The Daily Moth 2-25-2020
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Tuesday, February 25. Ready for news?
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CDC issues coronavirus warning
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that they expect to see “community spread” of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the U.S. and that Americans should be prepared for its arrival.
The CDC said Americans should continue to wash their hands and stay home from work when sick and that local government and healthcare officials should prepare systems where people can work, attend school, or get healthcare remotely.
ABC News said so far there have been no community spread in the U.S., but because there are new community transmissions in Italy, Iran and South Korea, it is likely that we’ll face something similar here.
The White House has requested $1.25 billion from Congress for emergency funding to develop vaccines and to obtain equipment and supplies. House Speaker Pelosi (D) said the request was overdue and inadequate and that the House would advance a different funding package.
At least 2,696 people died of the virus in mainland China out of 80,000 cases. At least 33 people died in at least 33 other countries.
Italy’s government announced that they have 322 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 10 deaths. Most of the cases are in northern Italy around Milan. Italian officials said the cases were linked to Chinese tourists. Switzerland and Austria reported their first cases today.
South Korea said they have 977 confirmed cases and nine deaths.
Japan has the third-highest total of infected people, including 695 people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Three Japanese nationals in their 80’s died on the ship. Those who are infected on the ship were brought on land for treatment, while all others were quarantined to their rooms. Those who tested negative and have passed the quarantine period can disembark from the ship.
The 2020 Summer Olympics is set to take place in Tokyo. The International Olympic Committee said they are going to monitor the situation and decide within the next three months on if they would continue or cancel the games.
Fears of the virus’ impact on the global economy seems to have affected the U.S. stock market, as the Dow Jones dropped over 1,000 points on Monday and another 900 points today.
https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-latest-developments-8b8990c4-6762-494a-8ee0-5091746bda9b.html
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American School for the Deaf issues report on sexual abuse investigation
On February 21, the American School for the Deaf published on their school website a summary of results from an investigation of sexual and physical abuse against students at the school in West Hartford, Connecticut and at Camp Isola Bella in Salisbury.
The Daily Moth reported last year on February 15, 2019 that the ASD Executive Director Jeffrey Bravin posted a vlog explaining that the school has learned about allegations made by alumni of inappropriate conduct by former staff in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Bravin said that they immediately reported it to the proper authorities and hired an attorney from Robinson + Cole to start an independent and confidential investigation and asked anyone with information to come forward.
So, after a year, the school is sharing the results of the investigation. The information is available online in ASL via a vlog by Bravin and in English and Spanish.
The attorney, Edward Heath, interviewed 81 alumni, former faculty, and other witnesses. The survivors’ names were kept confidential, but several alleged perpetrators were named.
The investigation named seven former ASD staff — six men and one woman — as individuals who allegedly sexually abused students. At least 40 former students were affected with most of them under 15 years old at the time the abuse happened. Most of the incidents were in the dorms or at Camp Isola Bella.
One of the most serious allegations involved Dr. Edmund Boatner, who was the Executive Director of ASD from 1935 to 1970. A female alumni said he sexually abused her from the late 1950’s to the early 1960’s and that it ended when she graduated. Boatner is now deceased.
Two other alleged perpetrators are deceased, while four are alive. Of those still alive, all four declined to be interviewed. One of them said he was surprised at the allegations.
ASD said at least 37 alumni reported persistent corporal punishment and/or physical abuse from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. Two additional staff members, who are deceased, were identified as the perpetrators, along with Albert Couthen, an ASD alumni who was also those accused of sexual abuse. So there nine names in total.
ASD said they offer a “sincere and heartfelt apology to the survivors of the inexcusable actions identified in this report and for the fact that the School did not prevent or stop them.”
ASD said they are committed to make sure that the actions described in the report are never repeated.
ASD said those who are accused of abuse will be barred entry on campus, at Camp Isola Bella, or at any ASD event — and that any plaques or honoraria of the accused will be voided and removed.
The Hartford Courant, a local newspaper, was the first to report ASD’s announcement on Friday. Since then, multiple national and international newspapers have run stories about ASD.
The Courant reported that according to Connecticut law, many of the allegations are “too old for the survivors to bring either a criminal or civil case.”
The Courant also reported that the state legislature had a proposal to remove the statue of limitations for sexual assault survivors to bring lawsuits, but that the judiciary committee tabled it (did not advance the bill) on Friday, a few hours before ASD’s report. A state senator told the Courant that she was suspicious of the timing, but ASD’s director of institutional advancement said there was no connection and that they already planned for a few weeks to hold a Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, February 20 and release the report after the meeting, which was on Friday the 21st.
ASD Findings: https://www.asd-1817.org/findings
Hartford Courant:
https://www.courant.com/community/west-hartford/hc-news-west-hartford-school-deaf-legislators-20200225-gykqwmnnanb2rdgydgfb7ruja4-story.html
Daily Moth: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=245602656389918
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Interview with Shoshannah Stern from “Grey’s Anatomy”
THE DAILY MOTH:
Hello, Shoshannah Stern. Congratulations on your role on Grey’s Anatomy.
STERN:
Hi, thank you for taking the time to interview me! It’s fun for me whenever I describe my experience playing Dr. Lauren Riley in ASL!
[ABC video promo of Dr. Riley.]
THE DAILY MOTH:
How do you prepare yourself in taking on that role as a doctor?
STERN:
How I prepared myself to play a deaf doctor was a whole process in itself. First, I wanted to make sure that I truly understood the definition behind each terminology being used. For example, suppose I wanted to say, “pericardial window”, but I can’t actually sign the word that we use for windows in buildings. I had to research what this term really meant and that’s how I found out that ‘pericardial’ is the sac that lines the heart. ‘Window’ in this instance actually means ‘incision’ and this all helped me understand.
[Image of a pericardium]
STERN:
I did have to memorize a lot of words! I typically use a strategy that I use for studying for exams. I use acronyms like PCW for ‘Pericardial Window’. I’d be driving along and fingerspell the words until I felt confident.
[Video tweet from @GreysABC that shows a clip of Dr. Lauren Riley using ASL via an interpreter on a tablet to talk with a colleague and a patient]
THE DAILY MOTH:
In the show, your character Dr. Riley did use a VRI (Video Relay Interpreter) as a communication tool. Also, your character used her voice to communicate and you wore those surgical masks that were transparent so you could lipread. Could you explain the thought process between you and your team in deciding to use these tools?
STERN:
We researched a lot about deaf doctors and how they use these tools then we turned over the data to the show’s writers way in advance. It was maybe 3 months before the show was finalized. I ended up getting a script just before the show, maybe a week or less, before we started filming so there was not a lot of time. They seemed to have interviewed most of the doctors and asked them questions on their own. I’m happy they did that. Most of the deaf doctors they reached out would usually speak or lipread. So, with the little time we had, they asked me if I would speak and lipread. Well, consider that most of the characters that I took on would speak and lipread. However, for this particular situation, I really wanted her to sign because I thought it suited this character very nicely. She is a doctor who works with bodies and she connects with people, so it was important for this character to use sign language. But it was not possible for an interpreter to be cast because it was so last minute. When it comes to producing TV shows, you just don’t have the time. So, I had to think of options, and it looked like my character could choose to not sign at all or something else that I thought of. I thought, why not have Dr. Riley call her staff interpreter on FaceTime. It’s not VRI, but FaceTime. Because I feel that since Dr. Riley worked at UCSF, she would have an interpreter there. However, my research seemed to show that doctors — typically they wouldn’t release staff interpreters to fly out because the interpreters were being paid by their employing hospitals.
That works too because they didn’t have to find an interpreter with the little time we had. When it comes to TV production, you just never have enough time. So that’s how we ended up using the staff interpreter through Skype because it turns out the Grey’s Anatomy already had a contract with Skype so we can’t use FaceTime.
[Tweet by @Shoshannah7 showing images of Dr. Riley and another doctor wearing a face mask with clear panels]
That special plastic mask was decided on long before I met all the writers in the room with the showrunner, Krista Vernoff. I brought along research because the cool thing about these deaf doctors is, they typically will do research on technology that isn’t accessible, like facemasks, and they would make the masks themselves. Also, another man by the name of Philip Zazove who is one of the first deaf doctors, I think the third one ever, he invented visual stethoscopes that will blink or something which is very cool just like those facemasks! Facemasks are used all the time in hospitals so I asked the show’s producers these facemasks would be included. When I showed up at the set, they had those masks ready among the props. I was so thrilled! That was really an amazing day for everyone, not just me, who’d never seen these facemasks before! It was so much fun and even the makeup people were in awe of these special facemasks! I hope that people will see these and that it gets the exposure it needs like many other things that we can provide deaf people. Hopefully we can provide a multitude of options for deaf patients, so they’re allowed to choose for themselves.
DAILY MOTH:
What kind of impact do you think you’ve made on your career and on deaf actors in general?
STERN:
When it comes to the impact I’ve made on myself and others, I’m not really sure. What I do hope for is more collaboration. I feel that that the Grey’s Anatomy episodes, for example, wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have a chance to meet up, collaborate and talk with the showrunners and writers ahead of time. The writers need the time to write the script and give me the draft to review before I provide any sort of feedback. I felt that the research showed that deaf doctors are strong and independent. For her character, being deaf is just an extra incentive for her to be more successful.
[Tweet by @Shoshannah7 of an image of herself with Julie Wong, a writer for the show]
Most people haven’t met a deaf person in their lives so what they envision might be different from reality. People are often so impressed by how the deaf doctors have overcome challenges despite all their experiences and obstacles. That isn’t the point and often when people see doctors overcoming obstacles for the first time, they don’t realize that deaf doctors already overcome obstacles every day. It’s the people around the deaf doctors who have never even met a deaf person before and just learning how to communicate with them. So, I hope that people see collaboration as being important. With television and film, there are so many people involved, and we all have to collaborate with each other. Often it can get to the point where people “stay in their own lane,” but when it comes to incorporating a deaf character, I think it’s important to start the collaboration from the very beginning and stick together throughout the whole process. I hope that this experience will be an example of that collaboration moving forward. I would like to see more and more characters like that and more opportunities for all deaf people everywhere, not just on the screen but also in hospitals. We need more deaf people employed in hospitals doing their thing, you know? At least that’s what I hope for.
DAILY MOTH:
Thank you very much for your time and congratulations on your major role.
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***To watch Shoshannah Stern play Dr. Lauren Riley:
S16, E13: https://abc.com/shows/greys-anatomy/episode-guide/season-16/13-save-the-last-dance-for-me
S16, E14: https://abc.com/shows/greys-anatomy/episode-guide/season-16/14-a-diagnosis
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!