RIP

Miss Deaf Texas killed by train
Associated Press

Austin, Tex. — The reigning Miss Deaf Texas died Monday afternoon after being struck by a train, officials said.

Tara McAvoy, 18, was walking near railway tracks when she was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said. A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn right up until the accident occurred.

Does anyone know anything about this? I mean, it's just, the hearing people may look at this and accept it without question, but just because she's Deaf doesn't mean she wouldn't feel the rumbling of the train, you know. And she just stood there? I can feel the subway going by from a block away. And you can feel the sound waves, see the animals back off... Maybe I'm in denial. I didn't know her, but this is terrible.

If there is more to this and nobody investigates, it will be a national tragedy. My heart goes out to the family and friends of this young Deaf woman. She was a Gallaudet student and member of the girl's basketball team in 2005. I believe she may have been a student at my alma mater, too.

But seriously - I hope there's a full investigation. She deserves at least that much.

Things have improved with the W. and I am very happy. Heart thudding in chest, etc. Now if I can just manage to find a really cheap house in the country... for getaways, you understand, I'm not leaving New York food permanently no matter what negative things my friend erfo says about it... big thanks to her and General Jen for being supportive babes.

In other news, Deaf people yet again lead the way to a new understanding of humanity:

Certain basic characteristics of grammar present in all languages are built into the workings of the human brain, US researchers have claimed.

By studying the gesture communication of deaf children who where never taught a conventional sign, spoken or written language, researchers at the University of Rochester found examples for some of the same rules of grammar every other language uses.

I had heard that most of the Nicaraguan Sign Language was ASL and they really picked it up from a travelling Deaf person and took off. Is this an urban myth of the Deaf community? Anyone who can comment on this feel free - I really wanna know!

Lucky; I wish I was in Bristol again:

NORTH West Vision (NWV) has given £70,000 of grants to a variety of projects in Cumbria, including a scheme for disabled and deaf film making talent.

The money has come from the Heritage, Access to Film and Audience Development programme. It will help screen films for audiences in rural communities and assist with rescuing and preserving moving images, as well as support Kendal’s international film festival.

Are there any film scholarships for Deaf people in the US? I don't think so - the biggest scholarship distributor I've heard of has to be the A.G. Bell association, which I feel weird about. Spot why?