Among Ourselves': a look at the accomplishments of our community

Student and Faculty Spotlighted

America.gov, an online publication of the U.S. Department of State, featured a September 14 article on Dana Benjamin Diarra, Gallaudet’s new World Deaf Leadership scholar, entitled “Deaf Student from Mali Overcomes Obstacles to Education.”

Articles on a collaboration between Gallaudet and Northern Essex Community College (NECC), Gallaudet’s Northeast Regional Center, to collect used TTYs for distribution to the Costa Rican deaf community by Gallaudet’s First Year Study Tour last March over Spring Break, appeared in the September issue of NECC News and in Deaf Community News, Summer, 2010, Volume 34, Issue #3 (link not available). (Note: First year students are currently collecting used BlackBerry pagers to distribute to deaf Costa Ricans during this year’s tour.)

Gallaudet senior Seth Gore and Special Projects Coordinator Josh Swiller recently figured prominently in Washingtonian magazine. Swiller’s essay, “I Think I Hear You,” about the differences and similarities between his experiences as an orally raised and educated deaf man who uses a cochlear implant, and that of Gore, a native signer from a deaf family, is in the September issue of the magazine. Gore’s short story, “The Buzz Buzz Boom,” is available online. Note: Besides his work for the University, Swiller is working on a piece for Men’s Journal about two recent Gallaudet graduates hitchhiking the length of South America.

Dr. Carol Cutler Riddick, a professor in the Department of Physical Education and Recreation, was bestowed visiting research associate status this summer in the Sport, Tourism, Arts, Recreation, and Society unit at Buckinghamshire New University, England. Also, Third Age and Leisure Research: Principles and Practice, a text released in July, features two chapters written by Riddick–one on gerontology-leisure research and the other on a mixed-methods study of English women practicing yoga in later life. In addition, Riddick, along with Caitlin Mosholder and Keri Schmidt, students in the M.S. in Leisure Services Administration Program, were selected to present at the Leisure Studies Association Meeting held at Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom, in July. One lecture was entitled “Leisure Diagnostic Battery,” and the other dealt with formative and summative evaluations of a Biggest Loser contest held on a college campus. During their visit, Mosholder and Schmidt visited the United Kingdom Hearing Dog Society, which has provided over 1,500 hearing dogs trained to alert deaf people to everyday sounds since it was launched in 1992. (In the photo, Mosholder (left) and Schmidt (right), take a break from presenting at the 2010 Leisure Studies Association Meeting to participate in raising monies to cure children with cancer.)

Dr. Charles Reilly, a senior research scientist in the Gallaudet Research Institute, attended the September 1 and 2 meeting of the External Advisory Committee (EAC) of the National Center for Deaf Health Research (NCDHR), held in Rochester, N.Y. The EAC is facilitated by President Alan Hurwitz. During his visit, Reilly explored possible collaborations for research projects related to health issues with NCDHR’s Principal Investigator, Dr. Thomas Pearson, who also serves as associate dean of clinical research for the University of Rochester.

Former Gallaudet trustee and alumna Pamela Young-Holmes has been named to the board of the National Council on Disability (NCD). Holmes, who is director of consumer and regulatory affairs and CapTel customer service for Ultratec, Inc., was confirmed by unanimous consent by the United States Senate on September 29. “We’re delighted to have Pamela Young-Holmes join the NCD Board,” said NCD Acting Chairman Linda Wetters in an NCD press release. “She is a long-time disability advocate who will add new depth and expertise that will enhance NCD’s mission of furthering the national policy goals enshrined in the Americans with Disabilities Act: equality of opportunity, full participation; independent living, and financial security for all people with disabilities.” Holmes was twice appointed to the U.S. Access Board (1994 and 1997), and was elected chair of the board in 2001.