Budget cuts are making it difficult for the deaf and hard of hearing to receive equal access

Dear Editor,

I am a student in a COMS 356 class with two deaf students.  Throughout this semester these students have been without an interpreter for five out of the 12 class meetings.  I have watched their frustration and emotions overwhelm them to the point of walking out of class in tears.  This makes me feel guilty. As a hearing student that I am able to keep up with the curriculum and they are falling behind at no fault of their own.  What has happened to this school that we are allowing this to happen? Are the budget cuts that severe that we are letting some students’ education fall by the wayside?  This is unacceptable! I try to imagine what it would feel like to be sitting in a class and not be able to follow the lecture.  It is extremely frustrating!!  These students paid the exorbitant tuition that was required of all of us, and yet they are not receiving the same education.  I call to all students, faculty and the community to take a stand against this terrible situation and put a stop to this!!

In this together,
Krystal Hughes

Hi, My name is Kylie Kimura and I am currently a junior here at CSUN.   I am also a communication studies major. I am writing to you because I just got home from my morning class of which I have two deaf students in and the interpreter did not show. This is the fifth or sixth time that the interpreter has not come and we have called different departments over and over again and nothing has been done. This is completely unacceptable. The reason I am writing is because I want to raise awareness. I want to get the word out. These students are paying the same tuition as us, if not more for international fees, and they do no get the same, fair education as us. As a class collectively, we have decided that if this happens again, we shall sit in silence, as our deaf students have been forced to do so. In the event of our silence, we invite you to come visit our class. Intercultural Communication is held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30-10:45 a.m. and is taught by Randi Picarelli. I am in no way writing this to vent and blame anybody, but to try to make a change. I think that as hearing students we take learning for granted. But could you imagine sitting in a silent class seeing everyone’s mouths move and not knowing what is going on? I think it is completely unfair. Deaf students come to CSUN because of its renowned reputation for deaf studies and these events are only demeaning the program. Thank you for your time in this matter and I hope that I can continue to get people’s attention.

Kylie Kimura

Clint Campbell reads his poetry at the release party. Photo by Aprile Sugamue / Staff Reporter

The Northridge Review release party on Friday night was an intimate event attended by students, professors and writers. This semester’s English 412 class was successful in hosting the launch of the Fall 2009 issue, which contains pieces from Spring 2009.

Writers were allowed to read their pieces out loud to the audience; some even read pieces that were not in the magazine. Fiction stories, poems and a drama were recited during the two-hour event.

Mona Houghton, adviser of the Northridge Review, started the night by thanking the contributors, the English department staff for organizing the event, and the people who financially supported the event especially the Associated Students who “keep the budget going on a regular basis.” She also thanked the editors of the Fall 2009 issue, Melanie Grafil and Robert Kane, who handled the transition from having a class of nine students to 20.

“They were both infinitely wise and patient. I think they deserve a group hug, almost,” Houghton said.
Grafil and Kane presented three awards before the reading started; the Northridge Review fiction award, the Rachel Sherwood award and the Academy of American Poets award.

Each writer was given about five minutes to read their piece, or a portion of their piece. Once done, they were to introduce the next writer.
Guests were allowed to take a few minutes to stretch, grab a snack and refreshment, which was provided in the back of the JR 319 room. Some people who were not able to get the magazine beforehand also took the opportunity to get a copy, which was sold, outside the room for $5.

“This costs less than a pack of cigarettes,” writer Joseph Mattson said.

While the writers read their pieces, Kevin Cikatricis and Rebecca Brown, two staff members of the National Center on Deafness took turns in interpreting the pieces to the hearing impaired audiences.

Cikatricis said that although they did not have the opportunity to read the pieces ahead of time, he loved the experience and thought it was interesting.
Kwang Ho Kim of the Northridge Review is trying to connect the deaf studies program with the magazine, and the first step in accomplishing that is by getting the deaf studies program involved with the English program. Work from deaf students or deaf artists will be included in the Northridge Review by creating a CD, he said.

“We will choose their poetry and the writer will come out and do the hand gesture,” Kim said. “We started this semester and for the following issue, we will have the CD.”

Houghton had expected a good turn out from the release party and she said they got an “excellent” turn out. She said everybody who participated did well and having the interpreter there was great. She hopes to see more people from the hearing impaired community show up next semester.
Kim said that the Northridge Review is expanding and more people are coming every semester to the release party. He said they might hold the next party at the Noski Auditorium.

“It was very exciting to have so many people support the creative writing community. I am personally thrilled to be a part of such a vibrant community that can produce this magazine twice a year and have such a high quality material,” Houghton said.
The Fall 2009 issue of the Northridge Review is available at the Matador Bookstore and at a few bookstores around town.