THE BRAILLE MONITOR Vol. 43, No. 9 October, 2000 Barbara Pierce, Editor Published in inkprint, in Braille, and on cassette by THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT National Office 1800 Johnson Street Baltimore, Maryland 21230 NFB Net BBS: http://www.nfbnet.org Web Page address: http://www.nfb.org Letters to the President, address changes, subscription requests, orders for NFB literature, articles for the Monitor, and letters to the Editor should be sent to the National Office. Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about twenty-five dollars per year. Members are invited, and non-members are requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to: National Federation of the Blind 1800 Johnson Street Baltimore, Maryland 21230 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND--IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES ISSN 0006-8829 Vol. 43, No. 9, October, 2000 Contents Tensions Mount in Deadlock between Narrators and APH Management by Sheila Koenig Redefining Employment Outcome by Kristen Cox Climbing in Thin Air: An Interim Report by Erik Weihenmayer Climbing Next Door to the Top of the World: The Ama Dablam 2000 NFB Expedition by Didrik Johnck A Meditation on Civil Rights by Steve Jacobson Federation Forms New Division in Texas by Kevan Worley When Accidents Happen Protect Your Financial Security by James Overholser Braille Readers Are Leaders 2001 Contest Contest Form Trends in the Use of Braille Contractions in the United States: Implications for UBC Decisions by Sally S. Mangold, Ph.D. Standing, a Different Perspective by Stephen O. Benson All in a Day's Work by Peggy Elliott From the Governor of Maryland's Mail Basket Recipes Monitor Miniatures Copyright (c) 2000 National Federation of the Blind Unusual things sometimes take place at the National Center for the Blind. Even when commonplace activities occur (like a Baltimore Chapter meeting) the camera sometimes catches out-of-the-ordinary events like the picture (above left). July 14 provided a number of opportunities for unusual pictures. The Materials Center was finally ready for restocking and use. But first it had to be thoroughly cleaned. We could have hired a company at considerable expense to come in and do the job. We could have left it to the maintenance department to get the job done as it could over a period of weeks. Or we could do what we usually do and ask everyone on staff to devote a day to get the huge space ready for operation. That's what we did, and these pictures record the day.] [PHOTO DESCRIPTION: Dr. Maurer on hands and knees is looking at a baby sitting on the floor, chewing on the top of his cane. CAPTION: President Maurer plays on the floor of the dining room with eleven-month-old Ben Shropshire, son of Administrative Coordinator to the Office of the President, Lauri Shropshire.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: President Maurer stands on a desk in one of the offices in the Materials Center preparing to wash a window.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Liane Surbrook looks on as Joe Miller, standing, and Craig Gildner, on a ladder, wave at the camera.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Lauri Shropshire on a ladder and Curtis Chong on the floor clean and buff a paneled pillar.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: The Materials Center at the end of the day, clean and ready to be restocked] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Sheila Koenig] Tensions Mount in Deadlock between Narrators and APH Management by Sheila Koenig ********** From the Editor: One of the most familiar organizations in the blindness field is the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, Kentucky. And one of the most familiar parts of the APH operation is the recording studio that provides books and periodicals for the National Library Service. Less well known is the fact that APH narrators and management have been engaged in a wage dispute for more than two years. The problem seems to be coming to a head, so we thought that Braille Monitor readers would be interested in knowing something about what is going on since it may well affect everyone who reads Talking Books. But figuring out what is going on has not been easy. Since the two sides are and have been negotiating, Dr. Tuck Tinsley, APH President, has been unwilling to say much for the record. The narrators and their union representative have been more forthcoming, but of course there are two sides to every disagreement. Braille Monitor reporter Sheila Koenig has done her best to discover what has been going on. This is what she says: ********** Dr. Tuck Tinsley, President of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), maintains, "People are our most important resource. We appreciate and respect the work of all our employees." The book and periodical narrators who work at APH might disagree. In 1998 narrators organized a union as part of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) in order to try to obtain a stronger voice in determining their working conditions. APH currently employs twenty-seven part-time narrators, who work varying numbers of hours. According to narrators, the two full-time employees, who work about twenty-five hours a week, do the bulk of the reading. The narrators are currently paid eighty-five cents per good recorded minute: a rate, they believe, that is completely inadequate. "For every minute we put on tape," says narrator Roy Avers, "we probably spend a total of three minutes working." Avers explains that narrators spend much additional time in the reference center reviewing dialect, word pronunciation, and background information. After the book has been recorded, it is sent to a proofreader, who checks it looking for errors. If any are found, the book is returned to the narrator to correct. The narrators say that the current pay schedule does not account for preparation or correction time, and the wage does not take into consideration differences in the level of reading difficulty. Charles Abbott, studio director of Boston's Talking Book recording studio, WRS, confirms that his studio pays between $50 and $60 per good recorded hour. The range in pay depends both on the length of readers' tenure and the level of the material's reading difficulty. Narrators say that other studios pay comparable rates to Boston, with Talking Books Publishers, Inc., in Denver paying a rate of $1 a minute and the American Foundation for the Blind in New York paying $1.17. When they raised this disparity, APH narrators say, management agreed to meet informally to discuss the matter. According to narrators, however, management was only willing to discuss APH's lack of funds. Eventually management offered three cents more a minute, but that seemed like an insult to the narrators, who had been hoping for something like twenty cents more a minute. Serious negotiations would occur, narrators concluded, only if they organized with a union. Apparently Tinsley next offered them a pay schedule that was very close to what they had been hoping for, but the offer included no response to the narrators' plan to form a union shop. They concluded the time had come to organize with AFTRA. As soon as they did, the narrators say, management rescinded its most recent offer. Since that time narrators and management have been negotiating. Negotiations, however, appear to be deadlocked. Herta Suarez, Chief Negotiator and Executive Director of AFTRA in the Tri-State Region (which includes Louisville), says, "It has been a very frustrating experience because it has been like bargaining with ourselves. It appears to all of us who have been involved that they [APH management] don't want to have a contract with AFTRA." The narrators say they have orally refused the most recent offer extended by management, which they say was actually a reduction in pay of five cents a minute. The narrators say that management has told them this is APH's final offer. The narrators say they expect that, when they submit their written refusal, management will most likely declare an impasse in negotiations. "Two- and-a-half years is a long time to wait," says Avers. "This wouldn't be a problem if management showed a willingness to work with us." Suarez agrees: "There is no point in going to the table if they are taking the same position [they have previously maintained]." It is pretty clear that the deadlock cannot hold much longer, but the narrators and management have different pictures of how it will be resolved. Tuck Tinsley says that he believes by October there will be a contract. "If not," he says, "[the narrators] will continue to work without contract. They are good people, committed to what we are doing." The narrators think differently. They say that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is their only protection, but if management refuses to negotiate, the NLRB cannot protect them anymore. Narrators might consider a strike authorization vote, which would give them power to call a strike. Suarez says, "We are regrouping to determine which route to take in our long fight to try to get justice and a fair contract for these people." Where all this will end is uncertain at the moment. All we can say is that the Braille Monitor will keep you informed. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Kristen Cox] Redefining Employment Outcome: by Kristen Cox ********** From the Editor: Mr. Peace Stancil Tootle, a blind man placed in a sheltered workshop over fifteen years ago, recently made the following statement. "I have come to believe even more stronger than ever that the hardest obstacle that blind people in Georgia face is VR [vocational rehabilitation]." His statement illustrates the disappointment and frustration many consumers have with vocational rehabilitation policies and practices. Currently VR agencies can report placement in a sheltered workshop as an employment outcome. Too often placement in such settings leads to diminished expectations and dead-end jobs. However, if the rule proposed by the Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services, Dr. Fredric K. Schroeder, were adopted, VR agencies could not count sheltered, noncompetitive placements as an employment outcome. During our National Convention this summer members of the National Federation of the Blind unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the proposed rule. The Department of Education accepted comments regarding this proposed rule through August 25, 2000. NFB members submitted comments in favor of the proposed change by the hundreds. At this writing the Department of Education has received over 1,200 comments in support of the rule from individual consumers and agencies. In contrast, only 300 letters were submitted opposing the rule. As expected, sheltered workshop staff members authored the majority of these comments. The strong consumer support of the proposed rule will be the key to its adoption later this fall. Below is a continuation of Mr. Peace Stancil Tootle's remarks written to Charlie Crawford, the Executive Director of the American Council of the Blind (ACB). You will see for yourself the real and negative impact the current employment outcome policy has on the lives of individual blind people. For far too long Mr. Tootle has languished under a system which supports low expectations. Very often people want to know how the National Federation of the Blind and the ACB differ. Our opposing views on the proposed rule are an excellent case in point. The National Federation of the Blind strongly supports the proposed rule and the systematic shift towards integrated and competitive employment it will ensure. In contrast, the ACB opposes the rule, favoring instead regulations which promote the ongoing placement of blind people in sheltered, noncompetitive jobs. Following Mr. Tootle's remarks are the comments submitted on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind. Aside from the proposed rule, the arguments set forth in this document provide consumers with an understanding of the VR program and what they should expect from individual state agencies. The policies of state VR agencies should affirm the capacity of individuals with disabilities to obtain high-quality employment in the integrated labor market. Accepting anything less undermines both the intent of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the dreams and aspirations of those being served by the program. Following is Mr. Tootle's letter in full. We have brought the punctuation into compliance with Braille Monitor style and corrected obvious typographical errors. Here is the letter: ********** Message from Stancil Tootle ********** Hello Charlie: I have had a problem with the resolution 2000-16 ever since I first heard it read in Louisville. From talking to several workers at Georgia Industries for the Blind, I have come to believe even more stronger than ever that the hardest obstacle that blind people in Georgia face is VR. I have worked at GIB (Georgia Industries for the Blind) for more than fifteen years or more. The number one problem that I have seen is that most of the blind workers here did not make an informed choice. They were only told about the industries as their only choice from rehab. Second, once they were brought to the industries they only saw their counselor when it was time to close their case. No assistance with training or O&M training in a new environment. "We just want to close your case." Third, after rehab places a person at the industries, they leave it up to an untrained fellow worker at the industries to train the new worker. This should be rehab's job to train this person since they are supposed to be qualified to work with blind people. But closure is the name of the game. I believe that, if RSA leaves the policy the way it is right now, that things will get worse for the working-age blind citizens of Georgia because there are no real choices here. Yes, I will admit that some of the workers have lowered their expectations and gave up on their dreams, and love their work. Most of these people are the ones who have been placed on one job ever since they arrived at GIB and have never been shown nothing else. Oh yes, it is not all about the money, which seems to be one of ACB's main reasons for being against the new policy change. If money was the issue, you probably would not have taken some of the jobs that you have taken in your life. You took them because that was where your heart was. I believe that GIB is such a easy placement for rehab, and we all know that it's harder to place blind people into other jobs than any other disabled groups. Isn't it true that rehab gets rewarded for every closed case? I also must tell you that last year I went to my local VR office and asked about being placed back on the caseload. It was a struggle to get back on. The guy tried his best for days and days to talk me out of it. I have three friends who are going through the same thing now with their counselor. I think a lot of ACB and what it stands for and have done for the blind people of this country, and I really admire you, Charlie, but how and where do national office get the input from about workshops? It seems to me that the only people who truly benefit from not changing this policy will be VR agencies who will still be able to get more money year after year as a direct result of this easy placement of blind people so they can spend it on other disabled people. The management of GIB, who will never let a blind person move up, and NIB who will give contracts to industries for the blind that require sighted people to perform the jobs and just turn and look the other way. ********** Peace Stancil Tootle ********** There you have a powerful illustration of what shop employees think about the current RSA policy which Dr. Schroeder hopes to change. Now here are the comments submitted by the National Federation of the Blind: ********** Redefining Employment Outcome: Comments of the National Federation of the Blind August, 2000 ********** BACKGROUND: ********** The 1992 and 1998 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (the Act) codified a positive belief in the capacities of individuals with disabilities. Section 100 of the Act finds that "individuals with disabilities, including individuals with the most significant disabilities, have demonstrated their ability to achieve gainful employment in integrated settings if appropriate services and supports are provided." [Sec.100. (a)(1)(C)] This presumption that individuals with disabilities can be successfully employed in the integrated and competitive labor market is relatively new. Historically societal expectations favored segregated employment in the belief that it provided the most practical option for individuals with disabilities. Naturally the policies governing vocational rehabilitation were created within this cultural context. Consequently the VR policies allowed for, and essentially favored, the placement of individuals with disabilities in extended employment arrangements. As a result sheltered employment has become the option of low expectations and the reality for far too many individuals. While working in integrated, competitive employment used to be the exception rather than the rule for persons with disabilities, that is no longer the case. Last year only 3.5 percent of VR participants were placed in extended employment. This is a decrease of 50 percent as compared to placements in sheltered employment just two decades ago. Not surprisingly, individuals with disabilities are thriving in the competitive and integrated labor market. The emerging and positive paradigms of disability and employment have helped to reshape and define the mission of the VR program. No longer is the Act's purpose merely to render an individual employable but to assist individuals in obtaining high-quality and gainful employment in the integrated labor market that is consistent with an individual's strengths, resources, priorities, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice. ********** Adoption of the Rule Is Necessary to Fulfill the Requirements of the Act: ********** The Act's purpose is to secure "full inclusion and integration" into all areas of life for individuals with disabilities. [Sec.2. (a)(3)(F)] Specifically, the Act clearly requires practices that promote the placement of individuals with disabilities in integrated, competitive employment. Not only does the Act stipulate that individuals with disabilities have demonstrated the ability to work in such environments, but that "individuals with disabilities must be provided the opportunities to obtain gainful employment in integrated settings." [Sec.100. (a)(3)(B)] The clear and repeated emphasis on inclusion and integration supports the definition of "employment outcome" now in the Act. Current law defines employment outcome as "competitive employment in the integrated labor market," or "supported employment." [Subsections (A) and (B) of Sec.7. (11)] Subsection (C) allows the Secretary to determine if any other form of employment should be included. The repeated stress on integrated and competitive employment becomes even more pronounced upon review of the Act's legislative history (see Senate Report 105- 166, accompanying the 1998 amendments). One example among many is the following quote from Bobby Simpson, the then President of the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation: ********** The clear purpose and function of the vocational rehabilitation program should be to place individuals with disabilities in competitive employment in integrated settings with earnings at or above minimum wage. People with disabilities want the same kinds of jobs that you and I want. They want real jobs in the competitive labor market, wherein they can perform real work which contributes to the national economy. ********** Further, Section 102 of the Act stipulates that an individual is eligible for assistance if the individual requires services to "prepare for, secure, retain, or regain employment." [Sec.102. (a)(1)(B)] Therefore the services required must lead to an employment outcome, not simply to more service. Extended employment programs, normally conducted as a part of community rehabilitation programs, are part and parcel of the VR system. Placement of a disabled person in the positions available in these programs is essentially automatic, and the work opportunity is an extension of the VR program itself. Work in such programs normally begins as a VR service, and it is actually hard to determine when (if ever) the service ends and the real employment begins. In fact, community rehabilitation programs have steadfastly resisted the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that they are service and not employment settings. Thus these programs are a mixture of training activities and work activities, but they are not employment in the sense that the statute defines it. This is not to suggest that the activities are not legitimate or beneficial but just that they are not employment as defined by the Act. Since the Secretary is required to adopt policies which promote employment as defined by the Act, it is also necessary for the Secretary to determine which activities, such as sheltered work, are not employment. ********** Adoption of the Rule Will Promote the Benefits of Integration Over Segregation: ********** The purpose and intent of Vocational Rehabilitation is met when an individual obtains high-quality and gainful employment in an integrated setting consistent with an individual's strengths, resources, priorities, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice. This goal vastly differs from previous policies, recognizing that work: ********** (i) is a valued activity, both for individuals and society; and (ii) fulfills the need of an individual to be productive, promotes independence, enhances self-esteem, and allows for participation in the mainstream of life in the United States. ********** A question then arises about how the VR program can best assist individuals in obtaining an employment outcome which meets the expansive and broad definition of work. Sheltered employment has consistently fallen short in providing individuals with career choices and social experiences needed to fulfill the requirements of the Act. In contrast, integrated competitive employment is more likely to provide better pay, better career and advancement opportunities, and the chance to participate directly in the social mainstream. For example, according to a longitudinal study reported by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), individuals placed in integrated employment earn substantially more than those placed in sheltered settings. Of the 7,765 people placed in sheltered workshops last year, 6,934 or 89.3% earned less than the minimum wage-- $5.15 per hour. The average hourly rate for individuals placed in integrated work that same year was $8.65. Similar inequities apply when comparing access to medical insurance. For example, the study found that two years after placement only 11.7 percent of individuals in sheltered work had access to health insurance, whereas 55.3 percent of individuals in integrated and competitive employment had access to these benefits. In sum, the findings of this study consistently demonstrate that individuals in integrated settings earn more per hour, have more hours of work, and are more likely to have health insurance. These findings are supported by the fact that individuals placed in sheltered settings are employed in direct labor jobs and are rarely recruited for supervisory or management positions. Clearly placement in integrated employment provides individuals with measurable economic and career advantages, but the Act has an even broader focus on full integration into society. Integrated employment allows individuals to participate fully in society. It validates an individual's worth and capacity to contribute. By contrast, segregating individuals with disabilities in the work place limits their perspectives and aspirations. The impact is even greater if the limits are supported by regulations and practices of the VR program, which can have a powerful influence on the choices that participants make. Moreover, promoting a separate work environment for people with disabilities lends credence to the widespread view in society that people with disabilities are apt to be inferior employees. This is clearly a view that should not be sanctioned by regulations or policies of the Rehabilitation Act. The negative impact resulting from the segregation of minorities is well established. Deliberate steps have been taken to sweep away the policies supporting segregation and to replace them with requirements for inclusion and integration. As expressed in the Rehabilitation Act, the fight for inclusion is as relevant to individuals with disabilities as it is to other minority groups. It is a fight for equality and civil rights. It is a fight to affirm disability as a "normal part of the human experience" rather than a medical condition. Consistent with the principles of the Act, integrated employment is an essential part of achieving equality in society for people with disabilities. ********** Adoption of the Rule Is Not a Denial of Informed Choice Provided by the Act: ********** The opponents of the proposed rule argue that it would infringe upon an individual's capacity to exercise informed choice by restricting the scope of available employment outcomes. However, their position is not supported by either the Act or the facts at hand. First, informed choice must be exercised within the context of the Act. Informed choice is a decision-making process that occurs throughout the individual's participation in the VR program. Implementation of informed choice ensures that the individual or, if appropriate, the individual through his or her representative, has sufficient data available to make decisions regarding assessment of needs and the development of the Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE). The key word is "employment." For example, an individual would not be able to support a goal of "beggar" by citing an exercise of informed choice. This is so because the goal of begging is clearly inconsistent with the purposes of the Act. Informed choice must be exercised within the context of the Act and cannot be used to distort the purposes of the program merely to suit an individual's preference. Besides, as a practical matter, the rule will not prevent individuals from working in sheltered environments. Individuals would still be able to choose industrial or assembly work as an employment outcome. Training for industrial or assembly work is often provided in workshops, and it is likely that a certain number of trainees will decide to remain in the workshop as employees. Nothing in the proposed rule prevents them from making this choice. Current regulations require VR agencies to close an individual's case when an employment outcome is achieved, whether the setting is sheltered or not. In contrast, the proposed rule would allow the individual to remain eligible for further VR services because the employment outcome specified on the IPE would not have been achieved. This will encourage state VR agencies to assist individuals in obtaining more lucrative jobs in the competitive labor market rather than sheltered employment. This rule provides the best of both worlds: continued opportunities for disabled persons to receive training in sheltered settings and the choice for workers in sheltered employment to have ongoing access to VR services. Further, people who want to work specifically in sheltered workshops can bypass the IPE process entirely. The VR agency can refer them directly to extended employment programs. In these cases for individuals who are receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration, the costs related to the training and employment provided can be paid under the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Act. ********** Conclusion: ********** The proposed rule would redefine "employment outcome" to include employment in integrated work settings only. This rule is necessary to reflect the intent of Title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, to enable individuals with disabilities to obtain an employment outcome in a competitive and integrated environment. Making this change will ensure that job placements are consistent with the new paradigm reflected in the Act and will not prohibit an individual from working in sheltered employment. It is important to note that either decision--to reject or adopt the rule--will have a systemic and lasting effect upon the VR program and those it serves. If the rule is rejected, the option of placement in sheltered employment will be affirmed and result in continued placements. If, however, the proposed rule is adopted, the capacity of individuals with disabilities to work in the mainstream will be affirmed and will result in integrated employment for persons with disabilities. With either approach it is clear that the choices of individuals will be influenced by the direction of the VR program. In the final analysis this direction must be governed by the Act, which clearly promotes competitive work over sheltered work and integration over segregation. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Yaks carry team equipment through the Khumbu on the way to the base camp on Ama Dablam.] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Erik Weihenmayer in the shadow of Ama Dablam] Climbing in Thin Air: An Interim Report by Erik Weihenmayer ********** From the Editor: Those who attended the National Convention last July will remember the electricity that sparked through the hall on Friday morning when Erik Weihenmayer came to the platform to make his interim report about his experience climbing Ama Dablam, the mountain beside Everest in Nepal. As Erik explained to us at the 1999 convention, the purpose of this climb was to enable the team that will attempt Everest in the spring of 2001 to work together on a rugged Himalayan climb. They needed to learn about each other and to climb together in the difficult conditions that characterize the highest mountains in the world. The climb turned out to provide all the challenge the team could ever have wished for and then some. But as team leader Pasquale Scaturro told me following the climb, "After this experience on Ama Dablam I can safely say that this is the strongest team I have ever climbed with." Will the team reach the summit of Mt. Everest next May? There are no guarantees in the Himalayas. Certainly the team's experience with the storms of 2000 on Ama Dablam demonstrates that Mother Nature and the mountain itself have a great deal to say about who succeeds in summiting and who does not. But according to Scaturro this team has a better chance than many of making it to the top of Everest, and Erik will be an integral part of the effort. What follows is the text of Erik's interim report to the NFB as he delivered it to the 2000 convention. This is what he said: ********** About four years ago I climbed a rock face, a 3,300-foot rock face called El Capitan, in Yosemite Valley in California. It was exciting. If we really compared our climbing ability, my friend Jeff, with whom I climbed, is probably a bit better climber than I am. But we topped out on this rock face, and Jeff's head lamp was broken. Even though Jeff is a better climber than me by day, guess who was a better climber at night? We had to get down from this rock face. Just as the last bit of sun was setting on the mountain, Jeff looked at this book, and it said, "Do not try this descent in the dark; eight people died last year." We were in trouble. I had to lead Jeff out of the mountains. I climbed below him, and I put his feet in these little holes on the rock face. He made little noises like "AAAH, AAAH, AAAH!" which I found quite amusing. Then when we got off the rocks, I kept us on the trail by feeling the packed dirt under my feet, just as I do during the day. I was a little nervous to be guiding Jeff, but I knew that in that situation I was the person for the job. I think the powers-that-be, those great forces in the world, convince us as blind people that certain people are born to lead, that people who are the strongest and fastest and see the best are the leaders in the world. That is just not true. We know that as blind people we can be leaders just like anyone else. We know that the only qualities we really need to be leaders are a little bit of skill and a lot of courage. We know that the best way to lead is to get out there and, as climbers say, "Take the sharp end of the rope and lead by our example." The National Federation of the Blind is sponsoring a couple of climbs: a climb to Ama Dablam in the Himalayas and a climb of Mt. Everest. We just got back from Ama Dablam, which was a practice climb. We chose the spots for these climbs for a couple of reasons. One, because for some reason when a blind person hangs by his finger tips off an ice face or a thousand feet off the ground, it gets a lot of attention. Because of that, climbing is a wonderful platform for talking about blindness, talking about the issues of blindness--the story of blindness, the wonderful work that the National Federation of the Blind does--and a platform to make the NFB sort of a household word among the population at large. As Dr. Maurer put it so well, "To attach blindness to a sense of adventure"; I like that one the best. We can also begin to pass on leadership, and I think that for me is an incredible legacy. As I say, Mt. Everest is the highest peak in the world, 29,035 feet, but it will take us conservatively about nine days to get to base camp. It's a long, rocky trail up to base camp at 17,800 feet. We'll take yaks for our gear. You can't climb mountains like Everest outright; you can't just go straight up it. From base camp it'll take us between a month and two months to get to the top, weather and health permitting. If you just drop a person off at the summit of Mt. Everest via helicopter, within thirty seconds you pass out, and within another thirty seconds you'd be dead. That's because at the top of Mt. Everest there is only about a third of the oxygen that we have at sea level. So you have to acclimatize; you have to climb the mountain slowly; you're shuttling up the mountain through the succession of camps, getting a little bit higher and a little bit higher, convincing your body that it can breathe less and less oxygen, that it can survive up there in what they call the death zone. I believe that as a climber and in life that your contributions to a team need to outweigh the accommodations that are being made for you. That's why, when I'm climbing and I go to sleep each night in my tent, I want to be able to point to a few things that I've done that day that have contributed to the team's success, like building snow walls or setting up tents or carrying just as much weight as everyone else. I never wanted to be just a token; I wanted really to contribute to the team. One of the accommodations made to me as a climber in climbing Mt. Everest will be communication. My sighted teammates--I will have nine strong Himalayan climbers with me, none of whom is a paid guide; we're all just friends--but they will communicate with me, tell me terrain changes, tell me whether we're on a steep ridge, whether we're climbing up over a big rock and down the other side. I'll need to know those kinds of things. Because at 25,000 feet you start going on bottled oxygen, you cannot communicate in the oxygen mask. It restricts you from talking, so we'll have to create some microphones inside our oxygen masks that will enable my team to communicate back and forth. We'll wake up on summit day about 11:00 at night, and we could summit anywhere from 10:00 in the morning until 1:00 in the afternoon. Mt. Everest has pretty bad storms usually most afternoons, so you want to be down off the mountain as soon as possible and back safely in your tent. Some of you know the story, Into Thin Air, in which some people got stuck out in those afternoon storms and got into some trouble. We just got back from Ama Dablam. Ama Dablam is right next to Mt. Everest. It's almost 23,000 feet. It's much more steep and technical than Mt. Everest. Mt. Everest is basically a snow slope, which takes you to the top with some periodic rock. Ama Dablam is a very steep rock face. The Sherpa people, who are the local people, call Ama Dablam the mother's jewel box, because of the mother, the goddess of the Himalayas, and the jewel box, a giant hanging glacier that you have to climb up and over to summit the peak. We started out on this trail; it took us about six days to get to base camp. Some interesting things happened along the way. Number one, my friend Chris and my other teammates, they hike in front of me wearing a bell--I stick a bear bell to their pack and one to their ice ax so I can hear them jingling in front of me. But the yaks going up Ama Dablam and Mt. Everest also have these same kind of bells jingling from their necks, so the Sherpa people thought we were these strange yak people from the west because we were jingling along the trail. They thought it was really strange. They would point and say, "Yak man, yak man." Second, because I have a reasonable amount of skill using my long trekking poles and hiking and I'm not tripping and stumbling, a lot of the Sherpa people, the local people of the region, started feeling like I was cheating, like I wasn't really blind--maybe I could see a little bit, and I was there trying to get attention or something like that. This rumor got around among the women in the market place that I could really see, so they waved their hands in front of my face to test me. I would feel the wind from their hands, so I would flinch, and they would say, "See that proves it, he can see." I didn't know what to do. This was becoming a real problem because everyone was telling me, "We think you can see." Part of the point was that I was blind, and I wanted them to know that. So I thought, okay I am reduced to drastic measures. I didn't know what else to do. I don't want to gross anyone out, but I lost my eyes a few years back to glaucoma, so guess what I had to do to prove to the Sherpas that I was actually blind? Well I proved it to him. He was a little grossed out, but when he left the room, he was thoroughly convinced. The head Sherpa passed it on to the rest of the Sherpas. He said, "He is blind; there is no doubt about it." I think sometimes as blind people we are reduced to drastic measures to prove to the sighted world, whether it's in this culture or the Sherpa culture, that, even though we are blind, we can do the job. We can do it successfully. When we got to our base camp at 16,000 feet on Ama Dablam, we started working our way up the mountain. We had to cross a giant boulder field. The upper mountain is so steep that rock pours off it, and it creates this giant hodgepodge of boulders that you have to leap across. There can be big gaps between them. Sometimes there are boulders up on a ridge where you don't want to fall off the sides. They are very uneven; there is no rhyme or reason to them. Boulder fields do not meet Americans-with-Disabilities-Act requirements. It's a blind person's nightmare for sure. Actually, if I was really mean and I really hated a blind person, I would stick him in the middle of a boulder field. We had to get across this boulder field. There wasn't any easy way, but we kind of trudged across it, and we got over it. At 19,000 feet we met the steepest part of the climb, a vertical thousand-foot rock base, climbing it to almost 21,000 feet with heavy gloves and plastic boots. It was really beautiful climbing. We got to over 21,000 feet, and at that point we were stopped by weather. The monsoons were coming in from the south earlier and earlier every day, blasting us with horizontal snow and huge wind and freezing weather. All the rocks were piled up with snow, and ice covered over our ropes so it was difficult to rappel off them. We tried to get a little bit higher. Rocks and ice were pelting our helmets. It was very dangerous, and we decided this is really a practice climb. The point isn't to summit this peak--it's to get prepared for Mt. Everest, so we decided to turn back. We came down the mountain. We had to cross down over those vertical sections and across about a thirty-foot traverse with no footholds that we nicknamed abject terror, because there's about 5,000 feet of air under your feet, and you are hanging off these old ropes, and your feet are just slipping on the rocks. It's really terrifying. I had spent eight days at 21,000 feet with my friend Eric Alexander. This climb was being covered by Quokka.com, giving the NFB lots of publicity. When we were at 19,000 feet, they reported that Eric--and this was true--that one of our climbers had slipped and fallen 150 feet. That was not me; it was my friend Eric. Luckily he landed on a tiny ledge. He had on a pack that saved his spine. He had a helmet that saved his head. It was a real miracle. He climbed his way back up through slab rocks, and soon after that he went into shock. He got pulmonary edema, where his lungs filled up with fluid and the oxygen in his blood went down to forty percent, which is really bad, near death. So Steve Gipe, our doctor, brought him all the way down through the boulder fields to base camp. At the same time, our teammates who were down at camp one climbed all the way back up the mountain, crossed Abject Terror, and helped us carry loads down the mountain. About 10:00 o'clock at night, after coming down in this twelve-hour storm, we all came into base camp together. We met Eric and the doctor down there. It occurred to me that, if we had summited Ama Dablam in perfect, beautiful weather, we wouldn't necessarily have proven what we went there to do, which was to find and prove our strength as a team. But we did, and I think that meeting such adversity and bad weather on this climb enabled us to find our strength as a team, to find the very best qualities within us. I saw it as a very positive training and preparation experience. Eric, by the way, got helicoptered off the mountain, out of base camp that next day, and he is recovering safely in Colorado now. We are excited to go up Mt. Everest next year. We're ready, we'll be honed physically and mentally, and we are accustomed to the region now and the people. We'll make a really good team as we climb Everest. I think the most beautiful legacy of this climb will be in the way that we pass leadership down to other people, especially young people. I have a friend named Steve Akerman. He's a partial quadriplegic; he pedals his hand cycle, using just the power of his arms. He pedaled his bike around the world. It took him almost ten months. He went through eighteen countries. At the end of his ride he said to a group of people who had gathered to watch him come into Washington, D.C., "The word encourage is the most powerful word in the English language--to give people the courage to do great things by our own example of doing great things." I think that is so powerful because this climb can go a little way in helping blind people in particular to live their lives as they see fit, to make their own rules, to build their own parameters, to shatter perceptions, to blow through stereotypes, and to throw out the sighted world's expectations and rise to the level of our own internal potential. If I can be a part of that through this climb, then I'm very proud. I'm also proud to be part of the National Federation of the Blind. I think it is appropriate that the NFB, the most powerful blindness organization in the world, is climbing the highest mountain in the world--a perfect match. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Ama Dablam base camp] [PHOTO/CAPTION: The 2000 Ama Dablam NFB Expedition team after Eric Alexander was air lifted to the hospital] [PHOTO/CAPTION: Ama Dablam as seen from Khumjung] Climbing Next Door to the Top of the World: The Ama Dablam 2000 NFB Expedition by Didrik Johnck ********** From the Editor: Twice now we have heard Erik Weihenmayer tell convention audiences what it is like to climb high mountains, rock faces, and ice fields without being able to see what is happening. People have been moved and energized by what Erik has said and by what, with our help, he is trying to accomplish. But I have thought all along that it would be interesting to hear from one of Erik's climbing team what it is like to have a blind team member on one of these arduous expeditions. So several months ago Didrik Johnck volunteered to give Braille Monitor readers his perspective on the Ama Dablam climb of April, 2000. This is what he wrote: ********** Trying to balance yourself, you reach out for the nearest object. What's it going to be this time? Cold, finger-numbing rock, ice, or snow? Thousands of feet of air between you and flat ground. Blowing wind spitting icy needles of snow on your face. Swirling clouds allowing only a few feet of visibility. Which way is up? Where, exactly, was the edge of that cliff? Now imagine, in this precarious and potentially perilous situation, that you're actually having a good time. Imagine that you've traveled halfway around the world, hiked for two weeks, and spent the last few months preparing and thinking about this moment. This was the world inhabited by the climbers on the 2000 Ama Dablam NFB Expedition. The team, composed of blind climber Erik Weihenmayer and his seven teammates, spent a month last spring in the Himalayas of Nepal climbing a beautiful 22,423- foot mountain called Ama Dablam. Weihenmayer, a thirty-one-year-old rock climber and mountaineer who had scaled such peaks as McKinley, Aconcagua, and Kilimanjaro, had his sights set on Mount Everest and was attempting Ama Dablam as a training climb. "I believe that, if a blind person is seen succeeding safely on an arduous peak like this one [Everest], it won't just shape people's perceptions of blindness; it will shatter them," Weihenmayer said to the 1999 convention of the National Federation of the Blind. Most of the team was from Colorado, including the expedition leader, forty-five- year-old Pasquale Scaturro, a three-time veteran of Everest who lives in Lakewood. The rest of the team included Eric Alexander, thirty, from Vail; Luis Benitez, twenty-eight, from Boulder; Brad Bull, thirty-two, from Denver; Chris Morris, thirty-four, from Wasilla, Alaska; Dr. Steve Gipe, forty-six, from Bozeman, Montana; and me, Didrik Johnck, twenty-eight, from San Francisco, California. After months of planning, team meetings, and last-minute packing, the team left the United States for Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 17. Four days later, as we landed on the tiny airstrip in Lukla at 9,000 feet, the sun was shining, lighting the way to Ama Dablam Base Camp. We trekked through the sub-alpine pine forests to Namche Bazaar, the capital of the Khumbu and home to the Sherpa culture. Days later we merged into the near-treeless landscape of the alpine regions from 12,000 feet up. Our caravan of thirty yaks, fifteen porters, ten trekkers, and eight climbers was filled with the anticipation of seeing Ama Dablam. The yaks and porters carried much of the team equipment. The trekkers, consisting of several friends and acquaintances of the climbers, were planning on hiking to base camp before heading back to Kathmandu. On the fourth day of the trek, like an island rising out of the clouds, there she was with her arms stretched out, almost saying, "Welcome ... I'm glad to see you again." In the Sherpa language Ama Dablam means "mother with a charm box." Some of us who had been to this region before for Everest expeditions had stared at this peak many times and had all secretly wanted it. For those of us who had only seen pictures and heard about this beautiful peak, Ama Dablam held the same lure. Hiking out of Namche Bazaar and seeing this hulking mass of snow, rock, and ice rising vertically out of nowhere with the jet black south face of Everest peeking over the Lhotse-Nuptse wall in the distance forced us all to stop in our tracks. Some of us even had to sit. "I love to have a teammate describe the colors and the alpine glow and all the mountains around us," Weihenmayer said. "And it's pretty cool to get the description of the world through the eyes of another person." But no one needed to tell Erik what was going on around him at that moment. Between the silence and the gasps, he knew. Ama Dablam did not leave our sight for the rest of the expedition. When we ate lunch, when we went to bed, when we woke up, there was Ama Dablam. When we attempted a small, 18,000-foot peak called Imja Tse (Island peak) to acclimatize, there was Ama Dablam, staring us down. Six months earlier, at one of our team meetings in Denver, we talked about all the information we had received from other climbers who had summited this mountain. "Piece of cake; shouldn't take more than two weeks," said one source. "Camp One to Camp Two is a bitch, but after that it's smooth sailing all the way to the summit," said another friend. Months later, high on the mountain, Weihenmayer and Alexander were cursing those same people when they were stuck at Camp Two for the fifth night, unable to move due to the downpour of snow and the onslaught of furious wind. After arriving in base camp on April 1, it took about a week for the team to put in the route to Camp Two. Most of the time the team climbed together, although whoever was directly in front of or behind Erik gave him route instructions when needed. "Every time I looked down between my legs at the thousands of feet of exposure and then at Erik calmly moving over the fixed lines, oblivious to danger, it gave me great inspiration and confidence in us and what we were setting out to accomplish," said Benitez after spending a day with Weihenmayer. The route provided different challenges to everyone on the team. In a dispatch to Quokka Sports, who provided daily live coverage of the climb, Weihenmayer wrote, "Today Eric Alexander, Steve Gipe, and I climbed 1,000 feet from Yak Camp to Camp One over nightmare boulders. It was one of those days when I wonder to myself why I like climbing." Between Yak Camp and Camp One there are 1,000 feet of rocks piled on top of each other ranging in size from baseballs to trucks with treacherous gaps between. Higher up the mountain, just below Camp Two, was a section we named the Abject Terror Traverse. To move across the Abject Terror Traverse you step out onto a wall with about 3,000 feet of air beneath your feet; there are two bomber hand holds, but no foot holds. To make the move work, you must grab the hand holds, point your butt out into the air, and smear the bottoms of your shoes against the vertical slab of rock. Then you shimmy along the wall until you reach the next platform at the base of the Yellow Tower. At sea level the Yellow Tower would be a pretty simple and relaxed eighty-foot climb. Change the location to the Himalayas and put yourself at 20,000 feet with freezing temperatures, climbing vertical rock with a 50-pound pack and plastic boots, a 3,000-foot drop beneath you, and life is much different. Most of us called it fun. We had been enjoying the great weather as we trekked in and established base camp and the first part of the route up the mountain. But as the days wore on, the clouds were coming in earlier and earlier and beginning to drop some light snow. By the end of the expedition we were allowed only a few hours of decent climbing in the morning before the weather moved in at 11:00 a.m. After reaching Camp Two, we were short on rope and food and needed to make a trip down to base camp to resupply. In talking it over, Weihenmayer said, "If I have to go back through that boulder field beneath Camp One, I am not coming back up." So Alexander volunteered to stay with Weihenmayer at Camp Two, anticipating our return in two days and then a push on to the summit. Little did we know that Mother Nature had other plans. That afternoon, as we ran down to base camp, rappelling down the Yellow Tower, navigating the Abject Terror Traverse, moving quickly across the fixed lines to Camp One, then hopping across the boulder field and finally arriving at the hiking trail that leads into base camp, it began to snow. Not a big deal, I thought, since it was snowing most afternoons by now. This time, however, it didn't let up, forcing us to stay in base camp while leaving Weihenmayer and Alexander trapped for six nights at 20,000 feet at Camp Two. Our two stranded and extremely bored teammates passed the time by counting the number of Werther Original candies that could fit into a zip-lock bag, listening to audio tapes, and strolling around the minuscule platform surrounding the tent. The tent was perched on the edge of a 3,000-foot cliff, so any time spent outside required being clipped into fixed rope. In a half-joking radio dispatch to Quokka Sports, Weihenmayer said, "Our team has abandoned us and gone down to eat Momos at base camp, while I've just eaten a can of sardines, a Snickers bar, and a bowl of oatmeal." Momos are tasty meat-and-vegetable-filled dumplings that we constantly talked about when up on the mountain. Our base camp cook, Tenzing, always enticed us over the radio by saying he would cook up some Momos upon our return to base camp. After our fifth day at base camp the weather appeared to be clearing, and the six of us in base camp dashed up to Camp One, then on to Camp Two to meet Weihenmayer and Alexander. Our plan was to spend a night at Camp Two, move to Camp Three the next day, and then make our assault on the summit the day after that. The only major obstacle was the Grey Tower above Camp Two. The Grey Tower is another rocky outcropping similar to the Yellow Tower, except filled with snow, ice, and rock. Most climbers strive for climbing pure rock, pure ice, or pure snow, but when confronted with a mixed bag of all three as on the Grey Tower, the most proficient climber can be reduced to a quivering baby. Past the Grey Tower a knife-edged ridge leads into Camp Three, sitting on a snow mushroom next to the Dablam. The Dablam is the well-defined ice bulge that appears to be hanging just below the summit face. From Camp Three to the summit there are beautiful, high-angled, fluted snowfields that we were all looking forward to spearing with our crampons and ice tools. Up to this point we had been thrashing our way over and around ice-encrusted rock and had not found any good snow. On day twenty-seven of the expedition (April 14) Scaturro, Benitez, Morris, and Kami Tenzing--one of the climbing Sherpas on our expedition--were leading the way up the Grey Tower. Meanwhile Weihenmayer, Alexander, and Bull were packing up some things in Camp Two, and I was making a trip down to Camp One to get some more rope. We all stopped at about 10:00 a.m. to answer Scaturro's radio call. When he asked us to switch over to a private radio channel, I knew something was up. What was up was this. In the two hours they had been ascending the Grey Tower a steady stream of rocks and ice (some the size of basketballs) had been pouring down the chute. They had spent most of the time playing dodge ball with rocks and ice rather than climbing. Scaturro, Benitez, and Morris began wondering about the safety of the team on the Grey Tower--particularly Weihenmayer. It is dangerous enough to place a sighted person in the path of flying rocks and ice, but for Weihenmayer the risk would have been elevated tenfold. Earlier in the week one of the members of a Mexican team on Ama Dablam was hit in the head by a small rock traveling at high speed. The rocks coming down were also smashing into the climbing ropes, which were being gradually severed. Was the risk worth the reward? As we exchanged thoughts over the radio, I couldn't help feeling what was coming. Then Scaturro finally said the words we dreaded hearing. "Fellas," he began, "we have done our best to climb this thing. I have never been with a stronger team, even on Everest, but as much as I hate to say this, it's over." Continuing upward at this point was too risky. Being extremely low on food and fuel also meant we would not have another chance to try again. It's difficult to describe the emotions one feels after fighting and struggling to reach the seemingly unattainable and persisting and trying harder, then being forced finally to back off and walk away. We didn't have much time to get emotional because the clouds that had been creeping up the valley all morning suddenly arrived with driving wind and snow. The team was now trying to descend and was caught in the storm at the Yellow Tower. With half the team below the Yellow Tower and the other half above, we decided to split up. Scaturro, Weihenmayer, Benitez, and I retreated back to Camp Two while Bull, Morris, and Alexander descended to Camp One in a whiteout. As I was erecting my tent at Camp Two, all I could think about was crawling into my sleeping bag and warming up. At that same moment the other half of the team was fighting its way down the mountain through iced-up ropes and blowing snow. The fun was not over yet. Only twenty feet from his tent at Camp One, Alexander discovered that the sled-sized rock he was standing on had decided to take off, carrying him as well. Alexander tried to surf the rock for a bit, but ended up being tossed off, falling 150 feet. Miraculously, he suffered only a few bruises and some torn clothes. Later that night Alexander began having breathing trouble and exhibited symptoms of high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). This is a very serious condition in which the lungs slowly fill up with fluid and eventually suffocate the victim. Dr. Gipe, the expedition doctor, was in Camp One and helped Alexander down to base camp the next morning. The treatment for HAPE is to descend, and Alexander appeared to be getting better in base camp, 4,000 feet lower than Camp One. However, the next day Alexander's symptoms became worse, and we evacuated him by helicopter the morning of April 18 to Kathmandu. Even though the team was thwarted in our attempt to summit Ama Dablam, none of us felt this expedition was a failure. "I kept glancing up through the clouds and wondering, wondering why the summit was so important, wondering if we were letting go too easily," Benitez wrote in a dispatch to Quokka Sports on April 16. "Yet at the same time I realized we had accomplished all we set out to do as our primary goals: come together as a team; get ready for Everest; be with Erik in the Himalayas; and, well, just plain try to do our best." In the end trying to do our best meant fixing almost all the ropes on the mountain despite previous plans. Initially the work of putting in the route was to be split up among the seven or eight teams climbing the mountain this season, a common practice. This idea sounded great prior to arrival, but once on the mountain, things didn't go as planned. Our team set almost all the fixed rope for the season. One other team managed to get slightly past our high point, and when all the teams cleared off the mountain by early May, not one had reached the summit. Later, however, unconfirmed reports surfaced that a small Russian team came in very late in the season and summited. Hearing the news that a team had made it to the top prompted different emotions as we spoke about it back home. A bit of happiness and disbelief that someone had made it, a little jealousy that it hadn't been us, but mostly the realization that successful climbing in the Himalayas takes more than a mentally and physically strong team. It takes Mother Nature's cooperation, a climbable route, of course Ama Dablam, and even a little luck. All these factors must come together for a team to reach the summit, and even then there are still no guarantees. Correctly predicting the future is a crapshoot. You make elaborate plans. Then changes are made to those plans. Decisions are made on the fly in the most sublime, stressful, relaxed, or even threatening conditions. After everything was said and done, whether we had summited or not, each of us felt a little twitch inside, knowing without a doubt that we will be back someday. The question many people ask is, "Why?" Why bother if the chances of summiting are slim, and all these different elements must come together for it to happen? Everyone has individual reasons. When asked about his reasons for climbing, Weihenmayer mused: "It's sort of shallow if my reason for climbing is to prove that blind people can do this or that, but I will say that it's a great, great side benefit to be able to use these climbs to broaden the message beyond the ambition of just one person--to use these climbs to shatter people's perceptions about what's possible and what isn't and about the capabilities of people, whether they're blind, disabled, or unimpaired." ********** ********** ***************************************************************** Charitable Remainder Trusts ********** A trust is a plan established to accomplish goals for the individual making the trust and the beneficiary. The donor creates the trust, appoints a trustee (the donor, a family member, a bank trust officer, etc.), and designates a beneficiary. In the case of a charitable remainder trust, money or property is transferred by the donor to a charitable trust. This trust pays income for life. After the donor's death the funds remaining in the trust go to the National Federation of the Blind. There are two kinds of charitable trusts. The first, a charitable remainder annuity trust, is set up to pay income to the donor based on a fixed percentage of the original gift. The second is a charitable remainder unitrust. The income from this trust is based on the annual assessed value of the gift. Both types of charitable remainder trust are common and relatively easy to set up. Appreciable tax deductions are available, depending on which type of trust is selected. The following examples demonstrate how trusts work, but the figures are illustrative, not exact: Michael Brown, age sixty-five, decides to set up a charitable remainder annuity trust with $100,000. He asks his brother John to manage the trust for him. During Michael's lifetime John will see to it that Michael is paid $5,000 each year (5% of $100,000). In addition, Michael can claim a tax deduction of $59,207 in the year the trust is established. Mary Ellen Davis, age sixty-five, sets up a charitable remainder unitrust with $100,000. She asks her attorney to act as trustee. During Mary Ellen's life her attorney will pay her an amount, 5%, equal to the annual assessed value of her gift. If the $100,000 unitrust grows to $110,000, Mary Ellen will be paid $5,500. If it grows again to $120,000, she will be paid $6,000 in that year, and so on. Also Mary Ellen can claim a tax deduction of $48,935 in the year she establishes the unitrust. For more information on charitable remainder trusts, contact the National Federation of the Blind, Special Gifts, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230-4998, phone (410) 659-9314, fax (410) 685-5653. ***************************************************************** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Steve Jacobson] A Meditation on Civil Rights by Steve Jacobson ********** Last July the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) narrowly passed a ruling mandating that a specified amount of network programming be video-described. Those supporting the FCC position often argued that blind people have a right to be provided access to all the information sighted people have. In other words, all information access is a civil right, which among other things means that it does not matter how much it costs or how many people are inconvenienced to provide it--a right is a right, and society or individual purveyors must pick up the tab. School bussing to provide the civil right of equal access to good education was a remedy embraced after Brown vs. Board of Education, to counteract school segregation, and no matter what the cost to cities and school districts, the remedy was applied to protect that right. On the disability scene the right to a free, appropriate education in the least restrictive environment and the right to physical access to public accommodations for people using wheelchairs are now generally recognized even if people still have to fight to make them a reality. The problem is that many have begun to pronounce that all sorts of conveniences are actually rights. Without considering the financial cost, the damage to personal independence for us, or the price we pay in increased resentment and negative public attitudes, these folks beat their breasts, lamenting the inability of "people with blindness or visual impairment" to cope with the world as it is. They paint dreary pictures of the limitations with which we live and do their best to stimulate sufficient guilt among the sighted to change the laws or set the standards they happen to advocate at the moment. No consumer organization of blind people worth its salt would argue that blind people need nothing in the way of accommodations. Access to the printed word, the Internet, the workforce, the organizations and activities of daily life--all these require some mandated modification of business as usual. Justice demands it, and society as a whole will be better off when we have these things as a matter of course. The problem is to decide which things are necessary and which are not. Provision of all too many services and conveniences leads to dependence, continued incompetence, and blunted motivation. There are no easy answers. Self- confidence, high expectations, and personal creativity must be stimulated in blind people if they are to learn to live satisfying, successful lives. A dozen times a day we are faced with the temptation to let the disability office, the secretary, or the public official do it for us. We should not be surprised, then, when whatever it is is done badly, unfairly, or incompetently. Steve Jacobson is a leader in the NFB of Minnesota and the NFB's computer science division. He wrote a post to an NFB listserv grappling with some of these issues. He was responding to one of several comments to the effect that the FCC had acted wisely in mandating descriptive video because blind people should have the right of access to all the information sighted people get. This is what he said: ********** Now that the FCC decision has been made, I am wondering if anyone is interested in exploring the broader question, namely, what it is that we have a right to have. There have long been some fairly deep divisions among blind people over the issues listed in the note to which I am replying, particularly street crossings and subways. Whenever those issues are debated directly, the debate seems to degenerate into emotional name-calling to at least some degree. Yet it seems to me that some concepts going beyond any of these issues are important in figuring out exactly where we as blind people are going. As an organization I believe that the NFB has a pretty clear sense of this, but an understanding of rights versus interests that blind people and society as a whole have in common needs to be explored and understood. Yes, I know, some feel that this sort of exchange of ideas is a waste of time, but I think such an understanding is essential if we are going to chart a successful course through the maze of accessibility to electronic information in particular. The note to which I am replying implies that we have a right to all information available to the sighted public; at least that is how I read it. I know that this belief is shared by others, and I do not mean to pick on this writer by choosing to reply to this particular note. Actually I intended to raise this subject earlier, and this note just gave me the push to do so. How much of what we are requesting is because we have some implied right to receive it, and how much of it is because it makes good sense both for us as blind people and for society? We have some legal rights under United States laws such as the ADA and white cane legislation that we have felt were necessary to establish. But I feel that such laws have arisen because it makes better sense, at least in part, to include us within mainstream society than to keep us in rocking chairs in back rooms as has been done in the past. That sort of waste of human potential can't be tolerated. I believe we all agree on that. We have a civil right to be considered equally for employment and other benefits of a modern society, but I also accept that society is not obligated to provide a mechanism to perform every job if my lack of vision places me at a disadvantage. The right to be equally considered does not extend to driving a taxi, for example. But this sort of exclusion must be watched to insure that exclusions are not made that have no basis in fact. Some have believed that sight is as much a requirement for teaching or parenting as it is for driving, and that assumption cannot be permitted to stand. At the other extreme, I don't consider it necessary for all water faucets to have a tactile indication of whether they control hot or cold water because there are a number of approaches for me to determine that for myself, and most do not involve getting burned. Yet most faucets do display in some way for the sighted public whether they control cold or hot water. I don't expect every door to have a Braille label to tell me whether to push or pull, since in part I can determine that by experiment just about as quickly as by reading the label. I could probably list other examples upon which we mostly agree. In other words there are a lot of things in life for which the information provided to the public can be extracted using other techniques. It, therefore, seems to me that many of the issues that we face are not those of civil rights. Rather, they are issues of balance between the cost to society and the benefit to us, or having some information provided to us as opposed to getting it ourselves. What scares me is that anything that is defined as a civil right is by definition not analyzed to determine its benefit to us or cost to society because civil rights do not need to be justified. It is therefore convenient to classify some issues as civil rights so that one doesn't have to think about their relative value. I am not trying to say that everyone supporting DVS has used that argument because well-constructed arguments have been offered supporting the mandating of DVS. However, it does seem that more and more people argue for more and more services on the basis of civil rights. Which issues are civil rights, and which are a matter of cost and benefit, and how do we tell which are which? When is it our job to find and use alternative techniques, and when ought we to expect society to change? It saddens me to see blind people, in the name of their rights, drop out of classes because their screen readers don't work with certain software rather than simply working with a reader for a few days. Civil rights are supposed to broaden one's options, not narrow them. I know of no law that makes society responsible for erasing all disadvantages and obstacles that arise because we are blind. In some instances our independence is enhanced by developing techniques to deal with certain circumstances rather than by having those circumstances eliminated. We need, therefore, to analyze carefully the issues that confront us to come up with solutions that really work and to know the difference between our civil rights (what we need) and what we want because it is more convenient. How do we determine in which category to place an issue? ********** ********** Federation Forms New Division in Texas by Kevan Worley ********** From the Editor: Kevan Worley is the energetic new President of the National Association of Blind Merchants. He recently sent the Braille Monitor a report of an August meeting in Texas which several dissidents tried unsuccessfully to disrupt. The result of all the furor was a new state organization of blind vendors and a much closer working relationship with a state agency trying to assist its vendors. Here is Kevan's report: ********** On Saturday afternoon, August 12, 2000, at the Capitol Marriott Hotel in Austin, Texas, sixteen Federation merchants met to form the Texas Association of Blind Merchants. As President of the National Association of Blind Merchants I addressed the group, providing a national perspective on a variety of issues confronting blind vendors and discussing Federation philosophy, expertise, and the collective action necessary to confront our challenges nationwide and in Texas. The group then paid dues and unanimously indicated their willingness to form a new division. They developed and adopted a constitution, and elections were held. Officers are Jeff Pearcy, President; Mark Harris, Vice President; Manny Sifuentes, Secretary/Treasurer; and board members Ronnie Watson and Cathleen McGurk. The new division then drafted a letter to Michael Hooks, Director of the Texas Commission for the Blind's Business Enterprise Program. The letter informed Mr. Hooks and Commission staff of the formation of the Texas Association of Blind Merchants and its willingness to work collegially to solve the problems confronting the Texas BEP. The letter acknowledged the creative and energetic work done on behalf of blind vendors by Terry Murphy, Commission director; Michael Hooks; and Commission staff. This organizing meeting was the successful culmination of a wild weekend in the Lone Star State. The Texas Business Enterprise Program was conducting an upward mobility conference for its managers. Federation vendors asked if I could come to make a presentation on the agenda. The idea was wholeheartedly endorsed by Terry Murphy and BEP Director Michael Hooks. However, some on the elected committee of blind vendors attempted to keep the Federation's perspective off the agenda. On Friday evening we held an initial information and organizing meeting. It was lively, friendly, and informative for about the first twenty minutes. That's when five or six members of an outfit called the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of Texas came in and attempted to take over the meeting. They were bullying and belligerent. They made false accusations about Dr. Maurer and other Federation leaders. I am proud to say that we Federationists kept our cool and attempted to conduct a respectful dialog with the intruders, but they continued their oral assault on Federationists from President Maurer to our local leaders. When RSVT member Allen Thorp began to berate Jeff Pearcy with a string of expletives, I announced as calmly as I could, "I want to thank you all for coming, but this meeting is now over." The need for reason, common sense, and mutual respect in the Texas Business Enterprise Program was obvious. It was the reason we had come to organize the Texas Association of Blind Merchants. The next day I addressed the entire upward mobility conference about the need to work together--state licensing agency and blind entrepreneur--to protect, defend, and expand business opportunities. I said, "The time for frivolous appeals, altercation, and litigation must give way to a new day in which blind vendors set aside petty differences and stand up for reason, respect, and results." The speech was very well received considering the climate in Texas in which a very few continue to impede progress using tactics that divide operators and create strife for SLA personnel. Later that afternoon the establishment of the Texas Association of Blind Merchants ensured a new day for the Texas BEP. ********** ********** When Accidents Happen Protect Your Financial Security by James Overholser ********** From the Editor: This summer we received a short article that may be quite useful to some of our readers. The author, James Overholser, is a member of the firm of Sutton, Overholser & Schaffer in Dayton, Ohio. He has practiced law for more than twenty-five years, specializing in medical malpractice and personal injury cases. He is the immediate past president of the Miami Valley (Ohio) Trial Lawyers Association. For more information about structured settlements, contact the National Structured Settlements Trade Association at (202) 797-5108 or go to . This is what Mr. Overholser says: ********** In 1986 Glen Peel's life changed forever. The Utah native was working for a farm machine company in rural Idaho. Part of his work involved anhydrous ammonia, a volatile substance. On April 19 a freak explosion caused by the ammonia left him fully blind. It was a devastating accident--physically and emotionally. It was also damaging financially, as Glen quickly realized that his changed situation and continuing medical needs meant that he needed a stable financial settlement as never before. He entered into settlement negotiations with the Workers Compensation Fund of Idaho. That was where he caught a break: An official suggested that, instead of taking his settlement in cash, he consider applying a large share of it to something called a structured settlement. Similar to an annuity, a structured settlement provides guaranteed tax-free payments to injured persons. Realizing the financial security and benefits, Glen agreed. Today the settlement that he funded will provide him guaranteed monthly payments for living expenses until age seventy, with an additional payment each year to defray medical expenses. Periodically these payments are modified to take into account cost-of-living changes. ********** Settling for the Long Term ********** For more than twenty-five years I have provided legal representation to injury victims, many of them seriously disabled. Based on that experience, I have seen that, when it comes to providing sustained financial security, few alternatives are better than a structured settlement which is individually tailored to the needs of an injury victim. Structured settlements are similar to--but better than--an ordinary annuity. The underlying idea is relatively straightforward: federal law offers financial incentives for people who put their settlement (or a part of it) into a structured settlement, which provides extended financial security. That makes injury victims less likely to require public assistance. Structured settlement payments, when properly designed, are also completely exempt from federal taxation, thus providing a clear benefit over investments in stocks or mutual funds, which are generally taxable. The actual payment stream will be negotiated by your attorney, who with a structured-settlement professional will take into account such variables as medical and living needs and life expectancy. This way the payments can effectively help fulfill one's actual financial needs. Indeed it's vital to have an experienced settlement consultant involved with your case. As Joe Costello, President of the National Structured Settlements Trade Association , the industry trade group, says, "A licensed broker understands and can plan for unforeseen changes in medical and living needs. Often that's the crucial link to ensure extended financial security for injury victims." Another reason to have an experienced broker work with your attorney is that by federal law the beneficiary of a structured settlement does not own the settlement annuity, which is held by a third party, and cannot accelerate the payments. That's a requirement of federal law--the idea is to keep people from spending all at once payments designed for the long term. A great deal depends on the amount of your settlement. A small settlement might be structured for a particular purpose-- say a college education for a minor-- but by itself will not guarantee a victim's financial independence. Nevertheless, with the wild fluctuations in the stock market we've seen this year, a secure investment like a structure is usually a pretty good option for disabled people. ********** Shoot for the Sky And what about Glen Peel? Today, he owns Horseshoe Mountain Hardware, a successful hardware store in Mt. Pleasant, Utah, about 100 miles south of Salt Lake City. Asked what advice he has for people who have recently become visually impaired, Glen notes, "A structured settlement was the best thing for me. This way I'm protected for life." He adds, "As a blind person I'm still the same person I was before the accident. Once I realized that, I realized I just had to take a little different approach to the way I did things, but that I could still be successful. Don't be afraid to shoot for the sky. That's what I want the blind community to know." ********** ********** Braille Readers Are Leaders 2001 Contest ********** From the Editor: The time is here again to think about the NFB Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest for the coming year. The reading period is November 1 to February 1. The contest form can be found as a pull-out at the center of the print edition. For the information of readers of other editions, the text of the form immediately follows this article. Forms are also available from the NFB's Materials Center. You can get a form by faxing (410) 685-5653, calling the Materials Center at (410) 659-9314, or writing to the NFB at 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. Many of us know firsthand how important encouragement to read Braille can be to young readers. The Missouri School for the Blind and contest coordinator and Braille teacher Patti Schonlau described how the school used the contest as the vehicle for even more benefits to the students than providing practice reading Braille. Last winter she wrote on the school's form that in 2000 the contest theme at the Missouri School was "Building Good Citizenship." She scanned and embossed eight books to serve as the framework for learning about good citizenship. Each student was given copies of the eight books: The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr., The Story of Clara Barton, The Story of Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of Jackie Robinson, The Story of Marie Curie, The Story of Thomas Edison, The Story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and The Story of Sitting Bull. In the group's bi-weekly parties the students studied these books as a stem to initiate discussion about what good citizenship really means. The group also enjoyed competent Braille users, blind guest speakers who demonstrate tremendous talent and good citizenship qualities in the community. Through this program the students strive to use Braille in their daily lives to become more independent, increase their general awareness, and satisfy their personal reading interests. In short, the Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest can serve participating students in many different ways. Take a minute to think about what you might do to encourage blind students in your area to take advantage of this exciting opportunity. ********** ********** Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest 18th Annual Contest for Blind Youth, 2000-2001 Sponsored by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children and the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille Purpose of Contest The purpose of the annual Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest is to encourage blind children to read more Braille. It is just as important for blind children to be literate as it is for other children. Good readers can have confidence in themselves and in their abilities to learn and to adapt to new situations throughout their lifetimes. Braille is a viable alternative to print, yet many blind children are graduating from our schools with poor Braille skills and low expectations for themselves as readers. They do not know that Braille readers can be competitive with print readers. This contest helps blind children realize that reading Braille is fun and rewarding. Who Can Enter the Contest? Blind school-age children from kindergarten through the twelfth grade are eligible to enter. The student competes in one of five categories. The first category is the print-to-Braille beginning reader. This category is for former or current print readers who began to learn and use Braille within the past two years. This includes: (1) formerly sighted children who became blind after they mastered print. (2) partially sighted print readers who are learning Braille. (Kindergartners and first-graders are not eligible for the print-to-Braille category.) The other categories are grades K-1, 2-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Students in ungraded programs should select the category which most closely matches the grade level of their peers. Prizes for the Contest First-, second-, and third-place winners are selected from each of the five categories. All winners receive a cash prize, a special certificate, and a distinctive NFB Braille Readers Are Leaders T-shirt. In each category first- place winners receive $75, second-place winners $50, and third-place winners $25. Students who place fourth and fifth in each category will receive Honorable Mention recognition and a special T-shirt. All contestants receive a Braille certificate and a ribbon for participating in the contest. Awards are also given to the ten contestants, regardless of category, who demonstrate the most improvement over their performance in the previous year's contest. To be considered for the Most Improved Braille Reader award, the contestant must enter the Contest for two consecutive years and cannot be a winner in the current Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest or any previous one. Winners of the Most Improved Braille Reader award receive $15 and a T-shirt. Schools are encouraged to schedule public presentations of the certificates. Alternatively, presentations may be made in the classroom, at the local National Federation of the Blind chapter meeting, or in some other appropriate setting. Members of the National Federation of the Blind will award the certificates and other prizes whenever possible. Schools for the Blind In addition to the individual prizes, one or more specialized schools for the blind will receive a cash prize of up to $200 for outstanding participation in the contest. All of the schools for the blind with students participating in the contest will receive recognition in Future Reflections, the National Federation of the Blind magazine for parents and educators of blind children. Teacher Recognition Special recognition and a certificate will also be given to a teacher who has demonstrated excellence in the promotion of Braille literacy through support of the Braille Readers Are Leaders contest. Rules for the Contest Winners will be chosen based on the number of Braille pages read. The one who reads the largest number of Braille pages will be the first-place winner; the second largest will be the second-place winner; and so forth. The completed contest entry form should be received by the judges no later than February 15, 2001. Contestants must submit with the entry forms a print list of the materials read (see back of entry form). Entry forms without this list will be returned to the sender. Certifying Authority The certifying authority is responsible for (1) verifying that the student read the Braille material listed and that the material was read between November 1, 2000, and February 1, 2001; (2) filling out and sending in the contest entry form in an accurate, complete, and timely fashion; and (3) assisting the student in finding Braille materials to read for the contest. Teachers, librarians, and parents may serve as certifying authorities. The certifying authority must be prepared to cooperate if the contest judges have questions or need additional information about an entry. All decisions of the judges are final. For more information contact: Mrs. Barbara Cheadle National Organization of Parents of Blind Children 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230 (410) 659-9314, Ext. 360 bcheadle@nfb.org Contest Entry Form Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest November 1, 2000, to February 1, 2001 Mail entry form after February 1, 2001 to: Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230 Grand total of pages read Student's Name Birth Date, Age, Grade Address City, State, ZIP Parent's Name, Phone H, W School Name, Phone Address, City, State, ZIP, Certifying Authority Name Position: Parent [ ] Teacher [ ] Librarian [ ] Address City, State, ZIP Phone H, W Please send certificate and ribbon to: STUDENT [ ] SCHOOL [ ] CERTIFYING AUTHORITY [ ] YES [ ] NO [ ] Did you enter last year's contest (1999-2000)? Category: (Check only one) [ ] Beginning Print-to-Braille This category is for print readers who began to learn and use Braille within the past two years. Kindergarten and First Grade children are not eligible for this category. Please give month and year Braille instruction began: [ ] Kindergarten and First Grade [ ] Second through Fourth Grades [ ] Fifth through Eighth Grades [ ] Ninth through Twelfth Grades If you should be a winner, what size T-shirt would you require? (circle one) Children's: S (6-8) M (10-12) L (14-16) Adult: S (34-36) M (38-40) L (42-44) XL (46-48) Name of Student: Book title/Magazine article, # of Pages Total # of pages To the best of my knowledge this student did read these Braille pages between the dates of November 1, 2000, and February 1, 2001. Signature of Certifying Authority, Date Common Questions 1. When do I mail in the contest form? Mail the completed form in between February 1 and February 15, 2001. 2. What if I didn't know about the contest until after it began? Can I still enter? Yes. 3. If I enter late, can I still count the Braille pages I have read since November 1? Yes, if your certifying authority will verify that you read those pages. 4. Can I count my Braille textbooks? No. 5. Can I count textbooks if they are not the textbooks I am now using for my regular class work? Yes. 6. What if I don't finish reading a book? Can I count the pages that I did read? Yes. 7. Can supplemental reading books to beginning reading series be counted for the contest? Yes. 8. What constitutes a Braille page? Each side of an embossed piece of paper is considered one page. If you read both sides, then you have read two pages. This is true even if there are only two Braille lines on one side. 9. Can I count title pages, tables of contents, Brailled descriptions of illustrations, etc? Yes. 10. I have to transcribe books for my beginning reader. Most of these books have only a few words on a page. If the print book has more pages than my Braille transcription, how do I count pages for the contest? For the purposes of this contest, the number of Braille pages counted per book should never be less than the number of print pages in that book. This is so even if the teacher has transcribed the entire book onto one Braille page. To avoid confusion, we suggest that the books be transcribed page-for-page, one Braille page for each print page, whenever possible. 11. I have trouble finding enough Braille material for my older students. Do you have any suggestions? Yes. The National Federation of the Blind has free Braille materials suitable for blind youth. To request the NFB Selected Literature for Blind Youth order form, call or write National Federation of the Blind, Materials Center, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. 12. Can I read the same book more than once? Yes, but up to three times only. Schools for the Blind 2000 - 2001 Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest Residential or specialized schools for the blind which promote the Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest among their students are eligible to compete for a cash prize of up to $200 and national recognition for outstanding participation in the contest. No one criterion is used to determine which school or schools receive the cash award(s) and/or recognition. Factors that the judges consider in making this decision include: * The percentage of the student body (total and academic) participating in the contest. * Quality of material read by participating students. * Total number of pages read by participating students. * Improvement in quality and quantity of participation over a previous year's performance. * Number of national winners. * Creative ways in which the contest is used to promote Braille literacy and a love of reading among the participating students. You can help your school get full consideration for the cash award and/or recognition by returning this form to Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230. Name of School Address City, State, ZIP Total number of students enrolled: Number of students enrolled in an academic program: (Students who are learning to read and write in any medium.) Number of students participating in this year's contest: School telephone number and other information you wish to provide: Signature and title ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Dr. Sally Mangold] Trends in the Use of Braille Contractions in the United States: Implications for UBC Decisions by Sally S. Mangold, Ph.D. ********** From the Editor: Sally Mangold is one of the most respected researchers and teachers of Braille in the United States. When she talks or writes about Braille and Braille instruction, I pay attention. Most of the time, I must confess, I let the Braille discussions roll over me without paying much attention. I am just grateful that I know and can use the code effectively. Simple inertia leads me to prefer things the way they are, though I must admit that reading material printed in the proposed Unified Braille Code (UBC) doesn't detract from my ability to follow it. After all, I just finished rereading an edition of Pride and Prejudice transcribed about forty years ago, and I was surprised to notice how many changes have taken place in the code. But noticing the differences in no way prevented me from enjoying the text. I mention all this because I recognize that my resistance to change is nothing more than unthinking laziness. Therefore, when Sally Mangold sent me the following article pointing out sound pedagogical reasons for making the changes in the Braille code which she and others are now suggesting, I was forced to focus on them and really consider the importance of what is being proposed. After all, we want Braille to be accessible to everyone who needs it, and we want teachers to find it easy to help young children and new Braille learners to master the code. The time has come to think seriously about what Dr. Mangold says on this subject. Here it is: ********** Overview ********** The practice of educating blind children in regular classrooms with sighted peers is growing worldwide. Hundreds of blind children have been successfully mainstreamed during the last two decades. Many of them are now adults with excellent Braille literacy skills allowing full and independent participation in society. It is unfortunate that an even greater number of blind individuals did not acquire adequate Braille literacy skills while in school and therefore remain unemployed. Experience has shown that blind children can be successfully educated in the regular classroom if they have abundant Braille materials equivalent to the print materials provided to their sighted peers. In addition to instruction from the regular classroom teacher these students must receive supplementary instruction from a teacher with knowledge of the Braille code. The Unified Braille Code (UBC) committees are working diligently to create a more efficient Braille system for the English-speaking countries. Committee III is responsible for the selection of a recommended list of Braille contractions to be incorporated into the revised literary code. It is important that the members of Committee III decide which Braille contractions promote rapid and accurate Braille reading and writing in light of contemporary pedagogical issues. The author fervently hopes that this paper will stimulate an interest in documenting contemporary pedagogy and considering the opinions of leading educators in all English-speaking countries before establishing official code changes. A new Braille code should be both appropriate for the students of today and easy to implement. ********** Current Trends ********** The Braille literacy movement in the United States is expressed by the actions of two major groups. There is an establishment movement whose members represent various governmental agencies, private agencies, Braille code specialists, Braille transcribers, and Braille embossing houses. Their concerns often center on changing technology as it relates to Braille production using the present Braille codes. They continue to adhere to the official Braille codes during production but would welcome changes in the codes that result in a more consistent and reader-friendly product. There is also a consumer/educator-driven movement whose members represent teachers, parents, and blind consumers of all ages. They support the efforts of teachers and consumers who for many years have quietly made changes in the Braille literary code and its uses. The changes relate directly to the use of certain Braille contractions and a greater use of letter-by-letter Grade I Braille. These deviations from the official code are occurring in an attempt to represent print formats used in regular classrooms more accurately. New technology allows the gradual introduction of contractions as each student reaches developmental milestones. When is uncontracted Braille used? Which Braille contractions are being eliminated? The outstanding work of Committee II and its recommendations for changes in the Braille code highlight the most frequently requested code changes by both Braille literacy action groups. Committee II recommends the deletion of ble, com, dd, to, into, and by. There are also recommendations for certain changes regarding the use of specific short-form words. A growing number of educators are eliminating four groups of contractions in addition to those recommended by Committee II: *Whole-word lower contractions that are identical in configuration to upper single letter whole-word contractions. They include be, were, his, was, in, and enough. These lower contractions are not easily read by many students, even at advanced reading levels and even when contextual clues are plentiful. *Double-letter lower contractions that are identical in configuration to single letters. They include bb, cc, dd, ff, and gg. *Two-cell contractions that begin with the dots 5-6. They include ence, ong, ful, tion, ness, ment, and ity. Confusion between letters preceded by the letter sign and these contractions often occurs. *The two-cell contractions that begin with dot 6, ation and ally. These contractions are often interpreted as capital letters rather than contractions. All of the above contractions are somewhat difficult for beginning Braille readers to identify in short phrases, and many are extremely difficult to identify when isolated in word lists. I personally support the elimination of all of the above-mentioned problem contractions. Many educators and consumers believe that unambiguous contractions that have unique configurations, for example, er, ar, ed, should be maintained and used when the students have reached upper elementary developmental milestones. Basic concepts of alliteration and phonetic word construction will have been mastered at this level. ********** How is a modified Braille code being used? An entire region of Minnesota has adopted a policy of Grade I Braille in the first year of school. Gradual introduction of Grade II contractions takes place during the subsequent years. Discussion: The teachers involved in the pilot program reported that after one year they have observed higher academic achievement scores in reading rates and reading accuracy in children using Grade I than was previously seen in children using Grade II in the first year of school. The Grade I users showed greater interaction and participation with sighted children both academically and socially. Grade I can easily be incorporated in books, games, spelling competition, and life-skills labeling. Multiply impaired blind children are being introduced to Grade I Braille first. Short-form words and Grade II contractions are introduced after thorough mastery of the alphabet and beginning reading has been achieved. Discussion: Multiply handicapped and learning-disabled students must have extensive practice at each level before being introduced to new symbols. The presentation in Grade I is consistent in configuration whenever used. The teachers report a reduction in Braille letter-reversal reading errors when Grade I is used for an extended period of time. Grade I is being used more with beginning readers of all ages. Discussion: Beginning reading exercises, spelling, and introduction of new vocabulary often show words in isolation. As the reading vocabulary increases, the majority of contracted words may be more easily understood in context. Certain single-cell lower contractions and certain two-cell contractions appear to be difficult for many readers to interpret with confidence even at more advanced reading levels. The problem contractions, in addition to those identified by Committee II, are his, were, was, be, in, enough, bb, cc, dd, ff, gg, ful, ong, ment, ity, ation, and ally. Discussion: Undesirable hand movements have been observed as Braille readers frequently recheck these contractions in order to discern whether they are reading an upper- or a lower-cell contraction. It is almost impossible to identify single-cell lower contractions when they appear in columns. The overwhelming majority of educators with whom I speak want to see these contractions eliminated from the code. Until such a decision is made, the problem contractions are often being written in Grade I. Grade I is required for the use of new technology. Voice-output and dynamic Braille-display devices frequently require the use of both Grade I and Grade II Braille when entering commands for operations. Discussion: We have many myths in education. For years it has been said that a student would become confused if presented with both Grade I and Grade II Braille. It was feared that the use of both codes would result in inaccurate writing and unacceptable practices. One need only observe a few of the thousands of capable blind children and adults who use technology to produce papers and reports to see that a well trained individual can successfully use both codes interchangeably. Grade I Braille is used for instruction of newly blinded youth and adults. Discussion: New teaching methodologies use Braille labels in Grade I for an extended period of time before introducing books. The first books are in Grade I. Instructors believe that greater immediate success in using Braille to complete daily tasks and regain literacy skills increases self-confidence of newly blinded youth and adults. Parents and regular classroom teachers are learning and using Grade I Braille. Discussion: Parents and regular classroom teachers are learning the Braille alphabet and numerals when their blind students are first introduced to Grade I Braille. They are correcting assignments, writing accurate examples in Braille for the students, and enjoying Braille themselves. Their enthusiasm encourages the students. They can provide immediate feedback to the children about their performance and quickly correct errors. Many blind students who are mainstreamed do not have the services of a vision teacher each day and often receive no feedback about the Braille they produce until several days have elapsed. There is a rapidly growing trend to use Grade I Braille for writing at beginning levels. Discussion: Teachers and sighted peers spell words to the blind child one letter at a time. The blind child writes the words one letter at a time. The presentation of Grade I in reading books provides an accurate model for the young child who is already writing Grade I. I believe that we will continue to see even greater use of Grade I Braille in the future. ********** A History of Controversy A Braille literacy movement took place in France during the 1830's. No one wanted to change the traditional training for the blind. The raised-print letters used for classroom instruction were very difficult to produce and were read very slowly by touch. The resistance to change resulted from a belief that, because of the common typestyle, any sighted person could assist any blind child, which made education more accessible to the blind. Braille as an official educational medium was accepted only after blind high school students insisted on using the code because it allowed them to write for the first time. One brave teacher convinced the school board to adopt Braille as an official code after he observed improved interest and achievement among his students who were using Braille. We need to listen to blind consumers today. They are demonstrating new uses for Braille and articulating unresolved needs. The blind adult population has demonstrated its immense ability to infuse new symbols into the official code and use technologies that require the mastery of both Grade I and Grade II Braille. Our present code was never thoroughly researched when it was adopted early in this century. The practice of using Grade II only was a unilateral decision by Bob Irwin, then president of the American Foundation for the Blind. His main impetus was to provide a Braille reading code that would parallel the sight- reading approach used in regular classrooms during the 1930's. The U.S. was just recovering from an economic depression, and he showed that using Grade II could save money because it took less paper. His decision was opposed by the national organization of educators, to no avail. From 1910 until 1950 there was a commonly used method for teaching Braille. Grade I Braille (alphabet only) was taught in the first three years of school. Grade I and one-half (alphabet plus 44 one-cell contractions) was taught during the next three years. Grade II Braille (alphabet plus 189 one-cell and two-cell contractions) was taught in year seven and used through year twelve. The most difficult contractions to learn were not introduced until the seventh year and were taught within an educational system that provided Braille instruction every hour of the school day. The cognitive demands of young blind children are greater than those required of their sighted peers if all of the contractions are presented during the first year of school. The number of abstract symbols is much higher in Braille than in print. The correct application of many contractions requires discrete spatial interpretation that is difficult for most young learners. The majority of blind people educated by the three-levels-of-contractions method were good Braille readers. They exhibited proficiency in writing, spelling, and grammar. The vast majority became independent and self-sufficient adults. These were blind students with average and above average academic abilities. They could probably have excelled with any code of Braille. Today's population of students is very different, and their learning needs must be addressed when selecting acceptable Braille contractions. The research by Troughton and Mangold supports the use of Grade I for certain purposes. The data indicate that applications for the use of Braille must be considered in the selection of the most appropriate code relative to a given purpose. ********** Recommendations The deletion of certain contractions, as recommended by Committee III, is appropriate: ble, in, to, into, com, dd, and by. The additional contractions that should be eliminated are bb, cc, dd, gg, ful, ong, ence, ment, tion, ity, ally, and ation. Certain limitations on the use of short-form words are appropriate as recommended by Committee II. The code used to introduce Braille should be uniform as much as possible throughout the world so that materials may be shared and easily understood by blind learners of all ages and all nationalities. The beginning students reading Braille should have a one-to-one correspondence in Braille to print materials given to sighted peers so that they can interact more fully in the regular classroom. The introduction of two-cell contractions should be postponed until the blind learner has mastered basic reading and spelling. The members of Committee III should share information about the teaching practices in their countries. The final report for Committee III should include a description of teaching methodologies that contemporary societies consider sound educational practices. Tradition does not validate practice. "Now is the time to shake ourselves free of old ideas and traditions. We should not look back but rather go with youth, who always look toward tomorrow." Helen Keller, 1931 ********** References Mangold, Sally S., "The Braille literacy movement: A dichotomy of action," Getting in Touch with Literacy, 1997, p. 9. Ryles, Ruby, "Early Braille Education Vital," The National Braille Press Release, Spring/Summer 1998, p. 3. Troughton, Marjorie, One Is Fun, Toronto: The Canadian National Institute for the Blind, 1992, p. 119. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Stephen Benson] Standing, a Different Perspective by Stephen O. Benson ********** From the Editor: Steve Benson, a National Federation of the Blind Board Member and President of the NFB of Illinois, has been recording some of the adventures he has had over the years as a resident of one of the largest cities in the country. Here is another one: ********** In 1976 the Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA) implemented regulations that required public transit systems to put in place priority seating and appropriate signage for the elderly and disabled. Immediately upon installation of the required signage by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), blind people in this city began to encounter bus drivers, train station agents, and passengers who insisted that blind people sit in the priority seats. No provision in either law or regulation required blind people to occupy priority seats, but we were often berated, verbally abused, and humiliated because we chose to sit where we pleased. The problem here was, and still is, that too many members of our society, sighted and blind alike, believe that blind people don't possess the same physical capacity as sighted people and that it is necessarily more dangerous for a blind person to stand on a bus or train than for a sighted person to do so. Shortly after my mother's eightieth birthday in the summer of 1983, she and I boarded a CTA bus on our way to a business appointment. My mother boarded in front of me, paid her fare, and sat just behind the driver. I boarded, white cane in hand, paid my fare, and stood in front of her, holding the overhead grab rail. Since we were traveling during a peak period, the bus carried a standing load. Once I set my feet, I was ready for the customary sways, dips, jolts, bounces, jostles, pushes, and bumps typical of urban bus travel. All at once I became aware that an elderly woman sitting next to my mother was saying in most unfriendly tones: "You have to get up and give him that seat; he's blind." My mother shot back: "I know he's blind; he's my son. I'm eighty years old; he's not going to make me stand." The other woman was persistent: "The sign says you have to stand for the handicapped." At that point I brought the gathering storm to an abrupt halt. I said: "Madam, my mother will stay where she is, and I will stay where I am. Thank you for your concern." Less than a year later my wife and I traveled home together from work on a very crowded subway train. We stood side by side at the end of the car. A woman tapped my wife's arm and said: "Does he want to sit down?" My wife replied: "He can't see, but his legs work fine." We both thought it was amusing. The woman who offered her seat was not at all amused, and I think she was annoyed that her gesture was refused. If I couldn't stand because of some physical disability, infirmity, or advanced years, I might have appreciated the kindness, but the offer was made solely because I was blind. It's the age-old stereotype: if you're blind, you can't . . . . The truth is that I am like millions of other men of my age and physical condition. I have often given up my seat on a bus or train for people who are very old, ill, using crutches or a support cane, pregnant, or more tired than I. I don't recall ever giving up my seat solely because a person was blind. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Peggy Elliott] All In A Day's Work by Peggy Elliott ********** From the Editor: Peggy Elliott is a frequent contributor to these pages. This description of her work as a member of the Grinnell City Council first appeared in Reflecting the Flame, the seventeenth in the NFB's Kernel Book series of paperbacks. It begins with Dr. Maurer's introduction. ********** Peggy Elliott is a graduate of Yale Law School, a practicing attorney, an elected member of the city council in her community, and Second Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind. An obvious question comes to mind in reading her story, "All In A Day's Work," and it is: What on earth does any of this have to do with blindness? The answer, after a little thought, is equally obvious: everything and nothing. When a blind person carrying out a responsible role in her community can be sued and threatened just like any other politician, perhaps nothing need be said about blindness. And that, of course, says everything. Here is what she has to say: I serve on the city council in the City of Grinnell, a town of 9,000 in the quietly beautiful farmland of central Iowa. In my first term I was sued. In my second term my life was threatened. I am serving now in my third term. Oh, and I also happen to be blind. I could go on and on about the virtues of our community, but I won't. I'll just mention a few things we are doing at the moment. I serve on the finance committee, and we are currently trying to make the budget balance under the pressure of needs and expectations rising faster than revenues. Our community has over 30 percent of its land devoted to non-taxable nonprofits, which add tremendous strength but no tax revenues to the community. We are trying to balance not only the budget but also the need to invest in the future of jobs and residents, by spending today's money to increase the income stream while today's needs for services demand our attention as well. We need more space for the library and more equipment for streets and snow removal, and the airport needs a longer runway to accommodate the business jets our growing industrial base is attracting. We can't do it all. No matter what choices we make, some of our constituents won't like it. Speaking of not liking it, a handful of disgruntled citizens sued me and my fellow council members when we voted several years ago to sell bonds to do a facelift of our downtown with new street lights and sidewalk repairs throughout the central business district. Some of our citizens preferred the old, grungy sidewalks and lights so aged we couldn't even buy parts to the slight increase in taxes the improvements meant. The suit garnered an unsalable rating for the bonds until it was resolved, and the momentum for change died. I said to my furious supporters at the time: "We'll be here longer than they will." We now have the new street lights and the smooth sidewalks. And I'm still there. What about the threat to my life? It came from annexation. I served for quite awhile as chair of the planning committee. And we annexed in two phases: first a lot of contiguous businesses and then a different area of residences. Annexation always raises tempers because taxes are higher inside the city limits for those who have thus far been benefiting from city services but not helping to pay for them. The business owners were vocally unhappy, and I lost some supporters for awhile. The residential area included a person whose anger reportedly turned to threats. At a meeting I missed, he slapped the person chairing and controlled the meeting by shouting and stomping up and down. We all took the reported threats very seriously since a mayor and two council members had been killed or wounded a year or so earlier in another small Iowa town by a citizen enraged by a dispute over sewer service. I announced that I would not stand for threats or belligerent behavior. When I opened the meeting I chaired, I described the ground rules of civility and explained that the police chief was there in uniform to enforce them when I asked him to. The chief had told me in my conference with him before the meeting that he had been ready to eject the unruly citizen the last time but that no one had directed him to do so. I told him I would not hesitate to give such an instruction and would make that clear at the outset of the meeting. I just wanted to be sure he would do as I asked when I asked. He was happy to make the commitment and stood ready during the meeting. The meeting I chaired was orderly, and the annexation proceeded to its successful conclusion. I recently moved from chairing the planning committee to heading the public works and grounds committee, which oversees the largest part of the city budget, an area in which I have served for my entire time on the council. We do all the building and repair of roads, city services like water and sewer, snow removal, and parks. Before assuming my post, I heard that there was some talk that I shouldn't be appointed because "there are just some things you need a man for." Ha! When I heard that, I decided that my fellow council members had never had the detailed, precise reports I was about to start giving. Custom before I assumed the chair was for the chair to bring up a topic and then call on city staff to provide details. Not me! My husband says he has never before met someone who can talk happily and at such length about sewers. He has now. In addition to overseeing all the basic services, we are responsible for expansion, and we are working toward a new million-dollar well. It will assure enough fresh, clean water far into the twenty-first century for our citizens and also, along with the projected million-dollar storage facility that is next, probably bring our fire-fighting rating up to the next level, meaning a reduction in fire insurance costs for every resident. And we're now embarking on a collaborative effort with the fine liberal arts college here to do a fundamental review of the downtown area and its interaction with the college to find ways of further cooperation so that each (town and gown) can serve the other better. My colleagues on the council have just appointed me as the council representative to this exciting new venture. As I said before, I could go on and on about our community. But I've given you a flavor of my work on the council. You may be asking by now: What does this have to do with being blind? To me, everything. I joined the National Federation of the Blind almost thirty years ago while still in high school and before I had earned my law degree and set up my private practice in Grinnell. During my entire adult life I have been an active member of the Federation. The Federation has taught me many things, but two are relevant here. One is that service is good for the individual. We all learn and grow when we accept roles of service. The council has certainly been a fascinating and satisfying learning experience for me. The other is that I as a blind person can serve and serve well. Any deliberative body works best when its members work out areas of agreement and consensus. I'm one of the six members of the council, and the others need my vote for their projects just as I seek their agreement for things I'm trying to achieve. And, when we get into it, I get the rough edge of others' tongues, whether a citizen's or a fellow council member's, just as readily as do the other five. My husband says that as a blind person you know you have arrived when people can be mad at you for your ideas and positions and don't try just to be nice to you all the time or shield you from the harsh or the difficult. I think I can say without fear of contradiction that I have achieved that position. I've learned all sorts of things during my years of service in the National Federation of the Blind. From chairing meetings to forging consensus to sticking to my own beliefs even when I'm in a minority, service in the Federation has taught me much. But the most important thing of all is that the Federation has taught me to get up out of my chair, go out the door, and find something useful to do because I as a person have something to contribute. The Federation has taught me how to accept and be comfortable with my blindness and then to get out there and teach others around me so that both they and I can get on with our lives. Before I found the Federation, I doubted that I had anything to give to others, and the people I met who were sighted didn't know any better. Now with the Federation's training, I know how to give and to teach. And I know I can be sued and threatened just like my sighted fellow council members. Service isn't always pleasant, but it is always rewarding. And my husband is right. We blind people can get in there and be loved or hated for who we are, not sheltered and shunted aside. It's fun to be a part of my community. ********** ********** From Governor Glendening's Mail Basket ********** From the Editor: One of the projects many of us participated in during the National Convention last summer was the postcard-writing campaign aimed at Maryland Governor Parris Glendening. We hoped to make the case that people all over the country urged him and the legislature to earmark $6,000,000 in the next budget toward completion of the National Research and Training Institute for the Blind on the grounds of the National Center for the Blind in south Baltimore. A flood of postcards certainly went to the governor's office, but in the weeks since the convention lots of folks have also written letters to him. The letters provide a bit more scope for sharing our vision of the impact the Institute will have on the lives and futures of America's blind citizens. Here, almost at random, is a sample of these letters. We can only hope that Mr. Glendening or someone on his staff pays attention to the opportunity they have at their finger tips to make a significant difference in the lives of blind people everywhere. This is what people said: ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Kevan Worley] August 2, 2000 Kevan Worley Denver, Colorado ********** Parris N. Glendening, Governor State of Maryland Annapolis, Maryland ********** Dear Governor Glendening: Many times over the past fifteen years I have had the opportunity to visit your state. I have had the good fortune to visit the National Center for the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland, seeking counsel, instruction, and support. When I learned that the National Federation of the Blind was planning to build a national research and training institute devoted to changing the way people look at blindness, I pledged my time, energy, and effort to help make the new center a reality. This new research and training institute will, of course, expand economic opportunity for the citizens of Maryland, but it will also be the focal point for programs and services for blind people all over this country. As a blind businessman from Colorado who has achieved some success, in large part due to the programs and philosophy that already emanate from the NFB National Headquarters in Baltimore, I can assure you that lending any support to help build this cutting-edge facility now will be of great benefit to society. As a blind American from Colorado I have taken great pleasure to pledge $35,000 of my own money to see that research that will affect generations of blind people will continue. Of course that kind of pledge is a great sacrifice for my family and me, but, if it will mean greater services to blind children and the increasing number of blind seniors, it will be worth it. I know that the National Federation of the Blind has called upon you to assist in making several millions of dollars available for this project. I just wanted you to know that many of us, not only in Maryland, but all across the country, will benefit if you are able to help us. Because of the vision of our blind leaders we chose to relocate our National Headquarters to Baltimore back in 1978. The National Federation of the Blind has grown and expanded, becoming a vital part of the Baltimore economy. Of course this new national research and training institute will help us continue our efforts to change what it means to be blind, but it will also continue our support, expansion, and interdependence with the Maryland economy. Thank you very sincerely for considering my comments. ********** Very truly yours, Kevan Worley President National Association of Blind Merchants ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Judy Sanders] August 16, 2000 Judy Sanders Minneapolis, Minnesota ********** Dear Governor Glendening: I am writing to express my appreciation for the possibility that Maryland and, in particular, you can be a real hero to blind Americans. Many blind people are subject to the charity of others. Well-meaning people try to find a way to make our lives better. I remember my parents meeting with sighted professionals who told them what would be best for me. Then, when I was a young adult, other sighted people took over and tried to shape my life. It was, therefore, a revelation to me when I discovered that blind people could have a say in their own future through the National Federation of the Blind. Because of the Federation I have had the chance to work as a teacher of sighted children, a travel agent, a rehabilitation specialist with blind seniors, and Director of the District office for Minnesota Congressman Gerry Sikorski. And now the Federation is embarking on an exciting new venture. Our National Research and Training Institute will provide a bright future for all blind citizens. Parents can take comfort in the knowledge that much work is being done to ensure their blind children will be well educated and qualified for productive employment. Newly blind senior citizens will not end up in nursing homes because they have lost their sight. Your support of this initiative is a win-win situation for the blind and the taxpayers of Maryland. Not only will this project provide employment for many Marylanders, but blind people from throughout the country and the world will come and spend their money in your state. I thank you for making this possible. ********** Sincerely, Judy Sanders ********** September 8, 2000 Barbara Pierce Oberlin, Ohio ********** Dear Governor Glendening: I write to you on behalf of blind people and those who will become blind in the years ahead in the state of Ohio. As you know, the National Federation of the Blind is working to build the National Research and Training Institute in Baltimore. The benefits to the city of this project are obvious: quality jobs, increased property value in a marginal part of the city, and increased prestige for the community in which cutting-edge research and instruction will be taking place. All these advantages and therefore arguments for substantial budget support from the state have undoubtedly been made before and with greater specificity and persuasiveness. But I want to assure you of the nationwide benefit the Institute will provide. At a time when the numbers of those losing sight in their later years is growing significantly and the number of effective teachers of blindness skills at every age level is falling further and further behind the demand, we must find new and innovative ways of meeting the need and training people to do the work with dedication and skill. Someone must tackle the challenge of finding these new ways and tapping new resources if we are to keep blind citizens living in and contributing to their communities. Every day I deal with individual people losing sight or members of their families. These are mostly older people, and I have to tell them how little help is out there for them. I send the material developed by the NFB, and I send them to the overworked and undertrained agencies charged with providing services. I conduct inservices for the staff members of those agencies who know to come to the National Federation of the Blind for help. I make a difference, and I make people feel better and more hopeful, but I also know how inadequate my help is. We need more and better materials. We need to develop coordinated programs of staff training and to find effective methods for teaching people who have seen all their lives to dare to set foot into the new and scary world of accomplishing things without vision. All this is part of what the Institute will tackle. Blind people are in an excellent position to be effective researchers and teachers. We know what works, and we carry conviction to those we teach. Tomorrow's blind population needs what we can do as soon as the Research and Training Institute begins its work. Maryland can have an impact on the lives of people across the nation and around the world because NFB members work together to compound the advances any of us make. We also pass along our discoveries to people fighting these problems around the world. Please give us a chance to make a significant difference. I have talked about the needs of seniors. I could have talked as easily about blind children. I was not taught Braille as a young child, and I have paid the price for that neglect all my life. Teachers still refuse to teach Braille to blind students with a bit of sight, so the same sacrifices are being made by blind children today. We know what should be done and how to do it. We can help parents insist on Braille instruction and help teachers of the visually impaired learn to teach it effectively. Whether or not the NFB gets the chance to make these differences may well rest with you and the Maryland legislature. Please do what you can to change the course of the lives of all America's blind citizens. ********** Cordially, Barbara Pierce ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Al Maneki] September 10, 2000 Dr. Alfred Maneki Columbia, Maryland ********** Dear Governor Glendening, The National Federation of the Blind requested a $6 million appropriation in the 2002 budget. Please give this request favorable consideration. Throughout your career you have demonstrated a keen interest in all areas of education. As governor you have made substantial improvements in elementary, secondary, and higher education throughout the state. Since the National Federation of the Blind plans to provide training and research in the fields of education and literacy for blind persons in this new facility, you have another opportunity to advance your education legacy. I am a blind mathematician. I look forward to research on better methods of teaching mathematics to blind students. There is also a great need for research in better methods to provide mathematical materials in accessible formats to blind persons. Your assistance in this project will lead to endless opportunities for blind people. I hope you will advance the quality of life for blind people of today and of the future. Thank you. ********** Sincerely, Al Maneki ********** ********** Have you made your campaign pledge yet? We need everyone's help. The construction cost of our projected National Research and Training Institute for the Blind is eighteen million dollars. Please take this opportunity to complete your pledge form. Without you our job will be just that much harder. ********** The Campaign To Change What It Means To Be Blind Capital Campaign Pledge Intention ********** Name:_______________________________________ Home Address:_______________________________ City, State, and Zip:_______________________ Home Phone: Work Phone:_____________________ E-mail address:_____________________________ Employer:___________________________________ Work Address:_______________________________ City, State, Zip:___________________________ ********** To support the priorities of the Campaign, I (we) pledge the sum of $___________. ********** My (our) pledge will be payable in installments of $ __________ over the next ____ years (we encourage pledges paid over five years), beginning _____________, on the following schedule (check one): __ annually, __ semi-annually, __ quarterly, __ monthly I (we) have enclosed a down payment of $ ________________ ___ Gift of stock: _____________________ shares of _____________ ___ My employer will match my gift. Please list (my) our names in all Campaign Reports and on the Campaign Wall of Honor in the appropriate Giving Circle as follows: __ I (We) wish to remain anonymous. Signed: ________________________________ Date: __________________ ********** ********** Recipes ********** This month's recipes come from members of the National Federation of the Blind of California. ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Don Burns] Red Chili Chicken by Don Burns ********** Don Burns is the immediate past President of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the NFB of California. He presently serves as the legislative representative for the affiliate. He loves to cook and particularly enjoys grilling on the barbecue. ********** Ingredients: 4 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 heaping tablespoons mild red chili powder 1/4 teaspoon ground oregano 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt 1/4 teaspoon cumin 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper a pinch of rosemary 1/4 cup olive oil 1 cup water ********** Method: In a bowl mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix water and olive oil. Stir into dry ingredients. Wash chicken breasts, pat dry, and place in a one-gallon Ziploc plastic bag. Pour marinade over chicken. Refrigerate for four to twenty-four hours. Grill on hot barbecue. Baste with remaining marinade. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Eileen Wogan] Artichoke Dip by Eileen Wogan ********** Eileen Wogan is a long-time member and officeholder in the Santa Barbara County Chapter. She loves to cook. ********** Ingredients: 1 can artichoke hearts 1 cup mayonnaise 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated ********** Method: Chop the artichoke hearts fairly coarsely in a food processor. Stir together the hearts, cheese, and mayonnaise. Pour into a glass pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for forty-five minutes until top is brown and bubbly. Serve with chips or crackers. ********** ********** Chicken Enchilada Casserole by Maurine Barcelo ********** Maurine Barcelo has served as President of the Greater Pasadena Area Chapter for the past seven years. She presently sits on the NFBC Board of Directors. She loves to cook for her family and Federation friends. ********** Ingredients: 12 corn tortillas 1 large can enchilada sauce (red or green) 4 chicken breasts, boiled and diced 1 onion, chopped 1 can pitted black olives, chopped 1 pound grated cheddar and Monterey jack cheese ********** Method: In a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish place four tortillas which have been cut into triangles. Cover with one third of the sauce. Add half of the chicken. Sprinkle some of the cheese, onions, and olives on top. Layer with sixteen more of the tortilla triangles. Add another third of the sauce and the remaining chicken. Sprinkle cheese, onions, and olives over casserole, setting aside a half cup cheese and some of the olives for topping. Place the remaining tortillas, sauce, cheese, and olives on the top. Bake in a 350-degree oven for forty-five to fifty minutes. Sour cream may be added before serving. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Millicent Calhoun] Millicent's Mouthwatering Meatloaf by Millicent Calhoun ********** Millicent Calhoun is a member of the Los Angeles area Guiding Lights Chapter. As a sixty-six-year-old, retired special ed teacher, she spends her Sundays cooking and feeding about twenty homeless people. This hearty meatloaf recipe is one of her most requested dishes. ********** Ingredients: 2 eggs 2 tablespoons milk 1/4 cup ketchup 1 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef ********** Method: Mix together well eggs, milk, ketchup, salt, pepper, and meat. Place half of mixture in baking dish which has been sprayed with vegetable spray. ********** Stuffing Ingredients: 1/2 pound mushrooms 1 medium onion, diced 2 tablespoons butter or margarine 2 cups fine bread crumbs or leftover cornbread 2 tablespoons chopped parsley 1/2 teaspoon thyme 1/8 teaspoon pepper ********** Method: Saut, mushrooms and onions in butter. Add bread crumbs (or cornbread) and continue to saut, for one or two minutes more. Add thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper to taste. Saut, another two minutes. Spoon stuffing mixture on top of meat in baking dish. Cover with remaining meat. Press gently, shaping into loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Pour off any excess drippings and serve. If desired, cover with gravy or tomato sauce and return to oven, just to heat. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Sybil Irvin] Sybil's Jell-O Salad by Sybil Irvin ********** Sybil Irvin serves as President of the North San Diego County Chapter of the NFBC and is President of the state-wide chapter on aging. ********** Ingredients: 1 large package orange Jell-O 1 large can crushed pineapple 1 large container Cool Whip 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded 1 cup walnuts, chopped ********** Method: Dissolve Jell-O in two cups boiling water. Add pineapple with syrup, mix well, and chill. Allow to thicken only slightly. Add cheese, mix well, and refrigerate until lightly set. Fold in Cool Whip and walnuts. Spread in shallow, 9-by-13-inch serving dish and refrigerate to set. ********** ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Bryan Bashin] Grandmother Lubin's Chicken Soup by Bryan Bashin ********** Brian Bashin is a Board member of the NFB of California, an officer in the River City Chapter, and Director of the Society for the Blind in Sacramento. He is also a gourmet cook. ********** Ingredients: 1 chicken, cut up (including giblets) 5 large yellow onions, quartered 3 large carrots, sliced in 1/2-inch pieces 4 large parsnips, peeled and sliced 3 ribs celery, sliced 1 celery root (celeriac), peeled. Celeriac heart should be cut into cubes. 3 Japanese dried red peppers or 12 peppercorns 1 bunch fresh dill, finely chopped 2 cups cooked rice, white or Basmati 5 bay leaves salt to taste 2 cups frozen peas ********** Method: In large pot place chicken and giblets and cover with water. Add seasonings and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Add onions, peppers, half of the parsnips, and half the celeriac. Simmer for another thirty minutes. Add carrots, celery, remaining celeriac, and remaining parsnips and cook for an additional twenty minutes. Be generous with added water, keeping vegetables always covered, and always taking care to keep this a soup and not a stew. When soup is done, quickly add frozen peas and rice and stir in finely-chopped fresh dill immediately before serving. If you wish, you may extract the bones for your guests, or you can leave them to do the job for themselves. For a reduced-fat version, simply chill overnight and skim fat before serving or freezing. ********** ********** Monitor Miniatures ********** Correction: In Jerry Piat's recipe for cocoa in the July issue, we listed one of the ingredients as a 32-ounce packet of sweetener. It should have read 32 packets of sweetener. We regret the error. ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Paul Gabias in academic regalia receives an honorary doctorate.] Honored: Oriano Belusic and Rick Driver of the Canadian Federation of the Blind recently sent us a notice that Dr. Paul Gabias was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Victoria on April 7, 2000. This is what they said: In 1999 members of the Canadian Federation of the Blind nominated Dr. Paul Gabias for an honorary doctorate. The University of Victoria Millennium honorary degrees recognized outstanding individuals whose contributions reach into and have implications for society in the twenty-first century. Dr. Gabias, a member of the Canadian Federation of the Blind, was one of a select group of recipients that included such luminaries as Louise Arbour; Maude Barlow; Helen Caldicott; and Her Excellency, the Right Honorable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada. This achievement sent a positive message to a wide public about the potential and abilities of blind people. The week-long Millennium Festival was a celebration of achievement and included concerts, art exhibits, and social events. Dr. Gabias and his guests attended a formal banquet at Government House hosted by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The week's festivities closed with a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Federation of the Blind, attended by thirty Federationists, family, and friends from as far away as Quebec and Ohio. Dr. Paul Gabias was born and raised in Montreal and is fluent in both English and French. He graduated cum laude from Concordia University and received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from New York University in 1988. Having worked in Wisconsin, Nevada, Colorado, and New Brunswick, he is now a professor at Okanagan University College in Kelowna, where he lives with his wife Mary Ellen and their four children. He has served as President of the National Association of Guide Dog Users, a division of the National Federation of the Blind in the U.S., and has successfully trained six dog guides, three for himself and three for others. Paul has a passionate commitment to the blind movement in Canada. He has faced discrimination with strength and resilience, having been evicted from a theater and threatened with eviction from his home simply because he had a guide dog. With the support of his friends and colleagues of the National Federation of the Blind, he won the case and has continued to fight tirelessly for the equality and civil rights of blind people. In the words of NFB President Dr. Marc Maurer, "Dr. Gabias is one of the most aggressive advocates for the rights and interests of blind people and an authority in research on tactile understanding." Paul knows firsthand the empowerment of collective action. Having attended his first convention in New York in 1973, he was deeply impressed by the NFB's positive attitude toward blindness and sought to share this liberating philosophy with his fellow Canadians. He has introduced hundreds of Canadians to Federationism and been a leader in the organized blind movement in Canada. ********** Help Needed: Longtime Federationist Dr. Ron Ferguson has written with the following request: For research purposes I am looking for back issues of Outlook for the Blind, New Outlook for the Blind, and Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness from the beginning of publication to 1985. If you have complete sets for any year or years that you would like to sell, please contact Dr. Ronald J. Ferguson, 1019 Lay Boulevard, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49001, phone (616) 344.5699, e-mail . ********** For Sale: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Perkins Brailler in good condition, asking $300 or best offer. If interested, contact Robert Schafer at (256) 350-9723 or e-mail . ********** New Chapter: On June 10, 2000, sixteen people met in Greensboro, North Carolina, to form the Guilford County Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of North Carolina. The officers are Dottie Neely, President; Jerry Moton, Vice President; Franklin Ellis, Secretary/Treasurer; and Foy Flowers and David Wallace, Board Members. ********** For Sale: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: New Acucheck Voice Mate blood glucose monitoring system has speech and will read insulin bottles. Complete with comfort curve test strips, soft click pin, and lancets. Count-a-dose syringe-filling device, carrying case, and other accessories. Asking $700 or best offer. Contact Kathleen McGrew, (503) 763-0935, P.O. Box 7314, Salem, Oregon 97303. ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Michael and Alice Gosse with new daughter Caroline] New Baby: On June 16, 2000, at 2:46 p.m., Caroline Victoria Gosse was born to Alice and Michael Gosse. She weighed in at seven pounds, fifteen ounces, and measured twenty inches long. The Gosses are active members of the Maryland affiliate; at different times both Mom (Alice Kassel) and Dad (Dr. Michael Gosse) have worked at the National Center, and Michael is a 1985 NFB Scholarship winner. Congratulations to the Gosse family. ********** Harvard Business Review Subscriptions: Vision Community Services, a Division of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind, offers Talking Book subscriptions for the Harvard Business Review. The subscription rate is $75 per year, four-track format, two tapes per issue, six bimonthly issues per year. Personal checks, money orders, and credit cards accepted. Back issues are available. Contact Robert Pierson at the recording studio to place your order. Phone (617) 972-9117, (800) 852-3029 (in Massachusetts only), fax: (617) 926-1412, or e-mail: . ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Tina Ektermanis and Kevan Worley at Greeley County membership drive] New Chapter: The Northern Colorado Chapter of the NFB of Colorado was organized on March 24, 2000, and met on April 22 to approve a constitution and elect officers. The new officers are Tina Ektermanis, President; Melissa Green, Vice President; Donna Stringer, Treasurer; Vick Bernheard, Secretary; and Rita Ronquillo, Board Member. Two days later, on March 26, the following story appeared in the Greeley Tribune: ********** State Group for the Blind Looks into Local Chapter by Sarah Langbein ********** When Tabitha Wyatt gave birth in 1995 to her daughter Ashley, everything was perfect. But in the months that followed Tabitha realized something was wrong with her daughter. Ashley's eyes did not follow people or objects. At Ashley's four-month checkup the doctor diagnosed her as legally blind. Now four years old, Ashley is growing up like any other child. She plays, she smiles, and she asks a lot of questions. Ashley and her mother attended a National Federation of the Blind luncheon on Saturday, where organizers gauged community response to the possibility of forming a local chapter. The sixty people who attended voted unanimously to do so. Kevan Worley, the first vice president of the Colorado NFB, was happy with the turnout at the luncheon. "There must be a need in the Weld County area," Worley said. Ashley and others attended the meeting to connect with other blind people. "It's good to know there are other people you can talk to in Greeley," Wyatt said. Unlike Ashley, Jim Ramos lost his sight later in life. Two years ago Ramos lost his sight because of diabetes. His blindness forced him to quit his job and rely on friends and family to get around. He also is unable to read Braille because his fingertips are not sensitive enough, another result of the diabetes. "I used to love to read the newspaper when I got off work," he said. It is moments like these that make Ramos discouraged with his disability. His sister, Bea, hopes that other blind people can help motivate him and teach him. "We're trying to help him gain back his self-confidence," she said. The purpose of the NFB is to give people hope and let them know that with proper training and a positive outlook they can compete in today's society. "It's not a tragedy to be blind," Worley said. ********** Piano by Ear: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Piano Course II for the visually impaired is ready. In this course you will learn the scales and cadences for the keys of D, A, E, F, B, and Bb; how to build major and minor chords and major scales; four new songs in four new keys in two different levels; and the principles of playing the piano by ear. To order, call (912) 249-0628; write Piano by Ear, 704 Habersham Road, Valdosta, Georgia 31602; or e-mail . ********** New Chapter: On July 26, 2000, the Suburban South Fulton Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Georgia came into being. The Chapter includes the cities of East Point, College Park, Hapeville, and other communities in the southern suburbs of Atlanta. The following officers were elected: Stephanie Scott, President; Larry Parks, First Vice President; Gail Taylor, Second Vice President; Debbie Hill, Treasurer; Dina Parks, Secretary; and Mohammed Javed and Beverly Lindsey, Board Members. ********** New Braille Maps Available: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Maps of the British Isles: These maps cover England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. The two over-all maps show boundaries, bodies of water, mountains, hills, and regions. For each country there is a map showing major cities, towns of particular interest, and major rivers. In addition a map for each country shows the counties or political regions. Two more maps show points of interest in the Greater London area and a simplified view of London's major attractions. General information about the most popular London sites is also included. Maps of the British Isles contains eleven maps. In general, key letters are used to label cities and regions on the maps. These key letters are identified on the key pages preceding each map. The booklet is provided in Brailon, bound with cardboard covers, and shipped in a multi-ring binder. Cost is $10. Maps of the Bible Lands (Old Testament): This set of twenty-five maps is intended for serious students of the Bible or of ancient Near Eastern history. The maps are detailed, and no descriptive background material is included. Familiarity with the subject material and some tactile experience is recommended. The maps cover the ancient world, including geography, centers of power circa 1350 B.C., cities; Abraham and the Patriarchs; Egypt, Sinai, and the Exodus; physical features of Canaan and surroundings; early Israelite presence in Canaan; Kingdoms of Saul, David, Solomon, Israel, and Judah; Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires; Alexander the Great; Seleucid Kingdom and the Maccabees. Generally key letters are used to label cities and areas on the maps. These key letters are identified on key pages preceding each map. The maps frequently have foldout sections and sometimes appear on facing pages. A general index of almost 600 place names is included. Maps of the Bible Lands contains twenty-five maps and accompanying key pages, plus an index, and is bound in two volumes with a total of ninety-six Brailon pages. The volumes are bound with cardboard covers and multi-ring binders. They cost $22. The above map prices include shipping by free mail unless other arrangements are made. Other maps are available, including Maps of Individual United States; Basic Human Anatomy; Atlas of North and South America; Atlas of the Middle East; Maps of Russia and Its Former Republics; and Maps of Morocco. Call or write to request details. Please send check or purchase order to the Princeton Braillists, 28-B Portsmouth Street, Whiting, New Jersey 08759. Credit cards and fax service are not available. Please allow four to six weeks for delivery. For further information please call (732) 350-3708 or (609) 924-5207. ********** New Catalog Available: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: The new 2000-2001 Jett Enterprises catalog is now available on 3.5-inch computer disk, on cassette tape, or at the Web site . Call (800) 275-5553 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Pacific Time, to get your copy. In addition to specific products for the blind and visually impaired, kitchenware, jewelry, electronics, better health products, and more are available. Free gift tags and instructional tapes are available upon request. ********** Election: At its May 19 convention the NFB of Georgia elected McArthur Jarrett, President; Wayne High, First Vice President; Max Parker, Second Vice President; JoAnn King, Treasurer; Stephanie L. Scott, Secretary; and Gladys Taylor, Dorothy Goodley, Robert J. Smith, Roger Womble, Lucy Palmer, and Tyrone Palmer, Board Members. ********** Free Computer: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: If you are blind, you may have a free computer by learning how to use it. First you must know the keyboard or complete a touch-typing course. This can be done by obtaining the book, Touch Typing in Ten Easy Lessons from your Talking Book library, by taking a free, home-study typing course from the Hadley School for the Blind, or by going to a local high school or community college. You pay a one-time $30 fee to cover the packing and other costs. Then you can receive a 386 or 486 CPU, monitor, and keyboard if you will demonstrate your interest by reading the provided recorded tutorials and practicing on DOS, WordPerfect, and the screen reader commands. If you lose interest, return all materials so that another person can receive them. You obtain your own screen-enlargement, Braille, or voice-access equipment and pay shipping and packing charges as your responsibility. Your state rehabilitation program may purchase the screen reader, modem, printer, and other equipment for you. Consult with your counselor. If you want to start learning about computer reading; writing; games; e-mail; and keeping your financial, tax, and insurance records, here is your chance. Keep in mind that it is a lot of work and frustration. Check Mate Plus will offer free, through me, a DOS-based voice-friendly, easy- to-use double entry bookkeeping system that has a quick and easy amortization table that will compute the answers to mortgage and loan questions. It has full documentation and is for IBM-compatible computers only. If interested, call, write, fax, or e-mail. Correspondence will be sent free matter. Contact Robert Langford, Ph.D., President, Texas Center for the Physically Impaired, 11330 Quail Run, Dallas, Texas 75238, phone (214) 340-6328, fax (214) 340-0870, e-mail . ********** Arts Contests: The New York State Parents of Blind Children and the Long Island Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind announce a Braille-writing contest and a talent tape contest. Details are as follows: 1. We are charging a $5 entry fee for each submission in both contests. a. The Braille-writing contest is open to legally blind students seventeen and under. We prefer entries written with a Braillewriter or slate and stylus since Braille-writing competency is part of what will be judged. Poems, stories, and essays on any topic are welcome, not to exceed ten large (11-by-11.5) Braille pages. We will award a cash prize of at least $25 each for one poem, one story, and one essay. b. The talent tape contest is open to any legally blind individual of any age. Submissions should be on high-quality audiocassettes and should not exceed fifteen minutes. Sing; play an instrument; do both. Do a dramatic reading of original or another's work. Demonstrate your talent. There will be one cash prize of at least $25 for the tape that demands to be heard over and over. Again, you may enter as many times as you like for a fee of $5 per entry, one performance per cassette. Cassettes will be returned if a cassette mailer with address label is provided. 2. The entrant's name, age, address, phone number, and e-mail address should be in Braille at the end of Brailled entries and should be stated at the end of all cassettes submitted. In the latter case information should be spelled. 3. The deadline for both contests is April 30, 2001. 4. Decisions of the judges are final. Judges will be a joint committee of the NYSPBC and NFB of Greater Long Island. 5. Winners will be contacted by phone no later than June 30. 6. With the authors' consent, entries may eventually be published by NYSPBC and NFB of Greater Long island and sold in an anthology for fund-raising purposes. Send your submissions to Christine Faltz, NYSPBC, 28 Silver Birch Road, Merrick, New York 11566. ********** Survey Participants Needed: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Through the Looking Glass, a nonprofit organization serving parents with disabilities and their families, is seeking help from parents who are blind or visually impaired and their adolescent children (ages eleven to seventeen) in order to design a national survey of such families. If interested, you would be asked to participate in a brief (fifteen- to thirty-minute) telephone interview. Through the Looking Glass is offering to pay you $10 for your time. Your teen would also be offered $10 for participating. To find out more about this project, please contact Connie Conley-Jung, Ph.D. at (800) 644-2666, extension 130, or e-mail her at . ********** For Sale: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: I have an Optacon that I wish to sell. It is twenty-four years old but in excellent condition. Please contact Brad Barrows for further information at 31 Knollwood Road, East Hartford, Connecticut 06118, phone (860) 568-3463, e-mail . ********** New Address: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Ann Morris Enterprises, Inc., has moved. The new address is 551 Hosner Mountain Road, Stormville, New York 12582, phone (800) 454-3175, fax (845) 226-2793, e- mail . The shopping cart Web page is . The 2001 catalog will be released this fall. If you are not already on the mailing list, call or write for a free copy in large print, cassette, disk, or e-mail. Braille is available for $10. New items include VCR Co-Pilot, talking tape measure, talking pedometer, new talking watches, microwave accessories, and more. To subscribe to the announce-only e-mail list, send a blank e-mail to . ********** Honored: Suzanne Waters, First Vice President of the Keystone Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, reports the following: The Hadley School for the Blind has chosen Martha Moser of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as Student of the Year. Martha has excelled in a wide variety of Hadley courses and also successfully graduated from a local adjustment-to-blindness program. She is employed by the Philadelphia School District as a librarian and plans to use her newly acquired knowledge in the workplace and in her work with the Keystone Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania. Congratulations, Martha. ********** Research Opportunity: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: There is a lack of literature and scientific study of the committed relationships of visually impaired people. Research is now being conducted in order to begin filling that void. Your help is needed in order to learn more about this important, yet overlooked area of our lives. If you are currently in a committed relationship (married or otherwise) that has a duration of six months or more and are interested in filling out a relatively short questionnaire, please contact the researcher, Jeannine Hays, in one of the following ways: Jeannine Hays, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, Indiana 46323; phone (219) 989-2027; e-mail ; Web site where the questionnaire can be filled out online . ********** Brailler Repair: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: J & B Brailler Repair Service specializes in the speedy repair and return of all Perkins Braillers. If you are tired of sending your Brailler out to be fixed and not getting it back for three or more months, then contact Joey Pattison, P.O. Box 674, High Rolls, New Mexico 88325, (505) 682-2562. A $150 flat fee covers cleaning, all parts, return shipping, and tax. We also guarantee thirty-day return or 50 percent off. ********** Election: Stephanie Scott, Secretary of the NFB of Georgia, reports the June 17 election results of the Northwest Georgia Chapter. The new officers are Patrice Kelly, President; William Wright, First Vice President; Diana Mills, Treasurer; and Tonia Clayton, Secretary. ********** Hoping to Pass Along and to Buy: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Free and in Braille: The fourth edition of the CPM (Certificate of Purchasing Management) Study Guide. This text presents basic purchasing concepts and fundamentals encompassing four specific modules. I will ship free matter for the blind. Contact Justin McDevitt, phone after 5:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, (612) 823-0405, or e-mail, . Also looking to buy an AM-FM stereo, single-cassette player (Aiwa or Sharp brand), in good working condition. ********** New Catalog Available: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Seedlings Braille Books for Children announces its 2001 catalog, available in print and Braille, with over 400 low-cost children's books. Seedlings provides print-Braille-and-picture books for toddlers and preschoolers, allowing early exposure to words through the tactile page as sighted family members read the print. The Seedlings print-and-Braille books are wonderful learning tools for beginning readers and allow parents to participate in the early reading process. The Seedlings Braille-only books offer popular and classic literature for older, independent Braille readers. Blind parents and grandparents of sighted children also benefit from Seedlings. Browse the catalog and order online at The new and improved Web site is Bobby-compliant and accessible for the visually impaired. For more information or to order a free catalog, call toll-free (800) 777-8552, e-mail: or visit the Web site listed above. ********** For Sale: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Almost new (one-month old) See-More Simplicity twenty-inch Inline CCD black and white reading system, includes twenty-inch JVC color TV. Originally cost $1,795, will accept best offer. If interested, contact Muriel Beil, (516) 481-9016, 378 Howard Avenue, Franklin Square, New York 11010-3341. ********** Orientation Center's Michael J. Higgins Retires: We have been asked to post the following request: After thirty-three years Mike Higgins, a mobility teacher at the Orientation Center for the Blind in Albany, California, retired at the end of August, 2000. Mike taught thousands of Californians the fine points of good, independent travel. He would love to hear from his students and former colleagues. Please send your thoughts and stories in the format of your choice to Orientation Center for the Blind, Attention: Diane Smith, 400 Adams Street, Albany, California 94706, Fax (510) 525-4922, e-mail: . ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Jennica Ferguson, April 15, 1982, to September 1, 2000] In Memoriam: On Friday, September 1, 2000, Jennica Ferguson died after a two-year battle with cancer. She was eighteen at the time of her death, but in her all-too-brief life she had a profound effect on many people. Before she was ten, her family had found members of the NFB to coach her with her Braille 'n Speak and to give her tips on cane travel. She grumbled that her cane didn't talk to her the way it should. But she soon got the hang of it. Summers at BLIND, Inc. Buddy program and later experience working with other NFB programs helped to shape her into the poised, confident young woman she became. Of course the chief forces in that process were her family, her parents Ron and Jan and her twin Aaron, and her radiant Christian faith. Wherever Jennica found herself, she was vitally involved with what was going on, regardless of her health. As recently as the 2000 Washington Seminar, Jennica took an active part in student division and Michigan affiliate activities. During the first semester of her senior year, she compiled a straight A average, despite surgery and radiation therapy. Jennica's eighteen years were a gift and an example to everyone privileged to know her. May she rest in peace, and may we find the courage and inspiration to move forward in the work of the National Federation of the Blind as she would want us to do. ********** NAGDU Notice: Liz Campbell, one of the leaders of the NFB of Texas and of the Blind Professional Journalists group, is pleased to announce that she was recently appointed to edit Harness Up, the publication of the National Association of Guide Dog Users. The newsletter, which is published twice a year, contains informative articles on dog guide issues. She welcomes contributions, particularly articles that focus on experiences with your dogs, humorous or otherwise. She also wants to include information about canine health, grooming tips, and the like. The deadline for sending articles is November 15. Please send materials to Elizabeth Campbell in plain-text format by e-mail at the following addresses: or . You may also send articles on computer disk in plain-text format to Elizabeth Campbell, 3805 Harley Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas 76107. ********** [PHOTO/CAPTION: Noel Nightingale] Newly Appointed: Noel Nightingale, President of the NFB of Washington and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind, was recently appointed as the Blindness Skills Development Director for the Washington State Department of Services for the Blind. She will be responsible for the agency's training center, independent living program, and child and family program. She will be an Assistant Director and will report to the Director, Bill Palmer. Mr. Palmer has distinguished himself by making a point of listening to and being prepared to learn from consumers since he took the position of agency director. Congratulations both to Noel and to the agency director who hired her. ********** Elected: The Diabetes Action Network of the National Federation of the Blind held its annual election on July 2, 2000, in Atlanta. The newly elected officers are Ed Bryant, President; Eric Woods, First Vice President; Sandie Addy, Second Vice President; Bruce Peters, Treasurer; Sally York, Secretary; and Gisela Distel, Paul Price, and Dawnelle Cruze, Board Members-at-large. ********** New Listserv for Blind Parents: Barbara Cheadle passes along the following good news: I am pleased to be able to announce a new list for blind parents, the Blind Parent Mailing List. It is sponsored by the Committee on Parental Concerns and the National Federation of the Blind. Its purpose is to create a forum for blind parents to share their experiences. Topics may include but are not limited to solving logistical problems (such as how to manage a couple of wiggly toddlers at a shopping mall when you need one hand for your cane and the other to carry packages), emotional issues such as dealing with the public, handling a child's embarrassment about blindness, etc. Parents are also encouraged to share resources, such as arranging the exchange of print/Braille books. Occasional posts on topics of interest to blind people and to members of the National Federation of the Blind will also appear. To post a message to the Blind Parent mailing list, please send it to . Use of this address will automatically post your message to all subscribers to the Blind Parent mailing list on the Internet. At the same time your message will be posted to the Blind Parent discussion area carried on NFB NET, as well as on the Web archives, which can be found at . To subscribe to the list, send a message to . In the body of the message write "subscribe blparent"(speech synthesizer users note that listserv has eight letters, no e on the end, and "blparent" is spelled b l p a r e n t. This list is also available in a Digest format, one composite message a day. To subscribe to this version, write "subscribe parent-d" in the body of a message sent to the listserv address. To unsubscribe from this list, please send your message to the address ." Leave the subject blank and write "unsubscribe blparent" in the body of the message. For help with all Listserv commands, send a message with a blank subject to , and write "help" in the body of the message. For a list of mailing lists carried on NFB Net, write "index" in the body of a message which should also be sent to . This list is moderated by Deborah Kent. She will handle questions and problems concerning the content of the list. You can reach Deborah at . If you have problems with list operation, you can reach the list owner, David Andrews, at or . You can also reach the NFB NET BBS on the World Wide Web at , by FTP at , or by pointing your Telnet client to or "209.98.54.33." You can also call using a conventional modem by dialing (612) 869-4599. Finally, there is an archive of this list on the World Wide Web at . ********** New Merchants Division in Florida: Kevan Worley, President of the National Association of Blind Merchants, reports as follows: At the state convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Florida a new division was formed. The Florida Association of Blind Merchants met to discuss the challenges facing the Florida BEP, adopted a constitution, and elected the following officers: President, Paul Prescott; First Vice President, Shirley Smart; Second Vice President, Sally Trayer; Secretary, Bonnie Prescott; and Treasurer, Barry Feazell. The National Association of Blind Merchants provided consultation, a model constitution, and other materials to assist in the formation of our new division. We thank affiliate president Wayne Davis and national board member Sam Gleese for their assistance. ********** For Sale: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: I have three items for sale: a Braille Blazer Braille printer which is only a few years old and in excellent, like-new condition. It has printed less than fifty pages. I am asking $400 for it. A Braille 'n Speak 640 with older software but in very good condition for which I am asking $600. A Braille Lite 40 in perfect condition with the latest software upgrade, for which I am asking $4,000. All prices are negotiable. For more information please contact John Whitney at (614) 279-9495 or Tonia Boyd at (502) 894-0450 or by e-mail at . ********** Birthright Israel: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: Young Judaea introduces Gesher 2001, a ten-day Birthright Israel trip to Israel for visually impaired Jewish students between the ages of eighteen and twenty- six. This first-timers trip is composed of historical tours and hikes; panel discussions with Israelis of many backgrounds; and other recreational, cultural, and educational programs. Sites include Jerusalem, the Western Wall, Tel Aviv, Masada, and much more. The program will run from January 1 to January 11, 2001. Gesher 2001 is an approved birthright Israel trip, and its participants are eligible for the birthright Israel gift, which covers roundtrip airfare plus ten days of educational programming in Israel. Any Jewish youth eighteen to twenty- six (post high-school) who has never been to Israel on a peer-group educational program is eligible to apply for the Birthright Israel gift. For more information, contact Caren Heller by phone at (212) 303-4587 or by e- mail . ********** Healthcare Professionals Report: The following brief report should have appeared in the convention issue. We regret its omission: On Tuesday, July 4, 2000, the Healthcare Professionals Group met and decided to form a new division within the National Federation of the Blind. Many people wanted to begin this new division. With the assistance of Diabetes Action Network President Ed Bryant, Officers and Board Members were elected during the meeting, and goals and objectives were established. The new officers are Dr. Donna Balaski, President; Samantha Shlakman, First Vice President; Laura Havard, Second Vice President; Ruth Heichelbeck, Secretary; Eileen Misrahi, Treasurer; and Richard Condie, Board Member. ********** Sales Bulletin: President Maurer announces great sales just before the holidays. A great sale is going on at the National Federation of the Blind Materials Center. Your order can be faxed to (410) 685-5653, mailed to 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, or called in to (410) 659-9314. Because of heavy demand on staff members at the National Center for the Blind, it has sometimes been easier to get an order to the Materials Center by fax than by phone. We are making an effort to meet the demand, and we regret any delays. The following items have been priced to sell. Some of these items are overstocked; some we have received as distressed merchandise; and some are being distributed to make space for other materials presently on order. In any case, the prices are good! Listed first is the item price; second is the sale price. Parrot Plus Pocket electronic organizer, $200, $125; Micro Notetaker credit-card-size digital recorder, $12, $2; Spartus Lunar large print alarm clock, $27.50, $15; 12-inch folding Braille ruler, $8.50, $6; ladies' self-winding gold Braille watch with three o' clock opening; $75, $25; men's self-winding gold Braille watch with three o'clock opening, $75, $25; ladies' wind-up gold Braille watch with three o'clock opening, $50, $25; men's wind-up chrome Braille watch with three o'clock opening, $50, $25; Classmate four-track player/recorder desktop model, $200, $180; Talkman III four-track player (without speaker, to be used with earphones only), $95, $25; Talkman III plus four-track player/recorder, $120, $35; Talkman IV four-track and a two-track recorder, $170, $30; Talkman VI with AM/FM radio, four-track player, and a two-track recorder, $190, $80. Items purchased from the Federation are guaranteed for thirty days. Items being returned must be received at the National Center within thirty days of the date they were shipped to you. Returned merchandise must be in its original packaging and include all instructions, parts, batteries, and the packing slip. ********** Ashtray Molds Available: We have been asked to carry the following announcement: The Philomatheon Society of the Blind is closing its doors. Boxes of ten molds for making ceramic ashtrays with the Braille alphabet around the edge are available free upon request. Only thirty of these molds are left. A box of ten weighs about fifty pounds. For more information or to request a set, contact Jerry Dessicker, Philomatheon Society, 2810 West Tuscarawas, Canton, Ohio 44710, (330) 453-9157. ********** New E-mail Address: The National Federation of the Blind now has a new e-mail address. It is . ********** Indisputable Last Words: Dr. Abraham Nemeth is a blind mathematics professor and a longtime leader in the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan. Here he relates a humorous incident which reminds us that ingrained patterns of thought are hard to break-- even when they make no sense at all. This is how he tells the story: Before coming to Detroit to teach mathematics at the University of Detroit, I lived in New York City well into my young adult years. Since I first lived in Manhattan and then in Brooklyn and since I had friends in other parts of the city, I soon became familiar with the entire subway system, the bus routes, and the trolley car routes throughout the city. One day I was on an errand in mid-Manhattan. Being familiar with my surroundings, I moved easily from place to place. Two obviously lost young men with western twangs approached me and asked directions to the Museum of Natural History. From their accents it was clear that they were tourists. I proceeded to give them very clear and precise directions to the Museum. When I finished, the two men hesitated for a moment then took one or two steps away from me, and one said to the other: "We better ask someone else; that man is blind," whereupon I took a step in their direction and, facing them, said: "It is true that I am blind, but I'm not the one who is lost." ********** ********** NFB PLEDGE ********** I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation; and to abide by its constitution.