NTID Tent City on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Cut n’ Paste from Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle:

Encampment at NTID backs Gallaudet protest
Student turnout small but passion is strong

Lara Becker Liu
Staff writer

(October 24, 2006) — A smattering of students, in a show of solidarity with their peers at Gallaudet University, braved bitter winds and threatening skies Monday to set up a “tent city” on the front lawn of Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, where they camped out in protest of the hiring of Gallaudet’s incoming president.

But the cold weather, conflicting class schedules and apparently lukewarm interest on the part of NTID students conspired to generate scant turnout. The city, such as it was, comprised five tents as of 8 p.m.

Sitting cross-legged before them and wrapped in sleeping bags, tent city organizers Michelle Gerson and Clayton Ide were hopeful that more people — possibly as many as 30 — would show up later.

The students, through an interpreter, said they were lending their voices to the ongoing debate over the hiring of Jane K. Fernandes because, Ide said, “we feel the process was flawed.” She “looked good on paper,” but, he said, as provost she did not listen to concerns, and the fact that she hasn’t engaged protesters in meaningful conversation is further proof of her inability to relate to students. The issues are not, he and Gerson said, limited to the fact that Fernandes is not a native signer.

“Her background and her knowledge was not enough,” said Gerson, 22, of Rutherford, N.J. “She’s oral. She didn’t go to a deaf institute. We just don’t feel she understands the needs of the deaf people.”

Gallaudet, the nation’s only liberal arts college for the deaf and hard of hearing, has been largely paralyzed by student-led demonstrations against Fernandes. Homecoming was canceled, and protesters last week marched on Capitol Hill.

Fernandes has said she has become a lightning rod in the larger debate over how to maintain deaf culture as technology and educational changes increase the options available for the deaf. As someone who grew up speaking but identifies herself as a deaf woman, Fernandes has said she feels strongly about making Gallaudet more inclusive. She has refused to resign, despite waning support.

The fervor surrounding Fernandes, who is scheduled to become president Jan. 1, apparently has not gripped NTID, where the student government has adopted a neutral stance on the issue. But Ide and Gerson, both seniors and professional technical communications majors, are passionate.

Gerson spoke of how important it is to be able to voice her opinion and know that RIT President Albert Simone will listen. “At Gallaudet,” she said, “that’s not happening.”

Ide, who joined the protesters in Washington this weekend, said: “I think Gallaudet needs to know that some of us here — not all of us — but some of us are in support of them.”

LBECKER@DemocratandChronicle.com
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/

Website Updates: October 24 2006

Greetings!

First of all, May I direct your attention to our newest section: the Links section! It consists of revelant links as presented by you, the protestors, the presenters, and/or the general populace. I started off with links used in the Rochester Tent City Rally (Friday, Oct. 20th). Consider this an mission for the rest of you:

If you have ANY opinion, comics, essays, feelings, and/or links that you would like to see online, please do not be afraid to share it! Send it over to rochyfssawebmaster@gmail.com to get your opinions posted– and you dont have to be from Rochester! This website, like the cause behind it, is global.

Speaking of global, I added many new locations and personal blogs to the FSSA Website sidebar– it is getting longer and longer every time I check it. But, in a new twist, I added Denmark FSSA and UK Tent City today making the cause truly global. Along with those international locations is a truckload of state/city FSSA chapters that has popped up. Most of my information comes primiarly from Eric Hamlow’s Deafeye.com which has an excellent tent city map (which, at this writing, has 70 Tent Cities all over! Wow!) .

I’m still working on adding picture galleries, but is facing problems with uploading pictures. I tried RIT’s website (easy, free, and its mine) but couldnt get enough HD space to free up (We’re allocated 20mb each for the personal web site.) so Im looking for options outside the WordPress picture system. Anyone? In the meanwhile, I added an account at Flickr (here) but was limited to 200 pictures. Consider this– I had 251 from the Rally alone, plus more coming in from Clayton Ide from the RIT/NTID Tent City.

I dont know whether I should say this, but please keep Tim and Pam Conley in your prayers– they are experincing difficulties which I’m unsure how to phrase– but they are “out of commission” physicially, but yet we can be sure that theyre still supporting us in spirit. Once I know more, I ll spread more information. In case you forgot, Tim and Pam is the mayors of Rochester Tent City Rally.

I am asking several people for interviews, so keep tuned onto this website!

Gally Unite!
-Randal

NTID Tent City: Night Update

This Evening, I wandered over campus (I have marginal contacts with people over on the dorm side ever since I moved to the RIT apartments) and decided to stop by RIT’s Tent City. Upon arrival, I met with the hardy individuals going mano a mano with Mother Nature– it was not as cold as the temperature indicated, it was colder — and had an brief interview with Clayton Ide, NTID Tent City Mayor.

After discussing the obvious reasoning behind Tent City RIT (Spread the knowledge, to show our support) and statistics (7 Tent City Citzens are moving into their rickety tents for the night and 40-50 students has already stopped by to share their support and opinions). I asked the inevitable hard question– after tomorrow’s conclusion of Tent City, what were their plans? Are they letting this issue die away? Clayton replied “We’re not done yet, were aiming for an indoor tent city (For you southerners, since almost everyone else is south of us, Rochester is notorious for our bitter cold weather) inside NTID, be it in LBJ Street or the Student Development Center, within the next weekend or two.” I asked what would Clayton like to say to everyone out there? “Don’t Give up! Support the cause, support the future of Gallaudet, and one of the many ways is to donate funds to the FSSA there to keep the protest going on, and many thanks to our RIT Tent City Citzens, they came out to battle weather to show Gallaudet our support and faith!”

I apologize for an short interview, but I will try and take another interview as soon as I can. Remember, RIT Tent City is on until 12pm Tomorrow (October 23rd)– Drop by and show Gallaudet our support!

I also would like to thank those Tent City citzen myself, for battling through cold and possibly rain (Its supposed to rain tonight; the field was very muddy already and I almost lost an shoe trying to take an picture.) As an sign of gratitude, I would like to name them.

Clayton Ide, Mayor
Mich Gearson
Karen Christie
Lizzie Sorkin
Patti Durr
Molly, Karen’s Dog

I will be updated with more citzens as they arrive after dinner and errands tomorrow. Thank you all for being with Gallaudet in spirit and in tribulations!

Clayton Ide, NTID Tent City Mayor

Stay tuned for more interviews, updates and stories on this website!

-Randal

NTID Tent City NOW!

Hello Everyone!

I messed up a little bit, and had an post written as an page instead of an post, resulting in the mess up on the taskbar. I apologize for that.

I wanted to remind you all that NTID Tent City is now ongoing, until 12pm Tomorrow. If youre going to classes or in the general vicinity of RIT, come by and show them your support! (They will NEED it considering its almost freezing outside tonight, and the field itself is muddy.) They are located out in front of LBJ Building, beyond the road.

I have some pictures I took at about 830 tonight, but the camera did not like the cold, apparently. I can salvage some pictures. and hopefully I will get Clayton Ide to send over some more pictures. I also have an brief interview with Clayton, which I will post tonight.

I am also pursuing options for Rochester Tent City Rally (Last Friday) Pictures to be posted– I am not sure how to post it; I can set it up in an Flash Gallery, but it will take more time. I just got Adobe Photoshop CS2 (Macromedia Fireworks did not meet my needs for this project) so expect something in lieu of pictures very shortly.

I also am reminded to add links that was shown at the rally friday, and will do that tonight.

Thank you all for your patience!

-Randal

Letter from the Mayor of Rochester Tent City

October 22, 2006

 Dear Friends of the Rochester Tent City:

 
I thank you all for coming to the rally in support of the Gallaudet University Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni Coalition (GUFSSA) at the Rochester Recreation Club for the Deaf (RRCD) on October 20^th, 2006.  The atmosphere in the clubroom was electrifying.  Also, I am delighted to inform you that we have collected $738, including $200 from the Rochester School for the Deaf Alumni Association (RSDAA), from this event. 

 For those who wanted to come, but were unable to do so, here is a brief summary of what had happened.  The rally began with some opening remarks by Steven DeBottis, President of RRCD.  I then explained the format of the rally, thanked those who had made this event possible, and made a few important announcements.   Next, brief presentations by various individuals from our area were delivered.  Finally, questions and answers among ourselves about the Gallaudet protests were exchanged.  Richard J. McCollough, a producer/director/videographer of Mirusmedia and a part-time weatherperson for WHAM-13, came to cover a portion of our rally.  Richard and his assistant Waris also shared their experiences of covering the student protest at Gallaudet University last week. 

 At the conclusion of the program, several individuals approached me.  They saw the need for follow-ups.  I agree with their observations.  There should be future public meetings and programs devoted to the issues pertaining to the Gallaudet protests.    To this end, I have asked Randal Kidd, the webmaster of our website (http://rochesterfssa.wordpress.com/), to add special features to allow for our community to organize/have online and face-to-face discussions.

 I met remarkable individuals throughout the evening.  Their personal anecdotes of oppression are real eye-openers.  Each and every one of us has a story to tell.  I have been approached by an experienced user of vlogs who offers her services to anyone wishing to share his/her story with the world through this website.  I hope you will consider this wonderful opportunity.  More details will be forthcoming.  Also, due to popular demand by our community, creative expressions in ASL about the protests have been added to our website.  

In the www.9thprez.com website, Eileen Paul, co-founder of Deafpride, Inc. wrote:

This protest seems to be generating negativity and a sort of crowd mentality that does not allow for critique or differences of opinion. In this sense, while it appears to be about empowerment, it may actually be disempowering, driven by a very short-range definition of purpose.

Quite frankly, I honestly do not understand how this writer can make such a huge claim.  Paul argues that we have not had opportunities to analyze and discuss the selection of Gallaudet’s 9^th president.  Eh?  We have been doing so since last May.  We did it last Friday.  How about the other tent cities that have had their public assemblies?  The proponents of Gallaudet’s 9^th president are basically telling us, “Stop complaining.  Give us a chance.  We have special plans for your future, but will not tell you what they are because you would not understand.”  Heck, their arguments do not really matter anymore because yesterday, over 4,000 people marched to the US capitol, with the supporters of 68 tent cities across the country and the globe watching.  The numbers are showing that we are on the verge of a hard-earned victory. 

At Gallaudet University, our young men and women with their friends have donated thousands of hours since May 2006 for advocating for our inalienable rights.  They are now in need of funds to obtain professional services to continue their fight against social injustice that is widespread at Gallaudet.   Your financial help will be used to support the GUFSSA and especially those in the first line of defense.  I urge other area organizations to seriously consider offering financial help.  If you have waited, now is the time to make your donation.  Donations can be made through PayPal by going to www.paypal.com and logging in with your email address and paying directly to donate@gufssa.com.  If you prefer to pay by check or money order, then make it payable to “Friends of Tent City” and mail it to the following address:

PO Box 560
Middletown, MD 21769

 Please be reminded that there will be a 24-hour Tent City-NTID rally by a group of students in front of the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) building tomorrow.  Join the students and/or stop by to show your support.

 Thank you for your ongoing support for the GUFSSA.  Unity for Gallaudet!  

 
Pamela Conley

Mayor of Rochester-for-FSSA Tent City

Update on Rochester Tent City Rally

Hello Everyone!

Last night, Rochester Recreational Club for the Deaf graciously hosted Rochester’s first Tent City Rally, hosted by Pam Conley. We had 9 keynote speakers, ranging from concerned parents of current (and future!) Gallaudet students, RIT/NTID Faculty, Gallaudet Alumnus, and concerned people of Rochester.

We also have the opporunity to video the speakers and their reasonings, and will post on this website shortly as soon as I can manage to transfer the videos from an 8mm video casette to a computer format. Give me at least until Wednesday, hopefully. Pictures were taken, also, and is now in the process of resizing so we can give you an variety of pictures for you to enjoy.

I would like to take the time to thank Barb DiGiovanni for her essays, titled “Two Strikes in selecting the wrong President by the Board” and “Say NO to SCARE” which I have already posted in the new Written Works Section shortly. I also thank Pam Conley for her PowerPoint presentation on the reasoning behind the Gallaudet Protest which was posted online with some modification (adding the video we watched during her protest to the presentation) in the Written Works section. I will also add some links to videos and websites that was brought up during the discussion and the question & answer session (namely, Mosdeux, “Gotcha Jane” Vlog, and where to buy Joe Kolash’s shirt) in an page dedicated to the Q&A section.

I also added A LOT of links to various websites– they are all attached on your right side. If you want an specific Rochesterian perspective on the Gallaudet Protest, I highly recommend Diane Plassey Gutierrez and her excellent blog. If you are more interested in the current status of the protest, I refer you to Elisa Abenchuchan, Mishka Zena, and Ridor’s blog (Ridor is well-known for his controversial perspective on the protest).

Pictures will be done before 12am tonight– I promise. I have an personal event to attend in a hour, so pardon me for the delay. As usual, if you have any materials (pictures, correspondence with Gallaudet, or at Gallaudet yourself) please do not hesistate to email me at rochyfssawebmaster@gmail.com.

Thank you All
-Randal

Rochester’s First Tent City Rally: SUCCESS!

A short summary of Rochester’s first Tent City Rally, held at Rochester Recreational Club for the Deaf:

90 people showed up.
$350 (exact figures will be announced) collected for donation to FSSA.
9 Keynotes Speakers, covering diverse topics ranging from the reasons of BOT’s decisions to opinions.
NTID Tent City: NEXT MONDAY!

More information (pictures and essays) will be upcoming tomorrow afternoon– its late in the night right now, but what a good start for Rochester FSSA!

Rochester’s First Tent City Rally Agenda

webmaster note: This is an email sent by Pam Conley, our mayor, with the details and agenda for Rochester FSSA Tent City Rally held tonight. Hope this will be helpful. -Randal

Hello Everyone,

I have already contacted all of you for your participation in the Tent City rally that will take place at RRCD tomorrow night.

The purpose of this rally is trifold: to support the FSSA with relevant talking points, to have a Q & A session to educate ourselves, and to collect money to donate to the FSSA. I got an email from Greg Livadas who has expressed an interest in attending, but will be out of town. Right now I’m trying to contact the WHAM-13 news hotline to secure an assignment reporter.

The tentative order of presenters will be as follows:

1. Steven DeBottis, President of RRCD
2. Pam Conley, Mayor of Rochester Tent City, Gallaudet Alumni
3. Barb DiGiovanni, Gallaudet Alumni, RSD Teacher, and parent of future Gallaudet students.
4. Diane P. Gutierrez, mother of RSD student, Gallaudet Alumni
5. Carmen Sciandra, President, NTID Alumni — Rochester Chapter
6. Paula Wollenhaupt, Retired NTID Professor, Gallaudet Alumni
7. Elissa Olsen, Chairperson of NTID’s Information and Computing Studies
8. Katrina Ervingham, Mother of current Gallaudet student
9. Joe Kolash, Gallaudet Alumni/NTID Student, father of former Kendall student
10. Open to those in attendance

As you may notice, we have a very short list. The most vocal and ardent supporters from our area are going to the DC — where the action is!

Colleen Pouliot, Vincent Cantabene and Nancy Cantabene will be taking pictures and videotaping the rally. These pictures and tapes will be uploaded to the website developed by Randal Kidd. If you would like to, please submit any contributions to Randal Kidd (at rochyfssawebmaster@gmail.com).

Please wear anything red at this event to show the general public that we’re “bleeding for Gallaudet.”

The interpereters present at the event will be Angela Hauser and Betsy McDonald.

For directions to RRCD, go to this link:

http://maps.yahoo.com/dd_result?newaddr=One+Lomb+Memorial+Dr.&taddr=1564+Lyell+Ave.&csz=Rochester%2C+NY&country=us&tcsz=Rochester%2C+NY&tcountry=us

UNITY for Gallaudet!

Pam Conley, Mayor of Rochester Tent City