Bay Area Getting Too Big for Its Britches?

December 22, 2006

I’m imagining one of Dan McClintock’s great political ASL cartoons here in this exact spot. It’s a cartoon of the state of California signing “big headed”. He hasn’t drawn it yet, but I can see it so vividly.

Big Headed Bay Area.

In case you haven’t heard, the Bay Area in California has put together a “Deaf Unity Gala” with “the Gallaudet Student Leaders”. The $50-per-ticket event takes place tonight.

Who are the student leaders you ask? Well, the Bay Area organizers of this event have decided there are just four. That’s right. Just four. They’ve also gone so far as to decide just who these four are.

Ryan Commerson
Tara Holcomb
Chris Corrigan
LaToya Plummer

Listed in that exact order.

Where do they get off, you ask? Well, I wonder the same thing.

There were many student leaders of this recent protest. Delia Lozano-Martinez, Leah Katz-Hernandez and SBG President Noah Beckman come immediately to mind. Why weren’t they included?

It also makes me wonder about the Deaf President Now protest of 1988. How did we end up with just four student leaders, when surely there were more than just four? Who made this decision for us? And why did we allow it to be made?

Entry Filed under: Deaf, Deaf Community. .

316 Comments Add your own

1. ron | December 22, 2006 at 12:47 pm

Tara Holcomb is a local Bay Area girl from a deaf family. That’s why she’s on the list. I don’t consider her one of the main leaders.
2. hate crabbing | December 22, 2006 at 1:03 pm

Jeez. I don’t know the ins and outs of this event, but didn’t the protest teach us that we are a very divided, splintered community and we need to be more respectful toward each other? This outlandish post is NOT helping us come together.
3. Amused | December 22, 2006 at 1:11 pm

I remember seeing a blurb about this event on Ridors blog. I was surprised when he, Ridor, didn’t say anything about the choice selection. Looks like David Eberwein has Ridor tighly wound around his little pinky. Tsk. Tsk. Glad to see there are others who aren’t afraid to speak out about this stuff. Kudos.
4. Classof07 | December 22, 2006 at 1:16 pm

Why just those four? I’m also wondering about that.
5. EF U | December 22, 2006 at 1:26 pm

Did you contact DCARA to find out why those four were chosen? What if DCARA actually contacted the others but they couldnt make it (remember this is the holidays). There might be other reasons though…
I’d hold off the rant (or “roar” as you like) until more information is gathered, and confirmed.
6. JB | December 22, 2006 at 1:34 pm

David Eber-wennie is the one behind the selection, not DCARA. He probably chose based on how much ass-kissing the students did when he did his deafhood show at Gally.
7. old fart | December 22, 2006 at 1:42 pm

I was there during DPN. I didn’t think Greg Hlibok was much of a leader. Had he not been SBG President at the time, I guarantee he would not have been seen as one of the main leaders.
8. ?? | December 22, 2006 at 2:23 pm

I’m wondering if anyone know if Ryan or Chris are Kappa Gamma?
9. Sasha | December 22, 2006 at 2:40 pm

Hey, I’m all for events like this. However, I have to agree with Chris. It sends the wrong message.

How about a more democratic process? Let the students vote for themselves how many leaders they feel should be recognised as the official student leaders of the protest. They decide how many and who, not some city entirely across the country.

It does make them look like they are big heads.

Let the students decide for themselves!

Sasha
10. The One and Only Ridor | December 22, 2006 at 3:47 pm

This is absurd. I intend to cover this subject today but Chris beats me to it. Otherwise, it is silly to claim that DE has me wrapped.

God, I love the speculations.

R-
11. Stephen | December 22, 2006 at 6:29 pm

Watch the video.
http://www.savegallaudet.org/?p=48
12. From Richmond, CA | December 22, 2006 at 6:37 pm

Just saw this on Deaf Read. Don’t know if you remember me, Chris. We met many years ago when I was on vacation in San Juan.

I have a couple of things I want to say about this. As you may remember, I’m from the Bay Area, specifically, Richmond.

First, the Bay Area is huge. It is made up of many many different cities and towns. Deafies who live here in Richmond are different from those who live in Fremont. Likewise, people from San Francisco are different from people who live in Berkeley and Oakland. Deaf people in the Bay Area are very diverse and do not all share the same views, values or social networks.

Please be careful not to generalize. It is not the whole Deaf Bay Area who are being big heads, but a small group, most from Fremont and CSDF. And yes, as someone already said here, David E. is one of them. But he is not the face of the Bay Area. He is just one person, albeit, one that many don’t like due to his snobby ways.

You should also double check with the agency Deaf here, DCARA. They are a good agency and probably didn’t have anything to do with the decision of naming the leaders.
13. cali | December 22, 2006 at 6:59 pm

This article looks like you didn’t do your research, Chris. It’s fuill of assumptions and generalizations without citations nor links (except for the one to the ad) to back up your assertions.

As “from Richmond” points out, the Bay Area is huge and very diverse. To paint everyone with the same brush is irresponsible at best.

You are also assuming that the 4 leaders were hand-picked. That’s not the case at all. Do your homework and ask around before you shoot off your mouth about how arrogant an entire community is.

Bottom line: you are entitled to your opinion, but this article is one of the more irresponsible, divisive ones I’ve seen in a while.
14. Benson Hall 302 | December 22, 2006 at 6:59 pm

I’m not sure that Noah Beckman did all that much. There were times when he was too busy studying and wasn’t accessible. I also agree 100% it should be up to us, the students to decide who the official leaders are, not people in California.
15. Benson Hall 302 | December 22, 2006 at 7:22 pm

Chris Corrigan is a party boy. I wouldn’t call him a leader either.

Leah Katz-Hernandez is another one that’s missing.
16. Dan McClintock | December 22, 2006 at 7:27 pm

Chris,

Your blog and the following comments made me chuckle. Especially amusing was how you imagined
a cartoon I’d draw. But hey! Watch out who
you’re talking about – I happen to have a sister who lives in the Bay Area with her family!
17. BlackPower | December 22, 2006 at 8:51 pm

From what I can see, I don’t think Chris means the *whole* Bay Area. He’s talking about the organizers of this event. My ex-wife who lives in the Bay Area said the organizers are a small group of people mostly from California School for the Deaf in Fremont. The concerns raised by Chris are valid. This event could set precedence for the future as to who gets the recognition as the “official leaders”.
18. BlackPower | December 22, 2006 at 8:56 pm

By the way, I’m really glad to see LaToya was invited. Though I think she should have headlined the event instead of being listed last.
19. Ex-CSDF | December 22, 2006 at 9:18 pm

It is because of Deafhood workshop that people are start to associate DE and Ella with Bay Area. Bay Area is bigger than just those two like Richmond say. Just happen that they are more visible right now to get the attention. I know both of them. Ella very friendly person. But not DE. DE is asshole.
20. Chris Leon | December 22, 2006 at 10:43 pm

Thank you all for your comments. I certainly didn’t mean to imply that all people in the Bay Area are “big heads”. I was just referring to the organizers of the Deaf Unity Gala.

This is also not an “article”, it’s an opinion post. That’s what blogs are. I have two friends from the Bay Area who griped to me about this event and the way it was organized. That’s what inspired me to write about it.

I have shot off correspondence to Delia, Leah and Noah asking them directly if they had been invited, as well as to Cheryl Boyd and Dcara asking them to clarify the selection process. I’ll post a follow up after I’ve heard from them.

Why should we care about all this, you ask? Well, as someone already posted here, one reason is precedence. It starts small like this and then before you know it, it’s official and these four have become immortalized as the official leaders. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what happened with DPN ‘88. That’s not to say that these four are not deserving of the recognition. They are. But there are also others who are equally if not more deserving.

It’s also about democracy and power. Why should a small group in California decide for the students and the entire community nationwide who their official leaders were?

I’m not afraid to ask unpopular questions.

I welcome your comments. Let’s focus on the issues and keep the personal attacks out.

Peace out,
Chris
21. Dan McClintock | December 22, 2006 at 11:51 pm

Well written. Thank you for your clarification re Bay Area people. Really, however, I personally don’t care whoever DCARA wants to honor. But yeah, maybe you’re right, more FSSA leaders should be invited or honored. See what responses you’ll get to your emails!
Paz y Feliz Navidad,
D.
22. cali | December 23, 2006 at 12:06 am

Chris, thanks for the clarification. Appreciate it.

The gala is finishing up as I type this, and wow, they really took pains to recognize so many people. One huge portion of their PowerPoint slideshow focused on thanking maybe 25 or 30 student leaders, yes, including Leah and Delia. They named the Mt. Bison boys, among others. Leah was there tonight, by the way. One theme that emerged several times was that the 4 of them were merely the media spokespeople and they were only a small part of the huge team that made the protest happen. So it clearly was not the organizers’ intent to appoint these 4 the main leaders.
23. Stephen | December 23, 2006 at 2:37 am

Thanks Cali. Does that makes you a gnat now Chris eh? Take social politics classes if you want to learn how groups form leadership in times of crisis.
24. DeafLinux | December 23, 2006 at 4:02 am

Thank you, Californians for being the lead to bring the fire inside our belly. What you have done is a wonderful and powerful thing to bring the Deaf together.

Happy Holidays, Californians and stay healthy, wealthy and wise.

Stephen Hardy of Florida
25. Ricardo L. | December 23, 2006 at 7:35 am

Pah, Chris! Happy to see a new blog entry from you Bro!

Stephan, you’re an idiot. You obviously miss the points raised in this blog. You need to develop some critical thinking skills instead of eating everything people feed you. No wonder you look like a big cow in your video.
26. D.C. Guy | December 23, 2006 at 12:55 pm

I can see the two sides. On one, they should be able to pick whoever they want. But on the other view, the protest just end and the choices for the very first speaking engagement can send wrong message. Bay Area has big influence. Remember Tent Cities? They were first one after Gally one then it spread like wildfire to other cities. I understand what Chris means and I agree. Because the Bay Area have a lot of influence, they should be more careful and responsible. Will other cities copy Bay Area and just invite those 4? Probably. That will not be fair to other student leaders.
27. Anonymous | December 23, 2006 at 4:24 pm

I’m curious as well about the selection process.
28. Joey Baer | December 23, 2006 at 4:30 pm

It is really unfortunate for you to talk low about the Bay Area. I was there at the Gala last night and I was VERY impressed with three things:

1) I was in awe to see so much of diversity at the Gala. I was really thrilled to see that. But guess what, I am NOT satisified because we know we have so much work to do ahead of us in uniting more Deaf people. The comments above are perfect example that we have lots of work ahead of us.

2) The Gala organizers TOOK their time to recognize and thank almost everyone who was invovled in the protest by naming and showing the pictures of everyone invovled. So it is clear that the Bay Area did not favor the only 4 protestors that were invited but the Bay Area appreciated and thanked everyone invovled. (It is my hope that the power point slide will be posted and shown somewhere on the web.)

3) Ryan, Tara, LaToya, and Chris repeatedly said that they were not the only 4 leaders but there were countless of leaders who were involved. Those 4 people even asked others who were at the Gala to come up on the stage and for us to recognize and applaud them for their work. Ryan, Tara, LaToya and Chris are true leaders by saying that they were not the only ones. Hats off to them. (some clips will be edited and posted on my site soon hopefully)

To be honest with you, if we chose 4 different people, this issue will STILL be brought up anyway. You see, it does not matter what people do or say, people will ALWAYS find way to argue this and that.

Despite what people say about the Bay Area, we will NOT stop! We will continue to work hard to raise the standards of Deaf people. It is time for us to work together and raise the bars. We should be discussing HOW to raise the bars and HOW we can help and support each other.

I am truly blessed to be part of a wonderful community. Never in my life, I made many new Deaf friends in last year in Bay Area. Those new Deaf friends came from different backgrounds and experience and I have learned so much from them. Learning new things help us to be better Deaf people. Thank you.

Unity for Deaf people!

Joey
29. RLM | December 23, 2006 at 6:33 pm

I like to make correction in refer to Old Fart’s #7 comment.

Greg Hlibok was the SBG president during the DPN ‘88. He was just thrusted into the “protest” fray two weeks after formally elected as the SBG president. Hlibok took the SBG presidency after Tim Rarus’ one-year SBG term. Several individuals had to get Greg Hiblok at his Queens (NYC) home and drove him back to DC on the first night of the DPN protest. Almost everybody were gone for the Spring Break at that time.

Greg Hlibok had been (kinda still do) a cautious person which appeared aloof on his part. Hiblok surely done a lot of things behind the scene during the DPN protest. We normally did not see what was really going on with the heated discussions among other student leaders and participants.

Greg Hiblok displayed his cautious personality again and again during the recent Gally protest before it got erupted on May 1st. He and his brother privately expressed such concerns about JK’s leadership ability during the National Press Club. Greg and Steve wondered how JK could manage to interact with people in general from their close observaton at the table. That was his own style.

You have to remmy that Greg Hilbok as just a kid during the DPN protest as compared to other two student leaders – Tim Rarus, former SBG president and Jerry Covell, most outspoken and emotional (in good way) leader.

We ought to appreciate Greg Hlibok’s DPN’ 88 leadership style as a cool-headed and reserved up to the present time. Nobody is perfect anyway.

I find your comment kind of enlightening and revealing about some people really feel about the DPN student leaders nowaday.

I am sure that every revolution or organized protest do overlook other contributors and participants. Many people do not realize that the gay individual as a personal advisor to Martin Luther King (MLK) had been overlooked in major way. MLK valued and defended his personal advisor all the way whom happened to be gay.

Robert L. Mason (RLM)
30. RLM | December 23, 2006 at 6:41 pm

Many people dismissed Bridgette Bourne-Firl as one of the DPN student leaders, then appreciated her leadership style years and years later. She was really the one, who made much difference with the DPN protest.

Same thing with Sean Moore, underappreciated and often overlooked. He was much like Bridgette Bourne-Firl effectively moderating the group discussion and strategy in such heated and emotional tone. In the long run, we will see more of Sean Moore. That’s what happened with Bridgette Bourne-Firl.

There are many different leadership style within all of us. Everyone could not be a leader at same time. We usually have leaders and followers and supporters.

I am sure that the Bay Area deaf community will come up with way of including other contributors and protestors to the near future events.

What about our own DC-area community to repay respect and gratitude to the Gally protestors? We will do this in timely manner after everything is settled. Smile!

Robert L. Mason (RLM)
31. Anon E. Mouse | December 23, 2006 at 6:52 pm

This criticism is so lame!

Don’t you know that Leah was there. Yes, she was there at the gala supporting the others. Her turn in the spotlight will come also on another day.

My God…. Where is your logic? In everything in life we must make choices. If we make a choice for one thing, it does not mean that the other things are neglected.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

….a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

….a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

….a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

….a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

…a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

….a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

….a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”
32. X2 | December 23, 2006 at 7:14 pm

Brigeta was a token of DPN. Just like LaToya is now. No one likes to talk about it because its politically incorrect.
33. DCGirl | December 23, 2006 at 7:32 pm

Come on- is it truly important who showed up at the DCARA gala? They asked us the FSSA who should go- we decided on basis of “who could”. And the four main student leaders for anyone’s information are: Delia Lorenzo-Martinez, Leah Katz-Hernandez, Latoya Plummer and Ryan Commerson. Tara Holcomb was the SBG representative, and later became one of the two main media spokespeople along with Latoya Plummer mainly due to her eloquence and passion. Chris Corrigan was the Tent City mayor and was always the rally leader and spirit carrier throughout the protest. So basically they invited two out of the student leaders, a media spokesperson, a Tent City mayor- good balance, I would think. Being a FSSA rep myself, I would think if it doesnt matter to us who went, it shouldn’t to anyone else.

We’re equally proud of every contributing member of the protest, from the Arrestees to HMB Lock-Down committee, and from Mt. Bison Boys to the Hunger Strikers! That doesnt include the Media Team, the Campus Lock-down troupe, the Faculty who held the candlelight vigils and were part of the Writing Team (for Press Releases), and NAD leaders’ part of the Media Team along with alumni leaders who were WOW!

You have to remember the fact since that the protest lasted so long, that the flow of who contributed and led changed from time to time- 6 weeks, can you imagine! That doesnt count the stress, planning and the distress in between (the summer) and afterwards.

Thank you for all your support- and do support us in our cry for no reprisals- they’re prolonging the process unnecessarily, believe me- and sup with two leaders getting their jobs, but not anyone else? They’re not letting the battle down because they know they have to get the other students their positions/internships back!! That’s called loyalty- we have to make this a springing point, not “a point in history” like DPN was. We have so much to fight for in the deaf community, our biggest wish is for this protest to have been an inspiration, not a memory.
34. Been there and saw that | December 23, 2006 at 7:33 pm

I went to the Gala and I love it. It was well organized and I didn’t feel it was about the ‘4 leaders’. I think it was more about who from the Bay Area got involved and reflect on those from Gallaudet who attended the event. Mannny standed up and shared their experience at Gallaudet. Even those who couldn’t make it to the Gala – their name are repeatly noted in the PowerPoint slides and movie clips.
I knew from the start that they weren’t the first and only 4 leaders.
I wish you’d ask this question in private before you make this public, just to be sure. But something tell me that you want to open a can of worms even if there are no worms in the can.
35. Gally Grad '02 | December 23, 2006 at 7:41 pm

May I suggest that instead of lashing out at Chris who wrote what a lot of us were thinking, why don’t the Bay Area organizers of this event simply explain their rationale for choosing just 4 leaders and why those specific 4 were chosen? I have heard a lot of grumbling about this from people I know. I think it’s healthy for people to talk about these things so that resentment does not build. Perhaps an explanation from the organizers would put this all to rest. How about it Joey? You’re were involved with this so why don’t you tell us?
36. red moon purple pumpkin | December 23, 2006 at 7:44 pm

or perhaps 50 dollars ticket was too expensive for you, wordie?
They did really great, the Gala was really inspiring and energetic. so just shuddup, press that.
:-X
37. red moon purple pumpkin | December 23, 2006 at 7:48 pm

the terms of Invitation and Selection are indeed different, the 4 leaders were “selected” is a misconceptation, they were “invited” to a community’s event… they has the whole right to do so!

its odd that you are Ignoring the issue of Riversdie community inviting Leah Katz-Hedy not others, and now why Bay Area is the target?
38. JB | December 23, 2006 at 7:49 pm

The whole thing smells like favortism. It stinks.
39. Check Facts | December 23, 2006 at 7:59 pm

I don’t think DCARA had anything to do with organising this event. I think they just helped with the publicity.
40. From the Bay Area | December 23, 2006 at 8:50 pm

Ha. I had a good laugh about David “Eber-wennie” comment. Funny. True, he’s not well liked and most of us at CSDF tolerate him because we have to. Remember, deaf community is small. Sometimes we have to smile and pretend we like each other even when we loathe each other. Pease don’t equate the whole Bay Area with DE or his attitude. Most of us are not like him. As for the Gala, it was awesome. It was not about the four leaders but about the whole protest and how we were victorious. Many many were honored. Wish you were all there to see it.
41. Tulip | December 23, 2006 at 10:26 pm

#29 RLM

I need to jump in and correct you on some things….Hlibok, Covell, Rarus and Bourne were handpicked to represent the student body way in late fall semester of ‘87 when Lee’s retirement was announced and the Gally community were talking about who would be the next president. The foursome were in Mary Malzkuhn’s government class and Mary was a staunch supporter of the potential protest if they were to select a hearing prez which she strongly predicted…it just happened that Hlibok and Rarus won the SBG prez/VP…although they were strong contenders to win the race.

And Hlibok was not that much younger…Bourne and Hlbok both were class of ‘89, and only one year younger than Covell and Rarus who both were class of ‘88. So the “aloof” personality always have been Greg’s personality – nothing to do with DPN…he was like that before DPN and the same post DPN.

Anyway, thanks Joey Baer for your speaking up in the 4 new student leaders’ selflessness in naming other leaders involved in the protest. That is what true leader is all about!
42. Kappa Sigma Rules | December 23, 2006 at 11:23 pm

Jerry Covell was the real leader of DPN. Agreed about BB being token woman to balance it out. Tim was too hot head. Rub people wrong way. Greg, no real leader skills. He was right place at right time. Nothing more.
43. true biz | December 23, 2006 at 11:58 pm

Ridor kisses and licks DE’s ass. No question.
44. AK | December 24, 2006 at 12:13 am

Hello, it breaks my heart to see you d accuse specific people/Bay Areans for being favorism, choosing only 4 leaders. This is not true. I have worked with people who made Deaf Unity Gala possible. They spent hours and hours… days and days and of course weeks to make sure they have included every aspects of the protest- especially the people of the protest.
I must applaud those committee for making this possible- especially David and Cheryl who volunteered to become chairpersons of the Gala but they have repeatly mentioned last night that it were US that made the difference- not just two of them. We talked about how organic this Gala event were- in the process of setting up this event was very organic, just like how the leaders of Gallaudet protest came together.

This was a very emotional night for many of us- those who attended GALA. We recognized how much community, alumnus, friends, students, fac n staff and parents are important in this protest.
We also were clear that 4 are not just 4 leaders of the protests- there are many others involved as well. We came up with Gala event with such a small $- we found donations and sponsorships. I know for a fact that we d want all of them to come but of course money talks.

I am very disappointed in you for trying to divide us when we all are trying to unity for the best- for the whole deaf community on this Earth. Again, you dare to insult those people who have contributed their hourless dedication to make Gala possible and those statements you have made are unjustified. What we did- we basically used the same principles that the protests had agree in- regarding to organic process and the leadership of the protest.
For those who have issues with individuals such as DE- how snobby he is… Chris, a party animal and Ridor too. What you should realize that every one of them actually MADE A DIFFERENCE in the protest. Chris cheered us up when we needed it the most at those difficult times during the protest. DE and Bridgetta woke us up (bay areans) about how bad it is at Gallaudet and how much they needed our support. Ridor kept us posted with inside information.

Again, what you re saying- you actually meant this about YOU. It is not about them. It is about you who have issues. You should have purchased a cheap ticket of $40 and see for yourself. Instead of this, you choose to be the third party and then criticize us. This is a stupid move you ve made.
45. Mark | December 24, 2006 at 2:52 am

A friend told me to check out here. Very interesting. Comments here are also interesting. I agree with some. I like what DCGirl say. But one thing bother me, if she is really represent FSSA, why not use real name?
46. stace | December 24, 2006 at 9:58 am

Geez – there were people who worked so hard to make this gala happen. this is so disheartening to read but as the saying goes “you can’t please everyone”.

i, for one, truly enjoyed the gala. it was a time for people to celebrate a historical moment in the deaf community. it was a time for people to honor those who fought regardless of who could be here. it was a time to thank those locals who took time off from their daily lives, paying out of their own pockets for tickets to fly back east for what was not a luxurious vacation but to help those who were already fighting. it was a time to also thank those who could not go but contributed in a variety of ways such as writing letters, individually meeting with BOT members woolsey, levinson, and humphries, donating money to help the protest with food and other necessities, and also by just “holding the fort” together at home to name a few things. it was a time to remember the whole goal of this experience which was to unite people towards a common goal which was to select a leader who reflected the values of a community and a school. there was a majority in votes of no confidence from the faculty both times (at 66% (or close enough) in the spring and 82% in october). tent cities sprung up here and there throughout the month october, reflecting the community’s “vote” or voice for the “right” leader.

as someone from the bay area, i can share that from where i stood, the message from the four invited guests (in alphabetical order: commerson, corrigan, holcomb, and plummer) was always LOUD AND CLEAR all week and at the gala…they were part of what was called an organic protest in which everyone was deemed important with different roles and commitments and they were simply spokespersons on different levels to represent all of those who were involved. in fact, during the gala’s program – there were other people who were a part of the protest who stood up and shared their own stories.

this was never intended to be some type of propaganda but simply a great celebration for what was a very intense time in the deaf community on an international scale, especially because a large number of people in the bay area really got involved, either physically, attending forums, setting up tent city here, flying to DC, or electronically, through emails and pagers. there are names, and there are ALSO unsung heroes, both from the bay area and from the protest at gallaudet.

a lot of other non-related deaf “mover & shaker” moments began in the bay area or close to it. Just to name a few – The black panther party, a progressive and revolutionary group that fought for justice, equality, and empowerment of the african-americans began in Oakland. The fight for migrant workers, led by cesar chavez, a latino, started in nearby central California. The fight for rights of gays, lesbians, and transgenders has been very active in the bay area as well.

I’ve always wondered if it was the spirit of the miners, who dared to defy practical thought and braved treacherous paths to cross over to the west (bay area and northern California) to find gold, that has carried on here in the bay area.

Some of you say you are worried about who begins precedence. I can say I am proud and blessed to be a part of a community that does not seem to waste time with “who does what” but listen to what their hearts says and act on it, finding others with the same passions, goals, and visions. It is also my hope that those of you who are pointing fingers and grumbling will realize that there are three more fingers pointed at yourself and it is up to you to change your attitude and thoughts, and take a more positive stance. please move forward to what can be a positive change and not let the whole purpose of the protest be demoralized!!

Let there be unity for the deaf community!
47. deaf from all walks of life | December 24, 2006 at 10:45 am

To Joey and the readers on this blog– I need to express my feelings about the comment about “unity for Deaf people.” Capitlaizing D in deaf implies that you are not for unity among deaf, Deaf, hard of hearing, hearing impaired, etc. I would like to see more of us focusing on unification among deaf people of different paths. The only thing connedcts us all is our hearing impairement. If its ASL, then other deaf people would feel excluded.
48. Tulip | December 24, 2006 at 11:00 am

#42
Definitely Jerry Covell was the driving force behind the ‘88 protest. He did all the talking and guided the other 3. He knew the procedures and law/policies/procedures far better than the other 3. The was the brain…the other 3 were more personality figures to draw supporters. These 3 were handpicked to draw people – they were popular and well liked and well known. They had stage/platform presence while Jerry did not. He was homely looking and skinny and spoke in a style that not everyone could follow, so he tend to stand in the background while engaged in assemblies, but there could not be any protest without Covell, that is for sure.

You’re right – Greg has no personality but he is nice looking and had all right credentials at the time…Rarus has plenty of personality but poor understanding of the politics so Covell was his mentor and coach on how to speak at assemblies. Bourne was there to draw the female body – female tend not to too interested in politics and the protest needed large number, so Bourne was there to draw the women to help strengthen the protest. Helped women relate to the protest in language that they understand. Her cuteness helped, too!

Mary Malzkuhn knew what she was doing when she recruited these 4. By the way, she is Melissa Malzkuhn’s grandmother. She taught government classes for many years at Gallaudet. ‘88 protest need to give credit to Mary Malzkuhn for she lit the fire and nutured the foursome – they couldn’t have done it without her.

Like I said, the main driving force behind the ‘88 protest that helped launch and suceed were Covell and Rarus…if you remember, Covell wrote an excellent open letter to Jordan back in October. I loved his “This is not a threat but a promise.” There emerged the real Jerry Covell. Rarus sacrifriced and got himself arrested on Black Friday – something the other 3 would never do. There emerged his dynamic personality and guts – the only one with any real guts, really. Bourne did turn out well and took to giving speaking engagements on her own and quite a leader at CSDF. She came into her own during the protest. It is not so surprising that Hlibok largely stayed behind scenes all these years…that is not his nature to thrust himself in the spotlight. He contributed his part and he did his part and he left that back in ‘88. There emerged the real Greg – not a real leader. He was interviewed by the media largely because he was the SBG prez – that was all. They should’ve interviewed Covell. He is much more eloquent and articulate and knowledgable. But you know media – they’re more interested in superficial stuff – Greg had the looks and status.
49. Joey Baer | December 24, 2006 at 11:46 am

#47 -

How can deaf people feel excluded when they actually use ASL themselves? I did not realize there is other official sign language in our country?

If you feel we should use “d” instead of “D” to unify deaf people, I have no problem with that. Even in Bay Area, we are debating about this. (Don’t you ever think that we think alike or agree on everything.) In my perspective, we are on same huge ship and that we are scattered all over in the ship. Some of them chose to stay in their rooms or go to a small room to interact with others that they feel comfortable with. It is time for us to come out and meet in one big room to discuss how we can become stronger group of people. At the same time, we need to appreciate what we have to offer on this earth.

I wonder why do we call Latino instead of latino or African-American instead of african-american? That’s where I am coming from. That’s something we need to discuss more to increase better understanding the difference between “D” and “d”.

Like many others, my mission and passion to unify deaf people remain the same – regardless what people say about me or him or her, we have so much work ahead of us to raise our standards and bars especially for our deaf children. I am simply getting tired of accusations deaf people made toward certain individuals or a community when they attempt to increase awareness among deaf people.

By the way, my response to #35 – I was not part of the organizing committee but I do not think we should be discussing this anyway. Why should we? It is already CLEAR at the gala last night that everyone appreciated everyone. I was there with my own eyes and yet (like I said above) I am still NOT satisfied and we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

I also am disappointed with Chris that he asked us to talk about issues instead of personal and he allowed some ugly remarks above toward some individuals. It does not help us heal and discuss how we can improve the issues by itself.

anyway – unity for deaf people!

Joey
50. Frankie Jr. | December 24, 2006 at 12:54 pm

At first I thought, ‘what the fuck?’ Why is he attacking Bay Area? But then I read more and I understood. These are good points and questions. I didn’t think about it before but he is right about the issues like ‘precedence’. Looks like he’s pushed some hot buttons by bringing it up, which means he is probably doing something right. I know from past experience that it takes courage to hold people accountable and ask tough questions. We need more ppl like him to keep us on our toes and widen our vision. I’m sure now ppl will go out of their way to make it clear those four honored aren’t the ‘official leaders’. A good example of someone creating change through his blog.
51. Not Rich | December 24, 2006 at 1:48 pm

To #44 you said $40 for tickets was cheap? Are you rich? That’s not cheap. It didn’t even include dinner or meal! Cheap would be $5 or free. Gala was very expensive. It was celebration not for entire Deaf Community in Bay Area but for those who have money. You need educate yourself on class issues. This event had sponsorship from HOVRS and others. Plenty of money. Yet, you still had to charge outrageous $40 tickets and $50 at door. This celebration should have been free and for everyone. I’m very disappointed in the organizers, especially David Eberwein who continues to think he’s better than others and produces events like these that exclude instead of welcomes all our community.
52. Alyshia | December 24, 2006 at 2:26 pm

FSSA needs to vote and decide who the “official leaders” were of the protest. Should it only be the FSSA spokespersons or also include people like Chris Corrigan and Noah Beckman? If they don’t decide, other groups (such as illustrated here) are going to decide for them. -Alyshia
53. Check Facts | December 24, 2006 at 3:06 pm

I was curious so I dug into this a little more. I learned that DCARA was in fact one of the organisers. I was surprised as their events are almost always free and open to all.

Also interesting is that almost no DCARA staff showed up at the Gala event, including the CEO.
54. Classof07 | December 24, 2006 at 3:28 pm

In my opinion, these five should be recognized as the official leaders:

Noah Beckman
Ryan Commerson
Latoya Plummer
Delia Lozano-Martinez
Leah Katz-Hernandez

I agree with Alyshia. FSSA should vote on it.
55. Name Withheld | December 24, 2006 at 4:05 pm

Joey Baer, you wrote: “I was in awe to see so much of diversity at the Gala.” I find your comments offense. What diversity are you speaking of? When you looked at the audience, did you not notice the sea of white people surrounding you? There were only a handful of People of Color at the gala. And as someone already pointed out, the event was targeted towards those who could afford to go. What is diverse about that?
56. Name Withheld | December 24, 2006 at 4:22 pm

Joey, another thing you wrote above: “How can deaf people feel excluded when they actually use ASL themselves?” But isn’t it true that you and others exclude some deaf? Look at how some are treating Di Herron for getting a C.I. It amazes me how much hypocrisy exists.
57. Route 66 | December 24, 2006 at 5:50 pm

Some people in Bay Area think too highly of themselves. I remember some of my classmates at Gally who graduated from CSD-F. They act like they know everything. They think they are smarter than every one else. I wonder how much of that attitude they got from the CSD-F staff and faculty who think the same thing about themselves.
58. Robin | December 24, 2006 at 6:17 pm

Actually I thought Chris brought up some good questions although the choice of words could be better. We were fortunate enough to be Ryan’s hosts for 1 week and we enjoyed his stories about the protest.

One of the messages Ryan had for us all was that this group of leaders isn’t restricted to only 4. There were certianly more leaders out there and the committee took extreme lengths to mention all of that during the gala.

First of all, the purpose of the Gala was to celebrate the protest. Secondly, it was also designed to pass on the knowledge from this group of leaders to the students of CSDF. What could be better than getting a direct education from student leaders? Those students walked away very impressed and my wife was very happy when some of them took time to speak with her class.

David wanted to give that back to the community. He can be brash, and tough but his heart is in the right place – He wants to give everything back to the community. It’s much easier for people to assume than put ourselves in his shoes.

I should know, I was the World Deaf Cycling Championships chairperson and It was tough and thankless job.
59. MM SoCal | December 24, 2006 at 6:18 pm

Wow. Interesting about DPN. Tulip are you sure about Hlibok/Rarus were Pres/VP? I don’t think they were in same SBG administration. Rarus was former President of SBG and then Hlibok was new elected President. I agree with you that Hlbok was more like just poster boy.
60. Chris Leon | December 24, 2006 at 6:33 pm

It’s Christmas Eve! I’ve been occupied with my family, who are visiting from all over the country for the holidays. My 89-year-old deaf grandmother is here. I’m going to write a blog entry about her one of these days. She’s such an inspiration.

I’m surprised to see all the dialogue going on here. I figured it would have died down by now. Apparently, there are a lot of issues that still need discussing. So by all means, feel free to discuss away!

Discourse and dissent are healthy. They help us grow and view the world from different perspectives. That’s one of the great things about blogging. Other views can be shared freely. For this and numerous other reasons, I don’t believe in censoring comments. I do ask that people leave the individual personal attacks out. They really serve no purpose.

I thank those of you who posted thoughtful and insightful comments. I enjoyed reading the entries about DPN. I was just a little kid back then. Not surprisingly, it seems there is a lot that hasn’t been recorded in the history books. I look forward to learning more.

I will post a follow up to Deaf Unity Gala issue after the holidays.

To all, I wish a Feliz Navidad y Feliz Ano Nuevo.

Chris Leon
61. Robin | December 24, 2006 at 6:41 pm

i’d like to add more thing:

I think blogs like this are GREAT. It’s become a staple of my daily routine whenever I want to read. I’m looking forward to what it’s like in the future with the video logs. I’d like to quote Ryan “Video is our pen. It’s our way to document and write about everything there is about the deaf community.” That is so true.

Now I’d like to get down to another issue: Anonymous blogging. If you have any issues or questions to ask, feel free to ask away but what’s the point of being anonymous?

Whenever I see anonymous posters, I have a sense the person is not confident enough to express his/her opinion therefore creating an identity of insecurity, anger, jealousy and perhaps even oppressed. Once when the image is created, there’s a tendency for that person not to be taken seriously by the community because his/her thoughts are emotional driven, rather than well thought out ones.

I don’t take anonymous posts seriously at all BUT I’d like to.

Use your name next time.
62. MM SoCal | December 24, 2006 at 6:47 pm

Merry Christmas everyone!
63. MM SoCal | December 24, 2006 at 6:49 pm

Well, everyone knows me here as MM. Should we all use both first and last names in all our messages? To Robin.
64. jerald | December 24, 2006 at 7:26 pm

I suspect people would be less inclined to comment on issues if they had to use their real first and last names. Probably we’d see less attacks, too. But then again, maybe not. Just look at all the viciousness going on on Gally L.
65. Up Yours -in ur fucking grandmothera aerse | December 24, 2006 at 7:34 pm

IDIOTFORK IDIOT FORK CHRIS LEON is A WHINER CRYBABY COMPLAINER NEGATIVE SAD TWISTY ETC ETC
IDIOT FORK IDIOT FORK IDIOT FORKIDIOTFORK IDIOT FORK CHRIS LEON is A WHINER CRYBABY COMPLAINER NEGATIVE SAD TWISTY ETC ETCIDIOTFORK IDIOT FORK CHRIS LEON is A WHINER CRYBABY COMPLAINER NEGATIVE SAD TWISTY ETC ETC
IDIOT FORK IDIOT FORK IDIOT FORKIDIOTFORK IDIOT FORK CHRIS LEON is A WHINER CRYBABY COMPLAINER NEGATIVE SAD TWISTY ETC ETC
IDIOT FORK IDIOT FORK IDIOT FORKIDIOTFORK IDIOT FORK CHRIS LEON is A WHINER CRYBABY COMPLAINER NEGATIVE SAD TWISTY ETC ETC
66. jerald | December 24, 2006 at 8:00 pm

There you have it. Some idiot person from the Bay Area who should probably be in a mental hospital. I bet a student who has shit for brains and doesn’t have enough sense to post something intelligent.
67. cali | December 24, 2006 at 9:04 pm

Chris,
I’m all for open discussion, but please delete the last several comments. The length and tone ruin the chance for productive dialogue.
Feliz Navidad to you and your loved ones as well.
68. Pepe | December 24, 2006 at 9:28 pm

Stupid kid. Go back and play in your sandbox and let the adults talk.
69. Joey Baer | December 24, 2006 at 10:27 pm

Name Withheld,

Let’s reread my comment (#28) again:

“1) I was in awe to see so much of diversity at the Gala. I was really thrilled to see that. But guess what, I am NOT satisified because we know we have so much work to do ahead of us in uniting more Deaf people. The comments above are perfect example that we have lots of work ahead of us.”

It doesn’t matter if there were only a handful of diversity people there because they do COUNT! I am appalled that you did not appreciate them when I did. I applaud their effort in going to the Gala because I know it is probably difficult for some of them. Not only were that but there some people with different backgrounds (hard of hearing or oral) were there too. So that’s the reason I felt it was diversified and yet I clearly said that I am NOT satisfied. We need to focus on good things that happened and continue to improve from there instead of thinking negatively. Good thing indeed happened at the Gala!

Secondly, you asked “Joey, another thing you wrote above: “How can deaf people feel excluded when they actually use ASL themselves?” But isn’t it true that you and others exclude some deaf? Look at how some are treating Di Herron for getting a C.I. It amazes me how much hypocrisy exists.”

That’s the problem, that has nothing to do with my discussion. I was talking about what kind of sign language deaf people use (in this case, American Sign Language) and you brought up an entire different question and a personal one. I noticed that it’s a habit that some deaf people kept on accusing or questioning others in front of others especially on blogs. It is my humble opinion that whenever there is a personal question, it should be done in private. I only know that I do not exclude any deaf people intentionally. As for Di’s situation, you received wrong information and we should not be discussing this here anyway.

If you (Name Withheld) would like to discuss with me further, feel free to contact me directly at joeybaer@comcast.net. The same goes for other readers who would like to discuss this personal topic futher too.

Anyway, have a safe and happy holidays!

Joey
70. been there and saw that | December 24, 2006 at 10:37 pm

#66
“There you have it. Some idiot person from the Bay Area who should probably be in a mental hospital. I bet a student who has shit for brains and doesn’t have enough sense to post something intelligent.”

Whoa who says this person’s from the Bay Area? Be careful with your assumption. The same goes for you, Chris Leon.
71. Tulip | December 25, 2006 at 12:41 am

#59

Rarus was never a SBG prez – he was Kappa Gamma fraternity prez, tho. He was VP with Greg as Prez…I was there. Just look up Gallaudet yearbook 1988 and you will see both of them campaigning, winning and being cannonballed into the DPN protest right after. That same year or ‘89 yearbook, you will find Rarus as KG prez in the fraternity section. Rarus could handle prez of a fraternity but not SBG – too complicated and political for him – Greg was better suited for that role. Rarus complemented Greg with his dynamic personality and worked like a charm with the SBG cabinet which fell with his job description while Greg’s role was mainly outside SBG office and the cabinet – like I said, more political stuff.
72. Rolls Eyes | December 25, 2006 at 1:21 am

Joey Baer is so full of himself.
73. jerald | December 25, 2006 at 10:28 am

#70 –
The idiot person _SAID_ he was from Bay Area and attended Gala. You missed the whole pages and pages of nasty crap he wrote here earlier. Very immature. That is why I thought maybe it’s a student. Or do your adults write like that in Bay Area?
74. iluvmath | December 25, 2006 at 2:19 pm

Good point about unity gala not really being for everyone but just those who can afford. Easy to forget less fortunate. Not all people have enough money. Maybe next time they can do free. That way all can go and celebrate.
75. DT | December 26, 2006 at 9:33 am

It’s really sad to see so much energy wasted when the crab theory raises it’s ugly head once again. Don’t we have better things to do, folks?
76. IMHO | December 26, 2006 at 11:33 am

I disagree with the above remarks. I’m from they Bay Area. While I originally wasnt too thrilled with us being cast into the light like this, I see some very legitimate points being made and I’m starting to see this as a good thing for us. We can ignore the issues that have been raised and write them off as “crab theory” or listen to what’s being said and learn how to do better next time. True leaders seek feedback, listen to people –both good and bad remarks– and correct their mistakes. None of us are perfect and we are all still learning.
77. eagle rock | December 26, 2006 at 1:33 pm

Looks like there was a can of worms that needed liberating. Hee heee.
78. MM SoCal | December 26, 2006 at 1:46 pm

Are you sure Tulip? I thought it was roger kraft who is VP with Greg during DPN.
79. Tara Holcomb | December 26, 2006 at 5:06 pm

I’m thrilled that Leah, Delia, Noah, Sean, and others are getting the recognition that they obviously deserve. It is unfortunate that not MORE people are being recognized as “leaders” because there really was alot more than just six or seven. When I was first invited to the gala, I was disappointed that more leaders weren’t able to be “invited” and I know Latoya, Chris, and Ryan felt the same. We were concerned that this very thing would happen, that people would mistakenly assume that we were the “sole” leaders and so on. That was my biggest problem with the whole gala but as the preparations went on, the bay area (and since it’s my hometown, I definitely had a lot of access to people who were on the committee) ensured me that they would make it clear that we werent the “only” leaders. At the Gala, I mentioned that the very word, “leader” may seem divisive because it labels a group of people of telling others what to do— that obviously did not happen during this protest because so many people put in their work and energy into this. It appears that a lot of people “saw” different leaders at different times– so it makes sense that everyone would have different opinions. In truth, I worked closely with probably twenty (plus) students… not to mention numerous others alumni, faculty, and staff that really put their heart and soul into this protest– those people truly were the leaders, even if they weren’t in the spotlight. If you really want to “label” people- Leah, Latoya, Delia, and Ryan are the elected spokespeople of FSSA—I truly hope that more schools and organizations will invite people to speak about the protest and the events leading up to it—who to invite should be up to you. Believe me, there are PLENTY of people who contributed so there should never be a shortage.

What I’m trying to say here is that I appreciate everyone bringing up the issue of recognition because it’s an important one. The gala did a wonderful job of recognizing everyone on the steering team along with everyone who came from the bay area. I was THRILLED that Leah could come to the gala and that she could stay at my place along with Latoya. I only wish that Leah could have been on stage with us as she was one of the elected spokespeople.

Like the previous comment from someone in FSSA, I hope that this protest won’t simply be a memory, but an inspiration. This was not DPN 2 and shouldn’t be treated as such.
80. Tulip | December 26, 2006 at 7:53 pm

#79 MMSoCal

I decided to actually look up the “88 yearbook. I wonder how the hell I could have forgotten…Rarus was the prez and Hector Brual the VP for the year of ‘87-88…Not Greg Hlibok….Frankly I am confused. DPN happened in Spring ‘88, right after the election of SBG…I am guessing they published SBG cabinet for year of ‘87-’88…Greg must have been the prez for ‘88-’89…because DPN happened right in middle of the adminstration turnover, so both Rarus and Hlibok represented the student body – Rarus was there to give assemblies on the presidential selection process and announcement of new president beginning Jan ‘88 while he was prez of SBG…in late Feb, Greg began campaigning for SBG prez and won..all while DPN was getting born. Surprisingly there is only ONE page on DPN in the yearbook ‘88. You may be right – Roger Kraft might have been the VP. Too bad I don’t have the ‘89 yearbook. I just don’t remember him having been VP with Greg.

Well, I thumbed thru the activity pages amd came upon the election week page, and there it is! Yes, Roger Kraft was the VP with Greg for the year of ‘88 – 89. You got this one right!
I just did not remember him being the VP. I must be having Alzheimer???
81. Super Deafian | December 27, 2006 at 10:42 am

Tsk.
We, as a deaf community, have the duty of bringing everyone together if we wishes to fight many issues out there in the world that have been haunting us for decades and even centuries. We have been scattered all over the place forgetting each other for way too long. It is rather critical that we stop the ‘crab theory’, individualism, the process of allowing the hearing world oppress us on all basis, etc. It is time to recognize ourselves as completely deaf person with a special blood within ourselves that needs to bring the community to a whole since this community is rather incredible and offers much more ideas, accesses, privileges, opportunities, and possibilities far more than anyone would ever expected, believed, and imagined. If you look through the courses of history, you would be able to discover that the deaf community has been able to invent and offer a variety of amazing things that is being used on daily basis in modern age everywhere by everyone. We are truly a brilliant, amazing, incredible, deep, and real community. We can achieve a lot once we work together as a whole. We should proud to be DEAF, despite our backgrounds, colors of skin, colors of mind, types of lives, genders, ages, and variety of hearing levels (yes – it doesn’t matter if you are hard of hearing, CI, Oral, late deaf, etc. – you are still truly an deaf person more than anything else).
Many battles among racism, sexism, classism, etc. have been fought already. Some won. Some lost. But many have been brought to the field to be fought.
But when it comes to the deaf community and their battles – MANY haven’t been won. Many haven’t been brought to the field. WE need to work together as a whole first before we can end this lackiness of fightings.

With that said, I hope people everywhere realize that this gala and the entire event with CSDF isn’t about favorism, increasing egos, rejections, or anything of the sort. It was a time to simply actually recognize an concept and idea that we actually managed to finally work up an UNITY among the deaf communities all over the world that are on the verge of finally raising the deaf community as a whole. They invited only four people as some basic representatives of the protest because they simply couldn’t afford to invite everyone and there wouldn’t be enough time for everyone to run around everywhere doing tons of things they had planned. They had student panels, questionnaires, discussions, presentations, etc. with different classes everyday at CSDF. They barely had enough time for only four. They didn’t pick those specific four because they were the ’solo leaders’ of the protest but rather because they were simply four protestors who were very involved with the protest and was few of many obvious seen poster faces of the protest as well. They had no hidden agendas or anything. They just wanted to present the idea of recognizing the protest, the unity, and they simply choose those four people to explain and discuss the protest.

CONTUNUED IN NEXT POST…..
82. Super Deafian | December 27, 2006 at 10:42 am

Like companies everywhere, like any organizations everywhere, like groups and tribes everywhere, like our very own United States of America government – there must be some kind of representatives and that doesn’t mean everyone else within that branch is being rejected, ignored, oppressed, or anything of the form. People should be seeing the positive side of this event, where those four people were able to inspire children of all ages, where the children were able to stand up and say they will be the next generation’s leaders and lead the deaf community in all areas they wishes to pursuit in the future, and much more. The children was inspired by this event, why should we suppress that and tell those children to be quiet because not enough or wrong people was invited to chat to them about everyone and everything. What the Bay Area did was simply wonderful. They aren’t going to stop anyone else from choosing someone else to visit their schools or places to represent the protest, so whoever felt that this wasn’t justified, don’t reply back to this gala and events at CSDF with disgust, instead reply with inviting the entire population of the protest or whoever you felt should be representing the protest to YOUR school, town, places of interest, etc. and show the world that you are continuing the recognition of the UNITY AND you are choosing people of YOUR OWN preferences. We need to stop insulting each other and start promoting other forms of ideas that WILL help each other.

We recognize all leaders and people who were involved with this protest. WE ALL DID IT. No single person was better than another. The world made this protest successful. The world was the one that formed the UNITY among everyone. WE ALL DID IT. Celebrate it, savor it, and HELP THE WORLD CONTINUE THE UNITY AMONG THE DEAF COMMUNITY! There are so many battles left to be won. With my help, their help, and YOUR help, we can make it happen.

I will stop for now.

- SUPER DEAFIAN
(A DEAF person who is very proud to be deaf and be part of this beautiful deaf community)
83. MM SoCal | December 27, 2006 at 11:49 am

Smiles. You and me confused there for a minute, Tulip. Yes, roger kraft was VP with Greg. Weird that it’s not clear in yearbook from that year.
84. Joey Baer | December 27, 2006 at 1:07 pm

Super Deafian,

BEAUTIFULLY SAID! Thank you!!!

Unity for deaf People!!!!
85. Tulip | December 27, 2006 at 2:51 pm

MM SoCal

Yep, weird about the yearbook…

Just for fun, I compared the ‘88 leaders and the ‘06 leaders…I think Ryan Commerson is the Jerry Covell, although he was much more visible than Jerry was ,but he knew his stuff and was the driving force behind the protest…

Tara Holcomb = Greg Hlibok…subdued leadership. Quiet. Person of few words.

Chris Corrigan = Tim Rarus, the ham. Plenty of personality and character. People responded to him. Charisma.

LaToya = Bridgetta Bourne….spoke to the female body, lent strength and resolve.

What ya think, MMSoCal?
86. chocolate fondue | December 27, 2006 at 5:02 pm

Impressive blogg. The tone is a bit harsh but you definitely raise some important issues. What did the organizers say? Look forward to reading your update.
87. Kendall Green | December 27, 2006 at 7:48 pm

Roger Kraft was vice president. You probably don’t remember him because he was a lousy one imho. As a matter of fact, you Bay Area people almost hired him for you DCARA ceo position. You dodged a bullet there.
88. Tulip | December 27, 2006 at 10:20 pm

#87

Yep, Roger Kraft was never much of a leader which may explain why I couldn’t remember him being VP. I had to thumb through the yearbook to the activity section and find the election week to see his picture with Greg during campaigning period.

I knew him more on a personal level and he was a really nice guy – very mellow and humble. He is easy to like, but as a leader, he is not a good choice. Too laid back. He is intelligent and can contribute substantially to a cause if he could or is interested…but to lead something, nah. Best leave that to someone else. He probably applied for DCARA just to get out CSD…which is on a downslide now. By the way, like I said, I seem to have pulled Alzheimers lately, who got the DCARA post? I know it wasn’t Rarus or Kraft, and I believe the other applicant was Bridget Tate? And there was a fourth? So, who got it?
89. chocolate fondue | December 27, 2006 at 11:10 pm

Ditto regarding Kraft. The forth applicant was Andy Lange. None of them got the job. It’s still open. I heard it was offered to one of the four but the person was too selfish and demanded a larger salary, which turned DCARA off. They withdrew the offer and are holding out for someone better. Or so that’s what I heard.
90. Be More Sensitive Next Time! | December 27, 2006 at 11:30 pm

I was talking to one of the student leaders who was not invited to the bay area event and the person expressed their disapointment at not being invited. The person is trying to blow it off and is just trying to be happy for the others but there are some hurt feelings. This person should have been recognized with the other student leaders instead of being excluded. Shame on the organizers of this event. I hope others will NOT repeat this mistake.
91. Tulip | December 28, 2006 at 1:28 am

#89

Gosh! The chosen applicant asked for a bigger salary?? Man. What he/she expect – applying for a service organization? Everyone knows service career do not pay much. It will put some sparkle on your resume and boost experience but make money? Nah. Smart of them to hold out for the best applicant who is not necessarily in it for the money but for the people.
92. ?? | December 28, 2006 at 11:27 am

Tulip – do you know if any of current 4 leaders are Kappa Gamma?
93. cali | December 28, 2006 at 12:23 pm

??, hon, there’s no way Holcomb or Plummer could be KG. They’re females, and KG only takes males.

In all seriousness, why does this even matter? Its a non-issue, and who cares who belongs to what?
94. don't be fooled | December 28, 2006 at 2:24 pm

comment #58 – i like what you said robin. i also think you’re being quite generous where david eberwien is concerned. i’ve known DE a long time – all the way back to our gally days and he usually does things that will benefit him in some way. maybe it’s not always obvious or direct but it’s there. for instance, he got a lot of recognition and praise for putting the gala together didn’t he? and i’m sure the student leaders that he invited will continue to kiss his ass for years to come for the invitation he extended them. future doors will open for him in various ways, just like with the deafhood stuff. this wasn’t entirely altrustic. he got a lot out of this event. don’t let him fool you into thinking otherwise.
95. Tulip | December 28, 2006 at 2:57 pm

#92

LOL. #93 is right about Holcomb and Plummer but hey, #93, lay off…#92 said “any” meaning any ONE of the 4 are KG?

Anyway, I am an old fart…I know the ‘88 leaders…I knew Tom Holcomb and feeling SO old knowing his baby girl Tara is now Gally student. Phew. I know Hlibok and Rarus are KG, BB, PKZ and Jerry, KS.

Let’s play….I think Corrigan and Commerson are both KG – Commerson, if hes anything like Jerry Covell, might be KS…the girls probably PKZ, but Holcomb is sort of young…maybe not just yet but surely is PKZ material. I don’t know enought about Plummer but if she has leadership tendencies, that would say PKZ…but not necessarily.

But the way I understand it, KG and PKZ aren’t the same as they were during my time and other greeks are getting better members these days. KG and PKZ aren’t necessarily the “elite” greeks now.
96. eagle rock | December 28, 2006 at 3:36 pm

Kappa Gamma is a has-been. Delta Sigma Phi are now the elite.
97. GU'03 | December 28, 2006 at 4:29 pm

Other missing student leaders: Tawny Holmes and Matt Lockhart
98. Robin | December 28, 2006 at 7:23 pm

To “don’t be fooled” (#94), you’re certainly entitled to your opinion. My opinion may differ from yours.

But hey! That’s what’s so great about the deaf community these days. We love our community so much to discuss what is really the best for the community. So I’m all for it.

With that in mind, Would you like to VP about this? I’d like to get into details with my opinion and I’d love to hear yours. Blogging about this over a week period may be not so productive.

Would you like to call me? If so, email me at robinhorwitz at gmail dot com.
99. MM SoCal | December 28, 2006 at 8:11 pm

Tulip I do love you’re thinking! Good compare. Maybe better leah more like Greg personality and Delia more like BB. Latoya more about black vote. That is main her talk.
100. MM SoCal | December 28, 2006 at 8:15 pm

I agree with you. Sororities and fraternities are so-what. I remmy KG got suspend many times. I did invite to join PKZ but not interest.
101. Frats and Sorts | December 28, 2006 at 9:16 pm

Well for those who are very self-centered and cannot find anything better to focus on than greek worlds and such would be appaled to discover that pratically nearby all leaders within this protest are actually more of GDI than involved with the greek world.

Leaders such as Ryan Commerson, Chris Corrigan, Leah Katz-Hernadez, Latoya Plummer, etc. are actually NOT involved in any greek organizations at the moment.

Why would the greeks would be somewhat an big issue? Now everyone are spreading out thin. The point was that this event was successful and fulfilled with no bad intentions and such. Everyone did wonderful, more people should host more events like this or host an gatherings of some kind to celebrate the deaf community. Stop pulling each other down. start looking at the bigger picture if you can.
102. Joey Baer | December 28, 2006 at 9:56 pm

In Chris’ entry above, he wrote:

“I’m imagining one of Dan McClintock’s great political ASL cartoons here in this exact spot. It’s a cartoon of the state of California signing “big headed”. He hasn’t drawn it yet, but I can see it so vividly.

Big Headed Bay Area”

Guess what, Dan McClintock drew one and obvious, Chris has a problem with his creative imaginatation. Check it out at:

http://dmccartoon.blogspot.com/

Thank you Dan!
103. Tulip | December 28, 2006 at 11:26 pm

MM SoCal,

Maybe you’re right… Me no know Leah but I got the impression LaToya was all about herself as well. Laurene Gallimore/Simms was my former teacher so knowing her and that LaToya is “under her wing,” I’m inclined to agree with your assessment of LaToya. Laurene and LaToya are all about “Poor me black woman.” I heard Laurene talk about that all the time. Seeing the similiar song LaToya gave in the TV interview, I just had to roll up my eyes. It was like I was seeing Laurene herself.

Frats – KG was acutally shut down permanently after a pledge reported hazing and showed proof….KG fought to re-activiate their fraternity and underwent probatory period for several years…thereafter, I don’t know if they had any more suspensions?

Anyway, both KG and PKZ were such elitist groups – recruited mainly members from Deaf families or culturally Deaf or ambitious leaders…it went on for decades until 1990s when more mainstreamed students started coming…and soon exceeded the residential – school student population and the Deaf culture soon disspaited…so did KG and PKZ…not so strong anymore…with the new Deadhood hype, I think they want to bring back the “old days.”

And Frats, it is GREAT to know none of the ‘06 leaders are greek members – goes to prove you don’t need greek label to lead. Leadership is from inside yourself, not from what you belong to.
104. Tulip | December 28, 2006 at 11:54 pm

Joey Baer,
I’m afraid I don’t get you point about Chris and Dan McClintock’s cartoon? California state lines with big hands waving? What that have to do with Chris’ “problem?” Chris’ issue is specifically targeted at Bay Area…and the people in the area, not the state of CA. He is from San Diego himself so he obviously loves his state. I don’t see any connection between the two.

Chris’ title said “Bay Area Getting Too Big For Its Britches?”, not
“California Getting Too Big For Its Britches?” If Dan wanted to interpret more specifically upon Chris’ post, he would have drawn Bay Area and drew a big head….perhaps Dan was not really referring to Bay Area but just CA in general?

And Joey, I know you. You would never admit to being an elitist, but you are. I knew you at Gallaudet. I know whose crowd you hung around with. Know the quote, “To know a man, look at his friends?” I think this quote says a lot about you, Joey. Sorry, but Chris had a valid concern. You don’t like it? Well, welcome to the country of Free Speech.

Of course nobody can make everyone happy, but come on, Joey. $50 Gala to hear 4 student leaders give speeches? That is pricey. And I understand that is just the admittance fee…the dishes were separate? Whoa. So it obviously implied that only those with money could attend. Why not host the “gala” at a reception at CSDF where everyone could come and meet the 4 student leaders for free??? I believe that was the whole point of what Chris was trying to say. Not just that – why only 4. I understand there were more student leaders that LIVE in the Bay Area who were not invited. So, it does implicate that 4 student leaders were out of favoritism .

Of course the foursome would have to say to include all other leaders otherwise they’d have looked egoistical which is not an admirable trait. It is all political strategy on their parts, and clever at that. The Gala should’ve invited ALL the students leaders, not just the four. And not have guests pay through their noses – the protest was for everyone, wasn’t it? Or was it really for the elite Deaf Culture community?

Bay Area should be more cautious about what image they want to portray. So, don’t go down on Chris – he had far more validity than you did. Perhaps Bay Area might think about toning down a bit.

I can understand your wanting to defend your friends – I suppose it is only natural. But we also have the right to say what need to be said. You are always preaching “open discourse or dialogue.” So start practicing it rather than preaching it.
105. X-) | December 29, 2006 at 1:55 am

Joey Baer likes to pretend he is humble but my opinioin he is not. Someone should do expo about him and CSDF. My friend told me that CSDF let him work on his blog during staff time and use school equipment. His blog is personal. It is not about school. Also, during protest, friend told me CSDF let David Eberwein and Brigetta Bourne-Firl to go to Gally for protest with paid leave. My friend thinks also CSDF may have paid some money to them to go for airfare but not sure. That is abuse of school funds my opinion. Someone should report to Department of Education about this for investigation to find all facts.
106. GWU Student | December 29, 2006 at 3:15 am

Fraternities and Sororities are highly overrated. I think Gallaudet takes them much more seriously than we do at other Universities.
107. Joey Baer | December 29, 2006 at 9:07 am

Tulip,

Yes, you are right, we live in America and we have freedom of speech. It is just that deaf world is very small and many comments especially toward some individuals in Bay Area are very hurtful when we are simply trying to improve things. It is more difficult when some individuals never asked some senstitive questions in private but rather in public like blogs. For example: In my opinion, Chris could have asked the questions in private and after getting some facts, write an entry because I strongly believe that after he gets some facts, his choice of words will be entirely different. Also, the discussion above is like they are trying to destroy the Bay Area community. I do not think bringing up such senstive questions in public will help or improve deaf community.

I am not going to argue with your assessment, “To know a man, look at his friends” because many of us were never taught that during our younger days. Things have changed in last few years in our community. I have learned many things that I wish I learned when I was younger. That’s something is missing from our system! We should be discussing on how we should start teaching our younger generation about our deaf identities, politics, language, and history and then our community would be much stronger today. That’s something we have lacked for long time. So lilke many others, I have been trying to change that by learning more things from other deaf people. So it is a little unfair to say that I am the same man you knew from Gallaudet days.

By the way, why can’t you name yourself? Help me and refresh my memory. If you prefer not, can you at least get in touch with me and I would like to discuss some other things with you that is not appropriate here.

Yes, I still believe in discourse and dialogue and will never change that. If you feel I did not in my recent post, accept my apologies.
108. Simon | December 29, 2006 at 10:58 am

I’m a current Gallaudet student that enjoys your vlog, Joey. I also personally know Chris and have a great deal of respect for him. I have to say that your comments here have really changed my opinion of you, Joey. You’re not as aware or as smart as I thought. You have a lot of work you need to do on yourself especially where race and class issues are concerned. Its a shame you didn’t get the points made on this blog and instead continue to act defensive and in denial. You also keep writing and signing off that you’re all about “deaf unity” but then turn around and attack Chris and try to start friction between Dan and Chris where no friction exists. That’s pretty low.
109. Tulip | December 29, 2006 at 12:02 pm

Joey,

I give you credit for TRYING…but what you did in here is hardly open dialogue – you’re in an attack mode. Chris has valid points that needed to be addressed. This kind of thing repeats throughout Deaf history and many of us would like to see that kind of thing stop.

I DO agree about your view on Deaf role model and the foundations of character. That is indeed sorely missing from our youths today. I remember during my time, Deaf faculty took time to know us, to interact with us and to nuture us. Seems today Deaf faculty don’t anymore. That’s tragic. They clock in, work and clock out. Some people believe many Deaf faculty are afraid…some got accused of statuatory rape or molestation with students…some went to jail for those accusations….so they are afraid to “fraternize” with the students. The more tragic part is some of them are not even true – some students were angry and wanted to retaliate. So, now they clock in and out. I wish they’d put aside their fears for students’ sake and their future.

Anyway, you have room to grow and learn how to distinguish between open and free dialogue and what is not. Your vblog is GREAT…you sign very clearly and eloquently. It is pleasant to watch you “talk” to us. But I DO wish you’d be less “English-like” and more “ASL-like” so the grassroots could appreciate your vblog more. I know it is hard to modify your style and mode but it’d be great if you could.

Joey, your heart is in the right place. Keep it that way.
110. CMJ | December 29, 2006 at 12:28 pm

Fascinating stuff here! One thing I’m curious about is learning more about that brave soul who came forward regarding kappa gamma hazing. That took guts. I wonder if he suffered any major recupersions afterwards since there are a lot of kappa gamma alumni in Deaf world.
111. Jamal Henry | December 29, 2006 at 12:55 pm

I just want to remind everyone that not all of us supported the direction the protest went into and many didn’t support the protest at all. That’s a big difference between DPN of 1988 and this protest. In ‘88, everyone was united with the same goals. Not so this time around. Many people of color were especially disgusted and felt used. This protest didn’t unify Gallaudet, it did the opposite. I cringed when I heard about this Unity Gala event. This was a celebration of an event that tore our community apart. Shameful.
112. Jamal Henry | December 29, 2006 at 1:03 pm

I was thinking. We should have our own Gala for those who bravely held to their beliefs that the protest was wrong. They bravely endured threats, harassment and intimidation for taking a stand. We should honor our leaders like David King, Niesha and Arlyn as well as the CoSC.
113. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 1:47 pm

Tulip and others,

What I am so confused about this here: nobody seems to be willing to take up on my offer to VP.

I’m firm in my belief the Gala was done in a very professional way and David absolutely did the best job he could do.

Like I said before, it’s very easy for someone who would hide behind a pseudo-name and take someone down. I really applaud Joey for coming to the forefront and taking a lot of criticism. it shows that he cares about the community by taking a stand.

I am asking you all to do the same thing. Use your names or get into a productive dialogue by using videophones. I’m very sure David would take the time to talk with someone who’s geninue about their concerns and I know he’ll clear up a lot of misunderstandings.

That is what I am so bummed about.
114. chocolate fondue | December 29, 2006 at 2:13 pm

Some people use their names, some don’t. I don’t because I simply don’t see the need to. I always feel like I have to be careful of what I say and worry about being blacklisted or attacked. I’ve seen this happen over and over again. Even here, look how some, including Joey, are attacking Chris for speaking his mind. Our community is often not a safe enviorment for dissent. Anyone who believes otherwise should talk to people like David Musa King and Jamal who experienced some very ugly stuff during the protest for their differing views. Blogs like these give us the freedom to speak what’s on our mind without worrying we will be punished for it by the community. Blogs are where true freedom of expression happen. They are the true pulse of the community.
115. Joey Baer | December 29, 2006 at 2:14 pm

Simon – from bottom of my heart, I never intend to attack Chris but if you and others felt that way, I fully respect your perspective and interpretation. Many of us in Bay Area are very frustrated with the treatment we have been getting lately. Too often, things are being said about Bay Area without checking with the sources first. At the same time, I hold myself responsible for what I said and I apologize and I hope Simon, Chris and others understand that. Thanks.

Tulip – any chance we can get in touch and talk more? I’d like very much to continue the “dialogue” with you directly.
116. GU'03 | December 29, 2006 at 2:21 pm

I agree 100% with that Chocolate said. Also, Robin, you make the assumption that everyone has VP. Many don’t, including me.
117. Tulip | December 29, 2006 at 2:21 pm

CMJ,

The brave soul was Kevin Clark of Kansas City. Actually a few of his fellow pledges backed him up…These pledges went on to become members…they scathingly pointed to the members that they witnessed and must back up Kevin otherwise he’d be shrouded in a reputation as a liar and known as the person to bring down KG…the pledges pointed out that KG needed to accept responsibility and pay the consequences….greek organization had outlawed hazing sometime before to which KG had ignored. Thankfully the elder members acknowledged their roles and responsiblities. Of course Kevin Clark did not become member and that was okay with him, but he was thankful and grateful to his fellow pledges who are now all KG members. He was brave and stood up. It was a well known fact KG hazed the pledges but none was willing to come forward until Kevin Clark.

Now I don’t know if KG continues to practice hazing or have since toned it down as PKZ had…Having lost the basement of Krug Hall, they probably don’t have the liberty of hazing in privacy. Anyway, I do hope they no longer practice it. I believe it is totally unnecesary to haze to prove one’s worth to be a member. It is simply utterly ridiculous which was precisely why *I* never joined.
118. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 2:22 pm

#114 – This also means that you have the ability to hide behind a pseudo-name and bash someone. To me, that is truly an act of a coward. When someone bashes an unfortunate person, I honestly don’t know how that person would be able to feel great about himself/herself. That’s pretty low if you ask me.

The person who does that kind of thing is either jealous, insecure, or oppressed. Take your pick.
119. chocolate fondue | December 29, 2006 at 2:34 pm

That’s your opinion, Robin, and you’re certainly entitled to it. Perhaps you should also preach this to your group of friends. Isn’t that DE hiding behind the pseudo-name of ‘Super Deafian’? Sure looks like his writing. Why doesn’t he have guts here to post here for himself instead of letting you and others do the work for him?
120. chocolate fondue | December 29, 2006 at 2:34 pm

Tulip ~ and all this time I thought you were a *she*!
121. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 2:44 pm

#119 – I can promise you this. It isn’t DE who used the pseudo-name of Super Deafian.

I have to admit this: I’m wondering why I am wasting my time here on blog trying to deal with people (especially the ones with pseudo names) who are taking other deaf people down.

Maybe I’m the dumb one. Maybe they’re the smart ones – they’ll deal things in person. So if you want an answer from them, see them in person (or via VP, IM – definitely a better type of communication medium).
122. $? | December 29, 2006 at 2:54 pm

Surprised to see this still going on after a week. I hate to bring this up but I’m wondering what happened to the $ from the Gala. There were several sponsers donating $$$ plus $40/$50 tickets. I estimate about 100 people showed up. That’s over $4,000 just from tickets. I don’t know how much from sponsers but I bet at least another $5,000. Hotel rental and snacks — couple of hundred to a thousand dollars. Plane tickets for 3 (Tara is local) probably $300 or less roundtrip. That’s a lot of money left over. Where did it go? Just wondering.
123. CMJ | December 29, 2006 at 3:11 pm

I know Kevin Clark!!! He lives in the Sacramento area now with his boyfriend. WOW!!!! I had not idea! Thank you for sharing this infos with us Tulip!! I have a new found respect for Kevin.
124. GU'03 | December 29, 2006 at 3:16 pm

I think Noah Beckman is KG.
125. GU'03 | December 29, 2006 at 3:21 pm

I like this way for dialogue. In IM or VP, you can only one-on-one. Here, many different views at once. More interesting and varied. I learn many new things on blogs that I won’t learn from one-on-one.
126. Tulip | December 29, 2006 at 3:31 pm

Choc
GASP! I AM a SHE!! I guess you assumed I am male because I said I’d never join KG…sorry I didn’t make myself clear…I meant I’d never join greek organization because they all require devoting my time for 2-3 weeks and submitting to their bidding….I find this ridiculous. I like the way the greeks do at the other univeristies – look at your gpa, resume of participation, hosting events, your philosophy, your views – some have you write essays…I like that system better!

CMJ

I heard he turned gay, but I never was sure if it’s a fact. That may explain why he never had successful relationships with women. Regardless, he is a very good person and to be admired. He has my respect. I wish him only the best.

Joey,
I hesitate about contacting you…I am not sure of your intentions. Anyway, I highly doubt you even remember me. I am one of those “dark horses” who made plenty of observations but said very little. Sure, you and I ran in similiar crowds at Gallaudet, but we weren’t exactly friends anyway.

You’re right – Gallaudet is a whole lifetime ago, and I am sure you are a different person than you were back then – just a kid. So was I.
127. Not Crazy About Joey | December 29, 2006 at 3:39 pm

Now, you all can see the true side of Joey. Yes, you are right he is full of himself, and not as smart as you think. Why do you think he resort to vblog?

Joey, thank you for coming out the shell. Do not worry , you have a second chance like everyone else. Be yourself.
128. CMJ | December 29, 2006 at 4:18 pm

Tulip I don’t know if a person can turn gay. I think they are born that way But yes, Kevin is gay and out about himself. I agree he is a great guy. I can’t wait to ask him more questions about his KG experience next time I see him. Thanks again for sharing this infos with us!
129. Yes I Am | December 29, 2006 at 4:42 pm

I have been debating myself whether or not to comment my thoughts here as I keep glued to what people are say here. I decided go ahead but not use my real name. So that makes me coward. Yes I am. I want to say about Joey Baer. I know him and work with him. He is great guy overall. Yes, sometimes he acts like he know everything. But over all, he is good person. Yes, it is true about he use school equipment for his personal vlog. You are right that it probably not good idea to do. Also I think peoples give too much credit to Joey for vlog. Many peoples had vlog before Joey. Joey just happen right time and place to start his vlog due to protest and got lots the attention. If not for protest, no one would know who is Joey. Joey Baer who? One thing I notice, Joey limit the comment on his vlog. He must approve first. Means, he only allow the comment that praise him and his vlog. What about comment that don’t agree with him or juciy comment? I never see on his vlog. I like here better where all free to say wahtever on mind. It is more honest. That my opinion.
130. Not surprised | December 29, 2006 at 4:58 pm

Never fails. If people have the opportunity to do so annonymously, they’ll tell you exactly how they really feel about you.
131. burning question | December 29, 2006 at 5:28 pm

i enjoyed the gala and my hat off to all who worked to organize it. i just have one burning question — what the hell was up with chris corrigan? was he on drugs? i don’t know him that well but kinda got the impression. i also thought it was hilarious how he kept hitting on jac on and off stage. did anyone ever get around to telling him she’s a lesbian? he seemed pretty clueless. noah beckman would have been a much better choice.
132. Tulip | December 29, 2006 at 5:44 pm

CMJ,

In case of Kevin, probably so. Some people became gay as result of traumatic experience.

Perhaps its not good idea to bring up the KG thing with Kevin…it is sort of a sore subject with him. It is a well known fact he was the pledge that shut down KG but that is something he wouldn’t want to talk about.

To keep it short and sweet…he substained an injury during hazing that needed medical attention to which KG refused…the other pledges became concerned about his injury but of course they remained silent…after several days of begging for medical attention, Kevin finally walked out to go to the infirmary to tend to his injury and went straight to the authorities…when his fellow pledges found out what he did, they came forward and backed him up. What can KG do? Dismiss all those pledges? No, they had no choice but to accept responsibility for what happened to Kevin. They just did not want the university to find out Kevin substained his injury during hazing activity.

Kevin never said WHAT activity – he had the discretion of keeping that part private for sake of KG – THAT KG should be grateful to Kevin for! Kevin has integrity. KG’s hazing secrets are still safe thanks to Kevin….:)
133. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 6:00 pm

Okay. This is getting out of hand.

I should mention this – Anonymous blogging is actually Illegal in this country right now. Any people who were offended or may have suffered slander by someone else – can sue and force the courts to disclose the anonymous bloggers or commenters.

If you think it’d help your case by not posting under a pseudo name, not true – your IP address has been recorded. Chris Leon’s ISP can be ordered by the federal law to find out your IP address.

For reference purposes:

A court case in Delaware

A columnist’s take on the anonymous blogging
134. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 6:20 pm

Why I’m against anonymous blogs

My rant about the suckiness of anonymous weblogs has created quite a resonance, both in the comments and e-mails to me. I realise that the subject is somewhat touchy, and I wasn’t saying that people shouldn’t blog anonymously (or psydonymously), I’m just saying that I don’t like anonymous blogs, and with a handful of exceptions, I don’t read them. Here’s a number of reasons why:

1. Sex, lies and flames
My experience from UseNet was that people who didn’t post with their real names either thought they were cool, or they just wanted to provoke the regular group members and start flame wars. It’s the same with weblogs, really: Many anonymous bloggers are anonymous only so that they can, under the relative protection of anonymity, lie as much as they want, denounce other people, verbally attack anybody without having to base their writring on facts, and generally just write any crap they wish without having to answer for it. Which is, I guess, why the majority of warbloggers is blogging anonymously. I suspect that most of them would never have the guts to post under their real names because they know they’d instantly lose their credibility in the real world if somebody reads what they’re writing.

If you have your name on your website, you have to think before posting. You have to check and double-check your sources for credibility. You can’t just use any term to attack somebody; instead, you have to think about whether the term you’re using is adequate and to what degree it is justified. This by itself improves your credibility immensely; it also makes it much harder for others to attack or ridicule you.

And for those who think that a pseudonym makes them much cooler than they actually are, let me tell you that that’s just a delusion: if you think you need a pseudonym, this just shows that you’re totally, completely, utterly uncool. In fact, you’re so uncool that you even think your real name isn’t good enough for you. Now that’s pretty pathetic.

2. Personality
I briefly touched upon this in my Martinkus vs. 19 posting. For me as the Ikea customer, it doesn’t make much of a difference if the box with my table inside was checked by T. Martinkus or by controller #19 — I just want to be sure everything’s in the box, right? And yet, while I never wondered who #19 was, this wasn’t the case with T. Martinkus. Odd as it may seem, a name changes a lot. It says that my table was inspected by a human being, just as a signed blog says it’s written by a human being (rather than by R. Robot). The fact that I know nothing about the person doesn’t matter; the assurance that it actually is a person is a good start.

3. Competence
Finding information about the author before reading the weblog can help you provide a first estimate as to the author’s competence for writing about whatever they’re writing about. I say a first estimate, because the contents of the blog will invariably affirm or invalidate that estimate. An intelligent American law professor may still write a lot of nonsense on European politics, or he may turn out to have a much greater insight than you thought at first. Ultimately, some information, however little it may be, will help you achieve a much better understanding of what the person is writing about – for example, John Robb made very little sense to me during the Iraq war, and I almost wrote a nasty bit about him, when I was told he had a military career behind him and things suddenly fit together; my criticism would have been totally out of place.

As information about the author gives you a glimpse at somebody’s potential competence, the fact that somebody is withholding this information can be interpreted as an attempt to hide one’s incompetence. I may be doing a lot of people a lot of injustice, but I kind of see it that way. Actually, it takes some guts to put your name under a piece of writing where you’re not really 100 per cent sure if it’s correct because you’re not an expert and you haven’t had the time or the means to do the proper research. And it takes even more guts to admit that you were wrong. Anonymous blogs never admitthat they were wrong because they don’t have to. That’s why writing a signed blog builds character: you’re accountable for what you do, so you have to react appropriately (publish a correction and/or apology) if you do wrong. That in itself is a show of competence.

4. Identity
Some of the weblog gurus (David Weinberger presented an excellent paper to that effect at BlogTalk) will not tire to tell us that weblogs are all about identity — the contents of the blog, they say, are secondary to the (self-)expression of the individual who writes them. I wouldn’t go this far myself, but one thing is true for me too: unless somebody writes totally gripping prose, the less I know about them personally, the less I feel compelled to return to their blog and read it on a regular basis. There’s nothing more boring than a blog where I can’t envision the passionate individual behind it. And it turns out that people who are truly passionate about what they write will invariably sign their stuff with their name, because they know or feel instinctively that writing anonymously makes them a phony.

5. Politics
There’s one exception to all this: I can understand bloggers who are living in countries where they might face repression or political pressure if they posted under their own name. This does, however, concern only a very small minority of bloggers.

For the rest of us it’s a matter of thinking about what we want to say and how we say it. There are a few topics that I am very consciously not talking about in my blog, but I don’t feel that I have to start an anonymous blog just to write about these things. When, every now and then, there’s an irresistible urge to write about them, I check again if it’s really necessary, and if it is, I’ll find a way to do it. It takes a certain command of writing, but it’s possible to write a fierce criticism without pissing off the people you’re criticising.

6. Protection
Does an anonymous blog protect you? Well, maybe, maybe not. If someone cares enough to spend enough time on investigating, the identity of a blogger can be found out. As for whether you still want to identify with what you write today ten years from now, I’d say you don’t have to and very few people would expect you to.

My own experience with anonymous writing that had severe repercussions a couple of years later was a brief comment written by my ex-girlfriend in a student newspaper. It was published anonymously, but one professor at university was convinced that I had written it. Seven years later, these three lines effectively destroyed my potential academic career. If the article had been signed, things would most probably not have happened this way: not only would it have been clear who the author was, lacking the “protection” of anonymity, the article would most likely also have been phrased differently.
135. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 6:22 pm

Actually, the link is here. I didn’t write that one – go to that person’s site to read more if you’re interested.
136. Frank | December 29, 2006 at 6:24 pm

Perhaps you should do more research on this, Robin. People do have the right to freedom of expression. Slander and libel only exist when the comments are without a doubt false and can be proved as being false. Opinions that are clearly opinions don’t count. Let’s take someone calling DE an asshole. If this person can show an example of how DE is an asshole, DE wouldn’t have a case. Because to that person, DE IS an asshole. It’s all relative.
137. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 6:30 pm

Frank,

You’re right. There are a lot of comments on that blog can be interpreted as slandering.

For instance, #129 posted this “Yes, it is true about he use school equipment for his personal vlog.”

Does that help you understand what I am trying to clarify?

Robin
138. Frank | December 29, 2006 at 6:30 pm

Don’t let anyone intimidate you from sharing your opinions freely.

Read this article: How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)

http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Anonymity/blog-anonymously.php
139. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 6:31 pm

Frank,

That article was written BEFORE the law went into effect.

Robin
140. Frank | December 29, 2006 at 6:33 pm

Robin,

So you’re saying that Joey didn’t at any time use school equipment when making his vlog? Which would include using a backdrop or a room on campus? You’ll vouch for that? Some of his vlogs look like they were done in a studio. Was this on campus? If so, then I don’t see how that post would qualify as slander.
141. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 6:35 pm

I can’t speak for Joey but if that was false, then it’d be considered slander.
142. Frank | December 29, 2006 at 6:39 pm

True, it would. If it were false. However, a case could also be made that Joey is a frequent poster here. If it’s false, why doesn’t he say so? He could easily dispute it and end of the story. People don’t take these blog posts too seriously.
143. Frank | December 29, 2006 at 6:40 pm

Also if he’s using the computers at school to view or work on his blog, that would also qualify as “school equipment”. I don’t work with him so I don’t know. Perhaps he can tell us. Any truth to this, Joey? Have you used school equipment of any kind to work on your personal vlog?
144. Tulip | December 29, 2006 at 6:48 pm

Robin, you assume too much.

If you dont like anonymous blogging, then get outta here. Find blogs that prohibits pseudo names then.

It is very obvious Joey used a site outside his home for many of his vblogs including the one with dr klopping who stood in front of the same backdrop that Joey stood in front of.

You can’t claim this as slander. You have to prove the claims as false and harmful to Joey. This is not harmful to Joey because obviously Dr Klopping is aware of what he is doing. Obviously Joey has permisson.

All others, just OPINION, not slander. Attacks on DE are just personal views and opinions of him. That’s what is cool about living in America…freedom of speech and CHOICES. You can opt to go elsewhere. No need to tell us off for using pseudo names – it is OUR CHOICE! Blogs are designed for us to speak freely. Yes, IP addresses are there for purpose of any CRIMINAL activity only. There’s nothing criminal here. IP addresses DO NOT tell your names – they are a bunch of numbers. Only the internet serive providers can reveal the names with a warrant if there is a crime involved. The blog host can’t find out the name attached to the IP address. We still have a measure of protection of our identity.
145. Frank | December 29, 2006 at 6:48 pm

If anyone is worried about your comments, use an anonymous surfing Web site. Do a search on google for “free anonymous surfing”. You’ll find tons. No one can trace the IP if you use a reliable one.

Here’s one I use all the time, including now… http://www.hidemyass.com

Another good one if you’re willing to pay… http://www.anonymizer.com

Like Tulip said, freedom of speech is what makes America great. That said, please blog responsibly. Don’t post things you know are false.
146. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 6:59 pm

Frank – Joey’ll respond. Good discussion though – I appreciate it.

Tulip – No Name. Sorry but I don’t read your commments.

Robin
147. Robin | December 29, 2006 at 7:00 pm

#145 – I’m in total agreement with you.

“Like Tulip said, freedom of speech is what makes America great. That said, please blog responsibly. Don’t post things you know are false.”
148. JB | December 29, 2006 at 7:37 pm

I completely support freedom of speech and expression. You can also use school computer at the library, computers at public libraries or at cyber cafes (pay with cash not your credit card) or other public places where many use computers. Ip address can’t be traced back to you.
149. JB | December 29, 2006 at 7:39 pm

And by the way… David Eber-wennie *IS* an asshole as far as I’m concerned.
150. Joey Baer | December 29, 2006 at 7:57 pm

Frank – Tulip already answered for me. Thanks.
151. Lost in Cyberspace | December 29, 2006 at 8:01 pm

Just stumbled here from another blog. Refreshing to see some good discussions going on, though would be even better if there were no personal attacks. The gala that the Bay Area did was a great idea. I don’t see any problem with it but I also do understand why some are curious about why only four chosen. I’m curious about that, too. Also, I loved the comparision Tulip made between former protest leaders and current protest leaders. Good analogy!
152. Teri | December 29, 2006 at 8:29 pm

Wow! Over 150 comments? RidorLive Two? ChrisLive? I stumbled upon this blog from Dan’s via Deafread.com.

My first reaction?

Excellent discourse, but personal attacks?? Not again!

Joey? Not him, please. He does us no harm! How did he do his blog? Who cares? Please focus on his messages and how did he try to convey them? I strongly believe he is here to help us the deaf people unify. Maybe some of you read him wrong, or misinterpret his intentions. Some of you seem to work up too much.

Cannot we simply shift our focus on what we can do, not lashing out on others?

I now realize I can be subjected to the risk of being slandered. Go ahead if you think I do something wrong.

I am here to defend my friends, and the deaf. Please re-read my comment left on RidorLive a while ago – in defense of my friend, Stephen.

Since I do no have the kind of time to compose sharing my thoughts. That comment would work with this blog. Replace Stephen with Joey or David in the following text.

(Excerpt from Ridor Live… I wanted to emphasize the last paragraph to everyone)

# 34 (http://www.ridorlive.com/?p=2059#comments)

Teri Says: _December 21st, 2006 at 3:58 pm

Hello,

Sorry for the long comment . . . here is my rambling thought . . .

I am an avid reader of Ridorlive, and keep an eye on certain things, what being said on this blog ever since after what happened last summer when CSDR and its staff were grossly slandered. It took only one person to post many negative comments under several pseudo names. She indeed achieved causing a ripple effect that resulted in a flood of hate and negative comments – over 100 comments on each of a couple of posts.

Let’s not repeat history.

Please do not take attacks, or even claw others. We are here to unify and improve the quality of Deaf life. Deafhood. We need to focus on what we can do rather than attacking each other. I believe many of you already said this and that across this blog.

Just do it!

Do you not find it ironic, and hypocritical, that many of you whine about being slandered on blogs, especially this one, and yet you (no pointing finger) feel free to impugn Stephen’s good name and character by implying that he’s doing this to get attention or simply lying, even that he is a philander? (omit the last sentence after lying)

Jesus Christ!

We need to stop prying into people’s personal life, and use it as an opportunity to attack.

Now I used this post and its comments as the example to show how real lives of everyday deaf persons or deaf community could come apart because of relentless attacks. But this is not just about Stephen. It is about anyone or any group that does not fit the mold of whatever, you name it.

So, here is what I have to say to you who feel the way they do. I am not suggesting we become like them, Stephen, IJK, JK, Carl P, and so on. Not one bit. I request that we simply stop taking attacks, slander, bigotry, and hatred.

Those actions are harmful to everyone and to the deaf community. We are not in this business to promote hostility. We are here to bring good to deaf community- not satisfy ourselves. We need to defend our people, our language, and our heritage.

As an individual I have an obligation to defend attacks against me, my friends and family, or deaf heritage, even CSDR. It is not about myself. As a teacher, parent, and friend, I have to fight back and defend those who are mistreated, slandered, or falsely accused. I could go on and on . . .

So, here I have to say about Stephen. I got to know him on a personal level very well. No questions, he makes his character worthy for the deaf people, and Gallaudet. He contributed a lot of his time being a proactive deaf activist, and being on committee of many, many, and many organizations. His personal life? His past? Not your business or mine. Nobody is perfect. Let’s focus what he did/does for the community. He does the community no harm any way.

Now I picked Clinton as a good example – suffice it to say, he does have some flaws, however it does not make him a bad guy. He stood by as the slander piled against him throughout his presidential term. And yet he successfully led the country out of the debt, and helped the nation to be in much better shape, i.e. international relations. Forget the cigar incident and the blue dress. You know the rest of history. Again, I could go on and on . . . (This wont work with this blog but I do not want to revise the original comment).

Let’s wrap up.

We need to stop going into a rage over individuals or groups, but we ought to make sure we are loud and proud defenders and can call a spade a spade when it comes to those who throw bricks our way.

Again … with a strong emphasis . . .

We need to stop going into a rage over individuals or groups, but we ought to make sure we are loud and proud defenders and can call a spade a spade when it comes to those who throw bricks our way.
153. Tulip | December 29, 2006 at 9:10 pm

Teri,

Joey chose to jump in and set himself up for attacks. He is a big boy and can take care of himself. Don’t worry about him. Worry about yourself. Nobody was attacking Joey until he jumped in. They are entitled to their opinions, to disagree with him and he is entitled to rebuttals….this is what blogging is all about. It seems you only want POSITIVE blog with all goody-two-shoes comments. That is fantasy. You can have that on YOUR blog.
154. ASLian | December 29, 2006 at 9:15 pm

Teri, I am with you all the way!

Let’s stop pulling down ourselves and knock down the bushel. We can spread ourselves clawing audisms, not each others.

ASL! Let’s preserve it. Remember George Veditiz’s statement. Help ourselves. Put your palm and push your best elbow upward, not clenching our claws around their legs.
155. The One and Only Ridor | December 29, 2006 at 10:00 pm

Whoa. I’m so BEHIND in this — so I want to address two things:

To 47: I consider all deaf, hearing impaired, hard of hearing, Deaf, latened deaf and all that labels as … Deaf. There is NOTHING wrong with being Deaf. Even if you are not entrenched in Deaf issues or culture, you are still Deaf to me.

Instead of dividing folks with labels, let’s just call ourselves Deaf no matter what degree of hearing loss.

To whoever that kept on attacking David Eberwein and me: It is no secret that DE and I can’t stand each other during our college years. Yes, he was vicious back then but what impressed me the most is that he made the move to reach me and talk with me about the issues — David is trying so hard to repent his sins but yet, people out there refused to give him a shot. He repeatedly apologized to me and I accepted that. I am willing to move along in order to make a difference in our community — life is short, stop being malicious.

If you have a problem or grudge with David, you can get in touch with him and I am sure that he is willing to talk about the issues.

I am my own person, DE is his own person — I respect who he is as of now. I’m glad to say that I appreciate who he is as of now. And you should.

Cheers,

R-
156. Maureen Klusza | December 29, 2006 at 10:14 pm

Yo, JB – take a chill pill.

You people who are calling names to people like David and Joey — makes me sick to stomach. You have no idea how much they’ve worked hard for the deaf community. You just don’t.

I work hard. I respect people who work hard. I respect David and Joey and many others who worked so hard for this. I have no respect for people who sit down by their computer and call people names just because they do not like what they’re seeing. Or worse — posting nasty comments about your co-worker without signing your name… #129, what you just did — was very uncool because i know you haven’t done much for the deaf community. And you know it too.

Now — ask yourself, “What can I do that can make a difference for my community?” It doesn’t matter if it’s small or big. You’ll see.

Just grow up and do something for your community for a change.
157. JB | December 29, 2006 at 10:31 pm

I don’t believe DE has changed his ways. He just fool you into thinking so. He probably only reached out to you because you became famous blogger and its in his best interests so you don’t keep attacking him on your blog. Ask yourself honest, if you were not blogging, would he have bothered to contact you and try to apologize for all the ugly things he did to you? No way.
158. JB | December 29, 2006 at 10:41 pm

Maureen you know nothing about me. I have done lots for Deaf community. Don’t make assumptions. You also do not know anything about my history with DE and what I have witness. Easy for you to defend without knowing all facts.
159. Teri | December 29, 2006 at 11:06 pm

Hello Tulip,

First, thank you for your blunt comment. I do appreciate it. I admit I did not read every line here on this post. I skimmed it through, and saw this particular comment painting him as a bad guy. I felt it was necessary to jump in and defend him — like what I said in my previous comment. It was not only about him, but the whole community. I knew it could become ugly, uglier, and ugliest if no one stepped in.

I’m not going to speculate out loud about what I’m going to tell on this blog.

Maybe a little bit.

What I am called to do, however, is throw all my support— just to Joey and others (the big boys or girls).

Really.

It’s not just about them. It’s about deaf people and the things they do. Yes, it’s also about them — all of you the good ones!

I love peace. I love the impulse inside each of us, which finds it hard to look into each other’s eyes and want to bash each other. But, I love the quiet and the dawns — seeing each sunrise upon us knowing we have a day ahead to build a strong foundation where we can stand pride being deaf — like an anthem, “Star-Spangled Banner” — looking over the bridge and upon the flag as if it is a symbol of unity and strength.

Gotcha?

My words are offered as a warning: look what you are allowing to happen, both in this community and yourself. This comment that I made somewhere at RidorLive or other blog a long time ago clarifies it further:

Bashing each other before our own people who struggle to improve is negativism in the extreme. If you support it, you support negativism.

Positivism?

Yes, you are darn right. I am an optimist and supportive person. I can withhold any burning sticks and stones like a fireman. This is like putting everyone inside the burning house being at the stake — whether they are big boys or girls. I just wanted to let them know I am with them. For anyone, I will run in and get them out any way I can, just coming from being something, not having everything. May I be perished with them or not. I know it is for a good cause (Literally, of course).

Negativism in the blogsphere? Oh yeah! No questions asked!? !

But!

NOT ALL of them! I know many, many, and many blogs including the ones owned by deaf bloggers are contained of many positives, almost nothing about negatives. I can certainly name some.

Why don’t you leave a negative comment on my blog to tell me that I live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion? Show me the negativistism in that I can desire.

I believe there is no reason to be negative on my blog. As I told several colleagues that I am not into the politics. I want to focus on humanistic values and concerns – freinds, family, life, arts, cultures, and so on. I will leave all the politics to others.

I reiterate this challenge to you who think the time has come to give in to us who like to write negatives by participating in efforts or personal gestures in support of audists, slanderers, and so on who are now poising to attack the deaf individuals, or even the community such as Bay Area: show me the negativism in promoting making lives over self destruction.

I counsel non-cooperation.
160. Phillip | December 29, 2006 at 11:08 pm

O.K. we got it, JB. You don’t like David. I hear this often from other people and on other blogs. Some like him, some don’t. This is a boring topic. I’m sure David is enjoying all the attention he’s getting. Let’s move on to something more interesting.
161. Hate Double Standards | December 29, 2006 at 11:24 pm

Teri read what Joey wrote in #102. Chris never said anything negative about Dan or the cartoon but looks like Joey is trying to start shit between them. I saw him do this on Dan’s blog, too. Not cool. Of course you wanna defend Joey because he’s your friend, but you should be sure to read everything he writes before you do. He sure preaches a lot about deaf unity but based on his comments here, I’m skeptical that he actually practices what he preaches.
162. Teri | December 29, 2006 at 11:42 pm

# 161

As it is getting late now, I need to hit the sack. However I will take my time to read from word to word in this blog tomorrow night, and I will be 100 percent honest replying yours.

Again, I feel very strongly that we should not add fuel to the fire in this way! We should wait and see what Joey got to say. I believe he has no intentions to throw the s—t in the fan here on the blog.

Enough said.

Sigh! I was supposed to write a blog for my site, but I ended up spending my time here. That’s okay! This is indeed an interesting intercourse — no, I mean discourse. I guess I am tired!

Good night!
163. A student from CSD Fremont | December 30, 2006 at 1:06 am

A student from CSD Fremont here–

You all may be shocked by the fact that people like me do read this kind of stuff. Something new for you guys.

Anyways, I wanted to say, let’s act like reasonable adults here. There is no need of calling of the names to DE and Joey, they’re wonderful people who have done a lot of our community, like it or not. If they worked for your respective communites, you would have the same amount of respect for them as we have for them. Think twice before you say something like that ever again.

Secondly, aren’t we supposed to work together and try to make a difference(s) in our own respective communities? I thought that the recent events at Gallaudet unitied us together as one so c’mon people, act and be one.

I don’t expect for us to work it out overnight but we will eventually, starting with you guys right now. Like a great teacher once told me before, “The biggest room in the world is… improvement.” We definitely need that.

Thank you and have a great night.
164. Tulip | December 30, 2006 at 1:23 am

Teri,

Have you ever considered negativism as potentially constructive? If you are a student of history, you’d know the answer.

Most posters in this thread are making a point in attempt to STOP the repeat act of “elitism.” Bay Area preaches “Unity” and has yet to actually practice it. This is where constructive negativism comes in.
165. Jason from L.A. | December 30, 2006 at 2:02 am

Very, very good points raised by Chris L. and others. I would like to to see more discussion on class issues and elitism as many don’t seem to be aware of how their decisions are oppressive. Deaf people who are professionals and have money are not always sensitive to those who don’t. This gala event was a good example of that. Why did they have to have it at a fancy, expensive hotel? Social justice, which is the buzz word these days in our deaf community, isn’t just about audism and defeating JKF but also about long-standing issues like classism, racism, heterosexism, sexism and other isms. Ever notice how the oppressed are often quick to become the oppressor? I encourage the Bay Area community and deaf communities everywhere who are truly committed to social justice to set up workshops about classism and other such issues. Please educate yourselves so that you don’t continue to be oppressors.
166. Chris Leon | December 30, 2006 at 4:09 am

I’m just getting caught up on reading all the comments here. The first word that comes to mind: WHOA!

The topics raised here have ignited so much passion. The blog has taken on a life of it’s own. Some of the dialogue here has been insightful and informative and I look forward to reading more. I firmly believe that dialogue and dissent are healthy and help our community grow.

As for Dan McClintock’s latest cartoon, (kisses fist) I loved it!

Chris Leon
167. Joey Baer | December 30, 2006 at 7:27 am

#161,

Why did focus on #102 when I clearly mention in #115 that I already apologized for my comments I made toward Chris, Simon and others? I posted #102 out of frustration and I clearly hold myself responsible for what I said. I am just a deaf human being who wanted better lives for deaf people.

Teri – thanks for ur comments.
168. Joey Baer | December 30, 2006 at 7:38 am

Jason from LA (#165) -

You wrote: “Ever notice how the oppressed are often quick to become the oppressor?”

I have to agree with you and that is called internalized oppression. If you do search on it, you will find some interesting articles that explain and match our situation very much. We need to discuss this more and how we can heal from it. There’s a link to one article I like very much.

http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/EN/section_1172.htm

Enjoy.
169. from London | December 30, 2006 at 8:49 am

I thought that was really big of joey to apologise.
170. Colin Piotrowski | December 30, 2006 at 9:19 am

The food dishes came with the $40 ticket plus the treat that we’ve been giving out so check your fact.

Tara, I’m disappointed in you. You know why. Stop act like you’re concerned about others. You were so trilled when you were invited and didn’t mention a word about other people until the Gala. Now you act like you’ve been concerned since day one? I suspect you’re only blogging to gain attention and respect on yourself. “oh gosh what a goody girl” Shame on you.

Yes, you guys bought up some good point and I would like to think that we’re open enough to think this though and learn. LIke we mentioned we KNEW they weren’t the only 4 leaders, but one of the leaders. I suppose we should have been more careful with our wordings or something. Again, it’s FSSA who should be clear crystal who are the 4 leaders, not us Bay Area people. We only do what we can with the $ we had. Leah was at the Gala, which I’m happy about, as well as many other leaders who were involved.

But this certainly doesn’t call on the insult or attacks I’m seeing on here.

I’ve always admire Joey for his work and his thought provoking articles/vlogs. PERIOD.

Even I dislike some people who I associate with but I would never sink this low and blast ‘em online and hid it behind a fake name like many of you did. It’s quite amazing.

FYI David Eberwein hasn’t made a single respond in this blog and he doesn’t have to. He’s too good for this kind of trash. In fact he’s laughing right now at the mockery you’re making out of him. He do not believes in defending online, but in person and in ASL verision. Call me old fashioned but blogging on line is DEAD and is getting no where. Everything has to be done in person or face to face value, like writing or signing a contract.

Afraid of him or her? oh well! it’s your problem then! Didn’t your folks teach you to face it like real man/woman? Those who appears on blog and blast us with a fake name, do you think we’ll take you seriously? nah.

We only show attention and respect to those who faces us and address real issue. Anybody who addressed us usually walk away with a different and brighter view. Those who didn’t will have keep on dealing with their inner demons. Blogging is not the answer.

Happy 2007, you all.
171. Whatever Colin | December 30, 2006 at 10:35 am

#170 ~

Some of your comments make no sense. If blogging were dead, then how do you explain the popularity of deaf read? And if you don’t care about what’s written here, then why bother to participate with your own comments?
172. I was there | December 30, 2006 at 11:03 am

Not to make a mountain out of a molehill but the “food dishes” were more like finger foods, not an actual meal.
173. waiting for the answer | December 30, 2006 at 11:43 am

While the gala was a great success and kudos to those on the committee for organizing it, there is one main issue initially brought up here by Chris which still has not yet been addressed by the organizers of the gala for us:

While we all understand there were many leaders involved and took pains to recognize as many people as we could, how were these four people selected?

I think this needs to be answered so that this can be put to rest.

Thanks.
174. Teri | December 30, 2006 at 12:00 pm

# 161, I read the whole thing and noticed that Joey made an apology before the public. That takes great character to admit his wrongs.

Yes, you are right I wanted to defend him, because he is a pal. He is not just a friend, but also a prominent figure in the deaf community. We (deaf community) need to defend ourselves against attacks.

I wanted to clarify one thing here. I do not defend his comments, but his character. He does a lot for the deaf community delivering many important messages pertaining to the UFG protest. It is all about the issue of personal attacks, not his statements.

I love a great debate, but the few personal attacks that I have seen here, seem to show that there are either some very jealous or angry people out there, or some very childish ones.

Colin, you are right! How can we take them seriously when they wont leave their real names? I have had told myself to just ignore these comments, to develop a tough skin and forget about them.

And for the most part, I have except for several times where they manage to hit the right spots – when there is a “flame-war” coming to a certain post, negatives indeed ablaze very fast and furiously.

So what is it with all this hatred and fire? Who are these people that relish destroying reputations and take such joy in personal attacks?

Very annoying!

I now realize these people being attacked by commentators, should be flattered that some feel that they are so important, as to take time to create funny false identifications. I give credit to those that can debate an issue without attacking. To me, and it is just my opinion, these people have more honor and integrity in their little fingers than those that cringe in fear behind the false names.

Tulip, constructive negativism? Bashing? Definitely not! I think you mean constructive criticism.

Elitism? I guess I am an ignoramus in this matter. I am curious how do we determine who belongs to a certain group? Like some posters at other blogs ask to give a definition of grassroots?

Anyone cares enough to provide a full explanation of the two terms; deaf elite, and deaf grassroots? I believe it has nothing to do with the level of intelligence. Is it about blue or white-collar workers? Many deaf people who do not work or go to college, are quiet smart in their way, and do make a contribution to deaf communities.

I reckon that many so-called grassroots deaf people were involved with the Deaf Gala event. Right?

I ponder how do we classify ourselves?? Why not we select ourselves as one big group, deaf . Just one little word, deaf!

Unity for deaf People!

# 173, That’s right! I am also very curious who arranged the event ,and how the selection of leaders is processed?
175. Tulip | December 30, 2006 at 12:10 pm

Teri,

Negative points addressed can result in constructive action. The organizers of the gala needs to be educated on how they handle the gala impact others. They preach Social Justice, Unity, Deafhood, etc, and have yet to actually apply these concepts upon themselves. It is easy to preach and harder to practice them themselves.

Elitists consist mainly of professional deaf people. Yes, intelligence level have big factor in elitism. Let’s deal with facts, not denial. This is constructive negativism, Teri. Deal with hard facts rather than being on the defensive and denial.
176. reply to tara/colin | December 30, 2006 at 12:16 pm

Colin – why shame on Tara? She was only expressing what she felt. She might have been afraid to share these concerns in the first place because of this exact kind of reaction you just gave. You put her in the awkward position by inviting her to be one of the four for the gala. However, on the other hand, she could have declined the invitation if she was so concerned about the other people involved in the protest and who were not invited to be on the stage. This would have been the honorable thing to do.
177. Colin | December 30, 2006 at 12:32 pm

Reply to Tara/Colin:

I agree with you. She could have said something months ago or declined the invitation to make a statement or whatever but no, that wasn’t the case. I swear to you that if Tara mention something like that to us long ago we probably would have thought this through or plan this differently as we want to please everybody involved. Also I wouldn’t have reacted the way I did if she had bought this up with us MONTHS ago, but since Tara decided to go public with her comment, so be it.

Also as far as I know nobody as asked us about how the leaders were invited until Dec. 22nd the evening of Gala. Is that fair? I think not…

The point is, we didn’t want to excluse anybody. We hope you can believe that. There’s no reason to do so. We thrive to get facts and stories from each of the people involved in the protest, not only those 4 of the leaders who we invited.

Again, let’s use real name, shall we?
178. Brian Riley | December 30, 2006 at 12:41 pm

I think these people who are criticizing the Bay Area folks are jealous.

The Bay Area people did a wonderful, wonderful job and there is nothing really to criticize.

DE is a fine man. I knew him since he was a little boy and he comes from an upstanding and wonderful family. People criticize him because they are jealous and they want to be in his shoes.

You people who are being critical are making it MORE difficult for other groups to have the courage to do their own galas. You critics are hurting and damaging the movement.
179. RLM | December 30, 2006 at 12:58 pm

Blogging from the East Coast, I’m Robert L. Mason (RLM).

I speak from my own heart what I really think of Joey Baer. I know him and his family pretty much. Joey is really a decent and trustworthy person. He always set his heart and mind for the good of community at large. Joey is no follower himself. Joey could defy or confront something when he have a strong feelings about.

David Ebewerin? I was told last summer 2006 from someone in the Bay Area that he has been surely a changing person in many ways. His current partner, Colin, seems had a profound influence on David in many ways.

I already FORGAVE David Ebewerin for what he done to me during the VAX War (What’sUpXX), the Gallaudet’s ancient electronic forum discussion during the year of 1995-6. I happened to be in the Student Congress done the investigation on the K-Ebewerin Adminstration’s corrupt practices. I was unjustifably attacked and personally undermined by his student body government adminstration and associates of his own thru the smear campaigns and VAX e-correspondences. I moved on with this issue so far.

I encountered David Ebewerin (DE) again at the Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf conference in Washington, DC last July 2005. He seems the changing person so far. David has no longer snickered at me or whatever.

I saw David Ebewerin again during the Gally protest last May 2006. David and I engaged in decent conversation pieces. Of course, I had to keep my own guard up when around David Ebewerin every time no matter he has changed. Elephant memory of mine always stick with me.

I surely hope that David Eberwin really will grow out of his nasty persona all the way in near future for the good of our beloved deaf community at large. Or I will punch David’s face if he still snicker or look down on the (d)eaf people. Human decency is the real key to the foundation of compassionate and vibrant society at large and particular community.

I am much pleased to see the issue of Deaf Elitism and Classism finally emerge on the deaf blogs. So everyone deaf and hearing could be treated decently and equally (???). The sense of superiority have to go!!

The truth is every society have their own elites (doctors, lawyers, judges, corporate leaders and politicans) no matter how we try harder to eradicate the elites off the society.

There is a good book on how the elites misabuse or undermine the given community. I could not remmy the title of nonfiction book.

I personally think that is really unfair of us targeting such a particular individual associate with any of Gallaudet’s Greek organizations. Many individuals already grow out their association with the Greek organizations, ex. fraternities and sortitories.

Gallaudet’s Greek organizations surely done many good and decent things for the given communities over the years than we would give them the real credit. Please think the big pictures of what Gallaudet’s Greek organizations contributed to the Gallaudet community. Thanks,

No questions about some Greek organizations go over the top. Nobody is perfect!

We ought to hug each other, deaf and Deaf individuals to build our deaf community at large to be unifed socially, culturally and politically.

Wish all of you the decent and productive New Year 2007.

Warm regards,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
180. The One and Only Ridor | December 30, 2006 at 1:19 pm

Tulip, no! Some people do not became gay due to the traumatic episodes. That is WHAT some wanted YOU to think like that. It is an excuse. I know because I am gay man — I knew it since I was little boy that I preferred males over females.

Did someone drop me on the floor as an infant? No. Your imagination is not tolerated.
181. Eagles Rule | December 30, 2006 at 3:30 pm

Trust me. No one wants to be DE or be in his shows.
182. Brian Riley | December 30, 2006 at 3:54 pm

The proper way to judge people is according to their major accomplishments. There will alway be personality conflicts in life.

This movement is not going to continue progressing unless people learn to keep the small stuff to themselves and settle the issues privately.

Do we want to put the future success of deaf education in jeopardy because people insist on broadcasting to the world every detail about small happenings that occur in people’s private lives?

Imagine if John Adams criticized George Washington about some small issue, then Washington got mad and did not become General of the Continental Armies.

We need to keep things in perspective.

http://www.gallyprotest.org
183. K. Anderson | December 30, 2006 at 4:27 pm

Colin P.: I still haven’t seen or heard any concrete answers to the “why only four were invited” question. Why, for example, wasn’t Noah invited to be an official participant? Could you fill us in.

Brian R.: Your logic is flawed on so many levels. People shouldn’t be judged based on their accomplishments alone but also on their character. If a well known philanthropist was later discovered to be a serial killer, should we dismiss his behavior and just focus on the good works he did? No, of course not. If you were a more educated man, you’d also grasp the issues being raised here.

And aren’t you hearing by the way? Why so obsessed with our Deaf Community?
184. Susan | December 30, 2006 at 4:53 pm

This is for Ridor and RLM…

First, sorry this is way off the topic question but your responses got me thinking and now I’m curious. You both said you decided to forgive David for the horrible things he did to you. Do you think you’re all being gay had anything to do with it? If David was straight, would you be less likely to forgive him for what he did to you? Or does his being in your same gay boat make you more willing to forgive? You don’t have to answer if you’re not comfortable. -Susan
185. tulip | December 30, 2006 at 5:34 pm

Ridor,

For the vast majority, I would agree the homos are born that way – that it is genetic…but for few are result of traumatic experience from the opposite sex that they seek relationships with the member of the same sex – issue of TRUST.

My former roommate was gang raped by several high school boys and a couple of dorm supervisors when she was only in middle school. She has a very deep and intense mistrust of men. She went to counseling for years but yet she could never could heal from the experience. She tried to have relationships with men but when it reach the intimacy stage, she balked. Now she has been in lesbian relationship since her sophomore year at Gallaudet. When I was first assigned to her roommate, I headed straight for Sharon Hayes to request room change but she advised me there was a serious room shortage so I was stuck with that girl so I had no choice…but we ended up good friends and she respected my “straightedness” and I respected her girlfriends coming over. She shared her experience. I asked her if she ever felt ANY stirring of physical desire for the male species – she said she MIGHT but she very strongly suppress it so she could not honestly answer that. She admits that she does admire the appearance of good looking guys…I consider that SLIGHT stirring of desire for the opposite sex but like she said, she automatically suppresses it and is happy with lesbian life. Her mistrust for men is very, very deep, making relationships with men impossible.

Another friend – a friend of my roommate – was molested by an older sister who was about 8 years older. She molested him until she moved out and married. Yes, FULL BLOODED sibling, not step sibling. He struggled with that for years and years and kept it a secret. Until his nephew approached him and asked him if it was ok if his mom did this and that – he had no choice but to call CPS. He refused to allow his nephew grow up the way he did. He is now estranged from his family – his parents refused to believe their oldest daughter molested all of the younger kids – he found out she also molested his 3 other siblings and they all kept secrets from each other. The oldest sister lost custody of her 4 children to her ex husband. Like my roommate, he has deep mistrust for the females. He admitted he DOES have sexual feelings for women but could never have initmate relationships with women period. He and his brother are both gays, but his younger sister is ok – she’s married and have kids…perhaps because she is a female…not as traumatic if she were molested by a male – I don’t know….

Anyway, like I said, there are just a few who are not born gay….deep pyschological scars.
186. For Deaf People | December 30, 2006 at 5:42 pm

Hello?

You must be blind. Rage truly blind you to the merits of those people including Joey, DE, Ricky, Teri, Chris, or anyone who spend their time for the deaf community.

I totally agree with Teri. We MUST stop bashing each other, and fight against the “attackers”.

Let’s march upward.
187. The One and Only Ridor | December 30, 2006 at 6:30 pm

Tulip, I’m sorry but I am laughing hysterically at this notion. It is like when I went to a deaf club, I saw one deaf woman saying “he’s gay but it is not his fault. he was molested, so it is OK for him to be gay. but for ppl who just wanted to be gay, they are bad and wrong!”

That is why some fooled you into accepting them by telling the tall tales.

I don’t do that. I knew I was gay since I was 4.

R-
188. The One and Only Ridor | December 30, 2006 at 6:31 pm

Susan, it does not matter if he is straight or gay — I am gay but I tend to hang out with straight people more than I do with gay people.

In fact, I forgave a couple of heterosexuals and moved on along in life. Life is short to be bitter about it.

Cheers,

R-
189. Eagles Rule | December 30, 2006 at 6:39 pm

If I have to choose between who is telling truth between Colin and Tara, no contest there. Tara wins hands down. I’m glad she spoke up. She is true leader.
190. RLM | December 30, 2006 at 6:52 pm

Susan, your comment #184 really make me LOL! That is nothing to do with anyone’s sexuality.

I NEVER know about DE’s sexual preference til eight years ago. I treat anyone equally regardless of their sexual orientation.

I had been unfairly vilifed and demonized by ugly rumors on constant basis for my courageous stand to the K-Eberwerin SBG adminstration. Many Gally “culturally deaf” professors came to me and said “Hey, good work!”, “Don’t back down!” “You (RLM) done the right thing!”, “I really couldn’t believe what they are doing to you! Why??” The professors and Gally staffers read the VAX correspondences about the SBG adminstration from the beginning to the end.

I still wait for David Ebewerin to say how much he is truly sorry for such a nasty and unfair war waged upon me and other gutsy students. He haven’t.

I already made a truce with someone K and moved on.

If not for DE unfairly badmouthed me to BBF last May ‘06. I already begun the clean slate with DE and forgot about what happened back to the 1996. DE doesn’t! That reflected his character for getting away what he done to many people. DE hurt many people beside me. DE nastily tore one hard of hearing Gally gal to tears for no good reason during the fire alarm incident. Many people confirmed what really happened at the Hanson Plaza where the students flocked out of the Cogswell Hall dormitory.

I think that David Ebewerin have to stop “character assassination” and “veplictator tactics” and have the courage to make the sincere apology for what he done to many people during his Gally studies.

Joey Baer have a real class which he is much willing to acknowledge his own mistakes. I have more respect for Joey Baer.

I have no personal anomisity against DE. I still wait for his public apology. So everyone could move on. Honesty is a best policy.

Robert L. Mason (RLM)
191. The One and Only Ridor | December 30, 2006 at 7:05 pm

RLM, DE has not engaged in any character assassination with me on anyone else. He’s very realistic and easy to talk with.

You’re talking about the old image that DE wanted to get rid of. Let it go, bub.

No need to dwell on this for ever or you’ll end up having a heart attack.

Cheers,

R-
192. tulip | December 30, 2006 at 7:19 pm

Ridor,

I also know a boy with whom I grew up that he was gay since he was about 5…it was already obvious, as it apparently was for you. It is not appropriate to assume everyone are like you and are gay the exactly the same way as you.

What I said are all TRUE – they are not excuses. They underwent counseling to no avail. Just be glad it did not happen to YOU.

Be empathic sometimes, Ridor. It seems you have none. “Oh right…excuses, excuses….”??? Each of us is INDIVIDUAL, not carbon copies of Ridor who was born gay. Respect individual experiences and differences.
193. Echo | December 30, 2006 at 7:34 pm

Tulip,

You sound so awful familiar, much like Cy Butt the buttface. Go join her and lick together like dogs!

Dog eats dog business, isn’t it?

Who let them out?
194. Darlene Ewan | December 30, 2006 at 7:53 pm

We have leaders all over the country. We have leaders in minority group. In Deaf community, we have our own leaders.

I cannot say how much disappointed I am to read bad things about other people made by and within our community. I value everybody’s skills. We are on this earth for a reason. And everyone of you are important for a reason. I would rather to know the good things about you than to know bad things about you.

I’ll like to remind you that a word of kindness will warm 3 winter months. I hope you have a word of kindness to warm 12 months.

Peace.
195. Tulip fan | December 30, 2006 at 7:57 pm

Hey, leave Tulip alone. She’s cool and entitled to her own opinions.
196. Tulip fan | December 30, 2006 at 7:58 pm

“I’ll like to remind you that a word of kindness will warm 3 winter months.”

Tell that to the poor people freezing to death in Russia.
197. Tulip fan | December 30, 2006 at 8:00 pm

“I surely hope that David Eberwin really will grow out of his nasty persona all the way in near future for the good of our beloved deaf community at large. Or I will punch David’s face if he still snicker or look down on the (d)eaf people.”

I would love to see Robert punch David’s face! LMAO Put me down for front row seats!
198. Darlene Ewan | December 30, 2006 at 8:10 pm

Tulip Fan:

Don’t depend on a person, depend on the community. We are depending on you for the positive outcomes for the community.

I am sure we would love to see you presenting yourself for the community than just to present a person. I believe we would love to sit down for the front row seats to see you making difference for the community.
199. Tulip fan | December 30, 2006 at 8:31 pm

“DE has not engaged in any character assassination with me on anyone else. ”

You can’t see what he says and does 24 hours a day. So how can you possibly know?
200. Susan | December 30, 2006 at 8:52 pm

Thanks for responding to my question. I think gay people are more forgiving than most. But I could be wrong -Susan
201. Echo | December 30, 2006 at 9:10 pm

A question here …

Is Chris Leon a gay? I saw his profile and he hide his face. I could not tell whether he is a good loking guy or not.

After reading this very hot post, I browesed other posts of his, he seems an intelliegent fellow. Who is he? I never heard of him until I came here.

Me curious.
202. Albert W | December 30, 2006 at 9:54 pm

45 minutes to read all the comments. I read every line. I have lots of respects for everyone of you except people calling others names without revealing their names. Words can be very hurtful. I feel bad for others. I am glad Joey answered them. I have read every blog of his. Give him a chance. So is R. I check the deafread every day. I encourage everyone to check deafread before they start the day. Keep it up… except calling eachother names.. or hurt each other w/o revealing names. I don’t pay attention to them. Hope R, Joey, others have thick skins. They deserve our praises for their hard working to spread their thinkings to the Deaf Community. Thanks to Bloggers. Please make sure to keep fighting for amnesty reprisals. The healing process has not started yet. President Ford pardoned Nixon for his crimes against many people’s wish. But Ford had healed the nation. Hope Davila will heal Gally by giving the pardon to the protesters. Keep fighting…. thanks!
203. Tara Holcomb | December 30, 2006 at 10:08 pm

there is no feud between me and anyone

please do check out http://www.joeybaer.com for a videotape of the gala along with the powerpoint presentations. that’ll definitely give a better image of what the gala was all about. am very thankful to everyone who made this possible and hope that other communities will do the same to celebrate.
204. Colin | December 30, 2006 at 10:49 pm

Kudos to Tara! We just spoke and we’ve sort out our differences.

I hope you all, including Tulip; Eagle Prides; Tulip fan and more, can do the same and move on. But I suspect Tulip lives on negativity and seeing people pulling each other down. How sad.

At least I know we all did great work and we all feel good about that. That’s the main thing and we, at least I, do not feel the need to answer to anybody, especially after the way you’ve throw out insults to us organizers.
205. The One and Only Ridor | December 30, 2006 at 10:58 pm

Tulip Fan: Flash news, the weather in Russia is very warm right now — so your comments are irrelevant!

And how do I know about DE? I have tentacles all over the nation.

Tulip: I like to think that I’m realistic when it comes to empathy and comfort, but to make excuses in order to be accepted for who you are is not one of them. I rather for you to hate me for who I am rather than for me to cower before you for your approval!

Cheers,

R-
206. Eagles Rule | December 30, 2006 at 11:29 pm

Very diplomatic! Tara shows her leadership once again.
207. Teri | December 31, 2006 at 12:11 am

Tulip,

I agree with Colin that you thrive on negativity.

I got an email from one of my favorite websites just a few minutes ago. That prompted me to come back here to share that inspirational quote with you.

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”
-William James

Me in denial? Never! Just that I know how to ignore negativism.

Carpe Diem! How about new year in Latin? Let’s say in English . . . Seize the new year!

Happy 2007!
208. tulip | December 31, 2006 at 1:24 am

Ridor,

Being gang-raped is an excuse to become gay? I don’t see how…
209. tulip | December 31, 2006 at 1:28 am

Echo

You decided I am this “buttface” because I agree with what she said? I read her blog, you know….

At least I don’t bash others as you just did. If you wanna bash her, go do it on her blog, then.
210. Brian Riley | December 31, 2006 at 4:30 am

#183

No, I’m sorry. It’s not “your” community.

People are people. Individuals are individuals. The individuals that I am involved with happen to be deaf.

You see the world in terms of “us” and “them” and that is very, very, very wrong.

On top of that, your comment is extremely demeaning to deaf people and implies that I should not be interested in working with them and that I should not be interested in participating in shared projects with them.

There’s only *one* group of people in the world, and that group is the human race. We might conveniently group people mentally according to minor characteristics, but if we do, that’s an abstraction. People are individuals. Nothing more and nothing less.
211. IamMine | December 31, 2006 at 8:58 am

I was directed to this blog via DeafRead by Ridor and Deaf Tea Time… let me echo others:

WHOA!

Joey being elitist?
Dave E an asshole?
40+ dollars per plate?
“Only” and “selected” four leaders picked?

Those negatives stood out pretty “visible” – a very good example of how easy it is for the community to bring one(s) down.

Look at the POSITIVE things that came out of all this… those people contributed a lot and made a DIFFERENCE.

No one is perfect so it’s very easy to pick on them and they could easily have swept them under the rug – but no, Joey offered himself for dialogs and I agree with one commenter, it was pretty big of him to apologize and acknowledged what was said.

Past always come to haunt us – every one of us. Had I made it that far like all the people on the front lines, I would also get attacked and I seriously doubt I would have made it this far.

I’m not the same person I was at NTID and I’m very sure there would be plenty of stories that would easily form many unfavorable opinions about me.

Anyway, this is not to say we should “sweep” things under the rug – but to continue attacking after an issue or issues has already been explained will not help us as a community to move on to accomplish more! Like Joey said, we have so much to do!!

And to paraphrase Dr. Davila: We can’t do this if we are not in this together.

All of us. From all walks of life.

I am really sorry that a lot of people weren’t too happy about not being able to afford going to the Gala event – it does take some money to raise for a good cause.

That’s why we have this wonderful technology – blogs and vlogs!!! People who care enough to share with us what’s going on!!

I think DE rocks, Joey rocks, Ridor rocks, Elizabeth (Misha Zena) rocks, Terri rocks, Deafread rocks, ASL Dragon rocks, and ALL deaf people rock, too!!!

Let’s rock 2007!!!!
212. DeafLinux | December 31, 2006 at 11:20 am

Here is the glue that will hold the D/deaf together. Do not become picky on issues. Look at the big picture. Think BIG and bring the D/deaf community as ONE.

Happy New Year!

Stephen Hardy, II
Florida
213. Anne Marie | December 31, 2006 at 11:59 am

Few comments:

About the cost to gala.. Think about the amount you are willing to pay for a 1/4 oz or a keg but whine for the gala? Willing to pay $100 for a pair of new shoes when you can get it for $20 at Walmart? When I was 18 years old, I lived on $500 monthly with a vw, insured, and it was never out of gas. I would find a way to get $40, borrow from someone.. I did to attend the DPN gala..truthfully to be with my to-be husband. (wink)

Honestly I DO NOT WANT to hear about $$$ for tickets to any deaf event again. Have a class.

About bashing others. I abide by principle not to do it 99%. At 1%, it is sometime hard not to when being really very hurt by someone and the worst, not being apologized at all. I read them all from all angles, it hurts and everyone who bashes including THOSE who did hurt people in the past get in private dialogues and talk to heal wounds. Do not 100% blame on those who bash.

About who is picked. I read about this last week but I stayed back because there was not enough facts present. Thumb first rule, do not jump until all facts are there. I had seen this same old pattern..those who are left out, not credited, etc in the Deaf community. I suggest that any committee who do the event planning simply post somewhere in the public and also announce in presentation that they had invited as many as they can to be inclusive and show gratitude but some people just cannot show up then go on to mention all names in formal presentation and on powerpoint, the one I just saw is very nicely done, including three vlogs on Joey’s website.

You cannot expect him to post vlogs right away considering the heighten time of holidays.

Recommendation:

Committee – inform public of their effort to recognize everyone as possible. Or correct me if it was already done beforehand.

When wishing to share doubts and resentful feelings whatever, do not use names, just mention situation and just focus on issues. When you wish for a person to know how s/he did hurt you, do it in private email or videophone.

This way you do not have to hide in odd names. This is never a fully respectful thing to do.

If you found yourself being bashed, have a thick skin but do not dismiss. Examine to see why people react to you. Be honest to acknowledge that what you did is bad. Learn from it and see how you can make it a better turnout for yourself and others. We grow from this way.

To apologize in public is a noble thing to do. It does not only disspate negative energy between certain people but for everyone. Learn to do it. I did it sometime at my old work place and found it to be a positive experience. I eventually learned that it is NOT that hard thing to do and is far more rewarding to feel uplifted in good spirits than if one should have to stupidly waste his time carrying negative enegry for so long time for nothing. Life is too short. I am proud of you my brother Joey!

Avoiding negativism is okay as long as it does not become too repressive. There is a line to it and we somehow balance to respond appropriately.

Do not jump until all facts are present even if it takes time.

May they be our lasting resolution, not just for 2007!

Warmly, Anne Marie
214. Marcus Gauthier | December 31, 2006 at 12:13 pm

I agree that we don’t need the personal attacks but “don’t be picky on the issues”? That’s ridiculous. If you really believe that then we should have accepted Fernandez whole heartedly as our 9th President. As Chris stated, “dialogue and dissent help our community grow”. I’m all for that. I’m sure a lot of folks learned from what was shared here. I sure did. Thanks Chris and all others who contributed here. You’ve given me a lot of food for thought. Happy 2007 everyone!
215. Marcus Gauthier | December 31, 2006 at 12:24 pm

Hats off to Ann Marie! That’s one of the best responses I’ve seen here.
216. stork | December 31, 2006 at 1:04 pm

we need to be more sensitive towards those who don’t have money. telling people to have “class” just shows our own lack of class.
217. stork | December 31, 2006 at 1:20 pm

i just watched the gala videos on joey baer’s vblog. something really bothered me about them. first, it was fun to relive the gala and i was thrilled to see the people of color shown in the interviews, i know most of them. *but* something didn’t feel right about it. it almost feels like joey or whoever did the video is trying too hard to show it was “diverse”. Out of all people interviewd, why focus on showing only those few people there who fit the “diverse” profile? didn’t anyone notice that, too?

i can’t help wondering how much this had to do with the earlier comments here regarding ‘diversity”. is joey tryiing to back himself up about his comment that it was a “very diverse” gala? there were not that many people of color at the gala. why focus on showing only those on the video? if you look at the people in the background, you’ll see that almost all are white. if not for comments on this blog, i bet they would have chosen an entirely different group of people to show, like the cad gala video. maybe i’m wrong but it feels like they are trying too hard to show something that doesn’t really exist. out of maybe 80 to 100 people at the gala, only a handful of people there were people of color. that does *not* equate diversity.
218. tulip | December 31, 2006 at 1:24 pm

Well,

Deaf Tea Time recanted after viewing the gala to my surprise so I decided to view the gala clips on Joey’s blog. It is darn too bad the gala video was posted a little “late”. I viewed it too and found a diversity of people there. That was my main beef – that there gala seemed to be elitist – accessible to mainly professionals with money.

No, #211, Iammine…it was $50 ter ticket just to get in…the food was separate. extra. Well, if people wanna spend that much just to meet student leaders, so be it. I wouldn’t pay that much. There are opportunities to meet them elsewhere without having to pay upwards of $75-100 which would, in my opinion, be better spent on other things, but that’s just my opinion.

Anna Marie – bad analogy – Walmart shoes? Eh?? That is not comparable. It is a matter of principle, really. Fancy hotel, expensive tickets. Could be much less and more accessible to everyone. That’s all.

Anyway, my main beef was who were there. After seeing Joey Baer’s blog, I saw the diversity, and agreed that Joey is indeed right, so kudos to Joey! He is his usual trustworthy self. He really grew as a person and I agree with Anna Marie – he is to be proud of! AM may be biased – she’s his brother but I sure am not!

Teri – you are mistaken. I don’t thrive on negativism – I don’t like unecessary negativism like personal attacks and bashing on single individuals that yield nothing. I did not participate in attacking DE or Joey. I don’t even know DE but I know he is one of the event organizers and I do hope he learned some things from this blog about the gala. I understand he has thick skin and would surerly bounce off all attacks made upon him. I personally know Joey…the point about elitist I made about him was a fact from Gallaudet days and Joey did respond to that he was just a kid and has grown since then and I absolutely agree with that having seen him on his vblogs. He is a gentleman and very fair. I have no beef wih Joey.

I support constructive negativism which means bringing up unpopular issues or views in order for others to take into consideration and to improve. I hope the Bay Area learned something from all this if they’ve listened to some points made here. Mostly on the ticket sales and location, etc. There is always room to learn and grow.

Let year of 2007 be the year of Learning and Growing!
219. stork | December 31, 2006 at 1:26 pm

link to video i’m speaking of
http://www.joeybaer.com/video/dugala.mov
220. cali | December 31, 2006 at 1:32 pm

Tulip, you persist in saying that food was extra. That is NOT TRUE. I was there. You weren’t. I ate, with a full plate, and I didn’t pay one cent extra.
221. tulip | December 31, 2006 at 1:36 pm

Stork,

Wow, good point…I was not there so I don’t know just how diverse it actually was. But my beef was not about color – I don’t give a damn about that. My beef was diverse communities and backgrounds – oralists, weak ASL signers, Strong English signers, mainstreamed, “on the fence”, non-Deaf Culture, etc, etc. I’d want to see that the gala was accessible to these groups and on Joey’s clips, there seem to be. Yes, he did not select the “elite” people, and probably was aiming to “prove us wrong,” and he did! If that was his agenda, then he succeeded. He had selected for his vblog clips *plenty” of elitists in the past….perhaps upon reading this blog, he reviewed and realized what we meant – that too many of his clips included elitists, perhaps he realized he needed to cut back on that and practice what Bay Area preaches – Social Justice, Unity, etc…and apply these teachings to his most current clips.

Perhaps that is the case in point…a lesson learned and grown???
222. cali | December 31, 2006 at 1:38 pm

Oh, and Tulip, it WAS $40 if you paid before a certain date, and $50 after. I paid $40, not $50. You are certainly well within your rights to express your opinion, but get the facts straight, please. Thanks.
223. I was there | December 31, 2006 at 1:46 pm

The food was more like finger foods. I wouldn’t consider that a real meal.
224. stork | December 31, 2006 at 1:57 pm

i just spoke with a good friend on vp and he said he felt the same way after viewing the video. the word he used was “manipulative”. that’s a good word for this video. i’m really ashamed of joey.
225. Proud Deafian | December 31, 2006 at 2:10 pm

Go away Brian Riley! I’m so sick of reading your mindless rants, especially on Gally-L. You are not Deaf. Stop pretending you are. You are a wanna-be Deaf. You will always be an outsider in our Community.
226. cali | December 31, 2006 at 3:09 pm

Stork,
Sigh. We can’t win, can we? Either we’re elitist and ignoring diversity, or we hand-pick people to lie to the world. I had nothing to do with the video, but I know that everyone who went to the gala came of their own free will. The people who were there were there because they wanted to be.
This is so discouraging. I’m trying to listen to the valid concerns, but why do we keep getting picked on? We’re accused of everything under the sun then when people try to take feedback, they’re accused of being manipulative.
Sigh…
227. MikeS | December 31, 2006 at 3:19 pm

I’m tired of smear tactics like Stork against Joey on anything he contributed for EVERYONE to see. Always something’s new to complain. Stork, I challenge you to come up with a vblog of YOUR COMMUNITY. C’mon! Are you cheap talker? I think so. Good riddance! Everything is a conspiracy to the likes of you.
228. Sniff Sniff | December 31, 2006 at 3:23 pm

Oh boo hoo. Poor us, Bay Areans. Why does everyone pick on us? Sniff sniff. Blows nose.
229. LaWanda | December 31, 2006 at 7:38 pm

Stork, I also came to that conclusion. Thank you for articulating it. I’m feeling angry and have so much to say but will hold off for the time being.
230. FYI | December 31, 2006 at 9:08 pm

The stuff about Kevin Clark and Kappa Gamma is old news. Eveybody already knows about it. Kappa Gamma has changed a lot and is a much better organization now.
231. Echo | December 31, 2006 at 10:39 pm

Tulip,

I knew it! Thank you for providing more strong hints. It is so obvious that you are Cy. I know your writing style You are always negative on every blog where you post. You leave comments on your blog pretending to be someone else (Tulip). You use many fake names everywhere. That’s so you, buttface! Go ahead and deny it all you want.
232. Brian Riley | December 31, 2006 at 10:39 pm

Deafian,

The reason you hate me is not because of who I am, it’s because of who YOU are and what YOU are hiding.

There’s only one person who has been criticizing me on the Internet–a person who has been using many different fake names. He sits in his office in College Hall all day long and makes up new names in order to spew hatred. We all know who he is.

BR
233. tulip | January 1, 2007 at 12:51 am

Echo

LOL. You funny. I’ve used only one name and that is Tulip. My favorite flower.

All negative? I’ve made good comments and there are even a poster named Tulip Fan. I am flattered. I bring up issues that needed addressing and you call that negative. That’s your opinion.

FYI, #230.

Yes, of course, the thing about Kevin and KG is ancient. If you would scroll up, a poster named CMJ was asking what brought down KG – obviously this poster is either non-Gallaudetian or very young… perhaps new student at Gallaudet. I replied that it was a pledge who brought down the fraternity. CMJ asked “who was the brave soul?” and I named Kevin Clark. It is new for CMJ, but old for you and me. That is part of Gallaudet’s history. We pass down history to younger generations.

If KG is a better organization now, then I am happy to hear it.
234. Hey to Tulip | January 1, 2007 at 10:01 am

It seems like you ve been spending on the computer all the time and have nothing to do but attacking Joey and the others.

Who cares about KG. Nothing has to do with GALA. DE and Keiths personal life are not our business.

Leave Ridor alone. It is not his blog. Do it on his blog.

Please stop this.
235. Eagles Rock | January 1, 2007 at 1:05 pm

To #234
Tulip hasn’t attacked any here. You need some new glasses or a new brain.
236. tulip | January 1, 2007 at 1:06 pm

#234

Obviously you only skimmed through the comments.

I never engaged Ridor – he jumped in when CMJ and I discussed about gay topic. I did not attack Joey – he also jumped in. I never attacked/bashed DE either. I don’t even know the guy.

Threads DO go off topic often and thats what happened with KG because MMSoCal and I were discussing and comparing the ‘88 and ‘06 leaders who were part of the original topic that Chris wrote.

Read before you jump in. I am on vacation and bored, so, I do spend time on the computer. I was supposed to go on a trip but due to unexpected staff shortage at my husband’s work, we were forced to stay through our vacation and I have nothing else to do. Is that a crime? Don’t worry, once I return to work, I won’ t be blogging as often.
237. Eagles Rock | January 1, 2007 at 1:07 pm

Happy 2007! I suspect this will be my new favorite blog in 2007
238. tulip | January 1, 2007 at 1:08 pm

#235 Eagle Rock

Thanks! I think he/she just skimmed through the lengthy thread and assumed too much.
239. Eagles Rock | January 1, 2007 at 1:13 pm

Hey Tulip,
You’re are here at same time as me I do hope you continue to share your opinions. They are interesting to read. Happy 2007!
240. Dave | January 1, 2007 at 2:09 pm

Many moons ago, I lived in the Bay Area. At that time, Jack Levesque was the Director of D.C.A.R.A. I recall hearing he was replaced with someone new several years ago. Upon seeing the agency’s name, I couldn’t help but wonder how the agency is faring these days. Do people there like the new Director? And what ever became of Jack? Is he still around? He was someone I admired despite all the controversy at the end of his reign. I hope he is doing well.
241. deafmommy | January 1, 2007 at 6:35 pm

Wow lots of comments to read through!!
One thing about the money, it seems to be an issue when it comes to food and money, i wonder why? Many hearing people (but not all of them) usually do not have beef about money and food. They are willing to pay any bucks to get in. I hear all the time at how expensive it is, why do we have to pay so much money and all that etc… It leaves me speechless and i often wonder why. Is it because we have mentality that we are disabled and expect things to be free or low cost or what? Please help me understand.
242. tulip | January 1, 2007 at 7:12 pm

Deafmommy,

Get on with the facts of the deaf! Many deaf have low paying jobs and can’t afford the luxury of paying $40 ticket to attend the gala. That is for each ticket. Many hearing people who attend galas have money and could afford. Gala word itself indicate frivilious celebration and frivilious would imply beyond the simplicity and traditional means of celebration. The gala in Bay Area was held at a fancy hotel which was why the tickets were expensive.

The point has always been that many deaf people have low paying jobs. Deaf professionals are few in number. $40 is expensive to many deaf people. I know for fact if we were to slurge on a gala here in my town, only a small group of deaf people would be able to afford $40 to attend while vast majority wouldn’t be able to attend. Many of them work in hotels on cleaning crews, work on assembly lines in factories, work as data entry operators at banks, work in the stockrooms in retail stores, at car washes, in auto shops – get the idea? Their wages would range from $7 to $10 an hour. Many of them have families to support, rent/mortgages to pay, buy groceries to feed their families, pay utlity bills, auto gas/bus passes, and incidentials. On this kind of wage, they live from paycheck to next paycheck with barely any left to slurge and enjoy. I know. I was there once when I did not work and lived on just my husband’s income so I could raise our children at home. I understand totally where they come from. They could not help it – they can’t go to college. They don’t have the educational background to perform college work. Many of them only have occupational training. They are held back due to lack of academic abilities. In my case, it was a personal choice, but I still experienced what lives they live. I appreciate how they survive.

I cringe when I hear people said, “Pooh. Hearing people don’t complain.’ Stop generalizing. It is not the same.
243. J. Bay Area | January 1, 2007 at 9:38 pm

Thank you tulip and others for the good point and the discussion. We need to think twice about for future. I hope this talk will wake people up. Like slap face with cold water.

Why not use DCARA’s Deaf Community Center or campus at CSDF for GALA? Both big and cheap or free to use. Both plenty space. Many other place too can use cheap or free. But no, instead they do fancy, many can’t go. Must to show off. Celebration for all? No, only celebration for who can afford. For the professionals mostly.

My opinion, it is very selfish. Only think themselves. Many of us want like to meet the student leaders and celebrate, too. Feel like we are punish because can t afford. Not our fault. Remember, Bay Area very expensive place to live. Even some who did go to the college still no have great jobs and can’t afford. Please think twice next time.
244. Proof Brian Lies | January 2, 2007 at 1:18 am

To Brian Riley:

I can’t believe how much talking out of your ass you do. I have zero
respect for you. To say that only _ONE_ person has ever criticized
you on the Internet is grossly false. Frankly, it’s a blatant lie.
The Gally-L list is a listserv that’s part of the Internet. It’s
filled with numerous well-known people criticizing you. Everything
from the hoax Email whom many believe originated with you to your
repeatedly calling yourself a”hero” to your Email harvesting tactics.
The list administrations got so sick of you that they banned you from
the Gally-L list.

Just a quick look at the list archives, I quickly came across these.
With the exception of “Deafio”, these are all from well-known deaf
people.

————-

Date: Nov 13
From: Janet Johanson
Subject: Re: [GallyNet-L] Brian Riley

“He is banned for very appropriate reasons. He also made violent and
unwarranted threats against individuals who simply asked him to stop
spamming them (including myself).

Janet”

————-

Date: Nov 20
From: Ari Ogoke
Subject: Re: [GallyNet-L] Regarding Brian Riley

“Hi Brian,

It’s always someone else fault and you are the innocent, misunderstood,
bystander … and, of course, resident hero, right?

Ari”

————-

Date: Nov 23
From: Slemo Warigon
Subject: [GallyNet-L] Poem: I’m a Hero

“I’m a Hero
By Zendun © 2006

I’m a hero
Like many others
For humility, I’ve zero
For my cap, I crave more feathers.

I do many heroic things
That you should unfailingly notice
If you have any common sense;
I’m tired of hearing sweet nothings
From wretched people with malice
Because I can’t stand villainous nonsense.

Now bow down docilely to me
And try very hard not to embarrass
Yourself in public lest I get some
Measure of an exacting vengeance
By treating you like a worthless carcass
To dutifully obtain my due public reverence.”

————-

Date: Nov 24
From: Deafio
Subject: [GallyNet-L] Brian Riley and Bandicoot

“Brian Riley full self big ego like Pacific Ocean. He not think good
idea question ask or disagree him. He mind blow up real fast easy
call people enemy protest if he no like what people say none. Brian
miss train gone zoom inform protest over week many past. True ASLian
many want focus heal slow step, step, step. Deafio read book
understand clear as glittering diamond true hero not pour water much
like Pacific Ocean talk about self or get trouble law like fast label
persona non grata.

Deafio curious must know Brian why banned campus, why write again,
again, again bad stuff about ASLians on self blog? He bitter hate
success ASLians not think he real hero? Brian pretend self true hero,
Bandicoot pretend self his sidekick. Brian and Bandicoot must stop
act like attack dog bark, bark, bark. That enough finish, finish,
finish.

Deafio”

————-

Date: Dec 21
From: Lindsay Dunn
Re: [GallyNet-L] Come see bad boys party there

“Mr. Riley;

This just reinforces the belief among many in the deaf world that YOU
are definitely the MOST scary hearing person we deaf folks probably
have ever had to deal with. Your name alone sends more fear in folks
than Rickey Taylor ever could muster.

Speculating about Janes relationship with her father? Tsk! Tsk!

What is your professional occupation? Training? experience? Have you
taught? Managed an organization? People? Where? Why this personal
interest in the deaf world? Were you invited? What do you want from
us? Since you know everything about everyone in the deaf world, how
about sharing something about yourself to us?

Your recent email to our PR department bullying them to “push” Robert
Davila is an example of something that goes way beyond the boundaries
of decency. Threatening him when he has not even formally taken
office?

Is the deaf world really better off with people like you? People who
many of us fear more than we fear any of the MBI agents at Gallaudet?

In all honesty, I feel safer walking around Barry Farms (dont let the
‘farm’ mislead ye) in SE Washington DC; 145th Street in Harlem
or Jerome and 166th in the Bronx at 1:30 AM than I would in a fancy
room at the Waldorf Astoria with you in that room.

Lindsay Dunn”

————-

Date: Dec 22:
From: Jean Boutcher
Re: [GallyNet-L] Mr. Riley and his sick games

“…Anyone like Brian Riley is a person who is a loner and needs
attention by slandering wildly.”

————-

You continue to get caught in your lies. You have zero credibility.
Zlich. Go away, Brian. We neither need nor want you.

R.J.
245. Raiders Fan | January 2, 2007 at 5:07 am

Dave #240 – DCARA is doing well! Robert Roth from Seattle replaced Jack Levesque. Roth worked for DCARA for 6 or 7 years and did a lot of ‘cleaning up’. The position title also changed from ‘Executive Director’ to ‘Chief Executive Officer’. Roth resigned some time ago and we haven’t found the right person to replace him yet. Currently Jim Brune is the Interim CEO while we continue to search for the perfect new CEO to lead us into the future. Hopefully, that will be soon!

I don’t know what happened to Levesque but he no longer lives in the Bay Area. I think he went back to his home state of Massachusetts.
246. Anne Marie | January 2, 2007 at 10:57 am

Truthfully Brian has been a big help with the protest as an investigator and information supplier. Sometimes there are some harsh sides in personality that propels a person to succeed in doing something that is necessary.

Of course, do tell him if there is something he does is not appropriate or unnecessary, that is what I did in private email. But telling him to get out is like to tell Robert E. Johnson who wrote that important 17 page letters to get out too.

Anne Marie
247. RLM | January 2, 2007 at 11:28 am

Ann Marie, well-said and logical about Brian Riley being a valuable asset to the “Unity for Gallaudet”. He always have been a constant and devoted individual to the investigation of the IKJ and JK’s cycle of corruption and management by imidiation.

Many pols and indivduals within the power and status quo surely get annoyed of determined journalists investigate such related matters to the end. Others do not forgive Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein for bringing the ugliness and dirty laundry of the Nixon-Agnew adminstration to the general public what the Nixonian tactics took the real toll on the American people. In the heyday of Nixon in power, many followers and supporters often think highly of Nixon as their leader. More and more people finally see the light of who and what Richard M. Nixon is all about. Despite of Nixon’s achievements and accomplishments he contributed to the American society. His own flaws for being conspirational and secretive as what IKJ and JK turned themselves into the anti-academic freedom persona.

I hope that Brian Riley will go very different approach how to deal with skeptical and nonbelievers than being dogmatic every time.

Brian Riley forced all of us, deaf community to take a hard look at who and why and how happened at the Gallaudet University under the regin of IKJ and JK. So the Gally protest would be not prolonged forever. Who will? Nobody come to the table like Brian Riley.

I am damn proud to be persona non grata along with Brian Riley for what we have to do the right thing for the best interest of the Gallaudet community in the long run.

Peace with honor,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
248. Brian Riley | January 2, 2007 at 11:45 am

RJ,

Your comments are simply out of place. I was under attack by members of the Jordan administration, that is clear.

My comments have been consistently distorted, and you have not yet taken the time to communicate with me privately to learn what the distortions were or to ask me what my role was.

You are taking old and out of date information and are being irresponsible in your comments.

Eventually the whole story will come out in the open. I have been supported by deaf people behind the scenes who have been telling me what to do all along. I have explained this many times already.

Thanks, Anne Marie and Robert for your comments.

Brian
249. tulip | January 2, 2007 at 1:04 pm

Why is there a Brian Riley bashing on this thread? He has zero connection to this thread and it just appeared in here by a poster? If this poster, RJ, has issues with Brian, he ought write in his own blog or write a page on deafread and submit it instead of posting it in here.

I’ve seen his name on many blogs but he has nothing to do with this thread. It is amazing how posters just throw in something out of blue!

And RJ, forget it. Brian Riley has been bashed so many times he’s developed thick skin they just bounce off him. Just like DE. Make better use of your time.
250. curious | January 2, 2007 at 4:47 pm

RLM and Brian: how come you guys got persona non grata status at Gally?
251. Dave | January 2, 2007 at 11:26 pm

Thank you for the update on DCARA. Glad all is well with the agency.

I did a Google search on Jack but didn’t find anything current. Wherever he is, I hope he is doing well
252. DC Guy | January 3, 2007 at 6:47 am

I’m sure Gallaudet had a good reason for banning Brian Riley from campus. I also can’t say I’m surprised.
253. Anonymous | January 3, 2007 at 4:50 pm

Glad to know DE and Brian Riley have thick skin. If there were as many people who disliked me as dislike them, I’d wish I were an elephant.
254. Brian Riley | January 3, 2007 at 6:22 pm

Things will calm down. In fact, it’s starting to happen already. People want to go back to their normal lives. Then we won’t have to worry about smears and all that stuff.

People who make anonymous comments or use fake initials and things like that really don’t have much influence anyway.

Brian
255. Tulip Fan | January 3, 2007 at 7:49 pm

“People who make anonymous comments or use fake initials and things like that really don’t have much influence anyway.”

I wouldn’t be so sure. Especially when well known people *have* made public comments about you as demonstrated above.

But whatever helps you sleep at night.
256. Brian Riley | January 3, 2007 at 8:24 pm

Who is” RJ” anyway? If he doesn’t identify him or herself, then it just appears to be more smears from Jordan or his people.
257. Tulip Fan | January 3, 2007 at 8:38 pm

The FSSA isn’t exactly a fan of yours. Nor is Jean Boutcher, who also isn’t part of the Jordan administration. She had this to say about you last month, as quoted above:

“…Anyone like Brian Riley is a person who is a loner and needs
attention by slandering wildly.”

I hunted the comments down myself in the listserve archives at
http://www.gallynet.org/pipermail/gallynet-l/

You seem to have a knack for rubbing people the wrong way and then making excuses about it.
258. Tulip Fan | January 3, 2007 at 8:46 pm

Looks like Chris has fallen off the face of the earth. Does anyone know if he ever heard back from the gala organizers?
259. Brian Riley | January 3, 2007 at 9:22 pm

No, that was just one comment Jean made in passing which is no longer a standing issue. It’s water under the bridge.

If you want to write me privately I will explain everything in detail. I can’t reveal names, but believe me, everything I did makes perfect rational sense, as part of a strategy. Some people don’t understand that it was a strategy, so they can’t understand what I was doing.

Eventually the whole story will be told–in a few years and when everyone gives me permission to use their names.
260. tulip | January 4, 2007 at 12:46 am

WOW, here is Brian, with bells on and his thick skin, bouncing off the naysayers! Though he would!
261. Black Tiger | January 4, 2007 at 1:55 am

This gala stuff is old news. However, as I dont see it already noted here I want to chime in and have my say on something thats been buggin’ me….

David Eberwein was the main organizer of the gala event. He didnt do it all by himself. He worked with a committee. But he was the person who led.

What bothers me is that he didnt step up and take responsibilty for his and his committees decision-making. Instead of making a public statement explaining his reasoning for selecting the 4 when this blogg was published and responding to other concerns raised here, he let other people do his bidding for him, including his lover, Colin. I thought that was really lame.

A true leader takes responsibility and understands he is accountable to the community for his decision-making.
262. Black Tiger | January 4, 2007 at 2:03 am

One more thing…

Did anyone notice that no one involved with the gala has come forward and explained why those 4 were chosen? Wasnt that supposed to be the topic of this blogg?

When someone asked directly, Colin and others avoided the question and did not answer.

This leads me to believe favortism had a role in the selection process. It makes no sense otherwise.
263. Rob Walker | January 4, 2007 at 2:52 am

*blinking hard here*

my…………………………….. GAWD!

One would have thought that after the Gally protests and the advent of Deafhood, etc etc etc would have brought about a better sense of unity in the deaf community..

tch tch….

evidently, the grab theory is still alive and snapping at the ankles.

To think I left an deaf forum two years ago because of their cut-throat remarks and negativefest prevaded it.. and now this.

honestly.. it looks to me like some people in here just like to argue for the sake of arguing – regardless of whether its merited or not.. and then … there are some who are just plain wanting to hear themselves talk or perhaps to sound ‘good’. *whatever*

only a select few have made pertienent remarks that was well focused and stayed on the topic.

This isn’t a discourse.. its a disaster!

mind you.. I don’t advocate only the positive – it would be tantement to painting only pretty pictures as opposed to serious art but… well I hope I got my point across. Balance! How about a bit of balance here and leave out the personal attacks? Huh? Huh?

Can you do that?

untill the next time…

ciao!
264. early riser | January 4, 2007 at 3:10 am

rob, i think you mean the “crab theory”. never heard of “grab theory”.
265. Oliver | January 4, 2007 at 9:20 am

Black Tiger! You make all the good points about the true leader taking up to the plate what he or she make the decisions affecting the given community! How true!

I kinda do not comphrend why we fight endlessly against the IKJ-JK cronyism due to their lack of open communication and questionable leadership abilities, then the same deaf individual seems engage in same tactic, ex. defying and shutting out the responses to the concerned community. How sad!
266. RLM | January 4, 2007 at 9:34 am

Here is an open question for Colin Piotroswki:

I am not a tech-savvy person myself. Same thing with many deaf and hearing bloggers.

How can anyone post their vlog (ASLog) thoughts on Chris Leon’s blog like a regular blog posting? Does Chris’s blog have such capability to handle the excessive video (jpg or mpg) space(s) within numerous respondent?

If yes, please kindly share the technical process of vlog posting on regular deaf blog(s w ith all of us). So we could finally see the faces of who express hir own thoughts without hiding behind the pseudo e-username.

I am looking forward from you in timely manner. Thanks in advance.

Warm regards,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
267. tulip | January 4, 2007 at 11:07 am

Black Tiger,

It seems the main reason FSSA selected these 4 leaders was that they were appointed and recognized leaders by FSSA. Some gala organizers responded on Deaf Tea Time blog and the reason for these 4 leaders were also presented on the blog as well. I think the post is now on page 3 or 4 on deafread.

I agree – the organizers could have come here to this blog and presented their side of the story. Settle the wild rumors. Oh well.
268. cali | January 4, 2007 at 12:25 pm

Yeah -Deaf Tea Time has some answers and so does Sauniere at saunieresourd.blogspot.com – though I don’t blame the organizers for staying off this forum. Its a disaster, like Rob said.
269. RLM | January 4, 2007 at 12:36 pm

The FSSA did not recognize Ryan Commerson til the Fall 2006. They did not lift any finger to help Ryan Commerson with the PNG status back to last May 2006. The non-affilated FSSA or Gally protestors came to the rescue for Ryan and provided resources from folding camping chair to emotional supports.

Chris Corrigan rose to the leadership mantle on his own as the Mayor of the Tent City. The FSSA acknowledged his role as the main player in the Gally protest at the end of May protest. Corrigan finally got the respect which he richly deserved it very much from the FSSA.

The FSSA formally recognized the key student leaders during the October protest. So they became the student spokeperson for the Gally’s October 2006 protest.

I personally have no problem with the Deaf Bay Area for selecting four main Gally student protestors. The public statement for the Bay Area Gala should come very handy at the beginning of this special time for showing the true appreciation to the every involved people within the Gally protest, including four student protestors.

Look at President Ford’s erroreous strategy for not preparing the whole nation with Nixon’s upcoming pardon. Ford didn’t prepare the nation and explained why he was going to pardon Nixon and gave the constitutents some time to digest and swallow the concept of necessity and unity to put the national nightmare (Nixon’s abuse of presidential authority, etc) out of the picture.

There is still the chance of addressing the deaf and Deaf America about the reason for only choosing four student protestors, ex. limited budget expenditure (??)

We would not possibly live without the star presence of Chris Corrigan, the highly eloquent ASL signer at any Gally-related protest event(s). Who will?

Ryan Commerson was the key player, who ignited the Gally protest without his gutsy presence in addressing the GUKCC audience and the BOTs thru gentle way. If not for Commerson. The remaining question – “Will there a real protest in the first place?” Perhaps not!

Everyone were very shocked after witnessing the unjustifable and wrongful arrest of Ryan Commerson which he simply stated “If you do not like Jane. Please leave!” Ryan never was previously warned to leave the GUKCC auditorium by the DPS officer. He was suddenly restrained and dragged on foot to be handcuffed outside the auditorium. The student protest erupted right away after the aftershocks of unbelievable Orwellian conducts on Commerson.

Robert L. Mason (RLM)
270. Pam | January 4, 2007 at 12:50 pm

Re-read what Tara Holcomb wrote. Chris C. was never an official spokesperson. However, Leah and Delia were, yet weren’t invited. So that’s not true that they based their selection on FSSA spokespersons.

I kinda wonder if its about not having enough money to invite them all?
271. ? | January 4, 2007 at 1:13 pm

I don’t believe it was lack of money. They had sponsorships from Verizon, Hovrs and others on top of the $40 and $50 tix sales.

Some here wrote they felt it was about “favortism” and which of the leaders had “kissed DE’s ass”. That’s probably it.
272. cali | January 4, 2007 at 3:29 pm

FYI, they are in the red. Sponsorship helped, but they still have NOT broken even. So yes, money was part of it. And everyone, please stop saying they had plenty of money. They didn’t and don’t.
273. Concerned | January 4, 2007 at 3:40 pm

Folks – I didnt think gala leaders will answer. If they answer, then people will peg or complain about more things. That is all you care about anyway. I felt bad for Bay Area people but keep up good work.
274. gallaudet alumn | January 4, 2007 at 4:25 pm

I think it’s pathetic the leaders haven’t come forward. Shows lack of good leadership.

If they’re in the red, that also says they aren’t very good organizers / event planners. As someone pointed out, this event could have been hosted at numerious places at no charge
275. Levine | January 4, 2007 at 9:59 pm

Interesting reading all this comments…. there three things i want to say ….

First… BayArea can invite anybody they want and they have every right to be proud and support whoever they want. i dont see no big deal about this.

second… who is Brian Riley?

third…
Tulip…. you mention about Kevin Clark and KG story, you only heard one side of story… you dont know another side of story…
276. tulip | January 4, 2007 at 10:53 pm

Levine,

Of course, there’s always 2 sides to every story, and the other side being KG’s and nobody will ever know except the KG brothers involved at the time. If you’re one of those KG, then why bother telling us there’s another side to the story knowing you’re not in position to tell us?

So, because KG keeps secrets, we only know one side of the story and that is that Kevin substained an injury during a hazing activity which was outlawed by the Greek Organization approved by Student Congress at which time he left pledge period to tend to his injury and reported to the authorities. KG got shut down for violating the hazing policy as well as for neglect towards Kevin.

My guess is Kevin’s incident was just ONE and the “final straw on the camel’s back.” KG repeatedly violated many greek rules and codes of ethics repeatedly and had always gotten away with it for years and years, and it had gotten so old and tiresome that they “got voted off the island” after Kevin’s incident.

I’ve been told KG is a better organization now and I am happy to hear that. They are fortunate Gallaudet and Student Congress allowed them to rescurrect their fraternity after several years in hiatus.
277. Helpful | January 5, 2007 at 1:12 am

To whoever posted on this board, I’d recommend you all to check this book out: http://www.amazon.com/Self-Defeating-Behaviors-Yourself-Compulsions-Attitudes/dp/0062501976/sr=8-1/qid=1167988196/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6699500-3372642?ie=UTF8&s=books

It’s a self-help book.

Get a life, guys.
278. ? | January 5, 2007 at 2:32 am

To “Helpful” – you’re the one that needs help.
279. Benson Hall 310 | January 5, 2007 at 3:12 am

KG has changed? I wouldn’t be too sure about that.
280. Levine | January 5, 2007 at 9:27 am

Tulip,

Maybe Kevin didnt tell you FULL story.

My point is you shouldnt be telling people the story if you arent involve or dont truely hear the real story.

hope you can understand what im saying. and dont see how this story is related to the topic of THIS BLOG…

answer to my other question…

thanks for responding (tulip)

good day
281. RLM | January 5, 2007 at 11:35 am

All of us could find out about Kevin Clark and the Kappa Gamma Fraternity thru legal documents which the defendants and victim submitted such lengthy details about the Kappa Gamma ritual practices and other things. Very fascinating stuff!

I learned pretty much stuff why the Kappa Gamma fraternity had their hoods as symbol in ……………..

The Kappa Gamma fraternity have been greatly misunderstood by many people. No questions about some “rotten apples in the barrel” contributed to such image of the oldest deaf male secret society in the United States.

Robert L. Mason (RLM)
282. tulip | January 5, 2007 at 12:06 pm

Levine

What I commented upon KG is a well known story told to many others….I DO know some personal tidbits shared to me by Kevin himself. I will not share that as it was a personal conversation. Of course Kevin did not tell me the whole story and he did not tell anyone the full story and never will. What was written on this blog is just a generalized version. Enough information to cover the whys and hows. Just the tip of the iceberg.

If you scroll up to the top, you will see how KG popped in here. We were discussing whether the ‘06 leaders were KG members as 2 of ‘88 leaders were KG….this led to a poster asking how KG got shut down and rest is history. Threads DO go off topic when a RELATED topic becomes a subtopic.

RLM

Yes KG is a great fraternity, if a little bit elitist, and like all organizations, had their periods of bad apples. These bad apples contributed to the collapse of KG of the old….I understand the new KG is not quite the same as the old version.
283. curious | January 5, 2007 at 12:25 pm

Hey Robert: where can I find legal documents about kg court case? Wish someone can put on internet for all to read. Also why are you persona non grata from Gallaudet? What did you and Brian do that was so bad?
284. curious | January 5, 2007 at 12:33 pm

Tulip: kg has always been elitist. That hasn’t changed.
285. Chris Leon | January 5, 2007 at 2:31 pm

Dear Readers,

I apologize to all for being MIA. My apartment was broken into and among the many things stolen included my computer, vp equipment, tty, dvd player, Xbox, etc. Strangely, I think it’s the Xbox that I’m most upset about. I’m currently typing this on a friend’s computer. I should be getting a new computer this weekend.

I’m absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of dialogue this topic has generated. I’m also really disappointed to see all the personal attacks. Come on people, are they really necessary? Attack the issues, not the individuals.

I’ll be posting a follow up to this topic soon. I also have a bunch of new stuff coming up, including an interesting interview with Ricky Taylor of RidorLive.com.

Peace Out,
Chris
286. Bison Hunter | January 5, 2007 at 5:50 pm

I don’t think I have ever seen so many comments on a blog before. There are too many to read so I just skimmed.

Personally, I think the Bay Area is a hot rod for controversy. Many look to the Bay Area as a role model. Many good deaf leaders live there and it has one of the best deaf schools in the country.
287. English Teacher | January 5, 2007 at 6:32 pm

#286, I think you mean “lightning rod”.
288. Ridor for President | January 5, 2007 at 6:43 pm

Bay Area can do whatever they want. If they want to pick just 4 leaders, then that is their decision. At same time, I agree about leaders needing to be accountable and explain why they made choices they did.

My grandfather always said, “Actions have consequences.”
289. Brian Riley | January 5, 2007 at 10:00 pm

The first time I saw the selection of leaders I thought to myself maybe it was just a simple explanation, such as, maybe some people were already in California anyway.

But seriously folks…. Why do we make such a big issue about this???? Nobody ever said that “THESE ARE THE FOUR TOP LEADERS”….

No….. That’s not the issue.

The issue is that the leadership of the protest shifted around from May to Oct and many people played crucial roles. Obviously, Ryan C played the key role at the key times.

Everything else will be up to the historians.

Can we put this to rest? There will be many, many galas in the future and the featured leaders will shift around many times.

This is so crazy the way people have exaggerated and streched this out.

Why?????

In my mind, the people that deserve the most criticism are not the people that hosted the Bay Area gala. I think they did a fine job. Instead,
the people who deserve the most criticism are the people who did the criticizing of the Bay Area’s choices (here on this thread) and distorted the issues way out of proportion.

BR
290. Benji | January 6, 2007 at 12:05 am

I don’t think many people care what YOU think Brian Riley.

Many good points were made about the GALA stuff. Apparantly you’re not very bright enuff to grasp them. Too bad.

One thing I DO agree is this issue has stretched on too long. The points have been made. Lets move on to more interesting issues.
291. DeafLinux | January 6, 2007 at 1:30 am

$40 for the ticket gala is worth the investment. We need to thank David for hosting the event and who else would do it? Joey Baer did a wonderful service and putting his message on video blog which paved way for visual communication. I wanted to add “Please let the past rest in peace.” Past is dead and lets focus on today.

I understand people rant on this blog because they wanted to make a point but is it worth it? We need each other and learn from each other as well. D/deaf issues are becoming stronger now as we have been trying to connect one another in a mass sense. If we keep on nitpicking and that will keep us divided.

Let’s focus on our civil rights issues in America and quit the small personal attacks is going nowhere except it hurts people more. Unite everyone and share our LOVE for each other as our time on earth are not that long. Make the most of your life doing great things for the Deaf community.

Lets show the world that we all D/deaf people are one. Why? Many hearing people are saying, “Why can’t Deaf people get along with each other.”

Let the past mistakes be an experience for your personal growth also let the past die in peace.
292. Vics | January 6, 2007 at 3:24 am

I agree! Lets focus on today and learn from the past mistakes and move forward I’m sure Bay Area people will do better job next time.
293. Brian Riley | January 6, 2007 at 6:46 am

Benji,

What is the purpose of your smear against me? First ol all it’s untrue what you say. Second of all, it just perpetuates more negativism.

The protest was a tremendous victory. We should be celebrating the victory, not spreading negativism.

Maybe there were a few good points made on this thread, but there was a tremendous amount of negativism on this thread which actually hurts the cause of the protest.

BR
294. curious | January 6, 2007 at 1:46 pm

Robert: please answer my question.
295. Brian Riley | January 6, 2007 at 2:28 pm

Curious,

Robert and I didn’t do anything bad. And Jordan had zero evidence.

Remember, Robert staged a protest against Jordan at the Jefferson Awards and I was attacking Jordan verbally, on the Internet, since May.

Robert and I traveled to Massachusetts to do research for the protest, but everything we did was completely honest and legitimate.

I received my PNG papers only 4 hours after my letter to the editor appeared in the Examiner newspaper in DC. You can read about it here:

http://gpli.blogspot.com/2006/10/letters-to-editor-examiner-oct-19-2006.html
296. OSU | January 6, 2007 at 3:15 pm

Very true about Bay Area being a role model.
297. Tulip Fan | January 6, 2007 at 6:05 pm

Yes, they are “role models”. I can’t speak for him but i think that was the point Chris was trying to make. They have a responsibility to the community. Its interesting how the official leaders still haven’t come forward.

Bay Area Scorecard:
Role models: yes (to some)
Good, respobsible leaders: NO
298. Tulip Fan | January 6, 2007 at 6:14 pm

Chris I want to let you know I’m sorry to hear about your robbery. Hope they catch whoever did it.

I’m also curious what you found out. You said you will post soon? I’m good friends of one of leaders who was not invited and we are curious why.
299. BlackPower | January 7, 2007 at 7:36 am

Ouch about your break-in. I hope you had insurance.
300. RLM | January 7, 2007 at 9:31 am

In response to Curious. I recently have a severe lower back and hip pain from poorly-fitted Italian shoe for the private NYE party. I could not sit down pretty long or stand upright for almost a week. That’s why I did not reply much sooner.

I am not the kind of person, who spent 24/7 in front of the computer monitor. D’accord? Smile!

I went to the Deaf Professional Happy Hour (DPHH) in Washnington, DC via Captiol Hill area last Friday evening. I had to fed my close deaf friend’s cat in Maryland during her 2-weeks long before coming to the DPHH that Friday evening.

There was a gorgeous weather with the 70s temperature in Washington, DC. I rather enjoyed the real nice weather than spending time on the blogs.

I was advised by my own lawyer and other respectable individuals not to discuss my PNG status publicly, because the Gallaudet DPS and the Judicial Affairs could distort the existed facts and save their own faces.

Brian Riley said all accurate things of what happened. No questions about JK’s role behind the whole reason for me and Brian Riley’s PNG status with her figurative imagination and paronia.

That was very same individual (JK), who instructed the Office of Gallaudet University Public Relations to brand the protestors “terrorists”, “anarchy”, “not deaf enough” and “problems with deaf identity” with her twisted mind. How sad!

I was attemped to disrupt IKJ’s speech at the Union Station at the end of his acceptance speech, but never happened at all. I left in the middle of the gala. I already passed the flyers on the chairs before people coming in the gala in honor of IKJ and other receptients. One hearing lady finked to the gala organizer about me making such inapporiate piece of conversation about IKJ not richly deserve the disabilty award, etc. I was very stunned about that lady tried to control the free flow of conversations among me and other attendees. They were very open-minded about what really was going with IKj and the Gallaudet protest. I was suddenly asked for my ID. I felt somewhat insulted by the gala organizer’s approach. I left the gala quietly without seeing IKJ’s speech.

This is AMERICA – The land of free and mighty!

Robert L. Mason (RLM)

.
301. RLM | January 7, 2007 at 9:49 am

Curious, again.

You probably could find the legal documents on the related matter of Kevin Clark v. the Kappa Gamma fraternity in the DC courtroom case archives.

I never made any copy of the case docket, because I was NOT fixated on the Kappa Gamma fraternity in any way. My former housemate constantly urged me to take a look at this court records of the trial with the defendants, the Kappa Gamma fraternity and the accuser, Kevin Clark. I had to shut up my housemate for his own sake.

The photocopy of the case docket is not very cost-reasonable like three dollar to seven dollars per page. You could see why the law firm charge you excessively for the related expenses.

I could not remmy the case docket number for the courtroom case between Kevin Clark and the Kappa Gamma fraternity. I feel somewhat awkard for making copies of this case and put them on the jpg. or Adobe Reader. I am not a tech savvy person myself. You could see why I do not have a blog right now.

I also am friends with many KG individuals. I do not want to angonize them in any way or risk my friendship with the handful of KGs. The KGs are also “people” and “humans” with feelings.

I really wish that I could get you the copies of case docket file about Kevin Clark and the Kappa Gamma fraternity. I could not afford the costly photocopy of this case docket and not have the technical skills of scanning and inserting them on the Adobe Reader or whatever it calls.

If I do. I would only limit the issue to Kevin Clark and the Kappa Gamma fraternity and their versions of what really happened that evening. I will be not likely to expose their ritual practices and symbol meanings, etc in very public forum like this one.

Or you don’t want to be like in the scenario of “The Da Vinci Code” like the albanio monk chasing you across the continent . LOL! Don’t you?

Robert L. Mason (RLM)
302. RLM | January 7, 2007 at 10:02 am

Chris Leon, my heart go all to your unforunate incident within your apartment. I could undy how you really feel “violated” about someone pillaging and stealing your hard-earned possessions. I really sympathize with you.

Have you checked out with the assigned detectives about the video surveillance within your residence building or neighborhood to catch the burglars?

Please do not give up to catch the guilty ones. You ought to give the police all the serial numbers of your stolen items to prevent anybody fencing your item. Visting your neighbors to see if they did seen someone familar. Or striking innocent conversation with your neighbors or bystanders about stolen items. You would be really surprised how much people know about what others are doing, etc.

I was robbed at gunpoint and knife-wielding several times. I never gave up looking for my wallet when I was robbed near Gallaudet University last ten years ago. I looked around and opened the trash bin containers for days. I found my wallet with all the IDs inside. So I don’t have to pay for new IDs or obtaining them all over. My IDs don’t have the SSN or any personal datas which will indiscriminate against me.

You have to think like a burglar or someone desperate, who did steal your stuff. I learned the stuff from the “Manhunter” film about how to track the serial killer and predict his next killings, etc.

You should pester the assigned detective about the pawn shops to see if anyone attempt to turn in your stolen items for $$$.

Someone done to you and wlll get hir own bad karma anyway. Good for ‘em!

Robert L. Mason (RLM)
303. To Tulip Fan | January 12, 2007 at 8:43 am

“Bay Area Scorecard:
Role models: yes (to some)
Good, respobsible leaders: NO”

The Word is “responsible”….

Get a life, Tulip Fan and go lick Tulip’s pussy, will ya?
304. Red Sox | January 12, 2007 at 10:37 am

#303 you’re an idiot.
305. Bison Chaser | January 12, 2007 at 4:30 pm

Red Sox.
It is obvious that your only sentence, youre idiot is to your family.
If you always say that, it is due to being an idiotic moron.
306. Bison Chaser | January 12, 2007 at 4:42 pm

deaflinux,
you begged, ” I wanted to add “Please let the past rest in peace.” Past is dead and lets focus on today.”

Why did the protesters refuse to give JKF a chance to prove herself as prez? They dragged some of her few mistakes in the past to brainwash the deaf society to go against her.
Be quiet because it is no use to beg us to step in and work with you. Oil and water can’t mix. Savvy?
307. Dicutter | January 12, 2007 at 4:49 pm

Brian Riley,
Robert and I didn’t do anything bad. And Jordan had zero evidence.>>>>>>
Boy, you are a very good liar. I just know that you will be backfired one day.
308. Brian Riley | January 13, 2007 at 12:50 am

Dicutter,

That’s not fair to make a general comment like that.

What lie did I tell? Be specific. Otherwise, don’t smear my name with attacks like that.

I can only respond to specific criticisms. You are not giving me a way to defend myself.

On top of that, you hide behind an anonymous name.

BR
309. Dicutter | January 13, 2007 at 12:15 pm

BR
Does it mean that you have the right to tar and feather people you do not like and you be scot free?
You may be puzzled why bad days are coming after you. They are worse than being tarred and feathered, dude.
KARMA!
310. Brian Riley | January 13, 2007 at 6:28 pm

Nothing is happening to me, just a couple of people leaving anonymous comments or others who don’t know the facts and don’t know what they’re talking about. That’s nothing, dude (or dudette).
311. TClock | January 15, 2007 at 6:41 am

BR
I haven’t heard if
gally remains accredited yet. If it lost accreditation, everyone will know that it is from the Deaf’s actions of barbarism.
You were accepted in the Deaf group and you damaged Gally badly.
I heard that Senators and Congresspersons are getting tired of people like you and the narrow minded Deaf people who terrorized JKF and her family that her father blew his head.
Crab Theory and sexism are very serious problems in that society that Gally may lose its accreditiation.
312. Brian Riley | January 15, 2007 at 8:34 am

TClock,

That’s just a false rumor. I was very respectful.

JK made false accusations against us because she was trying to keep her appointment as President.

The protest was a very good thing for Gallaudet. Don’t pay attention to the false accusations.

BR
313. Falcon | January 16, 2007 at 5:07 pm

What does Brian Riley and KG have to do with the Bay Area Gala screwup? You people are way off the topic.
314. Deaf Firefighter’s Blog » Blog Archive » Apology, Graciousness, and a Coda | February 14, 2007 at 6:42 pm

[...] other places that he’s had a cadre of prominent deaf people directing his actions. (an example: link – #248 ) I have since received emails from a prominent deaf leader (and a mover and shaker within [...]
315. campioni | March 15, 2007 at 8:31 pm

um… buoni, realmente buoni luogo e molto utile;)
316. Jim Crow Laws Employment Law Us Supreme Court | March 5, 2008 at 9:09 pm

Jim Crow Laws Employment Law Us Supreme Court

I can not agree with you in 100% regarding some thoughts, but you got good point of view

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Bay Area Getting Too Big for Its Britches?

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