Cream of the Crop 20/Cream of the Crop 20 (Terry Blount) (1996).iso/faq/brlm9607.zip/BRLM9607.TXT

Text File | 1996-07-18 | 207KB | 3,845 lines

                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR

                           July, 1996

                     Barbara Pierce, Editor


     Published in inkprint, Braille, on talking-book disc,
                        and cassette by


              THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
                     MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT



                         National Office
                       1800 Johnson Street
                   Baltimore, Maryland 21230

                             * * * *



           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

                  NFB NET BBS:  [phone]
               WorldWide Web:  http://www.nfb.org
THE BRAILLE MONITOR
PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                            CONTENTS
                                                       July, 1996

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
     by Kenneth Jernigan

WHERE IS JUSTICE?

BAKERY RUN BY BLIND OFFERS TEMPTING GOODIES
     by Debbie Blumberg

KEEPING SIGHT OF THE VISION
Leadership in the NFB
     by Bruce Gardner

STEPPING OUT WITH AN ATTITUDE
     by David Walker

A MONTANA YANKEE IN LOUIS BRAILLE'S COURT
     by Carolyn Brock

THE CERTIFIED AND THE CLUELESS
     by Bill Meeker

SOUNDS OF LIGHT AND HOPE IN EGYPT, A WESTERN-STYLE ORCHESTRA
BREAKS MORE THAN ONE BARRIER
     by Philip D. Schuyler

THE VOICE OF THE DIABETIC: A MESSAGE OF GROWTH AND HOPE

BLIND KIDS SPEAK OUT

ALMOST ONE HUNDRED AND ONE WAYS TO DECORATE YOUR CANE
     by Cortney Osolinski

HANDICAPPED PERSON HAS TUSSLE WITH BANK

TELLING THE FEDERATION STORY:
SHEILA KOENIG MAKES IT LOOK EASY

THREE-LETTER WORDS: "HOW" OR "WHY NOT?"
     by Peggy Pinder Elliott

ADVICE FROM A LONG WHITE CANE
     by Betty A. Walker

BRAILLE READERS ASSIST PHOENIX CITY ENGINEERS
     by Judith M. Tunell

A MOTHER'S STORY
     by Loretta White

SOUTH CAROLINA WELCOMES FIFTY-SECOND CHAPTER
     by Donald C. Capps

RECIPES

MONITOR MINIATURES

       Copyright (c) 1996 National Federation of the Blind[LEAD PHOTO: The lead photograph is taken from the doorway of the dining room
at the National Center for the Blind. Pictured are two long dining tables set
for a formal dinner with tablecloths, floral centerpieces, crystal, and pre-
set salads. The new piano is located behind the tables, in front of the west
windows. CAPTION: On April 1, 1996, the National Federation of the Blind
hosted a formal dinner honoring the officers of the World Blind Union and
other guests. The dinner took place in the newly remodeled dining room at the
National Center for the Blind. Columns were removed, and a walnut and oak
floor installed. The piano is a Yamaha conservatory grand with the Disklavier
system that enables a musician to record the performance on a computer
diskette. At a later date the instrument, performing as a player piano, can
reproduce the original performance. The piano was presented to the National
Federation of the Blind by Deane and Marty Blazie and Tim Cranmer.]
[PHOTO #1: CAPTION: Dr. Euclid Herie (left) and David Blyth (right) PHOTO #2:
CAPTION: left to right, Dr. Rodolfo Cattani, Mr. David Blyth, and Mr. Pedro
Zurita PHOTO #3: This picture shows four musicians dressed in period costume
and playing Renaissance musical instruments. CAPTION: In the banquet facility
in Machiavelli's residence, musicians playing authentic instruments and
dressed in period costume serenade the guests. PHOTO #4: This picture is of a
group of people seated at a U-shaped table hard at work in a meeting. The two
visible walls behind the group are filled with built-in bookcases containing
Braille books floor to ceiling. CAPTION: The spring, 1996, meeting of the
officers of the World Blind Union took place at the National Center for the
Blind. The group gathered in the large conference room for day-long meetings.
PHOTO #5: Imed Eddine Chaker is pictured in the International Braille and
Technology Center. PHOTO #6: Shahid Memon and his two sons.]
                   NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL
                       by Kenneth Jernigan

     Shortly after the World Council on the Welfare of the Blind
(the WCWB) was established in 1949, the NFB became a member.
There were then, as there are now, six U. S. delegates, but that
is where the resemblance between then and now stops. In those
days the Federation was what is sometimes called a voice crying
in the wilderness. The agencies doing work with the blind in this
country either ignored us or fought us, and that is pretty much
what we did to them.
     By 1964 Dr. Jacobus tenBroek and the rest of us in the
Federation thought that a new beginning should be made
internationally, so we spearheaded the establishment of the
International Federation of the Blind (IFB). As some will
remember, representatives from more than a dozen foreign
countries came to our 1964 convention in Phoenix. It was there
that the formative meetings of the IFB were held. A few days
later in New York, where the WCWB was holding its fourth
quinquennial meeting, the establishment of the IFB was completed
with the adoption of a constitution and the election of officers.
     Dr. tenBroek was chosen as the first IFB President, and the
organization got off to a good start. Who knows what the course
of IFB's history would have been if Dr. tenBroek had not
succumbed to cancer and died in 1968. It is one of the might-
have-beens. As it was, the IFB went into a long decline and in
1984 was submerged into the WCWB. The new body got a new
constitution and a new name, the World Blind Union (WBU).
     We were not represented at WBU's founding assembly in 1984,
but we attended the first North America regional meeting in
Washington shortly thereafter. I represented the NFB at that
Washington meeting, and as Federationists know, I was elected
regional President in 1987, a post I have held ever since.
     Starting with 1984 (and especially 1987) our international
involvement accelerated steadily. At a meeting in Montreal in
April of this year I was again elected regional President. The
term runs for four years and will conclude at the end of the WBU
Assembly in 2000. A question which has been on my mind from the
beginning and which now has increasing relevance is this:
     How much emphasis should we give to international
     affairs, and how much to national?
From its establishment in 1940 the National Federation of the
Blind has had one primary mission. It is stated quite clearly in
Article II of our constitution, which says:

     The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is
     to serve as a vehicle for collective action by the
     blind of the nation; to function as a mechanism through
     which the blind and interested sighted persons can come
     together in local, state, and national meetings to plan
     and carry out programs to improve the quality of life
     for the blind; to provide a means of collective action
     for parents of blind children; to promote the
     vocational, cultural, and social advancement of the
     blind; to achieve the integration of the blind into
     society on a basis of equality with the sighted; and to
     take any other action which will improve the overall
     condition and standard of living of the blind.

     Even though our constitution makes it clear that we are to
be a vehicle for collective action by the blind of the United
States, it does not prohibit us from working with the blind of
other countries. Yet the emphasis is unmistakable. Therefore, as
our overseas involvement grows, how much money and human
resources should we devote to our international effort, and how
much to matters here at home? Specifically, and in my own case,
how much of my time and energy should be spent here, and how much
abroad? Whatever the answer, we should make the decision
consciously and not just stumble into it by default. Meanwhile,
there is no question that during the past year quite a chunk of
my effort, my writing, and my travel time has been devoted to
matters beyond our borders.
     In April of 1995, for instance, Mrs. Jernigan and I went for
five days to Caracas, Venezuela, to attend a WBU officers
meeting. Anybody who thinks that American cities have a crime
problem should visit Caracas. There are signs and warnings posted
everywhere, and we were admonished not to go into the downtown
area without proper security. To those Americans who enjoy guilt
feelings and who think that everything American is inferior to
everything anywhere else in the world, I can only say that my
overseas travel during the past eight or nine years would have
been a valuable lesson in perspective.
     The time in Caracas was pleasant, and our hosts did
everything possible to make our stay enjoyable. One of my most
unforgettable memories of that trip is the visit Mrs. Jernigan
and I made to the Saudi Embassy in Caracas for dinner at the
invitation of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ghanim. When I asked if the
gunshots we could clearly hear in the distance posed a threat,
the Saudi Ambassador answered with an obvious smile in his voice:
"You are guests at the Saudi House. There will be no problem."
The armed guards who stood at the gate and patrolled the
perimeter underscored his words and left no doubt concerning his
meaning or, for that matter, his ability to fulfill the promise.
     The substance of the Caracas meeting was not spectacular,
but it was solid. It was the sort of involvement with detail that
must take place if an organization is to grow and have meaning.
As was the case with his two predecessors at earlier meetings,
David Blyth did a good job as President in Caracas; but even
though he was almost three years into his term, he was just
beginning to hit his stride.
     This is no criticism of David Blyth. He has done an
excellent job as President. Rather, it points up what I believe
to be one of the weaknesses of the World Blind Union structure.
Although there is something to be said for giving different
regions an opportunity to elect a World President, continuity and
experience suffer. If the WBU could keep for two or more four-
year terms a President who was doing a good job, I think it might
accomplish more. There are, of course, counterbalancing
arguments. As to the general functioning of the WBU, there are
other structural and constitutional changes that I think would
strengthen the organization, but we must work with what we now
have, not just what we think might be an improvement.
     One incident occurred as we were leaving Caracas that I
think would be of interest to Federationists. Mrs. Jernigan and I
had allowed all of the time that we thought could reasonably be
needed to get to the airport, and then had added about an hour
for good measure. But as our taxi crawled down the highway, we
kept wondering what the problem was and how traffic could
possibly be backed up so much. As time went by and our taxi
inched along, we began to be afraid we would miss our plane.
Finally the mystery was solved. We were on a multi-lane
superhighway, and at one point on the road ahead, every lane was
blocked by a soldier, who was stopping every car to pass out a
propaganda leaflet. As soon as we received our leaflet and were
waved on, the road was clear, and the traffic flowed.
     One more thing. In Venezuela, as in many other countries,
you have to pay a tax to leave. I don't remember how much it was,
but it is usually somewhere between twenty and forty dollars. A
quaint custom--a sort of farewell/goodbye.
     No sooner had I got home from Venezuela than I headed for
Canada for an international conference on audio technology and
library services. In August I was back in Canada again for a
planning session for the meeting of the World Blind Union General
Assembly which is to take place in Toronto this summer. These two
trips are typical of what has been happening since the
establishment of our WBU regional organization. I go to Canada at
least two or three times a year, and Dr. Herie and other
Canadians come here about as often. The relationship is a good
one, and the exchange of ideas and information is constructive.
     Last October (in fact, it was October 25) Mrs. Jernigan and
I boarded a plane at Dulles airport and flew to Rome. The World
Blind Union Executive Committee was meeting in Tirrenia, a resort
area where the Italian organization of the blind has a
headquarters and training center. Pisa would have been closer to
Tirrenia than Rome, but the flight would have been on a smaller
plane--and anybody who knows anything at all about my habits and
proclivities knows that I have a miserable time flying. I pick
the biggest plane I can get and occupy the time en route in
misery and prayer.
     Anyway, we spent a couple of days in Rome, going to the
local headquarters of the Italian organization of the blind and
doing what other tourists do--St. Peter's Basilica, the Fountain
(of three coins in--yes, we threw our coins in, and were told
they would be collected for charity at the proper time), the
Colosseum, and other such. Then we boarded a train for Pisa, were
met by representatives of the Italian Blind Union, and were taken
to Tirrenia. It is a small town on the sea coast, and nearby is a
large U. S. army base.
     Dr. Rodolfo Cattani, who is one of the leaders of the
Italian Blind Union and also Vice President of the WBU, was more
than gracious in hospitality. He and the other Italian leaders
did a good job in trying to anticipate our needs. They took us to
Pisa one afternoon to see the Leaning Tower--which, incidentally,
had a fence around it and was not open to the public because it
is leaning too much these days. The authorities are trying to
find a way to stabilize it. Of course, they could probably bring
it to a full vertical, but that would take the pizazz out of it,
not to mention being close to sacrilege. I am sure they will get
it worked out. Meanwhile, I couldn't get close enough to touch
it.
     As to the nuts and bolts of the meeting, most of it centered
on plans for the upcoming WBU Assembly in Toronto and related
matters. President Blyth presented proposed constitutional
amendments--the creation of the position of Second Vice President
(there is now only one Vice President), increasing the number of
delegates from six to ten for countries with more than 250
million population, and allowing the constitutional officers to
have a vote at meetings of the General Assembly. Some people
favored these amendments, and some people didn't. They will be
discussed and presented at the meeting of the General Assembly in
Toronto.
     Various committee reports were discussed and voted on.
Probably the most controversial was the report of the Technology
Committee, seeking to establish a code of good practices for the
producers and vendors of technology. It was decided to ask the
Committee to consider changes in the proposed code, and I
understand that they are working on it. Curtis Chong is our
representative on the Committee, and he tells me that it appears
that language can be presented that will probably be agreeable to
all concerned.
     A brief discussion was held concerning the status of Puerto
Rico. Enrique Elissalde, the President of the Latin American
Union, felt that Puerto Rico would be better served and
represented by being part of the Latin America region instead of
continuing as part of the North America region. The North America
representatives on the Executive Committee pointed out that
Puerto Rico is now represented as part of the United States and
that transferring its affiliation to the Latin American Union
would cause problems with the U. S./WBU relationship. Among other
things, it was noted that there is now an NFB affiliate in Puerto
Rico and that while some Puerto Ricans might wish to be
represented through Latin America, others clearly do not.
     I understand that a delegation from Puerto Rico was present
at a meeting of the Latin American Union of the Blind this spring
in Cuba and that a resolution was adopted recommending Puerto
Rican affiliation with Latin America. I presume that the question
will come up in Toronto, but I think that the matter will
probably be settled amicably. I believe the U. S. delegation will
be unanimous in its wish to have the blind of Puerto Rico
represented through the organizational structure of our region.
In view of the provisions of the WBU Constitution, I think this
attitude will be determinative, but of course one can never tell.
     But back to the meeting in Tirrenia. It was announced that
Dr. Herie would probably be (the probability later became a
certainty) a candidate for WBU President in Toronto this summer.
There were the usual regional reports, and there was a report
from the Committee on the Status of Blind Women. A determined
effort is being made to increase the number of women delegates
and participants in WBU affairs. Immediately prior to the General
Assembly in Toronto, there will be a World Women's Forum, and
financial assistance is being offered to encourage the attendance
of women from developing countries.
     The Tirrenia meeting dealt with one more item of particular
interest to our region. The Executive Committee decided that the
group membership of the Caribbean countries would be discontinued
and that individual countries in the Caribbean should be
encouraged to apply for WBU membership.
     On the last evening in Tirrenia, we went by bus to the
former home of Machiavelli, just outside of the city of Florence.
It was an unforgettable experience, with players and waiters in
fifteenth-century costumes and with what was said to be (and I am
prepared to believe it) an authentic replication of fifteenth
century food. Before dinner we went through the rooms of the
house, and I found the experience extremely interesting. I sat in
Machiavelli's chair, visited his wine cellar and felt of barrels
higher than my head, and examined the general layout.
     Our bus didn't get back to Tirrenia until close to 3:00 in
the morning, and we had to catch a taxi for the airport at around
5:00. Thereby hangs a tale of strange occurrence. We had to go
something like 100 miles to Milan, and our taxi driver spoke no
English. Of course we spoke no Italian. Now, before we left
Baltimore, Sue at the Singer Travel Agency had impressed upon me
(in fact, she had put it in large letters on some piece of paper
or other) that there were two airports in Milan and that I had
better pick the right one or suffer the consequences. And, of
course, when the paper was needed, it couldn't be found.
     The cab driver made it clear through a series of gestures,
and otherwise, that he knew exactly which airport we wanted--so
off we went in one of the fastest mountain-road rides I had ever
taken. One Milan airport is called Malpensa. The other is called
Linate. We wanted Malpensa. We arrived at Linate; the cab driver
departed; it was time to board; we were forty or fifty miles from
Malpensa; what to do! We raced outside, found a taxi driver who
spoke almost no English but made it clear he would get to
Malpensa on time or risk a wreck, and raced toward the goal. The
speed and hairpin turns of that earlier drive from Tirrenia to
Milan were forgotten in the greater excitement of the present
peril.
     Suffice it to say that we got there (just barely, but we
did), and we boarded the plane for home. It was a long trip. We
flew to Frankfurt, Germany; changed planes; and came back to
Dulles.
     The WBU officers meet every year, and this spring they came
to the National Center for the Blind in Baltimore. The meetings
were on April 1 and 2, but most of the officers arrived a day or
two earlier. We were pleased to host the gathering, and it was
one of the most harmonious we have ever had. We tried to
reciprocate the hospitality that our representatives have
received in other countries. We met people at the airport, took
them shopping, and held a formal dinner in the dining room here
at the National Center for the Blind.
     The interaction with all who came was pleasant and
rewarding, but there was naturally more contact with some than
others. Pedro Zurita, Secretary General of the WBU, stayed at the
National Center, as did Dr. Cattani, Dr. Chaker (President of the
African Blind Union), Enrique Elissalde, and Shahid Memon
(President of the Asian Blind Union). Mr. Memon brought two of
his children with him, and Sir Duncan and Lady Watson spent a
very pleasant evening with us at the Center.
     The subject that claimed most attention during the meetings
was the upcoming meeting of the WBU Assembly in Toronto in
August. Mr. Maurer and I, along with a number of other
Federationists, will be in Toronto during the last ten days of
August, first for the meeting of the Women's Forum and then for
the General Assembly. I believe Dr. Herie will be elected
President, probably without opposition, and I think that the
Assembly and Women's Forum will be harmonious and successful. The
extensive planning that the Canadians have done would be hard to
equal.
     Besides the travel I have detailed, I have done extensive
writing and engaged in a great deal of discussion concerning the
World Blind Union and related activities during the past year.
And you should keep in mind that what I have described has
occurred during that period of time (I am now writing in late
May). So I come back to the question with which I started this
article. How much of our effort should be devoted to national and
how much to international affairs? And how much of my time and
effort should be devoted to which? The question is real, and we
must deal with it. It is not something that President Maurer or I
can decide personally. It is organizational, and it is basic to
our future. Meanwhile, the participation in the WBU continues,
and I think productively.




     If you or a friend would like to remember the National
Federation of the Blind in your will, you can do so by employing
the following language:

     "I give, devise, and bequeath unto the National Federation
of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a
District of Columbia nonprofit corporation, the sum of
$__________(or "______ percent of my net estate" or "The
following stocks and bonds: ________") to be used for its worthy
purposes on behalf of blind persons."



[PHOTO #7/CAPTION: Bobbi Miller]
                        WHERE IS JUSTICE?

     From the Editor: It is probably too soon to determine the
true effect of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
One thing can be said, however: its mere presence on the books is
illuminating a number of moral swamps in the legal landscape--
places where, despite the new protections granted to the
disabled, those who have no interest in helping disabled people
get back to work can drown would-be workers in the morass of
narrow-mindedness. The victim this time is Bobbi Miller, a
correctional officer at a penitentiary in Illinois. In 1993 she
suddenly lost much of her vision and took a leave of absence from
her job to adjust to her situation and to acquire the necessary
skills of blindness. That accomplished, she tried to return to
work, knowing that there were jobs at the prison that she could
do--provided that she had reasonable accommodation--every bit as
well now as she could have done them before she became blind. It
developed, however, that she was up against a rule stipulating
that every correctional officer must be capable of doing every
job done by every other correctional officer. Her union was
willing to waive this provision of the contract, but Department
of Corrections officials were adamant--Miller could not return to
work because she could not guard prisoners and in a lock-down she
could pose a security risk. In fact, Bobbi Miller can name
several other prison employees who are disabled and who have
stayed in the same jobs for extended periods of time.
     But instead of trying to work out a way for Mrs. Miller to
do her job, prison officials fired her outright in April of 1994.
Eventually, having sought and received a right-to-sue letter from
the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), Mrs. Miller
brought suit against the Illinois Department of Corrections in
federal court. The State Attorney General, acting on behalf of
the Department of Corrections, asked that the suit be thrown out
on summary judgment, arguing that, as the duties of correctional
officers are defined, Bobbi Miller cannot carry out the essential
functions of the job because she is blind, and that the
Department was under no necessity to redefine the job for her,
even if the position so defined already existed in the prison
system. On March 1, 1996, U.S. Judge Richard Mills sided with the
state and dismissed the case on summary judgment.
     This judge has a reputation among Illinois attorneys for
siding with employers, so this decision was not particularly
surprising, and his decisions are frequently overturned on
appeal. Mrs. Miller, with help from the National Federation of
the Blind, is planning to appeal this decision; we can only hope
that it will be reversed. On March 10, 1996, Tim Landis wrote a
story which appeared in the Springfield State Journal-Register.
He did a good job of laying out the issues. This is what he said:

             ADA IN WORKPLACE BEING PUT TO THE TEST
     Visually Impaired Woman Wants to Go Back to Corrections
                          by Tim Landis

     The federal judge who ruled against her considered Bobbi
Miller's a tragic story.
     Hired as a guard by the Illinois Department of Corrections
in 1988, Miller began work at the Lincoln Correctional Center. In
1992, she transferred to the Graham Correctional Center near
Hillsboro.
     "I enjoyed law enforcement. It's a different type of work.
It's different each day," said Miller.
     Before joining the state prison system, Miller, the mother
of two children, both college age, had worked as a dispatcher for
the Menard County Sheriff's Department.
     But in the summer of 1993 her correctional career unraveled.
     Miller blacked out at her rural Raymond home. When she
regained consciousness, most of her vision was gone. Doctors
blamed the problem on severe head injuries Miller suffered seven
years earlier, when her vehicle had been struck by a drunken
driver.
     Miller took a leave of absence from the Department of
Corrections and attended a school for the visually impaired in
Chicago to learn to live with her condition.
     Though she was considered legally blind, Miller inquired in
the fall of 1993 about returning to work at Graham.
     "I felt very confident and was ready to go back to what I
knew and had dealt with for years," she said.
     Citing her disability, however, the Department of
Corrections refused. In April, 1994, she was notified that she
was being fired. That decision was upheld the following month by
a hearing officer for the State Department of Central Management
Services.
     After completing an alternative employment training program
operated by the state, Miller took a lower-paying job in
November, 1994, as an aid to teachers and students at the
Illinois School for the Visually Impaired in Jacksonville.
     She and her husband Don sold their home near Raymond to be
closer to her new job.
     But Miller has not given up her fight to return to
corrections work.
     Joined by the National Federation of the Blind, Miller filed
suit in federal court last August, claiming her dismissal was in
violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
     Noting that she has partial sight, Miller asked to be
returned to the Graham Correctional Center at the same grade and
pay.
     Miller, now forty-five, insisted that, with some
accommodations--such as a guide dog, special glasses, large-print
computer screens, and Braille--she could perform most of the
duties required of a correctional officer.
     Other individuals with disabilities have been safely
employed in the state prison system, she noted.
     "I know the work backward and forward, visually sighted or
not," she said. "I would not take on anything that would cause a
threat to the safety of myself or the corrections institution."
     While there were discussions of assigning her to switchboard
or armory supervision, the state refused to create such permanent
positions, contending it would require changes in a union
contract with prison employees.
     Correctional officers must perform a variety of duties,
including security and clerical work, attorneys for the agency
said. And the ADA does not require employers to create special
positions to accommodate workers with disabilities, they said.
     The department also argued that Miller's blindness would
create a health and safety hazard to herself and other
correctional officers.
     "To require the Illinois Department of Corrections to make
accommodations to blind individuals to work as correctional
officers is impossible, given the very nature of the work," said
legal briefs filed by the Illinois attorney general's office.
     In a ruling released last week, U.S. Judge Richard Mills
agreed.
     "A tragic story; the court certainly sympathizes with
Miller's plight," Mills said. "Unfortunately, it does not appear
it (the ADA) provides her with any relief."
     The Act prohibits employer discrimination based on a
worker's disabilities. It also requires that people with
disabilities be considered qualified if, "with or without
reasonable accommodation, they can perform the essential function
of the employment position."
     While the Act bars discrimination against employees with
disabilities, Mills said the ADA does not require employers to
create jobs for workers who can no longer perform their old
duties. Neither, he said, is an employer required by the Act to
find another job or change the duties of the job.
     "It is clear under the ADA that an employer is not required
to restructure a job by eliminating the job's essential
functions," Mills said.
     The National Federation of the Blind plans to help Miller
with an appeal to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Chicago.
     "What we will argue is that there were and are positions
that can be reasonably accommodated for her, and she can perform
the essential functions of those positions," said Scott LaBarre,
a Denver-based attorney for the group.
     The union that represents prison guards--the American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees--offered to
waive certain work rules to allow Miller's return to Graham
Correctional Center, LaBarre said.
     The Federation has attempted to target similar lawsuits
around the country involving visually impaired workers.
     Miller's case is an opportunity to show that the visually
impaired can work at a variety of nontraditional jobs if given
the opportunity, LaBarre said.
     "Most people do not think a blind person can work anywhere
in corrections," LaBarre said. "We're saying that, with
reasonable accommodations, they can work in that field."
     Because of the pending litigation, attorneys who argued the
case for the state declined comment.
     A spokesman for the attorney general's office, which
represented the Department of Corrections, said the ruling
acknowledged the security risks involved in Miller's request.
     While getting back to corrections work is her primary goal,
Miller said she hopes her fight also will help overcome
misconceptions and stereotypes about the visually impaired.
     "It's a disability that most people don't understand or take
the time to understand," she said.
     Like Miller, most people classified as legally blind have
some vision. Only about 10 percent have no usable sight. Someone
is considered legally blind if one has less than 20/200 vision.
     Neither does Miller consider her situation a tragedy. She
said she has learned lessons of her own by working with blind
students at the Jacksonville school and by volunteering her time
to programs for the visually impaired.
     "I don't allow myself to worry about `what ifs,'" she said.
"I just want to be given a chance to go back and prove myself."

     There you have the article, and that is where things stand
at the moment. The story has one interesting little footnote.
Several days after it ran, the following letter to the editor
appeared in the State Journal-Register in support of Bobbi
Miller. Here it is:

            Group Backs Woman's Effort to Retain Job

Dear Editor,
     I am responding to your article in the March 10 issue
concerning the plight of Ms. Bobbi Miller, a visually impaired
employee of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) who
lost her job due to her disability. I agree with Scott LaBarre of
the National Federation of the Blind that with reasonable
accommodations Miller should be employable within the IDOC
system.
     While I agree that IDOC is "not required to restructure a
job by eliminating its essential functions," nor does it have to
"create jobs for workers who can no longer perform their old
duties," it does require such entities to offer open light-duty
positions to qualified employees with disabilities should such
positions be available. One would think that in the vast (and
growing) IDOC system, there might be an open position that Miller
would be quite capable of performing.
     Moreover, who's to say that with the right accommodation
Miller couldn't do her old job? In reading the article, the IDOC
seemed quite rigid in what they perceive a person is capable of.
I wonder if their perceptions are based on fact or simply myth
and stereotype.
     In any case the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in
Illinois (CCDI) wishes Miller the best in her appeal to the 7th
Circuit Court!
                                         Robert F. Kilbury, Rh.D.
                                          CCDI Executive Director
                                                      Springfield

     This case is currently on appeal with the United States
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. We are waiting to
present oral arguments on the matter.


[PHOTO #8: In the first picture a woman stands at a table spreading filling on
three pieces of rolled out pastry. CAPTION: Yelda Quesada making a pastry
filled with meat. PHOTO #9/CAPTION: Wayne Osborn, shown with Marieta Quesada,
bakery founder and President, Association of Blind Women]
           BAKERY RUN BY BLIND OFFERS TEMPTING GOODIES
                       by Debbie Blumberg

     From the Editor: The following article first appeared in the
January 26, 1996, edition of the Tico Times, an English-language
publication in Costa Rica. Mary Ellen Jernigan's brother Wayne
Osborn, who is a professor of Latin American history at Iowa
State University at Ames, was recently in Costa Rica on
sabbatical leave writing a history of the United Nations
University for Peace, which was established there in 1980. After
seeing the article, he and his wife Ruth visited the Santa Lucia
Bakery, met with a number of the blind women involved in its
management and operation, and sampled the products. They report
that the bakery is, indeed, a going concern:

     Owned and staffed almost entirely by blind women, La
Panadería Santa Lucía provides steady work while creating a wide
variety of tempting breads and pastries.
     On the south side of Plaza Víquez near downtown San José,
the bakery opened in July, 1993 and, according to owner Marieta
Quesada, is the first business in all of Latin America created by
a group of blind women.
     "It was very hard, because we had to convince our families,
our communities, and our Costa Rican society that we, being blind
women, could start a business," she said.
     The idea for the bakery originated at a series of informal
meetings Quesada and a group of twelve other blind women held to
share common problems, ideas, stories, and humor.
     "It was there that the idea to create work for ourselves was
born," Quesada explained. Three members of the group, including
Quesada, work at the bakery. All have been blind from birth,
suffering from a condition known as pigmentary retinosis
[probably retinitis pigmentosa]. In Quesada's case, she was able
to see well enough as a child to learn to read, write, and draw.
Each day, however, her condition deteriorates, and she now works
with only Braille.
     All of the women are from limited economic backgrounds, and
the majority are married with children or are single mothers.
They also all come from large families, are Ticas in their early
thirties, and live in various parts of San José.
     The women fittingly adopted the name Santa Lucía, patron
saint of the blind, for their business venture. According to
legend, the daughter of a wealthy family was opposed to her
arranged marriage.
     When the time came for the wedding, she fell to her knees,
praying, and offered God her beautiful eyes if He would save her
from this doomed marriage. Santa Lucía appeared, took her vision,
and saved her. When the palace guards arrived to carry her away
by force, they couldn't budge her. From that point on, Santa
Lucía has been associated with the blind.
     To open the bakery, the women had to take out a loan, which
they received from a local business, El Productor RL, after
presenting the project to the company. They recently paid off the
last of the debt for their machinery and equipment.
     Although there are two sighted employees, their duties are
no more demanding than those of the blind women. Each woman bakes
the bread, sells the goods, and cleans the bakery. Quesada says
their job is twice as hard, first of all because they are women
doing a job normally done by men in Costa Rica, and secondly
because they are blind.
     Employees explained that it has been difficult to make
money, and they are just managing to break even. Salaries are
approximately $36 a week. Quesada commented that she is looking
for additional funding and hopes to be able to move to a larger
building and employ more women.
     The women have always welcomed student volunteers and over
the past year have opened the doors to six students from the
Institute for Central American Development Studies (ICADS)
program, which offers homestay and volunteer positions to
participants and to one student from Kenya through the Amigos del
Mundo program. Volunteers also have an opportunity to improve
their Spanish.
     The bakery primarily caters to the surrounding community,
though some tourists occasionally wander in.
     Among the many delicious goods are pineapple and chicken
empanadas; flautas; pastries with meat, cheese, or cream; buns;
and freshly baked loaves of whole wheat bread.
     The bakery is open from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday
through Saturday. Though they have no phone, Quesada can be
reached during store hours through a pay phone outside the
business at 255-4499.


[PHOTO #10/CAPTION: Bruce Gardner]
                   KEEPING SIGHT OF THE VISION
                      Leadership in the NFB
                        by Bruce Gardner
     From the Editor: Bruce Gardner was elected last September as
President of the National Federation of the Blind of Arizona. He
is Senior Attorney with the Arizona Public Service Company. Bruce
and his wife have six children, and he is very active in his
church. In short, Bruce Gardner is a busy man. During the weeks
preceding his first affiliate Board of Directors meeting as
President, Bruce did a good bit of thinking about and planning
for the organization under his administration. The following
article is a distillation of his thinking and the discussion that
took place at the October board meeting. It should be helpful to
the members of every other Federation chapter and state
affiliate. Here it is:

     Dr. Kenneth Jernigan began his 1976 National Convention
banquet address entitled, "Blindness--of Visions and Vultures,"
with the following story:
     "Behold a king took forth his three sons to judge their
fitness to govern the kingdom, and they stopped by a field, where
a vulture sat in the branches of a dead tree. And the king said
to the oldest son, 'Shoot--but first tell me what you see.'
     "And the son replied: 'I see the earth and the grass and the
sky...'
     "And the king said, 'Stop! Enough!' And he said to the next
son, 'Shoot--but first tell me what you see.'
     "And the son replied, 'I see the ground and a dead tree with
a vulture sitting in the branches...'
     "And the king said, 'Stop! Enough!' And he said to the
youngest son, 'Shoot--but first tell me what you see.'
     "And the young man replied, his gaze never wavering, 'I see
the place where the wings join the body.' And the shaft went
straight--and the vulture fell."

     Dr. Jernigan, referring to the National Federation of the
Blind throughout his banquet address, said, "A vulture sits in
the branches of a dead tree, and we see the place where the wings
join the body." His message was clear: as members of the NFB, we
must keep sight of our vision of the future and not become
distracted from our true purpose.
     With this in mind, as the newly elected President of the NFB
of Arizona, I decided that in order to capitalize on the strength
of past leadership in the state and help our affiliate reach new
heights, it was important that we be united in our understanding
of the purpose of the NFB and of basic leadership principles.
Additionally, it is important that we set goals and organize
ourselves to reach those goals. Therefore, our first Board
meeting following our state convention was dedicated entirely to
these topics. All members of the affiliate were encouraged to
attend.
     I have now been asked to share my notes of that meeting with
other Federationists. With the addition of some further thoughts,
here is what we discussed: (1) What is the NFB and What is its
Purpose? (2) Leadership in the NFB; (3) Goals and Objectives; and
(4) Specific Committee Assignments.

            What Is the NFB and What Is Its Purpose?

     What is the National Federation of the Blind? In order to
understand the NFB properly, we must recognize that it consists
of two parts: an organization and a philosophy.
     The organization is made up of blind people for blind
people. That is significant. However, without the philosophy, the
organization would not be much different from the ACB, or for
that matter, the Lions Club or dozens of other organizations.
Without the philosophy it would simply be another group of
volunteers who have come together for the common purpose of doing
good. Fortunately, the NFB is not just another blind
organization--it has a philosophy.

                     What is the Philosophy?

      That blind people are normal people--simply a cross
section of society--who just happen to be blind.
      Given real opportunity and effective training, the average
blind person can do the average job in the average place of
business as well as his sighted neighbor and can participate
fully in the affairs of family, community, and nation.
      The real problem of blindness is not the lack of eyesight
(because there are alternative ways to do what you would have
done with eyesight if you had it), but the public's (and often
the blind person's) attitude about blindness.
      With real opportunity and effective training, blindness
can be reduced to the level of a nuisance.
     In other words, NFB philosophy is nothing more or less than
the truth about blindness. It is not speculation, wishful
thinking, or fantasy. Tens of thousands of NFB members over the
last fifty-five years have proven the truth of this philosophy.
Unfortunately, the truth is not widely known, and misconceptions
about blindness abound. However, the truth is no less true for
its relative obscurity, but rather more valuable.
     What is the purpose of the NFB? The over-all purpose of the
NFB is to help blind people to be successful and to enable them
to live and manage their lives normally, independently, and
freely. According to Dr. Jernigan, a blind person needs three
specific things in order to be truly independent,
self-sufficient, and successful:
      He must know the truth about blindness--that is, he must
come emotionally as well as intellectually to believe that he can
be truly independent and live a productive, normal life. It is
much easier to learn the truth intellectually than it is
emotionally, but the emotional belief is key.
      He must acquire competence in the alternative skills which
enable a blind individual to be truly independent. These are
skills such as Braille, independent travel, and personal
management.
      He must develop a complete understanding of the public
attitudes about blindness and why those negative attitudes are
what they are. And he must get to the point where society's
attitudes (and the things which will happen because of those
negative attitudes) do not bother or upset him so that emotions
do not get in the way of success. You can't do what you need to
do when you lose your temper.
     How can the NFB fulfill its purpose of helping as many blind
people as possible to become successful? Once we understand the
NFB'S overall structure, philosophy, and purpose and once we
understand the three ingredients which it takes for a blind
individual to be truly successful, we can more easily envision
how the NFB can fulfill its purpose. I believe it can do this by
focusing its efforts in the three areas that constitute our
three-fold mission. They are: sharing our philosophy (the truth)
about blindness, strengthening our members, and advocating for
the blind.
      Sharing the philosophy: Although we of the NFB know the
truth about blindness, we gain nothing by keeping it secret; it
must be shared. Our first responsibility is to share it with
blind people who do not know the truth about blindness or about
the NFB. As we have already discussed, a critical need of any
blind person is to come emotionally to believe the truth. Since
we know it, we have a moral obligation to pass it on to others.
     Second, we must share the truth with the general public. We
of the NFB are seeking the complete integration of the blind into
society, and in order for us to accomplish this objective, the
general public must become aware of the normality and
capabilities of the blind so that they can accept blind people
and make a place for us once we have been trained and have
emotionally accepted our own blindness.
      Strengthening our members: The members of the NFB are at
different stages of development--society is continually eroding
our understanding of and commitment to the truth about blindness.
Therefore, it would be as foolish to assume that a member of the
NFB needs no additional philosophical help and support as it
would be for a good Christian to assume that, because he read the
Bible fifteen or twenty years ago, he does not need to read and
study it any more. We should be constantly working to develop a
deeper intellectual and emotional understanding of the truth
about our blindness. Therefore, we must constantly strengthen our
own members.
      Advocating for the blind: Our third broad mission is
advocacy. We must advocate for the protection of civil rights,
for quality educational programs for our blind children, and for
quality rehabilitation services for blind adults. This involves
state and national legislation, grievances, hearings, and
demonstrations.
     Everything we do in the NFB should fulfill one or more of
these major objectives or be a supporting activity (such as fund-
raising) which leads to successful implementation of these three
major objectives. Overemphasis on one of these objectives will
result in insufficient emphasis on another. The NFB strives for a
balanced approach to fulfill its three-fold mission.

                      Leadership in the NFB

     In the management of any business or governmental or private
organization there are four basic styles of leadership, which are
helpful to understand. First, there is the command style. In this
the administrator makes the decisions and tells others what will
be done and who will do it. Second, there is the input or counsel
style. Here, after receiving input from others, the leader makes
the decisions and announces them to others. Third, we have the
democratic style. Here, the leader allows a majority vote to
rule. And fourth, there is the consensus style. In this one the
leader continues the discussion until all agree upon a
plan--possibly a plan which was no individual's first or second
choice, but something everyone can live with.
     In an organization such as the NFB, each of these four
styles is appropriate at different times, depending upon the
circumstances and issues involved. It is generally understood
that the consensus and democratic styles are effective in
building unity, team spirit, and membership support. However, the
more critical, far-reaching, or visionary the decision must be,
the less effective the consensus or even the democratic style is
likely to be. The role of a true leader is to have a vision of
where the organization needs to go and the ability to employ a
combination of the various leadership styles to make the vision a
reality.
     Three old adages can be instructive in illustrating the need
for a mentoring approach to leadership in the NFB. (1) "A lazy
mother does everything for her children." (2) "If you give a man
a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, you
feed him for a lifetime." And (3) "He who can do the work of ten
men is great. But he who can get ten men to work is greater."
     In the NFB leaders must be mentors. We must be willing to
set the example and say, "Come, follow me," but we must also make
sure that we strive to enrich and empower others to learn to do
for themselves and to do their share of the organizational work.
It is inappropriate for the elected leaders to think that it is
their responsibility to do all of the work. Also it is important
for us to tap all of the resources which we have available in the
organization, and we must help all of our members develop their
talents and potential (even when they think they don't have any)
by giving each of them the opportunity to serve in some capacity
in the organization. NFB leaders must delegate, spread the work,
mentor, and follow up because members need to experience and live
the philosophy, not just hear it.

                      Goals and Objectives

     When a chapter or state affiliate is setting its goals and
objectives for the coming year, conducting a brain-storming
session with our members can be very helpful. It is important to
keep in mind the mentoring approach to leadership and the four
leadership styles and to remember that our ultimate objective is
to assist blind people. We should also keep in mind the
three-fold mission of the NFB as we make our plans.
     The major 1996 goals and objectives for the NFB of Arizona
are: 1) establishing NEWSLINE; 2) getting a large Arizona
attendance at the 1996 National Convention in Anaheim; 3) putting
on a major fiftieth-anniversary state convention in September;
and 4) strengthening our own members and the NFB of Arizona so
that we can help more blind people be successful and also have
more legislative clout.

                 Specific Committee Assignments

     Once we understand the organization, its philosophy, the
three things which every blind person needs in order to be
successful, and the three-fold mission of the NFB, our work and
the committees needed to do the work can be clearly envisioned.
Most of the committees fall directly under the three main
purposes, and several others support the basic mission.
     (Note: It would not be wise or even possible to have each
committee reporting directly to the State President. Accordingly,
for efficiency of operation many of the following committees will
report directly to other Executive Officers.)

        Committees Charged with Spreading the Philosophy

     Public Relations Committee: one major effort must be to
reach the public effectively through the media. This includes
airing radio and television spot announcements about the NFB,
broadcasting our films on television, and placing articles and
stories about the Federation in the print media.
     Public Speaking Committee: Members of this committee give
speeches at schools, civic organizations, employment or church
groups, and teachers' or parent groups. This Committee should
prepare white papers to help rank-and-file members make effective
presentations. The committee also conducts training sessions in
successful public speaking.
     Dissemination of Publications Committee: This committee sees
that our literature--"Do You Know A Blind Person," "What Is the
National Federation of the Blind," "If Blindness Comes,"
etc.--gets into to the hands of the public. We can also create
our own local and state informational materials. All these
materials should be placed in doctors' offices, libraries, bank
lobbies, utility-company mailings, etc.
     Information and Referral Committee: This committee will
handle the NFB of Arizona's telephone message machines, return
calls, make appropriate referrals, and identify potential new
members.
     (Note: The major purpose of these first four committees is
to educate the public and to find blind people who need our help
or who wish to join with us in our work.)
     New Member Mentoring Committee: Once we have identified new
blind people, we must have a way of retaining information about
them so that they do not inadvertently slip away, and we must
have a mechanism to communicate the truth about blindness to
them. Whenever possible, the one-on-one approach is best. Give
them copies of banquet addresses. Talk about their experience
with blindness. Invite them to dinner. This committee should
prepare new-member packets and assign an experienced mentor to
each new contact.
     Newsline Committee: This committee's task is to obtain the
financial and public support necessary to make NEWSLINE a reality
in Arizona. Although NEWSLINE will greatly benefit our own
members, it is mentioned here under Spreading the Philosophy
because establishing NEWSLINE will require extensive outreach
into the community.

        Committees Charged with Strengthening Our Members

     Philosophy Committee: This committee has two primary
functions. First, it will conduct a statewide philosophy seminar
at least once each year. Second, it will work steadily with local
chapters to develop ways to get members to read and study NFB
literature--banquet speeches, Federation periodicals, Kernel
Books, and Walking Alone and Marching Together, etc. One possible
approach is to establish a contest with points and prizes for
those who read NFB literature. Each chapter meeting should
contain philosophical meat--substantive discussion about what
distinguishes us from other organizations.
     Telephone Committee: The state affiliate must help chapters
and members stay well informed about NFB issues and develop a
strong network of close relationships. This committee must get
the word out quickly. Each chapter is encouraged to develop a
similar plan so that information flows quickly and accurately
throughout the organization.
     New-Chapter-Organizing Committee: As we learn of new areas
where organizing can be done or as existing chapters get so large
that they should be split up into smaller geographic areas, this
committee will be available to spearhead the work.
     National Convention Arrangements Committee: One of the most
important things we can do to strengthen our members is to get
them to National Conventions. This committee has two main
functions: to work out the logistics of getting members to the
National Convention and to work with the Philosophy and other
committees to help motivate and inspire members to want to go.
     Convention-Planning Committee: This committee has one
function each year: responsibility for organizing the state
convention--finding the site; choosing the dates; and negotiating
the rates for rooms, meals, equipment, etc. During anniversary
years the Committee should also plan special activities and
programs.
     Braille Literacy Training for Adults Committee: This
committee will participate in the Braille Literacy Training
Project established by our national organization. The project
matches Braille-using mentors with adults wishing to learn
Braille and assists the mentors in their teaching.
     Job Opportunities for the Blind Committee: This committee,
chaired by the JOB Coordinator, participates in our national Job
Opportunities for the Blind project--conducting seminars,
speaking with employers, identifying blind job-seekers, and
working with the Director of the Job Opportunities for the Blind
Program.
     Awards Committee: This committee identifies candidates for
the affiliate's special merit awards, makes selections, and
arranges for plaques, etc.
     Scholarship Committee: This committee circulates state
scholarship applications, reviews candidates, makes selections,
and arranges for the winners to attend and participate in the
state convention.
     (Note: A vital part of strengthening our membership is to
encourage each chapter to hold discussions of NFB philosophy at
each chapter meeting. Also each chapter should appoint a
librarian to circulate NFB literature like the Kernel Books among
members so they will have constant access to good training
materials.)

        Committees Charged with Advocating for the Blind

     National Legislation Committee: This committee works with
the National Office on needed action, contacts chapters or
individuals to notify them of needed action, and participates in
the annual Washington Seminar.
     State Legislation Committee: This committee works on all
facets of state legislation and plans and coordinates annual
legislative events.
     Grievance Advocate: The advocate handles complaints,
grievances, and hearings involving problems blind people are
having with either state or federal agency programs.
     Governor's Council on Blindness: The NFB of Arizona holds
three positions on the Arizona Governor's Council on Blindness
and Visual Impairment. These three individuals represent the NFB
of Arizona at Council meetings, advocate for NFB of Arizona
positions, and remain vigilant to make certain that the Council
does not take positions or actions harmful to the blind
community.

                      Supporting Activities

     Materials Inventory Coordinators: Just as modern business
practice requires just-in-time inventory, we need to have the
materials available from our National Office closer to home. Our
state coordinators should have commonly requested and needed
items on hand so that local members and committees don't have to
keep their own stock pile of materials or contact Baltimore each
time something is needed. The coordinators might also keep a few
canes, cane tips, and other aids and appliances on hand.
     Fund-raising Committee: This committee will deal with two
broad areas--preparing grant applications and traditional fund-
raising projects such as walk-a-thons, yard sales, or other new
projects through which our own members can help to raise funds
for the organization.
     Newsletter: This committee is responsible for writing and
editing the state newsletter, gathering information from chapters
and divisions, and producing and distributing the final product.
     Computer Committee: This committee keeps track of membership
and other computer lists, prepares mailing labels, and carries
out similar organizational duties.
     PAC, Associates, and SUN Committee: The chairman of this
committee is responsible not only for reporting on the
affiliate's rank in these National fund-raising programs, but
also for devising ways of encouraging broader participation from
all members of the affiliate.
     (Note: Local chapters and divisions will need to appoint
representatives to work with the state committee chairmen for
many of the committees listed.)
     Do we expect to staff all of these committees immediately
and have them functioning efficiently? No! We do not intend to
run faster than we are able or to take on so many things at once
that we cannot do anything well. We know implementing this plan
will take time, but we have a vision of how the NFB can and will
operate in Arizona. "A vulture sits in the branches of a dead
tree, and we see the place where the wings join the body."


[PHOTO #11/CAPTION: David Walker]
                  STEPPING OUT WITH AN ATTITUDE
                         by David Walker

     From the Editor: One of the most difficult and painful
dilemmas facing people who are gradually losing their sight is
the question of when to begin carrying and, even more important,
using the long white cane. One imagines how conspicuous and
awkward it would feel to carry a long stick and wave it around,
advertising to the world the fact that one is blind. It is easy
to understand why week after week, month after month, even year
after year people who really aren't safe traveling without a cane
put off the decision to begin using it. David Walker of Missouri
understands the problem, and he also understands that the key to
making a successful transition to using the long cane is
attitude. One's technique can improve with practice and the
opportunity to observe good cane travelers. But if one never
moves beyond the feelings of fear and inadequacy, it doesn't
matter how good one's technique is; the person is likely to leave
the cane standing unused in the corner. Here is what Dave has to
say on the subject:

     I recently talked with a young woman who was concerned about
a friend with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) who refuses to use a
white cane despite difficulty in traveling. I too have been
concerned about this when meeting blind people who will not use a
cane because they cannot accept their blindness. I hope this
article, written by a person with RP, will reach this woman's
friend and others struggling with this issue and help them adopt
a positive attitude about their blindness and travel.
     I grew up with RP. I learned to cope with the progressive
loss of vision which caused me to alter methods of doing some
things and cease only a few activities as a matter of safety and
common sense. One of the activities which required alterations
was independent travel. My adjustments were gradual because of
the slow progression of RP and because of my own evolving
understanding. I imagine this is common among others with RP.
     Giving up my ten-speed bike was one of the most difficult
things in my life since I had a great love of cycling as an
independent mode of travel beyond a reasonable walk. However, my
gradual loss of sight in my mid-twenties forced me to reconsider
riding a bike after a few close calls and the resulting
reductions in my biking to restricted hours and reduced speed. I
had to resign myself to the fact that safety was a real issue and
eventually sold the ten-speed extension of my powerful legs and
independent nature.
     My first experiences with a white cane were humiliating. I
was a client of Services for the Blind in Michigan in the early
sixties, long before I sold my bike. At the time I had very good
partial vision. I could read the signs on the buses, identify
traffic lights, and see oncoming vehicles at quite a distance. I
really didn't need a white cane, but I was talked into getting
one from the Lions Club so that I could ride the buses free in
Detroit. I was commuting into the city from the suburbs daily for
piano-tuning training, and the saved bus fares in the maintenance
money I was getting from the agency looked good to me. Keep in
mind that I had never heard of the National Federation of the
Blind, so I didn't realize how much damage those so-called free
rides do to the self-respect of the individual and the public's
attitude toward blind people in general.
     When I first held that thirty-eight-inch folding white cane
with the bright red tip out in front of me as I walked, I felt as
obvious as a neon sign. I was convinced that everyone was staring
at me. I felt very odd. I was with the fellow student who had
taken me to the place where I got the cane, so I didn't feel
completely alone. It wasn't until Charlie and I went our separate
ways that I began to feel really conspicuous. When I got on the
bus and started to move toward a seat that I could see clearly,
two people from opposite sides of the bus grabbed my arms and
said, "Sit here." I found that reaction both unnerving and
intrusive since I could follow only one instruction at a time.
Besides, my freedom to choose my own seat had just been
diminished by two strangers. After a few months of such
experiences and of people telling me I wanted to go where I
didn't want to go, I tossed my cane in the closet.
     For years after that I didn't use the cane because of such
experiences and because I could still see fairly well to travel
on foot and on my bike. I never denied that I was legally blind;
I just didn't like the idea of people feeling sorry for me and
thinking they had to tell me where I was going. When I went with
family members or friends at night, they always warned me of
objects so I could walk around them. When my buddies and I went
to a bar, they would give me oral cues or an arm to get through
the dimly lighted bar. I was comfortable doing this with family
members and friends with whom I had grown up.
     In 1970, while I was a student at a community college, I had
to take a couple of night classes. And although I was familiar
with the campus, I was uneasy about the thought of traveling from
building to building in the dark, walking into students, or
falling down stairs. So I took the old cane out of the closet and
put it in my brief case. I remember how uncomfortable I felt
using that cane and worrying about what fellow students might say
if they saw it in my hand at night, even though they didn't see
me using it during the day. Actually, the thought that they would
recognize that I was legally blind did not bother me as much as
the idea of falling down stairs or walking into people without
using the cane. At least the cane would warn me of stairs, other
objects, and people despite its shortness. I also learned that
most people would not try to drag me where I didn't want to go as
had happened before, so I became more comfortable with the cane.
     While I attended Michigan State University with its very
large and complex campus, I began using the cane more and more
frequently. I found that it was very helpful in finding paths in
the snow; sidewalks; and those very hard, shin-bruising, concrete
benches all over campus. As Charlie had told me back in the
sixties, "The cane does a lot of talking to you," and it helped
professors understand that I was blind when I was requesting
reasonable accommodations for exams. I had developed some pretty
good cane travel skills while at MSU, and I taught some other
blind students how to get around campus, but I did not use
conventional technique.
     While I was a student at Michigan State in 1972, my brother
introduced me to the National Federation of the Blind. I attended
a state board meeting held in Lansing and met local
Federationists. I recognized that the Federation and I shared a
common philosophy, and through discussions with members and
reading the Braille Monitor, I developed a better attitude about
travel. I came up with a saying while helping a blind student
learn her way around campus: "If you can get lost, you can get
unlost."
     After graduation I moved to Rochester, New York, and became
more active in the Federation, but I still used my unconventional
cane technique. Since I was in a new city and had to do a lot of
traveling and nudging people and other objects became more
frequent, I signed up for instruction in cane travel with a local
agency. My positive attitude and past cane travel experience made
learning more conventional techniques easy. Before I started
lessons, I bought a longer fiberglass cane from our National
Office, which set me on a new path of independence. Many people,
however, have trouble taking that first, positive step--
conceiving of the cane as a true alternative, leading to
independence; but believe me, avoiding those very embarrassing
situations by using decent cane technique is far better for one's
self-esteem than falling down stairs, walking into people, or
having a serious accident with a motor vehicle.
     I have met many legally blind people who are obviously in
need of cane skills but who try to appear sighted. This is a
serious mistake. If people think you are sighted and don't
realize you are not, they will not take steps to avoid a
collision. The person with diminished vision has the
responsibility not to put himself or others in danger. Refusing
to use a cane in such circumstances is irresponsible. Those who
fall down stairs or walk into poles while trying to look sighted
and therefore cool by not using a cane succeed only in looking
like fools.
     One day while returning to campus from the store, I
encountered a blind guy crossing Grand River Avenue, a very busy
street in East Lansing, Michigan. He was carrying groceries but
had his cane tucked under one arm, pointing behind him. I
thought, "What the hell are you doing?" I approached him and
introduced myself, without saying what I was thinking. We became
good friends. I got him to use the cane a little, but I could
never get him to use his cane properly. He had been struck by
numerous bicyclists on campus because they did not realize that
he was blind when he stepped into their path without a cane. Had
he used his cane, those cyclists would have seen it and taken
preventative measures. The major problem with this blind person
is that he does not accept his blindness, despite all the efforts
of rehab services and friends to help him become a self-
respecting blind person.
     My late brother Jim, who had excellent cane travel skills
and even taught cane travel and attitude-adjustment, went through
denial as have so many others. Once, before either of us used a
cane, he and I were in a bar with sighted friends. Jim went to
the men's room, which was past the pick-up point where waitresses
got their orders. Less than a minute after he left the table, we
heard the crash of glasses and a tray. I remember commenting, "He
got her." Jim had not seen the waitress stepping from the bar
with a full tray of drinks, and she had no way of knowing that he
was blind in the dark. They collided. If Jim had been using a
cane and the excellent travel skills he later developed, he could
have avoided that embarrassing public event.
     During the time when I refused to use a cane, I remember
suddenly stepping down a flight of stairs I didn't see in a dark
hotel lobby. Luckily, I regained my balance, but not until I had
run down several steps to catch up with myself and bounced off a
door frame. A few experiences like these and also finding the
National Federation of the Blind helped me gain a healthier
attitude.
     I can't count the number of times I have observed legally
blind people dodging themselves in mirrors as they travel down
the corridor of a hotel. It is sometimes amusing to watch such
antics, but it's not really funny. This kind of public display
makes our job of educating the public about the abilities of
blind people more difficult. It also gives writers lousy material
for television programs. If these blind people used canes, they
would realize they were approaching a mirror and not an oncoming
person.
     I once stopped by the office of a blind woman here in town
to do an errand for her. I told her that I had just walked
several blocks along the newly repaired section of Madison Street
to see what it looked like. (The curbs and sidewalks had just
been replaced.) Her response was curious since she has known me
for several years. She said, "Boy, you're brave." I told her that
bravery had nothing to do with it; they were just sidewalks. It
was not bravery but attitude.
     I can assure those of you who share my old prejudices about
the white cane that a change in attitude is very rewarding. If
you think you do not look blind without a cane or do not want to
be identified as a blind person by using the cane, consider the
alternatives. You look more foolish falling down stairs, bumping
into people and objects, dodging yourself in mirrors, than if you
were to walk with skill and grace, with dignity and self-respect,
using a long white cane. The first step is to develop a positive
attitude about blindness and alternative methods of travel. After
that the rest comes much more easily. Before you know it, you are
gaining confidence, and that positive attitude goes with you
everywhere.


            A MONTANA YANKEE IN LOUIS BRAILLE'S COURT
                        by Carolyn Brock

     From the Editor: the following story is taken from the
Winter, 1996, Observer, a publication of the NFB of Montana.
Carolyn Brock is a teacher and an active member of the Montana
affiliate. Here is her delightful report of her visit to the home
of Louis Braille:

     Blind or sighted, most people have heard of Louis Braille.
They generally know that he was French, lived over a hundred
years ago, lost his sight as a child, and grew up to develop the
system of raised dots which has become the means of reading and
writing for blind people all over the world. But there is much
more to the story.
     I had read Kenneth Jernigan's article published in the July,
1994, issue of the Braille Monitor, discussing the NFB's
financial contribution to the restoration of the Braille home in
Coupvray, France, just east of Paris. The article also included a
detailed description of the homesite itself. While planning a
two-month stay in France last summer, my husband and I decided
that a visit to the Braille home would be a worthwhile excursion.
     On a previous trip to France in 1991, I had visited several
centers for the blind, both in Paris and in Burgundy. Everywhere
I was impressed with the pride that blind French people feel in
the work of Louis Braille; at each center I was repeatedly
reminded that Braille was originally a French system. This summer
I learned that sighted French people share that same pride.
Several days before the planned trip to Coupvray, we visited the
Pantheon, the huge domed memorial to great French citizens in all
fields of endeavor. Almost as soon as we walked in the door (I
carrying my white cane), we were approached by a museum
administrator who explained to me again how proud the French are
of Louis Braille and directed us to his memorial site. I was
given the English language version of a small book about Braille
and the village of Coupvray.
     The visit to Coupvray lived up to our expectations. It is
only a mile or two from Euro-Disney and has only recently been
surrounded by the sprawling metropolitan suburbs. But Coupvray
itself retains its country village flavor. The old part of the
village is very much as it must have been in 1769, when Louis
Braille's grandfather built the original house. Like most village
houses of the time, it was a single room with a niche for the
parents' bed built into an outer wall. In the next generation
Louis Braille's father, a saddle-maker who also owned vineyards,
was successful enough to build an adjoining workshop accessed by
leaving the living quarters and walking around the outside of the
house to the workshop entrance. Over the years the Brailles had
the money to add an upstairs bedroom each time a child was born,
with two different stairways leading up from the two sides of the
house. To this day the house is on the edge of the village, with
a rutted road, navigable only to a 4-by-4 vehicle, leading off
into the woods just behind the house.
     Into this family, very affluent for villagers of the time,
Louis Braille was born in 1809, the last of four children. He was
blinded at age three in an accident with his father's work tools.
When he was fifteen, his family sent him to the School for Young
Blind in Paris, an expense which no ordinary village family would
have been able to afford.
     At school in Paris young Louis was an outstanding student.
He was taught the system of tactile writing being used at the
time, which used conventional letter shapes. This embossing
system had been developed by Valentin Haüy (who standardized the
use of the white cane in Europe, and after whom the largest
center for the blind in France is named). The disadvantage of the
system was that there was no way for an ordinary blind person to
write it. Young Louis also saw an experimental system, using
raised dots instead of letters, developed by a French army
officer, to communicate with his men at night. Not only was the
raised-dot system easier for a blind person to read; it could
also be written with very little special equipment. Louis Braille
went to work refining the system. The result was the French
version of Grade I Braille, with a symbol for each letter of the
alphabet and the basic punctuation marks.
     After becoming the first blind teacher at the school,
Braille set to work teaching his pupils this new system of
reading and writing. The result could have been predicted by
anyone familiar with the story of Braille in modern times. The
blind students loved the Braille system and used it to take notes
and to write to each other. The other teachers at the school, all
of them sighted, were totally opposed since they could not read
it. But Louis Braille continued to teach the system, and by 1840
the French Ministry of Education had little choice but to accept
it as the standard method of writing for the blind. It has since
been modified for use in virtually all of the world's major
languages and contracted into Grade II versions to fit each one.
     The Braille house in Coupvray is a monument to this
remarkable chain of events. The living room of the house is still
sparsely furnished, much as it was in the early nineteenth
century. In the huge fireplace hang cooking pots used at the
time. Next to the fireplace, in a child-sized chair, sits a life-
sized doll of a little boy, Louis Braille at age four or five,
dressed in the clothing of the period.
     Next door in Simon Braille's saddle-making workshop are the
crude wooden workbench, table, and chairs, much as they must have
been during Louis Braille's childhood. Display cases contain
collections of the saddle-making craft.
     Climbing either set of stairs, one arrives at a landing,
where the wall has been knocked out, uniting the two staircases
and thus the two halves of the house. On the landing stands a
life-size girl doll, one of the Braille sisters, also dressed in
authentic clothing. She indicates the way to Louis Braille's
room, which now houses the rest of the museum. An attic room,
still farther up, is yet to be completed.
     It is in Louis Braille's room that a visitor gets a sense of
the magnitude of Braille's accomplishment. Here are displays of
the early equipment used to write Braille, primitive ancestors of
our interpoint embossers and refreshable computer screens. But
the most moving tribute to Louis Braille comes from the
testimonials to him which are displayed throughout the room.
There are cards and letters from all over the world, many of them
bearing stamps commemorating the work of Louis Braille. Over and
over, in many languages, they tell the stories of blind people
whose lives were enriched and transformed by the work of this one
person. It is a fitting monument to a man who over a century ago
began changing what it means to be blind.


[PHOTO #12/CAPTION: Bill Meeker and his wife Cheryl Orgas]
                 THE CERTIFIED AND THE CLUELESS
                         by Bill Meeker

     From the Editor: Blind people who live in Wisconsin and
manage to retain a positive attitude about blindness are a long-
suffering and necessarily tough-minded lot. The teachers of blind
students fight hard to avoid certification of their ability to
read and write Braille. The Business Enterprise Program is in
shambles, according to a report compiled by the state agency's
own advisory council. Now comes the latest indignity. Bill Meeker
is a member of this hearty band of blind people. He is one of the
leaders of the National Federation of the Blind of Wisconsin.
Here is his description of the state agency's latest shenanigans:

     The Goddess of Irony loves a good laugh, probably because it
is always at someone else's expense. Goal 6 of the May, 1995,
Three-Year Service Plan for the Blind of the Wisconsin State
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) reads as follows:
     To establish a system to ensure services are provided only
     by qualified personnel who show a positive attitude about
     the blind or visually impaired population. Subpart a.,
     Incorporate into the annual performance review for all
     employees the following:
          1. Provide examples or instances of how you
     demonstrated a positive attitude toward blind and visually
     impaired people.
          2. Utilize blind or visually impaired people who have a
     positive attitude about blindness to evaluate the response.
          3. If the evaluation is negative, additional training
     should be required and recorded in the performance review.

By way of comment on this lofty if jargon-filled goal, which was
developed by a task force including consumers of its services,
DVR said in part, "The Division believes that certification
[though it is not clear what kind], with the educational
attainment [whatever that means], is supportive of a positive
attitude toward people with disabilities."
     Come now the following two letters:

                                       Bonnie Peterson, President
                                                 NFB of Wisconsin
                                             Milwaukee, Wisconsin
                                                    March 7, 1996

Dr. Judy Norman-Nunnery, Administrator
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
Madison, Wisconsin

Dear Dr. Norman-Nunnery:
     It has come to our attention that the Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation (DVR) has placed signs to mimic streets and roads,
and making puns in its Central Office building, located at 2917
International Lane, to help the public find a given office.
Instead of placing a sign over the Office for the Blind that read
"Office for the Blind," the sign reads, "Blind Alley." You did
not call it "Blind Boulevard" or "Blind Street."
     In the vernacular of our language, an alley is a place
people customarily throw their garbage. Is the Office for the
Blind the place you customarily throw your garbage, and are blind
people the supposed "garbage" you throw? The American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd edition, defines "Blind
Alley" as a mistaken, unproductive undertaking. Your message is
that Wisconsin believes education and training of the blind is a
mistake and an unproductive undertaking.
     Perhaps you find the sign "Blind Alley" funny; the National
Federation of the Blind of Wisconsin does not. Perhaps you find
the sign "Blind Alley" helpful; the National Federation of the
Blind of Wisconsin does not. I doubt you would put signs like
this in the State Capitol reading "Governor's Gulch, Assembly
Asylum, and Senate Sewer." Those would not be funny or helpful
either. When people want to find a given office, they expect a
sign showing the office in question's name.
     Your sign "Blind Alley" is demeaning, insulting,
unprofessional, and rude. The National Federation of the Blind of
Wisconsin requests immediate removal of the sign "Blind Alley."
We suggest you replace it with one reading "Office for the
Blind." Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                  Bonnie Peterson

                    ________________________

                                        Bonnie Peterson, Chairman
                                             Council on Blindness
                                             Milwaukee, Wisconsin
                                                   March 11, 1996

Dr. Judy Norman-Nunnery, Administrator
Division of Vocational Rehabilitation
Madison, Wisconsin

Dear Dr. Norman-Nunnery:
     It is our understanding the Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation (DVR) has placed signs to mimic streets and made
puns in its Central Office building, located at 2917
International Lane, to help the public find a given office.
Instead of placing a sign over the Office for the Blind that
reads "Office for the Blind," the sign reads, "Blind Alley." You
did not call it "Blind Boulevard" or "Blind Street."
     At the March 8, 1996, meeting of the Council on Blindness
the following motions were unanimously approved: that the sign
"Blind Alley" be removed immediately and a letter of apology be
sent to the major organizations of the blind in Wisconsin, and
that any sign used portray a positive image of blindness.
     The Council on Blindness does not find your sign "Blind
Alley" funny or helpful. When people want to find a given office,
they expect a sign showing the office in question's name.
     The sign "Blind Alley" is demeaning, insulting, and
unprofessional. The Council on Blindness requests immediate
removal of the sign "Blind Alley." It might be a nice idea to
replace it with one reading "Office for the Blind." Thank you for
your time and consideration of this matter.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                  Bonnie Peterson

     Oops, so much for "certification, with the educational
attainment" being "supportive of a positive attitude toward
people with disabilities."
     My own Webster's Third International defines "Blind Alley"
as "something that offers no opportunity for progress or
advancement."
     The question arises of what one is to do with an agency so
clueless that it offends both the NFB and a state advisory
organization comprised of members of both blindness organizations
and unaffiliated blind and sighted people by naively proclaiming
what blind consumers already know to be the truth about itself.
Should we follow DVR's own guidelines and "Utilize blind or
visually impaired people who have a positive attitude about
blindness to evaluate the response," and insist that, "If the
evaluation is negative, additional training should be required
and recorded in the performance review"? Seems to me the first
part of that has already been done. And receiving training,
probably in-house, and recording it in a performance review to be
read by the management that allowed the sign to be posted in the
first place will fix everything, right?
     Should we, in the words of one person, "Have them put the
sign back up since this is the first time they've been so
forthright about anything, let alone about themselves." Or should
we suggest similarly truthful, but non-pejorative, signage such
as "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here"? Then again, maybe
"Office for the Blind" says the same thing.
     To its credit The Wisconsin Department of Health and Social
Services, through its Administrator, forthrightly apologized for
the action of its so-called certified professionals:

                                               Madison, Wisconsin
                                                   March 15, 1996

Bonnie Peterson, President
National Federation of the Blind
     of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Dear Bonnie:
     Thank you for your letter regarding office signs at our
Central Administration office.
     I agree with your assessment that the signs are
inappropriate in any setting. They are especially inappropriate
in a division that has the responsibility for assisting people
with disabilities obtain employment. As a result I have directed
staff to remove all signs except those indicating their names,
effective immediately.
     Again, thanks for your letter.

                                                       Sincerely,
                    Judy R. Norman-Nunnery, Ph. D., Administrator

     But the same people who authored or condoned the posting of
the original sign are still working at the same jobs with the
same attitudes, and it is uncertain whether Doctor Norman-
Nunnery, who has had sharp disagreements with the NFB in the past
and is in the midst of a major reorganization of state agencies,
is willing or able to exercise the oversight necessary to change
habits and attitudes built over many complacent years. This
instance of self-embarrassment illustrates a long-standing
problem that consumers have had with Wisconsin DVR. It could be a
springboard for true change. If not, the Goddess of Irony might
stick around for a few more laughs, and blind consumers can
continue to walk down "Blind Alley."


                    SOUNDS OF LIGHT AND HOPE
               IN EGYPT, A WESTERN-STYLE ORCHESTRA
                  BREAKS MORE THAN ONE BARRIER
                      by Philip D. Schuyler

     From the Editor: The following article first appeared in the
November, 1995, issue of Natural History:

     Early on a summer afternoon in Cairo, Egypt, the central
hallway of Al-Nour wal Amal Association is quiet and empty.
Shafts of sunlight, thickened slightly by dust, filter in from
open doors on either side, leaving most of the corridor in dark
shadows, a refuge from the blistering heat outside. It's Sunday
and almost time for a rehearsal of the association's orchestra.
One by one the musicians, women ranging in age from their
midteens to late thirties, drift in from school or from outside
jobs. Most of them wear a head scarf, or veil, which has become a
symbol of conservative Islam. For all its modesty, however, their
clothing reflects considerable care in the cut of the long
dresses, the matching of colors, and the drape of the scarves.
Despite the dimness, many of the women wear sunglasses.
     When they reach the end of the hallway, the women greet
Sherifa Fathi, who has taken her place at a desk outside the
rehearsal room. Sherifa teaches Arabic and music at the
association's primary school and also prepares the parts for each
new piece. During the summer she may work eight or more hours a
day, taking dictation or copying music at her desk. As she reads,
she runs her hands across the page from left to right, but as she
writes, her right hand moves in the opposite direction. She is
writing in Braille, and like all who write Braille with a slate
and stylus, she works in reverse, raising the pattern of dots by
making small indentations on the back of the page. Al-Nour wal
Amal (Light and Hope) is a center for blind girls and women.
     In the rehearsal room five fans (including one on top of the
piano) mute the sounds of conversation and tuning but fail to
dissipate the heat. At four o'clock exactly, Ahmed Abu el-Aid,
the conductor, enters the room. A sighted man in his early
sixties, he is often called the Maestro, and with his chiseled
features and silver hair he certainly looks the part. When the
musicians are ready, Abu el-Aid announces the program for the
day, beginning with a piece they've only just started rehearsing,
Dvo■ák's Slavonic Dance in G minor.
     Although most of the musicians can make out shadow and
light, form and color--the association accepts applicants with
partial sight as long as their corrected vision is no better than
20/400, the Egyptian standard for legal blindness--there is no
point in leading the orchestra by waving hands or a baton.
Instead the Maestro keeps time by slapping his lectern with the
handle of a flyswatter. Then, once the music is well underway, he
leaves the desk and walks through the orchestra, quietly coaching
one section on their next entrance or gently correcting the
position of a cellist's wrist and elbow.
     Al-Nour wal Amal Orchestra is by no means the only group of
blind musicians in the world. Indeed there have been so many
blind performers throughout history--from Homer, the legendary
singer of epic poems, to Blind Lemon Jefferson, the blues player-
-that blindness and music are easily associated in the popular
imagination. In a number of cultures, including those of Ukraine
and Japan, the performance of certain kinds of religious song was
formerly reserved for brotherhoods of blind performers. In Egypt
the chanting of the Qur'an was once practically the only way for
a blind boy to earn a living, and today Qasr al-Nour, the Cairo
center for blind boys, has its own musical ensemble. The blind
may be steered toward music simply because it is an activity they
can pursue despite their disability. But many people--including a
number of musicians at Al-Nour wal Amal--are convinced that an
increased sensitivity to sound is a kind of compensation for the
loss of sight.
     "That's just a myth," insists the Maestro, who has been
involved in music education for thirty years. "If the blind had a
special musical gift," he continues, "we wouldn't need to test
our students. But in my experience the blind are just like the
sighted. The only difference, really, is that the blind have more
problems because a normal orchestra depends absolutely on sight.
The musicians have to have one eye on the conductor and the other
on the score. There are blind musicians--excellent musicians--all
over the world; but they are soloists. We thought of bringing
them together in an orchestra." In fact, the center has two
orchestras with about thirty-five members each. The principal
ensemble, which includes some women who have been with the group
since the beginning, performs in Egypt and abroad. the second, an
ensemble of younger girls, was formed primarily as a training
group but also performs for school audiences in Egypt.
     When the Maestro uses the word "orchestra," he means,
specifically, an ensemble that plays what musicologists call
Western European art music (or "classical music." if you're
shopping at Tower Records). In Abu el-Aid's view, the ensemble at
the blind boys' center does not qualify as an orchestra because
the group plays Arab music exclusively. The melodies and rhythms
of Arab music can be extremely subtle and complex, but the
organization of the ensemble is relatively straightforward: all
the instruments play essentially the same melody, and an
accompanying drumbeat provides an audible point of reference. It
is far more difficult, the Maestro maintains, to coordinate the
chords and simultaneous melodies of Western harmony and
counterpoint.
     The Western European art music tradition has long been a
part of the Cairo cultural scene. In the early nineteenth century
Muhammad Ali, who ruled from 1805 to 1848, instituted Western-
style military marching bands as part of an effort to modernize
his army. A successor, Ismail Pasha, built the Cairo Opera House,
which opened with Verdi's Rigoletto in 1869 to celebrate the
opening of the Suez Canal. Two years later it held the world
premiere of the specially commissioned opera Aida. In this
century Kings Fouad and Farouk were generous patrons of both
European and Arab music. Since the overthrow of the monarchy in
1952, the governments of Gamal Abdel Nasser, and later Anwar el-
Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, have also encouraged Western music
through the founding of the Cairo Conservatoire and continued
support of an opera company and a national orchestra.
     Elements of Western music--especially the use of large
orchestras with massed violins--have also influenced the style of
Egyptian popular music since the beginning of this century.
Nevertheless, according to Abu el-Aid, "Most of the listening
public here doesn't know what classical music is. Brahms and
Chopin don't have many listeners in Egypt." Egyptians do,
however, like "clear, sweet melodies," and the Maestro indulges
their taste (and his own) by planning mixed programs with
selections of traditional Egyptian music, Western-style music by
Egyptian composers, and above all European music from the later
Romantic period.
     The emphasis on the Western classical tradition helps
insulate the orchestra from the criticism of conservative
Muslims, some of whom maintain that music encourages licentious
behavior. Although a few of the women at Al-Nour wal Amal are
Christians, most are Muslims, and some of them were concerned
enough about the propriety of their musical activity to seek the
advice of a religious scholar. As Isman Fawzi, a bassist in the
orchestra, explains, "Some people say that music is haram--
forbidden--but the sheikh told us that we should consult our
hearts and our feelings. He said that, as long as the music
doesn't make you dance or behave immodestly, it's all right." By
these standards the women judged the orchestra's music to be
morally pure, which is ironic since much of their repertory was
originally designed to inspire (or at least emulate) passion
through dance: Strauss waltzes, excerpts from Carmen,
Khatchaturian's "Sabre Dance," Falla's "Fire Dance," and Saint-
Saëns's "Bacchanale."
     Overall, the choices reflect the Maestro's desire to develop
a repertory that will be accessible and educational to Egyptian
and foreign audiences alike. Within a few years of its formation
in the later 1950's, Al-Nour wal Amal Orchestra had progressed
enough to give public performances in Egypt--at the Opera House,
the American University, and on television. And the quality of
the orchestra improved dramatically when Abu el-Aid took over as
conductor in 1984. In 1988 at the instigation of the Egyptian
ambassador in Vienna, the orchestra made its first trip abroad to
Austria. This was followed by another tour of Austria the next
year and later by trips to Germany, England, Sweden, Spain,
Morocco, Jordan, the Arabian Gulf states, Thailand, and Japan.
     The orchestra is the most conspicuous project of the
association, which was founded in 1954 by Istiqlal Radi, the
daughter of a wealthy landowner. Radi's previous work with the
Red Crescent, the equivalent of the Red Cross in the Muslim
world, had made her aware of the problems of the blind in
Egyptian society. Even today, according to Nafissette Khafagy,
the director of social work at Al-Nour wal Amal, "a blind girl,
especially in the countryside, has nothing to do but sit in the
house until she reaches a point where she is retarded--not
mentally retarded, but socially retarded, culturally backward.
She's afraid to work. She's afraid to speak." By the early 1950's
the government-supported training center for blind boys was
already in operation, and Radi wanted to offer similar
opportunities to girls. Until her death in 1977, Istiglal Radi
devoted her energy, her influence, and her fortune to creating an
environment where blind girls could develop to their highest
potential.
     Over the years Al-Nour wal Amal has grown into a kind of
conglomerate. Eighty girls and women live in the dormitory at the
association's center in Heliopolis, a quiet, middle-class
neighborhood in Cairo, and dozens of others commute to the center
to study and work. About half the group attend a school
accredited by the Egyptian Ministry of Education, with a full
curriculum of primary and secondary courses. The others, enrolled
in a rehabilitation program under the auspices of the Ministry of
Social Affairs, manufacture carpets, basketry, socks, knitwear,
and plastic bottles in the association's workshops. The sale of
these products helps support the center and gives each worker a
small salary (sometimes a major source of income for their
families).
     The center tries to prepare all the girls for an independent
life by offering training in physical education, cooking, and
home economics. For those in the rehabilitation program, marriage
is the most likely path to a life outside the center, and should
a young woman get engaged, the association will help her put
together a trousseau and even provide her with a wedding dress.
The staff and volunteers will also help the couple find an
apartment and get a telephone line--major issues in a city of ten
million. For those who remain in the dormitory, the association
will engage a lawyer, if necessary, to protect their interests in
disputes over inheritance.
     Life in a dormitory can be hard on a little girl, but it is
often the best choice. For example, Ma'ali Salaheddin, eleven,
who attends the primary school and plays the violin, seems to
thrive at the association, to judge from her curiosity and
general high spirits. She has a blind brother and three sighted
sisters, and when she goes home on weekends and vacations, her
parents' apartment gets crowded. The family lives in a small
flat, with a refrigerator in the bedroom, a washing machine in
the entrance hall, and a tiny sitting room filled with a complete
suite of locally crafted Louis Quinze furniture--red velvet and
thick gilt paint on roughly carved frames.
     Ma'ali's parents love their daughter--her mother often
visits her at the center, and her father proudly displays a
newspaper photograph of Ma'ali with the training orchestra--but
they believe that she is better off at school. For one thing,
their apartment is more than an hour's ride by taxi (and even
longer by bus) from Heliopolis, making a daily commute
impossible. Furthermore, after all expenses of the children's
unsuccessful eye operations, the family cannot afford to buy toys
for them, much less pay the equivalent of $100 for a violin for
Ma'ali. Although Ma'ali and her brother are resourceful at
devising games to play with the handful of toys in the house, the
facilities are much better at the centers for the blind. Besides,
says their father, they spend much of their time at home on the
telephone, talking to their classmates. The children miss their
parents and siblings when they are in the dormitory, but they
claim that they are happy when it is time to go back to school.
     Music and academics together seem to provide the best chance
for success in the world outside the association. The younger
musicians usually rank at the top of their class in school,
earning high scores by national standards. Many go on to the
university or the Cairo Conservatoire. After graduation a number
of the women have found work in teaching, government
administration, or private business, thanks in part to a law
(originally designed to assist veterans of the October War of
1973) requiring that handicapped people make up at least 5
percent of the work force in any organization with more than 150
employees. Rather than looking for charity, however, the women
simply want the chance to demonstrate that they can do work that
is usually reserved for a sighted person. "When we play," says
Iman Fawzi, the bassist, "we prove ourselves as Egyptians, as
blind people, and as women. We show the world what we can do."
     "The first group of girls didn't know what they were getting
into, and look what they've accomplished," says Samha el-Kholy,
founder and director of the music program. "This younger
generation will be even better, I'm sure of it." Professor el-
Kholy, who for many years also served as the director of the
Cairo Conservatoire, urges the group to maintain its high
standards. "People are so kind," she says. "They think, `Oh,
these girls are blind, it's very nice that they can play at all.'
But this is exactly what we are trying to avoid. Blindness should
not be an excuse for mediocrity, but now I'm very sure that we
have passed this phase. They have a special sound, they
understand what Abu el-Aid wants them to do, and they play very
well together. The crescendos and the diminuendos! And the
ritardandos, oh my goodness, they do that so well! Sometimes I
have my mouth open. How do they do it!"
     When the orchestra prepares to rehearse a new piece, each
musician learns her part separately by studying the Braille
notation. Louis Braille was himself a blind musician, and his
system--largely unchanged since its inception in 1824--can
represent all the elements of a musical score. In contrast to
standard musical notation, however, Braille provides an entirely
linear description of the details of the music. The left- and
right-hand parts of a piano piece, for example, may appear as
separate paragraphs. The simultaneity of sounds, represented
graphically in a visual score, is not immediately apparent.
     Gradually, through touch and play, each musician adds
successive fragments of the melody to her memory, fixing its
shape. Once all the players have learned their parts, the
conductor's real work begins. Abu el-Aid takes sections of the
orchestra one by one and shows the women how their parts fit
together. Then he repeats the process with two sections, then
three, until he has put the piece together like a mosaic. The
process is not easy even if the musicians have already heard the
piece in recordings.
     At the rehearsal of the Dvo■ák piece, for example, the
orchestra sounds as if it has transformed the Czech dance into
something by Charles Ives--simple, familiar tunes rendered
interesting by staggered (and staggering) meters and the shrill
dissonance of instruments just slightly out of tune. "Where are
you, trumpets?" Abu el-Aid asks mildly, finally stopping the
music. The trumpets remain poised at their players' lips while
the Maestro points out where they missed their cue. Later, during
a break, the Maestro seems a bit disappointed in their
performance, but he reminds us guests from abroad that this was
only the second rehearsal of the Dvo■ák. "Later on, they'll play
something that they have already done in concerts," he promises.
"You'll see. It's like a computer: you put in the program, and it
runs automatically."
     When the musicians return, Abu el-Aid raps sharply on the
lectern, with a ruler this time. "Tchaikovsky, girls," he calls
out. "Chinese Dance...one, two, three, four." The orchestra
launches into the music without hesitation, and the Maestro puts
down the ruler and walks away with a flourish, like a matador
turning his back on a bull. The excerpt from the Nutcracker Suite
seems a bit out of place on a July afternoon in Cairo, but true
to the Maestro's word, the orchestra plays perfectly, with no
direction or cues. The performance is precise, enthusiastic, and
perhaps automatic, but it is a great deal warmer and more human
than any computer. And with a dozen violin bows moving in perfect
synchrony, the orchestra looks as good as it sounds.
     Two days later--rehearsal afternoon for the junior
orchestra--the hallway is once more quiet and empty. Suddenly
three young girls come clattering down a stairway arm in arm; in
a flash of yellow and purple and green, they rush down the hall
and disappear through one of the doors. Shortly after, another
girl follows slowly, alone, taking short, gliding steps; with her
arms held slightly out from her sides, she seems to float gently
in an adagio ballet. Other girls join the group, and soon the
squawk of an oboe and the groan of a contrabass begin to echo
through the rooms. Out in the hall a clarinetist stands straight
as a pillar with her back to the wall, alternately practicing
Mozart and blowing green bubbles with her gum. In the shadows a
cellist caresses her instrument as she tries to memorize a new
piece, running through a couple of measures of music and then
pausing to check the music sheets lying under the strings.


[PHOTO #13/CAPTION: Ed Bryant]
     THE VOICE OF THE DIABETIC: A MESSAGE OF GROWTH AND HOPE

     Often people want to know what the largest circulation
publication in the blindness field is. The answer is not in
doubt, and it is easy to give:

                                               Columbia, Missouri
                                                   March 26, 1996

Dear Dr. Jernigan:
     About this time each year I update you on the circulation of
Voice of the Diabetic. To date, the circulation is more than
133,000.
     See you in Anaheim.

                                                    Best regards,
                                                        Ed Bryant

     That succinct letter from Ed Bryant, Editor of the Voice,
tells a story of success that is unequaled in the field of
blindness and that would be hard to equal in any field. Ed's
dynamic work, along with that of the other officers of the
Diabetics Division of the National Federation of the Blind, is
the reason for it. It is not too much to say that we are changing
not only what it means to be blind but also what it means to be
diabetic. A recent letter from Ed to the rehabilitation agencies
of the nation shows how it works:

                                               Columbia, Missouri
                                                  January 5, 1996

Dear Folks:
     Voice of the Diabetic is the free quarterly news magazine
published by the Diabetics Division of the National Federation of
the Blind. An important part of our support and information
network, the Voice (current circulation 121,000+) contains
articles by diabetics and health professionals, reviews of the
latest adaptive equipment and research findings, recipes tested
and tasted, medical questions answered by an insulin-dependent
physician, and an extensive resource list.
     We show readers who are blind or losing vision the skills of
independent self-management, like how to draw insulins and test
blood glucose levels independently. We help motivate our readers
to strive for the achievable goals of independence and good
diabetes control. Because both education and positive attitude
are essential, we present our articles in an upbeat manner,
spreading the word that, regardless of ramifications, people with
diabetes have options; and that their world is far greater than
whatever limits may be imposed by the disease or by anyone's
preconceived ideas about the abilities of blind people. We help
dispel the stereotype that diabetes inevitably means a shortened
lifespan and multiple complications. Studies such as the Diabetes
Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) have proven that diabetics
who strive for good control and maintain positive outlooks are
far more likely to remain productive, independent, and in the
mainstream.
     Many rehabilitation professionals find our publication
helpful in encouraging their clients to keep their diabetes under
control. Just like an in-person support group, we reach out to
fellow diabetics, sharing what we know from having been there
ourselves. Our positive attitude is contagious and is meant to
infect your clients. The Voice helps show them that they are not
alone and that neither their blindness nor their diabetes should
keep them from being independent, active, and employable.
Diabetes control is a discipline--but the Voice helps show that
it is achievable.
     The Diabetics Division of the National Federation of the
Blind, a support and information network for all diabetics,
especially those who are blind or are losing vision, maintains a
number of committees ready to help those with concerns about
diabetes. As covered in our free pamphlet, "Diabetes,
Complications, Options" (enclosed) these committees encompass
such topics as Blindness/Visual Dysfunction,
Amputation/Prevention and Treatment, Heart Disease and Stroke,
Insulin Pump, Pancreas Transplantation, Renal Failure/Dialysis
and Kidney Transplantation, Resources/Aids and Appliances, Male
Impotence/Sexual Dysfunction, etc. A reader with specific
concerns about diabetes can easily be put in touch with others
having similar experiences. We in the Diabetics Division are part
of a family. We look after each other.
     Over 14,000 health professionals receive the Voice; many
distribute it to their clients and patients as free literature.
Multiple copies in standard print or 15/16 IPS audiocassette are
available at no charge for distribution each quarter (we publish
four times a year). A subscription form is included. Feel free to
duplicate as needed.
      Who in your state rehab agency has the authority to allow
us to mail the Voice, free of charge, to all diabetic clients?
We'll contact him or her. We'd like to mail each client, at our
expense, a packet consisting of a cover letter (copy enclosed), a
copy of "Diabetes, Complications, Options," and two copies of the
Voice, one in standard print, and one on audiocassette. We can
ship the prepared mailing to you for labeling, so as not to
compromise client anonymity.
     Today, although the largest publication in the blindness
field, and the largest in accessible format in the diabetes and
blindness field, we reach less than one percent of the current
diabetic population in the U.S. Diabetic retinopathy is the
leading cause of new blindness in the United States, and the
Centers for Disease Control predict 15,000 to 39,000 people will
become blind from diabetes this year. Our work has just begun.
Please help us reach out.
     Incidentally, I am an insulin-dependent diabetic and have
been so for thirty-six years. I have been blind for more than
sixteen years and had a kidney transplant in 1983. I know
diabetes and blindness firsthand. Interested persons can contact
me at the address shown above. Anyone desiring a sample copy of
Voice of the Diabetic, should also contact the address shown
above. Please specify desired format(s).
     Thank you very much for your time.

                                                    Best regards,
                                                        Ed Bryant
                                             First Vice President
                                               Diabetics Division
                                 National Federation of the Blind
                                    Editor, Voice of the Diabetic


                      BLIND KIDS SPEAK OUT

     From the Editor: In late April I attended the convention of
the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana as the national
representative. It was a wonderful convention, not least because
one of those attending it was Joel Fernandez, President Joan
Wilson's son who was gravely ill this past winter. Joel was
participating fully in convention activities and behaving not at
all as if he had recently been close to death for weeks. Everyone
present gave thanks for Joel's miraculous return to strength and
health.
     One of the programmatic highlights of the convention was a
panel presentation by some of the affiliate's youngest members.
They had been invited to talk about the importance of the
National Federation of the Blind in their own lives. This is what
two of them had to say:

[PHOTO #14/CAPTION: Wayne Pearcy]
                  I Wish Blind Kids Had Freedom
                         by Wayne Pearcy

     I like being a blind boy. I think it's fun. I get to use a
cane. I get to go to a lot of conventions. I get to make Braille
pictures. I get to act in plays about blind people. These things
make me feel like I have freedom. Some things make me feel like I
don't have freedom. I have a principal who doesn't treat me
right. I had a problem with the bleachers. The third graders sit
on bleacher number four. The kindergartners sit on the bottom
bleacher. Because I was blind, my principal made me sit with the
kindergartners every morning in the gym. But Mom and Dad talked
my principal into letting me sit with my third grade group. I'm
so glad I have Mom and Dad to turn to. They helped me get back my
freedom.
     We blind kids go through a lot because of people who can
see. My principal talked my teachers into not letting me do
things. I feel sorry and ashamed that I go through all this
discrimination. I think blind kids should raise the flag for
freedom. Because I don't have a flag for freedom, I'll use my
hand.

                   Advice from a Fourth-Grader
                        by Amber Chesser

     My name is Amber Chesser. I am a fourth grade student at
Hayden R. Lawrence Elementary School in Rapides Parish. I am in
the gifted program, and I really love school. I am here to talk
to blind children, parents of blind children, and teachers of
blind children.
     First, I would like to tell you a few of the things that I
have accomplished in my life. I can skate, swim, and ride my
bike. I am in the process of trying to learn to ride without
training wheels on my new bike. I love to read Braille, type on
the computer, watch movies, and cook. I am learning to play the
piano, and I read Braille music, which is very different from
Braille print. I can write in cursive and speak Spanish. I have a
baby brother; and I change his diapers, play with him, and make
his bottles for my mother. I make my own bed, but not every day.
And last of all, I love to talk on the telephone like anybody
else.
     I am not saying all this to brag on myself. I am just
showing you how much a blind child can do. They can only do those
things if they are really determined. They have to believe in
themselves enough, and then they can ask their parents or
teachers for help. I want to tell parents of blind children and
teachers of blind children that the kids can do anything, but you
also have to believe in them. You can't just say, "No, you might
get hurt." You have to encourage the children. I said before that
the children have to believe in themselves, and the teachers and
parents do also, but the children are the ones who have to have
the strongest belief.
     As parents you need to let children take risks. If they are
trying to ride their bike without training wheels and they fall
and hurt themselves, don't let them give up. It's okay if they
are scared to do something. Let them have time to not be scared
and then let them do anything that is not dangerous. For example,
you wouldn't want to let them drive a car, but if they want to go
to a friend's house to spend the night, let them. You should also
let them go to the Buddy Program in Ruston. When I went there the
first year, my mom had a hard time, and I did too. I was very
homesick. My mom kept asking me if I wanted them to come and get
me, but I said no and I stayed the whole four weeks. The second
year I was a lot better, and now I want to go back this summer.
If you want your children to be independent and happy, let them
do things, and remember that you have to believe in them and
don't let them give up.
     Now to the teachers of blind children I would like to say
this. You also have to believe in your students. I have a lot of
teachers this year. They had never had a blind student in their
class before. They had to learn, and soon they treated me like
any other student. You might have to learn too. Don't be afraid
to ask the students things. My teachers were interested in how I
did things. The students were also interested. If your student
needs help with work, help him. He will tell you if he doesn't
understand. Let the other students help the blind child, but
don't let them help all the time. My teachers don't. If you want
your students to be independent, you need to help them. In second
grade my teacher didn't show me around the room, and my mother
asked her to do that. After she did, I was able to go and get
anything I needed. If you want good students, let them be
independent.
     I would like to say this to blind children. You can do
anything you want to if you just try. Don't ever give up. If you
make a mistake, it's okay. In school, if you need a little more
help than other students, ask. If you drop something, get out of
your seat and look for it. Don't just sit and wait for someone to
notice it and pick it up for you. When people don't know me and
they want to get to know me, they ask me things. People will do
that to any blind person because they are interested. Sometimes I
get tired of answering, but I go ahead and answer. You need to do
that also. Don't just ignore them. One of my friends was very
interested, so I gave her an alphabet card, and she quickly
learned to read and write Braille. At first I didn't believe she
could do it. Now we write notes to each other. In science this
year one of our units was on Braille. My teacher invited me to do
a presentation on Braille to all of her classes. It was neat.
     If I could make one point to the children here today, it
would be to go to the Buddy Program in Ruston. It is really fun.
The first year I went I was really homesick. The second year was
better, and this summer I can't wait to get back. It was very
helpful to me. I learned a lot of good skills, and I'm hoping to
improve those skills and learn more each year.
     I'd like parents, teachers, and blind children to always
remember this. You have to have confidence.


[PHOTO #15 & #16: There are two photographs of Cortney Osolinski. In the first
she is dressed in a gorilla costume, and her cane is wound in artificial vine.
In the second she is wearing a Christmas nightgown, and her cane is decorated
like a candy cane. CAPTION #15: Cortney Osolinski in her award-winning
Halloween costume. CAPTION #16: Cortney Osolinski ready for Christmas]
                 ALMOST ONE HUNDRED AND ONE WAYS
                      TO DECORATE YOUR CANE
                      by Cortney Osolinski

     From the Editor: We in the Federation frequently remind one
another that our children are our future. This is, of course, not
strictly true. Many, many people become blind as adults, and our
chapters and affiliates certainly count on their participation
and growing leadership skills as well as those of the blind
children who grow up in the Federation family. But children do
provide a powerful symbol for us of promise and possibility.
     In the previous article you met two delightful and wise
young people who are already well on their way to becoming
competent and confident adult Federationists. Now meet another.
Cortney Osolinski lives in New Jersey. She will be eleven in
August, and, as you will conclude when you read the following
letter and article, she has personality running out her fingers.
She recently wrote the following letter to the Editor of the
Braille Monitor. It and the article she enclosed are self-
explanatory. Here they are:

                                             Vineland, New Jersey

Dear Sir or Madam,
     My name is Cortney. I'm in fourth grade, and I am a member
of the Garden State Chapter of the National Federation of the
Blind of New Jersey. I am a writer, and I have just won a
contest. My poem, "A Blind Dog," was accepted for publication in
the anthology A Celebration of Young Poets.
     I want to be a paleontologist and a dog trainer. I have
three ribbons and several awards from horse-riding competitions.
I play the violin ("Ode to Joy" is my favorite), and I have a
yellow belt in Karate.
     My favorite thing to do is go to NFB conventions. I get my
own key to our room, all my best friends are there, and I don't
have to go to bed at 9:00 p.m. There is a lot of Braille to read,
and I always have a party in my room with no adults.
     I hope you like my article, "Almost One Hundred and One Ways
to Decorate Your Cane."

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                Cortney Osolinski


     I would like to share with all my NFB friends some of my
ideas on how I decorate my cane, but first let me tell you why I
decorate it: for holidays, sports events, parties, and just for
fun! I love my cane now. I didn't when I was little, but now I
think even my sighted friends wish they had one. In fact, some of
my ideas came from them. They're always telling me what they
would do if they had one.
     I disguise my cane at Halloween so it will not give me away,
and it really adds to my costume. Last year I won second prize in
a contest. I would have won first, but I didn't have my plastic
bananas in time. I was a gorilla, and my cane was covered with
fake green vine. No one knew it was me, and some of the little
kids thought I was a real ape! In the parade I stopped and
pounded on my chest every few feet and made gorilla calls.
     My mom said I have to include her rules for me when I
decorate my cane so:
     1. Keep the handle clear so I still have a good grip.
     2. I can't go outside at night with my cane covered in dark
colors.
     3. I have to use my old cane or not damage my good one.
     4. Only do to my cane what I know is safe (and fun).
     I'll start with Christmas because everyone loved my "candy
cane," and it was my NFB chapter President Mrs. Everlee Dow who
said I should share my ideas with Braille Monitor readers.
     The Candy Cane: Start at one end and wrap with red garland
or ribbon, leaving one-inch spaces all the way up. It looks great
like that, but you can add a piece of curved styrofoam and wrap
it too. You can put a big red bow right where you taped the
styrofoam on.
     Lights Alive: Spiral-wrap a battery-operated string of about
twenty lights the whole length of your cane. This one's great at
night, and all my friends want a turn holding it!
     Are You Listening: Tie bells near the handle. Mom likes this
one when we're in a hurry because everyone hears me coming and
steps out of my way. We can even run through the mall.
     O Tannenbaum: Cover your cane with green shiny paper. Add
garland and little silk or plastic balls all over it. I think
I'll ask Santa to put presents around it too. He is blind, you
know.
     Christmas Flowers: Tie fresh or fake poinsettias near the
handle of your cane.
     Frosty: Cover your cane with white cotton. Put a little
plastic top hat just under the handle, button eyes, and a paper
carrot nose.
     Yummy Cane: Tape mini candy canes or any wrapped Christmas
candy all over your cane. This is my favorite.
     Shepherd's Staff: This is for when you're in a school,
church, or club play. You can be a shepherd when you go Christmas
caroling.

     New Year is next:
     Celebrate: Tape a "Happy New Year" banner lengthwise down
your cane.
     Party Animal: Dangle streamers of many colors all over your
cane.
     Numbers: Tape the number of the New Year once or all over
your cane.

     Super Bowl Sunday, or any sports event:
     Pigskins: Tape brown cut-out footballs dangling from your
cane.
     Home Team: Wrap your cane in your team colors.
     Cheers: Tape a shaker or pompom near the handle.
     Mascot: Hang a stuffed animal or picture of team mascot on
your cane.
     Hokey Hockey: Cut out the club part of a hockey stick and
tape it onto the bottom of your cane.

     Now some things for Valentine's Day:
     Cupid's Arrow: Put feathers at the top and a cut-out paper
arrow point near the tip.
     Love and Kisses: Cover your cane with red hearts and
Hershey's kisses.
     Love Stinks: Dangle a paper cut-out of a skunk and red
hearts from your cane.
     Wrapped With Love: Wrap your cane from top to bottom with
red foil heart garland.
     That Someone Special: Dangle the picture or the name of your
Valentine from the cord or handle of your cane.

     Next is St. Patrick's Day:
     Luck of the Irish: Make a giant shamrock by wrapping your
cane with green paper and cut out four leaves to tape just under
the handle.
     Top of the Mornin': Put a paper Leprechaun near the top of
your cane, colored paper going down the length like a rainbow,
and a paper picture of a pot of gold near the tip.
     Kiss Me, I'm Irish: (Mom's favorite) Put a "Kiss me, I'm
Irish" pin on your cane, shirt, coat, hat, or socks.
     Shamrock Special: Cover your cane with shiny shamrock
stickers.
     Glowing Green: Remember at Christmas to get extra green
lights and use a battery-powered string of twenty lights to wrap
your cane.

     Next is Easter:
     The Egg Hunt: Wrap string around green Easter grass covering
your cane. Then glue little plastic eggs in.
     Peter Cotton Tail: Glue or tape lots of colored cotton balls
all over your cane.
     Jesus Died For Me: Cut white paper to make your cane into a
cross and tape it on. Braille and print your favorite Easter
verse across the cross.
     Haul a Nail: Tape a nail on your cane as a reminder.
     Tastiest: Tape covered chocolate Easter eggs all over your
cane.

     Fourth of July and the National Convention:
     Star Spangled Banner: Tape red ribbon stripes around your
cane, leaving room for blue star stickers in between.
     Flag Pole: Tie a small flag near the top of your cane.

     Okay, now for my favorite: Halloween. Make your cane into
something that goes with your costume like:
     French Maid: Create a feather duster on your cane.
     Cheerleader: Tie a pompom or shaker to your cane.
     Jail Bird: Attach a painted-black styrofoam ball and chain
to your cane.
     Witch: Make your cane into a broom stick.
     Indian: Your cane can be a totem pole.
     Barber: Turn your cane into a barber's pole.
     Baby: Make it a lollypop.
     Queen or Fairy: Do some magic of your own and make a magic
wand.
     Devil: Make a pitchfork.
     Native: A spear.
     Tarzan, ape, or dinosaur: wrap your cane with fake green
vine.
     Stranded Island Survivor: Your cane can become a palm tree.
     Farmer: It's a hoe.
     Clown: Make it a leash and add a paper dog.
     King: Make a scepter.
     Fisherman: It becomes a fishing pole.
     Mummy or Grave Digger: It can be a shovel.
     Bride: Attach a bouquet of flowers and a draped veil.
     Bunny: Turn your cane into a giant carrot.
     Cave Man or Dog: Make it a big white bone.
     Accident Victim: It can become a crutch.
     Really Bad Accident Victim: tape a small plastic baggie with
ketchup at the top of your cane; then tape one end of a red shoe-
string licorice whip to the bag and the other end to your arm.
It's an IV pole.
     Band Leader: It can be a baton.
     Sailor: It can be a lighthouse. Use a little flashlight on
the top.
     Cave Man: Make it a club.
     G.I. Joe: You can make a rifle.
     Henry the Eighth: Turn your cane into a turkey leg.
     Bo Peep: Make the Christmas candy cane without the stripe.
     Casper: Turn your cane into Uncle Stretch.
     Scarecrow: The cane becomes a skinny bail of hay.
     Hawaiian: Cover it with flowers.
     In the fall you can make your cane into a big sunflower.
When I was little, my mom always put something on the cord of my
cane to keep my hands busy, like snap-together beads or toy chain
links. She says that, if she had a cane, she would put a stress
ball on it. You could put Rosary beads or a picture of your
children or family on it. I think that my mom's best idea is
getting the plastic eyes you can buy at the craft store for
making stuffed animals and taping them near the tip of your cane.
I think it helps new kids I meet and even adults understand what
a cane is. It explains itself this way and saves me from having
to try.
     I always have lots of fun with my cane. I love my cane. And
since we'll be together for a long time, I plan on having lots
more fun with it. I hope you do too.
     Look for my next article on "One Hundred and One Inventions
to help me and other blind people, like a cane/umbrella and a
toothbrush whose handle holds the toothpaste--just one pump, wet,
and you're set. Well, I don't want to give too much away.
     You think that I'm insane
     Because I love my cane?
     It might just bring me fame;
     See, now even you know my name.


             HANDICAPPED PERSON HAS TUSSLE WITH BANK

     From the Editor: This month's issue has developed something
of an international flavor. The following brief article
demonstrates that blind people around the world are making
progress in demanding and winning equal treatment. The article
appeared in the March 22, 1996, edition of The Hindu, India's
national newspaper. Here it is:

     At a time when the physically handicapped are being brought
into the mainstream by recognizing the fact they are differently
abled and can be useful members of society if the latter gives
them some concessions, a Delhi woman had to go through untold
mental agony to get a current account opened in a premier bank,
which boasts of running some good social projects across the
country--all because she is visually handicapped.
     Ms. Preeti Singh, a resident of Swati apartments,
Patparganj, had proved herself as a successful entrepreneur, but
the State Bank of India (SBI) did not have the compassion to
appreciate her. She could not exercise the citizen's privilege of
opening a savings bank account in the bank's Zakir Nagar branch--
not until the National Human Rights Commission intervened in the
matter.
     The NHRC Chairman, Mr. Justice Ranganath Misra, darted off a
strong objection to the SBI Chairman, Mr. P.G. Kakodkar, asking
whether the action by the subordinate manager of the bank branch
was justified. "In case you support the action of rejection and
ground for the refusal on blindness, I would like you to respond
to the human rights issue involved," Mr. Kakodkar was told. This
resulted in the matter getting amicably settled in favor of the
Granny woman.
     Mrs. Preeti Singh approached the bank sometime in March last
year and requested that she be allowed to open a current account
but was refused on grounds of her visual disability. She sought
the facility as she had been sanctioned a loan by the Delhi
Financial Corporation (DFC) for her business, and it required her
to have an account in the name of her organization so that the
loan could be disbursed.
     Her passion to reach out to disabled persons was behind the
loan-seeking venture. She was employed at the Granny's as their
Marketing In-Charge and was also an aerobic instructor. Besides,
she had held computer training programs for people with vision
impairment--qualifications which many normal persons lack.
     But the bank would have nothing of it. Their rule book
stated that the blind could have only savings bank accounts. Even
an official like the Branch Manager could not take the
independent decision of allowing her to open a current account.
     Undeterred, Mrs. Singh approached the NHRC and gave a
graphic account of the efforts she made to get an account opened.
Upset over the callousness of the premier bank and its top
officials, Mr. Justice Ranganath Misra wrote to the SBI Chairman:
"It is a fact she is a blind person, but she had been working as
a marketing executive in an organization until recently. The
issue of a blind person being denied banking facility has its own
projections which merit national consideration."
     The SBI bowed down to this missive and in a letter dated
February 28, 1996--almost a year after the refusal--the SBI
Chairman informed the NHRC that the question had been examined,
taking care of the mutual interests of blind persons and the
bank; and appropriate guidelines have been issued.
     The woman's victory is being considered as an important
landmark in accepting the rights of the physically handicapped.
As Mrs. Singh says: "Give us disabled people a chance; we too can
be an asset to society. All that is needed to help us along is a
little love, understanding, and encouragement."


[PHOTO #17/CAPTION: Sheila Koenig]
                  TELLING THE FEDERATION STORY:
                SHEILA KOENIG MAKES IT LOOK EASY

     From the Editor: One of the things Bruce Gardner talked
about in an article elsewhere in this issue was the need to work
with the media to educate the public about blindness and the true
abilities of blind people. When it's done right, it looks easy.
But getting a good story requires a good reporter, and a
Federationist who knows how to work in comments about the
importance of a positive philosophy and the work of the NFB as he
or she tells a personal story.
     The following article first appeared in the March 4, 1996,
edition of The Sheboygan Press. It is an excellent example of
what we should all be doing. It appeared following the Washington
Seminar, but one can often interest reporters in doing such
pieces in conjunction with any significant Federation activity.
Sheila Koenig was a 1995 National Federation of the Blind
scholarship winner. She is an active and committed Federationist.
Here is the story The Sheboygan Press wrote about her:

       GOAL IN SIGHT: SHE'D LIKE TO HELP THE WORLD TO SEE
                         by Nancy Pieper

     Describe twenty-one-year-old Sheila Koenig and you'd say
she's petite, dark-haired, soft-spoken, bright--words like that.
     Oh, yes. And blind.
     But most of all, she's an achiever.
     Sheila has been named one of twenty-five outstanding blind
students in the nation by the National Federation of the Blind.
     Citing Sheila and the others honored as "the hope of the
nation's blind," Federation President Marc Maurer said their
demonstrated excellence was "living proof of our contention that
the blind can compete on terms of equality with the sighted."
     Actually you'd tend to characterize Sheila as "visually-
impaired." Born with congenital cataracts and glaucoma, she can
see just enough with her left eye to read large print with the
aid of glasses if she holds the material right next to her face.
     But Sheila says "visually impaired" suggests something's
wrong.
     "I'm blind. People think of blindness as a disability, but I
think of it just as a characteristic, like being tall or short or
fat or thin. Blind people can do anything that sighted people can
do. They just have to find ways to adapt."
     Sheila is still fine-tuning her adapting skills.
     She earned a 4.0 grade point average this past semester at
Cardinal Stritch College, but she says her goals would have been
more easily accomplished if she had received some useful tools
early on.
     Braille is a "really big issue for the blind," says Sheila.
     "Only three percent of blind children in Wisconsin read
Braille. Blind children are functionally illiterate. And
partially-sighted children aren't taught Braille because it's
assumed that they don't need it. But I can't even begin to tell
you how much easier it would have been for me if I had learned
Braille."
     Instead she had to bury her face in huge large-print books
in school. They were cumbersome, conspicuous. Reading was
painfully slow.
     "I taught myself Braille last summer," she says, "but I
don't have much speed. If I'm going to be an efficient person,
Braille has to be a part of my life."
     Because she learned it so late, it'll take time for Sheila
to become fluent in Braille. So she still studies with large
print. She does homework on a computer.
     Sheila also knows she needs to master using a cane.
     "I never used a cane, again, because everyone assumed that,
because I had some sight, I didn't need one."
     This summer she'll attend a camp to learn proper cane use.
     "You learn wearing sleep shades, and it's really scary for
lots of people. But as you do more and more difficult things, you
gain the confidence to go anywhere."
     Mastery of these skills enables the blind to live
independently, Sheila says.
     Raised in Sheboygan by loving parents, who always encouraged
her to meet all challenges, Sheila nevertheless had never met
another blind person.
     But when the National Federation of the Blind awarded her a
$3,000 Educator of Tomorrow Scholarship in 1995, she attended its
annual convention. More than 2,000 blind people of all ages were
there.
     She says, "I can't even explain to you what it was like. I
met people in all sorts of careers: lawyers, teachers, writers,
psychologists, social workers, marine biologists...they got
anywhere they wanted to go with confidence, gracefully. They were
intelligent, articulate.
     "I guess in the back of my mind I had a small doubt (about
being able to achieve), but after meeting the people in the
Federation, I knew I could do anything I wanted to do."
     Sheila realized then that the attitudes of the blind, as
well as the sighted, need to change.
     She intends to be a teacher.
     Enrolled as a special education major, she switched to
English and Spanish "...because I fell in love with languages.
People don't always realize that words have the power to create
feelings, to reinforce prejudices, to change people. Really, I
think words are one of the most powerful forces that we have."
     She recently returned from Washington, D.C. with a
delegation of Federation members who hoped to use "powerful
words" to advocate for the blind with Congressmen and Senators.
     Many of their contacts were rewarding, but a couple were
not. One lawmaker rudely dismissed their inquiries. Another was
"powder-puffing his face and sifting through his mail" while the
group was with him, things that Sheila felt would never have
happened to constituents who weren't labeled "blind."
     And she'll work to further the Federation goals: to require
that all blind children be taught to read Braille and to educate
the public that the real handicap of blindness is not the lack of
sight, but the social attitudes that keep blind people from fully
achieving.

     At the same time that article was being written, Sheila
decided to write a letter to the editor of the paper describing
what had happened in Washington when she met with her own
Congressman. This is what she said:

Dear Editor,
     I recently went to Washington, D.C., with the National
Federation of the Blind to meet with Representatives and Senators
to discuss current issues concerning blind people. I had never
before met with my Representative, F. James Sensenbrenner, and
looked forward to discussing those issues important to me.
     Only three percent of blind children in Wisconsin are able
to read Braille, the rest being illiterate. Why don't they know
Braille? Simply, the teachers who teach Braille can't read it
themselves. Strong language in IDEA (the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act) would decrease if not eliminate this
illiteracy by requiring all blind children to learn Braille. If
only three percent of sighted children could read ink print, a
national outrage would erupt.
     In a booming, angry, degrading voice Congressman
Sensenbrenner bellowed, "Sounds like an unfunded government
mandate to me." He clearly knew nothing about the issue. Despite
the fact that taxpayers are already paying these teachers'
salaries, Sensenbrenner would have nothing more to do with it. He
did not ask if I had been taught Braille, so I couldn't tell him
about the endless speeches and presentations I had memorized or
the agonizing moments when I feared that I would be called upon
to read aloud, dragging my nose across the pages of a large-print
book.
     He would decide what was best for me, regardless of my own
experiences. Does he not care about children, literacy, or
education?
     I left my first meeting with my Congressman feeling hurt,
ashamed, and degraded. When we send people to Washington, do they
forget that we are the ones who sent them?
     It is precisely this dismissive attitude that makes
"politics" a dirty word and stirs disillusionment among the
people.
     You'll probably see a picture of me standing next to
Congressman Sensenbrenner in his next newsletter (the picture was
taken before our meeting) with a caption reading something like
"Sensenbrenner discusses important issues with blind citizens."
     Well, here is the truth of that meeting. I sincerely hope
that, when any of you meet with Sensenbrenner, he treats you with
the respect and dignity that any constituent deserves.

                                                    Sheila Koenig

[PHOTO #18/CAPTION: Peggy Elliott]
             THREE-LETTER WORDS: "HOW" OR "WHY NOT?"
                     by Peggy Pinder Elliott

     From the Editor: Peggy Elliott is the Second Vice President
of the National Federation of the Blind and the President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Iowa. Here is her
contribution to the latest in our Kernel Book series of
paperbacks, Tapping the Charcoal, beginning with Dr. Jernigan's
introduction:

     Peggy Pinder Elliott, a long-time member of the National
Federation of the Blind, is familiar to readers of previous
Kernel Books. In this story she reflects on the importance of
using the right three-letter words in dealing with blindness.
Here she shares with us her journey from "How" to "Why Not?"
     One of the hardest things for me to understand about
blindness was the little three-letter word "how."
     When I first lost my sight, I was a teenager. My brothers
and sisters and I were all planning to attend college and find
good jobs after graduation. Without ever expressing this to
anyone, I thought that my sudden blindness meant that this was no
longer possible for me. It wasn't anything specific. It was just
that I didn't know how a blind person would go to college, how a
blind person would find a job, how a blind person could perform
work that anyone would want to pay for. Although I didn't know it
at the time, it was that little three-letter word that was
causing all the trouble.
     Several years after I lost my sight, I met people from the
National Federation of the Blind. Incidentally, the three-letter
word changed. How was no longer important, but two other three-
letter words were. They were why and not. And I needed them both.
The question was not "how" but "why not."
     The change happened because I had finally met other blind
people. Some sighted people, particularly my family, had insisted
that blindness did not make any difference, that I could still
study, still excel, still attend college, still get around and do
the things that other people do. I mostly stayed in my room and
told people that I loved to read. But inside myself I hotly
resented this cheery and cruel advice. These sighted people were
not blind. How could they understand how hard it was?
     Meeting other blind people made all the difference. I could
no longer say, "Blind people can't do this or that." I now knew
blind people who were doing the things I wanted to do.
     This change in me came from the National Federation of the
Blind and the insistence of its members that blind people could
figure out how to do things. It took a while for me to come to
understand this, and my Federation friends patiently kept working
with me, encouraging me, insisting that I stop feeling sorry for
myself. The Federation ideas took root, and I began to do all
those things I thought I couldn't, ending up with a law degree
from Yale.
     Then I started to deal with the three-letter word how in the
job market. My first job interview was memorable. When I arrived
for the interview, I found that there were eight people in the
room to do the interviewing. Apparently, the potential employer
had decided that everyone in authority in the office needed to be
in the room to get a look at the blind person. That was a bad
sign.
     The interview began with the office chief asking the
administrator to describe the position to me. It was an assistant
prosecutor's job, a commonly understood entry-level position in
which one handles all the less grave offenses from filing a
charge to disposition of a case.
     The administrator said, "When you come to the office in the
morning, you will read police reports, and, when you read the
reports, based on the reading of the reports, after thoroughly
reading them, you will upon reading. . . ." He got stuck. He just
stayed in the same sentence, never finishing it, continually
uttering the word "read."
     After a bit of this, I interrupted him, saying that I
thought I understood that reviewing police reports was part of
the job as well as other tasks he hadn't mentioned. If he wanted
to describe the other tasks, I would be interested. If he
preferred to discuss how I would do the reading, I would be glad
to discuss that as well. He never spoke again during the forty-
minute interview.
     It was obvious that he didn't know how I would do the
reading. I explained that blind lawyers hire readers and train
them in confidentiality just as lawyers have always hired
secretaries and trained them in confidentiality. I explained that
I was accustomed to working that way and to meeting time
deadlines. None of it mattered. The whole office, present by way
of its supervisors, had decided that a blind person couldn't do
the job they did, and that was that.
     My next interview was the exact opposite. I knew it was
going to be. A friend of mine in the National Federation of the
Blind who worked in the same city in which I was interviewing
called me. The friend said that he knew the potential employer;
the potential employer had called him and asked how a blind
person could do the job, and my friend had explained to him that
he should just ask. My friend also gave some examples to the
potential employer of how he does his job.
     When I arrived for the interview, the potential employer
came in alone. He sort of sauntered in, obviously comfortable,
and said casually that he would like to know how I was going to
do the reading. That made all the difference in the world.
     Both interviews were for the same type of job and started on
the same topic, but one began with an assumption that I couldn't
do the job while the other began with an open mind, opened by a
successfully employed blind person. I was offered this job and
took it.
     For me, the National Federation of the Blind provided that
first vital understanding that there are answers to the question
how?
     For most jobs the answers are as simple and inexpensive as
they were in my case. For many jobs there is already a blind
person doing the work whose ideas and practical know-how can be
drawn upon for the employer or the blind person who wants to work
in the same area.


[PHOTO #19/CAPTION: Betty Walker]
                  ADVICE FROM A LONG WHITE CANE
                       by Betty A. Walker

     From the Editor: October 15 is White Cane Safety Day across
the country. It provides an opportunity for members of the
National Federation of the Blind to educate the general public
about the rights and capabilities of blind citizens. Last year
Betty Walker, who chairs the Public Relations Committee of the
Jefferson City Chapter of the NFB of Missouri, tried an
interesting variation on the usual letters to the editor and
other public education efforts. It seems to have had some
success. She passes it on in the hope that other chapters can use
her idea as well. Here is her cover letter to me, followed by her
letter to the editor:

Dear Barbara,
     As public relations chairman of the National Federation of
the Blind of Jefferson City, I wrote the enclosed letter to the
editor of our local paper to inform the public and eliminate
misconceptions about blindness and the use of the long white
cane. I hoped this novel approach might be an attention-getter.
     Whether or not it got the attention of the general public,
it did change the attitude of the principal toward me at the
public school where I work. Prior to the publication of the white
cane letter she constantly told me I was approaching stairs,
doorways, etc. Even after several attempts to educate her and
assure her that I knew where I was going, one day she said,
"Betty, you are not in your office," as I knocked on the door of
a classroom to speak to the teacher.
     I replied, "I know I am not in my office; I am at room 15,
and I came to speak to Mrs. Blank."
     The day following the publication of the white cane letter
in the paper, a laminated copy appeared in my mailbox from the
principal with a note that read, "Very good article, Betty."
Comments from the principal to me now are things like "Good
morning, Betty," and other appropriate conversation-openers. She
no longer tells me where I am or where I am going. I hope the
letter had as positive an impact on the general public as it did
on the principal.
                                                       Sincerely,
                                                  Betty A. Walker

                      ____________________

                                         Jefferson City, Missouri
                                                 October 15, 1995

Dear Editor:
     First, let me tell you who I am. I am a long white cane used
by a blind person. I am writing because October 15 is National
White Cane Safety Day.
     With proper training my owner can use me to travel safely
and efficiently. I am moved from side to side in an arc slightly
wider than my owner's shoulders. If something is in our path, I
will hit it first, which lets my owner know that something to be
avoided is in front of us. The sounds I make when I touch things
let my owner identify what I am touching and provide necessary
information about the environment.
     You may think that I am a bit too tall, but to be most
useful to my owner, I should reach to his or her nose. This
allows my owner to walk quickly and gives him or her enough
reaction time to avoid obstructions and stop when necessary. I no
longer need to have a crook for a handle or a red tip. These are
things of the past. The law states that I may be either white or
metallic in color, with or without a red tip. I may be
electronic, but usually not. My owner is always in control of me
and his or her travel.
     My owner uses me to find landmarks such as curbs, steps,
light poles, doorways, etc. He or she recognizes curbs by the way
my tip drops. The absence of the wall I'm tracked along indicates
door openings. My owner can identify soft and hard surfaces--
tile, carpet, concrete, and grass--because their textures are so
different to my touch. Steel and wooden poles, cardboard boxes,
glass walls, aluminum framing, fire hydrants, human legs, and
dogs each feel different and are clearly recognizable.
     When my owner uses me to cross a street, he or she extends
me in front to indicate the intention to cross. My owner knows
when to cross by listening to the traffic. When the parallel
traffic is moving, he or she has the green light; if that traffic
is stopped but traffic on the street to be crossed is moving, the
blind pedestrian has a red light. At crossings where there is no
traffic light, the same traffic sounds indicate when it is safe
to cross. If my owner is standing near the curb, perhaps at a bus
stop, with me standing straight at his or her side, the chances
are that my owner is not planning to cross the street but waiting
for a bus, cab, or friend.
     Remember some basic rules of courtesy when you approach my
owner and me. Just because my owner is blind, he or she is not
necessarily lost or in need of help crossing the street. Help may
be welcome, but most blind people who are traveling independently
are very much aware of where they are going. Don't feel insulted
if your thoughtful offer to help is refused. If your assistance
is accepted, let the blind person take your arm, which you can
leave relaxed at your side. Never grab the cane or cane hand or
arm. The panic the blind person feels is similar to that you
would feel if someone covered your eyes or grabbed your arm or
steering wheel while you were driving. The cane is an extension
of the blind person's arm and mind when traveling. Noisy vehicles
such as buses and cars with poor mufflers can impair a blind
person's ability to hear traffic clearly. If a blind person
refuses to cross a street when you have stopped to yield the
right of way, loud traffic noise may keep him or her on the curb
because the sound of the entire traffic pattern is being masked.
     White Cane Laws state that a person operating a motor
vehicle must yield to a blind person carrying a white cane. If
you would like more information about me or about blindness in
general, call the National Federation of the Blind at (314) 634-
7969.

[PHOTO #20/CAPTION: Judith Tunell]
          BRAILLE READERS ASSIST PHOENIX CITY ENGINEERS
                       by Judith M. Tunell

     The following was submitted to the News and Views of Blind
Arizonans.

     Judith M. Tunell, First Vice President, and Captain R.
Lewis, a member of the Board of Directors of the NFB of Arizona,
serve as commissioners on the Phoenix Mayor's Commission on
Disability Issues. Much of the work done by the Commission is
done in subcommittees.
     In January, 1996, the Architecture and Transportation
Subcommittee Chairman, Linda Lund-Wyatt, asked if another
subcommittee member would accompany her to review the signs at
the newly remodeled Phoenix Civic Plaza. Mrs. Lund-Wyatt wanted
to be certain the signs were in compliance with Americans with
Disabilities Act requirements and the plans and specifications
previously reviewed by the subcommittee and approved by the
Phoenix Planning Commission. Judith Tunell volunteered when she
heard that the signs included Braille.
     Knowing that two sets of hands proofreading the Braille
would be better than one, Judith asked one of the expert Braille
readers of the Phoenix Chapter, Norma Robertson, to accompany her
and Mrs. Lund-Wyatt on the first review. To their astonishment,
Norma and Judith found that there were errors on each of the
signs, including elevators and restrooms. Mrs. Lund-Wyatt asked
Judith to give the report at the next subcommittee meeting. The
chairman of the Mayor's Commission on Disability Issues had been
very involved in the review of original Civic Plaza Plans and
expressed the Commission's serious concerns about the errors in
the Braille in a letter to the Phoenix City Engineer's Office.
     Norma and Judith were then asked by the Phoenix Engineer's
Office if they would read and check all of the signs at the Civic
Plaza. They agreed and were escorted through the three-building
complex by a staff member of the Civic Plaza, who recorded Judith
and Norma's response at each sign. It took over three hours to
read more than 150 signs at restrooms, elevators, stairs, meeting
rooms, stage dressing rooms, offices, ballrooms, etc. at this
gigantic complex. The disappointing result was that every sign
was incorrect! Some had the letters so close together that they
were unreadable; others had misspelled words, capitalization
errors, or numbers incorrect.
     The Phoenix Engineer's Office was grateful for the NFB
members' assistance for two very important reasons: (1) the
Engineer's Office did not have anyone on staff who could read
Braille; and (2) the final payment to the contractors for the
signs was due to be paid within two weeks of the review. If the
city had issued its final check, it would have been harder to
negotiate corrections from the contractors.
     The National Federation of the Blind served a great purpose
for the City of Phoenix and generated good will because of this
effort. We saw a need and responded to it. It was fun to do it as
a team, and we were respected for our knowledge.


[PHOTO #21/CAPTION: Loretta White]
                        A MOTHER'S STORY
                        by Loretta White

     From the Editor: The following story first appeared in
Tapping the Charcoal, the latest in our Kernel Book series of
paperbacks. It begins with Dr. Jernigan's introduction:

     Coming to terms with the fact that your child is blind and
is going to stay that way is perhaps one of the most difficult
challenges a parent can face. There are at first the terrifying
questions: Does she live in a world of darkness? Can she go to
school? Can she be happy? What will happen to her when I die?
These are the questions Loretta White, now a leader in the
National Federation of the Blind's parents organization, had to
deal with when she learned her daughter Niki was blind. Here is
what she says:

     My name is Loretta White, and I live in Maryland with my
husband and four children. Their ages are sixteen, six, almost
five, and almost three. I am also a licensed day care provider,
so most of my time is spent with and around children.
     My daughter Niki will be five in November. Niki has been
totally blind since birth. It's most likely due to retinopathy of
prematurity, but since she was adopted from India, we don't know
for sure. Niki came home from India when she was five months old.
     We took her to a pediatrician for a checkup a couple of days
after we got her. He told us that her eyes didn't look quite
right, so he wanted us to have her checked by an eye doctor. The
doctor he sent us to didn't do children, so all he did was take a
quick look and tell us that, yes, she has cataracts; he then
referred us to a pediatric ophthalmologist.
     I took Niki to the appointment by myself while my husband
watched the other children. I was expecting to have her seen and
then scheduled for cataract surgery. I spent the entire day
there.
     The doctor had a wonderful reputation, but I quickly found
out in the waiting room that he had the bedside manner of Attila
the Hun. I was pretty nervous to begin with. Once the technicians
had examined her eyes, done their tests with the drops, and
completed the sonograms and what not, the doctor came in and
quickly looked at her eyes.
     Then, with the same demeanor one might use to comment on the
weather, he told me that my daughter's blindness was total and
permanent. I'm sure he must have read the look on my face and
realized that I had not known.
     Then he added, "Well, it's not that bad. It's like a Hershey
bar. If you've never eaten chocolate before, you wouldn't miss it
because you can't miss what you never had." Then, after a couple
of minutes of very uncomfortable silence, he gave me the name of
a doctor who might try some heroic surgery, wished me luck, and
left the room. I never saw that doctor again.
     Somehow I collected myself and my baby and made the hour-
and-a-half drive back to my home. It took me a long time to
forgive his brutal honesty, but I will never forget it. On that
afternoon I would really have appreciated some compassion. Also I
did not appreciate the belittling of my child's condition. Things
could always be worse, but so what? Right then they felt awful.
     We went through anger at the doctors and also at the
adoption agency who had placed her. From what we were later told,
anyone who examined her should have seen the detached retina and
scar tissue mass. And yet we had paperwork that said she had an
eye examination and that her eyes were in good condition. Knowing
probably wouldn't have changed our minds about her, but we
certainly could have been prepared and avoided the shock.
     We also tried the heroic surgery. We took her to a doctor in
Tennessee who had had some success at reattaching retinas. We put
ourselves in debt mustering up the finances to make three trips
to Tennessee (two for surgeries and one for a checkup).
     We did all this knowing initially that her chances of
regaining any usable sight were less than ten percent. But at
that time we were so frightened of blindness we were willing to
try almost anything.
     Before Niki came into my life, I had virtually no experience
with blindness. The only blind person I had ever known was Tammy,
who lived across the street from my family for a short while when
I was six.
     I can still see this eight-year-old girl in my mind. All she
ever did was sit and rock, sometimes poking at her eyes. Her
speech consisted mostly of repetitions of what she had just
heard. She never played with the other kids or even went to
school. She just sat and rocked. As you can imagine, that memory
haunted me for a while after we found out Niki was blind.
     If the only experience you've had with blindness is seeing a
man begging on a city street, you're hardly going to feel excited
about your child's future. And if the parent doesn't have a
positive image of blindness, how can the child hope to develop a
positive self-image?
     As we began to deal with blindness, we were full of
questions. We wondered what children with little or no sight are
really like. Do they live in a world of darkness? Do they grow
and develop like other children? Where do they go to school? Do
blind people ever get married? How do they earn a living? Can
they be happy? Can they live independently? What will happen to
my child when I die?
     When we finally decided Niki was going to stay blind, we
began to look for help. I made a form letter requesting
information and sent it everywhere. Then one day I got a phone
call from the National Federation of the Blind. This was a
turning point for me and for my daughter Niki.
     Through the Federation I have met successful blind
individuals from all walks of life and from all over the country.
By observing and interacting with these people, I have been able
to revise my perceptions of blindness. Reading about it in a book
will teach you in your head, but by living it, you learn it in
your heart.
     Children learn what they live. I want my child to know in
her heart that she can be successful and independent because she
has grown up watching successful and independent blind adults
around her.


[PHOTO #22/CAPTION: Don Capps]
          SOUTH CAROLINA WELCOMES FIFTY-SECOND CHAPTER
                       by Donald C. Capps

     From the Editor: Don Capps, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of South Carolina and the senior member
of the NFB's Board of Directors, recently presided at the
organizing of that affiliate's fifty-second chapter. No other
state comes close to having that number of chapters. Don writes a
weekly memorandum to affiliate leaders, called "A Positive Note."
It is lively and interesting. The week following the chapter
organizing he wrote the following "Positive Note," which captures
the flavor of the community home of South Carolina's newest
chapter. This is what Don says:

     For the first time historic Fairfield County now has its own
organization of the blind. Tuesday evening, April 23, the fifty-
second chapter of the NFB of South Carolina was established,
climaxed by a dinner meeting at a Winnsboro restaurant. Having a
population of only 3,500 in Winnsboro and the entire Fairfield
County area having a population of some 20,000, there was an
excellent turnout of twenty-eight persons at the organizing
dinner. Some of Fairfield County's most prominent families were
represented. The chapter has excellent leadership. Officers
elected include Kenny Branham, President; Lorena Marthers, Vice
President; Diane Williams, Secretary; David Douglas, Treasurer;
and Larry Prioleau, Social Director. To her credit and with the
strong support of her husband Kenny, Eileen Branham was
instrumental in forming the chapter. Eileen explained it this
way: extremely concerned over the diminishing vision of Kenny,
Eileen was recently flipping through the Columbia telephone
directory (she works in Columbia) and came across the listing of
Rocky Bottom Camp for the Blind. She immediately telephoned the
Federation Center and talked with our Administrative Assistant,
Carol Hendrix, who assured her that an NFB of South Carolina
official would go to Winnsboro and meet with Kenny to discuss his
recent blindness.
     About one month ago Betty and I traveled to Winnsboro and
had a good visit with Kenny. While in Winnsboro we reserved a
restaurant for the organizing dinner. From that point, with
strong support from the NFB Center staff, we began making
contacts with blind citizens throughout Fairfield County.
Attending Tuesday evening's dinner were the Honorable Tim Wilkes,
Member of the General Assembly, and the Honorable Mary Lynn
Kinley, member of Fairfield County Council, both residing in
Winnsboro. Both Representatives Wilkes and Councilwoman Kinley
addressed the gathering and pledged their wholehearted support.
As a matter of fact, both enthusiastically joined the chapter.
All day Tuesday we called upon several blind residents of
Winnsboro. Betty and I were joined by Eric Duffy of Columbus,
Ohio, Treasurer of the Columbus Chapter and Director of Field
Services of the NFB of Ohio. Eric arrived over the weekend,
spending the entire day Monday at the Federation Center, where
David Houck and Mrs. Hendrix spent considerable time with him to
show him how the NFB of South Carolina operates. Barbara Pierce,
President of the NFB of Ohio, had requested me to permit Eric to
observe how we organize chapters. Eric now knows.
     Winnsboro is one of the state's most historic towns,
established in 1785. The Fairfield County Courthouse, located in
Winnsboro and constructed in 1823, was designed by the famous
South Carolina architect Robert Mills, who studied with President
Thomas Jefferson. Mills also designed the Washington Monument.
The Robert Mills house of Columbia is a tourist attraction.
Winnsboro is the home of the longest continuous operating town
clock in the U.S. It has operated continuously since 1833, and
its works were made in France. Winnsboro is steeped in both
Revolutionary and Civil War history since battles were fought
there. The British General Cornwallis occupied a house still
standing on the downtown square. A number of antebellum homes
built around the town square continue to be much admired,
attracting many tourists.
     The NFB of South Carolina is very proud of its fifty-second
Chapter and cordially welcomes the Fairfield Chapter into our
ever-growing Federation family. We're confident the chapter will
enhance the quality of life for the blind of the area. Because of
the new chapter, both the NFB of South Carolina and our national
organization are bigger, stronger, and better.


                             RECIPES

     This month's recipes were submitted by members of the
National Federation of the Blind of Texas.

[PHOTO #23/CAPTION: Norma Crosby]
                  SOUR CREAM CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
                         by Norma Crosby

     Norma Crosby is the President of the Houston Chapter of the
National Federation of the Blind of Texas and a long-time leader
in the organization.

Ingredients:
1 chicken boiled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large bunch green onions and tops, chopped
1/2 stick margarine or  1/4 cup butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 16-ounce can tomato sauce
1 4-ounce can chopped green chilies, drained
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, grated
2 cups Longhorn or cheddar cheese, grated
1 pint sour cream
12 corn tortillas

     Method: Sauté onions and minced garlic in butter. Add tomato
sauce, green chilies, sugar, cumin, salt, oregano, and basil.
Simmer approximately fifteen minutes. In a separate bowl combine
the cheeses. Mix the chicken pieces with just enough sour cream
to moisten. Save the remainder of the sour cream.
     Dip each tortilla in hot tomato sauce to soften. Place a
portion of the chicken mixture on the tortilla and add a portion
of the cheese mixture. Roll up and place seam-side down in a
baking dish large enough to accommodate twelve enchiladas. Mix
remaining tomato sauce mixture with remaining sour cream and
spread over enchiladas, allowing mixture to seep between
tortillas. Top with remaining cheese. Cover and bake at 350
degrees for thirty to forty-five minutes.


[PHOTO #24/CAPTION: Zena Pearcy]
                        STUFFED JALAPENOS
                         by Zena Pearcy

     Zena Pearcy is a member of the Austin Chapter. She also
serves as chairperson of the NFB of Texas Parents Committee. Her
son Wayne addressed the NFB of Louisiana convention in April; his
remarks are reprinted elsewhere in this issue.

Ingredients:
1 9-ounce package cream cheese
 1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 can whole jalapeno peppers

     Method: Slice Jalapenos lengthwise. Remove seeds. Mix cream
cheese and pecans together in a bowl. Spoon mixture into
jalapenos. Serves 12 to 15 Yankees or two to three Texans.

[PHOTO #25/CAPTION: Mary Barker]
                         CANDIED PECANS
                         by Mary Barker

     Mary Barker is a member of the Wichita Falls chapter. Her
candied pecans are a favorite of the Texans who attend the
Washington Seminar.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
 2/3 cup sugar
4 cups pecans

     Method: Pour these ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to a
boil. Keep at a boil until all water has been absorbed by pecans.
Then pour onto cookie sheet. Spread pecans out evenly. Bake in
250 degree oven about thirty to thirty-five minutes, until they
are completely dry. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Very good
snacks.


[PHOTO #26/CAPTION: Mary Ward]
                       JALAPENO CORN BREAD
                          by Mary Ward

     Mary Ward is the First Vice President of the Austin Chapter.
She is a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin.

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone ground
 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 2/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup cream-style corn
 1/3 cup shortening or oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
Jalapeno peppers to taste, stems removed, seeded and chopped

     Method: Combine cornmeal, salt, and baking soda. Mix wet
ingredients. The amount of Jalapeno depends on who will be eating
the cornbread. You will need one for Yankees, a big fistful for
Texans. If you are using canned Jalapenos, be sure to drain them
very well. You may still have to reduce the liquid. Fresh ones
work much better. Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Pour
batter into a medium sized, greased 8- or 10-inch cast iron
skillet. You may also use a greased 8-inch square baking pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Bread should leave the
sides of the pan.


[PHOTO #27/CAPTION: Lola & Preston Pace]
                    MARINATED VEGETABLE SALAD
                     by Lola & Preston Pace

     Lola Pace is the immediate past President of the Wichita
Falls Chapter. Lola also serves as a Board member of the NFB of
Texas.

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped celery
1 chopped bell pepper
1 small can Le Sueur Peas
1 large can Shoe Peg Corn
1 large can French Style Green Beans
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 small jar chopped pimentos
1 cup sugar
 3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Method: Combine all vegetables, drain, and set aside until
marinade is ready. Combine last five ingredients in a saucepan.
Bring marinade mixture to a boil, remove from heat, and let stand
until cool. Then pour over vegetables. Store in refrigerator
several hours. Be sure hot mixture has cooled to keep crispness
in vegetables. This makes a large salad and will keep safely for
several days.


                              MIGAS
                          by Wanda Hamm

     Wanda Hamm is the President of the Austin Chapter of the NFB
of Texas. She has more recipes than Texas has cows.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 heaping tablespoon scallions, chopped
1 heaping tablespoon Monterey Jack cheese
3 eggs beaten
1 heaping tablespoon Longhorn cheese
2 corn tortillas

     Method: Melt the margarine in a small skillet over medium
heat. Grate the cheese. Add eggs, scallions, and cheeses.
Scramble the ingredients together until they are cooked. Add
tortillas (cut into quarters). Serve with fresh salsa. Serves
one.


                         MILLIONAIRE PIE
                          by Wanda Hamm

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
 1/3 cup crushed pineapple
 1/3 cup chopped cherries
 1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 8- or 9-inch pie crust

     Method: Blend milk and lemon juice together. Stir in
cherries, pecans, and pineapple. Mix well. Spoon mixture
carefully into baked pastry or graham cracker crust. Chill for
two hours. Garnish with additional cherries.


                       TEX-MEX HASH BROWNS
                        by James Campbell

     James Campbell is the Second Vice President of the Permian
Basin Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas.
He is active in chapter fund-raising and public relations. James
first developed the following recipe for inclusion in the
chapter's Variations recipe tape, which can be obtained from the
chapter for $5. The recipes, including this one, are easy to vary
by altering the herbs and spices.

Ingredients:
4 or 5 medium potatoes, washed, peeled, and grated or chopped
1 medium or large onion, chopped
2 or 3 tablespoons jalapenos or chili peppers (optional)
2 teaspoons chili powder
dash paprika
1 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste

     Method: Slice or chop jalapenos or chili peppers. Combine
these with onion, potatoes, and spices. Spray a large frying pan
with non-stick cooking spray. Heat a small amount of oil in the
pan over medium heat and add hash-brown mixture. Cook potatoes
fifteen to twenty minutes, or until mixture reaches desired
doneness. Serves four.


                 ** ** MONITOR MINIATURES ** **

[PHOTO #28/CAPTION: Donna Panaro]
** Correction:
     A miniature appeared in the April issue about Kristin
Panaro, a blind child from New Jersey. The picture accompanying
the miniature was of Valerie Ryan, incorrectly identified as
Donna Panaro, Kristin's mother. This is the picture which should
have been included. We apologize for the error.

** Brailler Repair Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Has your Perkins Brailler become a little sluggish? Is the
backspacer no longer reliable? Whatever problems you are having,
let Alan Ackley recondition it for you. Trained at Howe Press, he
uses only factory parts. A certified transcriber, he knows how
Braille should look. He has restored more than 1,000 Braillers
from over forty states and Canada. Fast turnaround, reasonable
charges, and all work is guaranteed. Call Ackley Appliance
Service at [phone], or write to 627 East 5th Street, Des
Moines, Iowa 50309. Look for Ackley Appliance Service in the
Exhibit Hall in Anaheim this summer.

[PHOTO #29/CAPTION: Pauline Gomez, 1920 to 1996]
** In Memoriam:
     From the Editor Emeritus: With the death of Pauline Gomez,
another of our stalwart members has passed from the scene. I
first met Pauline over forty years ago and enjoyed a close
friendship with her throughout the rest of her life. Some of the
words that come to mind when I think of Pauline are: vivacious,
open, sincere, gracious, determined, and generous. She was all of
those things, and much more. I mourn her passing as not only an
organizational but also a personal loss. Here is her obituary as
it appeared in the May 2 edition of the New Mexican:

     Pauline L. Gomez, 76, passed away at her home in Santa Fe,
Wednesday, May 1, 1996.
     Pauline was born in Moriarty, New Mexico, March 29, 1920.
     She was blind from birth.
     At the age of five, she was sent to the New Mexico School
for the Visually Handicapped in Alamagordo, graduating in 1940.
     She was the first blind student to attend the University of
New Mexico, graduating in 1945.
     In 1946, she started "Los Niños Kindergarten" which was a
learning center for hundreds of children for the next 30 years.
     In 1956, when the New Mexico Federation of the Blind was
organized, Pauline became a charter member. She attributed her
enthusiasm, dedication, and appreciation of life to her
membership in this organization.
     Pauline was an active member of the community. She was a
member of the Santa Fe Women's Division of the Chamber of
Commerce, the American Association of University Women, and the
St. Francis Cathedral Altar Society.
     Among her honors and awards are: Santa Fe Woman of the Year
in 1967; First runner-up of the Handicapped Woman of the Year;
first recipient of the Blind Educator of the Year; in 1985
Pauline was made a "Santa Fe Living Treasure."
     In 1989 Pauline was recognized in Newsweek magazine as a
national hero. Her work and efforts, as teacher and leader of New
Mexico's organization for the blind, earned her distinction as an
outstanding individual from New Mexico.

** Wanted to Buy:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     I am looking to buy an older model Optacon in good condition
at a negotiable price. I am willing to make weekly or monthly
payments, whichever the person requires. I will also be happy to
reimburse shipping and handling payments if needed.
     If anyone has an Optacon for sale, please contact Laura
Davis at 2103 Vernon Court, Louisville, Kentucky 40206, or call
[phone] after 4:00 p.m. EDT; or [phone], extension
443 (work, 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday).

[PHOTO #30/CAPTION: Melody Lindsey]
** Five New State Presidents Elected:
     The spring state convention season has brought a number of
changes in the list of affiliate presidents. Here is the list of
the new state leaders: Alaska, Melody Lindsey; Georgia, Leslie
Fairall; Nevada, Linwood Gallagher; Vermont, Sue Toolen; and
Utah, Kristen Jocums. Congratulations to each of these new
presidents.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     TSI Advantage CCTV system, including a clean 19-inch Sanyo
composite monitor and an automated "X-Y" viewing table. Used only
occasionally, the equipment is in excellent condition. Looks and
works like new. I am selling this very nice reading system merely
because I no longer have need of it. Functions include fully
adjustable magnification control, horizontal or vertical split-
screen capability, positive or negative image viewing for both
camera and computer input signals, on- or off-line guides,
single-line scrolling and a full spectrum of camera, computer,
and monitor video adjustment controls. Sanyo monitor is equipped
with an adjustable height and tilt monitor stand. Automated "X-Y"
table includes fully adjustable line spacing, reading rate, left
and right margin settings, and optional foot pedals for easy
hands-free automated operation. All necessary cables and owner's
manuals included. This outfit is great for reading, writing, or
doing those too-small-to-see crafts or household repairs. Asking
just $1,500 or best offer plus shipping. Must sell as soon as
possible.
     Interested parties should call or write Mr. John Chilelli,
1241 East 26th Street, Erie, Pennsylvania 16504, [phone]
between 5:00 and 11:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time.

** Supplies Needed for Blind Students in Lesotho:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     The Kingdom of Lesotho is a small country in southern
Africa. St. Catherine's Christian High School is located in
Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho. Out of ninety-two students
at the school, sixteen are blind. There are no special classes
for blind students, and they do not have any special equipment or
school supplies.
     The blind students need Braille writers, slates and
styluses, and Braille paper. Some Braille books could also be
useful.
     The Joint Ministry in Africa of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ will be
grateful for any donations of Braille writers, slates and
styluses, Braille paper, and books. Please send or bring your
donations to Joint Ministry in Africa, Disciples Center, 130 East
Washington St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46208. For further
information call Pat Sanborn at [phone], extension 287.
Thank you for your help.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     I have for sale a number of computer systems and
peripherals. While I have grouped them together logically and
would prefer to sell them as packages, I would be willing to
consider the sale of individual items if I am unable to sell the
packages. Make me an offer.
     1. Zeos 486/33 MHz computer with brand new one gigabyte SCSI
hard drive and its own Adaptec host adapter, 3.5- and 5.25-inch
floppy drives, eight megabytes of memory, NEC external triple-
speed CD-ROM drive with its own Trantor SCSI host adapter,
Creative Labs AWE32 Sound Blaster sound card, 28.8K-baud Telepath
internal (US Robotics) modem, Colorado Memory Systems Trakker 700
external tape backup unit, Trident SVGA color adapter, 14-inch
color monitor, three serial and one parallel port, DOS 6.22 and
Windows 3.1. I am asking $1500 or best offer for the whole thing.
     2. 486 DX/2 66 MHz IBM-compatible computer with brand new
Micronics motherboard, 4 megabytes of memory, 210-megabyte IDE
hard drive, Double Talk PC internal speech synthesizer, US
Robotics 16.8K-baud external modem, VGA color adapter and 14-inch
monochrome monitor, two serial and two parallel ports. I am
asking $1000 or best offer for this system.
     3. Packard-Bell 286 laptop with one megabyte of memory, 20
megabyte hard drive, built in 3.5-inch floppy drive, external
5.25-inch floppy drive, built-in 2400 baud modem, DOS 6.22, and
carrying case. The system weighs approximately 14 pounds, and I
am asking $250 or best offer.
     You can send me e-mail at [e-mail] or write me
at David Andrews, 1776 St. Clair Ave., Apartment 304, St. Paul,
Minnesota 55105; or call David Andrews evenings and weekends at
[phone]. You can also leave me a message on NFB NET by
calling [phone].

** Now Available:
     National Braille Press has compiled the first-ever 1996
Blind Community E-mail Directory containing close to 600 e-mail
addresses of blind individuals and blindness-related
organizations. Send for your copy in Braille or on disk for $9,
or in print for $12 (includes postage).
     The 1996 AT&T Area Code Handbook, containing the latest area
code listings by city and state, is now available in Braille (two
volumes) or on disk for $4.95 from National Braille Press.
     Send your orders to National Braille Press, 88 St. Stephen
Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, [phone], fax (617)
437-0456.

** Radio and Electronics Catalog Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     FM Atlas in Minnesota has a new radio and electronics
catalog in print. By early summer the tape version will be
available, and any member can write or call to request a copy.
The cost is $2.
     Included in the catalog is a radio that both the
manufacturer and I think will be a good performer for blind
people. It is the Reel Talk Radio Talk Show Timer-Recorder, which
records at ½ speed. It was designed to record talk shows, and I
offer it modified with an FM/SCS circuit so that it will play and
record reading services to the blind. The special switch
positions added to the machine are Brailled. The Reel Talk RT-101
is $118 postpaid with modification. That price is less than the
normal list price for the radio-recorder alone. Some of the units
are refurbished by my young technician. Contact FM Atlas at P.O.
Box 336, Esko, Minnesota 55733-0336, or call [phone]. VISA
or MasterCard is accepted.

[PHOTO #31/CAPTION: Pat Barrett]
** Teaching with Thank-yous:
     Pat Barrett is a long-time Federationist who is now an
active member of the National Federation of the Blind of
Minnesota. He takes seriously his responsibility to educate the
public about blindness and the abilities of blind people. He
looks for opportunities to do the job,and he takes advantage of
the chances he gets. The following letter is a case in point:

To Whom It May Concern:
     My daughter had the opportunity last week to see your "Body
Works" presentation during a school field trip. I happened to be
looking through the workbook she brought home and saw pages
discussing Braille. My wife and I are both blind.
     On page 12, I read the following sentence, "Braille is an
alphabet used by people who are partially sighted or blind." My
wife and I were very pleased that you worded the text this way
for two reasons. First, it tells it like it is and does not add
the mystery and drama that is too often made about blindness in
publications. Second, you are to be commended for including
partially sighted people in that statement. A tragedy concerning
literacy exists in this country. Partially sighted school kids
are frequently not taught Braille along with print. My wife and I
would be more literate in Braille today for work and leisure if
we had been taught Braille consistently in school.
     Thank you for your matter-of-fact treatment of Braille. It
is refreshing to see publications (particularly those designed to
teach children) that tell it like it is about blindness.
     All of my family are active members of the National
Federation of the Blind, the largest organization of blind
persons in this country. I have shown the workbook to our local
chapter President Peggy Chong. She, too, was pleased with the
publication and will be contacting you about it.
     Keep up the good work.
                                                       Sincerely,
                                                  Patrick Barrett
                          Member, Metro Chapter, NFB of Minnesota

** Raised-Line Maps and Drawings Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     The Princeton Braillists announce the completion of a four-
volume atlas and a volume of basic human anatomy drawings which
can be useful to blind students in any health or biology class.
     The Atlas of North and South America is divided into three
units. Unit 1, Northern North America. This unit, complete in
Volume I, contains fifty-nine pages with twenty-two maps. It
includes overall political, physical, and special purpose maps of
the United States and Canada, showing boundaries, mountains,
rivers and bodies of water, elevation, major cities, climate,
land use, and resources. Tables of important facts are included.
     Unit 2, the United States. This unit, complete in Volumes II
and III, contains one hundred twenty-four pages with fifty maps.
The United States is divided into six regions. Volume II includes
Northeast, Southeast, and Middle West. Volume III includes
Southwest, Rocky Mountain Region, and Pacific Coastal Region.
Maps for each region show state boundaries, capital cities and
transportation centers, mountains, rivers, bodies of water and
other physical features, vegetation, resources, and farm
products. A table of important facts is given for each region.
     Unit 3, Middle and South America. This unit, complete in
Volume IV, contains fifty-one pages with twenty maps. It includes
political, physical, and special-purpose maps plus tables of
important facts for Mexico, Central and South America, and the
Caribbean Islands.
     The information in these maps is based on and adapted from
Heath Social Studies Classroom Atlas, published by D.C. Heath &
Company, 1987. Each unit is self-contained and can be used alone.
The price of the four-volume atlas is $50, plus $6 packaging and
shipping. Individual volumes may be ordered for $15 each, plus $4
shipping. Allow four to six weeks for delivery.
     Basic Human Anatomy is an eighteen-drawing, thirty-one-page
supplement of tactile drawings that show cross-sectional views of
the head and brain, nose-mouth-throat, tooth, respiratory tract,
heart, digestive system, villus, urinary tract, kidney, nephron,
nerve, eye, ear, skin, male and female reproductive systems, and
fetus in the womb.
     Drawings are labeled with keys that give both the technical
term and the familiar name; no other descriptive material is
included. These drawings are useful for health, general science,
biology courses, or for general knowledge beginning at the grade-
school level.
     The price of this supplement, including packaging and
shipping, is $15. Address all orders with check to the Princeton
Braillists, 28-B Portsmouth Street, Whiting, New Jersey 08759.
For additional information call Ruth Bogia at [phone] or
Nancy Amick at [phone].

** New Check Register Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Our new large-print check register was designed with the
same attention to detail as our large-print daily appointment
calendar: bold lines and headings (20-point print), plenty of
room to write, and heavy-weight paper with no show-through even
when you use a bold line pen. Each register has room for 280
entries. You'll love the convenience of having a check register
that allows you to write and read with ease. Money management
will be a pleasure rather than a chore. Order your large-print
check register today. The cost is $7.50 each and includes tax,
shipping, and handling. Send your order to Visually Unique, P.O.
Box 2841, Dallas, Texas 75221-2841.

** Corrections:
     We incorrectly listed Patrick Gormley's zip code as it
appeared in the May issue notification about acquiring copies of
Tips for Tough Times prepared by the Maryland Attorney General's
office. The correct zip code is 20782, and the extension is 3808.
The file name of the March issue of the publication on NFB NET
and other handicapped-related electronic bulletin boards is
ttt0396.zip. All subsequent file names will be ttt followed by
month and year.
     Also Noble Melegard's recipe for potato soup should have
included one stick of butter or margarine in the list of
ingredients.

** New Jett Enterprises Catalogue Coming Soon:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Coming in September is the No Frills, Just Priced Right,
free cassette or 3½-inch diskette catalog. We offer over 300
exciting products for everyday living and a collection of special
gifts for all occasions. We have expanded our selection of
liberating products to include specific items that many of our
customers have requested.
     Our goal is quality merchandise at prices that are just
right. When requesting your free cassette or 3½-inch diskette
catalog, please call [phone], fax [phone], or write
Jett Enterprises, 3140 Cambridge Court, Palm Springs, California
92264. If you are already on our mailing list, you will
automatically receive our catalog in September. We do not ship
outside the U.S. Please let us know if you have a change of
address. We are here to help you and look forward to your call.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     GE Monaural, 4-track cassette recorder, excellent condition;
Braille, print, cassette instructions; voice and tone indexing
capability. Plays and records 2- and 4-track cassettes, auto
shut-off, built-in mike, ear phone, eight hours of recording on a
charge, input and output jacks, six hours of recording on a 90-
minute tape. Maintained thus far by AFB. $125 firm. Call Tim Hunn
at [phone].

** Elected:
     Karen Mayry, President of the National Federation of the
Blind of South Dakota, reports the affiliate's election results:
Karen Mayry, President; Eileen Tscharner, Vice President; Denise
Jones, Secretary; and Ken Rollman, Treasurer. Peggy and Irene
Klimisch and Minnie Erickson will serve as members of the Board
of Directors.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     I have for sale a Perkins Braille writer for $300. I also
have an electric- and battery-operated Canon typewriter for $100.
Contact Jake E. Miller, 434 N. Washington St., P.O. Box 50011,
Millersburg, Ohio 44654, [phone].

** New Chapter:
     Eric Field, President of the new Porter County Chapter of
the National Federation of the Blind of Indiana, reports that the
chapter was formed on March 30, 1996. The new officers are Eric
Field, President; Christina Saxton, Vice President; Debby
Lombardi, Treasurer; and Ron Saxton, Secretary. Congratulations
to the members of the Porter County Chapter.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     For sale: Cardinal 2400 bps internal modem, US Robotics 9600
bps external modem, Artic Symphonix 210 speech card, and complete
Arkenstone ScanJet Plus scanner. Please make an offer on each
item. Call Bryan Sattler at [phone]. Internet address is
[e-mail]

** Book-Ordering Service Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Undercover Book Service obtains books for customers who want
delivery and know what they want without browsing in a bookstore.
We will order any book in print, and we even find second-hand
copies of out-of-print titles. Prices are comparable to those in
bookstores.
     For the convenience of our customers, we keep their
addresses and billing information on file. We accept MasterCard,
VISA, and American Express. We take orders by phone, fax, postal
mail, and e-mail. We ship via postal book rate, priority mail,
and UPS. Contact Undercover Book Service at 21899 Rye Road,
Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122, [phone], [phone] (USA),
[phone] (fax), or e-mail [e-mail]

** RFPI Quarterly Magazine and Program Available in Accessible
Formats:
     Timothy Hendel has asked us to carry the following
announcement:
     Radio For Peace International (RFPI) is a shortwave station
which broadcasts from Costa Rica and can be picked up by anyone
in North America who has a shortwave radio. They broadcast
programs about peace, the environment, tolerance, and other
progressive topics. Jean Parker, a blind person from Colorado,
produces a weekly program about disability. There is a special
women's program called FIRE (Feminist International Radio
Endeavor). Most programs are in English; some are in Spanish.
     RFPI is member-supported, just like National Public Radio.
Members receive a quarterly publication telling about the RFPI
programs and containing articles about the station and its
concerns.
     I am on the advisory board of RFPI. In order to include more
people, RFPI will send the quarterly magazine on tape to anyone
who joins and says that he or she is blind or wants the
publication on tape. The list of programs is also available in
Braille. The announcers at RFPI record the tape, and I duplicate
and mail it. I also produce the Braille schedule.
     Anyone who wishes to join should send a $35 check to Radio
For Peace International, P.O. Box 20728, Portland, Oregon 97294.
Anyone who does not wish to join until hearing a sample of the
tape or reading a sample Braille schedule can contact Timothy
Hendel in any format, including phone [phone]. Send a C90
tape, and you will receive a copy of the current issue of the
RFPI magazine. It is not necessary to send anything in order to
receive the Braille schedule.

** Hoping to buy:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Used Braille printer wanted. Contact Ziya and Tulay Senturk
at 121 Sponable Street, Marengo, Illinois 60152, or call (815)
568-2911.

** Lake Tahoe Tour Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Lake Tahoe Travel in conjunction with the Resort at Squaw
Creek presents Lake Tahoe tours for the visually impaired by John
Curletto. Land packages only from $379 (per person, double
occupancy). Remaining tour date is September 6-7, 1996. Package
includes sighted guides for activities, two nights' lodging at
the resort at Squaw Creek and hotel tax, welcome reception, and
orientation at Resort at Squaw Creek. Features included are river
rafting on the Trucker River (may substitute with another
activity depending on conditions), dinner/dancing cruise on the
Tahoe Queen (cost of dinner not included), driving tour to south
Lake Tahoe/visit to south Lake Tahoe casinos, all transportation
included to and from activities.
     Tour leader John Curletto has been visually impaired since
the age of four.
     Air packages are available. For rates and reservations call
Lake Tahoe Travel at [phone] or [phone]. Single
rates are available. Experience the Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake
Tahoe's finest deluxe resort.

** For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     For sale: American Vest Pocket Dictionary (seven Braille
volumes); Swan 500C amateur radio transceiver, 10-80 meters
coverage with matching power supply, speaker, hand-held
microphone, and TV interference filter (a valid amateur radio
license is required); Paragon stereo audio mixer (connects to
receivers, tuners, tape decks, turntables, and microphones); 13-
inch black and white C-Tech 20-20 CCTV (used only a few hours);
EVAS 286 IBM-compatible computer with color monitor, Artic Vision
speech program, Sonix speech synthesizer card, WordPerfect 5.1,
and medical software; LP records from the '60's through the '80's
of mostly rock and country music. (Wish to sell in lots.)
     To discuss prices and availability of these items,
correspond in any medium except handwriting to Barry and Louise
Wood, 6904 Bergenwood Avenue, North Bergen, New Jersey 07047-
3711, or call [phone] after 5:30 p.m. EST and any time on
weekends. A donation will be made to this organization on items
sold.

** Leber's Congenital Amaurosis Network Established:
     Colleen Wunderlich has asked us to carry the following
announcement:
     I'm establishing a support network for individuals with
Leber's Congenital Amaurosis. This is a rare autosomal recessive
disorder which results in abnormally developed rods and cones on
the retina. This condition causes blindness or visual impairment.
Other symptoms may occur in conjunction with affected vision,
such as kidney disease and facial malformation.
     Many hereditary disorders, such as macular degeneration,
Marfan Syndrome, and retinitis pigmentosa have already
established support networks. A Leber's network has not yet been
established.
     The objective of this network is to provide a way in which
affected individuals can receive information about Leber's, such
as its symptoms and mode of inheritance as well as the latest
research updates. Patients and their families may also work
together to obtain funding for increasing the amount of research
on the genetic causes of Leber's as well as possible cures.
Members can also relay information about educational resources,
discuss common interests or hobbies, and give and receive advice
about issues associated with blindness.
     If you are affected with Leber's or if you have an affected
family member or friend, please contact Colleen E. Wunderlich for
further information. Contact her at Johns Hopkins Hospital,
Maumenee Building, Room 517, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore,
Maryland 21287-9237, [phone].