Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor Ms. Janet Merrick, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor at Maryland School for the Deaf; Mr. Edward Hartmann, Work/Study Program Coordinator ; and I have been instrumental in providing employment and exploratory opportunities in the area of work awareness. We perform major coordination functions and work cooperatively with community resource people to provide greater flexibility in and a broader range of school/ community resources. Robert D. Padden Career Education Coordinator Maryland School for the Deaf LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: Your editorial on the Gallaudet College Presidency in the December 1982 issue of the Annals was much appreciated and correctly identifies a critical leadership position in the field of deafness. However, I wish to point out an error in that editorial. None of Gallaudet's employees are in the Federal Civil Service as you stated. This is a common misconception of many people. Gallaudet 's faculty and nonfaculty both participate in the federal government retirement plan, from which the misconception stems. This participation in the federal retirement goes back to 1949 when a new public law reclarified Gallaudet 's status as a private institution. At that time federal retirement participation was offered as a special provision. Albert T. Pimentel Executive Director, NAD To the Editor: In response to your editorial in the February 1983 issue of A. A.D., please be advised that our postsecondary program for the deaf is slated to be phased out in June of this year. A number of factors have worked in concert to bring this about. Cutbacks in state funding in general, combined with low program utilization by vocational rehabilitation agencies finally made the program impossible to defend on a costbenefit basis. In the past few years, cost conscious vocational rehabilitation counselors have had to weigh the long term cost of a college education against the short term cost of an O.J.T. placement. Guess who wins? I am particularly saddened by this turn of events as our college had made an effort to service the deaf students who could not get into the regional and national programs. Where will these students go? Who cares? Arthur G. Jillette, ]r. Dean, Admissions & Instruction N.H. Voc/Tech College To the Editor: Since being president of a local social/athletic club of the deaf during the past 2 years, I have become more convinced about some of the needless ramifications of certain Social Security programs (excluding the Social Security Retirement Systems), namely, S.S.A., S.S.I., S.S.D.I, as described by Dr. McCay Vernon, Editor of the Annals and Mr. Peter Ripley, Superintendent of the Missouri School for the Deaf in a previous Annals issue. Although those programs have been beneficial to some of the recipients , the main thrust is neglect of typical American traits—independence and drive for employment. In fact, some of the recipients are still on the rolls since long before the present recession, though they are able-bodied, except for deafness. Their dependence on the regular checks has apparently weakened their possible intentions of re-seeking employment. The known fact that the deaf population, on the whole, is underemployed has no bearing on the traditional desire for wage or salary earnings. One college graduate, prior to the recession, mentioned that her Vocational Rehabilitation counselor encouraged her to join S.S.D.I, so as to continue her education throughout. Should this be true, then it discourages looking for port-time jobs as is done at any college. A position paper on that topic should be one of the concerns at the following CAID convention in Winnipeg, Canada this summer. Emanuel Golden Baltimore City Public Schools 374 A.A.D. / June 1983 ...