Were We Duped? Policies for Naming University Buildings and Rooms

How are Buildings and Internal Rooms named at Gallaudet University? The Administrative and Operations Manual states:

2.12 Naming Facilities (last revision in 1994)
The Board of Trustees reserves the naming of all major capital assets, including building and large external areas, in recognition of significant philanthropic support of the University’s goals and mission.
The naming of internal spaces is an administrative decision to be made by the President.

Other universities have the following policies for naming their buildings. Generally, they state that any building named after the president or an employee, s/he must be:

1) deceased OR
2) retired for at least 2-3 years (some policies state 5 years)

Last I heard, I. King Jordan is alive and an employee at Gallaudet.


And since the Administrative and Operations policy clearly states that only the president can name internal spaces, guess who was president when the Linda K. Jordan Gallery was named?

There is a President's Office Recognition Committee, established in 2003. They developed a detailed Naming and Recognition Guidelines. This committee was never contacted about naming the I. King Jordan Student Academic Center and the Linda K. Jordan Gallery. Apparently someone bypassed this committee and went directly to the Board (and no one but the President can do this).

When approached about this, a Board of Trustees member stated that the Board has its own internal naming committee and that he did not know there was a President's Office Recognition Committee. There was an Art Department committee submitting names for the Gallery (Linda K. Jordan was one of the names on the list) but they also did not know there was a President's Office Recognition Committee and that there were specific procedures to follow (e.g. including campus constituents in making the final decision).

As announced on Inside Gallaudet on September 25, 2006, the Board unanimously approved the naming of I. King Jordan Student Academic Center and the Linda K. Jordan Gallery without going through the President's Office Recognition Committee which is in direct violation of the Naming and Recognition Guidelines.
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UPDATE: It seems that the Recognition Committee DID get word that someone wanted to name the SAC building after Jordan, but since the committee reported directly to Jordan, the 'sticky topic' was deferred to the Board.
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This procedure by Gallaudet's President's office Recognition Committee can help remedy that violation by unnaming both the Student Academic Center and the Gallery, allowing all campus constituents to share their input for the new names.

UNNAMING

1. The University reserves the right to unname previously named areas or facilities in circumstances where its best interests are not served by the continued recognition of the names.
2. Unnaming opportunities also exist in the events that the affected donors are unable to fulfill their pledges, and legal impropriety on the part of the donors make the gifts and names subject to reconsideration by the University.

Interesting Historical Tidbit: In 1978, Gallaudet College invited the campus community to vote on naming campus streets. There was a committee with a SBG representative, Alumni representative, KDES representative, Staff representative, MSSD SBG representative, Faculty representative and a MSSD faculty member. They narrowed down the nominations from the community from 318 names to 41, and the campus - the alumni, students, faculty and staff voted for the final 8 street names. More on this in a later blog...

Babel's Hearing Actress Slams Deaf People: Not Professionals

I read several interviews with the hearing actress, Rinko Kikuchi who played the Deaf Japanese character in Babel, but nary a mention about deaf people or sign language (except for 'body language', 'facial expressions' and silence. But then I found this:

INTERVIEWER: I'd like to ask you about the auditioning process for Babel, because you said it took almost a year.

RINKO: I really tried to do my best, almost desperately so. It was a lot like a love relationship: I really wanted him to look at me and see me. At one point, Alejandro (the director) remarked that he preferred to have a real deaf-mute woman play the character and, sure enough, on the next audition every candidate was deaf-mute except me! Alejandro is very frank. He speaks his mind and doesn't hide his feelings, but sometimes that put a lot of extra pressure on me. I believed that, compared to those other candidates, I had the ability to approach the character as a professional actress. If it was the part of a criminal I was auditioning for, would that mean that only a real criminal could play that role? Of course not. I kept that in mind and believed that I had what it takes to do the part as a professional actor. The character of Chieko is sixteen, but if I had been sixteen myself, I couldn't have played her the way I did. When I was that age, I didn't have the capacity to keep an objective view of such a character and at the same time retain a very positive attitude toward playing her. I wouldn't have been able to keep a distance from it.
(bold by blogger)
http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/rinko_kikuchi.shtml


Rinko was nominated for a best actress oscar last night, but did not win. What do you think? Only professional actors/actresses can act?

What about "City of God" (one of my all time favorite movies)? Nearly all of the actors/actresses in that movie came from the slums the movie was filmed in. And in my opinion, this made the movie more real, period. Hire a criminal to play a criminal in a movie, sure! I'm all for that. No one can really understand what it is like to be DEAF except for DEAF people themselves.

"On the City of God bonus DVD, it is revealed that the only professional actor with years of filming experience was Matheus Nachtergaele, who played a supporting role. The rest of the actors were casted from real-life favelas, and in some cases, even the real-life City of God favela itself."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_God_(film)

My Black Friday Arrest Part I

I was arrested with 133 other people on October 13, 2006. What I experienced and felt that night may or may not be same as the others who were there. Here I share my perspective, my feelings and the process of that entire night. Part II is below this post.

Please pardon the informal fashion of how I filmed myself. This was originally supposed to be my practice run. I filmed myself a few more times, but this was the best version. Sometimes things are better the first time around!

My Black Friday Arrest Part 2

Judicial Affairs Letter

(This was originally printed on BuckNakedBison as an anonymous submission on Saturday, Oct 21, 2006, 10 days before JKF was terminated.)

Letter from Judicial Affairs for Those Arrested on Friday October 13th

Today I checked my post office box at Gallaudet. There was an ominous blue slip in there, a darker blue than the usual. As I brought it to the counter, the lady grimaced as she walked off to get a letter and a square piece of paper. It said something like, if you sign this, you acknowledge you have received a letter from the Judicial Affairs office. Whoa. I looked up at the lady, and said, should I sign?

“I held the letters as long as I could. They were ready to go out yesterday, but I waited until today to put them in. I’m sorry. I don’t like it. I’m sorry. I didn’t say any of this, okay?”

I watched her with awe and sadness – here, this woman is one of the 800 staff members at Gallaudet that want so badly to support us. Intimidation and fear are so pervasive here, to the point where she actually sunk below the counter to sign these words. So no one behind me would see her say those things.

Is this the Gallaudet we want? Where people have to hide below counters to say what they want?!

*tearing open the letter* *jumping on top of the counter*

This letter shall serve as a formal notice that the University disciplinary charges of Disruption of University Academic and/or Non-Academic Activities and Non-compliance with University Decision.

Nice to see that even the Judicial Affairs office is prone to ungrammatical sentences.

It is alleged that you participated in a campus demonstration that disrupted the normal operations of the University and infringed on the rights of other members of the University community.

Pardon me, but isn’t the Sixth Street gate always closed weekdays at 6 pm? This happened on Friday, October 13th at around 9 pm? How would I be disrupting normal operations and infringing on the rights of others if the gate was normally closed around this time? Heck, I should have been paid for my work patrolling the gate for you! The worst thing we might have disrupted was the slumber of the people that tend to sleep by the fence… ah, no, that was Irving's fault. He was the one who ordered the spotlights to be directed in our faces… and on them.

It is also alleged that you intentionally obstructed the freedom of movement, either pedestrian or vehicular, on campus.

Frankly, I gotta agree. My movement was obstructed big time. It was hard for me to move, sitting down my seriously un-padded butt on the cold hard street, arms interlocked with people next to me. Try sitting down on the street, with your legs crossed for 3 hours straight. My hips and my 7 months old ACL screamed at me: Get up! Stand up! You’re too old for this! It was truly a blessing when they finally picked me and carted me off to their police van.

By the way, should I be charging Irving and Jane with intentionally obstructing MY freedom of speech? I, along with 133 other friends were trying to send a message to the world. Jane and Irving obstructed that.

It is also alleged that you did not comply with the directives of University officials.

Me? Oh no, no. Sorry, wrong person. I complied with every directive given from University officials. You see, the faculty run the University, therefore, they are my University officials. Wait a minute. Jane and Irving did not comply with the directives from EIGHTY TWO PERCENT of the University Faculty! They are the guilty ones!

If you wish to have witnesses appear on your behalf at your heating, you are responsible for informing them of the time, date, and location of the hearing.

No, that wasn’t a misspelling. The letter actually says ‘heating’. I guess they plan to give me some heat after all. Nice, after all, it’s kinda cold in Tent City.

I can bring witnesses? Cool! The entire world witnessed the heinous acts of Irving and Jane on that Dark Friday in October. Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to grant an invitation to every one of you and your friends to act as my witness at my hearing. I will let you know the time, date and location shortly.

Pending the resolution of your case with Judicial Affairs, you are expected to follow all policies and procedures as established by the University. Any further infractions of the University Code of Conduct will result in you being placed on interim suspension and persona non grata.

So, are you saying that if I continue participating in the protest (which is already a violation of several codes of conduct, including the guidelines of expressive activities), I’ll be placed on interim suspension and persona non grata-ed? Isn’t this a form of coercion? Aren’t I supposed to be innocent until proven guilty?

So there will be no misunderstanding, persona non grata status is defined as prohibition from entering the campus premises and attending Gallaudet University sponsored events on and off campus for any reason.

Oooh, now I’m feeling some heat. Hey, YOU. SO There will be no misunderstanding: JANE FERNANDES MUST RESIGN! Capisce?

Failure to comply would result in your removal from the premises by the Department of Public Safety or the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department and you could be arrested under the trespass-injuries to property statutes, title 22, chapter 31 of the District of Columbia Code.

Failure for YOU to comply will bring the University crashing down. Do you realize the University cannot function without the support of 82% of its faculty, 81% of its students and 82% of its staff?

Irving and Jane: This letter shall serve as a formal notice that you are to be arrested for the attempted murder of an University loved by many. There shall be no hearing, you both are guilty beyond any doubt with the world as your witness.

And your consequence: persona non grata from the Deaf-World. Until you both realize the ramifications of your lies and actions and apologize repeatedly. Then maybe we’ll let you visit and sob over the building that used to be named I. King Jordan Student Academic Center.

Sincerely,

#975635
booked by the Metropolitan Police Department on the charge of "unlawful assembly incomding" (yes, that’s their misspelling).

(All italics above were copied exactly as is from the letter sent to me by the Office of Judicial Affairs on October 19, 2006)

My Letter to IKJ/JKF: October 8, 2006

To: I. King Jordan
Jane K. Fernandes
Board of Trustees
Public Relations Office

I have a few questions for you.

When you chose not to respond to the letters and e-mails from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), from the Gallaudet University Alumni Association (GUAA), from the Student Body Government (SBG), from state alumni associations, numerous organizations, professors and alumni, did that show respect for those people and organizations? Did you think this would help open dialogue among the Gallaudet community?

When you told us all in May that you would work for open dialogue and discussions with Gallaudet students, faculty and staff, and that this would occur throughout the summer and the fall to ensure the healing of the community, and this did not happen, was that an example of your sincerest deference for the protestors?

When you refused to allow the Gallaudet University Alumni Association (GUAA) access to the database consisting of 15,000 Gallaudet alumni contact information, was that supposed to promote unity among Gallaudet’s stakeholders?

When you told the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to capture on video the faces of protestors as they marched peacefully around campus, was that showing civility towards the protestors?

When you ordered the Physical Plant Department (PPD) to spread Earth Juice specifically in the area of Tent City on the first day Tent City was re-established again, did you think this reflected respect for the protestors? Did you think this would help with the open dialogue with the protestors?

When you allowed a building and a gallery to be named after the current president and his wife, when buildings and galleries are usually named after retired or deceased people, and without consulting a number of constituencies on campus, was that a sign of respect for the campus community?

When you told the world that no one was hurt during the Department of Public Safety (DPS) raid in Hall Memorial Building, and that no mace was used towards the students, while in fact, video shows students being shoved around and assaulted by the DPS and pepper spray being directed and sprayed at the faces of the protestors, was that promoting an exchange of healthy dialogue between you and the protestors?

When the Hall Memorial Building was taken over by protestors, the Board of Trustees called a few students to represent the protest and limiting them to 5 minutes of speaking time, did you mean to show your genuine concern for what the protestors had to say? And to cut off the student who was assaulted by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) three times, was that supposed to exhibit civility?

And at the very same meeting, less than half of the board was there. Was that showing your utmost devotion to the betterment of Gallaudet University?

And at the very same meeting, the chair of the board, Dr. Brenda Jo Brueggemann was not present, but instead sending out a prepared memo about the results of the meeting just minutes after the meeting between the students and the board concluded, was that displaying your candid desire in hearing the protestors out and reaching a consensus?

When you told the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to prohibit media from entering the campus, was that showing courtesy towards the world and their desire to learn more about the University and the protestors?

When you send out mass e-mails from individual students and professors berating the protest, and choose not to send e-mails from people who support the protest, is that promoting freedom of speech and healthy discussion among all involved?

Brushing us under the rug won’t work. Sabotaging our protest won’t work. Deceiving our stakeholders won’t work. You can only be free if we are free. Work with us to make a better Gallaudet. With a heavy yet buoyant hope,

Raychelle Harris, ‘94

Isle "My Feet Hurt" Royale National Park

Six days full of excitement on a remote island in Lake Superior - living off the food in our backpacks, with no one in sight. Biggest mistake: we packed too lightly. On the 5th and 6th days we resorted to licking our used tea bags and debated eating them. And no, thankfully, the ranger station at the other end of the island opened up their small store one week early just for us (they open on Memorial Day), so we didn't have to eat our used tea bags :)



Grand Portgage, Minnesota: Only a few miles from the Canadian border, we boarded our ferry. It cost us 157 George Washingtons each for a round-trip ferry and for six nights on the island (not in a lush bed and breakfast, mind you-- but in our own tent!). We began our hike on the western end of the island at Windigo, with wide eyes and an aura of cockiness on Wednesday, May 17th 2006.



Little did we know of the trails of tribulations (misspelling intended) we were facing. Raychelle was attacked by baby leeches, the phantom toilet-paper pirate and a faulty peg leg. Rachelle was pummeled by her very own boots, which proceeded to devour her heels like a pack of malnourished piranhas. An aerial attack squadron of lethal Minnesotan mosquitos were also part of our valuable nightmar- erm, memories.



Rachelle and her perservance was rewarded with a very rare wolf sighting, and Raychelle was rewarded with a nice stab in the back from Rachelle's trekking pole only to miss the wolf by seconds... and yes, we survived our trek to Rock Harbor, 45 miles to the east.

Our Time Is Up

If you haven't, watch this movie NOW. "An Inconvenient Truth" with Al Gore. It can be rented at any video store. Making a few changes in your life will make a big difference in the lives of your children and your grandchildren.



Can you imagine, your grandchild saying, "I will never know what it is like to go to the beach or play outside. There's no ozone there anymore, so everyone has to stay indoors. My grandparents were lucky. They went to Key West in their dingy, gas-guzzling car during their sophomore year at Gallaudet. I'll never understand what that's like. Oh well." You're probably rolling your eyes, and saying, "Oh gee, another dramatic vegetarian". Truly, I wish I was being dramatic. Go watch the DVD and make changes in your life for your grandchildren and their children.

This gives practical tips on how to make a few changes in your lives and make a difference for your children's children.
www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction

My Double ACL Surgery: Happy Birthday to My Left

1/12/06: I went snowboarding at a tiny molehill in Massanutten, VA (for you locals, go West and you'll see why I'm calling it a molehill). The dangers of boredom: I thought I could jump off a big kicker, across an icy tabletop and down the slope just fine (designed by Deaf Olympian Jeremy Cline). I was inches too short. Yes, I landed smack on the edge of the icy tabletop and destroyed my left knee which landed first. Wincing in pain, Jeremy came up to me, and with incredible doctor-like foresight and said, "Tore your ACL?"



At that time, I laughed it off and said, "No way. I'm fine". Gosh. I walked away, got on the next lift, and tried to snowboard down. I couldn't. My knee felt as if it was going to slide off my lower leg. It was completely loose. I gave up and sat down on my snowboard just like a sled and went zipping down the mountain, using my feet as brakes. I refused to believe anything was wrong with me and actually went to play a soccer game the next evening, but my coaches benched me after a few minutes. Went to see a doctor, he said my knee was fine, and that I just needed physical therapy. A week later, I still couldn't play soccer. But get this - I was walking around just fine, I could even run in a straight line just fine. What I couldn't do was any form of lateral movement. If I shifted left or right, oh my, ***stars in me eyes***.



Fed up, I complained to my therapist who told me to see the doctor again. To the doctor, I signed *cut throat* and pointed to my knee. He gave in, and x-rayed my knee. X-ray?! They only see bones, not ligaments or cartilage. But the doctor explained - sometimes with a serious impact, not only the ligament will be torn, but there'll be fractures to the leg bones as well. A x-ray is much cheaper than a MRI, and it's preferable to go for a x-ray first. And the x-ray showed I had a fracture to the tibia! He sent me off to get a MRI immediately. Sure enough, when I returned to the office for my MRI results, my doctor stretched a rubberband vertically in front of me. He took out a scisscors and cut it off about a foot away from my face. You can imagine the reaction I had. Completely GONE?! My ACL?!



(Photos of the insides of my knee, courtesy of MRI :))

Fast forward nearly a year, to 12/1/06. While playing intramurual flag football at Gallaudet, I popped my right knee. Intense pain! I wanted to die! I knew at that moment I tore the ACL in my other knee. God! After talking to my doctor, surgeon and therapist, all agreed that I must have tore my left completely, but had a partial tear to my right on that fateful jump at Massanutten... after a year of hanging on, it was finally retired on that day. Advice: If you want to do big air, find a way not to land. :)



There are different ways to do an ACL surgery. What I had was an arthroscopic allograft reconstruction. The surgery was done without cutting open my entire knee. An allograft means I have a screwed in achilles tendon (the muscle in the back of ankle) from a dead body (cadaver) in both my knees. My surgeon says it costs about $1,000 for the achilles tendon. The operation cost my insurance about $15,000. So far, my left is exactly one year old as of today, and my right is 9 weeks old. One nice thing about all this: I can say now my knees match :)


P.S. Patients are required to write on their knee "YES" because there have been many lawsuits - where the wrong knee was operated on. Whoops. And on my kneecap, you can see the initials of my surgeon: Dr. Steven Bernstein. All this has to happen before I'm knocked out - to make completely sure it's the right knee. Gee! Also, if you look at the first picture with both knees, you can barely see the ACL scars on the right... nice, eh?

The Ladies

I play flag football for a deaf team in a local hearing league. Our goal is to win the championships in both divisions, 4x4 and 8x8 at the US Flag Football for the Deaf (USFFD) tournament. 4x4 is a format where 4 people play on the field against four other people. Likewise, 8 people play on the field against 8 other people. This tournament occurs one weekend a year in different locations. For example, in 2004, the USFFD tournament was hosted in Pittsburg. Then 2005 in Tampa. 2006 in DC. And now this coming November, Fremont will be the host. How exciting! We need big tough deaf girls, so if you'd love to become our linewomen, contact us! Also, at the recent USFFD meeting, it was announced that one female CODA can play for each 8x8 team - and we need one! :) Here are the lovely ladies *handfanfare* Check us out at www.deafladies.com!

Q & A for Department Bulletin Board

1) Full name: Raychelle

2) Where are you from? Maryland

3) Where do you currently live? DC

4) When did you start your PhD program? Fall 2004

5) What is your favorite part in your doctoral studies?
How the program always manages to teach me a new way of seeing the same thing everyday

6) Where are you at with your doctoral studies?
ABCD (all but comprehensive exam and dissertation)

7) What are your research interests?
ASL in the classroom and its relationship to everything else

8) What is your dissertation topic?
Maybe academic ASL… is there such a thing? If so, can we describe it?

8) What are your goals after you complete your PhD?
Say hi to my family and friends who thought I’ve since passed away

9) Current occupation, if applicable
Chocolate connoisseur and Keyboard Puncher

10) What are your interests/hobbies?
What are those?

11) What would you tell future PhD students about Gallaudet Dept. of Education PhD program?
Hungry? Never again with Gallaudet’s Dept. of Education PhD program. The content they bring to the courses are nutritious, fresh and full of flavor.
Oh, you meant literally hungry? You can always find edible leftover food in the Department of Education’s conference room. And for a little pick-me-up, see Dr. Tompkins, she has some jelly beans and Hershey’s kisses available on her desk. Also, the dingy and smelly refrigerator in the PhD student offices always has a few surprises in there as well. Don’t forget the candy machine on first floor of Fowler. Those have ensured my survival and will for you as well ☺

Quotations

Sits he on so high throne a man still sits on his bottom

That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest – Thoreau

Moderation in everything including moderation – Chesham

The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook – William James

I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance - Socrates

The tragedy of life is not that we die, but what dies inside a man when he lives

Bend it Like Beckham

Wonder if he has a brother? If the world gets any more deranged and allows cloning, he should be the first - and the only - person to clone. And since it was my first idea, I get first dibs on the first Beckham clone. Everyone knows I'm way better than Posh Spice. Pssh. Even the real Beckham might get jealous of his clone :)