Walking Class

Today was the last day of my walking class. I needed it to get my phys ed credit; I transferred from a school that used half credits for PE, and Gallaudet uses whole credits. So I took walking as a summer class; it met 2 hours/day, 5 days/week, for three weeks.

I picked walking because it was something I knew I could do. I’ve been walking almost my whole life, so I wouldn’t need to learn anything new for this class! I’m also really out of shape, so walking would be something I could do without overtaxing my body. Most of the time in class was spent walking, of course, but most days the teacher also told us a little bit about walking techniques and fitness. Fitness was emphasized throughout the three weeks of the course; we learned about safe exercising, what exercise can do for your body, and so forth. We also had our body composition tested – mine confirmed what I already knew: I am extremely overweight, have virtually no muscle tone, and am not flexible at all. Nothing was a big surprise, but it is kind of disappointing.

As I mentioned, we did a lot of walking for class. We walked over 30 minutes every day, and most days it was more like 45 minutes or an hour. We walked around the Gallaudet “oval” and also around MSSD, and we took field trips to the National Arboretum and the Mall downtown. We learned to use walking sticks, which I thought were pretty cool, but it’s hard to have a conversation with your partner or use your pager when you’ve got sticks in both hands.

The class was basically great, but one thing did bother me. Today, after I finished the final exam, the teacher said he wanted to talk to me. He told me he had enjoyed having me in class and he hoped I’d keep walking. Then he told me about his adult daughter, who used to be very overweight and is now very skinny; he said she took all the weight off in 8 months using diet and exercise. I smiled and nodded when he told me, but inside I was thinking “hey, you’re calling me fat!” Come on, there is not a single fat person alive who doesn’t know they’re fat and doesn’t know exactly how to fix it. Trust me, every fat person is very aware of their weight. What confused me even more, though, was that he was telling me this after he spent three weeks emphasizing fitness! Over the past year or so, I’ve been trying to accept that losing weight is nice, but being physically fit is what’s really important – looking good is awesome, but being healthy is better! So to hear about his daughter kind of turned me off a little…I know he meant well, of course, but it was just kind of odd for that to be the last thing he said.

Anyway, he says our grades will be posted by Monday. I think I’ll get an A, because I showed up for every class (the other two people missed two classes each) and I did well on the tests and my walking. But even more important than the A is that I developed my muscles such that long walks don’t hurt anymore!

The Product of a UU Upbringing

We have been discussing religion in my Cultural Geography class lately. The teacher mentioned two types, philosophical religions and secularism. I raised my hand and asked where Unitarian Universalism fit in, and I said “I was raised UU but I don’t know!” The teacher – who I’ve known for a while now – said “oh now I understand you better!”

After class, I asked what she meant. I said “is it because I’m always questioning everything?” She said yes, it was that, and also because I don’t insist on one way of doing things – I always consider that there are multiple approaches to everything. I thought it was very perceptive of her to notice that.

And she’s right. I think it is due to my UU upbringing that I refuse to accept that the Muslim rules about covering women are inherently evil. My wife is very much against them; we recently saw a woman in a store wearing a full chador, nothing visible – my wife called it a “body bag.” And yes, there are many extremists who use the rules to oppress women. But I don’t have a problem with the idea itself: it’s just different from how we do things. I do not think chador, niqab, hijab, or burqa are wrong, just different.

The same applies to fundamentalist Christians in the US. Last night we watched the documentary “Jesus Camp” and I was astonished by the level of their devotion, and what it leads them to do. It seemed that the kids don’t get to play baseball or anything, it’s all Jesus all the time. But although it dismays me that these people invest so much into politics, I don’t have a problem with them doing so. It’s their right to pursue God by uttering nonsense syllables and falling on the floor. I think they look a little silly doing it, but I don’t have a problem with it. It’s just not for me.

Now, I can predict some people suggesting that this means I endorse the former slave-dependent culture of the American south. After all, wasn’t that their way of life – just different from mine? My response is that while I may be tolerant, I do have morals. Human beings owning each other is immoral, particularly for reasons of skin color alone. Depriving people of their human rights, especially liberty, is not acceptable. My wife will say, “but Muslim women are deprived of their rights!” And this is true. But they were not captured and enslaved by another culture; they are part of the culture that keeps them behind closed doors. And I don’t have a right to judge their culture; I accept it as different from mine.

Religion is a funny thing, and it makes people behave strangely. But I’m pleased to note that the nature of my religious upbringing has resulted in tolerance and open-mindedness. And asking questions, always asking questions.

Made a choice this morning…

I missed my geography class this morning. The reason is that I didn’t get enough sleep last night, and while I was driving to school, I was literally falling asleep on the road. I knew it wasn’t safe, but I pressed on for a few more miles because I felt I must go to class! We didn’t have a test or anything, but I like this class and the teacher and I didn’t want to miss it. Finally I had to decide to pull over in a parking lot and take a nap. I felt really bad about missing class, but it was either that or get into a car accident. Which is less responsible, missing class, or driving drowsy? I decided on the latter and I had to solve that problem first. My afternoon class was already canceled, so when I woke up I drove out to my wife’s workplace and we had lunch. I think in the end I made the right decision, but I do still feel bad about missing class.

Designing a Major

I’ve been thinking about what I’ll do if I’m not accepted into the Deaf Studies major. I think I will self-design a major that incorporates Deaf Studies, History, and Sociology. I’m looking at classes at consortium universities to see if there is anything I could incorporate. So far I have found:

• CUA – SOC 383 – Disability Policies
• CUA – LAW 618 – Legal Rights of People with Disabilities
• GWU – SPED 352 – Concerns for Individuals with Disabilities
• GWU – ENG 172 – Disability and Literature

I’m surprised that’s all there is…I will have to keep looking!

Not Deaf Enough, Redux

Is it necessary for someone to be deaf in the audiometric sense in order to be a leader within the deaf community? Many hearing people do not recognize the distinctions between levels of deafness in the deaf community, such as when using a cell phone on the Gallaudet campus can cause fellow students to look at someone as “less deaf” than those who are profoundly deaf and cannot use the telephone. Although those who study deaf culture insist there is no decibel limit for someone to be culturally deaf, there is a definite class distinction between those who are hard of hearing and those who are profoundly deaf; those who are prelingually deaf and those who are late-deafened; those who are able to interact with the hearing world easily and those who are not.

Gallaudet University must have a culturally deaf president – someone who is not fluent in sign language and who is unfamiliar with the struggles faced by deaf people when they interact with the hearing world would not be able to lead a school for those who use sign language and experience barriers to communication. It is my belief that all future presidents of Gallaudet will be culturally deaf, holding deaf values to their heart. But I foresee trouble when it comes time to choose another president, because the divisions within the deaf community will rise again if someone is chosen who does not fit the politically correct definition of what the president should be. If someone is selected who is postlingually deaf, there will be conflict; if someone is selected who has enough hearing to use the telephone, there will be conflict; if someone with lipreading and speaking skills is selected, there will be conflict. For some, the “perfect” deaf candidate will be someone who shuns speech, cannot hear a jet engine, and so forth.

How are we to find this ideal deaf person? Will Gallaudet be able to continue if we cannot? Given that the chances of finding this person are so slim, what are Gallaudetians willing to sacrifice in exchange for the continuation of the university’s mission? Should we pick someone who is suitable in the deaf sense, but has little administrative background? Or should we pick someone with outstanding administrative experience, but who can speak if they choose to? Will we ever again manage to be happy with our president, or did that possibility fade in 1988 when Deaf President Now changed our world? The wounds of 2006 have not yet fully healed, and there is a definite spark in the air at Gallaudet as the presidential search gears up again. It seems we are just waiting to see who is chosen so we can get on with our lives. I can only hope there is not another protest in our future…I do not envy the job of the Presidential Search Committee or the Board of Trustees.

Real Women, Me?

There’s an annual show called REAL WOMEN, REAL BEAUTY and I’m trying to decide if I want to sign up to participate. I want to feel good about how I look, but I’m trying to remember from last year, and I don’t remember any actual fat chicks in there really. The auditions are 8-10pm on February 17th, which is late at night for me, but I could do it. If the show really is about REAL women, I could do it…I think I’m pretty enough, just fat. Brandi TenEyck was such an inspiration when she participated in Bison’s Next Top Model last year. I want to do this…I think I can do it. I need to e-mail and find out what is required.

Labyrinthine Membrane Rupture

I think I figured out the cause of my hearing loss, and I owe it all to Law and Order. Criminal Intent, actually.

There’s an episode revolving around scuba divers, and one mentions that he can’t dive anymore because he had a labyrinthine membrane rupture (LMR). Later, a doctor confirms this “inner ear condition” and says the guy can’t dive deeper than a swimming pool.

I tried to go to scuba class last night. We had to do a depth test, and this time the Valsalva maneuver wasn’t even mentioned until after a few people, including me, had gone. The first people made it fine, but I had to crawl out of the pool, crying in pain. I knew it was the water pressure because I’d ruptured both eardrums in Bermuda in 2006. As a result, I lost some hearing. In 2008 the audiologists at Gallaudet said I had sensorineural hearing loss.

So when I saw this LMR thing on TV just a few hours later, I looked it up. Imagine my surprise when the third result says LMR can cause sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

I’m not going to get it diagnosed and all that. I’m pretty sure student insurance wouldn’t cover it, and I spent $5700 on hearing aids that allow me to function just fine. But the Magic 8 Ball in my mind is saying “my sources say yes” about this LMR thing. Crazy! I should write to Criminal Intent and say thank you.

RIP Mike Kemp

I didn’t know Mike Kemp, but now that I have seen his picture (thanks to On the Green I realized who he is. Of course I have seen him around Gallaudet for many years. I figured he would be one of my teachers in the Deaf Studies department. What a shock that he is gone…I know the man, but I was not shocked by his death because I did not know his name. Now that I realize, I am saddened because he was such an important person. I feel bad that I didn’t recognize his name at first. I guess I never heard his name.

Rest in peace, Mike Kemp. I hope you are in a happy place on the other side.

Welcome to Gallaudet…Really

I recently posted on the web about something that frustrated me at school, and I said “Welcome to Gallaudet!” A friend of mine, who graduated from Gallaudet several years ago, asked: “Why do you go to Gallaudet if you’re gonna keep bashing it or its students?” This is my response.

I think you misunderstand what “Welcome to Gallaudet” means. It’s a very common expression of frustration and fatalism around here. Whenever something goes wrong, takes longer than it should have, or doesn’t work out how you expected, well, “Welcome to Gallaudet.” Transfer credits didn’t come through? Welcome to Gallaudet. Teacher gave somebody else an A+ when your work was better than theirs? Welcome to Gallaudet. Food sucks? Welcome to Gallaudet. It’s not bashing, and it has nothing to do with Gallaudet in particular – all colleges have problems like these. It definitely has nothing to do with Gallaudet being a deaf school or with its students being deaf.

I understand the impulse to feel defensive when someone complains about your alma mater. But keep in mind that it’s my school too. I have the right to complain about things that are frustrating to me, it’s part of life in an institution greater than yourself. Some people complain about work, I complain about school – that’s my “job” right now.

I will bleed buff and blue until the day I die, and I love Gallaudet like nothing else in the world. (My wife told me yesterday I should get “Gallaudet” tattooed on my ass because I love it so much – I might actually do that after I graduate!) But like everything else, Gallaudet has problems. Identifying them and addressing them are how we move forward. And if we have to vent a little frustration in the process, that comes with the territory.

I hope that explains for you why I sometimes seem to complain about Gallaudet. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t love this school with all my heart.

Draconian IT Policies

The IT department can kiss my butt. Since I last brought my laptop to school, they’ve started requiring XP Service Pack 3 to be installed in order to use the wifi network. It took a trip to IT services to figure out that’s what they wanted me to install in order to connect, and I promptly rejected the idea. I told them I would either dual-boot with Linux or just not use the network. And I will probably do the latter, although not having Zotero at school will be a pain.

But see, I’m a nerd. I’m a geek. Expecting a geek to follow your ridiculous IT policy is like expecting a model to eat a hamburger. It just isn’t going to happen. If you read blogs about Cisco Clean Access, you’ll see people decrying its ability to let IT administrators control and monitor your system. That’s exactly my problem. I used to be an IT professional myself. I am not about to let somebody else mess with my stuff. I’ve bowed to the CCA demons long enough…no more!

On the bright side, I did see a sign indicating that the bookstore has Office 2007 for $15 (I paid $60 online last year) and Vista for $25.