Renegade Rip

Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: News

According to Moran, the community offers interpreters at about $45 an hour. The way interpreters were paid before the semester began was an invalid form of pay. The cut was a 50% decrease, which caused interpreters to quit.
The lack of interpreters caused board members to use other forms of teaching methods for students. Michelle Begendik, the deaf service coordinator, gave an insight on what new technology can be offered for students. Remote captioning is one of the possible solutions.
Basically, a student attends class as the professor lectures. Miles away, a translator listens through a microphone over the Internet. The translator must type 200 words per minute in order to keep up with the lecture. "These solutions may be good for some students but not good for the others," said Begendik.
"I would like to try it [the new equipment] if there is still a shortage of interpreters," said Garrison. "But it may not be the same. I would rather have an interpreter."
Interpreters who are still interested in interpreting for BC must accommodate the student's schedule, which makes it difficult in some situations. "At the beginning I had in interpreter for economics," said Garrison. "But he was removed because he was needed for another class."
Another form of new technology that may be offered might be remote interpreting. "We are currently looking at video technology for students," said Gomez, "just in case we need it."
Remote captioning involves an interpreter listening to the lecture and the student watches the video. But once the job description is revised and approved, there may be no need to get the equipment. "Once it's approved, we can get the word out and hopefully recruit the necessary interpreters," said Gomez.
Outside agencies were also taken into consideration, but it is more expensive. "It also depends how many students enroll, what the schedule is like," said Begendik.

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