Clarion
www.brevard.edu/clarion
Volume 77, Issue 11
SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
Nov 11, 2011
Deaf student presents through T-PHAT
By Thea Dunn
Layout and Design
Hearing loss is a reality in a lot of people’s
lives, including Erin Hobbs, a student here
at Brevard.
Last night Hobbs, along with her service dog
Luke, gave a presentation through Tornado
Peer Health Advocate Team (T-PHAT) on
her journey through hearing loss. She told her
personal story about being deaf along with
providing information about hearing loss and
how to prevent it.
Hearing loss is the term used when your
ears aren’t working right. Hobbs went into
detail about the different types of hearing
loss. Hobbs warned the audience of one type
called noise induced hearing loss. This can
be caused just by wearing headphones too
often and too loud. The max volume on an
iPod is 110 decibels. Thats only 40 decibels
less than fireworks.
Hobbs said that the best thing to do is to
give your ears a break after being exposed to
loud noises such as concerts. She said cotton
in your ears doesn’t work and that ear plugs
usually aren’t strong enough. It doesn’t take
much to cause hearing loss. Hobbs talked
about the form of hearing loss that she has
which is called sensorineural hearing loss.
It’s a type of nerve deafness. Hobbs started
losing her hearing at 18 months. She has a
very severe case categorized as profound.
She can’t hear anything. If fireworks went
off three feet away from her she wouldn’t
hear it. She can’t hear alarms, sirens, or even
thunderstorms. If a person is ten feet behind
her and calls her name she most likely won’t
hear you.
This is where Luke comes in. Luke alerts
Hobbs whenever there is an abnormally
loud sound or some sort of siren. He has
gone through intensive training to ensure
Hobbs’s safety. She has had him for almost
two years.
When she was 20 years old, she found out
she was completely and permanently deaf
“I didn’t get a chance to hear my nephew’s
first word; that was depressing,” Hobbs said
while describing her situation. “I would love
to go to a concert.”
Ayear and a half after getting this news and
being completely deaf during that 18 month
period, Hobbs underwent brain surgery. She
got a cochlear implant. Hobbs describes it as
her “bionic ear” It sends sound straight into
See 'Hearing loss,' page 4
Erin Hobbs explains where her hearing loss originates from.
Photo by Thea Dunn
Police investigation underway at BC
By Joshua Smith
staff Writer
Several students at Brevard College have
been temporarily suspended pending an
investigation of an alleged incident involving
five male students and one female student.
The five accused men are freshman football
players at the school. The alleged incident
occurred in Beam Residents Hall early
Saturday morning. Some students report
that they heard a female student was “taken
advantage of” Police have not released any
evidence that points that anything has taken
place at all that morning.
Rumors are floating around campus
concerning what happened, and who was
involved in the incident. No one’s names or
any other information will be given until an
official police report is filed. Police are still
investigating, and will determine if there will
be any criminal charges pressed on any of
the students.
Khalfani Mar’Na is a freshman baseball
player who lives right across the hall from
where the incident took place. “They
should’ve been aware and avoided a situation
with multiple guys and a single girl in a room.
However, they are great guys and I hope
everything works out,” he said.
Eric Watts, a Brevard Junior and member of
the football team at Brevard speaks on behalf
of the football team saying, “We just want our
brothers back and hope everything works out
for the best.”