-from-home. Thank you for addressing my concerns. Sincerely, (your name)(your address)Yes we know, we know-- OLD NEWS!!!
We wanted to take the time to send a very hearty THANK YOU! to the Deafhood team who flew in to educate the Michigan Signing Community!
Genie Gertz, along with David Eberwein and Ella Mae Lentz to give a presentation at Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint as well as Flint Association for the Deaf. The information was wonderfully inspiring!
*hands waving*
This event was sponsored by the following organizations:
Flint Association of the Deaf
FAD Ladies Auxiliary
Flint Deaf Senior Citizens
MSD Alumni Association
Michigan Deaf Association
MichASLTA
Flint Deaf Dart Club
Flint Deaf Quilters
Deaf Quilters United
Detroit Association of the Deaf
JJ Club (deaf women euchre club)
MSD (use of bldg and equipment)
CAC - $$ and interpreters for Friday night
Deaf CAN
First off, we would like to apologize for the slow process of updating this website. Many of us are very much focused on the Gallaudet Protest. For more information about the Gallaudet Protest, see www.gufssa.org.
We would like to commend the soliders in Michigan who have continued to push for equal access for deaf children. KUDOS! On Sept. 20th, last Wednesday, Dr. Steve Novers and Dr. Jay Innes attended their third and last Language Planning Referent Group meeting in Lansing, Michigan.
It was reported that the meeting was productive and the air was filled with optimism as Dave Sanderson, newly hired deaf State Administrative Manager for Michigan School for the Deaf, promised a new beginning. The ASL/English bilingual principles were drawn and finalized for implementation.
One attendee said, “It is still all talk so I’m waiting to see if Dave will follow through with promises made.” Dr. Innes mentioned that Dave is fluent in ASL and a culturally Deaf person so there is a positive outlook for MSD. Innes also mentioned that Dave saved MSD from losing $600,000, deflecting cuts by the State even though he had only begun his new job a month ago.
The focus this year at MSD will be the revitalization of the 0-3 infant program, which we all know is a crucial age period for language development. Dr. Novers and Dr. Innes will continue to work closely with Dave Sanderson. Dr. Innes jokingly said during the meeting, “Be sure there are no wedding plans for this upcoming summer so you can send your teachers and administrators to Gallaudet for the CAEBER training program!” Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research (CAEBER) will move from New Mexico School for the Deaf (its birthplace and home for many years) to Gallaudet University. Dr. Novers, CAEBER Director, and his family will relocate to metro Washington D.C. area.
We hope Dr. Jackie Thompson takes note of the fact that over the past few months, MSD has lost a significant number of administrative team members, many of whom have been a positive force for improving the school: Darla Jackson, former Assistant Principal and Interim State Administrative Manager; Kim Bilyk, Dorm Director; Mark Bouvy, (position title? Accountant?); Kara Deschler, School Psychologist We are concerned about the high turnover rate and urge you to once again look very closely at the current leadership and climate of the school.
Concerned Citizens
This bill passed House and is now in the Senate. According to Chris Hunter, the Director of the Department Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Michigan, this bill will only affect state government websites and documents and has no impact on schools. Read below:
DESIGNATE ENGLISH AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
House Bill 5633 (Substitute H-2)
Sponsor: Rep. Jacob Hoogendyk
Committee: Government Operations
Complete to 5-15-06
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 5633 AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE
The bill would create a new act to designate the English language as the official language of the state.
The bill specifies that, except as provided by law, a state agency would not be required to provide documents, public written materials, or provide website content in any language other than English. However, the bill would not prohibit a state agency or local unit of government from providing such materials in a language other than English.
The bill defines "state agency" to mean means a department, board, commission, office, agency, authority, or other unit of state government. State agency does not include an institution of higher education or a community college.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on state and local governments.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
According to ProEnglish[1], a national organization "working to educate the public about the need to protect English as our common language and to make it the official language of the United States," about half of the states have designated English as their official state language. The scope of each state's law varies, from a single sentence law in Indiana ("The English language is adopted as the official language of the State of Indiana"; Indiana Code 1-2-10-1) to more detailed laws that specifically define the scope and effect the designation has on the state and local governments.
For example, Iowa enacted an English language law in 2002 (Iowa Code §1.18) that provides that, with certain exceptions, the English language shall be the language of government in Iowa, and that "[a]ll official documents, regulations, orders, transactions, proceedings, programs, meetings, publications, or actions taken or issued, which are conducted or regulated by, or on behalf of, or representing the state and all of its political subdivisions shall be in the English language."
Exceptions include (1) the teaching of languages; (2) requirements under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Act; (3) actions, documents, or policies necessary for trade, tourism, or commerce; (4) actions or documents that protection the public health and safety; (5) actions or documents that facilitate activities pertaining to compiling any census of populations; (6) actions or documents that protect the rights of crime victims or criminal defendants; (7) the use of proper names, terms of art, of phrases from languages other than English; (8) any language usage required by or necessary to secure the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the U.S. or the state; and (9) any oral or written communications, examinations, or publications produced or utilized by a driver's license station, provided public safety is not jeopardized.
According to 2004 census figures, approximately 8.9 percent of Michigan's population five years of age and older speaks a language other than English at home. An additional, 3.3 percent of the population does not speak English "very well".
Legislative Analyst: Mark Wolf
Hello Friends!
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www.xanga.com/elisa_abenchuchan
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www.signupcomics.com for those of you who like comics!
More soon-
The Starving for Access Team
