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http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3204093
Twelve hearing-impaired students at Utah State University have filed a claim alleging the school's failure to provide them with interpreters violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.
In a notice of intent to sue, the students further allege that rather than address a lack of sign-language interpreters, USU administrators actions further isolate, segregate and exclude students who are deaf.
The students want the same access to education provided hearing students, said Dale Boam, an attorney with Armknecht & Cowdell P.C., a Sandy law firm representing the students.
"They want their success or failure to depend on their own [academic] abilities, not whether they're able to get effective communication services for their classes," he said.
If USU fails to respond with specific plans to solve the problem within 60 days, the students are prepared to move forward with a lawsuit, Boam said.
"We understand their frustration," said Diane Baum, director of the USU Disability Resource Center. "It's a systemic problem. . . . There's a shortage of certified interpreters not only in Utah but across the nation."
Baum says USU has 15 hearing-impaired students, five interpreters and six note takers. It needs three more certified full-time and at least five part-time interpreters, but she has the money to hire just one.
The 12 students' claim alleges that rather than hire more interpreters, USU relies on the note takers or urges students to register only for the limited number of classes in which the school can provide interpreters.
These classes aren't necessarily classes they need for their majors, Boam said.
"Some of the students have said their graduation was postponed because they were not able to take the classes they needed within the proper time frame."
USU's need for more interpreters is nothing new.
Former USU President Kermit Hall acknowledged in a Sept. 17, 2004, letter to Kelli Fletcher - one of the 12 students who filed the claim - that he shares her "frustration and concerns" about the shortage of interpreters at USU.
Hall noted that he had made direct appeals to the Legislature for more funding for sign-language interpreters.
Twelve hearing-impaired students at Utah State University have filed a claim alleging the school's failure to provide them with interpreters violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.
In a notice of intent to sue, the students further allege that rather than address a lack of sign-language interpreters, USU administrators actions further isolate, segregate and exclude students who are deaf.
The students want the same access to education provided hearing students, said Dale Boam, an attorney with Armknecht & Cowdell P.C., a Sandy law firm representing the students.
"They want their success or failure to depend on their own [academic] abilities, not whether they're able to get effective communication services for their classes," he said.
If USU fails to respond with specific plans to solve the problem within 60 days, the students are prepared to move forward with a lawsuit, Boam said.
"We understand their frustration," said Diane Baum, director of the USU Disability Resource Center. "It's a systemic problem. . . . There's a shortage of certified interpreters not only in Utah but across the nation."
Baum says USU has 15 hearing-impaired students, five interpreters and six note takers. It needs three more certified full-time and at least five part-time interpreters, but she has the money to hire just one.
The 12 students' claim alleges that rather than hire more interpreters, USU relies on the note takers or urges students to register only for the limited number of classes in which the school can provide interpreters.
These classes aren't necessarily classes they need for their majors, Boam said.
"Some of the students have said their graduation was postponed because they were not able to take the classes they needed within the proper time frame."
USU's need for more interpreters is nothing new.
Former USU President Kermit Hall acknowledged in a Sept. 17, 2004, letter to Kelli Fletcher - one of the 12 students who filed the claim - that he shares her "frustration and concerns" about the shortage of interpreters at USU.
Hall noted that he had made direct appeals to the Legislature for more funding for sign-language interpreters.