2006年VOA标准英语-Deaf Students Shut Down University

By Brian Padden
Washington, DC
18 October 2006
 
watch Gallaudet Protest report 

 
Student Megan Malzhuhn
In Washington, D.C., a group of deaf students has blocked the main entrance to Gallaudet University, the world's only university for deaf and hard of hearing students.  The students are demanding the resignation of the university's president-designate.  The protest has shut down the school.

Student protestors have taken over the campus at Gallaudet University, a prestigious¹ school for the deaf and hard of hearing.  The blockade of the main entrance prompted school administrators² to cancel classes. 

Gallaudet student Megan Malzkuhn, one of the protest leaders, says the standoff will continue until they get what they want. "If the administration meets our two demands, meaning Jane Fernandez resigns and there are no reprisal³ for any of the students and faculty⁴, then this will be resolved."

 
President-designate, Jane Fernandez
Jane Fernandez is the president-designate of the University who is scheduled to take office in January.   Protestors deny that they ever charged that Fernandez, who learned sign language in her twenties, is not, as some put it , "deaf enough."   But they do say that Gallaudet is more than a school.  It is a symbol of what deaf people can achieve and the president must be an advocate for all deaf people.  The student protestors and many faculty members are angry that they were excluded from the selection process. 

 
Cheryl Wu
Cheryl Wu, a faculty director of the school's counseling program, says the students need to have input⁵. "It's a democracy and we need to have input.  We recognize that the board of trustees have authority and but at the same time we must have faith and input in the selection ourselves."

University officials have warned protesters that their actions are illegal and must stop.  In a statement Jane Fernadez refused to give in to protester demands, saying, "We live in a country that is governed by the rule of law, not anarchy⁶."  

News reporter Burton Bollag, who has been following this story for the weekly newspaper "Chronicle of Higher Education" sees no easy resolution. "The chair of the whole faculty told me yesterday that it is a case of a huge force pushing against an immovable object and he said nobody knows where it is going to lead to."

For now, the stalemate continues as both sides consider their options: compromise or confrontation⁷.

1 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

2 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

3 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

4 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

5 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

6 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

7 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。