Former ATA President Ben Teague was shot and killed Saturday afternoon by a University of Georgia professor at a reunion picnic of community theater volunteers. Details are sketchy, but Ben’s step-brother gives a brief account of the shooting in his blog. According to that account, Ben died trying to protect the apparent target, the shooter’s ex-wife.

Ben and I began our translating careers at roughly the same time in the early 1970s here in Austin. He was active in the local t/i community, co-founding the Translators Association of Central Texas (TRACT) and encouraging colleagues to join ATA. We actually took our accreditation (now certification) exams in Austin at one of the first sittings ever held.

Since we both translated from Russian at that time (he later dropped Russian to concentrate on German translating), we often hashed over thorny linguistic problems. I probably benefited more from his expertise than he did from mine. When his wife Fran joined the faculty at the University of Georgia, the Teagues moved to Athens, so we continued our consultations long-distance.

I will remember him for his wit, intelligence, and generosity, some evidence of which appears on Ben’s website. I hope others who knew and loved Ben and Fran will share their memories in the comments to this post.

Applications for the Alicia Gordon Award for Word Artistry in Translation are now being accepted from ATA members in good standing. The award recognizes individual solutions to an imaginative and creative solutions to a particular translation challenge.

This award of $250 and certificate of recognition is open to all areas of translation, e.g. literary, medical, legal, etc.

Send a sample of 750 words or less (From French or Spanish into English, or from English into French or Spanish) by the deadline of June 1, 2009. 

The winner will be announced during ATA’s 50th Annual Conference in New York City on October 28–31, 2009.

Language is more than just a means of communication. It influences our culture and thought processes.

One important component of language is learning. As language evolves, translators need to explore new ways of preserving and maintaining their present skills,  as well as engage in active learning to satisfy the demands of an increasingly diverse society.

AATIA’s Spanish Special Interest Group would like to invite you to join us this Saturday, April 25 from 10:00 to 12:00 a.m. at HQ (201 E. 2nd St.)

Our guest speaker is Rachel Elizabeth Showstack. She will be presenting the topic "Legitimizing Texas Spanish: The Need for a Corpus."

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting!

Sara Alvarado and Patricia González

Note:

AATIA Members are welcome to use the parking tower behind the ICA office for free. The entrance in on Brazos Street. Please tell the attendant you are coming to our SpanSig meeting and sign the list.

AATIA members should receive an email today containing a link to a special election ballot to fill two vacancies on the AATIA Board of Directors. Members may vote for nominees Anna Hovenden (Secretary) and Carolina Modesto (Director of Professional Development) or write-in candidates. The email supplies an ID and password for the electronic ballot, and the entire process takes less than a minute.

Members who do not receive the enabling email should contact Elections Online to request the ID and password.

Results will be anounced here and at the May 9 member meeting.

A competitive examination for the recruitment of Spanish-language translators and précis writers will be held in September 2009 in New York, Geneva, and other locations. The date has been set tentatively for September 4th. The purpose of this examination is to establish a roster from which present and future vacancies for Spanish-language translators and précis writers at United Nations Headquarters in New York and at other duty stations will be filled. Candidates who are successful in this examination will be included in the roster and may be appointed to fill vacancies as they occur in New York, Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, and Santiago. Applicants applying for the examination must:

• not have reached their 56th birthday by the deadline for submission of applications
• have Spanish as their main language
• have a perfect command of Spanish and an excellent knowledge of English and one of the other official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, French, or Russian)
• hold at least a three-year first-level degree or an equivalent qualification from a university or institution of equivalent status in which Spanish is the language of instruction, or hold a university degree from a recognized school of translation
• have a knowledge of word-processing programs
    

The examination notice, application form, and examination samples may be downloaded from the website of the UN Examinations and Tests Section.

Interpreters are the facilitators for effective commuication between speakers of different languages. Developing great listening and memory skills is a must for accurate interpretations. Come join the next AATIA Interpreters Special Interest Group for some fun ways to improve these skills.

When: Saturday April 11, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Where:ICA building on 201 East Second Street.

Free parking is available at the Convention Center parking garage, which is on the west side of the building that houses our offices. Enter from Brazos Street, inform the attendant that you are attending an AATIA event at ICA, and sign a garage parking record sheet. There is no charge.

See you there!

By Tomás León

Hearings on two bills that would affect court interpreter licensing have been scheduled for next Wednesday, April 15th. The two bills, HB 4445 and SB 1892, are companion versions for the House of Representatives and the Senate of proposed legislation that would create a lower level of licensing for court interpreters, essentially creating a second tier of less-qualified court interpreters who would be licensed to work in justice of the peace and municipal courts.

The Texas Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (TAJIT) strongly opposes both pieces of legislation and encourages Texas court interpreters to contact their state senators and representatives to urge them to vote against these bills. TAJIT believes that people with limited English proficiency are entitled to the best possible level of assistance, irrespective of whether they are facing legal action in a justice of the peace court, a municipal court, or a district court. They should not have to settle for second-class help just because they are in a lower court. That’s almost as ludicrous as saying that the legislature should license two kinds of lawyers: one to represent people in a justice of the peace court and the other to represent people in a district court!

The Senate Jurisprudence Committee public hearing on SB 1892 will be held on Wednesday, April 15, at 1:30 p.m. in room E1.012 at the Texas State Capitol. The House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee hearing will be held on the same day in room E1.030 and is scheduled to begin after the House adjourns for the day (but HB 4445 is the last item on the Committee’s agenda, so anyone planning to testify on this bill can anticipate a late night).

See the TAJIT website for more information on TAJIT’s stance on this proposed legislation. Follow these links to view the text of the two bills: SB 1892,  HB 4445.

Please take four or five minutes to help us plan for future workshops that will meet your needs. Click here to participate in our AATIA Workshops Survey. It’s short (only six questions) and completely anonymous. Thanks!