the New Big Idea Contest

A team of NTID students took top honors in a technology competition for their device designed to help deaf athletes. V-Sports won $5000 as part of the New Big Idea contest. Team members include:

• business administration major Jeremiah Thompson
• applied mathematics technology major Tyler Swob
• accounting technology major Michael Della Penna
• engineering technology student Shane Qualls
• hearing and computer engineering student Ken Hertzog

The students tested their prototypes at Rochester School for the Deaf. Team Get Dancin’ won Second place. They pocketed $3,000 for an idea to open a dance studio for the deaf, where teachers would use sign language. The team was made up of:

• graphics design major Nicole Hood
• accounting technology major Nic Shaw
• Master of Science Program in Secondary Education student Samatha Braidi

Third place and $2,000 went to team WaterSocket:

• packaging science major Casey Jaeger
• Matthew Hente
• mechanical engineering major Richie Prilenski

Their idea is to create a waterproof cover for tcochlear implants using a super hydrophobic spray.

The competition was sponsored by ZVRS video relay service.

New York Family

WKBW-TV in Buffalo visits a family where everyone is deaf in the video posted below on DeafNewsToday.com. Or you can read the story here.

TTY Developer Honored

The founder of Ultratec gets an honorary doctorate today. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is honoring Robert Engelke for his work in helping develop an inexpensive TTY (Text Telephone) in 1978 from out of the basement of his Wisconsin home. His teletypewriter plugged into a regular phone line, allowing deaf people to communicate with other TTY owners. The young, hearing engineer sold it for less than $200 - way below the typical model which could run as much as $1000. No longer a luxury item that very few in the deaf community could afford, Engelke made it possible for the average person to own one. He was motivated by a deaf friend, Herb Pickell. He attended a National Association of the Deaf conference to get feedback. He continued to have people who are deaf involved in product development ever since.

More on man who set off fire alarm in theater

Here's a video report on the man who set off a fire alarm because he did NOT want to see captioning during a showing of the movie The Avengers. This video report, posted on DeafNewsToday.com, comes from WMAR-TV in Baltimore. Or you can read the story here.

Fight over Zoning Slows Move of Deaf School

KUSA-TV reports in the video below on DeafNewsToday.com about the Rocky Mountain Deaf School's attempt to build a much needed new facility. To read the story, click here.

Protest over use of Video Terps

Nearly 50 people picketed an Illinois hospital today over the use of video interpreters. The Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria has used VRI (Video Remote Interpreters) for about a year. But deaf patients say the system is flawed. There areconstant equipment problems, difficult-to-see video screens, miscommunication over signs based on the regional differences between the patients and the interpreters, and the loss of human contact. Some carried signs reading I Want a Live Interpreter and Honk for Deaf Rights.

From Gally to Capitol Hill

What an internship in Congress is like for a Gallaudet University studenthere.

911 in Syracuse

A new 911 texting services designed to help the deaf community in Syracuse. WSYR-TV reports in the video posted below on DeafNewsToday.com or read the story here.

White House Honors Researcher

A deaf IBM researcher was among 14 people honored by the White House for his work this month. Dr. Dimitri Kanevsky is a research staff member in the Speech and Language Algorithms Department where he developed the first Russian automatic speech. The White House ceremony honoring him was a celebration of those "leading the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math for people with disabilities. A video from the White House explains more below on DeafNewsToday.com and if you'd like to read an interview with Dr. Kanevsky, go here.

Fire Alarm Set off over Captioning

A Maryland man was arrested Monday for allegedly pulling a fire alarm at Regal Cinemas in Abingdon because he was upset over the closed captioning provided for The Avengers movie. David K. Walters complained to the manager who says he offered Walters a refund, but Walters intentionally pulled the lobby's fire alarm. Walters is set to appear in Harford County District Court next month.

Armed Robery

Two deaf men are accused of stealing money from a gas station in Los Angeles with a gun Monday night. Police say a witness gave police the license plate number of the getaway car and it lead to the two men. Jonathan Lopez and Emiliano Decontreras used sign language with deputies and are out of jail as the investigation continues. Three other suspects are still at large.

Gov to Speak at NAD

South Dakota's governor will speak at NAD's biennial meeting in Louisville on July 6. The National Association of the Deaf will meet in the Kentucky town from July 3-7. Dennis Daugaard will discuss the importance of the deaf community taking part in the political process, particularly when it comes to advocating for their rights. Daugaard is considered the first CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) to serve as a governor. He grew up using ASL and he even worked as a certified interpreter. The theme of this year’s NAD conference is “Nothing About Us, Without Us!”

Deaf piano player

KSLA-TV has a video report on a young deaf piano player in South Carolina. It is posted below or you can read it here.

First deaf grad from GA School

Ellie Reza is the first deaf student to graduate from Georgia's Jefferson High School.  She's planning to attend Gallaudet University in the fall. WAGA-TV in Atlanta has a video report here.

Springsteen on Stage

Sign interpreters at this year's New Orleans Jazz Fest got a treat while they were translating the performance of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The Boss decided to join them for a moment and you see the result in a video below. Holly Maniatty and Edie Jackson even got Springsteen to sign along with them.

Captioning for Final Cut Training

After conducting a training seminar at Gallaudet, Apple product trainer Larry Jordan is adding captions to his Final Cut X training series. With the help of Florida-based JFD Communications, Jordan put captioning on more than 11 hours of video training tapes and positioned the captioning so video editors in training could read the captions yet still see the key features of the video software. A half-a-year after the Gallaudet training took place, the captioning is completed with the help of 20 people. Find out more about the training here.

Artist helps students find their Voice

A report about bringing ASL and poetry into the classroom through a film called White Space by Minnesota Public Radio. Read the story or listen to it here.

Touch sensitivity and Hearing

Touch and hearing are more closely linked than previously thought, according to a new study. Not only is deafness inherited, so is sensitivity to touch. German researchers at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin studied 100 sets of twins. The touch sensitivity of the twins appeared to be linked to their ability to hear. People in the study who had excellent hearing were more likely to be sensitive to touch, while a fifth of the people with deafness at birth for genetic reasons showed impaired sensitivity - indicating genes that cause deafness may also dull the sense of touch. In fact, the study found there is a single gene responsible for both Usher syndrome and touch sensitivity. Read more about the study here.

Deaf teacher to play in World Cup

California School for the Deaf teacher is captain of the USA Deaf Soccer’s Women’s World Cup. Read her story here.

Gallaudet senior's Political Ambitions

A Frederick, Maryland newspaper takes a look at a Gally senior here.

Deaf Players in the NFL

There have been only two deaf NFL players:
▪ Defensive linemen Bonnie Sloan who played for the Cardinals during the 1973 season
▪ Kenny Walker who played for the Broncos in 1991-92.

Remembering the Holocaust

An estimated 25,000 deaf Jewish people were murdered in the Holocaust. Only about 20 deaf survivors are left today. Unlike other persecuted groups in the Holocaust, the deaf did not have a specific identity badge. About 17,500 deaf Germans were sterilized between 1933 and 1945.

Getting to Know.. Clarke School for the Deaf

Founded in 1867 as the nation's first permanent oral school for the deaf in the US.
Opposes the use of sign language at the school
Main campus is in Northampton, Massachusetts with branches in Canton, Massachusetts, Philadelphia and New York City, New York
Enrollment is down at Northampton to about a dozen from more than 25 a decade ago
The average cost for attending the school is more than $55,000
Works with children before school age to prep them for mainstreaming and sends master's degrees teachers into mainstream classes as “itinerant teachers”