SHHH Boulder Chapter

February 2002 Newsletter

Feb 15, 2002

SHHH Boulder Chapter Newsletter-February 2002

SHHH COLORADO PUBLIC FORUM

Saturday, March 2, 2002
2 p.m.

College Hill Library, Room L 211
Front Range Community College Campus
3705 W. 112th Ave.
Westminster, Colorado

Our Speaker from SHHH National:

Tim Creagan, Director of Public Policy
"Together We Can make a Difference"

Presentation on SHHH involvement in state and national public policy on hearing loss. Information on hearing aid insurance legislation, telecommunications (digital telephones, etc.), movie captioning and other issues. See http://www.shhh.org Public Policy link

Real-Time Captioning and Induction Loop Sound System
provided by SHHH Boulder Chapter

Local Map and Directions inside this newsletter

Questions? E-mail Ann Pruitt, SHHH State Coordinator
(pruitta@boulder.lib.co.us)
Debbie Mohney, Asst. State Coordinator
(debbie@mountainocean.com)
Phone: Debbie 303-938-9659 voice



DIRECTIONS:
From the Boulder-Denver Turnpike, US 36 West: You can take either the Sheridan Blvd. or 104th Ave. exits, going to the east side of the Turnpike. The 104th/Church Ranch exit has less traffic. Go past the Butterfly Pavilion, turn left at Sheridan. Go to 112th Ave., turn right. Follow a short distance to the College Hill Library on the left side of the road. Large parking lot by building. Take first stairs inside to Room 211, large meeting room. Website for library map and information (http://www.westminster.lib.co.us/libmap.htm).

Quote of the month

History never looks like history when you are living through it.
--- John Gardner.

Ann Pruitt's News and Notes
SHHH Colorado State Coordinator

As you can see from the front cover, we have a big event coming up on March 2, Saturday afternoon! The SHHH Director of Public Policy, Tim Creagan, will be in Denver for a conference and is staying over to meet with Colorado SHHH members. We have rented a nice large meeting room at the College Hill Library in Westminster to provide a convenient location. Dave Conant made a test drive from Denver while I came from Boulder, and we agreed the facility is easy to get to, has a fantastic view of the Front Range, and will suit our needs. Boulder Chapter will install its induction loop system which works very well with a hearing aid telecoil, and real-time captioning will be provided....as well as some light refreshments.

The SHHH Journal, Hearing Loss, gives an indication of how busy Tim is as our Public Policy point man. Please read the "National Action" section, and see the Public Policy link on the national website, www.shhh.org. Tim's expertise extends from airline travel access to captioning, to hearing aid insurance, newborn hearing screening, Relay Services, telephone equipment, FCC rules,
the IDEA, Vocational Rehab., just about everything that involves our rights as hard of hearing people. He will focus on a few issues for his presentation, with a Q & A session afterwards. Please arrive early for some social time so that the meeting can start at 2 p.m. This is a great opportunity for all of us!

Local Legislation: This is an interesting time of advocacy and change regarding hearing loss for Colorado citizens. The new bill funding the Colorado Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, HB 1180, has its first committee hearing on Feb. 4th. The CCDHH hopes to use surplus Relay funds for telephone equipment distribution to low income people. We welcome the first Executive Director, B. J. Wood, who's invited to our March 2nd forum and the May 18th joint chapters meeting in Denver.

Another bill will be introduced supporting hearing aid legislation for children. For details, please contact Janet DesGeorges, President of Colorado Families for Hands & Voices, 303-492-6283.

Captioning Alert: There are many new films with open captions playing in Front Range cities through February and March. See www.tripod.org.

SHHH Conventions: June 21-24, 2002 in Seattle; 2003 will be in Atlanta, GA; 2004 in Omaha, Nebraska (!); 2005 in Washington., D.C. to celebrate our 25th anniversary.

Decoder for Sale?: I finally broke down and bought a new TV. Should I sell my "Telecaption 4000" decoder? They're still valuable, according to the ADCO store. What do you think?

SEE YOU ON MARCH 2ND IN WESTMINSTER! SUPPORT SHHH AND YOU! ?

Central Denver Chapter News

Our planned visit to ADCO (Assistive Communications Center) in Littleton has been rescheduled for April.

Instead for February, we will have a social get together with dining and dicussion and then a tour of a store that offers special devices for the hearing, visual and mobility impaired individuals.

Saturday, Feb. 16. Meet at 12:20 PM at Yanni's restaurant, located at 2223 S. Monaco Pkwy, just about 4 doors north of King Soopers. Lots of available parking! Yanni's specializes in Greek delights, which range in price from $8.00 to $10.00. Reservations are strongly encouraged so that the restaurant can set up seating for us in advance in a quieter area of the facility. (Call Dave Conant at 303-777-2279, by no later than 2/15/2002 to reserve.)

For those that wish, please join us in walking a few steps to "You Can-Too Can," a special needs store.

IMPORTANT NOTICE. We plan to have a combined meeting with the Boulder Chapter on Saturday, March 2. Details for this program are provided elsewhere in this newsletter. Because of this combined chapter program, we will NOT have any other meeting in March. This will be the ONLY ANNOUNCEMENT that you will receive for March.

DUES PAYABLE. YOUR 2002 DUES OF $10.00 may be submitted at our next meeting or mailed to Max Acosta at 17052 E. Eldorado Circle, Aurora, CO 80013-2041; make checks payable to: Central Denver SHHH, thank you.

OPEN-CAPTIONED MOVIE TITLE
LOCATION (See http://www.tripod.org for latest info)
DATES
NOTE: If you wish to get the latest e-mail updates on open-captioned movies in Colorado, please send e-mail to debbie@mountainocean.com to be added to the mailing list.

Colorado Springs
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Carmike Chapel Hills
February 26, 27
A Beautiful Mind
Carmike Chapel Hills
February 12, 13
Vanilla Sky
Carmike Chapel Hills
March 5, 6

Denver/Aurora
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Century Aurora
February 12, 13
Vanilla Sky
AMC Highlands Ranch
February 19, 20
Spy Game
AMC Highlands Ranch
February 12, 13
Lord of the Rings
AMC Highlands Ranch
March 5, 6

Boulder
Joe Somebody
CC Arapahoe Village
February 19, 20

Broomfield
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
AMC Flatiron Crossing
March 5, 6
I Am Sam
AMC Flatiron Crossing
March 19, 20

Greeley
Joe Somebody
UA Bittersweet
February 12, 13
Spy Game
UA Bittersweet
February 19, 20
Vanilla Sky
UA Bittersweet
February 26, 27

Debbie Mohney's Message

President, SHHH Boulder Chapter

Hi, Everyone! It's been a quiet 2002 so far, and I don't mean hearing loss quiet. Even though January is a busy month for me (I have year end accounting to do every year), I'm glad that January was a relatively calm month compared to the last 5 months. We've had some cold days and nights, and a little snow here and there, but really it hasn't been that bad. We even had good weather for our January meeting!

Our regular February meeting has been moved to Saturday, March 2, 2002 (location and time on first page) so that we can take advantage of a special meeting with Tim Creagan, Director of Public Policy for SHHH National. Tim is attending an Accessibility Forum in Denver at the end of February and has graciously agreed to spend some extra time in Denver to meet with our Colorado chapters. Please mark your calendars for this exciting meeting; Tim is an attorney and a wonderful speaker and yes, he is Hard of Hearing!

The next meeting after March 2, 2002, will be our regular March meeting, scheduled for Saturday, March 23, 2002. John Hayden has done his own research regarding digital cell phone/hearing aid compatibility and will share his findings with the chapter. This meeting will be back at the Boulder Library - Meadows Branch, 2-4 pm.

If you have been following the progress of the Colorado Commission on Deaf and Hard of Hearing, you have an opportunity to meet the commission at a DHH Gala on Saturday, March 9, 2002, 3 - 6 pm at the Event Center near the Old Bronco Stadium (see announcement in newsletter). Take this opportunity to meet the new Commission Director, BJ Wood and mingle with the DHH community.

Our January meeting went really well. We had a good turnout, including some folks from the Connections group, which is a social group for Hard of Hearing Adults based in South Denver. Everyone took turns telling about their hearing loss, and their connection to SHHH. Each story is so unique, yet we all seem to experience the same feelings about our hearing loss at one time or another. And the general feeling seems to be that everyone is glad that they found a SHHH chapter, we enjoy being around someone who understands what we are going through with our hearing loss.

We also talked to the Connections members about the possibility of forming a SHHH group. There has been interest expressed over the years about having a chapter south of Denver for people who would like to attend the Boulder chapter meetings but find it too far to come for regular meetings. Connections has social functions for HOH adults, and could very easily form a group so that they can benefit from SHHH and still have social gatherings. The main benefits from becoming affiliated with SHHH is that there are resources available in belonging to a national consumer group which helps further interests for the HOH population. Our telephones have now been hearing aid compatible for so long, we forget what had to come about to make that possible. SHHH works on national policy for improved rights, services, research and public awareness. For more information, you can access facts about SHHH at: http://www.shhh.org/about/facts.cfm. If you are interested in a group which would be accessible to people south of Denver and Castle Rock, please e-mail me at: debbie@mountainocean.com.

Please mark all of the events coming up on your calendar, and I hope to see you there!

DHH Community Gala

March 9, 2002
Saturday 3-6:00 p.m.

Event Center
2105 Decatur Street
Denver, CO 80211

North of old Mile High Stadium. Free parking
one block to Red Lion Hotel near Mile High Stadium

Hors d'oeuvres, coffee, lemonade and assorted hot tea.
Round tables, stage, 2 cash bars, and microphone with house speakers.
This will be a free, fun get together. Come celebrate our diverse DHH
community!

SHHH Boulder Chapter Mailing Labels
We do our best and sometimes we make mistakes. Those of you who have paid dues in the past two months may notice that your label does not reflect your dues payment. We apologize for this problem and have corrected this. Questions may be e-mailed to SHHHBoulder@yahoo.com or by calling Relay Colorado at 711 to give the Relay Colorado agent the TTY number 303-363-8917 to call.


HOH-LD-News, Vol. X, Issue 4, January 26, 2002

Limbaugh's Implant a Success

Rush Limbaugh announced on the air last Monday that his cochlear implant (CI) was successful beyond his hopes. He displayed a pretty good knowledge of the CI, how it works, how its "sound" is perceived by users, and what he should expect in the future. He reports that he was immediately able to converse one-on-one and to engage in a telephone conversation with his brother. He also stated that he wasn't able to understand speech very well in the presence of background noise, and that he intended to work on this skill. Limbaugh described the CI as a true medical miracle.

DIGEST OF THE NEWS

The February 2002 SILENT NEWS carried an article, "From Massachusetts to Colorado: BJ Wood Will Spearhead Colorado's Commission," on the new Executive Director of Colorado Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Barbara Jean "BJ" Wood. It sketches her early life as a hearing-impaired student mainstreamed in the public schools before she entered the Deaf world at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID). Through various twists and turns, she ultimately became director of Massachusetts's Office of Deafness under the auspices of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission. After 16 years as the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Deaf and Hard of Hearing, she's now embarking on a new beginning here in Colorado. Reprints of the article giving further details will be given out at the upcoming SHHH meeting.

You are invited to come to
Dove-Advocacy Services for Abused Deaf Women and Children
Town Hall Meeting

Saturday, Feb 16, 2002
Denver Public Library (14th and Broadway)

In the basement
1 p.m. until 4 p.m.

Free Refreshment/drinks!

Have you or know someone who had trouble with the police? Court system? Hospital? Are you afraid of crimes in your neighborhood?

We want to hear from you!

For who: any members of the Deaf and Hard of hearing community who have experienced being a victim of crime or see their friends being a victim.

What does victim of crimes mean?
--been hurt by another person (crimes of violence)
--someone breaks in your house (property crimes)
--rape or sexual assault
--murder
--kidnapping (children/adult)

Why: The meeting will help Dove to create services and to work with the victim assistance program (police, court system and hospitals) to improve their services. It will give you an opportunity to "voice" your frustrations/issues to the police, court system and hospital.

If you have been a victim of crime or know someone who was a victim of crime, we want to hear your inputs.

Tentative Agenda:
Introduction
Purpose of the meeting
Share your issues:
Communication access
Law enforcement-police
Legal System-court, victim advocate program, District Attorney's office
Victim Services
Questions/Answers
Next step

This event is sponsored by:
* Denver Victim Services 2000
* City and County of Denver Commission for People with Disabilities-Deaf Services
* Human Services Inc. Interpreting Referral Program
* CRID Legal Interpreting Committee

For more information:

Jennifer Pfau, Director
Ami Garry, Community Advocacy Coordinator
303.831.7932 TTY
303.433.3013 FAX
DenverDeafDove@aol.com .

HOH-LD-News, Vol. X, Issue 4, January 26, 2002

FCC Protects ALD Spectrum

HOH-LD News Editor: The FCC recently acted to protect the 216 -217 MHz band used by assistive listening devices (ALDs). This is great news for the hearing loss community. Those of you who took the time to express your support for this action should be proud of your role in making this happen. Here's the announcement from the FCC and a link to the full document.

The item elevates the status of the Low Power Radio Service, which includes auditory assistance [AA], from secondary to primary in the 216-217 MHz band. This means that no secondary service, and later-licensed primary services, must protect AA from harmful interference. The FCC also specifically said that they will allow no more wildlife telemetry operations in the 216-217 MHz band, for fear of interference with AA. The FCC also rejected a suggestion from MOBEX to auction the 216-217 MHz band, and have the auction winner relocate AA to higher bands. This is all good news, and no further action is necessary. This item came out very strongly in favour of the ADA and AA.

This News Release and R&O and MO&O can be viewed in its entirety on the FCC's website at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/News_Releases/2001/nret0108.txt

How to Get Open-Captioned Movies to Your Area

Kindly forward the request to Tripod Organization at meghan@tripod.org for the following current and future films:

Collateral Damage (with Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Rollerball
Kate and Leopard
Ocean's Eleven
Return to Neverland (sequel to "Hook")
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

Remember one person is as good as NOTHING. More people sending requests, more merry people are! If you know any future films that you would like to see with open-captioned, let us know so we can include in the future announcements. Send the email to om@pcisys.net Again, many thanks for your support! (Oliver Markwirth from DeafNewsofColo@aol.com)

Relay Colorado - New Features

Greetings Everyone! Great news! We have implemented new features for Relay Colorado.

1. Caller ID
(RELAY COLORADO OPERATOR ####F (YOUR CALLER ID WILL SEND) NUMBER CALLING PLS GA)

2. Caller ID blocking macros (You can request Operator not to send your phone number)

3. Dialed Number verification (DIALING 303-###-####, ringing 1...2...)

4. Dedicated VoiceCarry-Over (VCO) 800 access--it is 877-659-8260.

In few days, you will be getting more information on Caller ID. Thanks!

Mitchell Rex Moers, Account Manager
Sprint Relay - Relay Colorado & Wyoming Relay
1099 18th Street, Suite 1400, Denver, Colorado 80202

TTY: 1-800-230-8609
Voice: 303-801-3813
Fax: 303-801-3868

END OF FILE.