THE JUSTICE
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TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009
5
CAMPUS SPEAKER
STUDENT LIFE
Ticchi speaks about disability
University participates in recycling competition
■ Dr. David A. Ticchi who is
legally blind discussed the treatment of disabled people in the workforce.
■ Brandeis is taking part in
RecycleMania with 202 other schools. The winner will be notified in March.
By SAM DATLOF JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
Special Assistant to the President of Legal Seafoods Dr. David A. Ticchi, who has been legally blind since birth, discussed discriminatory attitudes shown toward people with disabilities in the workplace at an event sponsored by the Student Union Committee on Disabilities. Ticchi, who is also the supervisor of the School-to-Career program at Newton High School, explained that his vision is so diminished that he can only distinguish whether it is daytime or nighttime. However, he emphasized that his father encouraged him “to do virtually everything” in order to ensure that he could lead a normal life with his condition. Ticchi related that although “no public school system was under any legal obligation to accept a student with a disability [until 1973],” he was able to attend public school because of his parents’ efforts to address discrimination within the community. Ticchi noted that special education did not exist until after the 1950s. At the time, most students went to Perkins School for the Blind, but he said that his parents made sure he went to the West Bridgewater Public School System because they wanted him to be educated with his peers regardless of his disability. Ticchi said it was not until after college that he first began to feel the harsh realities of discrimination. Although he wanted to work more than anything, Ticchi found himself unable to land a job due to what he perceived as discrimination. So instead of working, he chose to join a
By DESTINY AQUINO JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
JULIAN AGIN-LIEBES/the Justice
DISCRIMINATION DISCUSSION: Dr. David A. Ticchi, special assistant to the president of Legal Seafoods, spoke to the Brandeis community last Wednesday. Jesuit volunteer corps, and he taught in a Native American reservation in New Mexico. He eventually realized that he loved to teach and chose to attend Harvard University, where he received a master’s and doctorate in education. Throughout the discussion, Ticchi frequently offered advice gained through his experience dealing with discrimination and codependency. “What is most important in life is how we treat others and how trustworthy we are,” he said. He stated that even he, a blind man, cares about his own appearance; de-
spite the fact that he can’t tell if his hair is combed or his clothes match, he still wants to make a good impression. Chair of the Student Union Committee on Disabilities Rebecca Schulman ’09 thought that the event was a success. She said that it was “You could tell that [Ticchi] cared about educating students and educating them about disabilities.” Otis Monroe ’12 said that he “did not know anything at all about how someone who is blind deals with [his or her disability],” until hearing Ticchi speak.
Brandeis is taking part in RecycleMania, a recycling competition among 202 universities that aims to encourage college students to recycle more in order to reduce waste, according to the Brandeis Web site. Participating schools are ranked according to which collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita, has the least amount of trash per capita or has the highest recycling rate. Over a 10-week period, such data is collected and compared with results from other universities. The winner will be announced at the end of March. RecycleMania is a project of the College and University Recycling Council and is governed by a committee composed of professionals involved with sustainability issues on college campuses. Since January Brandeis’ recycling percentage was 8 percent, according to Sustainability Coordinator Janna Cohen-Rosenthal ’03. She explained that the recycling rate is calculated as the percentage of waste against the percentage of recycling. Cohen-Rosenthal said that the latest data as of mid- February states that Brandeis is ranked 183 out of 202 colleges and universities in the RecycleMania. Eco-Reps, student helpers to the sustainability coordinator in each quad or housing area, have been assisting in RecycleMania efforts by giving recycling grades and comments to each individual floor, according to Cohen-Rosenthal.
Cohen-Rosenthal believes that in light of Brandeis’ low recycling rate, it is unlikely that the University will win. However, she said that it is still crucial to continue efforts to increase the University’s recycling rate and decrease overall waste. If the recycling rate doubles to 16 percent, there will be free ice cream available for the entire University campus on Earth Day, April 22, said Cohen-Rosenthal. She coordinated the prize with Aramark in order to create excitement over RecycleMania. Students for Environmental Action is working to promote and aid the Eco-Reps in their efforts to teach students about RecycleMania, according to President of SEA Matt Schmidt ’11. Schmidt said, “We are not taking a huge role this year because we have the Eco-Reps. … We are launching a new recycling awareness programs with posters and flyers to help rid some of the confusion that recycling can cause.” He said that the initiatives will begin before the end of this month. Cohen-Rosenthal said, “In general, just reducing your use of something as simple as plastic coffee cups can really help the environment [and] help the school increase the RecycleMania rates because it is not a percentage of how you [the school] recycles; it’s a percentage of how much [the school] recycle versus how much waste [the school] produces.” Brandeis plans to continue to participate in RecycleMania in future years, said Cohen-Rosenthal and Schmidt. Cohen-Rosenthal, as well as the Eco-Reps and SEA, hopes the school can double their rate because “it would be a huge success and step toward making Brandeis a more environmentally conscious university.”
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