Thursday, June 3, 1982
Eugene, Oregon
Oregon daily
Volume 83
Number 165
emerald
Blind, deaf woman earns two PhDs
She is totally blind and profoundly
deaf. But when she marches up to claim
her two doctorate degrees from the
University June 13, Addie Becht wiil think
of herself as a professional, not a hand
icapped person.
"When I get my degrees. I will not feel i
they are giving them as a favor," she I
says. “I feel that I earned them. It never
entered my mind that I was to compete
because I was deaf and blind. I wanted to
compete as a professional."
Becht, who will receive doctorates in
counseling psychology and clinical psy
chology, has mixed feelings about
whether her accomplishment is remark
able.
“First I'd have to say that no, it’s not
remarkable, because I think of myself as
a professional — not as a handicapped
person," she says. "I think that too often
handicapped people make too much out
of their handicaps so they make them
selves handicapped
“Secondly, yes it is remarkable,
because when I was involved with drugs
there came a point when my mind and
body were literally destroyed and they
thought I had less than three months to
live." she says “I had to learn to read
and write all over again There was a time
when I could not add one plus one
“When I see what it was then and what
it is now Then yes, it is a miracle "
Becht. 48. speaks in a calm, well
modulated voice Her interpreter. Beth
Schmidt, a doctor of naturopathy and a
chiropractic doctor, touches her lightly
to give her indications of when to speed
up and slow down as she relates her
siory
Becht became addicted to narcotic
drugs because of a painful bone disease
which was diagnosed as osteomyelitis.
She was given drugs to combat the in
tense pain
Her hearing began deteriorating when
she was 11 and by age 33 she was
profoundly deaf Her sight started deter
iorating in 1959 and 10 years later she
was legally blind The nerve deterioration
occurred because of her abuse of nar
cotic drugs and alcohol
“By the age of 10, I was a (drug) ad
dict," she says "But I did not know it
until I was 14 Drug addiction was not
accepted then My family tried to hide my
drug problem
At 14, she separated from her family,
turned “very bitter — very much against
the rest of the world," and turned to
heroin
Addle Becht’s interpreter, “Dr. Beth," uses sign language so that Becht, who Is deaf and blind, can respond to questions.
Until Sept. 3, 1962. "I decided to get
the monkey off of my back. I kicked drugs
cold turkey,” she says.
Her friends locked her in a room with
no clothes for 14 days and 14 nights —
“until I had kicked it. Much of the time I
did not know what was going on.”
Afterward, her life took a "complete
reverse " She changed her language,
dress, and friends.
To help the nervousness she felt when
off of the drugs, she turned to alcohol.
Then on June 9, 1969, Becht decided
that “I'd be better off dead than on
alcohol or drugs," and after eliminating
suicide as an option, she stopped drink
ing
Becht earned a B A. in psychology
from Cascade College in Portland in
1964, and a masters degree in coun
seling and guidance from Lewis and
Clark College in 1976, with the help of
Schmidt as her interpreter. She decided
to go to the University because she
wanted enough of an educational back
ground to operate a state-approved clin
ic
She decided to get two doctorates
because it would take her less hours to
get two doctorates than the state board
required Besides her two doctorates,
she also earned an MA in clincial psy
chology at the University
People at the University, — professors
as well as staff — had to be educated
about her abilities and potential, Becht
says.
“People have stereotyped ideas of
deaf/blind people. I went to a lot of
(trouble) to prove to the University what I
could do."
Professors were skeptical — she was
told she could not take required classes.
“My trial came when I had to do a 1,000
hour internship which is required of all
clinical students. When I went to apply, I
was refused and rejected again and
again," she says.
Becht finally got a job at Riverside
Psychiatric Hospital with Paul Rethinger.
“The rest of the staff was skeptical, but
Dr. Rethinger (spoke) on my behalf and
made it possible.”
Her internship was successful. “It was
the turning point for the University and
the turning point for me," she says.
She worked with violent patients, often
without the help of an interpreter. She
found she could easily put very disturbed
patients at ease
“As a result the University's thinking
changed," Becht says. "They looked at
me more as a professional and col
league. Of course that was very reward
ing to me."
But it is "Dr. Beth,” as Becht calls her
interpreter, that deserves credit.
"She deserves the degree more than
I,” Becht says. “She doesn't like me to
say this (Schmidt nods her agreement)
but she went to great lengths to make
this possible.”
Schmidt modestly refuses to say why
she puts out such effort to help Becht. “I
just do,” she says.
“For three to four days, (Schmidt)
never went to bed so she could translate
lectures and draw anatomical charts so I
could keep up,” Becht says. “I met the
same deadlines as the rest of the class. I
was never behind.”
When there were films or drawings on
the blackboard, Schmidt would draw
them on her back "so I could see them at
the same time the other students saw
them.”
When exam time rolled around,
Schmidt received the tests early so she
could translate them into braille and
draw any anatomical charts.
"Then I would go with the rest of the
students to take the test," Becht says.
"There were absolutely no exceptions
made for me."
Becht says the only time she really
thought about her handicaps was when
she was "extremely frustrated. Then I
told myself to stop feeling sorry for my
self. If I started thinking of my handicap
I’d be a loser."
Her frustration becomes evident when
Continued on Page 3
IFC, athletic department agree on funding
By Rich Burr
Ol Vw EiNfiW
The Incidental Fee Committee
approved a plan to reduce the incidental
fee subsidy of the University Athletic
Department for next year Wednesday
The IFC, in a 6-1 vote, approved a plan
calling for a fee of $14 per student per
term — with an additional $1 guaranteed
in the event of underrealized student
ticket sales
This year, a base subsidy of $12 plus a
guaranteed additional $5 — coming from
student ticket sales and student funds —
ensured $17 per student per term in
support, said David Gibson, ASUO vice
president for administration and finance
and a member of the ASUO’s negotiating
team With ticket sales amounting to an
average of only $3 per student per term,
the ASUO paid the athletic department
$120,000 from overrealized incidental
fee funds
With the $3 incidental fee decrease,
the Athletic Department has a $120,000
deficit that will be made up through ticket
sales, Gibson said If the Athletic
Department is unable to erase the deficit,
the IFC will be liable to pay only up to
$40,000 of lost sales revenue — or $15
per student per term, he added
Under the approved plan the IFC will
establish a $40,000 athletic ticket guar
antee reserve by raising incidental fees
$1 per student per term
“We re putting the burden on the AD
(Athletic Department) instead of on the
students,” Gibson said.
Gibson said if the Athletic Department
does make up the $120,000 deficit
through ticket sales, the IFC might use
the reserve money for ASUO program
allocations
“By the end of December the AD
would have a realistic projection of their
annual revenues,” he said.
The IFC approval came just hours after
student representatives finished nego
tiating the plan with Athletic Department
and University administration officials.
“For the first time ever we've reached
an agreement with the administration (on
the AD subsidy)," Gibson said.
“We’re the only school in the Pac-10
that sits down and negotiates with the
administration,” he added
IFC member Dianne Ritterband-Ma
son, who cast the lone dissenting vote,
said the committee should not have vot
ed on the plan
"I can’t see how we can make a deci
sion if we don’t have the budget in front
of us,” she said “I don't think we should
be pressured into making a decision."
Even if the JFC did not consider the
plan, the State Board of Higher Educa
tion would make the decision, he said.
In related business, Gibson introduced
for future consideration other sections Of
the final agreement between the ASUO
and athletic department.
The agreement specifies that if
students do not buy all football game
tickets available for Sections 5-9 in Aut
zen Stadium by 5 p.m. of the Monday
before the game, the AD could sell up to
400 reserved seats to the general public,
Gibson said. The reserved seats would
come from the top 20 rows of the men
tioned sections.
“I think it will help us, and it will help
them," Gibson said. The only people who
will be adversely affected will be students
who buy their tickets the day of the game,
he added.
"We’re not giving up good seats," said
IFC member Betzy Fry.