Laura Ri ce signs with Linda Thompson. Both were active membe rs of the Dactylology club. College Bowl. (I to r ): Paul Pruc:tt , L3en Wiles , Mandy Ec.lc.lins , Jason Jewell , Jim Massie , Free.I Jew ell (sponsor). Dactylology opens up a whole new world for students Each year several Harding students travel to a variety of different countries while participating in campaigns or attending H F. Often, thi is the first time they experience the frustration of trying to communicate with someone who does not speak their language. Ironically, deaf people experience this same frustration on a daily basis since the majority of people do not know sign language , the language of the deaf. The dactylology club offered students the opportunity to cross the gulf of silence and communicate with the deaf by learning sign language. Classes were offered on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to teach interested students how to sign. The club was somewhat informal and had no officers , according to the club's sponsor, Linda Thompson, who also served as the Director of the Student Support Services on campu . Laura Rice, an English and French major from Searcy, was an active member in the club. Rice said that many of the members were elementary education and speech pathology majors. "Most students who joined the club had one thing in common," she said. "They wanted to be able to reach out through communication and help others. " Rice became interested in sign language in the second grade after ob ·erving an interpreter for the deaf in church. She enrolled in a sign language class at church. Pat Garner waits as his students pack their ca rs for a trip. Garner was the sponsor of the Fo r e n s ics team and Pi Kappa Delta. "I wanted to learn sign language so I could help the deaf communicate in our hearing world, " she said. She began interpreting for the deaf at age 12. Since that time , the ability to sign has provided Rice with many interesting experiences. She related one in which one of the local hospitals called the university looking for students who knew sign language. A deaf man was visiting a relative in the hospital , but the relative did not know sign language. Rice went to the hospital and interpreted back and forth for the two men. "It was awkward at first, but it felt good to make it possible for a family to communicate," she said. Chapel presented Rice with her most demanding experience. She interpreted the chapel program last year for deaf student Faron Hodgens, a sophomore from Searcy. "The announcements were the hardest, because they were read too fast, " she said. "The sign language vocabulary also does not contain signs for things like 'Administration Auditorium' or 'Olen Hendrix' building. " The dactylology club provided students with a unique communication experience. Rice summed up the satisfaction she received ve1y simply, "When I'm at the store or out in public , I just like to say 'hi ' to d af people in their language. " - David Hickman Organizations 99
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