This is posted on GDOC-- in the honors discussion board
by Alison Aubrecht
When you were a child, did you ever experience someone in your social setting, perhaps a family member or relative, telling you "No, you can't do this or that. . ." and you KNEW it had to do with your Deafness? Somewhere inside of you was this fire, this passion that you were unsure of how to make use of at such a young age? Fire that sparked from the knowledge that you were perfectly capable of performing the tasks that you were being denied permission to? This has been an experience for many Deaf people. Even today, at the only University in the world for the Deaf, it is an experience that persists. Those who want to become Doctors, for instance, are encouraged to go into genetic research and such instead. Those who want to make movies are viewed as dreamers. But for some, this dream is very real. For some, it's not so much a "dream" but a reality that has almost been achieved. With the announcement of the closing of the TV/Cinema major, the dreams of several students were squashed. Then there came the information that it would not be closed, but changed into a new name-- Videography (which, by the way is not the same thing.) For more information, see the recent issue of Buff N Blue. Truth be told, in all this time, no one has really been very supportive of the TV/Cinema majors with the exception of Facundo Montenegro (a great teacher), who has been given notice that as of May 2002, there will no longer be a position for him. So what's the big deal? How does this affect you? Two ways. Three, actually. First, there are teachers and there are people who have been given a degree to teach. Facundo Montenegro is a teacher. He has brought much light and life to the department, only to be asked to leave for reasons that are not satisfactory to the TV/Cinema majors and their advocates. We should not let this kind of thing go silently. If we do, then we are promoting the very thing we hate the most: more teachers that do not truly have the heart to teach the Deaf. Secondly, how does one preserve ASL? It is a visual language that must be preserved through visual media. Who will do this if Gallaudet does not provide the proper courses that will give students the tools for TV//Cinema? Hearing people? How many movies have you seen that accurately capture the essence of ASL? Of the Deaf persepective? Thirdly, and closely related to the second reason: We need more Deaf filmmakers who can go out there and document the Deaf community. Issues that are predominant in our culture need to be captured. And the world can be educated in a matter of minutes about issues that WE want them to be aware of. Through our eyes. Deaf people in other countries who are being oppressed? We can document that too. If nothing else, you must know what it's like to have a dream? To know in your heart that you are perfectly capable of achieving it? Wouldn't you hate it if someone told you to take it down a few notches? Wouldn't you hate it if you felt that people didn't care about your education, about helping you excel? Please write a letter of support-- The TV/Cinema majors would like to see two things happen. First, they want to keep TV/Cinema in it's rightful name. Secondly, they very much want Facundo Montenegro to remain as a faculty (and I do too.) If you want more information, please email [email protected] or [email protected].
