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The College Bowl was held last night in the Grand Ballroom with a full house erupting in wild cheers every time their team got answers correctly. The teams were:
- Gallaudet - Meredith Peruzzi, Gabriel Paulone, David Uzzell, Allison Weiner, and Colin Whited
- NTID - Gianni Manganelli, Colin Pearson, Hannah Worek, Jordan Burgener and Cory Behm
- CSUN - Darren Hause, Brandon Marin, Joshua Soudakoff, and Emily Schwartz
The rules were in the first round, if you got an answer correctly, you got one point. If you accepted a challenge, you would get 2 points for a correct answer, but if you got it wrong, you would lose 2 points. In the second, you would win 3 points, and with the challenge, win or lose 6 points and in the third, the stakes were raised even higher with 5 points, and 10 points for the challenge.
In the very beginning of the first round, all three teams were getting the answers correctly, and then by question 12, NTID and Gallaudet started pulling ahead of CSUN, jumping ahead with scores of 12 and 13 points respectively, with CSUN having 8 points. NTID's strength was clearly in Mathematics, and Gallaudet's was in Deaf Culture and Heritage. Audience members discussed excitedly behind their chairs with each other to guess the right answer. At the end of the first round NTID had 18 points, Gallaudet 19 points, and CSUN 12 points.
During the intermission, supporters of each team rallied, wildly cheering on their teams. The sponsors of the College Bowl Finals, ZVRS showed a video commercial. Then the second round began. That's when things got even more energetic! People jumped up and roared every time their team got an answer correctly. Much to everyone's amazement, NTID lost a Mathematic challenge, thereby losing 6 points. At the end of the second round, Gallaudet was leading with 58 points, NTID with 36, and CSUN 24 points.
In the third round, NTID swung back at Gallaudet, almost immediately accepting two challenges and winning. NTID supporters nearly blew the roof off with their wild cheering as NTID jumped 8 points ahead of Gallaudet. CSUN valiantly fought to catch up, and they did a great job, but the main fight was between Gallaudet and NTID, often accepting challenges, both winning and losing them. At the end, Gallaudet won the College bowl with 93 points, and NTID right behind them with 91 points! CSUN came in third with 44 points.
As a thank you to their coach, Robert Weinstock, the Gallaudet team doused him with water and Nancy J. Bloch, the NAD CEO, proudly presented the trophy to the Gallaudet team for the fourth time in a row! Congratulations to the Gallaudet team, and both CSUN and NTID did an outstanding job. The teams made the event thrilling and energetic to watch!
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Captions are coming soon. Read the blog post about the Opening Ceremony
Deaf Bilingual Coalition (DBC) feels that the term “intervention” is negative and implies that a “problem” is identified which needs to be fixed. Various minority organizations are led by the people themselves; for example, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) are led by black people only. Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI), which NAD supported the passage into law, does not have any Deaf stakeholders, or members representing Deaf people in the group. EHDI is funded under the Center for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While several Deaf-centered presenters were turned down at the recent EHDI conference in Chicago, John Egbert, a founder of DBC, was accepted to present on “How to Navigate the Hearing World as an Oralist”. However, when he stood on stage, he presented on something different altogether: Deaf babies as whole beings. Egbert had the impression that if he applied to present about Deaf babies, his presentation would have been refused.
Deaf Bilingual Coalition has a plan of action which includes transferring EHDI’s administration to the Department of Education, adding Deaf stakeholders represented in EHDI, and ultimately, putting Deaf people into EHDI leadership positions to steer early detection efforts for Deaf children.
“Everyone needs to work harder than ever. DBC and NAD needs to work together”, said David Reynolds. Egbert proposes that NAD members request for a symposium to discuss what we can do. “It takes a team to win. NAD membership will grow and has the potential to make profound changes”.
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On July 7, the Welcome Ceremony officially began the NAD 50th biennial conference. Melissa Draganac-Hawk was the emcee, and MJ Bienvenu and Claudia Gordon were the keynote speakers. The Accessibility Awards, Media Advocacy Award and Spirit of the NAD Award were handed out during the ceremony. The attendees left the ceremony fired up for an exciting week at the conference! For an English version, please see Tayler Mayer's post here.
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Marlee Matlin gives her acceptance speech for the National Association of the Deaf's Media Advocacy Award during the Welcome Ceremony. During her speech, she said she was a proud member of NAD, and our struggle to make the internet accessible was still not over. Marlee also thanked all of the NAD members and the deaf community for joining in the struggle for equal access.
Barbara Raimondo gave a commission on educational policy and deaf children today. The room was full of curious attendees who wanted to learn more about how government policy plays a role in deaf education. She opened the session by explaining that she got involved because of her two deaf children, and she is passionate about deaf education and law.
Some facts she shared were quite interesting – 94% of the newborns are screened now, and 64% of the newborns with deafness are enrolled in Early Intervention programs. However, reality does not necessarily meet people’s expectations. Only 45% of the 388 Early Intervention sites in 19 states have service providers with degrees in deaf education.
There is a Joint Committee on infant hearing, with multiple deaf organizations involved; however, the majority of them are slanted towards the medical model on deafness. There is clearly no solid system in place to truly engage and collaborate with the parents and deaf professionals on how deaf education and early intervention should be operated. The Joint Committee now recognizes this, and is releasing a position paper outlining what needs to change. Most of the recommended changes were changes that the deaf community would like to see. When these changes will happen isn’t known, but it seems that it will happen at some point, so this is much needed progress!
Barbara went on to explain how the deaf community can do, which are the following:
- Go to EHDI conventions
- Join the state EHDI advisory panels
- Mentor families with deaf children
- Join professional and advocacy organizations that are involved with this issue
After that section, she shared with us about how the government plans to reform the educational system, so all children, especially marginalized populations like us deaf, will get more funding and support to ensure our future generations succeed and thrive. 4 billion dollars in grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a huge part of this plan, and it’s exciting for me to see some real changes finally happening for our community!
You could feel the excitement in the air last night as the three NAD CEO Finalists stepped onstage to make their presentations. Each Finalist had 15 minutes to present, and 15 minutes of Q&A. Shane H. Feldman went first, Darlene Goncz-Zangara second, and Howard A. Rosenblum last.
Shane spoke about his vision to elevate NAD for 2020 and beyond. He emphasized his expertise in financial management, especially with NAD’s finances. Aside from finances, Shane spoke at length about the value of using social media to engage the diverse deaf community, so NAD can expand its support base and strengthen its relationship with the associations and affiliates. He went on to say that he believes that effective and efficient operations, transparency, accountability and forward looking strategies were a must. Another point Shane made was that currently the community’s demands from NAD do not match NAD’s resources to meet them, and it is his goal to equalize that imbalance.
The second Finalist to speak was Darlene Goncz Zangara, and she shared an analogy with the audience – a tree is only as strong as its roots, which is as equally true for NAD. The roots were the past, the trunk was the present, and the leaves were the future. She listed three criteria of her vision for NAD: financial freedom, progressive advocacy, and growing the NAD community. Darlene shared her work experience as being a teacher, counselor and a high-level manager with the audience and strongly felt that her diverse job experiences would bring a lot to the table. She also heavily emphasized the importance of having interpersonal skills in order to cultivate strong relationships for support, especially financial support.
Howard, the last Finalist to present, outlined his vision for NAD: Equality, Enforcement, Education, Employment, Enjoyment of life, Expansion of membership. Political contacts and social were important to Howard, and he wanted NAD to become a household name like other organizations were. He declared that he was tired of small changes, and wanted systematic changes. It is important, in Howard’s opinion, that we should always remember the past, particularly Milan 1880, but not be held hostage by it and we all should look forward to the future and anticipate how we should react. During the Q&A session, Howard also told the audience that with zero compromise, failure is guaranteed. NAD and the deaf community have to play the political game to get the results we want.
During the Q&A session, all three candidates took questions on finances and audism, which has been the two main hot issues throughout the conference. Howard was clearly the crowd’s favorite, as the audience repeatedly applauded during Howard’s presentation and Q&A.
After all three presentations, the NAD board announced that they will be gathering feedback from individuals who saw the CEO Finalists’ presentations, since community participation and opinions are important. However, the NAD members and delegates will not vote on who becomes the CEO – the board will be the one who does that.
I wish all of the three the best of luck, and I know the board will pick the best person for the job.
The NAD 50th Biennial Conference Opening Ceremony began with Betsy Ross sewing the American flag while thinking about what was happening in the country -- to name one, the tax paid to England. Our founding forefathers decided it was time to gather round to discuss issues confronting the colonies. Together, they debated and drafted the Declaration of Independence, and on the Fourth of July, 1776, the Continental Congress announced its adoption and that the thirteen American colonies were now independent states.
Miss Deaf America (MDA) contestants came on stage as Betsy Ross (emcee Melissa Draganac-Hawk) moved into the background. Light effects rang throughout the ballroom as the “Star-Spangled Banner”, the national anthem of the United States of America was sung by all the MDA contestants in synchronicity.
Next, NAD President Bobbie Beth Scoggins describes the deaf community as a family, of which NAD is a part. In this family, all kinds of deaf people have the right to language, she adds before introducing the conference sponsors.
The first sponsor on stage, SorensonVRS, represented by Diana Herron, declared NAD as one of the most important organizations in the deaf community. Next, Tim Rarus, of ZVRS, explained how he grew up watching his parents working in the NAD. “Because of them, our lives are better,” said Rarus. Access Interpreting’s Brad Leon announced that the Washington D.C. community interpreting service was providing interpreting for the conference and to stop by their booth. CSD Board Member Larry Prudoff described the foundations CSD laid for videophones and the VRS industry. Mark Bella, Purple executive, congratulated departing CEO Nancy J. Bloch for her 18 years of service. A representative of AT&T stated that they are and will advocate for legislation advocating adoption of new accessible technology impacting the deaf community. Gallaudet University President Alan Hurwitz described the inspirational vision that NAD is pursuing. NTID Vice President of Advancement Gerald Buckley wished the RIT College Bowl team luck, who stood up to audience cheers. Finally, the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing made the announcement that NAD will be hosting the 2012 NAD conference in Louisville, Kentucky, in conjunction with their successful DeafFestival.
Emcee Melissa Draganac-Hawk returns to stage to introduce the first keynote speaker, Dr. MJ Bienvenu. Her slideshow presentation, titled “Deaf Gain,” described how we need to reject the negative labels associated with how the general hearing society perceives our culture and language, and in turn, “reframe” it with a better understanding of our contributions to the society. For example, sign language helped linguists and other scientists better understand language in general, as well as how the brain worked. “American Sign Language is used in the same region in the brain as the English language,” explained Bienvenu, “showing that ASL is a language as recognized by the brain.” Literacy instruction reached a paradigm shift when a researcher discovered that literacy wasn’t limited to only reading and writing. “It’s everything visual”.
Another example is the latest trend in architecture, Deaf Space, designing windows and various corridors to accommodate deaf people’s usage of indoor space. Gallaudet University’s students and faculty worked to implement new architectural rules into Gallaudet’s newest campus building, the Sorenson Language and Communication Center (SLCC). The groundbreaking design brought several University administrators to study the building. One of them was Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who eventually invited Gallaudet students to their Boston campus for further collaboration on this new open concept. Summarizing the keynote, Bienvenu emphasized, “All kinds of deaf people come together to make contributions to society.”
Before Scoggins announced the first award, she next took the opportunity to recognize past NAD presidents including Gertude Galloway, Merv Garretson, Alan Hurwitz, Larry Forrestal, Roz Rosen, and Andy Lange. The Media Advocacy Award is for bringing awareness to the community; and was awarded to Marlee Matlin, NAD’s celebrity spokesperson. “Marlee is skilled in the art of lobbying. She made several visits to legislators. Her generous and spirited presence has made our job easier.” In acceptance of the award, Marlee Matlin appeared in a video outlining her work in advocating and promoting internet captioning, in the form of S.3304 and HR 3101, the legislative bills in Senate and House. Matlin recommitted her efforts to push the internet captioning bills into law.
The second keynote speaker, Claudia Gordon, is the first deaf African American female lawyer. Gordon was recently appointed as Special Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Recapping what NAD has accomplished and how far our rights and technology has come, she cited instant communication videophones as examples. “The younger generation thinks it’s always been that way,” remarked Gordon. “Instead we’re standing on the shoulders of those who advocated before us.” Appealing to the youth, “Be involved”, and to everyone, “Step out of the comfort zone and challenge ourselves. We cannot sit back and expect NAD will take care of everything for us.”
NAD Board Member Sean Gerlis took the stage to hand out the Accessibility Award to the individual or organization that increased or enhanced access. Ken Harrenstein, a deaf engineer accepted the Accessibility Award for his employer, Google. Harrenstein signed, “NAD’s work has impacted me personally as a deaf individual”. Naomi Bilodeau, another Google representative, briefly stated that more deaf people view YouTube videos than the citizens of Italy.
The next award for Accessibility was presented by Howard A. Rosenblum and Alexis Kashar to the National Football League (NFL). Before NAD started working with the NFL, 10% of Super Bowl commercials were captioned. Today 80% of commercials are captioned. The co-recipient to this award was CBS, the TV network which broadcasted the 2010 Super Bowl. Not only were commercials captioned, promos were too. Rosenblum congratulated CBS and NFL for going beyond what the law required and for raising the bar. With that, the CBS representative announced that by the fourth quarter, CBS’ internet player will support captions and all TV shows will be captioned.
To close the ceremony, BJ Wood quickly announced the newly established scholarship to honor departing CEO Nancy J. Bloch. The audience roared with applause. Bloch has served as NAD CEO for 18 years. The scholarship is designed to support interns as they work at the NAD, providing needs such as stipends and housing. The scholarship to be fully implemented by Summer 2011, Wood and her committee has a goal of fundraising $18,000 by the end of the conference. One can donate as little as $18 and receive a blue sticker, to attach to their conference badge, which reads “18 Years. Thank You, Nancy!”
And with that, the opening ceremony ended!
Submitted by Neil McDevitt on Wed, 07/07/2010 - 19:10
Blog:
What do the vice-president of a large national non-profit communications service provider, a attorney specializing in fighting for accessibility, and the chief operating officer of a large non-profit advocacy organization share in common? Besides a common desire to expand communication access for the nation's 36 million deaf and hard of hearing citizens, they're also working to become the National Association of the Deaf's next Chief Executive Officer.
The candidates are:
- Shane Feldman
- Howard Rosenblum
- Darlene Goncz Zangara
You can find more information the candidates at www.nad.org/about-us/ceo-search-process/ceo-search-finalist-profiles.
Nancy Bloch is stepping down after 18 years in that role, a position she assumed in 1992 as Executive Director. The position of Executive Director is still a fairly new one, having started in 1966 with the selection of Frederick Schrieber. Nancy ends her term as the sixth executive director and the first woman to hold the position. Earlier this afternoon, we heard from the three candidates as they gave full-fledged presentations on their objectives, goals and plans to lead NAD into the years to come.
I sat with the three candidates before the presentations to get a better sense of what they bring to the table and how they will steer the ship as it makes its way though the tricky waters of today's economic climate and the assorted advocacy and legislative priorities that NAD is involved with.
Shane Feldman, NAD's current Chief Operating Officer, said he believes NAD's next CEO must bring focus and direction to the position by establishing clear lines of communication with the NAD staff, Board and membership. Howard Rosenblum added that the next CEO must be focused on the big picture and projects that pay long-term dividends instead of responding to the little fires that pop up every day. Darlene Goncz Zangara said that the CEO also must focus on being a leader and an agent of change instead of having to react to changes that occur.
Howard Rosenblum, Senior Attorney at Equip for Equality, added that the next CEO must, above all else, be a creative person who can connect easily with all the various stakeholders that make the work of NAD successful. This creativity is especially important in these difficult economic times. Feldman echoed statements from all three candidates in regards to the importance of the CEO having a full understanding the financial operations of the organization and being able to develop new sources of funding. Zangara stressed the importance of diversifying the different ways that NAD raises money by developing donors and seeking out new grants that can enhance NAD's service to the community.
But everyone wants to know what makes the CEO tick. In other words, what public policy issues do they feel most passionate about. Howard Rosenblum said that after 18 years, he's figured out how to make significant changes in the field without filing lawsuits. For example, hospitals have been sued repeatedly without seeing any widespread effect in their policies and procedures. Rosenblum believes accessibility needs to be integrated into the certification process for the hospitals since they cannot do business without certification. Likewise, with doctors and lawyers, Rosenblum notes that greater access can be achieved by creating an access fund from a slight increase in the licensing fees that they have to pay to practice in their communities.
Shane Feldman wants to press for Early Intervention programs that stress the importance of American Sign Language along with greater acceptance of ASL in the Education community. He also wants to see greater strides in equal access especially in the area of telecommunications and technology. Finally, he wants to use the NAD's influence to create greater employment opportunities by leveling the playing field. He said "while technology has leveled the playing field, we still have a long way to go in changing the attitudes of people."
Darlene Goncz Zangara, currently CSD's Senior Vice President for National Centers for Excellence, observed that every public policy issue is not an island and there are many areas where seemingly different topics have significant overlap with other areas. For her part, Zangara said that she strongly believes in expanding accessibility to social services such as mental health. She also wants to see greater efforts toward Early Hearing Detection and Intervention programs as well as greater push for H.R. 3101 to succeed because it speaks to the younger deaf generation.
Everyone, especially the NAD delegates were extremely busy yesterday! Things kicked off with the Order of Georges and Georgettes Breakfast breakfast, where Barbara A. Schmidt received the Golden Rose Award, in recognition of her lifetime of volunteer service for the deaf community and being a great role model for the future generations. After the OGG breakfast, the central location was at the Grand ballroom, where the Council of Representatives [CoR] was held.
During the CoR meeting, Cynthia Weitzel received the Robert M. Greenmun Memorial Award in recognition of her dedicated volunteer leadership excellence and contributions to the Minnesota State Association. Bummy Burnstein and Libby Pollard provided an overview of the parliamentary procedures to the delegates, to assist in ensuring the CoR meeting went smoothly. The delegates watched carefully and eagerly to their presentations. After that, the NAD board and committee members gave their reports to the delegates, where two hot topics arose: NAD's budget and bylaws. The delegates carefully analyzed the budget, to make sure they understood what the issues were, and how the money was being spent.
Then a proposal was made to change the NAD board members' terms to 2 terms lasting 4 years each, instead of the current 3 terms lasting 2 years each. Different point of views were offered on why and why not this should happen and the discussions were very productive. It was clear to me that the delegates were carefully considering each report and motions made during the meeting, as it should be!
After the CoR, the state association presidents gathered at the Liberty Ballroom for a private dinner to trade tips and advice. Jack Cooper, Region II Representative, emceed the dinner and shared an excellent analogy for the state association presidents to consider. If a person takes one stick and tries to break it, it can be done easily. However, if you take multiple sticks and try to break it, it becomes very difficult! The same concept applies to the state associations - it is in everyone's best interest to work together to accomplish our goals to better the deaf community. The state association presidents greatly appreciated the opportunity to trade tips and gain wisdom from each other's experiences.
It's only the first day, and great progress was made! What will be next? I don't know for sure, but I have a feeling that even greater progress will be made at the end of the Conference!
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