Dear Friends,

The latest fundrasing action by the Gallaudet University in connection
with the Sorenson Language and Communication Center shows they're not
getting the message from the deaf society that American Sign Language
has a place in the future of deaf society.

The National Center on Disability and Access to Education has released
tips and tools on web captioning last December. It is very important
that deaf "vloggers" as video-bloggers make their messages accessible
to the hearing society if they wish to demonstrate that American Sign
Language has a place in the future of deaf society. If the deaf
society wants the hearing society to appreciate American Sign
Language, then they're going to have to include the hearing society in
their audience by making their vlogs accessible to them. More
information about web captioning down the newsletter.

We are excited to announce were getting a third heavy duty copy
machine donated to us this coming Monday. This will enable us to mass
produce deaf awareness and safety education materials. We can now put
them up on our ebay store for others to get them and educate their
local communities.

Deaf Awareness Education Booklets
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230096171410

Deaf Safety Education Booklets
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230096174819

Come join us for a special shopping day on May 11, 2007 at Community
Shopping Day at Macy's South Coast Plaza. Tickets are $10 each and
entitles ticket holders to a 15%-20% off of almost everything* at
Macy's South Coast Plaza plus a chance to win a $500.00 Macy's
shopping spree. Please see flyer and order form at
http://www.deafadvocacy.org/events/MacysCSD2007.pdf for more
information on the event and purchasing tickets.

We are getting ourselves ready for the big education campaign of 2007
with the kickoff at the Orange County Mixer in March.

We still have the 14 month 2007 English-Spanish-ASL calendars for sale
now. Check our ebay catalog item
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230057779149?refid=store
and they make great gifts.! We're down to about 50 calendars left.

We still have a huge stock of American Sign Language Alphabet
Placemats this year we wont run out like we did last year.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230053135704?refid=store
and they also make great gifts too.

Do your shopping at our eBay store today! Lots of NEW products for
the deaf, and blind, and other disabilities. We also have products
for people with Cochlear Implants and people who need FM systems.
Remember your parents, grand parents, brothers, sisters, family
members, co-workers who need adaptive equipment. Employers can shop
here for equipment and accessories for their hearing impaired workers.
Stop by http://stores.ebay.com/OCDAC-Adaptive-Equipment-and-More
today to start your shopping. We have a lot of stuff that can reduce
the risk of ADA lawsuits.

We plan a very rich, wholesome, cheerful, and memorable contribution
to the Deafnation Expo experience this coming April in Pomona. You all
be wary of anyone sending or forwarding out emails telling we're doing
something abominable there. Last year we made a positive and memorable
impact on the future deaf generation and this year, we will do it
again. And we will repeat this again until the event.

OCDAC Communications
ocdac@...
http://www.deafadvocacy.org/img/keycard.jpeg

-------------< INSIDE NEWS >

COWABUNGA! We bring great news this week as we got the official invite
to have a booth at the Orange County Fair this year. This is a 3 week
long deafness awareness and education program. We educate tens of
thousands of people who we are, what we do, and how they can help us.

New Face-To-Face equipment coming soon! Text messenger walkee-talkees
are an incredible breakthrough in technology and cost for face-to-face
communication equipment. These $40 a pair devices beat those (
Interpretype and Ubiduo ) that cost about $2000!!!!! They have the
appearance of the Sidekick II communication devices. Long Live Morton
Warnow!

With our subscribership from the international communities increasing
at a steady pace, we wish to make this newsletter accessible to them
and the easiest way to accomplish this is by directing them to
http://www.babelfish.altavista.com/ and entering
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocdacnewsletter/ in the website
translation box and the babelfish will help our international
subscribers become strong advocates for the deaf and disability
communities.

This weekly newsletter is now available in print form to be mailed out
each week. The price is going to be $90 per year for the print
version and the price is highly reasonable due to it's very rich deaf
and disability advocacy content and very little advertising. This
still beats out the other deaf print news that are chock full of
distracting advertisements. They are now available in other
alternative formats like floppies, braille, and in large print for
people with vision impairments. For more information, please email
ocdac@...

Our Campbell's product label collection campaign to help us raise the
means to get supplies for our office is producing results. Start
saving your Campbells product labels today and mail them to us on the
first week of each month. We have aproximately 1600 subscribers and
if each one of them accumulates and sends us 900-1000 labels a month,
we'd be able to get lots of new equipment for our office and internal
and external education programs! Lets get those labels coming. Our
big thanks to those who sent in their labels.

-------------< ANNOUNCEMENT >

Take a look and bookmark our new search page!
http://www.deafadvocacy.org/search.html It's a good source of
information you can use.

-------------< OUTSIDE NEWS PART 1/3 >

National Council on Disability to Study Vocational Rehabilitation
National Council on Disability is slated to begin an assessment of the
implementation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, as amended, authorizes the Department of Education's
Vocational Rehabilitation program, which provides federal funds to
help persons with disabilities become employed, more independent, and
integrated into the community. Most of the federal funds are passed to
state vocational rehabilitation agencies that directly provide
services such as guidance, counseling, and job placement, as well as
purchase services such as therapy and training from other providers.
Now, perhaps more than ever, effective vocational rehabilitation (VR)
programs are necessary. Those responsible for decisions about the
state-federal VR programs need information about how people with
disabilities are being served and what works. Individuals with
disabilities are more likely to be unemployed or living in poverty
than are those without disabilities. But many individuals, especially
those with severe disabilities, are also in need of education, skill
training, and other assistive services to prepare them to take
advantage of work opportunities.

Youre welcome to share your positive and negative experiences with
Vocational Rehabilitation and we will file the information with the
National Council on Disability for you.

-------------< CALIFORNIA DEAFIE HAPPENINGS >

COME TO OUR MEETUPS!

The Orange County American Sign Language Meetup Group -
http://asl.meetup.com/37/ - and the he Orange County Deaf & Hearing
Impaired Meetup Group http://deaf.meetup.com/38/ meets each 3rd
Fridays of the month.

Come to our meetup on March 16, 2007.

The Orange County American Sign Language & Orange County Deaf &
Hearing Impaired Meetup.

When:
Friday, March 16, 7:00 PM

Where:
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
17595 Harvard Ave #B
Irvine, CA
(949) 660-1332

What:
Meet the 2 meetups

-------------< ANNOUNCEMENT >

See what we offer at Ebay!
http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=ocdac

-------------< DEAF GRAPEVINE >

Gallaudet Accreditation at Risk

By Sarah Karush
The Associated Press
Wednesday, February 21, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The nation's only liberal arts university for the
deaf could lose its accreditation unless it addresses concerns about
weak academic standards, ineffective governance and a lack of
tolerance for diverse views, an education oversight group warned.

Gallaudet University was rocked by student demonstrations last fall
that shut down the university for several days and forced the board to
revoke the appointment of a new president.

Afterward, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education said it
was delaying a decision on whether to renew the school's accreditation
because of concerns raised during the protests and because of a 2005
federal report that rated Gallaudet "ineffective." The federal Office
of Management of Budget this month gave Gallaudet an improved
evaluation, to "adequate."

A letter from the commission, dated Jan. 13 and disclosed this week,
summarized the issues the university must address to retain its
accreditation. Commission Vice President Linda A. Suskie said the fall
protests raise questions about the university's governance and whether
the board is out of touch.

University spokeswoman Mercy Coogan said interim president Robert
Davila had shared the letter with campus leaders, who were addressing
its concerns. The university must submit a supplemental report by
March 1, and further action is likely at the commission's next meeting
in June.

Protests over the selection of Jane Fernandes as president shut down
the campus at times before her appointment was revoked in October.
Some protesters accused campus police of using excessive force.

"The extent of the fall protests and repeated allegations of violence
and intimidation raise grave concerns" about whether the university
fosters respect for different views, Suskie wrote.

Reached by e-mail Wednesday, Suskie declined to comment, citing
commission policy.

Gallaudet receives more than $100 million annually from the federal
government. Its graduation rates have consistently been below 50 percent.

Seeking accreditation by any of the dozens of private accrediting
agencies recognized by the government is voluntary. But accreditation
signals that a school meets certain basic standards and is required
for students to be eligible for federal financial aid.

Source: Copyright 2007 The Associated Press

-------------< BULLETIN >

National Center on Disability and Access to Education Tips and Tools :
Web Captioning

The following is a brief introduction to the principles and potential
challenges of captioning for the web. It is meant to be a starting
point, not a definitive guide to captioning.

http://ncdae.org/tools/factsheets/captioning.cfm

-------------< ANNOUNCEMENT >

Take a look and bookmark our new search page!
http://www.deafadvocacy.org/search.html It's a good source of
information you can use.

-------------< OUTSIDE NEWS PART 2/3 >

Long Waiting Periods For Disability Determinations Must End

Urge Congress To Fully Fund Social Security Administration

http://capwiz.com/thearc/issues/alert/?alertid=9418686

-------------< DEAF QUOTES >

"I asked a supervisor at Spirit's ticket counter, 'How do we know
where to go because the monitors are not showing gate departures?' "
said Kathy Karolski

-------------< ANNOUNCEMENT >
Do you shop at Albertsons or Sav-on stores? You can get a free
community partners card at those stores and then add it to our list of
supporters. A percent of what you buy will go to helping our Deaf
youth program. If you already have a school or other program that you
are supporting, don't worry, you can add your card to support our
program too! It doesnt cost you anything more than your purchases to
be a supporter. There are two ways to add your card. You can email
your First and Last name with your phone number and community partners
card number to ocdac@... or you can download and print
our Albertsons / Sav-on Community Partners signup forms at
http://www.deafadvocacy.org/community/AlbertsonsSignup.pdf and have
your friends, neighbors, associates, and relatives sign up as
supporters and then mail the form to the address on the form. To reach
our funding goal we need 25,000 supporters who shop at Albertsons /
Sav-on. And remember to use your community partners card when you shop
at Albertsons or Sav-on.

-------------< COMMUNITY BULLHORN >

Cochlear Implants Divide Deaf Community

Ritchie Bryant is a deaf American Sign Language instructor who feels
he doesn't need a cochlear implant to improve his life. Makenzie
McGuire is a first-grader who can't imagine life without her two
cochlear implants.

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/21235/

-------------< OUTSIDE NEWS PART 3/3 >

ADAPT heads back to the nation's Capitol

Our will be in DC Saturday, April 28, to Thursday, May 3rd, and we
need you there with us.
We will be taking our call to end the institutional bias and free our
people to the doorsteps of our nation's movers and shakers.

http://www.adapt.org/bulletin.htm

-------------< LETTERS >

Hey Richard,

We need help.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission has made big changes in their
services and after April 2007 and most persons with disabilities will
not be able to challenge their rights through the OHRC as in the
past. Complainants will have to pay for their own lawyers in the future.

Mick Tallory

-------------< EPILOG >

If you wish to contribute to this newsletter, feel free to send in
news, stories, and opinions relating to the disability community. Your
support in this effort to move the disability community forward will
be greatly appreciated. We will continue to aggressively pursue
justice, fairness, and equality for the disability community as it has
been doing since November 1996. We have chosen
that EDUCATION is the best way to accomplish this objective.

The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center is a community based
organization that puts people with disabilities first in their
advocacy for equal opportunities in safety, health, and productive living.

The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center provides services for disabled
individuals and their families in our community who need help in
navigating the social services maze. Every day people go without
proper food, shelter, and essential medical care every day due to a
variety of factors including low wages, job loss, injuries, illness,
age, domestic violence, or divorce. While all of us are susceptible to
hard times, disabled individuals are at the most risk. With the
generous support of people like you, we are able to help many of these
families and individuals not only to meet essential daily needs, but
to work toward a brighter future with programs in job training,
education, counseling, elderly assistance, and temporary housing.

Feel free to forward this email message to anyone and any of your
personal mailing lists so we can get the important messages out far
and wide and encourage them to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

DISCLAIMER: The OCDAC Newsletter is designed to share information of
interest to people with disabilities, their friends, associates, and
relatives and promote advocacy in the disability community.
Information circulated herein does not necessarily express the views
of The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. The OCDAC Newsletter is
non-partisan. OCDAC Newsletter does not sell advertising space.

Fair use in teaching and research

The 1976 Copyright Act provides important exceptions to the rights of
the copyright holder that are specifically aimed at nonprofit
educational uses of copyrighted works and libraries. Two provisions of
the copyright statute are of particular importance to teachers and
researchers: a provision that codifies the doctrine of "fair use,"
under which limited copying of copyrighted works without the
permission of the owner is allowed for certain teaching and research
purposes; and provision that establishes special exemptions for the
reproduction of copyrighted works by libraries and archives. The "fair
use" doctrine embodied in the Fair-Use Statute Section 107 of the 1976
Copyright Act, allows reproduction and other uses of copyrighted works
under certain conditions for purposes such as criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship or research for educational and research purposes.

Our physical address is 2960 Main Street suite #100, Irvine California
92614 and this email is in compliance with CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

To subscribe to this newsletter go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocdacnewsletter/ or send a blank email
to ocdacnewsletter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com