Deaf Canadian's Gallaudet Dream

VIDEO [CC] - Winnipeg family faces $200K bill to send Deaf son to the United States university.



CBC WINNIPEG - Manitoba family appeals to province to help fund Deaf students to go to only Deaf university in world.



A Manitoba family is calling on the provincial government to better fund schooling for Deaf students after they incurred thousands of dollars of debt for just one year of university for their son.



Last year, 18-year-old Cody Zimmer left his home in Winnipeg to attend Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., the world's only university exclusively for Deaf students.



"My vision of what it might be like was completely obliterated  - it was so much more than what I expected," said Cody. "I made so many friends so quickly. I was involved in sports and soccer. It was just such a quick year because it was so exciting. It felt like a blink and it was done."



But his education came with a hefty price tag. One year of undergraduate study cost his family $56,000 (including tuition, dorm fees and health insurance.)



And financial assistance was limited; Cody's application and appeal to have the full cost covered were denied by the province. Instead, he got about $10,000.



"They would support him in going [to Gallaudet], however, they'll only pay at the level of what tuition would be at the University of Manitoba," said Rick Zimmer, Cody's father.



The province used to fund the cost of Deaf students attending Gallaudet completely, but they've since reduced the amount of money students can apply for and instead encourage them to go to a Manitoba school and use interpreters.



Officials with the Manitoba government said the province runs a $1.9-million-a-year program called marketAbilities, "that provides the same amount of funding to a student pursuing training out of province as would be available to the student if they chose to study in Manitoba. Courses that have no equivalent in Manitoba may be fully funded."... See more: CBC News with Closed Captioning



Why fundraising campaign? April 14, 1997 Cody Zimmer was born and from that moment I knew he was bound for greatness. You see Cody is Deaf and he comes from a long line of Deaf family members and I knew from the moment we found out he was Deaf that he was going to change the world.



Cody and his family have spent countless hours advocating for basic human rights that Deaf people are denied. It is now time for Cody to pursue his dream of going to university. Cody wanted to go to a university where everyone shares his culture and language. Unfortunately there is only one university in the world that provides this opporunity That university is Gallaudet and it is located in Washington D.C. Read more: Cody's Gallaudet Dream - gofundme.com



Cody Zimmer's fundraising website:

http://www.gofundme.com/w5nz8g8



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Florida School For The Deaf & The Blind $10 Million For Upgrades

Florida School for Deaf and Blind seeks about $10 million for upgrades.

TALLAHASSEE - Repairing buildings and making construction upgrades makes up the meat of a funding request being pitched by the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine.



The school is asking for $9.7 million in construction money, a steep increase over the $1.4 million in Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget and the $1.6 million it got last year. The $1.4 million is the same amount requested by the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the school’s budget.



“With that amount we would barley be able to touch projects needed to ensure safety-related repairs,” said Jeanne Prickett, the school’s president.



With the money, the school wants to fund preventive maintenance, repair projects and remain compliant with the American with Disabilities Act.



“That means we would be able to continue to keep up-to-date buildings and renovate obsolete areas,” Prickett told the House Appropriations Subcommittee during a Tuesday hearing.



Since 2008, the school’s construction funding has dropped by $11.8 million. The funding comes from the same shrinking pot of money used for higher education and k-12 projects. Lawmakers are working to overhaul the system, which is funded by taxes on certain communications and telecommunications.



Students on the School for the Deaf and the Blind’s 80-acre campus have increased from 585 to 610 over the past five years, officials said. Overall enrollment, which includes off-campus students, has increased from 904 to 989 over that time. ... Read more: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2013-02-12/story/school-deaf-and-blind-seeks-about-10-million-upgrades

Communication Barriers In Sex Education Put Deaf People At Risk

LONDON - A lack of resources in sex education for young, Deaf people is leaving many without the knowledge or skills to keep safe and recognise healthy sexual relationships.



There is a telling moment in a documentary called Snapshot: Dicing with Sex when a group of young Deaf people are shown cards with different words on them. They all instantly recognise the words Facebook, Wii and YouTube, but the words syphilis, genital warts and hepatitis ABC are met with blank expressions.



Broadcast in sign language on digital TV in 2010, the documentary revealed a remarkably uninformed attitude to sex, with several young Deaf people saying they preferred not to use condoms, despite experiencing sexually transmitted infection (STIs) or pregnancy.



The charity Deafax says Deaf people's lives are being put at "extreme risk" when it comes to sex education because their communication needs are not being addressed.



A survey for the charity's Education & Advice on Relationships & Sex  (Ears) campaign found 35% of Deaf people received no sex education at all while at school. Everyone else surveyed – 65% of respondents – said that what information they did get was inaccessible. Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/dec/05/sex-education-communication-deaf-people-risk



Author by Charlie Swinbourne

Visit: The UK's independent Deaf news and views website! Lays eggs every weekday morning: http://limpingchicken.com



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Related Charlie Swinbourne:

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Hurricane Sandy Aftermath Video

RAW VIDEO: [CC] - Hurricane Sandy aftermath. Inside the eerily still metropolis the day after Frankenstorm.



NEW YORK CITY - It blasted the ocean itself over dunes, seawalls and berms and into downtowns, tunnels and subways. It killed dozens of people, destroyed famed landmarks and amusement parks, pushed houses off their foundations and toppled trees.



It virtually shut down New York City, the nation's largest city, with major airports, highways, and bridges and tunnels in and out of Manhattan shut down, just as they were after 9/11.



For millions of people in New York City and elsewhere, the lights remain out, communications remain down and floodwaters, downed trees and power lines still make roads impassable.



Superstorm Sandy: Death Toll Up to 50, but Some Steps Toward Recovery.

However, some of the hardest-hit areas on the East Coast were beginning to take the first steps towards recovery. For instance, some New York bridges, tunnels, highways and airports reopened or were slated to be reopened by Wednesday morning.

So far, Sandy has been blamed for at least 50 people, according to The Associated Press, and left more than 8 million customers without power. The number of dead continued to rise by the hour a day after the storm made landfall near Atlantic City, N.J., and rocked states including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina and West Virginia. Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/superstorm-sandy-17-dead-estimated-million-power/story?id=17594562#.UJDAWXruqSp



ABC News - Slideshow Superstorm Sandy Pummels East Coast: http://abcnews.go.com/US/slideshow/superstorm-sandy-pummels-east-coast-17561482

President Obama: 'This is a Serious and Big Storm'

VIDEO [CC] - Hurricane Sandy Preparedness Press Conference US President Barack Obama: 'This is a Serious and Big Storm'.



WASHINGTON - Much of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States is braced for the onslaught of wind, rain, high tides and even snow Hurricane Sandy is forecast to deliver on Monday and Tuesday.



The massive storm 'Frankenstorm' effects already were being felt Sunday night along the Atlantic beaches in North Carolina and Virginia, and rain bands extended far inland. As I write this, it is raining in the nation’s capital and the winds have picked up.



One of those emergency personnel is the president of the United States, Barack Obama, who on Sunday visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is overseeing what is expected to be a major disaster as Sandy crosses the New Jersey coast on Monday... Read more http://blogs.courier-journal.com/politics/2012/10/28/as-hurricane-sandy-approaches-on-east-coast-president-barack-obama-warns-of-serious-and-big-storm/

Here is a White House transcript of their remarks:



THE PRESIDENT: Well, good afternoon, everybody. Obviously, all of us across the country are concerned about the potential impact of Hurricane Sandy. This is a serious and big storm. And my first message is to all the people across the Eastern seaboard, Mid-Atlantic, going north, that you need to take this very seriously and follow the instructions of your state and local officials, because they are going to be providing you with the best advice in terms of how to deal with this storm over the coming days.



We just had an excellent meeting with the FEMA team here, the various agencies that are in charge, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and others that are going to need to respond very quickly.



Under Craig Fugate’s leadership here at FEMA we’ve had a chance to talk to the regional officials as well. And I just had a phone call with the governors of the potentially impacted states, as well as some of the major cities in the region.



At this stage, everybody is confident that the staging process, the prepositioning of resources, commodities, equipment that are going to be needed to respond to this storm are in place. But as Craig has emphasized, this hasn’t hit landfall yet, so we don’t yet know where it’s going to hit, where we’re going to see the biggest impacts. And that’s exactly why it’s so important for us to respond big and respond fast as local information starts coming in.



I want to thank all the members of the team for the outstanding work that they’re doing. But the other thing that makes this storm unique is we anticipate that it is going to be slow moving. That means that it may take a long time not only to clear, but also to get, for example, the power companies back in to clear trees and to put things back in place so that folks can start moving back home.



So my main message to everybody involved is that we have to take this seriously. The federal government is working effectively with the state and local governments. It’s going to be very important that populations in all the impacted states take this seriously, listen to your state and local elected officials.



My message to the governors, as well as to the mayors, is anything they need, we will be there. And we’re going to cut through red tape. We’re not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules. We want to make sure that we are anticipating and leaning forward into making sure that we’ve got the best possible response to what is going to be a big and messy system.



So again, thank you, everybody. Craig, would you like add to something?



MR. FUGATE: Again, as the President says, it’s going to really come down to the public heeding those evacuation orders, taking protective measures. If they haven’t gotten ready, they can go to Ready.gov. Get information on how to protect them and their families, but also check on your neighbors. This is going to be a big storm. We need to be there for each other.



THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Let me emphasize that again Ready.gov for the general public. If you need to know how to respond, that’s where you can get centralized information.



But I think Craig’s point is exactly right. In times like this, one of the things that Americans do is we pull together and we help out one another. And so, there may be elderly populations in your area. Check on your neighbor, check on your friend. Make sure that they are prepared. If we do, then we’re going to get through this storm just fine. But we’re going to have to make sure that we are vigilant, and vigilant for a couple of days. Don’t anticipate that just because the immediate storm has passed that we’re not going to have some potential problems in a lot of these communities going forward through the week.



All right. Thank you very much, everybody.

Sources: http://blogs.courier-journal.com/politics/2012/10/28/as-hurricane-sandy-approaches-on-east-coast-president-barack-obama-warns-of-serious-and-big-storm/



Complete information on Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, including all advisories, watches and warnings. Recent hurricanes and tropical storms: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/



The Perfect Storm: Hurricane 'Frankenstorm' Sandy - As Hurricane Sandy approaches the east coast of the United States and Canada, weather forecasters are wondering if Sandy will be worse than the 'Perfect Storm' of 1991. As seen on article: The Perfect Storm: Hurricane 'Frankenstorm' Sandy

Frankenstorm Prompts Mass Evacuation In New York City

NEW YORK CITY - Hurricane 'Frankenstorm' Sandy - The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg ordered the mandatory evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents as Hurricane Sandy roars towards the east coast of the United States and parts of Canada, bringing punishing winds, heavy rainfall and storm surges.



At a press conference Sunday, Michael Bloomberg said some 375,000 people in a number of coastal areas including Coney Island, Lower Manhattan and parts of the Queens neighbourhood would need to leave their homes. He said those affected would have to stay with family and friends outside of the evacuation area or at one of the 72 shelters the city has set up.



Officials in New York have also ordered the closure of its public transportation system, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, causing problems for those trying to leave the affected area on buses and subways... Read more http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/10/28/hurricane-sandy.html



Bloomberg: I'm Going to Sign an Evacuation Order

New York City announced the closings of it mass transit and school systems, both the nation's largest, and ordered residents to leave some low-lying areas Sunday ahead of the massive storm approaching the eastern third of the U.S.



Hurricane Sandy: 'Don't Be Stupid, Get Out And Go To Higher, Safer Ground,' Officials Said.

ABC NEWS - Tens of thousands of people in coastal areas have been ordered to evacuate their homes before Hurricane Sandy pounds the eastern third of the United States with life-threatening storm surges, forceful winds and rainfall that could cripple transportation and leave millions without power.



"Don't be stupid. Get out and go to higher, safer ground," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said today. "Let's get to work on this. We know how to do this. We've been through this before."



States of emergency were declared from North Carolina to Connecticut. Coastal communities in Delaware were ordered to evacuate by 8 p.m. tonight.



As of 5 p.m. EST today, Sandy was moving toward the northeast at nearly 15mph, slightly faster than it was measured earlier today. It is expected to take a turn to the north and then northwest, bringing the center of the nearly 900-mile storm to be near the mid-Atlantic coast Monday night.



Sandy is expected to bring potentially life-threatening storm surges on the coast ranging from several feet to potentially as high as 11-feet in the Long Island Sound area of New York, said Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center.. Read more http://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-sandy-dont-stupid-higher-safer-ground/story?id=17581606#.UI2vbHruqSo



Complete information on Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, including all advisories, watches and warnings. Recent hurricanes and tropical storms: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/



The Perfect Storm: Hurricane 'Frankenstorm' Sandy - As Hurricane Sandy approaches the east coast of the United States and Canada, weather forecasters are wondering if Sandy will be worse than the 'Perfect Storm' of 1991. As seen on article: The Perfect Storm: Hurricane 'Frankenstorm' Sandy



Mass Evacuations History: The List of Mass Evacuations

Hurricane Sandy Preparedness Press Conference

VIDEO [ASL/CC] - Hurricane Sandy Preparedness Press Conference - Interpreted by Deaf Interpreter - 10/26/2012.



BOSTON - Friday, October 26, 2012 Governor Deval Patrick today met with Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray and his cabinet secretaries to discuss preparations for the potential impact of Hurricane Sandy on Massachusetts and announced several steps the state has already taken in anticipation of the storm.

BOSTON - With Hurricane Sandy working its way toward the East Coast, Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday outlined storm response preparations, including the cancellation of his planned trip to Florida Sunday to campaign for President Barack Obama... Read more http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/10/massachusetts_hurricane_sandy.html



Complete information on Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, including all advisories, watches and warnings. Recent hurricanes and tropical storms: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/



The Perfect Storm: Hurricane 'Frankenstorm' Sandy - As Hurricane Sandy approaches the east coast of the United States and Canada, weather forecasters are wondering if Sandy will be worse than the 'Perfect Storm' of 1991. As seen on article: The Perfect Storm: Hurricane 'Frankenstorm' Sandy