Action Alert & News Update from MNCDHH for August 10, 2012
Published 08-10-2012
In this Issue:
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Action Alert! Vote in the Primary Election on August 14 & help choose the candidates that will run on Election Day (Nov. 6)
Why should I vote?
Remember the Minnesota Senate race in 2008 where Al Franken won by only 312 votes over Norm Coleman? Over 3 million people voted in that race, and each vote counted because the gap of 312 votes was very, very small!
You can make a difference by voting on August 14!
Where do I vote?
What do I vote on?
- You will have a partisan ballot where you need to choose one political party (Democratic, Independent, Republican, etc.) and then vote for candidates in that political party. The candidates will include the U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative.
- You will have a non-partisan ballot where you do not need to choose one political party, but you need to vote for candidates. The candidates can include Minnesota Supreme Court justices and other positions.
- Find out who will be on your ballot at http://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us/.
Am I registered to vote?
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Apply by 8/15 for Deaf Community Liaison job with Metro Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services has announced a job opening for a Deaf Community Liaison/Program Specialist in the Metro office in St. Paul.
The person in this position will have an opportunity to work directly with Deaf consumers, offer training seminars and function as a Deaf Community Liaison by connecting with Deaf community members and Deaf-related organizations. Fluency in American Sign Language (ASL) is required.
This is a temporary one-year position with no benefits.
The deadline to apply is Wednesday, August 15, 2012.
A summary of the job is available in a PDF flyer at http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/disabilities/documents/pub/dhs16_170772.pdf.
The job posting is available in a PDF flyer at http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/groups/disabilities/documents/pub/dhs16_170773.pdf.
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Is new system for live captioning a good or bad idea? You decide!
Heard of crowdsourcing? It is the process of taking a job that is normally performed by trained employees and outsourcing (or giving) it to a large group of people who are not employees and who may or may not be trained to do the job.
Researchers at the University of Rochester in New York are working on ways to use crowdsourcing to provide captions for live events. The demand for live captioning will increase as more people develop hearing loss, and the researchers want to develop a system that is better than automatic speech recognition and cheaper than professional captioning.
They have developed a test app for smartphones called Scribe, and they are working with groups of people to see if they can provide accurate captions. So far, their untrained workers have provided live captions with 74% accuracy, compared to professional captionists who can provide live captions with 88.5% accuracy.
Read the summary article about this new system at http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528745.200-crowdsourcing-serves-up-the-subtitles-to-your-life.html.
A formal PDF paper by the University of Rochester researchers is available at http://hci.cs.rochester.edu/pubs/pdfs/scribe.pdf.
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Have questions about the screening process at U.S. airports?
- Plan to fly from a U.S. airport?
- Deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing and/or have a medical condition?
- Have questions about the screening process at the airport?
The Transportation Security Adminstration (TSA) has announced a new helpline number to assist travelers with disabilties and medical conditions.
The TSA Cares toll-free number is 1-855-787-2227.
Travelers who are deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call TSA Cares. They can also e-mail TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.gov.
It is suggested to call 72 hours ahead of your travel. The hours of operation for the TSA Cares helpline are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. – 11 p.m. EST and weekends and Holidays 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. EST.
Full details are available on the TSA webpage at http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/disabilityandmedicalneeds/tsa_cares.shtm.
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