DPG

Hello,

I am forwarding this information (please see below) to you all on behalf of Carmen Sciandra. If you have any questions in regards to this, please send them to Carmen directly at Sciandra98@aol.com.

FYI. Center for Disability Rights is located at 497 State Street, Rochester, NY 14608

Their website is http://www.rochestercdr.org

Rita Straubhaar
DWR Recorder

We are inviting different leaders from the community to meet with us to discuss several of captioning issues in Rochester community. And, we need you to be there you’re your inputs to discuss the current problems with captions. Also to prepare for future problems that will occur when all TV broadcasts will change into HDTV format.

We have found that Rochester captions on the local news as well as on national broadcasts have words that are missing or misspelled, there are long delays, and captions do not match what is on the screen and when the broadcast goes to live reporting the captions often disappear.

The HDTV are already causing more problems with the captions because of the difference in the way the captions and the program are broadcasted. There are perhaps other problems we are not aware of and therefore a meeting of all the organizations would be most helpful for us to get a good idea of what is going on and what problems we need to address or bring to the attention of the broadcast industry.

We are fortune to have open and closed captioned movies in this area. We perhaps have more access to captioned movies than any other city in the state. But, there are problems in this area as well. We are limited to what we can see and limited to the theaters we can go to. We are also limited to movies that are selected by people who decided that this is what we want to see without regard to what we may really want to see.

Other areas that we seriously need to address are the emergency announcements that are broadcasted on TV, interpreters at the local theaters and captioning for Broadway shows.

Therefore, it is time for the community, deaf, hard of hearing, deaf blind, and other people with disabilities to speak up and express their concern on these issues. We have formed a Task Force to bring these issues to the attention of those responsible for providing captions both on TV and in the Movies. This Task Force wants each organization to send a representative to a forum to be held at the Center for Disability Rights on November 19, 2007 at 7:00 PM. After this forum we will have an open forum and invite the whole community to participate and voice their concern and opinions.

Would you please inform us if someone from your organization will attend and the name and email address of that person. We are looking forward to seeing you on November 19, 2007 at 7:00 PM.

Sincerely,
Robert S. Menchel, Ed.D. – Chairperson Monroe County Caption Committee
Dean DeRusso
Carmen Sciandra
Cliff Andrews
David Trachtenberg

Hi! Here's the latest news I have heard about the ESAD advocacy day in Albany on Tuesday June, 12. The ESAD transportation support form is attached. Note the June 7th deadline and FAX and e-mail contact info. Please share this with people who might be interested.

I haven't heard any more about a planning meeting for tonight, June 5th at
CDR/RCIL
497 State Street
Rochester, NY 14608
(585) 546-7510 Voice
(585) 546-7512 TDD
(585) 546-5643 FAX

May 23rd in Rochester (NY), we had like 20 people attend the meeting to discuss the Interagency Council for the deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing community. We have discussed the status of what happen in Albany. Several of these people have signed up, we are hoping for more people.

Steve Lovi, David Stahle, Frank Kimmes and Dean DeRusso spoke about our visit to Albany for Disability Day on May 21st. We had planned for individual appointments with 5 different Senators, unfortunately they merged all of the 5 appointments in one meeting due to interpreting needs. This was not GOOD AT ALL!! We wanted to speak with the Senator Robach alone, who is sponsoring the bill about the flow and how it was moving along and to learn of any issues with the bill. Our purpose was to meet with the other Senators individually to tell them why we support this important bill. Now, on June 12th we hope that they will not do that again. We are planning to have a lot of people come and meet with their own Senator. That is why we need YOU there on June 12th!!!

We were told that the Assembly was going to vote on the bill on Disability Day when we arrived at the Assembly House. Later, during the day, we found out that the the Bill was put aside and not voted on because State Education Department (SED) called the Senate and the Assembly to inform both houses that they will refuse to administer this Bill. In other words it means that they will KILL the bill. The Assembly wanted to find a department and amend the bill to match that department, and took the bill off the floor. We need them to vote on this bill before end of June! That is another reason why we need YOU to plan to come to Albany on June 12th.

The Assembly warmly welcomed all deaf members of ESAD for visiting on Disability Day. This was an excellent welcome and it showed why it is important for us to visit Albany on this very important day. While in Albany, during our visit to the Assembly, we also found out about several other disability related bills that could be applied to the deaf community that we did not know about beforehand.

Right now, we have told you why ESAD needs to be in Albany for Disability Awareness Day on the 3rd Monday of May every year. We have learned that the Senators need to find a better way to serve the deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing people now and in the future. We need our community to know their rights to be able to speak with their Senators when they wish to do so.

Our May 21st visit to Albany has made us aware of the following:

The Senate decided to force the bill on the floor even if the Assembly did not pass the bill now.

We met with two new groups from Buffalo and Syracuse. Now we have a bigger team.

The Legislators now know they need to be better prepared about providing Interpreters.

We learned of different people who sign that work in the Legislative Office Building.

We now know who to speak with regarding legislative advocacy.

We have learned of other bills that are in progress in NYS affecting the disability community and deaf community alike. We need to actively support these bills.

This is excellent news and a very good start… that is why we need YOU on June 12th. Our proposed schedule/agenda for ESAD Advocacy Day in Albany looks like this:

09:30-10:00AM     Registration in Hearing Room B of the LOB
10:00-10:30AM     Opening Remarks (ESAD leaders, Morelle, Robach, etc)
10:30-11:30AM     Legislative advocacy training/meeting assignments
11:30-12:30PM     Lunch/networking/early Legislative/State Department visits
12:30-02:00PM     Legislative/State Department visits
02:00-02:30PM     Re-group for de-briefing
02:30-03:00PM     Networking/Departures

Please be aware things might change, and for those who are nervous about what to say or do, we will help you during legislative training from 10:30 to 11:30AM and explain everything you need to know to be sure that you will be ready for anything!!

ESAD has handed out Transportation Registration Forms for everyone to fill out. ESAD is providing some transportation help for NYC, Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and Utica members. Please let us know where you are from ASAP. All you need to be is a member of ESAD to go on the trip. If you are not yet an ESAD member, you can easily join for just $5!!

NOTE: Please fill out the transportation form and return it to:

Fax: 585.546.5643

E-Mail: Dean DeRusso

We will have another meeting on June 5th in Rochester at RCIL/CDR with an updated review of what will be happening on June 12th. More news about this will be announced soon.

As of now, our plan on June 12th is to have everyone meet with their local senator and tell them why we need this Interagency Council Bill. ESAD will also talk about other bills that are currently in progress in the NYS legislature. Please be advised that things might change by June 12th so please be ready for anything. There will be a review meeting on the morning of June 12th to discuss any agenda changes.

ESAD looks forward to having YOU with us on June 12th!!

° April 27: Liz Stone, a RIT/NTID Alumni who has Usher Syndrome will be giving a presentation at 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., SDC 1300 – open to faculty, staff and students

° May 4: Professional Development workshop on how to support students who experience vision loss or vision challenges after HS graduation, 12:00 – 2:00 p.m., SDC 1300 – open to faculty and staff

Enjoy our reception introducing the Deaf Studies Archive. Browse through the collections, look through our collections such as the first NTID yearbook, take guided tours, discover your history, ask questions and relax with delicious food and drinks. Meet the RIT archivist, Becky Simmons and the NTID Liaison, Joan Naturale.

What: Deaf Studies Archives Kick-Off Reception
When: 2007 Tues. April 3 from 3-4:30
Where: RIT Library, 3660
Speakers: Chandra McKenzie, Harry Lang, Robert Panara
About: NTID Collections
Sign Language Interpreters Available
More Information: Deaf Studies Archive

"Lily Loves Charlie, Ok?", a short drama about domestic violence, is hosted by Advocacy Services for Abused Deaf Victims, Inc. (ASADV). This fundraiser event will take place at RSD in the evening of March 31, 2007. All proceeds will help further ASADV’s mission.

When: February 2-3, 2007
Where: NTID SDC 1300
More Information, please email:
     J. Matt Searls or Patrick Graybill
More Information: Lily Loves Charlie

Want to see films created by Deaf filmmakers? Or films with Deaf characters, Deaf stories and Deaf themes? If YES, then come to the Second Deaf Rochester Film Festival, to be held in Rochester, New York, March 23-25, 2007. The festival will show culturally authentic films by Deaf filmmakers who are students or professionals and who use film to communicate the Deaf experience or visual aesthetics. Filmmakers from cultures outside of the United States also will be featured.

When: March 23-25, 2007
More Information, please email
Deaf Rochester Film Festival
More Information: Deaf Rochester Film Festival Flyer

Location: Reno, Nevada
When: June 25-27, 2007
More Information, please contact
Joseph Stanislow
More Information: Council of American Instructors of the Deaf

Location: NTID SDC Room 1300/1310
When: Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 9AM-12PM
Cost: $8 per person, $10 at door
Question? Email:KODA Rochester
More Information: KODA of Rochester Event

Where: Palace Theatre
2384 James Street
Syracuse, NY

When: Friday, March 2, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $10.00 ~ available at the door!

For reservations contact:
WHOLE ME, Inc.
Phone: 315-468-3275 (V/TTY/VP)
E-mail: Whole Me

This event is coordinated by: Whole Me Inc.

Funded by: The Community Interpreter Grant, Rochester, NY, The Cultural Resource Council & Sorenson Communications, Inc.

Proceeds from this event will go to WHOLE ME, Inc., a non-profit organization serving Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children and families.

Empire State Association for the Deaf Conference 2007

The theme of the conference is “Rising Phoenix”. Is ESAD ready to fly again?

Please go to WWW.ESAD.ORG for updated information.

We are still looking for workshops that focus on how to improve or enhance quality of life for Deaf, hard-of-hearing and deaf-blind people in the State of New York. Please send an email to Gary@DHHinsurance.com.

• Attend rehearsals once a week (which include the production team meetings after the rehearsal)
• Work with the deaf actors
• Help interpret their scripts
• Act as consultant/advisor to Ew and the student production team