Originally appeared in Silent News, October 2001. “I feel it’s destroyed my life. I feel miserable and hurt, I liked my job,” Ken Cruise, Jr. says. “I feel intimidated by hearing people.” Cruise, 39, was employed as a media technology specialist, covering three elementary schools in the Silver Lake Regional District in Plymouth County, Mass.[.....]
Originally appeared in Silent News, October 2001. Silent News talked with Angela and Mike Kessler of Brooklyn, N.Y., two days after the September 11th attack in New York City. Angela was on the 24th floor of the building next to the World Trade Center (WTC) at her job as a secretary for the Internal Revenue[.....]
Originally printed in Silent News, October 2001. Man Works for LA Lakers John Cortez, Jr., 5’1″ and 160 pounds, doesn’t quite measure up to Los Angeles Lakers Shaquille O’Neal’s 7’1″ and 315-pound frame. Their friendship, though, is something unique. Cortez, 36, was a maintenance worker at the former arena of the Lakers, the Forum, when[.....]
Originally appeared in Silent News, October 2001. I write this with a heavy heart. A week ago today, the world seemed to end for many of us. And it did end for many people. Far too many people. It’s convenient to think of the victims in numbers. “700, 5,000, 100.” That makes it seem all[.....]
Originally appeared in Silent News, October 2001. Part of every sporting event is an unchangeable, immobile and everlasting staple: the fans. And for children, there’s nothing more poignant than a parent cheering a child on. But what if the parent’s cheering becomes angry and demanding? What if the anger becomes directed at other students or[.....]
Originally appeared in Silent News, December 2001. Never before have pieces of mail seemed so suspicious, so frightening. Once, letters and parcels were a welcome guest in anybody’s mailbox. Now, they’re regarded with caution. Offices are using gloves to open mail. Envelopes with no return addresses are triggers for alarm. This, of course, is due[.....]
Originally appeared in Silent News, August 2001. Mark Fisher, a renowned deaf animator and now filmmaker, had his one-minute classical animation style piece, Elves and the Bat Beast, chosen for the Best Animation category at the Atlantic City Film Festival held Aug. 4 in New Jersey. “I was very inspired they presented me the Best[.....]
Originally appeared in Silent News, August 2001. Well, we’re at it again. We immediately believed every e-mail we got about the fiascoes in Rome at the Deaflympics. The rapes, the runner that died during a race and the delegate that died from a heart attack. I got 48 – yup, count ‘em – 48 instant[.....]
Originally appeared in Silent News, August 2001. Trying to juggle names of deaf and hearing consumers, times, places, language preferences and information for over 100 interpreters can be a harrowing task. Add to that the factors of matching language preference to language skills, balancing schedules, and trying to maintain a specific standard of quality –[.....]
Originally appeared in Silent News, August 2001. Today I had yet another nasty reminder of how ignorant hearing people generally perceive deaf people. The day actually started out productive, even though my nine-month-old puppy was giving me attitude, but everyone is entitled to having doggy days. Adele came in to let me know that a[.....]