June 09, 2006
Life After the Holocaust: Stories of Holocaust Survivors After The War
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers a poignant online exhibit called Life After the Holocaust: Stories of Holocaust Survivors After The War
The site, which requires a Flash 8 plug in, follows the experiences of 6 Holocaust survivors and their immigration to he United States. Users of the site can download audio files of the complete interviews and download transcripts of these interviews. The exhibit is organized by themes, such as Speaking Out, Starting Over, and Living with the Past. These themes combine the interview audios with pictures, both past and present of these victims. The site design is somber and powerful.
The United States Holocaust Museum site also has an online Holocaust Encyclopedia which can be searched alphabetically or by specific topics such as "The United States and the Holocaust", "Jewish Resistance", and an "Introduction to the Holocaust".
The museum site also provides an excellent research area, with links to other web sites on the Holocaust, and a number of excellent bibliographies, including one on University of Michigan's famous alumnus, Raoul Wallenberg
If you are interested in this site you may also want to look at the University of Michigan Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive, a collection of over 52,000 video interviews of Holocaust survivors around the world.
Posted by swortman at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)
June 08, 2006
How to Prevent a Toxic Campus Climate
Dr. Patricia Gurin, acting director of the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan and Dr. Kelley Maxwell, director of University of Michigan’s Program on Intergroup Relations are quoted in a recent article on preventing a toxic campus climate and evaluating institutional climate when it comes to diversity in a June 1 article in Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Online
It never seems to get any better...
This year started with an incident on University of Michigan's campus in which white students(s) were acused of using racial slurs and attempting to urinate on or throw beer on two Asian students and it ended with the Duke lacrosse team incident. That's very depressing.
This recent article in Diverse Online talks about how campuses are working on preventing these situations and how campuses are going about evaluating their institutions climate. Several people from University of Michigan, both past and present are quoted and mentioned in this article.
Posted by swortman at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)
June 07, 2006
U.S. Supreme Court To Rule on Race in K-12 Education
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear appeals on cases from Washington and Kentucky related to the legality of taking race into account when placing students in public schools. Read the recent CNN article for more information.
Keeping schools integrated seems to be a never ending battle. What happened to the corporate support for the importance of diversity for students in our multicultural/global world, filed as briefs in the Gratz v. Bollinger Supreme Court case in 2001?
We should be paying more attention to the nearly forty years of writings on the subject of public school inequality published by Jonothon Kozol, author, educator, and conscience of our nation. The title alone , of his most recent book is a sobering statement, The Shame of the Nation : The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (LC 212.62 .K691 2005 in Shapiro & Social Work Library at U-M)
Posted by swortman at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
Nominations for the 17th Annual James Neubacher Award
If you want to recognize the efforts of someone who fights for the rights of people with disabilities, you don’t have much time. The nomination deadline for the 17th Annual James Neubacher Award is June 14, 2006.
Visit the Neubacher Web site http://www.umich.edu/~hraa/neubacher/ for nomination forms as well as information about the Award and James Neubacher, an alumnus of the University and an advocate for equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities.
Questions? Contact Anna Ercoli Schnitzer, Chair, James Neubacher Award Committee at mailto:schnitzr@umich.edu.
Sponsored by the Office of Institutional Equity.
Posted by swortman at 08:46 AM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2006
Blind librarian guards books in Braille
TALES OF THE CITY
Shining through in world of darkness
Blind librarian guards books in Braille
First posted 01:47am (Mla time) May 21, 2006
By Margaux C. Ortiz
Inquirer
Editor's Note: Published on page A24 of the May 21, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
WHERE her eyes gave up, her heart did not.
In her little kingdom at the ground floor of the National Library in Manila, Maria Lea Vilvar —the only blind librarian at the institute’s special division—vividly remembers the day her world plunged into darkness.
Vilvar, a 35-year-old native of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, was in the first grade when she had trouble reading the writing on the classroom blackboard.
“Just like any other child, I was afraid of the dark. But I realized that what I was experiencing then was a different kind of darkness,” she told the Inquirer.
Her classmates began to make fun of her, calling her names and even stealing her baon (packed lunch). It was, she recalled, a very trying time for a seven-year-old girl.
Life-changing news
“I was later diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, which enabled me to make out things with my eyes. But it became extremely difficult for my brain to recognize the images,” Vilvar said.
Although she could still see sketchy images of things and people, she could not distinguish colors or faces.
After Vilvar was diagnosed to be suffering from the ailment, her mother decided to transfer her to the Philippine National School for the Blind (PNSB) in Pasay City for her elementary and high school education.
There, she was trained in the rudiments of household work. She also mastered the intricacies of the Braille system and learned how to socialize with “sighted people.”
“Being at the PNSB was like being in a cocoon: we all knew each other and shared similar experiences as blind students,” Vilvar said.
However, nagging thoughts about college and her future would occasionally enter her mind. So when former students of PNSB paid them a visit, Vilvar wasted no time in asking them about their chosen careers.
“I was disappointed that most of them ended up as reflexologists and masseurs despite getting college degrees in education,” she recalled.
There was nothing wrong with massaging clients for a living, she stressed, “but the line of work put limitations on their abilities in the eyes of other people.”
Vivar told herself that she could do better, and began to pray.
Her answer, happily, came in the form of two scholarship grants: one enabled her to get an education degree at the Philippine Women’s University, and another sent her abroad for a year to undergo special computer proficiency training at the Overbrook International School for the Blind in Philadelphia.
Unexpected advice
All was going well for the young Vilvar, until her college professor at PWU convinced her to change her major from English studies to library science.
“I was devastated when my professor discouraged me because my heart was set on focusing on English literature and language,” Vilvar recalled.
Her professor, in hindsight, had a point. Among the many obstacles that she would have to face was the serious lack of English textbooks in Braille, had she decided to push through with her original plan.
“Instead of giving up, I thought of another course that would provide me with bigger job opportunities after graduation,” Vilvar said.
Thinking that all her contemporaries would either choose education or social work as a career, Vilvar decided to take up library science as her professor had advised.
It turned out that fortune was again smiling on her. While she was on internship at the PNSB library, officials of the National Library visited the school in preparation for the construction of a division for the blind at the institute.
“They interviewed me and told me that I could apply at the National Library as part of their staff when I complete my degree,” Vilvar said.
True enough, the young graduate was hired as one of the resident librarians at the Library for the Blind Division in 1995. “I could not believe that I got what I prayed for,” Vilvar said, smiling at the memory of her first day at work.
Today, more than a decade later, the 35-year-old assists some 215 blind regulars at the division and guards a treasure trove of 4,000 books in Braille, 500 large-print books and a thousand tapes.
“The most popular and most borrowed books in Braille here are two donated copies of Harry Potter,” Vilvar said, grinning.
While the books in Braille are popular among the totally blind, the librarian explained that large-print books, with their half-inch fonts, are used by those with poor vision.
Tapes, not books
Vilvar noted that “tape-listening” probably topped the regulars’ list of library activities.
“Sadly, most of our patrons now rely on tapes—where they could listen to their books of choice being read—instead of borrowing books,” the librarian lamented.
This is disadvantageous especially for blind students, whose grasp of spelling have declined with their continued reliance on the tapes, she explained.
“But we also admit that the library’s limited collection of books and dependence on foreign donations have contributed greatly to this trend,” Vilvar said.
She also stressed that the library’s lack of modern equipment and small space was equally frustrating. “In the United States, libraries for the blind take up an entire building,” Vilvar said.
She explained that books in Braille normally take up a lot of space because of their volume and bulk. A pocketbook, for example, when translated into Braille, would equal two three-inch thick tomes.
Apart from recording books on audio tapes for their clients, the librarians at the blind division translate and print portions of textbooks or student handouts into Braille through a special computer program and emboss them for free.
Vilvar and two of her fellow librarians also assist regulars in using the division’s two computers, equipped with the Job Access With Speech (JAWS) program, that allows the user to hear the words or commands on screen being read aloud.
As the division’s sole blind librarian, Vilvar has the special task of classifying and arranging books in Braille which her colleagues cannot read.
“Of course, it is also easier for me to connect with our patrons because I know and have actually experienced their concerns,” the librarian said “All this has been a realization of my greatest dream: to put into practice what I learned in college and help other blind people at the same time.”
Copyright 2006 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted by ransomcg at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
February 01, 2006
U.S. Census Bureau Radio or Podcasts for Black History Month
The U.S. Census Bureau offers what they call daily radio features for Black History Month on their website at http://www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/broadcast/radio/special_radio_features.html There is one 60-second segment on a specific person for every day of the month.
Take 60-seconds to listen to one. You might learn something.
Posted by swortman at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2006
Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006)
Civil Rights leader and widow of Martin Luther King, Jr, Coretta Scott King, died in her sleep January 31 at the age of 78.
Mrs. King suffered a stroke and heart attack last summer but had made a surprise appearance to honor her husband's birthday this year.
Coretta Scott King worked along side her husband until his death in 1968 then was left to raise their four children alone. She committed herself to civil rights, peace and justice. She worked to further her husband's dream by spear-heading the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which she directed until 1995.
Mrs. King was also responsible for honoring her husband by leading the campaign to turn Dr. King's birthday, January 15, into a national holiday. This was accomplished by an Act of Congress and first celebrated nationally in 1986.
The American Library Association has honored Mrs. King since 1970 with their annual Coretta Scott King Award. According to the Association web site, "The award (or awards) is given to an African American author and an African American illustrator for an outstandingly inspirational and educational contribution. The books promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream. The Award is further designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood."
Time Magazine's online version quoted Mrs. King as saying, "By reaching into and beyond ourselves and tapping the transcendent ethic of love, she shall overcome these evils. Love, truth, and the courage to do what is right should be our own guideposts on this lifelong journey."
Posted by swortman at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2006
Prejudice Map
Take a look at the Prejudice Map, create by Philipp Lenssen, posted on the blog "Google Blogoscoped". The author queried Google for each country and this is what he came up with. Nothing scientific about it but interesting to look at.
Posted by swortman at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2006
Distinguished Dissertation Award in Disability Studies
PLEASE FORWARD TO INTERESTED PARTIES
I am pleased to invite nominations for the Michael Erik Myatt Distinguished Dissertation Award in Disability Studies of 2005-06 and to ask you to bring this invitation for nominations to the attention of faculty and graduate students.
The purpose of the award, which includes a $1000 honorarium and travel to the awards ceremony, is to recognize exceptional work by doctoral students in the field of Disability Studies. We seek nominations from a broad range of disciplines that affect the study of physical and mental disability. To be eligible for consideration, the nominee must have completed the dissertation and earned the doctoral degree during the 2001-2005 calendar years. Please see our webpage for instructions and nomination materials: http://www.umich.edu/~uminds/Myatt_award.html.
The deadline for nominations will be February 17, 2006.
The student's department or program must endorse the nomination.
I hope that you and your colleagues will make a strong effort to nominate deserving students who are doing exceptional work in Disability Studies. Details will be forthcoming about the date and place of the awards ceremony.
I look forward to receiving nominations and thank you in advance for your help.
Posted by ransomcg at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)