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| 'Can't lower standard' for seeing-eye dog |
| 2004-07-08 |
| When it comes to teaching English as a second language, the University of New Brunswick does not mess around. Slip into your mother tongue back in the dorm and you can be expelled. A T-shirt with a non-English slogan is enough to get you kicked out. And as Yvan Tessier, a blind man from Trois-Rivieres, Que., learned this week, don't even think about telling your guide dog "Assis!" instead of "Sit!" After being accepted into the five-week summer immersion program last spring and offered a federal bursary, Mr. Tessier was denied entry on Sunday when he was unable to sign "the Pledge" required of all applicants. In Mr. Tessier's case, it was not enough that he agree to speak to the professors and other students in English; the university insisted that he sign a contract promising that "all communication with your guide dog will be exclusively in English." The problem for the 39-year-old master's student at Ottawa's Saint Paul University is that Pavot, the black Labrador that has helped him get around for the past two years, was trained to respond to 17 concise French commands. Tell him "Stay!" and he would be lost. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #11 This is a case for a Sheltie most of them speak 3 or more languages and can read well enough to write checks in 6. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-08 6:07:39 PM |
| #10 whats this got to do with liberals? I thought English only, educational standards, and full imersion for learning English were all conservative causes? And that ADA (whats the Canadian equivalent) was a liberal cause? |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-07-08 3:55:33 PM |
| #9 They noted that forcing him to speak in English to his dog "could jeopardize the safety of both himself and his guide dog." The response from Debbie Pepin, administrative co-ordinator "Regardless of his disability, Mr. Tessier must meet the demands and requirements of the course like any other student," she wrote in an e-mail. Can you say idiot? I knew you could..... It does say he might is considering a Human Rights complaint. I wish him luck. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-07-08 1:19:05 PM |
| #8 Damian Penny says they've changed their mind. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2004-07-08 1:18:01 PM |
| #7 Looked like a really nice black Lab. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-08 11:53:14 AM |
| #6 There's a reasonable chance the dog is a German Shephard, in which case the only French he really needs to know are the translations for: How much? and I paid you. Now go away. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-07-08 11:19:28 AM |
| #5 So, I asked the dog: How have things been going? Ruff! |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2004-07-08 11:17:31 AM |
| #4 Right-on, Barbara, Rafael. This is too much. They are requiring a man with a seeing-eye dog to speak to the dog in English only (though the dog was trained for commands in French). The guy said he'd speak to classmates, professors, and even his dog (off duty) in English, but it wasn't good enough. Idiots. Idiots. Idiots. Liberals = Idiots. Too bad he's not here in the US. He could sue the twerps for discrimination and teach all the universities a lesson in the process! |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-07-08 11:14:45 AM |
| #3 "We have students here who are allergic to dogs. We have students here who have religious affiliations that they cannot associate in the same room with a dog. Those kinds of things we have to take into account," she said. Care to guess which religion she's talking about? |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-07-08 10:55:01 AM |
| #2 Figures. I can see their point, though. It's hard for them to "lower their standards" when they've already hit rock-bottom. Ladies and gents, I give you the "compassionate" Left. May they rot in hell. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-07-08 10:31:52 AM |
| #1 Sacre Bleu! |
| Posted by: ed 2004-07-08 8:07:29 AM |