Jlofie P'utaMcutcU' GenteM
1 * * OF BRAZOS VALLEY
6B
Thursday, February 5, 2004
NEWS
THE BATTALION
YOU COULD HAVE AN STD
AND NOT KNOW IT!
IF YOU'RE SEXUALLY ACTIVE YOU ARE
AT RISK - EVEN IF YOU ARE USING CONDOMS.
STD Testing - Free & Confidential
Call our Registered Nurse to make an appointment
695-9193
205 Brentwood, College Station
More universities are recognizing
sign language as a foreign language
By Jamie Malernee
KRT CAMPUS
4980 Dilly Shaw Tap Rd. Bryan TX, 77808 1-800-364-7232
From computer parts to
complete systems...
We’ve got you covered.
witfi a different
rina to it.,
_ /
• Sterling Silver
Pendants w/Chain
exclusively at..
The TMflce to tall* about
a x F Bell
Collection
3812 S. Texas Ave. • Bryan • 846-1448
1 light North of Luhy’s next to Sherwin Williams
Monday - Saturday 10-6
Many other styles
to choose from
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ She is
talking a mile a minute, but no words come
out of her mouth.
She’s giving a report on Beethoven, yet
the entire classroom is silent.
Jessica House is a junior at South
Plantation High in. the midst of earning an
important grade for her American Sign
Language class. Her hands turn, flip, brush,
slap and point as she makes her meaning
known, eyebrows arching. She is one of a
growing number of students who are choos
ing to learn the language of the deaf instead
of more traditional foreign-language options
such as Spanish and French.
“I get really into it. I disappear into
another world when I sign,” House says,
explaining why she and other hearing stu
dents are drawn to the class. “It’s like danc
ing with your hands.”
In 1977, South Plantation was the first
Broward public high school to offer
American Sign Language, but it wasn’t rec
ognized as a foreign-language alternative
until 1990. Now 11 high schools in the area
have ASL classes. Six public high schools
offer ASL in Palm Beach County, where
enrollment has more than doubled in the past
six years. In Miami-Dade, 14 schools offer
ASL to about 1,680 students, although only
four of those schools cater to hearing pupils.
Nationwide, ASL is also the fastest-
growing foreign-language offering at U.S.
colleges and universities. Since 1998, 186
new institutions have started offering ASL _
for a total of 234 higher-learning establish
ments serving 60,000 students, according to
a 2002 survey by the Modem Language
Association of America.
Jennifer McGonigle-Collins, 31, was
exposed to South Plantation High’s program
as a student, went on to study the language
in college, and now is the school’s only ASL
Cathy Oshrain shows a sign to one of her
American sign language students at North
MIKE STOCKER • KRT CAMPUS
Miami Beach High School, in Florida, on Jan.
8, 2004.
teacher. To meet the high demand for class
es, she teaches seven periods straight with
no planning break. She’s often on campus
from 6:30 a.m. until 5:30 at night and was
recently selected as a finalist for the dis
trict’s Teacher of the Year.
“I feel like I’m giving back what was
given to me,” she says. “To see (students)
get to a Level 2 or 3 and want to be an inter
preter or a deaf teacher, that is so amazing
because what you’ve done in such a short
amount of time is change their life.”
Many of McGonigle-Collins’ students
admit they initially took ASL because
they’ve heard the class was a simple way to
satisfy the foreign-language requirements
needed to get into many colleges. Although
some universities still don’t recognize ASL
as a foreign language, the number that do is
growing.
“I’m Italian and we always talk without
hands, so I thought it would be easy,” jokes
Cassie Rampone, 14.
But in McGonigle-Collins’ class, they
quickly learn ASL involves a lot more than
memorizing signs. ASL has its own gram
mar that shuffles word order and omits ot
“glosses over" certain words such as “and"
or “is.” For example, you wouldn’t say/Tm
a junior at South Plantation High,” you’d
say, “Junior, where?. South Plantation
High.”
Bonfire
Continued from page 1A
HAIR • SKIN • NAILS - COSMETICS - BATH & BODY • ACCESSORIES
JOICO
rusk
tigi
Sebastian
matrix
american crew
crabtree & evelyn
redken
nexxus
kms
goldwell
'paul mitchell
trapp candles
and more!
TIGI
Overland Partners, the company designing the memorial.
“The reason why China is importing the granite is because they
were providing us with the right sizes of granite, they met the price
point and the delivery schedule,” Shemwell said.
Raney said money for the granite is coming from private funds,
and money from A&M is not being used.
“We ordered the granite over the summer, and it took about five
months for them to come in/’ Raney said.
Shemwell said there are more shipments coming and that all of the
shipments should be delivered to A&M within six weeks to two months.
Lane Stephenson, deputy director for University Relations, said
the granite portals that were delivered are each bigger than a car.
Raney said the memorial design is broken into three ideas: the tra
dition that brought people together, a connecting path, which will walk
visitors through the 89-year history of Bonfire preceding the collapse
and the continuous ring shares the spirit that united individuals and
made them a pan of something greater than themselves. The 89 stones
represent the number of years Bonfire burned on the A&M campus.
The memorial also includes 27 stone panels,which will connect to
the portals to make a complete circle, she said. Bronze panels con
necting each stone will represent the students who were injured.
Raney said there are 12 portals that stand for the 12 who died, will
each portal facing the direction of their hometowns.
“This project means a lot to me,” Shemwell said. “It’s not easy
working directly with the families of the men and women whodiedii
the collapse. It is very emotional but also helps in healing.”
Two vertical planes separate the commotion of the outer world
from the intimate experience of the memorial, Raney said.
“This is going to be a remarkable and very impressive memorial,”
Raney said. “It is amazing how many stones are being used, anditis
a first-class memorial — especially for the price. I think the bronze
panels that connect each stone will look wonderful.”
1 2 OZ
TVtr*r\
jDxbJJ
HEAD 6
shampoos
beautyfirst
Beauty Store Color Salon
U A R Y S tj! Z'8
F
1)04, b
hissi
Acer
edfrom
ual oriei
ig f
“I w
r 7eai
Hassoi
Pi
fil
3 fedei
Fount;
Miaul
v ent$t
Tire
Genen
tiniven
Count)
Stui
'earnin
View/
aniong
year-o;
ty at le
in
^dne
Texas