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