Email is considered a crucial part of the Internet. Nearly everyone uses email as a method of communication every day, every hour…well, I don’t need to get into the minute details.

Ray Tomlinson came up with the first email messaging system back in 1971. He came up with “@” as a way to separate the users from the machines that they were using, because at the time, mail could only be sent between two people on the same computer. Little did Tomlinson know he would usher in a whole new way of communication when he told a colleague, “Don’t tell anyone! This isn’t what we’re supposed to be working on.”

Thanks to that forbidden experiment, we now fire up emails using “@” without a second thought. Username@domain.com (or whatever dot ending) has become almost as commonplace as phone numbers. When the email address needs to be said in non-written formats (i.e. spoken or signed), we understand that the meaning of “@” is “at.” But are you aware that @ isn’t always where it’s at?

There seems to be definitions of “@” that has nothing to do with the English meaning. What do you see when you see “@”? In other languages, there seems to be linguistic versions of the “@” that is like the Rorschach ink blot test. Keep in mind that a large number of people surfing the world wide web live in countries whose language isn’t based on the English alphabet. As a matter of fact, their keyboards did not include the “@” symbol until after heavy usage of email deemed it necessary.

According to A Natural History of the @ Sign, “@” metaphors “…range from animals (snail, worm, little dog, horse) to body parts (elephant’s trunk, monkey’s tail, cat’s foot, pig’s ear) to food (herring, strudel, cinnamon roll, pretzel).” I’ve selected some definitions from the website that I thought were interesting (italics mine):

Czech (Czech Republic)
In Czech, @ is called zavinac (pronounced ZAHV-in-ach), meaning “rollmops,” or pickled herring. Perhaps the shape suggests herring packed tightly in a jar! Or those leatherly fruit roll-ups!

Finnish
Many Finnish terms for @ are connected with cats. Not content with naming the sign for what it looks like, Finnish names it for what it sounds like. In addition to “kissanhnta [cat’s tail], “miau,” “miumau,” and “miuku” are all “miau merkki” [meow marks] in Finnish. This is for the cat lovers out there…don’t be so catty.

German
In German, @ is most often called either “Affenschwanz” [monkey’s tail] or “Klammeraffe” [hanging monkey]. This is also a term of zoological classification, for various South American monkeys, including the spider monkey. Some people call it the “Ohr” [ear]. So does the slash thru the @ means no ear like the international deaf symbol?

Hebrew
In Hebrew, it’s most often either a “shablul” or “shablool”[snail] or a ” shtrudl” [strudel, that is, the pastry]. In both cases, it’s something that is rolled up. And it smells good baking in the oven. Now I’m hungry.

Hungarian
Hungarians evidently don’t think much of e-mail, as they’ve elected to call the @ sign “kukac” pronounced KOO-kots [worm or maggot]. Don’t try to worm your way out of this subject, people!

Korean
Many Koreans call it “dalphaengi” [snail]. That’s ironic, since email is supposed to be a lot faster than snail mail.

Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan)
In Taiwan Mandarin Chinese, @ is called “xiao lao-shu” [little mouse] or “lao shu-hao” [mouse sign]. It is also called “at-hao” [at sign] or “lao shu-hao” [mouse sign]. So what do they call the computer mouse?

Norwegian
In Norwegian, @ is called either “grisehale” [pig’s tail] or “kro/llalfa” [curly alpha].

Polish
In Poland most e-mailers call @ “malpa” [monkey]. Other terms: “kotek” [little cat] and”ucho s’wini” [pig’s ear].

Russian
In Russian, the “official” term for @ is “a kommercheskoe” [commercial a], but it is usually called “sobachka” [little dog or “doggie”]. Other terms: obezjana [the monkey] and pljushka [a Russian pastry].

Slovenian
The word in Slovene is “afna.” Perhaps this is a loan word from German, where the mark is called, among other things, “affenschwanz” [monkey’s tail]. There is a similar word in Slovenian, “afna” meaning “a woman who overdresses, applies too much make-up, etc.” Thinking of Tammy Faye Baker, Dolly Parton…

Swedish
E-mailers in Sweden have the greatest variety of terms available for referring to @. The official term recommended by the Svenska Spreknemnden (The Swedish Language Board) is “snabel-a” [trunk-a, or “a with an elephant’s trunk], and this is still the most common. At one time, the board attempted to introduce a more serious name, “at-tecken” [at-sign] but it didn’t really catch on. Another imaginative name sometimes heard in Swedish is “kanelbulle” [a kind of cinnamon roll].

Turkish
Most Turkish e-mailers call @ “kulak” [ear] or even “Ohr” [”ear” in German]. Some have suggested calling @ “at” which sounds the same, of course, but in Turkish means “horse.”

Who says you don’t learn something new everyday? Now I’m wondering what the ampersand,”&,” may mean in other languages? Person with Big Butt Sitting Down on Ground? That’s another mystery for me to crack in the future, unless someone save me the trouble and clue me in.

So what does the “@” remind you of? Let me know, and you’re also free to provide your own tongue-in-cheek remarks about the descriptions above. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading to the nearest bakery for a kanelbulle with extra frosting and nuts. YUM!

While you can’t be a leader if you don’t have followers, logically the reverse should be true, as well. Thus with all the talk of “leadership” currently going on in our community, I thought I’d pull a quick bait-n-switch, here, and write instead on what makes good followers. Below is my list of Top Five characteristics I think followers need to have (or at the very least quickly develop) in order to attract top-quality leaders.

1. Followers are not thugs.

If you can’t manage someone without a baseball bat, you’re not a leader—you’re a thug. But if you can’t follow someone without a baseball bat, you’re not a follower. You’re a stalker. And once you succeed in using it (presumably to replace the leader), you’ll simply have graduated to being a murderer.

2. Followers are not disciples.

I once heard a story about a leader who walked into a crowd. A woman approached him and said, “Can I touch you?” Smiling, he replied, “You can hug me!” If I were that leader I would’ve said “Sure!” and then led her by the wrist to the nearest psychiatric hospital. That’s where people should go once they’ve convinced themselves that I’m Jesus Christ.

3. Followers can turn left.

If the scout sent on ahead comes back and says, “We can’t go that way, there’s a huge forest fire that stretches on for miles,” followers believe him. And if the scout sent to the right comes back and says, “We can’t go that way, there are packs of ravenous wolves all about,” followers believe him, too. Thus when the scout that went left comes back and says, “Its all clear over there,” followers will turn left. They don’t need a leader who dramatically intones, “I will lead you through the fire,” or one who thunders, “I will lead you through the wolves!” Followers recognize the difference between boldness and suicidal grandiosity. When a leader steers them toward the latter, they ship him off to the same psychiatric hospital filled with people who believe he’s Jesus Christ.

4. Followers do not expect leaders to walk backward.

Followers realize that Life is not a tour of the Pentagon. Tour guides at the Pentagon are required to walk backward through the whole thing. It’s the only way they can keep an eye on tourists who might otherwise scurry off down the wrong corridor. The only reason a Pentagon tour guide can do this is because he or she already knows the route, and has practiced walking it backward. In uncharted territory, a leader needs to be able to turn around so that he can see where he’s going. Otherwise he’ll sooner or later walk his followers off a cliff.

5. Followers move on before they’re chewed on.

If a group stays in one area for too long, what eventually happens is it consumes the resources of that area. The bigger the group is, the faster the process goes. This is why we need to move on. You can’t have campfires if your people have already burned down all of the trees. You can’t have drinking water if those a mile upstream are using the river as a toilet. Trust me on this—in both the cultural and spiritual sense, finding a place with food beats out starvation every time. So if your leader says “Let’s move on,” take a look around at the landscape. If there’s nothing left to eat except each other, he’s right.

We’ve received a number of emails about the May DPHH. Many people are excited about going — it is shaping up to be a big event! But some are confused about what they need to do in order to gain admittance to the prestigious SkyClub at Zanzibar at the Waterfront in Washington, DC. So we’ve decided to put together these FAQs based on the emails that we have received thus far.

1. How do I get into the SkyClub at Zanzibar?

In order to get into the SkyClub at the discount rate of $10 before 10 p.m. and $20 after 10 p.m., you must print out the DeafDC.com eCommunique about the May DPHH. If you don’t subscribe to the DeafDC.com eCommunique, please sign up!

Enter your email on the DeafDC.com homepage in the field marked with a red ellipse:

We will send out another DeafDC.com eCommunique next week on Thursday, May 3rd, this time with the formal invitation. Please print out the May 3rd DeafDC.com eCommunique and bring it with you to Zanzibar.

2. But my friend doesn’t subscribe/But my friend is from out of town what should he/she do?

Print out an extra copy for your friend or forward the DeafDC.com eCommunique to him/her. The invitation is not limited to DeafDC.com eCommunique subscribers only, it’s for everyone who wants to go to DPHH!

3. I’ve been to Zanzibar before, which one is the right level?

There are two different levels in Zanzibar, in order to get into the SkyClub, go to the upper level/top-level. If you go into the lower level, you will not have access to the SkyClub or the other exclusive areas at the top-level.

4. What do I do once I get in…?

The SkyClub doesn’t open until 8 pm. In order to get into the SkyClub, everyone must meet at the “International level” before we head up to the heavens. All DPHHers are required to show the DeafDC.com eCommunique announcing this DPHH as their invitation to gain entry into the SkyClub. No invitation, no admission!

5. What if the SkyClub runs out of space?

The SkyClub only holds 250 people, so it is first come, first served. If you don’t get in, don’t worry, the place is huge and there are plenty of other places to hang out inside the rest of Zanzibar.

6. What are the Zanzibar rules? How should I dress? Can my friend who is 20 come with me?

This is a very upscale establishment, so observe the rules set forth by Zanzibar. Everyone must be 21 and older to enter the club with proper ID. Please follow the strictly enforced Zanzibar dress code: business casual. This means no athletic wear, sneakers, Timberland boots, jeans or hats. Put simply: dress like a professional to impress.

For more information about the May DPHH, click here.

If you have any more questions, post them in the comments below. We’ll try our best to answer all of them before the event next week.

See you at Zanzibar!

Update:

Zanzibar contacted us with the following message:

-Make sure everyone has an government issued ID with date of birth, and picture shown. Required to enter the club.

-Let them know to enter only through the SKYCLUB entrance for the event. The Skyclub has it’s own entrance to the left of the building. Also, they must bring the invitation for admission.

-Dress Code: Professional look, but causal.

Update II:

7. Where is Zanzibar at the Waterfront?

Zanzibar on the Waterfront
700 Water St. SW
Washington, DC 20024

8. Who is invited?

Everyone who wants to go to DPHH is invited!

9. I didn’t get an invitation yesterday, can you send it to me again?

Sure, click here and print out the invitation.

Update III

10. Where can I find more information about tonight’s DPHH?

Click here to go the DPHH homepage.

Dr. Steven Weiner has applied for the Gallaudet presidency twice, once last spring for the 9th president vacancy that Dr. Jane Fernandes won, and again for the Interim President position that went to Dr. Davila. If excellent public speaking skills is a valued criteria for a top college administrator, it’s easy to see why Dr. Weiner continues to struggle. A communications professor though he may be, a gifted public speaker he is not. Where’s the stage presence, the charisma, the effortless delivery? Those qualities are essential for the public face of an University, the president, but it’s up to the search committee and President Davila whether those qualities are also important for a provost.

His responses to some questions at the end of his presentation were awkward, with tangentially relevant analogies. He lapsed into the “I don’t know, but I’ll ask the community” behavior that has been documented before. Maybe the guy just doesn’t think well on his feet. Perhaps that was part of his appeal. Dr. Weiner was the people’s Provost — his presentation was the most well-attended, taking place in Elstad Auditorium, a venue probably twice as big as Swindells (where Drs. Marshall and Innes presented). There were even a good number of students present!

Inelegance aside, Dr. Weiner still got his point across well. He recognized all the relevant issues right off the bat with a bulleted list of Gallaudet’s problems, instead of just alluding to them: academic rigor, accreditation, the budget, civil discourse, and shared governance. He even had a few ideas of his own thrown in, such as upgrading the library — but it would probably be wise to hold off on that until the more pressing issues have been resolved.

What were his proposed solutions? Leverage current programs, create a center for assessment to provide guidance for apparently everything from the budget to student performance, and focus on improving the first-year experience. One thing is for certain — whoever is selected as provost will build a new “center” on campus; perhaps Dr. Weiner should append “For Excellence” to his assessment center to be consistent with his peers. He also had a thorough plan for grad student inclusion. His “360 degrees of diversity” idea tried to expand the definition of diversity to include diversity of opinion, communication and basically everything that makes a person unique.

While a few original ideas were presented, I couldn’t help but feel that I was sitting through a retread of what’s already been said. I know all the big buzzwords on Kendall Green now — academic rigor, think tanks, Centers for Excellence. It is worth nothing that even though the Provost job was advertised in at least ten professional publications, the finalists are all Gallaudet employees. All three have been at Gallaudet for a very long time, which does have a tendency to promote group-think — an echo chamber effect. Why no new faces to inject fresh ideas into a somewhat moribund administrative bureaucracy?

(For background on this series, see my first and second posts.)

Engagement was the word of the day yesterday, according to Dr. Joseph Innes, finalist for the Provost position at Gallaudet University (see my previous post for details on the position and other finalists). If he gets chosen as Provost, that’s a word faculty, students and staff will be hearing a lot. Engagement: the cure-all, the miracle tonic, the answer to declining recruitment, retention and admissions standards. According to Dr. Innes, if Gallaudet faculty and staff were to engage students during the entire span of their pre-to-post collegiate careers, with a slant towards bilingualism, diversity and inclusiveness, a lot of things would be fixed. I may be wrong, but aren’t schools already supposed to do that?

One thing I have to credit Dr. Innes for, is that he knows his audience. The majority of the search committee are faculty and staff, as were the people in the auditorium. One person came up on stage during questioning and asked how many students were present; I could only see three hands up from where I was sitting. To win the job as Provost, he must win over the fac/staff, and his presentation was tailored accordingly — “I see myself as your advocate when dealing with the President,” he said. He promised them leadership and support. He acknowledged fac/staff dissociation from the administration and the University in general. Dr. Innes’ proposed solution to this? Engagement of fac/staff, of course.

Does all that sound somewhat insubstantial? I’m inclined to think so. There was no emphasis on academic rigor (to borrow a phrase from Dr. Marshall). Dr. Innes proposed a University Without Walls that would expand learning to outside the classroom — to use an example of his, the local welder could come and show students how to fashion art from metal. Is this a vocational school? Do we really need a generation of deaf welders? He talked of re-conceptualizing institutions on campus, such as Gallaudet Research Institute (GRI). Cool, but if someone could define re-conceptualize for me, that’d help.

In contrast to Dr. Marshall, Dr. Innes came the closest I’ve seen a Gallaudet administrator acknowledge that Gallaudet is known more for its social life than its academics. He actually mentioned the word ‘protest’ and talked about healing at length, which I had thought was taboo. He was ‘more ASL,’ if that’s a big sticking point for you. Although I like Dr. Marshall’s way of emphasizing the digits of the year so much, I might adopt it for myself. One hand over the other — there’s a video of it.

Although I don’t think the other finalists were allowed to watch each others’ presentations, the level of similarity at times was almost grin-inducing. It’s like they took the same class in bureaucracy together or something. Dr. Marshall has a vision for an “academic campus culture,” Dr. Innes calls it a “culture of learning.” Same rose, different names. Dr. Marshall wants a Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Dr. Innes wants a Center for Excellence in Innovative Thinking. Dr. Marshall wants a brain trust, Dr. Innes wants a think tank.

I guess if you’ve sat through one provost presentation, you’ve sat through them all. Or maybe not — stay tuned for my report from today’s presentation by Dr. Steven Weiner.

Gallaudet University is hosting presentations by three of the finalists for the Provost position. Yesterday, William Marshall outlined his plans for the University. But first, here’s a brief rundown on the Provost position and its recent history at Gallaudet:

The Gallaudet Provost serves as the chief academic officer and provides overall leadership and direction to the division of Academic Affairs, including the College for Liberal Arts, Sciences and Technologies, Graduate School and Professional Programs and Student Affairs. The Provost has been heavily scrutinized in the last year and a half. Dr. Jane K. Fernandes, who was the Provost at the time, was selected as the next president of Gallaudet University. Dr. I. King Jordan then appointed Dr. Michael Moore as interim provost of Gallaudet University as Dr. Fernandes stepped down to prepare for her appointment as president. We all know what happened to Dr. Fernandes. In January 2007 Gallaudet announced that they would begin the search process for a new Provost. The finalists are Dr. William Marshall, Dr. Joseph Innes, and Dr. Steven Weiner. All are current Gallaudet employees. For more details on the presentations and the selection process, visit the official press release.

Presenting to a full audience of faculty, staff and a smattering of students yesterday, Dr. Marshall gave off the aura of a seasoned career administrator – impeccably organized, carefully modulated, and precisely timed – he finished within two minutes of his allotted speaking time. His presentation reflected his long tenures at MSSD and Gallaudet, and of his understanding of the underlying issues. Instead of dwelling on fluff topics like cultural identity or audism, he acknowledged the host of issues that Gallaudet would be facing during the next few years. Most universities do not typically have this breadth of concerns – sure, student dissent might be a problem on one campus, retention on another, flat funding on yet another, but I can’t think of any other schools that have so much to tackle in such a short time.

The priorities of Dr. Marshall fall under three categories – curriculum (”The heart of the University”), mission, vision, values (”The soul of the University”) and structure (”The body of the University”). He spoke of creating an “academic campus culture,” brain trusts, Centers for Excellence. He stressed the moral as well as the practical – leaders, he said, need heart as well as a good head. They need to provide “not only the steak, but also the sizzle.” He asked whether Gallaudet was proud of the incivility, intolerance of opinion, and lack of trust on campus. He turned to Harvard for inspiration, proposing a “general education” philosophy that I’m still trying to understand – but Dr. Marshall says it’ll help retention, so okay. He mentioned plans to reinvigorate the Clerc Center by exchanging ‘best practices’ among grade school educators, addressing a few concerns that were brought up during open questioning about what could be done preemptively to increase the English fluency of incoming freshmen. Is Dr. Marshall up to the task? It seems like it… but I’ll wait to pass judgment until I’ve seen the other two finalists speak.

The absence of a strong showing of students was surprising, considering that the protesters, many of whom were students, were what compelled the Gallaudet Board of Trustees to expel Dr. Jane Fernandes as the next president of Gallaudet. Does the lack of a student presence demonstrate a lack of interest in the process of operating a University? It could be argued that this is nearing finals week, but that didn’t deter protesters from abandoning their studies in the spring and fall of 2006.

Regardless, there is a definite, palpable sense that the next few years are going to make or break the University. I ran into a friend before the presentation – he had just gotten some papers from Cal State Northridge detailing the transfer of his existing credits from Gallaudet. I asked him if he really was going to switch schools. “If Gallaudet loses its accreditation, what else am I supposed to do? I want my degree to be worth something.”

Disclaimer: Josh Allmann is a student at RIT, and has no affiliation with Gallaudet University.

By Gloria Nathanson

A deaf audiologist may appear to be an oxymoron. People often ask, “Don’t you have to hear to do the job?” when I inform them that I am pursuing my AuD, a four-year clinical doctorate degree for audiology at Gallaudet University. I am also enrolled in the audiology PhD program and am almost done with the required course work. However, I am not the first deaf person in this program. Gallaudet has already graduated several other deaf people with audiology degrees. Currently, there are three other deaf students in the program and another deaf person is interested in enrolling this fall. In fact, one of the first documented hard of hearing audiologists, Dr. Mark Ross, has been practicing for over 40 years.

It is becoming less unusual to encounter deaf or hard of hearing audiologists. They are not limited in their scope of practice, deaf and hard of hearing audiologists have worked in various positions such as clinicians, clinic supervisors, private practitioners, professors, and researchers. Some choose to work for various hearing aids/cochlear implant companies. Last year the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) profiled some audiologists with hearing loss.

Many instruments are now available to visually show the outcomes of diagnostic tests for hearing, balance or the performance of listening devices. A recording can be used to administer the speech portion of the audiologic assessment, and if age appropriate, the client can write down what was heard or point to a picture board. Some prefer to evaluate their responses via assistive listening devices. However, there continue to be areas that pose a greater challenge for deaf and hard of hearing audiologists, such as listening checks of hearing aids. Many have found ways to compensate for this shortcoming. Some admit they use a hearing person to do the listening check, and others use ingenious home-made amplifiers.

People also wonder how deaf or hard of hearing audiologists communicate with their clients. Some rely on speaking, speechreading, and assistive listening devices. I elected to use an ASL interpreter. I was initially concerned about potential resistance from my clients or supervisors to my interpreter during internships but I am pleased to report that my fear proved to be unfounded, so far. In fact, there has always been a positive reception by my supervisors and clients upon learning about my deafness.

Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses (AMPHL) is a resource for people with a hearing loss who may be interested in thinking of becoming an audiologist (or for any other medical-related professions). There is plenty of advice as well as a listing of various universities that have graduated or currently have deaf and/or hard of hearing audiologists. Another organization, the Association of Audiologists with Hearing Loss has been a great organization for people like me to share tips on how they manage certain tasks. They currently have 57 registered members, including members from other countries. The organization estimates that there are over 70 audiologists and audiologists-to-be who are deaf or hard of hearing across the nation.

The last question people tend to ask, “Why audiology?” My response is that it makes the most sense to me. Audiologists work with deaf people, often providing the first contact for parents of deaf children and providing the earliest and most information. Why can’t deaf people work with deaf people? We are most likely able to empathize with others that are dealing with their own newfound deafness or parents of children who were just diagnosed with a hearing loss. What better person to see than an audiologist who truly understands?

Gloria Nathanson is a candidate for the AuD/PhD in Audiology degree at Gallaudet University. She graduated from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf in ‘95 and got her B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota. She was born deaf and ASL is her first language.

You’ll have to bear with me here. I know next to nothing about the technological aspects of vlogging (or even blogging for that matter), and thus lack the necessary technical vocabulary to easily discuss the topic. I am a mere writer. When I type a blog or a comment, I go where I’m told to go, type where I’m told to type, and click on the button I’m told to click on in order to send what I wrote. How the process actually works is beyond me.

I can, however, see what the rest of you see. Blogsites are apparently designed to utilize English text only. Mike McConnell’s blog is an excellent example. A growing number of what we formerly called “blogs” now focus on utilizing ASL-only “vlogging” technology. When there is a bilingual access on a single site, such as on a vlog with a section below for replies and remarks, equal linguistic access in the comment section does not exist. On all current websites that I know of—blog or vlog—one can reply only in English.

To illustrate this more clearly: please look at the comment sections below the vlogs of Carl Schroeder, Joey Baer, Amy Cohen Efron or Barb DiGi. Comments on their vlogs are allowed in English only (this is not the fault of the bloggers/vloggers—this merely reflects the capabilities of current technology). If I want to make an ASL vlog in reply to anything they communicate, as for example Aidan Mack often does (see the debate between Aidan Mack and Barb DiGi regarding the president of the NAD for a better idea of what I’m talking about); I can only do it from another website. I can’t reply with a vlog in the comment section under the original vlog I was responding to.

Now, what results from this reality? Several things: First, we have here a clear example of how technology can create the linguistic conditions necessary for hostile stereotyping. For example, suppose that the first language of a given commenter who wishes to reply to this blog is not English, but rather ASL. What do we make of the resultant grammatical errors that often show up in such comments? At the very least these errors can serve as reinforcement for the false—and possibly general—perception that ASL-using Deaf people are illiterate and stupid.

But imagine what would happen if the technological reverse were true instead. Suppose that it were easier (from a digital standpoint) to comment in vlogs than it was to comment in English text. Imagine that every comment below this blog was in fact a vlog in which various commenters signed their responses in their first language: ASL—a language they’re comfortable with, a language they don’t make as many (if any) grammatical errors in. What would happen to the public’s perception of ASL-using Deaf people then?

Would the nature of grammatical criticism change? My first language, for example, is English, and not ASL. I know that I cannot sign as well as Amy Cohen Efron and Carl Schroeder. If I wanted to debate one of their postings, how would I look in my vlog commentary, especially if my points are complicated and demand a high level of linguistic precision? The very nature of vlogging technology would not allow me to rely on my fluency in English. I would be in almost exactly the same boat as Deaf people who are not one hundred percent fluent in English (though they are perfectly literate in ASL).

In the title for this blog I made up a word: “bilingualizing.” I found it necessary to come up with a verb form of “bilingual” that is a bit more involved, a bit more active, than the phrase “making the _______ (website, field, comment section, etc) more bilingual.” The act of “bilingualizing” our websites demands of us an entirely new way of thinking, not only linguistically, but also technologically. The nearest conceptually accurate series of signs in ASL that I can think of for the term would be the signs “ASL” and “English” followed by the verb “merge.” But even those signs do not capture the concept I’m trying to communicate, because the true language needed to convey the term’s meaning is neither English nor ASL, but rather the language of digital programming.

To clarify that statement a bit, let me ask this: Is it possible to redesign the DeafDC.com website so that the comment section can receive vlog input? Right now the comment section can only receive English text. What would be needed for the conversion? What has to happen so that we can start seeing both capabilities (the capability to type in English text and vlog in ASL) in the same comment section? What technological changes would enable us to to scroll down and find that the top three comments are in English text, but the fourth comment is a vlog comment—say ninety seconds long? Followed by another three English comments, then another five ASL vlog windows…

What are the technical barriers in creating something like this? Are there storage capacity problems? Design problems? Something else? Can anyone explain? At this stage in the development of blogging and vlogging technology I highly doubt that the problem is one of linguistic discrimination; that is to say, the deliberate choice (on the part of the website designer) to deny readers the option of commenting with an ASL vlog. But as this technology develops, as data storage capacities increase, and when the capability finally becomes possible… someday linguistic discrimination might very well become a problem.

I think that the best way to ensure that it doesn’t is to understand what we’re dealing with from a design/programming perspective. What exactly goes into creating a vlogging window, and can this be done in the comment section? Why or why not? If not, will technological advances soon bring us to the point where this can happen? If so, approximately how far off (in terms of months, years, etc) is this capability?

And finally, as a community are we ready to level the playing field of blogging and vlogging in this manner? Are we prepared to overcome our own linguistic prejudices? Are there any current commenters whom we belittle and/or disregard only because they do not have the same grasp of English that we have? How would we perceive ourselves, our own literacy skills, if we commented on their vlog with our own ASL vlog? Are we as confident in our ASL skills as we are in our English skills? Are we prepared to face a similar level of heckling and criticism over our grammatical mistakes in ASL? And if we aren’t, then why do we continue to demean those who are not as skilled in English?

I want to make an admission. I can’t cook diddly-squat. I don’t know if it’s a geek thing or not — it’s just who I am. My partner’s the one who does all the wonderful cooking in our house. But there’s a way I can serve gourmet meals at home. You can do it too, especially if you want to impress someone (whether it be your partner, spouse, friend, or a special date) with a fancy home meal — without having to do the heavy cooking yourself. By doing it online at Let’s Dish!

Let’s Dish! is a chain of stores that help you prepare gourmet home-cooked meals — or, even better, they prepare these meals for you. Via the Let’s Dish! webpage, you can schedule an “In-Store Session” where you’d prepare large gourmet dishes at the store — which actually look like large kitchens.

Or if you’re like me, you could arrange for a “Dish-n-Dash” session where the store will prepare complete meals for you. Again via the Let’s Dish! webpage, you make your selections, schedule a pick-up time, and pay. All you need to do is to bring your (large!) cooler, and they’d load these meals in the cooler for you. Then you go home and put everything into your (hopefully spacious!) freezer. These meals come with detailed directions on how to warm them up and/or cook them.

One meal is enough to feed 4-6 people at one sitting. Now, imagine ordering a Dish-n-Dash with 4, 8, or 12 meals. Twelve friggin’ meals. Let’s say it’s just the two of you. One meal is enough for two or three dinners. Twelve meals, why, that’s an entire month of dinners! And best of all, if you do a Dish-n-Dash session, Let’s Dish! staff does all the work for you. All you need to do is find space in your freezer, and then warm up the meal (although some meals require some basic cooking).

What kind of meals are there? Well, let’s take a look at the May menu for the Gaithersburg store branch. (Yes, the menu changes every month.) Cheesy Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas, yum. Chicken Marinara, even better. Chile-Lime Grilled Chicken with Black Bean Salsa, now we’re getting warm. Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Rice, just dunk me with delight. Tandoori-style Chicken with Spiced Cous Cous, hmm, I know my partner’d love that. Coconut Curry Rice with Shrimp, what, they’re trying to curry favor with me — it’s working. And NINE more choices, including wraps, salmon, dessert, pork chops, calzones, and more.

There are Let’s Dish! branches all over the DC area. In Maryland, stores are in Baltimore, Bel Air, Columbia, Gaithersburg, and Rockville. In Virginia, you can find them in Alexandria, Ashburn (where’s that?), Fairfax, Leesburg, and Warrenton. There are also Let’s Dish! stores in Washington state, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts, with a location coming soon in Illinois. (I know, I ought to put those states in alphabetical order. I’m lazy, ok? That’s why I like Let’s Dish!)

Of course, all this costs money. It seems a bit steep at first. But when you think of each dish serving six people, then it’s really not that expensive. If you do an in-store session, it costs $170 for 8 meals ($3.54 per serving), or $215 for 12 meals ($2.99 per serving). If you do a Dish-n-Dash (like I do a couple times a year), then it costs $200 for 8 meals ($4.17 per serving), or $265 for 12 meals ($3.68 per serving).

The only downside is that these dishes do not come with side dishes. (What!!) You still gotta warm up the canned green beans or bake those frozen biscuits. Hmf.

Still, Let’s Dish! is a fantastic and easy way to bring gourmet meals into the home. Like I said, if you do a Dish-n-Dash, then all ordering and scheduling is done on-line. No fuss, no bother, no phone calls. Go check it out. And save some leftovers for me.

By Aaron Rose

The past two days have been sobering and shocking for the entire nation and the world as the Blacksburg community struggles to come to terms with the reality that 32 lives have been lost at the hand of a loner, only known to his English classmates as the “question-mark” kid. Knowing many students at Virginia Tech, I went to my AIM list to check on their profiles. I eventually learned that all my friends were okay, having been off-campus at the time of the shootings. I left them messages telling them my thoughts were with them, knowing there wasn’t much else I could do for them other than to offer my condolences.

Within the past 24 hours, 140,000 students have joined the Facebook group “A tribute to those who passed at the Virginia Tech Shooting.” I became one of these 140,000 students. Over 575 discussion topics have been posted with at least 10,000 responses. Nearly 1,000 images have been added to the group, most of them being variation of the same symbol, a black ribbon under the VT logo. Within many of those images includes the motto “Today we are all Hokies.” As you read this, more people continue to join this group.

The Web 2.0 revolution brought together hundreds of thousands of strangers together in memory of those who lost their lives, offering support and suggestions for various actions. One of the largest discussions I came across involved the presence of the Westboro Baptist Church, a “cult” famous for their picketing of military funerals across the country. Their website announced that they would make an appearance at the funerals of the Virginia Tech students killed in America’s worst school shooting.

It shocked me. How dare a church deem it necessary to declare its intentions to appear at the funerals of the victims in order to spout its vicious slogans of anti-homosexuals, anti-Americans, and anti-everything that is not God? According to Wikipedia, this church has no more than 150 members at the most, yet its congregants sear their presence into every aspect of American life every chance they get.

I failed to access their websites (which I wouldn’t dare repeat here), most likely due to the fact that so many people have become aware of their presence and started to access it all at the same time. At the same time, it’s heartening to know that so many people of different backgrounds would come together to protect however they could the families and friends of these victims of an event that will become known as the worst mass shooting by a single individual in American history.

At a time when millions of people are coming together across the country in their communities for vigils and memorials, the actions of a mere hundred have been thrust in the limelight, making more acidic the loss of 32 individuals from all walks of life. Could the actions of a hundred be overcome by the strong connection everyone has made with the Hokie community? I would hope so.

Aaron Rose is a soon-to-be alumnus of North Carolina State University with a degree in Marine Sciences. After three years of undergrad research in meteorology and oceanography, Aaron gave up on his ambitions to become a research scientist and now plans to go to graduate school for a Masters in Deaf Education. He is buggered by the fact his own deaf friends can’t teach him to sign properly. Aaron’s thoughts are with the Blacksburg community.