Signatures Repeal RID's Spanish policy Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]

#	First Name	Last Name	State	Country	Comments
101	Ellie	Purvis	CA	US
102	Laura	Jepma
103	Lily	Pacheco
104	Shonna	Pareja	FL	US	How is this any different than those who discriminate against the deaf? I thought we were working for equality. With membership dues alone RID brings in $600,000 from certified members ($115 x 5218 certified members)annually and RID can't budget a fraction of that for Spanish interpreters? Please think over this unfair and uncivilized position towards the Hispanic population.
105	Susan	Peterson	CA	US
106	Jennifer	Lohman	MN	US	All it takes is ONE [person] in need to facilitate communication. That ONE [person] is just as important as 25, right? RIGHT!
107	Ella	Lentz	CA	US	I believe RID should reconsider its policy and make it more friendly for Spanish speaking interpreters to participate and share. I understand and sympathize with the financial and availability concerns and hope RID will come up with a better solution.
108	Rhonda	Jacobs	MD	US	It is outrageous that our national organization, one which purports to be a national leader and role model in the provision of interpreting services would exclude its own members. How many times have we had to answer to the infamous "but there's only one Deaf person" retort? And now you are proposing to do the same thing?! This is completely and emphatically unacceptable, and if this policy is allowed to stand, I can forsee a substantial number of members withdrawing their memberships. I implore the board and conference committee - do the right thing.
109	Karen	Atwood	WA	US	Accessibility = freedom
110	Molly	McGuire	WA	US
111	Sarah	Brannigan	CA	US
112	Keith	Wann			This needs to be repealed. Denying members equal access has no price...!
113	Jennifer	Weiler
114	samuel	serna	WA	US	I agree with the statement above"If carried out, this policy will undermine years of progress among Latino interpreters and our allies to promote professional development and acceptance within RID for all." If we plant a small tree we would need to nurture it in it's early stages til it can grow to stature and stand tall.
115	Janet	Johanson	OR	US	It ill behooves us to suppress others in the same way others have suppressed us. I am truly ashamed.
116	Alice	Harrigan	MA	US	The language divide in the United States is growing, and not only in those states historically high in bilingual populations, but throughout the country. Spanish is a language that is being recognized on political, public and private levels as a vital link to an ever growing segment of our populace. As an organization whose mission and philosophy recognizes the experience of minority language users, it is imperative that we include the community of trilingual interpreters in our discourse. AVLIC has been struggling with quatralingual concerns since its inception. We can learn from them.
117	Wanda	Burki
118	Wanda	Burki	GA	US
119	James	Wiggins	MA	US	I think it is unthinkable that members my community are being left out of the event...this kind of thing should never happen.
120	Jody	Mayer	WA		I am appalled that this organization is doing to one community, Spanish speakers, exactly what it is advocating for for the Deaf and HoH communities. Should this policy continue, I will need to rethink my membership. Jody Mayer, CI/CT Seattle, WA
121	Lucy	Annett	MA	US
122	Maria	Santiago		PR
123	Mariana	Figueroa		PR
124	Norman	Rosado		PR
125	Paula	Gajewski Mickelson	MN	US	This decision by RID is a huge disappointment and discredits all of the work that has been done to date to make our conferences and organization accessible to Spanish speaking members. Thank you for offering this avenue for voicing concerns.
126	Mary	Eastman		PR	Since Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, and Spanish is the most commonly spoken language here, interpreters of the deaf here work between Spanish and ASL, and occasionally English. Due to the huge need for professional development amongst the interpreters from Puerto Rico, RID is making a huge mistake in blocking access to the valuable information offered at the conferences and in VIEWS. RID should, by now, recognize the huge need for tri-lingual interpreters in the U.S. mainland as well. Colorado, for example, has a huge Spanish-speaking population. Hearing parents who speak Spanish need tri-lingual interpreters at their deaf children's I.E.P. meetings. If RID is progressive minded, it would recognize the present and future need of Spanish language interpretation at its conferences, and in the magizine VIEWS.
127	Mariela	Torres	GA	PA	We need message to go throw everybody without descrimination of language. The spanish community is growing and we liked to be involved
128	Mariela	Torres	GA	PA	I believe that spanish community is growint and is right to
129	Jordan	Nassar	TX	US	Spanish is important in many communities, especially with the onset of latin american immigration. Include the latin american deaf -- but they need to know about these services if they're going to be a part of your world.
130	Cindy	Dzimian
131	Laurie	Swabey
132	Valerie	Bernham			RID, please be inclusive, pave the way, be a true leader, be responsive to RID's own members whose dues has been gladly accepted!
133	Jose	Quinones	IL	US
134	Evelyn	Shields		US
135	Karen	Mueller-Harder	VT	US	I think it's vital to provide access to Spanish-speaking members, regardless of how many attend. A compromise, similar to how Deaf people have to plan, would be for people to sign up for which sessions they will be attending ahead of time, and provide interpreting for those.
136	Angela	Roth	FL	US	Personally and professionally opposed to any reversal in Spanish language services provided at National Conferences.
137	Autumn	Saulisberry	CA
138	Robin G.	Burgess	SC	US	It is unconscienable that NRID would take a position that disenfranchises trilingual interpreters and the population that they serve. Perhaps you new mission statement along with the revised Code of Ethics should be "Se habla ingles SOLAMENTE en NRID porque las otras idiomas no tienen valores y entonces no valen las penas.
139	Robin G.	Burgess	SC	US	I think that is is unconsionable that NRID would adopt a position that would disenfranchise the trilingual interpreter membership and the population that they serve. Perhaps the new mission statement sholud be "Se habla ingles SOLAMENTE en NRID porque las otras idiomas no tienen valores y no valen las penas para usar.
140	Dan	Parvaz	FL	US	It's a shame that RID has decided to turn back the clock like this.
141	Elizabeth	Hanlon	MT	US	In my work as an educational interpreter, in K-12 as well as postsecondary settings, I have met and worked with several students who live in a unique and complex linguistic world: a home language of spoken Spanish; a school language of spoken and written English; some sort of signed communication as a means to instruction. The numbers of these students continue to grow in this country -- students who have the right to education access and students who need the opportunity to learn about their families' rich and honorable culture. Interpreters can be the bridge that makes this possible. I urge RID to provide Spanish language interpreting at the 2005 National Convention in acknowledgement of the right to communication access for D/deaf and hard of hearing Latinos in the U.S.
142	Luz Iraida	Avilés		PR	En Puerto Rico queremos que haya traductor en español, somos latinos y nuestro lenguaje es el Español.
143	Bethzabel	Valle		PR
144	Tammera	Richards	WA	US	Tri-lingual interpretation should absolutely be provided - especially since the PR chapter pays dues to this organization.
145	Benjamin	Zapata	FL	US
146	Mara	Kamerer
147	Nicole	Montagna	CA	US	Providing Spanish interpretation at the conference is an investment in diversity. Translate the Views, JOI and conference proceedings too! Let's fundraise for it!
148	Sonia	Dalton	WI	US
149	Vicky	Rodríguez		PR
150	Gilberto	García		PR