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                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR



                    Kenneth Jernigan, Editor
                Barbara Pierce, Associate 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THE BRAILLE MONITOR
A PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                            CONTENTS

                                                    JANUARY, 1993

THE MEETING OF THE WORLD BLIND UNION AND RELATED MATTERS
by Kenneth Jernigan

NORTH AMERICA/CARIBBEAN REGIONAL REPORT
by Kenneth Jernigan

READING THE LITERATURE
by Robin Zook

THOMAS PRYOR GORE: "THE BLIND ORATOR"
by Sharon Gold

THE VERDICT IS IN
by William D. Meeker

WHO WAS TAKEN FOR A RIDE?
by Elizabeth J. Browne

BOLDLY GOING WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE
by Susan Povinelli

WHAT DISABLED STUDENTS' SERVICES ARE AND WHAT THEY SHOULD BE
by Marci Page

JOB HOLDS MEETING FOR BLIND ARTISTS AND CRAFTSPEOPLE
by Lorraine Rovig

AGRICULTURAL and EQUESTRIAN GROUP MEETS
by Lorraine Rovig

STEINWAY ACKNOWLEDGES COMPETENCE OF BLIND TUNERS
by Stanley Oliver

ROME, JEWELRY, AND JANET CARON

ALABAMA AGENCY CHARGED WITH CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION
by Peggy Pinder

THE MAJOR INGREDIENT

BOOK REVIEW OF SOLUTIONS: ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE
BLIND
Reviewed by David Andrews

RECIPES

MONITOR MINIATURES

SOCIAL SECURITY, SSI, AND MEDICARE FACTS FOR 1993

     Copyright National Federation of the Blind, Inc., 1993
[2 LEAD PHOTOS: 1) Dr. Jernigan and others sit at the front table
on the stage in the assembly hall at the Third General Assembly
of the World Blind Union with the World Blind Union banner in the
background. CAPTION: The Third General Assembly of the World
Blind Union convened in Cairo, Egypt, during the first week in
November of 1992. 2) The NFB delegation to the World Blind Union,
seated on camels in front of a pyramid.  CAPTION: The National
Federation of the Blind delegation to the Third General Assembly
of the World Blind Union in Cairo not only attended meetings but
also took an afternoon to visit the pyramids and ride on camels.
From left to right: Kenneth Jernigan; Mary Ellen Jernigan;
Patricia Miller; Don Capps; Betty Capps; and Marc and Pat Maurer,
who shared a camel.]

[PHOTOS: 1) Dr. Jernigan shakes hands with Turgut Ozal. CAPTION:
Turgut Ozal, the President of Turkey, talks with Kenneth
Jernigan. 2) Dr. and Mrs. Jernigan stand with two Turkish boys,
one of whom is holding a bag of tops and the other a fold-out
postcard. CAPTION: The spirit of business enterprise is alive and
flourishing in Turkey. Two small boys talk to Kenneth and Mary
Ellen Jernigan about buying postcards and a top as the Jernigans
get ready to enter a mosque in Istanbul. 3) Dr. and Mrs.
Jernigan, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ghanim, and Saleh Al-Majid stand in
front of the Sheikh's home. CAPTION: Standing in front of the
home of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ghanim in Amman, Jordan, are (from
left to right) Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ghanim, Kenneth Jernigan, Mary
Ellen Jernigan, and Saleh (Sammy) Al-Majid. 4) Dr. Jernigan
riding a camel. CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan rides a camel near the
ruins of Petra in Jordan. 5) Mr. and Mrs. Maurer mounting a
camel. CAPTION: Marc and Patricia Maurer prepare to ride a camel
near the pyramids in the outskirts of Cairo. 6) A pyramid.
CAPTION: Some of Egypt's most impressive pyramids are near Cairo.
7) Mr. Maurer is seated at a table with Mrs. Maurer standing
beside him. CAPTION: Marc and Patricia Maurer at the United
States table at the World Blind Union meeting in Cairo. 8) David
Blyth seated at a table. CAPTION: David Blyth of Australia will
serve as President of the World Blind Union from the fall of 1992
to the fall of 1996. 9) Dr. Jernigan and Mrs. Mubarak. CAPTION:
Kenneth Jernigan has just spoken with Mrs. Mubarak, the First
Lady of Egypt, as she goes through the receiving line to meet the
officers of the World Blind Union on November 2, 1992, the
opening day of the Third General Assembly of the WBU in Cairo.]


THE MEETING OF THE WORLD BLIND UNION
                       AND RELATED MATTERS
                       by Kenneth Jernigan

     As Monitor readers know, the International Federation of the
Blind and the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind came
together in 1984 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to form the World Blind
Union. Although the National Federation of the Blind was a member
of both founding organizations, we did not for a number of
reasons attend the Riyadh convention. At a meeting in Washington
late in 1984 the North America Region (consisting of the United
States and Canada) met for the first time, elected officers, and
began to function. Bill Gallagher, the head of the American
Foundation for the Blind at the time, was elected Regional
President, and I was elected to the Executive Committee.
     The World Blind Union is structured to emphasize the
importance of its regions. There are seven of these regions:
Europe, Africa, the Middle East, East Asia/Pacific, Asia, Latin
America, and North America (which in 1986 became North
America/Caribbean). The WBU officers consist of those elected at
the General Assembly every four years (President, Vice President,
Secretary General, and Treasurer) plus the immediate past
President and the seven Regional Presidents. The Executive
Committee consists of the officers plus three additional members
from each region and one representative from the international
members. Thus, there are thirty-four members of the Executive
Committee, including the twelve officers.
     From its beginning in 1984 our regional organization has
functioned constructively and well. As to the World Blind Union
at the international level, my first real contact with it came
during the meeting of the WBU Executive Committee in New York in
1986. At that time Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ghanim of Saudi Arabia was
President. It was at that meeting that Pedro Zurita of Spain was
elected Secretary General. The New York meeting was more than a
little chaotic, and a number of us wondered where the
organization was attempting to go and whether it would get there.
     In 1987 Bill Gallagher resigned as Regional President, and I
was elected to fill his unexpired term. Elections occur every
four years, and I was returned to office as Regional President in
the fall of 1988, and again this year. Therefore, my term is
scheduled to continue until the time of the General Assembly in
1996.
     The second General Assembly of the World Blind Union was
held in Madrid in the fall of 1988, and we sent a sizable
delegation. Duncan Watson, the Chairman of the Royal National
Institute for the Blind of the United Kingdom, was elected
President, and Dr. Euclid Herie of the Canadian National
Institute for the Blind was elected Treasurer. Enrique Elissalde
of Uruguay was elected Vice President, and Pedro Zurita was
returned to office as Secretary General.
     The third General Assembly was held in Cairo during the
first week of November of 1992, and seven of us attended from the
NFB: Mrs. Miller, who is a member of the staff at the National
Center for the Blind; Don and Betty Capps; President and Mrs.
Maurer; and Mrs. Jernigan and I. I am writing this article to
give you my overall impressions of the Cairo meeting and to tell
you something about the places I visited en route.
     It is no secret that airplanes and I don't get along, but on
a trip like the one to Cairo there isn't any reasonable
alternative. Also, if you select your itinerary carefully, it is
just about as cheap to make several stops along the way to study
programs for the blind and meet new people as it is to go
straight from Baltimore to Cairo--so that is what Mrs. Jernigan
and I did.
     We left Dulles airport on Lufthansa Airlines on Monday
evening, October 19, for an overnight flight to Frankfurt, where
we transferred to another Lufthansa plane for Athens. Larry
Campbell, who heads up Perkins's overseas program and seems to
know everybody in the world connected with blindness, had made
arrangements for us to have a guide and interpreter in Greece.
She was Christiana Zotou, and a very conscientious and capable
guide she proved to be. We stayed in Athens from Tuesday
afternoon, October 20, (Mrs. Jernigan's birthday) until Friday
morning, October 23--and our visit was not only enjoyable but
extremely productive.
     Let me give you a few impressions and then tell you
something about the people we met and the programs we saw.
Remember that what I am going to say reflects only my own
personal opinions and observations. Athens is one of the most
crowded cities I have ever seen--so much so, in fact, that cars
with even-numbered license plates are permitted in the downtown
area one day and those with odd-numbered plates the next. There
is such a continuing influx of people from the rural areas that
the government tries to provide financial incentives to get them
to move back to the villages--with, I might add, limited success,
judging from the crowds I saw. When I use the word incentives, I
do so advisedly; for if you are drawing any kind of government
subsidy (assistance to the blind, for instance), you get maybe
twice as much if you live in a rural area as if you live in
Athens.
     Since Greek food has always been a favorite of mine, I had
looked forward to eating at an authentic Greek restaurant. We
have a fine one here in Baltimore, and before going on the trip,
I asked the proprietor (a Greek native) to make suggestions. He
gave me the name of what he said was the best restaurant in
Athens, and I went there--but his restaurant in Baltimore is
better, much better. When I told my daughter this, she expressed
surprise. I asked her whether she thought if she went to Greece
and opened a restaurant featuring Southern cooking, the food
would be less authentic or tasty than it would if she cooked it
in Maryland--or, for that matter, Louisiana or South Carolina.
     Mrs. Jernigan and I spent the better part of a day with the
leaders of the Panhellenic Association of the Blind, the
counterpart of the National Federation of the Blind here in the
United States. The President, Elias Margiolas, is a very
knowledgeable, tough-minded individual, who knows what he wants
and is determined to get it. Some of the specifics of what the
organized blind of Greece are trying to achieve may differ from
those we are seeking, but the basic objectives are the same--
self-determination and control by the blind of their own destiny.
Moreover, it must be kept in mind that the economic conditions
and political climate make a difference. Here, in no particular
order, are some of the things Mr. Margiolas and his colleagues
told me:

     The law requires public and private employers to hire blind
telephone operators instead of sighted ones. Beginning this year
legislation has been passed exempting blind people from paying
income tax. The blind do not pay import taxes on cars. As with
the blind of our country, the blind of Greece are required to
work fewer years than others in order to earn enough coverage for
full retirement. The blind pay half-fares on public
transportation.

     Mr. Margiolas and his colleagues told me that the
Panhellenic Association was established in 1932 and that it
started local chapters about seven years ago. They said that
there are approximately 21,000 blind people in Greece and that
about 4,000 of them belong to the Association. The voting members
are blind, but there are sighted honorary members. Officers are
not paid, and I think I was told that there are ten local
chapters. As is often the case with organizations of the blind,
lack of money is one of the principal problems. However, the
Association does own a certain amount of real estate, from which
it gets rent to help with its expenses, and it is actively trying
to initiate new fundraising programs. I shared with them some of
the methods and techniques we are using. I felt real kinship with
these independent-minded blind people, who have organized for
self expression and are determined to control their own lives.
They are our kind of people.
     Mr. Margiolas made it clear that the Panhellenic Association
disagrees on many issues with the local Lighthouse for the Blind.
Apparently, however, there has been a recent move to engage in
dialogue and to try to resolve differences.
     The longtime head of the Lighthouse, Emmanuel Kefakis,
retired recently, and there is now an acting director. I met with
her for several hours and had a thorough tour of the Lighthouse.
In addition to the rather traditional sheltered workshop, there
are some interesting projects in electronics, as well as a
variety of other activities. Here is part of what the Lighthouse
brochure says. Keep in mind that this is the agency's evaluation
of itself, not necessarily what I can verify:

     The Lighthouse was founded in 1947. It provides, according
to the brochure, a variety of services, including:

     1. Sheltered workshops that employ about 35 persons on a
permanent basis, guaranteed legal wages, full social security,
and other benefits as provided by a labor law. Useful items such
as brushes and brooms manufactured at these workshops are
purchased through the provisions of a special law, by the armed
forces and other state agencies.
     2. A training program of switchboard operators, through
which 700 blind men and women have been trained, so far, as
telephone operators, of which 650 are already successfully
employed in public agencies, banks, hospitals, hotels, and
various private enterprises.
     3. A printing shop produces books in Braille. We are trying
to include in our publications representative books of
educational, scientific, technical, cultural, and recreational
value as well as music Braille books for piano, violin, guitar,
and accordion.
     4. A complete recording studio for the production of talking
books on tapes and cassettes. These comprise text books and other
reference books for blind students attending the university, as
well as literature and fiction.
     5. A lending library through which books in Braille and
talking books are loaned to interested blind readers.
     6. A Braille monthly magazine, edited and printed at the
center, is distributed free to blind persons all over Greece.
     7. An adjustment program for newly blinded persons ....
     8. A Department of Social Services, which deals with
problems of blind persons and their families (social case work).
     9. Since 1983 the Lighthouse for the Blind has become a
training center for social workers ....
     13. A training program for blind church cantors. Byzantine
music has traditionally been a vocational outlet for a small
number of blind persons. Some years ago a rehabilitation law for
the handicapped was passed which, among other things, provides
that all churches should hire preferably a blind cantor if such
qualified and trained persons are available ....
     15. Music is also taught.
     16. A folkloric song group, accompanied by an orchestra, has
been formed by blind singers and musicians whose objective is to
spread the knowledge of the genuine Greek music.
     17. A new training program of mechanical, electrical, and
electronic work has been started. The trainer is himself blind.

     This, in part, is what the Lighthouse says about its
programs. As I have already indicated, I spent only part of one
day at the Lighthouse and, therefore, cannot express an informed
opinion about the substance (or lack thereof) of some of the
items listed. Again I say that the leaders of the Panhellenic
Association of the Blind are critical of the Lighthouse programs
although, I gather, less so now than formerly. I have not given
the entire list of the Lighthouse catalogue of program
activities, but item 18 might be interpreted quite differently by
many of our members from the meaning which the Lighthouse
undoubtedly intends to convey. Here it is:

     18. Modern social philosophy and socio-economic changes
require a broader and more active participation of blind persons
in programs for their own welfare (self-help activities). Along
these lines we have organized a new Department for Public
Relations, Legislative and Social activities. Four blind persons
are in charge of this office, helped by a committee of blind
people with special skills. This Department is responsible for
cultural and social activities by and for the blind, pursues
legislation and regulations concerning the blind, and helps in
the solution of legal, social, or family problems for blind
individuals.

     This is a direct quote from the Lighthouse brochure. Whether
an agency doing work for the blind can meaningfully set up a
program to advocate for the blind and give the blind an
increasing say in their own affairs, or whether this is a job
that, by definition, the blind must do for themselves is not only
an open question in Greece but also here in the United States as
well. Certainly it is being debated and attempted in all of its
permutations, with little evidence that the final answer will
soon be given.
     The Lighthouse lists some of its other programs as follows:

     19. Establishment of a permanent exhibit and sales room for
the provision of modern technical and technological aids and
devices for the blind.
     20. A program for guide dogs, which has been established for
the first time in Greece.
     21. The Lighthouse for the Blind, bearing in mind the
technical difficulties which prevent blind persons from coming
into direct contact with the national treasures exhibited in our
museums, decided to open a tactual museum in which exact copies
of the most important statues, bas-reliefs, and vases are
reproduced and put on display in such a manner as to make it
possible for blind people from all parts of the world to enjoy
the aesthetic beauty of ancient Greek sculpture through the ages.

     This is an abbreviated list of what the Lighthouse says that
it does, and Mrs. Jernigan and I thoroughly enjoyed our tour and
found the staff friendly and hospitable. I should add one
personal footnote about the statues. There were quite a number of
them, and I have no doubt that they were visually appealing; nor
do I question that some blind people would find them
aesthetically pleasing. However, my peasant nature asserted
itself. I dutifully felt most of the statues--noses, ears,
foreheads, chins, arms, legs, and torsos--but I must confess that
I remained unmoved. The visual beauty eluded my tactual grasp,
which prefers the feel of glossy plastic or highly polished stone
or wood. I came away with nothing for my effort except dirty
fingers and an unenlightened mind. I also came away wondering
what blind people see in such things but with a sense of
satisfaction that I had at least shown good manners and given
polite attention. Ah, well! A peasant, when all is said and done,
is still a peasant--and there is no help for it.
     As I understand it, there are two residential schools for
the education of blind children in Greece, one in Athens and the
other in Thessaloniki. Each has something like a hundred
children. In addition, students are now being mainstreamed in the
upper grades. We visited the school in Athens and were favorably
impressed. When I go to such schools, I always like to visit the
bedrooms. You can tell a great deal about an institution by the
way the place smells, what kind of furniture there is and how it
is arranged, and whether the beds feel clean and well kept. From
my superficial examination, the school in Athens passed with high
marks. Of course, I was not there long enough to make definitive
judgments about the quality of the programs or the academic
excellence, but the children seem happy and loved. Regardless of
the efforts of staff, such things cannot be faked. By their
actions children tell you how they are treated and whether they
are respected. The climate was right for academic accomplishment,
and I suspect it is occurring.
     There is a good deal more that I could say about my
impressions of Greece, but space must be left for other portions
of the trip. On Friday morning, October 23, Mrs. Jernigan and I
left Athens for Istanbul on Olympic Airlines. We had not
originally intended to go to Turkey, but circumstances dictated
otherwise.
     In mid-September, two blind Turkish university students came
to the National Center for the Blind for a three-week training
period. There had been a Kurzweil reading machine in Turkey for
almost a year, but they did not know how to use it. Also they had
recently acquired an Arkenstone reader and needed to learn about
it as well. In addition, they wanted to work with the Braille 'n
Speak, and they also wanted help in mobility and to learn about
the programs of the Federation. During part of the time they were
with us, Fatos Floyd, who is a native of Turkey and grew up
there, came to the National Center to help with interpreting and
to give general assistance. It was a very successful experience.
     Kurzweil sent a representative to work with the students for
a day, and Blazie Engineering provided personnel to give
instruction on the Braille 'n Speak. In fact, Fatos and the
students, working in concert with Blazie personnel, modified the
Braille 'n Speak so that it can now function in Turkish. This was
accomplished in a single week of intensive effort.
     Shortly after the students returned home, I received an
invitation to give a lecture at Bosphorus University in Istanbul
and to hold meetings with officials of the Turkish government to
discuss programs for the blind. It seemed a good opportunity, and
since I was already going to that part of the world, I changed my
itinerary and agreed to go.
     One of those principally responsible for making the
arrangements was Arlene Brill, an American woman who teaches at
the Uskudar School in Istanbul. She and Emin Demirci, the
President of the Turkish Federation of the Blind, visited the
National Center for the Blind somewhat more than a year ago, and
she was the one who made the initial contacts for the Turkish
students to come last fall.
     Arlene and Emin met us at the airport in Istanbul, made most
of the arrangements for our itinerary while we were there, and
gave us hospitality of the type that engenders lasting
friendship. The Uskudar School is a truly unusual institution.
Until a few months ago, it was a girls' school, but it is now
becoming co-educational. All of the teachers are native American
speakers, and English is the only language used. Uskudar is said
to be the best school in the country, and I believe it. I was
told that competition for entrance is keen, that national tests
are given, and that only the top one percent of the applicants
are accepted. Students enter at about age eleven, and by the time
they finish high school, they speak flawless English, with
scarcely a trace of accent. In passing, it seems worth noting
that Fatos Floyd is an Uskudar graduate.
     I lectured at Uskudar and distributed NFB literature. Many
of these students will be the future leaders of Turkey, and it
seemed important to inform them about blindness and our
philosophy. Later, when I held a press conference (which received
a considerable amount of national coverage) Uskudar students did
the interpreting--and it was obvious that the job was done well.
     There were many high points of the Turkish visit, among
which were the following. We spent an evening with Fatos Floyd's
mother. She speaks no English, but there were a number of
competent blind university students to interpret. It was a
memorable occasion.
     The leaders of the Turkish Federation of the Blind and I
spent almost an hour with Turgut Ozal, the President of Turkey. I
told him about the organized blind movement in the United States
and talked to him about blindness in general. He was keenly
interested--in our philosophy, in technology that might be of
help to the blind, and in my ideas about programs which might be
put to use in Turkey. He was warm and friendly and did not rush
the conversation or show any hurry to break off the discussion.
It was a productive meeting, which I hope and believe will bring
beneficial results to the Turkish blind.
     On my last morning in Turkey I gave a lecture at Bosphorus
University. Arrangements had been made by the blind students who
attend the institution. There are between twenty and thirty of
them, and they demonstrate a high degree of initiative and
intelligence. They had made thorough and extensive plans, and
there were close to a hundred people in attendance. Although many
of those present spoke English, a number did not, and my remarks
were interpreted by one of the blind graduate students. Again I
distributed literature and established relationships which should
be ongoing and productive.
     Besides these group sessions I had a number of one-on-one
meetings with government officials, university personnel, and
civic leaders. Mrs. Jernigan and I also found time for a little
sightseeing and cultural enhancement. We visited mosques, early
Christian churches, and the bazaar. Yes! The bazaar! There were
crowds of people, narrow streets, small shops, and a freewheeling
atmosphere of bargaining and haggling for merchandise. It was a
delight and a joy.
     We never know when and where we will learn a new truth, or
have one that we already know confirmed and reinforced. This was
brought home to me quite forcefully as I was leaving the bazaar.
I was reminded, as I have often been before, that negative
attitudes about blindness are not innate. They are acquired--
learned from the culture and passed on from generation to
generation. Children, before they are corrupted, have no such
misconceptions.
     As we moved through the crowd on our way out of the bazaar,
we encountered a small boy (probably seven or eight) who was
selling tops. With no embarrassment and without a moment's
hesitation he took my hand and showed me how to hold the string
to make the top spin. He spoke only enough English to tell me how
much money he wanted, and I have no knowledge of Turkish--but we
communicated. He had absolutely no self-consciousness about my
blindness at all. He was simply a young entrepreneur trying to
make a sale--and although I had bargained vigorously in the
bazaar, I was so struck by his manner and initiative that I paid
him exactly what he asked without a word of protest. No, more
than that! I paid him with joy in my heart. Enterprise and proper
attitudes about blindness should be encouraged. If he keeps to
his present path, he may well be a future prime minister--or
maybe I am just a soft touch. On the other hand, he didn't want
very much--and later, when two boys (slightly older) tried to
fleece me as I was about to enter a mosque, they got different
treatment.
     I should discuss one more item concerning the Turkish
Federation of the Blind. Its leaders told me that a federal law
was passed ten or twelve years ago requiring that every
nonprofit, nongovernmental organization dealing with the same
issue or disability group must combine into one federation. Thus,
the Turkish Federation of the Blind has about eighteen
affiliates. Moreover, all disability groups must join into an
overall coalition of the disabled. Therefore, the Turkish
Federation is one of four components of the larger disability
group.
     Let me be clearly understood. The law of Turkey makes it
mandatory that the nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations
combine. There are civil and, for all I know, criminal penalties
for violation. I asked the Federation leaders what would happen
if ten or fifteen blind people decided to get together every
Monday for breakfast. They said this would be all right. Then
how, I asked, does the law work? They said that if a group simply
held an informal meeting there would be no problem but that if
that group wanted to raise any money or attempt in any way to
influence public policy or opinion, it must submit its
constitution to the government for approval and must combine with
all other groups purporting to work in the same area. Although
this system seemed strange to me, I did not hear a lot of
discussion about it, so I couldn't be sure of all of its
ramifications or how burdensome it was in actual practice.
     As was the case with Greece, there is much more I could say
about Turkey, but space has to be left for the rest of the trip.
On Monday, October 26, Mrs. Jernigan and I boarded a Turkish
Airlines plane for Amman, Jordan, where we were met by employees
of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ghanim and taken to his home. Although I
first met the Sheikh sometime during the 'sixties, I have only
truly come to know him since 1986. Since that time I have worked
with him on a continuing basis, and year by year my respect for
him has steadily increased. He has been the driving force in
making life better for the blind of the Middle East (and, for
that matter, in a number of other parts of the world), and he has
done so from motives of true generosity and concern for his
fellow blind. I have now visited Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
and Jordan--and in each of these countries there is clear
evidence of his energetic and imaginative work.
     The Regional Centre for Rehabilitation and Training of Blind
Girls in Amman is a perfect example. Mrs. Jernigan and I visited
the Centre and saw it in operation. It is impressive and is
obviously doing good work. Young blind women are brought in from
villages throughout the country and are given instruction in a
variety of skills and activities.
     Some of the training and routine is traditional in nature--
weaving, music, and the like--while other parts of the program
are innovative. Telephone switchboard training is emphasized, as
is the use of the knitting machine. I had never seen a knitting
machine. Through a series of levers and other controls it permits
the rapid mechanical knitting of sweaters and other items. The
instructor is blind and is obviously an effective teacher. I was
told that the machines are produced in Switzerland and cost about
$1,000 apiece.
     Each graduate of the course is given a knitting machine of
her own and start-up material for making sweaters and other
items. She works in her home and can sell the finished products,
going at her own pace. Alternatively the Centre will undertake to
sell the products for her. This is not merely a make-work
project. The sweaters are quality merchandise. Mrs. Jernigan
brought one home, and anybody would be proud to have it.
     As I have already said, we stayed with the Sheikh while we
were in Jordan, and he has a beautiful home. We talked
extensively about the upcoming meeting of the World Blind Union,
the future of the organization, and the situation of the blind
throughout the world. We also found time for a few normal tourist
activities.
     We went, for instance, to Petra, the historic site of a pre-
Christian civilization called the Naboteans. We saw an entire
city, much of it underground and accessible only through a
steeply descending narrow gorge. The guide told us that all of
the private rooms and public facilities were hollowed out of
solid rock by use of flint implements. The work obviously
involved decades (perhaps centuries) of patient labor. I examined
the rooms and carvings, and the experience was both unusual and
fascinating.
     There was something else on the Petra trip that I will
always remember. For the first time in my life I rode a camel--
as, incidentally, did Mrs. Jernigan. As far as I am concerned,
the camel is a much maligned and misunderstood (possibly even a
noble) creature. This camel did not (as the conventional wisdom
would have it) spit at me or try to bite. He did not smell bad,
show ill temper, or try to kick. In fact, he knelt down for me to
mount and laid his head peacefully on the sand. When I was on the
saddle (this, incidentally, was a one-hump camel, and the saddle
was on top of the hump), the camel sedately rose to his full
height, and we started the ride. For anybody who cares to know,
the camel gets up on his hind feet first, and then he gets up on
his front feet. It was a kind of rocking motion, and I was fairly
high in the air; but it was a thoroughly satisfying experience.
     While we were in Jordan, we also went to the bazaar, with
the usual fun of bargaining and haggling about prices--but all
good things must come to an end. So on Thursday evening, October
29, Mrs. Jernigan and I, Sheikh Al-Ghanim, and Saleh Al-Majid
(or, as most of us fondly call him, Sammy) boarded an Egypt
Airlines plane and headed for Cairo. The preliminaries were over,
and we were ready for the third General Assembly of the World
Blind Union.
     Certain things strike you immediately about Cairo. It has
between thirteen and fourteen million inhabitants, and every time
you get on the streets, you think at least half of those millions
are there with you--and I mean close at hand. Somebody said that
the only reason Cairo has red lights is so that you can fix blame
when an accident occurs--and I believe it. The traffic jams are
worse than New York; every motorist seems obsessed with the
notion of blowing his or her horn on a constant basis; and you
spend more time in gridlock than moving. This is not to criticize
Cairo or to say that it is unpleasant, for it isn't.
     Before I deal with the WBU business, let me get a few other
things out of the way. The NFB delegation went to a lovely
private home for an evening of dinner and conversation, and while
we were there, we not only had the unforgettable experience of a
charming hostess, tasty exotic food, and a palatial residence,
but also the excitement of a mild earthquake. The house shook,
and some of the lights went out; but as far as I was concerned,
it was better than riding in an airplane. At least, it didn't
last as long.
     We spent part of an afternoon going to the pyramids and
riding again on camels. In fact, the print edition of this
month's Monitor has a picture of all of us on our camels facing
the camera. With respect to the pyramids my peasant nature came
to the front again. I enjoyed climbing about a hundred feet up
the side of one, and I ventured a few steps into the entrance--
but I let Mrs. Jernigan, Mrs. Miller, and Mr. Maurer go the rest
of the way into the depths. As you entered the pyramid, you had
to stoop quite low and walk down a slanting board under a grubby-
feeling rock, which somehow jarred with my notion of the majesty
of it all. The Cappses, Mrs. Maurer, and I waited outside, and I
contemplated the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was
Rome--not to mention the splendor that was ancient Egypt, and
probably also Babylon and Nineveh into the bargain. Well, as I
have already said, a peasant is a peasant--and there is an end of
it.
     This is not to belittle the pyramids, even though I am not
moved to climb down inside of one. They are properly called one
of the Wonders of the World. We were told (and I believe it) that
the big one we visited right outside of Cairo required
unbelievable effort and ingenuity to construct--probably 100,000
men working for twenty years to put into place some 2,300,000
stones, each weighing 2-1/2 tons. The base of the structure
covers the area of several football fields, and it is as high as
a forty-story sky scraper. Time, sand, marauders, and tourists
have not been kind to the pyramids--but they still stand, a
monument to human labor and a symbol of spirit and imagination.
Let me revere them; let me admire them; let me marvel at them--
but let me not crawl around inside them. Solipsism would have
been understood by the pharaohs. Let it remain between them and
me.
     Finally, as in the other Middle East countries I visited,
there was the bazaar--filled with teaming humanity, crowded with
fascinating shops, and characterized by wonderful encounters in
the give and take of matching wits and bargaining for prices.
Give me the bazaar with its human drama, and I will forego the
rest. I remember the time at the end of the WBU meeting when Don
and Betty Capps and I went down a narrow crowded street into the
upstairs back room of a small shop and engaged in a thirty-minute
verbal combat with the shop's proprietor over the price of two
music boxes. We got the merchandise, and very nearly at the price
we offered--but I would have traded it all for the joy of the
doing.
     But enough! Let us turn to the WBU. The organization is now
on a firmer footing than it has ever been, but even yet I
sometimes have qualms. Over a hundred countries were represented,
and the participation was reasonably good--but the meetings tend
to be cumbersome. Undoubtedly this is partly due to the need to
speak slowly for the benefit of interpreters and to the problem
of differing languages, but that is only part of it. It seems to
me that the method of handling things and the style of chairing
are also contributing factors.
     As an example, consider the method of voting. We used a
secret ballot in electing the Vice President, the one office
which was contested--and I think it would require a good deal of
charity to say that the method was efficient. All delegates were
required to stay in their seats (yes, required), and the doors
were literally locked for several hours while we balloted. We
began with a roll call of more than 100 countries. As each
country's name was called, the election committee went to that
country's location and gave ballots to authorized delegates. Then
the roll was called again, and the same committee went back to
the same locations to collect the ballots. If paper ballots were
to be used, it would have been simple for the committee to have
stationed itself at a table outside the meeting room and let
delegates come there to vote. There was an approved list of
delegates and proxies, and it would have been no trouble to cross
off names as delegates put their marked ballots through a slot
into a sealed box. This would have allowed the business of the
organization to go forward without needless interruption,
avoiding the problem of having hundreds of delegates come from
all over the world at great expense to sit twiddling their thumbs
while the committee moved among the tables. What purpose was
served by locking the delegates in while the votes were cast is a
mystery to which I have no clue, but that is the way it was done.
     With respect to the rest of the voting, most of it was done
by voice, which seemed reasonable and efficient. However, the
style was one that we are not accustomed to. When the President
presided, he did not call for those in favor of a motion to vote
for it and those opposed to vote against it. Rather, he would
ordinarily say something to the effect, "Are you happy with
this?" or, "Do you agree?" He did not ask for a vote from those
who were not happy or who disagreed, and although there was very
often a clear majority of yeses, there were many times when the
yes votes seemed scattered and by no means conclusive. We were
told with some annoyance by somebody sitting near our delegation
that "This is the way we do it in our country," but it seemed to
many of us that it might have been fairer and more effective
simply to take yeses and nos.
     There was also the question of general leadership, and I say
this with full knowledge that I am one of the officers and,
therefore, supposedly one of the leaders. The handling of the
attempted amendment of the constitution is a case in point. At
the conclusion of the Madrid meeting in 1988 a committee was
appointed to review and revise the constitution. Eight people
were on that committee, of whom I was one. We met in Denmark in
the spring of 1990 and again in Baltimore in 1991. We worked for
several days at a cost to the organization (whether from the
individual countries or the WBU treasury) of probably at least
thirty thousand dollars. The committee's final draft (unanimously
agreed to) contained substantive amendments. The preliminary
document was presented to the WBU Executive Committee in 1990 in
Poland, and the final draft was discussed in detail at the
officers' meeting in Hong Kong in the fall of 1991. The finished
product was then signed by approximately a dozen of the
organization's leaders and circulated with an explanatory letter
to all of the delegates throughout the world.
     Yet, when we met in Cairo, almost nothing that had been
proposed was accepted. It is, of course, the right of a
democratic assembly to accept or reject the work of its leaders
or committees, but the method of handling and presentation
predisposed the outcome. The President decided that two or three
issues were the significant ones, took those out of context, and
presented them. Although there was relatively little public
objection, a number of the delegates later said that they felt
the procedure was unfortunate and unfair. Certain other
amendments (amendments, incidentally, which were favored by the
President) were offered as noncontroversial (even though some of
them were not) and summarily passed without discussion. The
greater part of the body of the proposed revisions was simply not
considered at all even though some of it certainly seemed to many
of us to be substantive and needed.
     As an example, the constitution now provides that countries
with fewer than two million people may combine to form a grouped
member if they wish. There is at present only one grouped member,
the Caribbean Council for the Blind. Both Jamaica and Haiti have
more than two million people, and the constitutional committee
thought (and there seemed no opposition to the idea) that the
population limit should be raised to solve the problem. Yet, this
amendment (which had been properly presented) was never even
allowed by the President to come to the floor for consideration.
     Let me be clear about the problem I am discussing. I am not
saying that any of the committee's proposals should have been
accepted or rejected. I am saying that the process was
ineffective and wasteful of money, money which is badly needed
for programs in developing countries. If a committee was to have
been appointed at all, if it was to meet in various parts of the
world and spend days and months of labor, and if it was to use
twenty or thirty thousand dollars of resources, the
organization's leaders should have supported its work and tried
to pass the amendments. If the argument is that the committee did
not produce the kind of revision that was wanted, the officers
should have seen that a different committee was appointed and
that it had different instructions, or they should have served as
the committee themselves. If it is argued that the amendments
were not needed in the first place, then the committee should
never have been appointed at all, and the time and money should
have been saved.
     I hope and believe that most of the World Blind Union
delegates agree with this position and that a valuable lesson has
been learned. If so, the money may have been well spent after
all, and the work of the committee may not have been in vain.
     Much that was constructive occurred during the meeting. For
one thing, I believe that there is now a better spirit of harmony
than we have ever had. I also believe that the new officers will
work well together. As expected, David Blyth of Australia was
elected President without opposition, as were Pedro Zurita of
Spain as Secretary General and Dr. Euclid Herie of Canada as
Treasurer. Rodolfo Cattani of Italy (in a contested election) was
chosen as Vice President. His opponents were Rajendra Vyas of
India and William Rowland of South Africa, but Dr. Cattani had an
absolute and sizable majority on the first ballot. Duncan Watson
will, of course, serve as an officer in his capacity as immediate
past President, and there will be a number of changes in the
Regional Presidencies. Geoffrey Gibbs of New Zealand is the new
President of the East Asia/Pacific Region; Sheikh Al-Ghanim has
again become President of the Mideast Region; Shahid Memon of
Pakistan was elected President in Asia; Enrique Elissalde is
President in Latin America; Samuel K. Tororei from Kenya is
President of the African Region; Arne Husveg remains President of
the European Region; and I continue as President of the North
America/Caribbean Region.
     As I have said, I think this group of officers will work
well together. We begin the quadrennium in better financial
condition than we have ever been. This is due to the work of many
people, including Arne Husveg and Sheikh Al-Ghanim, but much of
the credit must go to Dr. Herie. He has kept the books well and
has worked to achieve prudent fiscal management.
     One of the major factors contributing to the success of the
meeting was the work of Sheikh Al-Ghanim. His contacts are
widespread and influential, and his generosity is so consistent
that there is sometimes danger that it will be taken for granted.
He was in charge of convention arrangements, and they were well-
handled. There was a farewell dinner on a boat on the Nile, and I
heard nothing but praise for it. We were also honored by having
Mrs. Mubarak, the First Lady of Egypt, officially open the
meeting. She went through a receiving line of the officers, made
a speech to the delegates, and examined technology. During one of
the evenings the delegates were taken to the opera house to hear
a performance by the Nour Wal Amal all-blind-girls orchestra. As
with the dinner on the Nile, the comments were uniformly
positive. In fact, all of the details of the convention were
skillfully handled, and a considerable amount of the credit must
go to Dr. Mohammed Abdel Salam El-Banna, Consultant on
Rehabilitation to the Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs
for Egypt. Dr. El-Banna was in charge of the day-to-day
operation, and he was always present and consistently courteous
and helpful.
     We headquartered at the Semiramis Inter-Continental Hotel,
and there was plenty of space for the general sessions as well as
for committee meetings and exhibits. With respect to exhibits,
they were varied and interesting. There was a considerable amount
of new technology.
     I think most people left Cairo feeling that the third
General Assembly of the World Blind Union was a success. There is
already talk about the location for the fourth General Assembly
in 1996, and a number of cities and countries have submitted
invitations. Hong Kong has made a formal proposal, and Canada,
Columbia, and Singapore have indicated possible interest. The
officers hope to settle the matter within a few months so that we
will not face the kind of crisis which prevailed as we kept
trying to find a location for the third General Assembly.
     Mrs. Jernigan and I left Cairo on Sunday morning, November
8, on Lufthansa. We transferred in Frankfurt and arrived at
Dulles in mid-afternoon. It was a longer trip than I like to
take, but it was certainly interesting and worthwhile.
     As I conclude this report, I want to add a few comments
dealing with a variety of unconnected subjects. Here they are in
no particular order of importance:

     1. At future WBU conventions I think we should set aside all
(or, at least, the major part) of a day to visit local programs
for the blind. This will require extra arrangements for
transportation and will take time away from other program items,
but I think it will be a valuable addition and will meet with the
approval of the delegates.
     2. I have now flown with more airlines than I care to
remember, and I have some definite impressions. I have always
heard that Lufthansa and KLM were absolutely tops, but I have not
found it so. My Lufthansa flights on the Cairo trip were (to make
a bad joke) almost pedestrian. They were certainly not
outstanding, nor were the flights I have had on KLM or, for that
matter, SAS. Strange as some of those who are fond of looking
down their noses at anything American may find it, my best and
most courteous service on overseas flights has been on TWA and
Northwest. I hasten to add that Varig, the Brazilian airline, and
Cathay Pacific have been equally good.
     3. When I was in Denmark in 1990, I made a decision that I
have faithfully kept ever since. It happened like this. Almost
everyone who met us said something to this effect: "Welcome to
our wonderful and beautiful country." A few days later, when I
went to Sweden, I was told what a wonderful country Sweden was
and how much better than Denmark.
     That made me do some thinking. We Americans have fallen into
the habit of disparaging our country. Maybe we do it because
after the Second World War we had so much compared to the rest of
the world that we wanted to bend over backward to try not to act
superior. Perhaps we just got into the habit and never broke it.
Whatever the reason, it isn't helpful, and it doesn't reflect
reality. In many ways, and with all of its faults (and I have
some basis for judgment since I have been to almost thirty
countries) the United States is still the best place in the world
to live. We should not be cocky, but neither should we apologize
for being alive. We should be as proud of our country as others
are of theirs. I respected the Danish attitude, and I made up my
mind then and there that I would never say another disparaging
word about the United States when I was in a foreign country.
     4. While we're on the subject of things American and what is
and is not reality, let me deal with something else that, in my
opinion, is a myth. I refer to Swiss chocolate. I can hear the
howls of protest already, but I went to Zurich with an open mind-
-no, a prejudiced mind since I fully expected something
approaching perfection. I tasted--and it wasn't so. I believe
that many American chocolates are just as good as (and in some
cases better than) any Swiss chocolate that is made. If you doubt
it, make a test using unmarked samples and see for yourself--or
maybe this is simply my peasant nature again.
     5. On the other hand, I have always heard that British food
is unimaginative and dull. Not so. I have found some of the best
food I have ever tasted in both England and Scotland.
     6. Wherever I go in the world, I find blind people who read
the Braille Monitor on a regular basis. Almost without exception
they tell me that they find it helpful in dealing with their
local problems and in giving them encouragement. Therefore,
although I think we should do what we can to give financial
assistance, I believe the most important thing we can do to help
blind people in other countries is to see that the Braille
Monitor is made available to them, freely and in quantity. This
will be costly, but it will pay dividends, for us and for the
blind of the rest of the world.

     As I sat through the Cairo meetings, I reflected on the
changes which have come to the blind during the past fifty years.
In 1940 the National Federation of the Blind was just getting
started and was mostly a dream. Today it is a far-flung
organization with power and prestige. Now, it is the turn of the
World Blind Union. What will it be when it is fifty years old? No
one can be certain, but I suspect that we of the National
Federation of the Blind will have a say in the matter. Cairo was
interesting, but I am glad to be home.


[PHOTO: Dr. Jernigan seated at a table, behind a placard which
reads "Chairperson, Dr. K. Jernigan." CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan
chairs a plenary session at the meeting of the World Blind Union
in Cairo during the first week in November of 1992.]


             NORTH AMERICA/CARIBBEAN REGIONAL REPORT
                 by Kenneth Jernigan, President
                 North America/Caribbean Region
                        World Blind Union

                        Presented at the
                     Third General Assembly
                    Of the World Blind Union
                 In Cairo, Egypt, November, 1992

     When the International Federation of the Blind and the World
Council for the Welfare of the Blind met in Saudi Arabia in 1984
to merge and become the World Blind Union, there were more
questions than answers, but that was eight years ago. Today the
situation is entirely different. Although there are still
problems, the direction of the organization and its pattern of
operation are now well-established. As we meet here today in
Cairo in the fall of 1992, our task is to assess our performance
since 1984 and chart the course for the future.
     From the beginning the Regional Unions have been a key
factor in the total process. In this context and from this
perspective I bring you the report of the activities of the North
America/ Caribbean region for the past four years. We have a
total of twelve delegates--six from the United States, four from
Canada, and two from the Caribbean. Three of the delegates from
the United States (the one from the American Council of the
Blind, the one from the Blinded Veterans Association, and the one
from the National Federation of the Blind) represent
organizations of the blind. The other three (the delegate from
the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and
Visually Impaired, the delegate from the American Foundation for
the Blind, and the delegate from the National Library Service for
the Blind and Physically Handicapped) represent organizations for
the blind. Of the four delegates from Canada, two represent the
Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and two represent the
Canadian Council of the Blind. The remaining two delegates from
our region represent the Caribbean Council for the Blind.
     When we look back over the past four years, the
accomplishments of the North America/Caribbean region have been,
by any standard, impressive. Under the leadership of Dr. Euclid
Herie, treasurer of the World Blind Union, and chief executive of
the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, our region has
raised a considerable amount of money to endow the Louis Braille
Memorial at Coupvray, France. Today I am authorized to tell you
that our region is prepared to give during the present General
Assembly an additional $20,000 U.S. to the Louis Braille
Memorial. We invite other regions to join us in matching or
exceeding this commitment. In cooperation with our colleagues in
France, we intend to raise enough money throughout the world to
ensure the permanent financial security of the Louis Braille
Memorial and to make certain that this monument to one of the
principal benefactors of the blind continues in perpetuity.
Braille is a significant part of our heritage, and one of the
principal yardsticks for measuring the vitality and validity of a
civilization or culture is the degree to which it shows respect
and reverence for the ancestors who brought it into being. With
this in mind, and working with our colleagues in France, we in
the North America/Caribbean region intend to place the Louis
Braille Memorial on a firm and enduring foundation. We urge the
other regions to join us in this effort, and we feel confident
that they will.
     The principal accomplishment of our Regional Union during
the time since its establishment in 1984 has been the framework
that it has provided for cooperative effort and new initiatives.
A prime example is the work of the Committee on Joint
Organizational Effort, which grew out of a meeting in Montreal in
the summer of 1988 and has brought together most of the major
organizations of and for the blind in the United States and
Canada. This committee (the J.O.E. Committee) has led the effort
to improve Braille literacy in our two countries. As a result of
its work, the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress has developed a
Braille competency test, the successful completion of which we
are seeking to include as a part of the certification of all
teachers of blind children in the United States. We have not yet
fully achieved this objective, but we are well on the way to its
realization.
     A growing number of the states in the U.S. have adopted
legislation requiring that instruction in Braille be made
available to all blind and severely visually impaired children.
One would think that such laws would not be necessary, but
apparently they are--and our Regional Union has provided the
impetus to set things right.
     As part of our regional effort, the Committee on Joint
Organizational Effort was the springboard for the establishment
in May of this year of an organization called Friends of
Libraries for the Blind. Spearheaded by the National Library
Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, the National
Federation of the Blind, and the Canadian National Institute for
the Blind, this organization intends to promote and support
library service for the blind throughout the United States and
Canada.
     The Committee on Joint Organizational Effort has also taken
the lead in promoting technology in our region and in making
specialized tools and appliances available to the blind. In the
fall of 1991, the U.S./Canada Conference on Technology was held
at the National Center for the Blind in Baltimore. This meeting
was truly historic. It was the first time that the decision-
makers of the organizations of and for the blind and the vendors
of technology had ever come together to consider common problems.
More than fifty participants were present, representing most of
the major organizations, producers, and suppliers in the United
States and Canada. The real significance of the meeting was the
fact that all those who were there had the power to decide and
commit. It was not merely a meeting concerning technology but the
coming together of an entire field to discuss problems and take
action. Another such conference will be held next year.
     Meanwhile, the results of the first meeting are being felt.
Under the leadership of the Canadian National Institute for the
Blind, a consortium is being established to produce and
distribute products for the blind. By pooling ideas and resources
we hope to lower prices through volume purchases and also to
cause new products to be manufactured.
     On November 16, 1990, the National Braille and Technology
Center for the Blind was established at the National Center for
the Blind in Baltimore. The goal is to acquire at least one of
each computer-driven Braille-producing device now being made
anywhere in the world and to do the same for computer-driven
speech technology. This is a massive undertaking, which has
already required the investment of almost a million dollars, but
the results are eminently worth the effort. Nowhere else in the
world can one examine side by side all of the speech- and
Braille-producing devices now being produced anywhere on earth.
     At the U.S./Canada Conference on Technology last fall the
name and the mission of the National Braille and Technology
Center for the Blind were expanded. It became the International
Braille and Technology Center for the Blind to indicate the
partnership with Canada and to emphasize the Center's
availability to the blind and those working with the blind
throughout the world. A constantly growing number of people from
every part of the globe are coming to the International Braille
and Technology Center for the Blind to work with the equipment
and to form a basis for comparison, planning, and decision
making. In September of this year, for instance, two university
students from Turkey spent almost three weeks with us. They have
had Kurzweil machines in Turkey for more than a year, but they
had not known how to use them. They had recently acquired an
Arkenstone reader, and they wanted to learn to use the Braille 'n
Speak. We were able to help.
     The International Braille and Technology Center for the
Blind is not limited to Braille and speech devices. It also has
optical scanners, reading machines, money identifiers, and other
technology. Whether we will expand into other areas, I am not
certain--but we have a firm commitment to keep abreast of Braille
and speech technology--assuming, of course, that we can continue
to find the resources.
     Our increasing participation in regional and international
affairs has been a stimulus to all of us. We have had nine
regional meetings since the General Assembly in Madrid four years
ago, plus a continuing flow of phone calls, correspondence, and
personal meetings. Though not a delegate, Dr. Herie (the WBU
Treasurer) attends all of our regional meetings and fully
participates in them.
     Canada has been increasingly active on the international
front during the past four years. Through its federal
government's Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and
the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), two major
projects have been conducted with the Caribbean Council for the
Blind. In 1989 a rehabilitation field officers' training program
was co-sponsored by CNIB/CIDA and the Caribbean Council. In 1992
CNIB sent a national staff vision rehabilitation specialist to
conduct a week-long training program on behalf of the Caribbean
Council for the Blind.
     Mrs. Geraldine Braak, President of the Canadian Council of
the Blind, has had an active four years with WBU both at the
regional and the international levels. As our regional Vice
President, as a member of the regional Committee on the Status of
Blind Women, and as a member of the WBU Executive Committee, she
has made important contributions. In her capacity as a member of
the coordinating committee for "Independence 92," the
international visibility exposition which took place in
Vancouver, British Columbia, this spring, Mrs. Braak succeeded in
getting many of the WBU officers and members included on the
program as keynote speakers and session leaders. In addition, she
was able, through the government of Canada, to finance attendance
at the exposition by seven blind persons from developing
countries.
     During the past four years our region (through the generous
hospitality of CNIB) has hosted two full meetings of the WBU
officers. Also, CNIB recently arranged for students at the
schools for the blind in Santiago and Rio de Janeiro to be
supplied with Braille slates, styluses, and white canes. CNIB
attended (and helped delegates from developing countries attend)
the International Council on Education for the Visually
Handicapped (ICEVH) meeting in Thailand last summer, and a CNIB
rehabilitation specialist was invited to the World Health
Organization meeting on low vision which preceded the ICEVH
conference.
     With the help of CIDA, a major CNIB project on behalf of the
World Blind Union took place from September 20th to October 24th
this year. Eight senior administrators of organizations of and
for the blind from Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific were
involved in an intensive five-week training program in Toronto.
This WBU initiative was part of the Institutional Development
Project co-sponsored by Sight Savers, Hilton-Perkins
International, and CNIB. The eight individuals have now returned
to their respective countries to begin building a network of
services and consumer organizations.
     The North America/Caribbean region is doing what it can to
assist the emerging democracies in Eastern Europe. An ambitious
program is planned, involving CNIB, Hilton-Perkins, the National
Federation of the Blind, and other organizations. Last spring I
represented our region at an Eastern European Conference on
Disability held in Prague, and my organization (the National
Federation of the Blind of the United States) has given financial
assistance to a number of the East European countries.
     Dr. Susan Spungin, who is the associate executive director
for program services of the American Foundation for the Blind and
a newly-elected member from our region to the World Blind Union
Executive Committee, has served for the past five years as Vice
President of ICEVH (the International Council on Education for
the Visually Handicapped). She was the chairman of the committee
to plan the program for the ICEVH convention last summer in
Thailand and has represented the organization actively and well
during the past quinquennium on many occasions.
     In the four years since the last General Assembly, the North
America/Caribbean Region's Committee on the Status of Blind Women
has met three times and worked steadily on two projects. A
questionnaire for distribution among blind women in the countries
served by the organizations comprising the Caribbean Council for
the Blind has been constructed and is now ready for circulation.
The Committee hopes that the results of the survey will assist
its members to determine in what ways it can be of most help to
blind women in the developing countries of the region. The
Committee is also at work on a booklet of profiles of blind women
who have overcome the personal and social difficulties they face,
thereby creating satisfying and productive lives for themselves.
Several more sketches of women from the Caribbean are needed, but
these should be in hand in a few weeks. The Committee hopes
initially to produce both Braille and large-print editions of the
publication in French and English and possibly in Spanish and
other languages. It may be that the WBU Committee on the Status
of Blind Women will want to expand this effort to a worldwide
project.
     In 1990, as part of our regional effort, the National
Federation of the Blind gave $10,000 to the WBU Committee on the
Deaf-Blind to finance the publication of their magazine. We have
also given ongoing financial assistance to the blind of the
Caribbean, and we plan to continue this effort.
     Last month in New York at the special session of the United
Nations to consider disability, our region (at the request of
President Watson) staffed a display to raise the profile of the
World Blind Union. We demonstrated specialized tools, technology,
and devices and distributed literature.
     The last four years have brought tremendous (I might almost
say unimaginable) changes throughout the world, and also in our
region. The balances have shifted, and the focus has changed--and
at the center of it all has been the World Blind Union. During
the coming four years Gary Magarrell of the Canadian National
Institute for the Blind will serve as our Regional Vice
President; Tony Avril of the Caribbean Council for the Blind and
Dr. Susan Spungin of the American Foundation for the Blind will
serve on the Executive Committee; and I will continue as Regional
President.
     In concluding this report I can do no better than reiterate
what I said four years ago in Madrid. In a very real sense every
day of our lives is a new crossroad, requiring decisions that
inevitably lead to advancement or failure--but not all days are
equally important. Some stand out above others, representing
times of crucial significance in the history of a person or a
social movement. Cairo in 1992 constitutes one of these landmark
times. What we do here during this brief period may well have a
crucial effect on the affairs of the blind of the world for
generations to come.
     There are certain issues with which we must continue to
deal, both wisely and decisively. We must decide how we will
allocate the resources we have, and what we will do to increase
those resources. We must deal with the problems of the blind of
the developing countries, and we must do it in such a way that we
do not give the impression (either to ourselves or others) that
there are two classes of blind people in the world, the inferior
and the superior. We must recognize that we are brothers and
sisters, and our actions must suit our words.
     Above all, we must understand and support the concept that
we who are blind intend to have the major voice in determining
our own destiny. Through the centuries others have made our
decisions for us, and have settled our fate--but that time is at
an end. We are determined to have no more of it.
     The World Blind Union can and should be the vehicle for the
emancipation of the blind. Otherwise, we default on our
responsibility. If this organization simply becomes another forum
for meaningless talk and learned papers, it will be one of the
tragic lost opportunities of history. The World Blind Union
(approached in good faith and properly utilized) can be the key
to open the door of first-class status for the blind of the
world. My brothers and my sisters, let us work together to make
it come true.


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Robin Zook.]

                     READING THE LITERATURE
                          by Robin Zook

     From the Associate Editor: Robin Zook was a National
Federation of the Blind scholarship winner in 1990. She is
completing her Ph.D. in genetics and molecular biology at Brigham
Young University. She has become an active, thoughtful
Federationist, and her leadership skill and enthusiasm are
already making a difference. Last spring she spoke at the state
convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah. Her
comments are a reminder of just how important it is to get our
literature into libraries and other public places where the
people who need to read our material can find it. Here is what
she has to say:

     I can hardly believe that it was only two years ago at this
Utah State Convention that I was first introduced to
Federationists. My life has surely changed from what it was in my
pre-Federation days. It all began a couple of years ago, when I
finally came to the conclusion that I could no longer continue to
pretend to myself and the world that I was sighted. That way of
life was just not satisfactory anymore (not to suggest that it
had ever been). I was looking for a solution to this problem so
that I could start living life as a true participant and not the
passive spectator that I had become. I say "spectator" because I
was unable or unwilling to interact with people comfortably in
many situations. I generally made myself invisible in order to
avoid embarrassing situations. I was humiliated and ashamed
because I could not see well.
     After reaching the conclusion that I needed a change in my
lifestyle, I started to look for some answers. I began my search
in the library with the blindness literature, for here surely, I
thought, I would find some direction. But the more books I read
on blindness, the more discouraged I became. Blind people, so
these books informed me, were inferior and dependent and had many
psychological problems. At this point I resolved that I was
definitely not blind. I much preferred my old invisibility and
nobody status to this depiction of blindness.
     However, I still continued to search the literature on
blindness, until one day I came across the Braille Monitor. I
remember reading an article about some airline issue and another
about a mother fighting for the right for her young daughter to
use a cane in school. These stories were interesting but not
really pertinent to me, or so I thought at the time. However, now
I know different.
     The next time I found myself in the library I picked up the
Braille Monitor and found the article, "Who Is Blind, and Is It
Respectable" (see the June, 1989, Braille Monitor). Here are some
lines from that article:
      "From the beginning of history blindness has been equated
with inferiority and lack of ability, so people have done
everything they could to avoid being thought of as blind....
Underlying much of the work we of the National Federation of the
Blind have done over the years is the concept that it is
respectable to be blind. Here we have taken a lesson from the
blacks. As long as black people tried to hide their blackness or
point to the fact that this or that black really had lighter skin
than most, second-class status was inevitable; for even the
lightest-skinned black was still black.... Only when blacks began
to be what they were (and openly to say that they were proud to
be what they were) did the world change. Within reason, others
tend to treat us as we expect to be treated, so when blacks began
to feel and act and believe that it was respectable to be black,
it was respectable.... Likewise with the blind. A person who sees
so little that he or she cannot drive a car, read ordinary print,
recognize faces at a distance, or do visually most of the rest of
the things that others normally do with sight is (by any
reasonable definition) blind."
     That is what the Monitor said, and it hit me hard. I had
fallen into this very trap. I thought that, if I only tried hard
enough, people wouldn't know that I couldn't see. I had been
searching for a way out of this snare, and these words began
showing me the way. I was tired of confinement and ready for
freedom.
     What a contrast this literature was! These were the first
positive statements I had seen on blindness, and they were the
first that I could agree with. Needless to say, I began to read
the Monitor regularly. It took me a little while to realize that
it was the blind themselves who were responsible for this
encouraging and optimistic tone.
     Soon after I began reading the Monitor I became acquainted
with some of the members of the Utah affiliate over the phone and
had an opportunity to attend the state convention in 1990. I was
still a little unsure and hesitant about attending this
convention. I feared that the people would somehow be different
from the way they were portrayed in the pages of the Monitor. As
it turned out, I was far from disappointed; I had found a group
of people who lived the philosophy they professed. They ran the
whole show from setting up the electronic equipment to presiding
in the meetings. I am sorry to admit that at the time this
surprised me a little. These were fully competent and confident
people, and they made me feel welcome. I really had a great time
getting to know them, attending the meetings, and partaking of
their generosity.
     I now know the importance and the power of our literature.
It has given me direction; it has answered many of my questions
and concerns; it has stimulated me to consider new ideas; and
often it has given me comfort by teaching me that I do not stand
alone. I have noticed that my involvement in the Federation has
had two basic consequences. First, it has provided me with a
great deal of personal growth and understanding. And second, it
has helped me to educate others, both blind and sighted. Our NFB
literature has been extremely instrumental in both of these
areas. By reading and rereading the literature, we can and will
develop a strong positive attitude about blindness. We also need
to develop these attitudes so that we can recognize and
counteract discrimination. Unfortunately, society's attitudes
about blindness are still overwhelmingly negative, and many blind
people continue to feel shame and resentment about their
blindness. These are other reasons why we need to encourage
others strongly to read our literature.
     We have a wide variety of literature available, including a
new information book, What You Should Know About Blindness,
Services for the Blind, and the Organized Blind Movement. It
combines all of the material contained in the old general
information packet. We also have the books What Color is the Sun
and The Freedom Bell. And of course we have all the banquet
speeches and many other articles, as well as our regular
publications the Braille Monitor (the monthly magazine of the
National Federation of the Blind), Future Reflections (for
parents of blind children), Voice of the Diabetic (from the
Diabetics Division), and The Student Slate (from the National
Association of Blind Students). I would encourage everyone to
read and reread our NFB literature.
     Through it and my other involvement I found in the
Federation an organization with purpose and intent, an
organization that is mobilized, and an organization that is
making a difference. As I discovered this, I realized that I had
found something great, and I wanted to become a part of it. I
also discovered that underlying the mechanics and structure of
this organization there was an intangible bonding of the people,
a common caring and sharing reminiscent of a family.
     I attended my first National Convention in 1990. That week
was truly busy and wonderful--new ideas, new people, and always,
always enthusiasm; it was contagious. I don't think that the
atmosphere of a National Convention can be captured in words; it
is one of those things that must be experienced firsthand. I
highly recommend it to everyone.
     I am very grateful that there is a National Federation of
the Blind. I thank the leaders of this organization for their
leadership, and I have a deep sense of gratitude for the unknown
person who placed the Braille Monitor in the Brigham Young
University Library, where I was able to find it. I also thank you
as individuals for your belief and involvement in this great
movement. It has been your example, and not the words which I
have read, that has taught me the most and continually reinforces
one of my most valuable beliefs: it is respectable to be blind.
     To summarize what I have been saying in a few words: I want
to absorb what the Federation gives--confidence and freedom. And
I want to give what the Federation offers--optimism and truth.


THOMAS PRYOR GORE: "THE BLIND ORATOR"
                         by Sharon Gold

     From the Associate Editor: In 1976 the Braille Monitor
published a series of profiles of distinguished blind Americans
in celebration of the nation's bicentennial. The sketch which
appeared in the May issue was of Thomas Pryor Gore, the first
blind United States Senator. Sharon Gold, President of the
National Federation of the Blind of California, did the research
and wrote the profile. Since Senator Gore was the great-
grandfather of our newly-elected Vice President, it seemed
fitting to reprint the article. Here it is:

     Thomas Pryor Gore, the first totally blind man to sit in the
United States Senate, was born on December 10, 1870, in Old
Choctaw (later known as Webster) County, Mississippi. His father,
Thomas Madison Gore, who served as a soldier in the Confederate
Army during the Civil War, was a farmer and a lawyer.
     An accident at the age of eight resulted in the total loss
of sight in one of Gore's eyes and severe injury to the other
eye, causing him to be totally blind at the age of eleven. Gore
continued his studies in the public schools of Walthall,
Mississippi, his classmates and members of his family reading his
lessons aloud to him. After graduating from high school in 1888,
he studied two additional years, taking a scientific course. In
1890 Gore graduated from a normal school [a two-year teacher-
training institution], obtained a teaching license, and taught in
a public school during the year 1890-1891. He then entered the
Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, as a student in the
School of Law. Shortly after Gore's graduation with an LL.B.
degree in 1892, he was admitted to the bar and began practicing
law in Walthall. As a boy Gore had spent a year serving as a page
in the Mississippi Legislature, and throughout his school years
he had read and studied political economy, the writings of Thomas
Jefferson, and any works he could procure on the art and science
of government. In 1891 he was nominated for the State Legislature
but was forced to withdraw his nomination because he was under
age.
     Gore, like his father and other relatives, became an active
member of the Populist Party and was soon considered the best-
known and most able stump speaker for that party. When the
Mississippi Populists were defeated in 1895, the "Blind Orator,"
as he had come to be known, moved to Corsicana, Texas, where he
continued to be an active member of the Populist Party and
practiced law. In 1896 he served as a delegate to the Populist
National Convention in Saint Louis, Missouri, and two years later
was defeated as a candidate for the U.S. Congress on the People's
Party Ticket. After this Gore devoted much of his time to
national politics and became affiliated with the Democratic Party
in 1899. In 1901, following his new allegiance to the Democratic
Party, Gore and his wife, Nina Kay, the daughter of a Texas
cotton planter, whom he married on December 27, 1900, joined
those pioneers who were moving northward to the new Territory of
Oklahoma. They settled in Lawton, where Gore opened a law
practice and made his permanent home.
     Gore's driving ambition, his superb oratorical ability, and
the support of the powerful Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City,
soon made the "Blind Orator" a leading politician in the Oklahoma
Territory. In 1902, just one year after settling in the
Territory, Gore was elected to the Territory Council and served
as a member from 1903 to 1905. In 1907, when the Oklahoma and
Indian Territories joined to form the new State of Oklahoma, Gore
assisted with the writing of the State Constitution and was
elected one of its first Senators. He was reelected for two more
terms, serving until 1921. During these terms of service in the
United States Senate, Gore was especially interested in
legislation affecting the farmer and the Indian and was credited
with having saved $30 million in royalties for the Indians by
filibustering against a resolution giving private individuals oil
lease rights.
     During the pre-World War I period Gore was one of the
progressive members of the Senate, opposing the trusts, high
United States tariff rates, and monopolies, especially the
railroads. An important and longtime supporter of Woodrow Wilson
as a Presidential candidate, Gore helped get Wilson elected in
1912 and endorsed his domestic legislative program. However, with
the coming of World War I, Gore decided to oppose Wilson's
foreign policy and America's eventual entry into the war in 1917.
During the war Gore argued against military conscription and
pensions, the food administration, emergency governmental control
of transportation and communication facilities, and deficit
financing. His opposition to Wilson's wartime policies and this
country's entry into the League of Nations brought about Gore's
defeat by a Wilson supporter in the Democratic primary of 1920.
     Gore knew that many of his convictions were unpopular with a
large number of his constituents, but being a statesman in
preference to a politician, he refused to alter his positions.
Thus he returned to private law practice in 1921. In 1930 Gore
was again nominated for Senator from Oklahoma and returned to the
Senate for a final term from 1931 to 1937. During this period
Gore rose in opposition to policies of both a Republican and a
Democratic President. He was a strong opponent of Franklin D.
Roosevelt's social measures, which Gore considered would lead to
an over-centralization of government, thus interfering with
individual initiative and enterprise. He was opposed to deficit
spending.
     For a second time in his career as a Senator, his opposition
to the policies of a popular President was responsible for his
defeat during his 1936 bid for re-election. He spent the final
thirteen years of his life practicing law in Washington, D.C.,
where he specialized in taxes and Indian affairs.
     Throughout his political and professional life, Thomas P.
Gore was a noted debater and public speaker. His Senate speeches
were well-prepared and carefully documented. In preparation for a
speech his wife or friends would read to him from books and
articles pertaining to the subject on which he was to speak, from
his own library of fifty thousand books or at the Library of
Congress. He would then prepare his speech in private. In
addition to his other credits, Gore attended the Democratic
National Conventions of 1908, 1912, 1928, and 1936 as a delegate-
at-large. He traveled widely throughout the United States,
sometimes alone, and always carried one or two books with him
which he would ask to have read to him after he became acquainted
with people. He died on March 16, 1949, in his Washington
apartment, three weeks after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. He
is buried in Oklahoma City's Rose Hill Cemetery.
     Thomas Pryor Gore had two children: a daughter, Nina, the
mother of the prominent American author, Gore Vidal; and a son,
Thomas Notley Gore, father of Albert Gore, U.S. Senator from
Tennessee, 1952-1970 [and grandfather of Vice President-elect
Gore].


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: William Meeker.]

                        THE VERDICT IS IN
                      by William D. Meeker

     From the Associate Editor: Bill Meeker is the President of
the Milwaukee chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Wisconsin. He is also a conscientious citizen with a wry sense of
humor and a conviction that, if he is to insist on receiving the
rights of first-class citizenship, it is also his duty to carry
out its responsibilities. The following article appeared in the
Fall, 1992, issue of the Wisconsin Chronicle, the publication of
the NFB of Wisconsin. Here it is:

     Who, me--the one who never wins anything except an
occasional $1 scratch-off lottery prize or an opportunity to buy
some choice property accessible only to helicopters and
mosquitoes--summoned to jury duty? Impossible! Someone must be
suing me instead, or else this is a newer and more cleverly
packaged real estate scam. I'd better read that summons again
more closely. But no, I am to be a reserve juror. I am instructed
to call the Milwaukee County Courthouse Jury Management Office
Monday morning, August 3, 1992, to see if I am needed. What if
I'm actually picked to serve? I feel excitement and fear
simultaneously.
     Co-workers and friends rallied to support me. "Don't worry,
you don't stand a chance. You're a federal employee. They don't
pick federal employees." "They won't pick you. They rejected me
twice after I told them I was a musician. The whole experience
was pretty boring, but the hot chocolate was great."
     But I am not a musician. Interestingly, none of my friends
mentioned my blindness as a possible reason for rejection. None
of us had considered two pivotal factors: First, potential jurors
will go to almost any extremes of whining, crying, preposterous
excuses, and grovelings to avoid jury service. Second, at the
time of my adventure jury selection was underway in the trial of
a Cedarburg man for the brutal and highly publicized murder of
his wife.
     So I was needed, and I did report to the auditorium-like
jury assembly room just in time, as it turned out, to catch the
last half of the exciting western movie, Hangman's Knot, on the
wide screen TV. From time to time the overhead loudspeaker blared
my name along with a number (usually above twenty-five) which
corresponded to a number painted on the floor on which I was to
stand--so far, nothing exceeding my intellectual capabilities.
     Having found my numbered spot by using my eight-plus years
of parochial school training in "forming an orderly line," I
visited a number of courtrooms, listened to a variety of
questions from lawyers and judges, and heard an amazing array of
preposterous, whining, groveling excuses for why these potential
jurors were unable to serve. It was a humbling experience to see
otherwise ordinary people displaying a level of creativity
normally reserved for writers of fantasy.
     In a civil courtroom on my second day of call and wait and
march in line, a sufficient number of people ahead of me had
presented creative enough excuses to be released from jury
service that it became my turn to sit in the jury box and be
questioned by the attorneys. When I rose from the general seating
to approach the jury box, opposing counsels rocketed from their
seats to intercept and escort me around the videotape player
(present to play a recorded deposition) into the jury box. To my
surprise, not a single question about my blindness was asked, and
when the final jury selection was made, I was among those
selected.
     The trial, a trumped-up defamation of character suit, lasted
two days. Seeing me using my Braille 'n Speak, the judge asked if
I was taking notes and answered "good" in a tone which made me
think that he wished more of my fellow jurors would do likewise
when I said that I was.
     My fellow jurors exhibited one piece of noteworthy behavior:
When the time came to be marched from the jury room into the
courtroom each day and after breaks and lunch, they all hung back
deferentially to allow me to lead the procession into the jury
box. But when court recessed for breaks, lunch, and the evening,
they stampeded off, not caring if I was first or last. Well,
"When the going gets tough,...."
     After rendering our verdict on the third day, we were
thanked for our service and assured that we would not be called
again for at least two years. Too bad, I enjoyed serving. Also I
enjoyed the attention that was not paid to my blindness. Ladies
and gentlemen: the jury has reached a verdict: there is justice
for blind people in the Milwaukee County court system.


                    WHO WAS TAKEN FOR A RIDE?
                     by Elizabeth J. Browne

     From the Associate Editor: Elizabeth Browne is a frequent
contributor to these pages. She is a leader in the Chicago
Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and
is involved with numerous other civic and cultural activities in
her community. Recently she had a run-in with an unscrupulous
taxi driver, which can happen to any resident of a metropolitan
area who uses cabs. Here is what happened when an unethical taxi
driver tried to take a competent, confident Federationist for a
ride:

     Frequently, when problems with unsatisfactory public
services occur, we resort to useless grumblings and endless
accusations about the sloth and carelessness of workers and
public officials. But when unpleasant situations are rectified,
too often we neglect to make our satisfaction known. I want to
share what took place when I decided to pursue proper channels to
resolve an unacceptable situation that I faced one night in July.
     I have been using the Special C1 Services of the Chicago
Transit Authority (CTA) voucher system, which allows individuals
with difficulty in using public transportation to dial a regular
city taxi for short trips at a fraction of the cost. The vouchers
are worth ten dollars each, but anyone who is eligible for this
program can purchase them at the cost of a CTA token. If the taxi
ride exceeds ten dollars, the passenger must pay the remainder of
the fare in cash. What a wonderful idea! It is an invaluable
service which ought to be acknowledged for its great usefulness
to the community.
     On July 15, 1992, a serious and somewhat frightening
experience nearly ended my trust in what had become a very
satisfactory service. At 5:30 p.m. I phoned for a taxi to take me
downtown to a leadership program in which I had been involved for
several weeks at 22 West Monroe Street--normally a $12 or $13
fare. When the driver was a little late, I phoned again and was
assured that #1931 was on its way. And so it was, soon honking in
front of my home.
     I enjoyed my usual quiet, comfortable ride and used the time
to prepare for my role of leader that night, planning the
strategy I would use. I soon found myself down in the busy loop.
The driver of #1931 was very quiet and spoke softly. I noted a
foreign flavor to his speech as I reached into my purse to take
out one of the vouchers. I was surprised at what I thought I
heard him say.
     "That's $20."
     "What did you say?" I asked, incredulously. "You're
kidding." The following happened quickly:
     "Are you refusing to pay your fare?" he asked, in a sharper
voice.
     "I always pay my fare, but it isn't twenty dollars. There is
something wrong with the meter."
     "Read the meter," he said, and I replied:
     "You know I can't read the meter. Get the doorman inside
this building to read it. There must be something wrong with the
meter."
     Of course, I didn't know at the time that there was no
doorman inside the building because we were at the wrong address.
     "There's nothing wrong with the meter. You got to pay your
fare," the driver insisted. He then called his office, shouting
into his communication system to tell them that I was refusing to
pay my bill.
     Cutting in from the back seat, I said, "I certainly refuse
to pay twenty dollars, since that could not be the real fare.
I've come here frequently by taxi, and I know how much it costs."
     The driver told me that I would never get any other C1
driver to answer my call if I didn't pay the twenty dollars.
     "Are you threatening me?" I asked as I quietly unlocked my
door, took out three single dollars, put them inside the voucher,
and dropped it onto the front seat, telling him that I would
report him for overcharging me. As I started to open wide my
door, I heard the click of the button which controls all doors
from the driver's seat, but my door was already unlocked and
open.
     I stepped out into an unfamiliar alley, at the wrong
location, and began walking down what seemed to be a narrow
passage toward the sound of traffic. Inwardly I wondered if he
might start up and back the taxi over me as I walked along.
Emerging from the alley, I found myself on a busy street, which
turned out to be Monroe, though I wasn't sure at first. I paused
and waited for someone to draw near so I could ask which way to
22 West Monroe. It was not far, and soon I was making my way up
in the elevator to the meeting which was my destination.
     The next day I reported the incident to the Mayor's Office,
to the CTA Special Services, and to the taxi company; and the
wheels began turning rapidly. I filed an official complaint and
was notified that James McShan would be the investigator. If I
had any questions about procedures, I was instructed to contact
him. Rather quickly I was informed that I was scheduled to
testify by speaker phone on August 26, 1992, before a hearing
officer, Terry Coughlan of the Vehicle Complaint Bureau.
     The driver, Muhammad Samnani, began his testimony with a
series of conflicting statements such as: 1. She tried to give me
an extra voucher to make up the fare (which is illegal). 2. I
only asked for fourteen dollars. (He had actually asked for
twenty dollars.) 3. It was rush hour and took a longer time. (It
was about the time I always made the trip.) 4. Wasn't I kind and
polite to her? (Except for the intimidation.) 5. Why block the
doors? She not so old, but why block the doors? (I'm not sure
what this comment was supposed to mean.) 6. Will she swear to God
and take an oath? She would, so we both did.
     I interrupted only once to protest some of his more
outrageous fabrications, though he kept up a rapid and continuous
flow of words while I testified and had to be silenced several
times by the hearing officer.
     "Evidence," Mr. Coughlan demanded, and added, "You haven't
given me any, Mr. Samnani. You keep contradicting yourself."
     The hearing officer took out paper and pencil and began
figuring out just how far it is from my home to the office. He
came up with little more than nine miles. Figuring at $1.20 per
mile, and $1.20 for original entry into the cab, it would come to
approximately eleven dollars, perhaps a little more because of
delays en route.
     Then the decision was passed: a $100 fine for attempted
overcharge and an additional $75 for rudeness during the hearing.
"Do you wish to appeal the decision?" Coughlan asked.
     "No," the driver said, and it was over.
     But not entirely. I began to think that someone like Mr.
Samnani should not be allowed to continue in this type of
specialized program, though I knew that as a working man he needs
his job as we all do. I inquired how to ask for his removal from
participation in the C1 Service and was at once directed to speak
with Ms. Daryl deFrancesco, CTA Special Analyst. I have been
assured that he is no longer participating in this program, but
that he still possesses the license for driving the regular taxi
service.
     It isn't a question of beating the system; it's a matter of
making the system work for you.


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Susan and Larry Povinelli with their
daughters Michelle and Stephenie.]

            BOLDLY GOING WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE
                       by Susan Povinelli

     From the Associate Editor: Susan Povinelli is one of the
leaders of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia. She
is also an aerospace materials engineer working for the U.S.
Navy. Last year a group of Federationists, many of them engineers
and all fans of the television program "Star Trek," organized
themselves into a fan club with particular interest in the
portrayal of blind people in science fiction and, more broadly,
in the mass media generally. The group chose as its name Geordi's
Engineers, in admiration of the blind engineer in "Star Trek: the
Next Generation." Susan Povinelli serves as chief engineer of the
club and works, among other things, to encourage blind people
interested in careers in science and engineering to pursue their
ambitions. The following article appeared in the Fall, 1992,
edition of "Geordi's Engineering Log," the publication of
Geordi's Engineers. Those interested in joining the group or in
receiving its newsletter should send checks in the amount of $6
made payable to Lorraine Rovig, Treasurer, Geordi's Engineers,
5503 Ashbourne Rd., Apt. 2, Baltimore, Maryland 21227. Here is
Mrs. Povinelli's account of one engineer's experience:

     I imagine the reason most people enjoy "Star Trek" and "Star
Trek: the Next Generation" is the series' theme of exploring
strange new frontiers. Since I am a blind aerospace materials
engineer, you might say that I am a pioneer in my own right.
     Twenty years ago no blind person, and very few women,
ventured into the field of materials engineering. This is the
field which studies the physical properties of various materials-
-such as metals, adhesives (glue), and plastics--and uses them in
engineering applications. Like the first pioneers who migrated to
the New World, I also do not consider myself to be achieving
anything amazing or out of the ordinary. It was just a dream that
I wanted to fulfill for my own satisfaction. Like the first
pioneers I did not travel the road to the frontier alone; I
traveled with other blind people who believed that we could live
successful, productive lives.
     Again like the first pioneers who traveled to the New World,
my voyage has not been filled with exciting adventures, but I can
give you a glimpse of some of the obstacles I have encountered
throughout my career. The first one appeared when I was a
teenager.
     At the age of seventeen I learned that I had retinitis
pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative hereditary condition that affects
the retinas. The doctors told my parents, but not me, that in ten
years I would become blind. In their wisdom or their inability to
accept my fate, my parents allowed me to continue to dream of a
career in engineering. I enrolled in college and did all the
usual things engineering students do, but my tunnel vision and
night blindness continued to worsen.
     It wasn't until I was about to graduate from college that I
realized how difficult it was going to be to obtain a job in
materials engineering as a blind person. Private industry did not
want to take the risk of hiring a blind engineer. I weathered a
period of self-doubt and gloom. I wish I had known then about the
National Federation of the Blind. In my moments of optimism,
however, I kept dreaming of a career in engineering. Finally I
was offered a position as a materials engineer with the
Department of the Navy.
     I do my job by using ideas I've come up with and by
borrowing ideas from other blind engineers I've met through the
NFB. Four years ago the Navy purchased a speech program to enable
me to continue using my computer. Instead of reading the screen
with my eyes, I can read it by listening to a synthetic voice.
Such technology was unavailable when I entered college in 1978--
except on "Star Trek" or in science fiction movies. In my job I
spend many hours preparing written correspondence, and this
technology has improved the quality and quantity of my productive
work. But with all its advantages it has not taken the place of
my many years of learning how to read and write.
     This leads me to another obstacle that I had to circumvent.
As the years went by, my eyesight continued to deteriorate. I was
afraid of losing the ability to read and write. Without a method
to make notes to myself, read recipes, write to friends, and read
stories to my children, I knew I would have a very meager
existence.
     Engineers are practical people. There is an obvious
alternative to being illiterate when you cannot see print. I
began to learn Braille when I was in college. I had several
classes from a social worker, and the rest was just practice.
Today I find Braille very useful for taking notes during
meetings, giving a technical brief, and living a very full life.
Somehow I find time for my professional career, my family of an
attorney-husband and two children, my responsibility as the
secretary of the Potomac Chapter of the NFB, and my work as chief
of Geordi's Engineers.
     My job has provided me with many wonderful opportunities to
be resourceful and to reach for new horizons. Recently we were
reviewing engineering drawings. These are a series of large
drawings which give the breakdown of assemblies into their
individual components and the manufacturing procedures to process
these parts. Most people would assume that a blind person could
not understand such drawings. As a colleague and I reviewed them,
he described each level of the drawings and the way in which each
component was configured to the others in the assembly. This
exercise is no more difficult than explaining a drawing over the
telephone to another engineer.
     I have also had the opportunity to visit the flight line and
get my hands on real hardware. I have traveled through many
manufacturing and repair facilities. I imagine I received strange
looks from workers on the floor while the engineer showing me
through the plant explained the operations.
     Like the U.S.S. Enterprise, which boldly explored strange
new galaxies to discover new worlds, blind persons of this and
the next generation can explore job opportunities in the physical
sciences and discover careers in engineering and mechanics. Great
as Geordi's adaptive aids are, we don't need to wait for his Next
Generation to arrive. Contact me or any of Geordi's Engineers if
you are blind and want some help in knowing where to get started.
We are the ones who will make the Next Generation happen.


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Homer and Marci Page.]

  WHAT DISABLED STUDENTS' SERVICES ARE AND WHAT THEY SHOULD BE
                          by Marci Page

     From the Associate Editor: The following article is
reprinted from the December, 1992, issue of the Buckeye Bulletin,
the publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio.
The material was originally presented as a speech delivered to
the delegates attending the NFB of Ohio's state convention last
October. It was part of a panel discussion about disabled
students' services. Marci Page is president of the Boulder County
Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado, and
she serves as the coordinator of services for blind and other
disabled students at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her
commonsense practicality and genuine commitment to help her
students become fully independent are refreshing in contrast to
the bureaucratic nonsense and rigidity that burden many DSS
programs and smother the students who are forced to depend on
them. Here is what Mrs. Page had to say:

     The mission of every university is to educate its students
and also to teach them to function as citizens of the world. I
think about this a lot in my work with blind and other disabled
students at the University of Colorado. Let me take a minute to
explain my title. In our office in addition to me there are an
overall director, a person who coordinates services to deaf and
hard of hearing students, and a coordinator and a number of other
people who work with learning-disabled students. I work with
everybody else. There were too many populations in this group to
fit on a business card or door plaque. We struggled for a while
with terms like "miscellaneous," but that didn't seem quite
right, so we settled for "blind and other disabled students."
     The University of Colorado at Boulder established its
program for disabled students in 1974. It was not the first one,
but it was one of the earliest. My husband, Homer Page, began the
program before moving on to other things. [In November he was
returned in an uncontested election to his second term as a
Boulder County Commissioner.] I have worked in the program now
for ten and a half years. I learned a lot from Homer about
running this program and a lot from my own experience as a
student in Washington state.
     A moment ago I greeted Linda Wetters, who is on the platform
and will be speaking in a few minutes. We first met about ten
years ago at a meeting of AHSPPE (the Association for Handicapped
Student Programs in Post-Secondary Education). That organization
has, thank goodness, just changed its name to AHEAD (the
Association for Higher Education and Disability). Partly this was
done to shorten the name, but it also reflects the movement
toward consumerism, which is beginning to take place in this
field.
     I will say that when I attended my first conference of
AHSPPE, I felt very much an outsider. I went as a representative
of the National Federation of the Blind's student division, and
even though I had worked in the field for over a year, as soon as
they saw my cane with the NFB logo, I felt like an outcast.
People didn't agree with the philosophy that we were promoting
and that I was practicing in Colorado. There was a lot of
negative feeling about the Federation. Most participants believed
we were a radical organization that really didn't represent the
needs of blind students.
     This year I attended another AHSPPE conference in
California; and while I think there are still problems on some
campuses and a long way to go, I encountered much less
resistance. Many people were saying, "Yes, I know we have to
teach students to do these things. It's easier to provide the
service, but I know we have to begin teaching them to be
independent." I think it is important for members of the
Federation to become involved with offices like the one I work
in. They should offer to help. NFB members who are professionals
can become mentors for disabled students on campus. We really can
have a positive effect if we will roll up our sleeves and help.
     Let me tell you a little about the program I run, about how
it works and why. I believe that I have a great responsibility to
our blind students to help them become functioning blind citizens
in the twenty-first century. Lots of students come through my
office. Some have been blind all their lives and have come
through the public school system or a school for the blind. Some
have transferred from other institutions. Some are just losing
their sight now. Unfortunately, particularly those who have
received services in high school or from other institutions come
in and say, "Here's my schedule." And they don't say anything
else. Their expectation clearly is that I am going to (A) get
their books, (B) arrange for all their test-taking, (C) find all
the readers they will need, and (D) escort them around campus.
     It's not always that extreme, but I get lots and lots of
students who have some of those expectations. I was talking with
a parent this morning, and she reminded me that parents are
always struggling with this same temptation to take the easy way
out by doing rather than teaching. It would be easier for me to
call the book store and find out the bibliographic information
for the books the blind students need and then order them from
Recording for the Blind. I could arrange readers and call
professors. I don't do any of those things.
     What happens if a student comes in who doesn't know how to
do any of this? Do I just say, "This is what you have to do....
Good-bye; see you later?" Well no, of course not. That would be
as irresponsible as doing everything for the student. First I sit
down with students and figure out how much they do know. Have
they ever ordered books on tape? I get a lot of students right
out of high school who say, "You know, I don't know how the books
get here; they just appear." So I sit down and tell them: This is
where books come from. These are the sources. The National
Library Service is likely to have the books you will need if you
are in a literature class. These are the things RFB is likely to
have. Are you an NLS patron? I keep NLS and RFB application forms
in my desk, and most of the time I will sign students up who are
not patrons because, if they are going to use RFB books, they
will need a cassette playback machine. And after this first time
they are going to need to order their own books. If a person
comes in after the semester has already started or there is some
other emergency, I will order books for him or her once, using my
own account. But I do it with the student in the office, taking
notes about how books are ordered. I insist that these students
call the book store to get the bibliographic information that RFB
requires. I actually sign them up myself, but by the next
semester they are ready to order their own books independently.
     Readers are a big topic. I heard a lot about readers at the
student division meeting at lunch. One of the important things I
do is to serve as an advocate for my students. I go with them to
meet with their counselors to insure that they are getting reader
money. Students often come to me saying, "My counselor says that
their budget is being cut, and there isn't enough money for me to
have readers." My response is that they are entitled to readers,
so we better go together to tell the counselor what's what. If we
need to appeal, I show the student how it is done, and I stay
with him or her through the whole process.
     The rehabilitation agency in Colorado often does not provide
enough money for all the reader service that college students
need. So I do something that is a little controversial among some
of my friends. I run an ad in the newspaper in the city of
Boulder and recruit a pool of volunteer readers. Here's what I do
with people who answer this ad. First of all, the ad states
clearly that volunteers will be reading to college students. I
make sure they understand that. If they call with the idea that
they are going to be reading novels, I say, "How do you feel
about quantum physics and industrial psychology?" I do an initial
screening. It is pretty easy after one conversation to tell
whether or not a person is literate enough to read college-level
material. I then explain that, while they are volunteering, they
should think of this as a job. The service they are providing
will only be useful to the students if it is delivered when and
as it is needed. Deadlines are very important, as is
communicating with the student. That's where I stop. If they are
interested and if I think they can do the job, their names and
phone numbers go into my card file.
     Then, when students come in needing readers, I give them a
list from my card file. If need be, I will role-play with them:
how to call, what to say, what you need, and by when you need it.
What will you do if the reader misses a deadline? Sometimes you
have to go to the reader's house to retrieve your equipment; how
are you going to do that? If they are really nervous about making
the contact, I'll let them make the first call with me listening.
My goal is to have students leave my office with a list of
readers, a grasp of what they have to do to get started, and the
knowledge that if they get bogged down, they can call me for more
ideas.
     I don't conduct an extensive training program for readers.
Students have a lot of different reading needs. The basic
requirements are that readers be able to read, that they
recognize that they are working for the student, that they be
able to follow directions, and that they meet deadlines. I leave
it to the individual students to say, "This is the way I want you
to describe graphs...; I want page numbers read; I don't want
page numbers read." I leave the instruction to the students for
one very important reason: When they get out of college and find
a job, there will not be an office for disabled employees to find
and train readers.
     It sometimes takes a while before students put it all
together. I had one student who would come semester after
semester to get reader names, and then she would come back
complaining of headaches and of how hard it all was. When I asked
if she had called the readers, she hadn't. I finally pointed out
to her that, if she really wanted to be a secondary music teacher
and if she was going to get a job and persuade the administration
that she could direct a choir or marching band, she would have to
be more aggressive in solving her reading needs.
     I also advocate for students with Social Security. I have
written letters and gone to hearings. I help my students look for
sources of money. Lots of them have applied for NFB scholarships,
and some of them have been recipients.  I do a couple of things
that people in other offices don't do. Many students come to
college without having learned to read Braille or to travel
confidently with the long cane. So I teach Braille at the
University of Colorado, and I insist on working with these
students three or four times a week because any less than that
and they will not get the proficiency or speed they need. All I
can say is that it works, and for me that is the test of
something. I have taught several students who had been told that
they couldn't learn Braille. And they have learned it well enough
to use it to take their class notes with the slate and stylus.
     I also teach cane travel. The wait in our state just to get
a cane from the state agency is often several months. I'm on the
board of directors of the Colorado Center for the Blind, and
sometimes I persuade students to take a semester or two off in
order to learn what they need to at the Center. But sometimes
they can't afford the time, so I get them a cane and start
working. We meet as many times a week as necessary.
     I have a lot of students from other universities who have
never sat down and talked with their professors about their
courses. The disabled students' office always did that for them.
I don't do this job either. My students do it for themselves, but
I help them prepare if it's necessary. Some of them are
frightened of talking with professors. So I get them to tell me
what they think might happen. We role-play what they would do in
various situations. I say all the awful things they are afraid of
hearing: "You don't belong in my class. I don't want a blind
student in this class. You can't do the work I require. I do a
lot of board work in this class; you can't do that...." Then we
talk about what you say to such a professor.
     Once they have a good grasp of what to say, I send them off
to deal with the problem, and I ask them to call me when they've
finished just to tell me how it went. If they don't call me, I
call them. If it didn't go well and the professor is still being
stubborn, then we go together to talk with him or her.
     I get some calls from professors--more than I used to.
Usually they have come from other schools where they dealt with
the DSS office rather than the student. I ask if they have spoken
to the student, and if they haven't, I suggest they do so. I
assure them that the student is a reasonable person and that they
can probably work things out together. If they have talked with
the student and there is still trouble, I will talk with the
professor, but unless it is a very sensitive situation, I always
inform the student that questions have been raised about his or
her ability to take a course.
     I do the same thing about test-taking. The student is
responsible for talking with the professor. Together they discuss
ways in which the student takes tests well, the kind of tests the
professor gives, whether a teaching assistant is available, and
so on. They decide whether the student will take tests in another
room, orally, on computer, with a reader, using a typewriter, or
in some other way. My office does offer test-proctoring, but the
student must make the arrangements.
     We don't have escort services either, and blind students are
not eligible to use our lift-equipped vans. Well, if they fall
and break a leg or have their appendix removed, they can use the
vans temporarily. I should say that our campus is complex. Of the
several hundred intersections, only three or four are neat,
ninety-degree crossings. The rest have four or five or six walks
coming together at angles. So I teach students to build maps in
their heads. Some are better at it than others. Some use compass
points; others use left and right. In Boulder, where the sun
shines over three hundred days a year, sun cues are more useful
than in Seattle, where I grew up. But I also teach them to use
wind direction and in general how to travel.
     All this takes more time initially than it would if I did
everything myself, but in the long run it takes less time, staff,
and money because I don't employ readers and guides and other
assistants. It's more risky because there is always the chance
that students won't use the techniques they have learned, that
they won't work, or that they will fail. But blind students have
a right to fail and a right to learn and a right to become fully
functioning blind citizens of the twenty-first century.


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Lorraine Rovig.]

      JOB HOLDS MEETING FOR BLIND ARTISTS AND CRAFTSPEOPLE
                        by Lorraine Rovig

     As Monitor readers know, Miss Rovig is the Director of JOB
(Job Opportunities for the Blind).

     Chaired by Tina Blatter (Colorado) and by me, as the
Director of J.O.B., all blind artists and craftspeople were
invited to join an informal networking breakfast on July 1, 1992,
in the Charlotte, North Carolina, Holiday Inn. The meeting was
open to any blind persons interested in selling their creations.
We planned to share ideas for building a customer base, finding
or creating good publicity, locating artistic peers with whom to
network, and generally, turning a hobby into a business.
     The breakfast suffered from success. So many people came
that a second meeting was scheduled to facilitate conversation.
     Again, artists and craftspeople gathered. We met at noon at
the flag of the Colorado delegation, drawing our wagons into a
circle in the midst of a sea of rapidly emptying chairs. This
time we could hear each other talk.
     Some months ago, Tina Blatter first came up with the idea of
facilitating networking among blind artists who might be
attending the big annual convention of the National Federation of
the Blind. She began the networking by telling us of her
background and her current work to become self-supporting as a
full-time artist. Let me supplement her remarks from my own
knowledge.
     Miss Blatter had always been a part-time artist,
specializing in watercolors of flowers and natural subjects. She
had some success selling her work. More often, she would just
give canvases to friends who expressed admiration for particular
pieces. Meanwhile, in her "real job," she worked full-time as a
rehabilitation therapist and counselor.
     Over the years, her style for her natural subjects developed
to a synthesis of realism and impressionism on canvas. In
contrast, she produced some works of intense color and sharp
lines in a severe, geometric approach that might have no relation
to actual objects.
     But then, in her prime working years her poor vision began
to get worse. Her low vision techniques in the office did not
always work. And in her home studio, she could no longer do the
small details in the soft colors that once identified her
favorite pieces. Quite unwilling to settle for art she would
consider second-rate, Miss Blatter thought she would have to give
up that part of herself.
     Fortunately, said Miss Blatter, while researching better
machines and new techniques to help her in the office, she came
in contact with the National Federation of the Blind. Several
members encouraged her to continue her art but to develop new
techniques that would get around her eyesight problems. Miss
Blatter began to study the methods of several Impressionists such
as Manet and van Gogh. They and other famous Impressionists are
known to have had serious eye problems.
     After researching the training available to her as an adult
who needed to increase her skills in blind techniques, Miss
Blatter decided to go to the Colorado Center for the Blind in
Denver. (To contact the CCB office in Denver, call: 303-778-1522
during business hours.)
     CCB training helped her develop not only the skills of a
competent blind person but real belief in her ability to deal
with problems as they come up. Miss Blatter decided to try what
she'd only dreamed of doing before her eyesight changed. She
decided to work at becoming a full-time artist, basing herself in
the Boulder area. Wise enough to reject the idea of being a
romantic, starving artist; she looked for and found part-time
work as a counselor. Besides, this part-time work helps her stay
involved in her former full-time profession, so that it will be
easier to return to it if she decides to change priorities
later.
     At present, she calls her art, as it says on her business
card, "TEXTURED ART, two-dimensional paintings in mixed media."
Miss Blatter may use string to outline a mountain, a road, or
other straight line. Beginning with a canvas background, her
basic materials may be foam, thin cork board, cardboard, and
ribbon. Flattened flower petals, leaves, polished stones, paper,
and foil are also used.
     Some of the paints for cloth can be used for height as well
as for their colors. She uses silver or black so that it
resembles the lead in a stained glass window, and she developed a
"stained glass" look through the use of layered paint or paper.
     At our meeting, Miss Blatter passed some of her smaller
pieces around the circle with instructions to "Please touch the
paintings." The group universally admired the shimmery light
reflected off the silver trunks and the cool feel of her painting
"Moonlight on Aspens." The painted multicolored green leaves in
raised relief gave us the impression of a cathedral of trees in
the moonlight, high up in a mountain meadow.
     One of the other artists traded a sample of her craft for
that painting, and another in the group commissioned a fifty-
dollar painting in that series. Of course, each grove of aspens
created will be a unique painting in the two-dimensional style.
     Miss Blatter has been successful in making contacts with
gallery owners. She told us what she has learned about persuading
them to carry some of one's work. She described her experience in
selling at well-advertised art fairs, and she shared ideas which
have helped her to network in the Colorado art community. She
said that some of her paid work came about through contacts made
at art shows for handicapped artists.
     Steve Handschu of Detroit, Michigan, is a long-time sculptor
whose work has been shown at the Detroit Museum of Art. He shared
tips on making a professional showing at juried art shows; on
avoiding poorly-run shows; on locating and talking with museum
curators; and on getting college art departments to accept you
for training. He told us something of his past work for a school
visiting artist program.
     Having been appointed the NFB's Director of Fine Arts by
President Maurer, Mr. Handschu has spoken to many museums and
committees about accessibility to community art collections for
blind members of a community.
     Mr. Handschu has been best known for his three- to five-foot
tall wooden sculptures. In the last year, he has been developing
techniques to enable him to do small-scale jewelry work. The
silver ring he passed around had incised (or indented) strong
black shapes reminiscent of Indian animal designs. His knowledge
of welding techniques and other approaches to work with metal
will make him a valuable person to contact for any blind artist
researching techniques for this material.
     Lena Castillo, a certified image consultant, lives in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. On her business card it says: "Image
consulting. Color analysis for men and women; personal and
corporate seminars; computer-assisted; error-free dressing.
'BeautiControl,' America's premier image company."  As a
sideline, Ms. Castillo has produced and sold bracelets and other
jewelry made of imitation gemstones. She was interested in new
ideas for marketing her lovely delicate pieces.
     Janet Caron, of Florida, as her business card states,
creates "one-of-a-kind hand-crafted jewelry." She explained how
she crafts large, hand-made clay beads, then color-glazes and
fires them until they have the desired qualities. She'll add a
mixture of semi-precious stones such as rose quartz, ivorystone,
and so on to create her necklaces. When she passed some samples
around, the rough or smooth textures of fired clay contrasted
well with the polished gems and mineral stones. Most necklaces
were a single strand, and, as is so popular now, "chunky."
     It was especially interesting to hear how she sold a local
wholesale supplier of semi-precious, expensive stones on the idea
of supplying her needs for a handful each of many different
kinds. This summer, Miss Caron visited Italy. After seeing her
work, the American embassy in Rome placed "Necklaces by Caron" in
their gift shop of quality American goods.
     Later in convention week, I learned that Ms. Caron brought
twenty-two necklaces to convention. She went home with none and
with paid commissions for several more orders. Her pieces
normally sell for thirty to sixty-five dollars and up, depending
on the materials used.
     Fred and Janet Bixby, of Virginia, attended the Artist's
meeting. Fred creates huge mixed media paintings that he
describes as "three-dimensional." He spoke of his work being part
sculpture, part wall-hanging, and part painting. He and Tina
began to share ideas immediately. Janet said she is the business
manager. Both Bixbys are legally blind and have extensive
backgrounds in rehabilitation counseling and teaching of blind
adults.
     Later that week, the Bixbys offered to be contact points for
any blind artists or craftspeople who would like to make contact
with other blind artists. They will accept mail in Braille or in
print and ask that individuals include information on what kind
of art interests them most: Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bixby, 208 West
Boscawen, Number 11, Winchester, VA 22601; home phone: 703-722-
4712.
     Mr. Arthur Segal, who is totally blind, works for the mayor
of one of the 20 largest cities in the U.S.--Baltimore, Maryland.
Mr. Segal is the mayor's troubleshooter for the annual event
called "ARTSCAPE."  And, as the city's Handicapped Services
Coordinator, his reports on accessibility to the city museums for
persons with handicaps are read and heeded.
     On another project coming up soon, Mr. Segal spoke of his
need to locate blind artists who can share their techniques with
teachers of blind children. Baltimore has a public school/tech
school which is especially dedicated to teaching the arts. It is
soon going to be accepting blind students. If you would like to
offer your knowledge to young blind artists through his office,
contact Job Opportunities for the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street,
Baltimore, Maryland 21230; phone: [phone]. There is no money
in it; but there may be some prestige. This is very much still in
the planning stage.
     One woman in the group said she'd been steadily losing sight
and believed she'd have to give up painting. But after hearing
the ideas thrown out by Tina and the others, she said she thought
she'd reconsider.
     Another woman, a 1992 NFB scholarship winner from Virginia,
is presently a student in art history. She is planning to make
her living in art museum or history museum work. Ms. Katherine
Bond shared her low-vision and blind techniques for the study of
art. And, she shared ideas from her experiences in advising
museums on ways to increase accessibility for handicapped
visitors.
     One artist from California calls on his American Indian
heritage to create personal, hand-crafted objects with religious
significance. He uses natural materials in all his work.
     Some other persons were in the group but chose to be
listeners more than talkers.
     As the two-hour meeting wound down, the participants agreed
on the following points:
     * After this meeting, the artists and craftspeople feel more
sure that they have a chance to succeed as artists who will be
treated seriously by galleries and buyers.
     * that another meeting of Blind Artists and Craftspeople
will take place at the 1993 NFB Convention; and
     * that to make networking easier, each person who attended
the meeting this year will receive a list of addresses and phone
numbers for each of the other persons.
     All agreed it is helpful to know that other blind Americans
are working as creative artists and craftspeople and making money
at it.


             AGRICULTURAL and EQUESTRIAN GROUP MEETS
                        by Lorraine Rovig

     On June 30, 1992, during the NFB Annual Convention, a newly
formed Agricultural and Equestrian Concerns Group met to share
ideas from their past experiences and to plan for future
networking.
     The Chairman, Diane Starin, who owns and runs a horse ranch
in California, spoke of breaking horses, boarding horses, and
buying and selling them. In the last few seasons, she has been
successful in supplementing ranch income by sharpening sheep
sheers for local sheep ranchers. The sheepherders used to mail
the dull sheers to San Francisco.
     John Fritz, part-owner and chief operator of a family dairy
farm in Southwestern Wisconsin, spoke of the business concerns
involved when your product is Grade A milk from a herd of 47
Brown Swiss. He described his techniques for hands-on management
of every aspect of dairy farming--from milking each cow twice a
day, to managing some 200 acres and growing their fodder, to
often being his own vet, to being alert to daily fluctuations in
market prices as he makes decisions on sales of milk, calves,
culled herd animals, and other farm products. (Earlier in the
week, during the 1992 JOB Seminar, folks in that audience had a
chance to see some of the vet tools he uses.) In addition to his
work on the farm, Mr. Fritz supplements his income by working as
a computer technician for a nearby computer store.
     Shelly Berger, of Colorado (formerly of Maryland), spoke of
her experiences in obtaining her certification as a trained
veterinary technician. As is required for all students, she
worked in the operating room as an assistant to the veterinarian.
Her story about the first time she closed a stomach incision was
unforgettable. But ask her to tell you; I shouldn't steal such a
great story.
     After completing all her course load with good grades,
including the hands-on vet work in the animal hospital and after
getting a passing score on the state test, she and the NFB of
Colorado had to work on the attitude of the state certifying
agency. Miss Berger believes she is the first totally blind
person to have received certification as a veterinary technician.
Miss Berger plans to continue toward her goal of becoming a
fully-certified veterinarian.
     The following jobs and plans were mentioned by members of
the audience:
* A 1992 NFB college scholarship winner from Montana plans to
make a career in equine studies. [Tonya McClusky]
* A farm wife and mother from Northern California, who attended
with her baby in a backpack, spoke of her family farm and garden.
[Corinne Vieaville]
* One man from San Antonio, Texas, spoke of his success last
summer using his apartment patio for growing vegetables with
intensive gardening techniques. He was interested in selling his
produce at a farmer's market. [Pete Donahue]
* One man spoke of his wish to make a business growing herbs. He
is presently looking into getting horticultural training at a
community college. [Bob Ranaldo]
* One young man from Ohio wants to get back into farming. He had
been a dairyman working with Holsteins. [Chris Johnson]
* A former NFB national scholarship winner from Utah is now a
grad student in biology. She was interested in the discussion of
blind techniques used in lab courses for animal husbandry.
[Robin Zook]
     The Agricultural and Equestrian Concerns Group meeting
concluded with an election of officers. Diane Starin was elected
chairman and Jim Powers (California), a blind stockbroker, was
elected treasurer.
 The group agreed to hold a meeting during the 1993 convention
week.
     Tentative plans include:
     Accepting the offer of Mary Jo Millner of California to give
a jumping demo. She is a national level competitor who is blind.
The group would get together with Mary Jo and a trainer to look
at the businesses built around horses that are competitive
jumpers.
     Just for fun, the group may arrange a rough Texas trail trip
open only to experienced equestrians.
     The group plans to produce a newsletter, perhaps twice a
year, which will specialize in the needs and ideas of blind
farmers, ranchers, and growers. Contact the chairman to submit an
article or to be added to the list of persons interested in
getting a subscription: Diane Starin; Route 4, Box 4038; Road 12;
Orland, CA 95963; phone: [phone]


[PHOTO: Franz Mohr, Donald Wigent, and Stanley Oliver. CAPTION:
Left to Right: Franz Mohr, Donald Wigent, and Stanley Oliver.]

        STEINWAY ACKNOWLEDGES COMPETENCE OF BLIND TUNERS
                        by Stanley Oliver

     Stanley Oliver, Federationist from Michigan, is the
president of Visually Impaired Tuners International.

     At the 1992 national convention of the Piano Technicians
Guild (PTG), the Steinway Company sent their leading concert
tuner, Franz Mohr, to conduct special classes for the blind
tuners attending the Sacramento national PTG convention. The
enclosed photo shows Franz Mohr of New York; Don Wigent,
Greenville, North Carolina; and Stanley Oliver, Detroit, chairman
of the Visually Impaired Concerns Committee of the PTG. Franz had
just received his copy of What You Should Know About Blindness by
Dr. Jernigan. In exchange he presented his personal copy of the
just-issued book authored by him, My Life with the Great
Pianists.
     During his remarks Franz noted that his world travels had
made him familiar with the competent, well trained blind tuner
technicians. "I feel truly humble seeing the excellent work
performed routinely by blind tuner technicians," was his warm
comment. Many colleges in the U.S. have turned over full
maintenance of their valuable instruments to competent blind
technicians such as Don Wigent. Don had for many years handled
all piano services at Southern Music College in North Carolina.
     An increasing number are now utilizing computers to log
customers and do the many other services that using computers
makes practical. Out of the nearly 4,000 PTC members, there are
close to one hundred blind craftsmen. In the past history of the
PTG, virtually every national elected office from president on
down has been filled by some blind tuner. The same testing
standards for repairs, tuning, and general know-how are equally
applied to sighted and blind applicants.
     In the past four years liaisons have been established with
blind tuners around the world through the Visually Impaired
Tuners International, within the ambit of the World Blind Union.
The accounts from many sources indicate that the challenges met
and goals achieved by blind tuners in the U.S. lead the way.
     If you are in your younger, formative years and seeking a
field with excellent earning opportunities for the competent,
well-trained blind person, look into full-range piano service.
For an update, write: Stanley Oliver, 1965 E. Outer Drive,
Detroit, Michigan 48234; phone, [phone].


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Janet Caron.]

                 ROME, JEWELRY, AND JANET CARON

     As an increasing number of Federationists are coming to
know, Janet Caron is a dedicated member of the movement and one
of the coming leaders of the Florida affiliate. She also makes
beautiful jewelry. Here is an article about her by staff writer
Tamara Kerrill which appeared in the Miami Herald of July 26,
1992.

          Woman refuses to let loss of sight hinder her

     In 1985, Janet Caron walked cautiously toward the Trevi
Fountain through the streets of Rome. Her failing sight made the
trip difficult, but she was determined to toss three coins into
the cascading water.
     According to Roman tradition, if a visitor tosses coins into
the famed fountain, she is assured of returning.
     "I stumbled to get there. I was heartbroken," she said. "I
was in tears as I threw those coins over my shoulder and people
were looking at me. I was losing my sight and I truly thought
that I would never get back to my beloved Rome."
     She also never thought she would lead a productive life
again. She was wrong.
     Today, Caron, who lives in Pompano Beach, makes exquisite
jewelry from scratch and works for the rights of disabled people
in Broward county.
     "When I first lost my sight, I couldn't believe it was
happening to me," Caron said.
     She said doctors are at a loss to determine the cause of her
blindness. "But once something like this happens, you really
realize how capable blind people are," Caron said. "I have had
many doors opened to me that never would have been had I not lost
my sight."
     Caron recently helped found the Broward County chapter of
the National Federation of the Blind, and she has served as
secretary of the county Commission's Advisory Board for Persons
with Disabilities for two years. She also sits on the state board
of the National Federation of the Blind.
     Her achievements don't surprise those who know her.
     "She's come a long way," said Joe Nalty, president and co-
founder of the Federation's Broward chapter. "She's a charming
person, but she's tough. She's got a firm conviction of her
views."
     Caron has helped advance the causes of disabled people in
the county.
     In the past year, she and her fellow advisory board members
were instrumental in creating a new county Non-Sponsored
Transportation Disadvantaged Program. Under this new program,
disabled people can make reservations to be picked up from their
homes by vans and be taken anywhere in the county for a dollar
each way.
     The board has also helped make Tri-Rail stations in Broward
safer for blind people by eliminating corners that jut out and
dangerous obstacles.
     Caron's lesser-known passion is her jewelry, which she began
creating two years ago to satisfy an artistic craving.
     Her tiny apartment is filled with colorful bags of beads
from Italy, Africa, China, and other distant places. Caron also
makes her own beads from raw clay, which she glazes and fires in
a kiln at a Pompano Beach ceramics shop.
     The colorful chokers and matinee lengths are combinations of
ivory, hand-blown glass, painted porcelain, jade, and other
special materials. She finds the beads at various thrift shops.
Caron tests the authenticity of the beads' material by rubbing
them together and running her fingers over them.
     She takes her cache of colorful creations to some local art
fairs, like the annual Christmas show at Coral Ridge Mall.
     Caron's biggest triumph as a blind woman, however, took
place two years ago when she hesitantly boarded a plane bound for
Rome--the city she had visited regularly before she became blind.
     "I fell in love with Rome," she said. "I love the European
way of life. I thought I would never get back there again. In
1990, I went back, and I did very well. I got off the plane, and
I just broke into Italian. I stayed for a month."
     Caron has been back to Rome three times and plans to keep on
going every spring. Her necklaces have even gone on sale at the
American embassy.
     "My life is very full now," she said. "I do very well at
being legally blind. Blind people may have lost their sight, but
they haven't lost their intellect."


       ALABAMA AGENCY CHARGED WITH CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION
                         by Peggy Pinder

     From the Associate Editor: Peggy Pinder, Second Vice
President of the National Federation of the Blind and the
president of the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa, is
often asked by President Maurer to assist state affiliates that
are dealing with complicated and difficult situations affecting
blind people. Recently he sent her to Alabama, where once again
innocent people were having problems with the blindness system.
This time it was Alabama's black vendors. As a group they have
been largely denied equal access to the Business Enterprise
Program and, when they have gained entrance, have been restricted
to poor locations. These are not just the charges of dissatisfied
vendors but the findings of the Office for Civil Rights of the
United States Department of Education.
     The discrimination uncovered was found to be both entrenched
and systemic, but perhaps the most appalling part of the story is
that the Office for Civil Rights has not demanded immediate
redress for the injured vendors. Here is the story as Peggy
Pinder tells it:

     The familiar song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is
irresistibly brought to mind whenever our attention is focused on
Alabama's programs for the blind. The refrain begins, as
everybody knows, "When will they ever learn." In recent years we
have witnessed an Alabama rehabilitation official jailed for
double dipping into rehabilitation funds--that is, receiving
reimbursement for things already paid for--followed a few years
later by the president of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and
Blind's walking off with thousands of dollars worth of luxurious
state property when he changed jobs. (See "Alabama Shenanigans:
Investigations and Indictments" in the March, 1980, issue of the
Braille Monitor and "Of Chandeliers and Shoddy Practice in
Alabama: Another NAC Agency Rocked by Scandal" in the February,
1990, issue.) Inappropriate as these actions were, we now
discover that there were others taking place, at least as
unpleasant, long-lasting, and permanently damaging.
     In 1985 the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the United
States Department of Education reviewed a number of complaints
concerning the Alabama vocational rehabilitation agency's
treatment of black citizens as compared to white citizens,
finding numerous differences in the Business Enterprise Program
(BEP). OCR found a clear pattern of advantage given to white
applicants and vendors over black applicants and vendors. As the
report in 1985 said: "We acquired the average income of vendors,
by race, as reported by the Agency's BEP representatives. We
found that, in some instances, the income of black vendors is
close to or (in one instance) above that of white vendors.
However, overall, the average income of white vendors is
significantly higher than that of black vendors.
     "Although we did not determine whether the discrepancy in
income results from past discriminatory practices, we discussed
it with state and local agency officials, who are aware of the
discrepancy and who are in the process of establishing vending
locations at interstate welcome centers and other state sites in
hopes of placing black vendors and increasing their income." In
other words, in 1985 Alabama rehabilitation officials explained
that they had plans to improve opportunities for black vendors,
and OCR concluded that the plans would solve the problem of
differential treatment. So, on the strength of the representation
by rehab officials that they would solve the problem themselves,
OCR gave no orders to the Alabama rehabilitation agency in 1985.
     Time passed--1986, 1987, and 1988 went by. More time passed,
and the calendar came around to 1992. Seven years after the first
OCR report was made, the Office of Civil Rights was asked by
Alabama citizens to return and make another review of the
differences in treatment between black and white vendors. This
time things were different, but not in the way one would have
hoped. OCR found the very same inequalities. Seven years later
nothing had changed in the treatment of black vendors in Alabama
as compared to that of white vendors. The difference now is that
OCR has placed on the public record official findings that the
Alabama vocational rehabilitation agency has violated the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 in its treatment of black vendors. This
finding concerns violation of the same law for passage of which
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., marched in the early sixties--the
same law that Congress used to desegregate lunch counters, places
of public accommodation, and school districts. This same law has
now been applied to the Alabama vocational rehabilitation agency,
and the agency has been found in violation.
     One of the violations found in the 1992 report is
differential treatment in getting into the program in the first
place. OCR says: "Since file reviews showed no objective or
quantifiable differences between those entering the BEP program
compared to those not referred to the BEP program, one would
expect to see a comparable number [of blacks] enrolling as are
accepted for service [as clients] by the Agency [as a whole].
Instead, there is a disparity of 34 percent black representation
accepted for service by the Agency compared to 18 percent
entering the BEP program. The only factor to which this can be
attributed is the lack of objective standards and criteria for
enrollment in the program and the lack of any guidance of the
counselors in the selection process. This, coupled with the
admission of at least one counselor that there is racially based
steering to and from the BEP program, leads OCR to conclude that
the Agency's practices have a discriminatory impact on the
enrollment of blacks in the [Business Enterprise] program. Based
on the evidence, OCR therefore concludes that the agency is in
violation of the regulation implementing Title VI [of the Civil
Rights Act] at 34 CFR Section 100.3(a), (b)(1)(i), (ii), (iv),
(v), and (vi) with respect to this issue."
     On the subject of opportunities within the program itself,
OCR found that the lack of referral and admission to the program
over a number of years had proven a stark disadvantage to the few
blacks now in the program. This is due to their lack of
seniority. In Alabama 25.6 percent of the population as a whole
is comprised of black citizens. However, OCR found that "During
1989-91, blacks comprised only 12 percent (eighteen) of the total
number of vendors (one hundred forty-seven)." And, as OCR also
found, most of the blacks have arrived in the last few years and
have no seniority when it comes to bidding for new locations. In
Alabama a licensee is a person who has finished training and is
awaiting assignment. The OCR report found that "The lack of black
licensees on the lists shows that blacks have not been referred,
trained, and awarded licenses in years prior to 1989-91....
Agency officials could not explain the noticeable absence of
black licensees prior to 1989."
     After describing in detail the number of blacks who were
awarded facilities (one in 1990 and none in 1991), OCR summarized
by saying: "In the past five years black licensees were awarded
two out of forty first-time vending facilities. Black licensees
received 5 percent of the vending opportunities compared to white
licensees, who received 95 percent of the vending
opportunities.... Based on the evidence, OCR concluded that black
licensees received fewer vending opportunities because of past
patterns of exclusion and under-representation in referral,
training, and licensing for the [Business Enterprise] Program.
This has resulted in the inability of the few black licensees on
the licensee waiting list to obtain vending facilities in recent
years because of their recent placement and low seniority on the
list."
     OCR also compared the earnings of white and black vendors to
determine opportunity over time. The report says: "The
investigation revealed significant differences in the number of
black and white vendors and their net profits. During a
three-year period, 1989-91, the number of black vendors decreased
from nineteen to eighteen while the number of white vendors
increased from ninety-seven to one hundred twenty-nine.... The
three-year average net profit for white vendors was $21,459
compared to $15,330 for black vendors. The average difference in
net profits between white and black vendors was $6,195. The gap
widened in each successive year from $4,302 in 1989 to $7,488 in
1991.... The number of white vendors in the $20,000 and over net
profit category increased from forty-seven in 1989 to fifty-five
in 1991. In contrast, the number of black vendors in the $20,000
net profit category decreased from five in 1989 to three in
1991."
        In explaining this income disparity, OCR says: "The
evidence reveals that a significant number of the black vendors
are located in low-volume or marginal vending facilities. For
example, a disproportionate number of these vendors are located
in public housing projects. Twenty-eight percent of the black
vendors were located in the projects. None of the white vendors
was located in housing projects. The average net profit for these
vendors [in the projects] was $9,241. The sites were not only
less profitable, but Agency officials and vendors stated that
these sites are crime-ridden and dangerous." In fact, though the
OCR report discusses neither the nature of the crimes nor the
degree of danger, vendors and BEP personnel all know that, in
housing project vending locations in the city of Birmingham, two
black vendors have been shot and killed and a third wounded
during robbery attempts during recent years.
     In addition to the 28 percent of black vendors in project
locations, OCR found that "Another 22 percent (four) of the black
vendors operated other low-volume vending facilities that also
generated marginal profits. The average net profit for these
vendors was $7,074. Fifty percent of the black vendors (nine of
the eighteen) were located in vending facilities that generated
only one third of the average income earned by white vendors."
     After studying these startling statistics, OCR asked
questions. Here is the OCR version of one answer to the question
why things are as they are: "Agency officials expressed concern
about the financial plight of black vendors, especially those
located in public housing; however, they stated that most of
these vendors did not possess the upgraded skills to successfully
compete for more lucrative sites."
     On the same topic the report goes on: "OCR sought to
ascertain whether the agency initiated any measures to reduce the
income disparity between black and white vendors as recommended
by OCR in 1985. There was no evidence that agency officials made
any efforts to eliminate the income disparity between black and
white vendors."
     To summarize its findings in this area, OCR stated: "Based
on the evidence, OCR found that blacks disproportionately
received fewer vending opportunities and benefits because of
pervasive patterns of under-representation resulting from the
referral process, non-selection of first-time vending facilities,
and marginal vending assignments. OCR determined that the Agency
has oversight and management responsibilities for the [Business
Enterprise] Program and is responsible for monitoring its
operation to ensure comparable vending opportunities and benefits
for both black and white clients. Furthermore, the Agency took no
action to resolve the income inequities between white and black
vendors after the problem was identified by OCR in 1985. OCR
therefore concludes that the Agency is in violation of the
regulation implementing Title VI at 34 CFR Section 100.3(a),
(b)(1)(i), (ii), (iv), (v), and (vi)."
     The actual finding of a violation is a big step forward
toward fairness in Alabama. What Alabama citizens have known for
years has now been formally identified and reported by federal
officials. Astonishingly, that is where the officials stopped.
After describing and naming this long and unfair pattern of
mistreatment of Alabama's black blind citizens, OCR only ordered
Alabama rehab to keep figures on a number of different
statistical measures. That is all! After waiting seven years and
after finally receiving confirmation of what they had always
known, Alabama's black blind vendors received only a promise of
statistics as their assurance of change. The National Federation
of the Blind of Alabama provided a strong analysis of the current
situation to the agency's governing board. After gathering
statistics for three years, OCR will undoubtedly drop back in
someday to see what's happening.
     In fact, one can be sure that Alabama's black blind vendors
will make sure to invite OCR back for another look. If the state
agency does only what OCR required and takes no additional steps
to remedy the violations found in 1992, the federal
rehabilitation money now flowing to Alabama could well be
jeopardized. This would affect blacks and whites alike. But the
current climate of discrimination does that already.
Opportunities for all vendors are lessened when a whole group of
them are accorded only the bare minimum. If opportunities are
improved for black vendors, opportunities can also be improved
for all vendors at the same time. That is what the NFB of Alabama
proposed to the governing board of the agency in a one-page plan
which would have improved and strengthened the whole program and,
at the same time, improved opportunities for black vendors. The
state agency rejected the NFB of Alabama proposals without even
bothering to explain why.
     So let us continue to watch Alabama. If nothing else happens
before 1995, that year will bring the next reckoning in improving
the treatment of black blind vendors. Statistics are all well and
good, but they don't change lives or put bread on the table. Only
genuine and fundamental reform can do that. And, with the finding
of violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Alabama is now one
step closer to fundamental reform.
     One is moved to ask with Dr. King, "How long, O Lord, how
long?" And the answer to the question is "Sooner than you think."
Moreover, the people who are shaping the answer and bringing it
into being are the members of the National Federation of the
Blind.


                      THE MAJOR INGREDIENT

     From the Associate Editor: Like Don Capps, President of the
National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina, Sharon Gold,
who is the long-time President of the NFB of California, writes a
weekly communication to the leaders of the affiliate. Through it
she keeps the chapters in this sprawling organization informed
about what is going on in the entire movement. She also uses it
as a means of reminding members about the importance of our work.

     The publication is called "The Clipboard," and the issue of
November 12, 1992, summarized important growth in our movement
and placed it in perspective--a particularly appropriate exercise
given that later in the week we in the Federation celebrated our
fifty-second anniversary. Both the information and the reminder
are relevant to us all. Here is what Sharon Gold had to say:

     November is a significant month for the National Federation
of the Blind. It was November 16, 1940, that a handful of people
met in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to adopt a Constitution for
the National Federation of the Blind and plant the seed for the
great and valuable movement we have today. In 1990 President
George Bush proclaimed November 16 National Federation of the
Blind Day, thus recognizing the significance of the Federation to
blind Americans and drawing the attention of the American public
to our fifty years of accomplishment on behalf of the blind.
During our 1992 Convention of the National Federation of the
Blind of California, we celebrated the growth of our affiliate
and the increasing membership of the National Federation of the
Blind by chartering seven newly organized chapters.
     There is little that is more exciting to Federationists than
identifying a new NFB member or organizing a new chapter. It is
the monthly chapter meetings that build the National Federation
of the Blind and bring to the local community the benefits and
strengths of a national movement, both broad in scope and
representative of the interests and needs of blind people. The
National Federation of the Blind has the largest and fastest-
growing membership of any blind organization in the world, and
California is proud to be a contributor to that growth.
     In mid-August we organized the Central Valley Chapter with
Federationist Mike Corn as its president. In late August we
organized the Greater Pasadena Chapter, and Tom Winholtz, who
recently moved to California from Minnesota, was elected
president. In September the Tri-County Chapter was organized to
serve the blind of Placer, Amador, and Nevada Counties. Richard
Gross, who recently learned of the NFB when he needed
representation in a Social Security hearing, spearheaded the
organization of this chapter and is serving as its president.
     Three more chapters were organized in October. Edith Watts,
a retired government employee who recently lost her sight, is
president of a new chapter in the Los Angeles basin, serving the
southwest area of Los Angeles. With the help of Ventura County
resident Russell Murawski, Nancy Marcello organized a seminar on
Saturday, October 10. Following the seminar, those in attendance
expressed a desire to organize a chapter, so we adopted a
Constitution and established the National Federation of the Blind
of Ventura County. Nancy Smith, a vivacious lady who is an
ordained minister and the mother of a teenaged daughter, was
elected president. Finally, Butte County was organized on October
24, and David Kling, a musician and the owner of a recording
studio in Paradise, was elected president.
     The seventh group to be chartered is a statewide chapter,
which was organized during the convention. The new chapter is the
California Association of the Senior Blind, and Sandy Ritter is
its president. The members plan to compile and distribute
information of particular interest to blind senior citizens and
to develop a network through which blind seniors can become
acquainted and provide support to one another.
     Meetings of the Federation are important. On the surface we
deal with obvious business. We distribute NFB literature and make
our views known to lawmakers. The members seek out the newly
blind of our communities and bring them to the NFB. An
organization must have funds to survive, so we create ways of
educating the public while raising the chapter treasury balance
available to advance the blind within society. We invite speakers
to address topics of importance, and we take every opportunity to
raise issues, resolution of which bring about a greater
understanding of blindness.
     The National Federation of the Blind espouses a philosophy
of blindness that brings dignity to blind people and calls forth
individual accomplishment regardless of perceived limitation.
Fundamental to this philosophy is love for one another, pride in
the achievements of blind people, and respect for ourselves.
Through concern for others we build this movement of ours one
member at a time by bringing a friend or acquaintance to an NFB
meeting. New local chapters are needed and wanted by people who
may never even have heard of the NFB. Your help is needed to
establish and build them.
     Whether the next meeting of the National Federation of the
Blind is that of a local chapter, a state convention, or the
National Convention, the importance of our individual attendance
is the same. It is our coming together and our collective voice
at every level of the Federation that are paving the way to
freedom for the blind.


[PHOTO: David Andrews seated at a computer. CAPTION: David
Andrews.]

                         BOOK REVIEW OF
SOLUTIONS: ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES
FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND
                by Olga Espinola and Diane Croft
         Published by National Braille Press, Inc., 1992
                    Reviewed by David Andrews

     From the Associate Editor: David Andrews is the Director of
the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind,
which is located at the National Center for the Blind. Probably
no one in the country knows more about the whole range of access
technology for blind people than Mr. Andrews, so it seemed
appropriate to ask him to review Solutions, the new book written
by Olga Espinola and Diane Croft and published by the National
Braille Press. Here is what he has to say:

     Every day in the International Braille and Technology Center
for the Blind I receive telephone calls, many of which ask the
same group of questions: "Which screen review program is the
perfect one for me?" "What speech synthesizer sounds the best?"
"Tell me everything you know about scanners in one minute or
less." "Which is better, the Kurzweil or the Arkenstone?" "What
Braille printer should I buy?" I don't try to avoid answering
these questions, but there isn't a simple answer to most of them.
I usually say, "It depends...." What does it depend on? Well, on
the person's budget, work situation, prior knowledge and
experience, current personal computer or computer being accessed,
and much more. When a person has some previous experience with
computers, it may be possible to ask a few questions in order to
arrive at the right answer. However, with beginners this can be
difficult. They may not know what they want or need. They don't
have enough knowledge to answer the questions, and they may not
know what is available or possible. These people need a starting
place. With its recently-published book Solutions: Access
Technologies for People Who Are Blind, National Braille Press of
Boston, Massachusetts, has provided us with such a place. The
book was written by Olga Espinola and Diane Croft and is
available in Braille, print, cassette tape, and computer disk.

     It seemed appropriate to evaluate the book in the light of
the goals and target audience set by the authors. Consequently I
talked to Diane Croft, who is director of marketing at National
Braille Press and who has four other technology books to her
credit. Croft said, "The target audience is the beginner, the
person who doesn't think that he or she needs a computer." She
says that the goal of the book is to "get people started, to
increase their familiarity with the technology and the language,
and to get them to take the next step towards buying a system."
The authors also hope to help people make an informed choice
between speech and Braille access.
     I read my first NBP computer book back in 1984. It was A
Beginner's Guide to Personal Computers for the Blind and Visually
Impaired, published in November of 1983. I can still remember
devouring it in a single sitting. Recognizing the power of the
computer and what it could do for me really turned me on; and,
because I now make my living working with the beasts, I realize
in retrospect that the book probably changed my life. I also
devoured NBP's subsequent computer books: both editions of A
Second Beginner's Guide and Ad-ons. However, because I now eat,
sleep, and breathe computers and access technology, no
introductory book of this kind can ever again turn the world
upside-down for me in quite the same way.
     So, to aid me in my evaluation of Solutions, I enlisted an
old friend, Ed McDonald, President of the NFB of West Virginia
and a beginning computer user. Ed has owned and used a
VersaBraille II Plus and VersaPoint Braille printer from
Telesensory for some time but has resisted stepping up to a
personal computer, even though he knows he would benefit. Ed said
of the book, "I thought it was factual and informative. It
brought together and systematized a lot of information I had
heard here and there. It whetted my appetite to get into the
computer business, and I think I will now take the next step
sooner than I would otherwise have done."
     I agree with Ed McDonald. While I have specific quibbles
with the book, I think that it does meet its general goals. It is
a starting place for beginners. It will give them some basic
knowledge about computers and access technology, introduce the
major products, and provide a set of questions to use in further
investigations. It also has a good vendor list at the back.
     When I met with Croft, she emphasized that she knew there
were inaccuracies in the book, like addresses or phone numbers
that have changed, and that portions of the book--particularly
the section on scanners and optical character recognition
systems--were outdated. Though the book is not perfect, both Ed
McDonald and I found it to be informative and useful. It made a
good start but left both of us wanting more.
     The book begins with an introduction that provides an
overview. It uses the metaphor of a ride along Boston's Freedom
Trail, which will appeal to some and seem silly to others.
     Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of the basics, including
operating systems and their functions, utility programs, and
more. There is a good discussion of how computers display
information for sighted users and what this means to blind users.
It includes a description of the Graphical User Interface (GUI)
pronounced "gooey." This Chapter, while it has much good
information, does not provide all the basic computer knowledge
the beginner needs. The novice should do other reading in
addition or take a course in computer literacy from a community
college or other provider.
     Chapter 2 discusses basic information on word processing and
related utilities for writing and reading. Chapter 3 provides
information about records management, including databases,
spreadsheets, and time-management and project-management
software. If you don't know what all that means, you will just
have to buy and read the book. Chapter 4 concerns
telecommunications, including modems, networks, terminal
emulators, fax, file transfer, and more.
     "Electronic Reading Services" is the title of Chapter 5, and
it includes discussions of CD-ROM's and electronic reading
services for the blind, including RFB's E-Text program, the
Reader Project, SoftServ, and what Espinola and Croft call
"Computerized Voice-Reading Systems." Under this last category
they place dial-up services such as NEWSLINE for the Blind in New
Mexico and California as well as a computer-delivered newspaper
system operating in Sweden. While dial-up services are useful and
important, they seem a little out of place amid the purely
computer-access material. They operate using a computer, but the
end user doesn't need to know why or how that is so.
     Part II of the book addresses the specifics of access
technology and will probably be of prime interest to most
readers. Chapter 6 discusses choosing an appropriate access
method: synthesized speech, Braille, or a combination of the two.
It provides a list of questions designed to guide the user.
Beginners will find this section useful and informative. For the
most part the book fully and honestly discusses the advantages
and disadvantages of both speech output and Braille, but it
hardly mentions large print at all. Croft said that the topic was
too big and difficult to deal with, given the scope of the
present project. I agree with her, although a paragraph about why
it wasn't included might have been desirable.
     For most people the heart of the book will be the
information on screen review programs, speech synthesizers, and
other access products. With a few exceptions this book, unlike
previous publications from NBP, does not provide comparative
product reviews. According to the authors, they asked vendors to
describe the unique features of their products in two hundred
words or less. They then verified the claims and tossed out all
mention of those features included in two or more programs. The
authors then provided basic information about the products and
included a section discussing special features.
     I think there are two disadvantages to this method. Ed
McDonald pointed out the first. He said that the language used to
describe features and the amount of information needed by the
reader to evaluate each claim are not consistent from one product
discussion to the next. Second, this method does not give the
reader a feel for any of the products discussed. The book could
have benefitted immeasurably from the addition of a thumbnail
sketch of each product reviewed.
     Further, not all the features listed as unique to a given
product actually are, so in these cases, only one producer has
been given credit for features shared with others. I do not mean
to suggest that such product features should have been ignored;
often they are important, and the authors were correct in
describing them. For example, three programs (ASAP, JAWS, and
MasterTouch) offer the ability to identify important information
on the screen automatically without the need to employ special
program configurations. Thus, by the authors' guidelines, the
feature (which is shared by three systems) shouldn't have been
mentioned at all. However, it is an important function and
warrants inclusion, but credit should have been given to all
three. Another example of inconsistency occurs in the mention of
automatic reading features. Two programs are listed as
incorporating it (ASAP and Artic), but I know that others have it
as well. Further, the book provides no information on how well a
given feature works, just that it is part of the program.
     The book says that programming is necessary to set up IBM's
Screen Reader. This is not true, although programming is
necessary to modify its profiles. The book also states that one
must take apart the computer to install an internal speech
synthesizer. Strictly speaking, this may be true, since one must
remove the cover and a small plate (slot cover) from the back of
the machine; but this is quite simple to do and does not
constitute an invasion of the inner workings of the actual
computer. The phrase "taking apart your computer" implies a more
substantial foray into electronics than is actually involved.
     Finally, the book does review most, but not all, of the
available screen review programs. The authors say that they
reviewed major products only, but they were so close to reviewing
everything that they should have gone all the way. The only
things left out were the CompuSite Reader (HAL in England),
PROVOX, SlimWare, the NFB Speaqualizer, and the Verbal Operating
System (VOS). The exclusion of VOS is interesting because the
book does mention the Verbette, a synthesizer sold by Computer
Conversations, which wrote VOS, the only program that supports
the Verbette. Further, the NFB Speaqualizer and CompuSite Reader
do receive mention elsewhere in the book. On the other hand, ISOS
and Tinytalk (neither of which is a major product) were reviewed.
This decision was sensible since both have important features:
ISOS allows one to access Prodigy, a graphics-based on-line
service; and Tinytalk is the only screen review program
distributed by the shareware method--try it before you buy it.
     Chapter 8 is devoted to Braille devices. I am pleased to
report that this book continues the National Braille Press's
commitment to making a strong case for Braille. However, the
chapter leaves out mention of devices from one company,
Papenmeier of Germany. They make two Braille displays and a note
taker/Braille display, the two Braillexes and the Notex
respectively.
     Chapter 9 discusses Braille embossers and translators. This
chapter provides good information although a number of printers,
including the Index Basic, Ohtsuki and Braillo 90, were omitted;
and there is little mention of the quality of Braille produced by
the different machines. The Braille 'n Speak and the BrailleMate,
the hybrids in the Braille-production family of equipment, are
the concern of Chapter 10.
     Chapter 11 deals with reading and scanning systems. This may
simultaneously be the most useful and least satisfactory chapter
of the book. Its strength is that the information here is more
comparative than that in other chapters. However, there have been
a number of developments in the optical character recognition
market since the book was published, so some of the information
is necessarily outdated. Actually this is not a strong criticism
because the problem is unavoidable. Diane Croft says that a
product update section will be added in six months or so. Chapter
12 covers foreign language products. This will be useful for
anyone needing such information, which is not readily available
to most people.
     Finally, to close Section II, there is a discussion of new
products, that is, things that had been on the market for less
then six months at the time of publication. These include the
Nomad and MasterTouch from HumanWare, Franklin Language Master
6000 talking dictionary, the DragonDictate voice input system,
and the Alva Braille Carrier. If you need additional information
about these devices, the International Braille and Technology
Center for the Blind has all of them on display.
     Section III of the book focuses on people. It opens with
interviews of six blind access-technology users. The interviews
are powerful testimonies for the use of technology by blind
persons. They also drive home the need for good Braille skills
and the advantages of using Braille in our work and daily lives.
Anyone who is considering access technology (buying a first
computer, looking for a job, or trying to use new technology on
the job) should find Chapter 14 interesting reading.
     Chapter 15 is a verbatim tele-conference held between the
authors of the book and ten access-technology trainers. Topics
include on-site versus classroom training, individual versus
group instruction, teaching methods, choosing technology, etc. Ed
McDonald felt that the Trainers' Forum didn't read well. He
thought it would have been more effective on tape than it was in
Braille. I agree. I found this the least useful portion of the
book. Some discussion of training is needed; however, much of the
information is of interest only to trainers and experienced
users. A focused discussion of training would have been better
and would have saved space, which could then have been used to
expand other parts of the book.
     Finally, Chapter 16 is a very brief discussion of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This seemed somewhat out
of place. The information is both general and abbreviated and is
tied into the book only with the comment that the ADA calls for
"reasonable accommodations," and access technology can be such an
accommodation.
     The remainder of the book is devoted to a set of appendices,
which are quite useful. Appendix A is a series of questions to
ask when buying access technology. The questions are complete and
useful. Croft told me that they are primarily intended for use by
management information systems professionals within companies
considering acquiring access technology for blind employees, but
the book does not make this clear. The questions are written from
the perspective of the end-user. Most beginners would be unable
to answer the questions for themselves, but they are nonetheless
very good.
     Appendix B is a brief list of training centers, while
Appendix C contains information on funding sources. Appendix D is
a list of computer bulletin boards and on-line services. NFB NET
is listed, although with the wrong area code (301 instead of the
correct 410). This is interesting because the proper 410 area
code is given for the Blazie Engineering BBS. Appendix E is a
list of blindness-related computer publications. Appendix F
contains product listings. Finally, Appendix G is a list of
addresses and phone numbers for vendors of access technology.
     Despite what some may believe to be nitpicking on my part, I
consider Solutions a good and worthwhile book. I do think it will
help the beginner. Its wording could, however, have been a little
more precise in some areas and the text a little more complete.
Its major failing is that it tries to cover too many subjects.
The danger of trying to be all things to all people is that you
risk becoming nothing to anyone. This is not the case with
Solutions, but the book would have benefited from a tighter
focus. Both Ed McDonald and I came away feeling that something
was missing, that we wanted more. It is like what some people say
about Chinese food: it tastes great and seems filling at the
time, but you are hungry again in an hour. If you expect to use
this book to make a decision on the perfect screen review program
or synthesizer or Braille printer, then you will be disappointed.
It will get you started and give you lots of questions to ask and
a framework for understanding the answers, but it won't make your
decision for you.
     The book Solutions: Access Technologies for People Who Are
Blind is available from National Braille Press, Inc., 88 St.
Stephen Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, phone (617) 266-
6160. The book is available in Braille, audio cassette, regular
print, and IBM-compatible computer disk for a cost of $21.95. Add
$3.50 for all print orders and for any other order that you do
not want shipped Free Matter for the Blind. NBP accepts Visa and
MasterCard.


[PHOTO: Portrait. CAPTION: Max Parker.]

                             RECIPES

     From the Associate Editor: This month the recipes come from
Georgia, supplied by Vivian Parker, wife of NFB of Georgia
President Max Parker and Dorothy Goodley of the Moultrie Chapter.
Mr. Parker suggested that we begin with a brief report of the
1992 convention of the Georgia affiliate. Here it is:

     The National Federation of the Blind of Georgia held its
eighteenth annual convention May 15 to 17 in Savannah, Georgia,
at the Holiday Inn. The theme of the convention was Literacy and
Learning. We began our convention Friday at noon with various
meetings and held a candidates' forum on Friday evening for those
who wished to participate in the 1992 elections. Saturday
afternoon we elected the following officers and board members:
Max Parker, President; Tyrone Palmer, First Vice President; Wayne
High, Second Vice President; McArthur Jarrett, Secretary; Al
Falligan, Treasurer; and Board Members Lucy Palmer, Joann King,
Leotha Womble, Isaac Hayward, and Gladys Taylor.
     Our NFB national representative was Marc Maurer, who spoke
about various activities and plans of the National Federation of
the Blind.

                           POUND CAKE
                        by Vivian Parker

Ingredients:
1 box 4-X powdered sugar
3 sticks oleo, softened
5 eggs
3 cups flour
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

     Method: Cream oleo and sugar together. Beat in eggs, one at
a time. Add flour alternately with milk and flavorings. Pour into
greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2
hours. Do not open the oven before 1 1/2 hours. Cool.

                          DIABETIC CAKE
                        by Vivian Parker

Ingredients:
1 large angel food cake, broken into small pieces
2 large packages of sugar-free Jello
1-1/2 cups boiling water
2-1/2 cups cold water
20-ounce package frozen strawberries, thawed
8 ounces Coolwhip, thawed

     Method: Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Add cold water and
chill until mixture mounds when dropped from a spoon. Stir in
strawberries, Coolwhip, and cake pieces. Pour into a large tube
pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Refrigerate
overnight. Serves 25--100 calories per serving.

                       DIABETIC FRUIT PIE
                        by Vivian Parker

Ingredients:
1 small package sugar-free Jello
2/3 cup boiling water
1 cup iced water
8 ounces Coolwhip, thawed
1 cup any type of fruit
1 graham-cracker pie shell, baked

     Method: Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Add iced water and
cool. Stir in fruit and Coolwhip. Pour into pie shell.
Refrigerate overnight.

                         MILKY-WAY CAKE
                        by Vivian Parker

Ingredients:
6 large or 12 small Milky-Way candy bars
2 sticks oleo
2 cups sugar
2-1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
4 eggs
1-1/4 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

     Method: Melt candy bars and one stick of oleo until smooth.
Set aside. Cream other stick of oleo, sugar, and eggs together.
Add buttermilk alternately with sifted flour, salt, and soda.
Beat well. Stir in melted candy, vanilla, and nuts. Pour into
three greased and floured cake pans. Bake at 325 degrees for
about 30 minutes. Cool slightly and remove from pans to cool
completely on wire racks. Frost with the following icing:

                              ICING
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick oleo
1 cup marshmallows
1 6-ounce package of chocolate chips

     Method: In saucepan melt oleo, sugar, and milk until mixture
reaches the soft ball stage. Stir in marshmallows and chocolate
until smooth. Spread on tops and sides of cake layers and stack.

                          CHICKEN PUFFS
                       by Dorothy Goodley

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup boiling water
4 tablespoons flour
1 egg
1/4 cup cheese, shredded
2 cups chicken, chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise

     Method: Melt butter in boiling water. Stir in flour and cook
until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and beat in egg.
Stir in cheese. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and
bake at 400 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove and cool. Split
and spread each puff with 2 tablespoons of mixture made by
combining chicken, onion, and mayonnaise.
     Alternative ham and cheese spread: for the chicken mixture
substitute 8 ounces of cream cheese and 8 slices of ham, diced,
which have been beaten using an electric mixer.

                          GOLDEN PUNCH
                       by Dorothy Goodley

Ingredients:
2 large cans crushed pineapple
2 16-ounce cans frozen lemonade, thawed
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
1 quart ginger ale

     Method: Combine all ingredients and chill.


                       MONITOR MINIATURES

**For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     For sale, Small Talk computer with compatible Apple Image
Writer printer. Brand new, only $1,000. Also, Dictaphone
transcriber, $100, new condition. If interested in these items,
call Micki Fishel at [phone].

**Expanding the Federation Family:
     Federation babies have been arriving at a great rate in
recent weeks. On Friday, October 9, Matthew Wade Swiger, son of
Patricia and Len Swiger, entered the world weighing six pounds
five ounces. Mrs. Swiger works in the accounting department at
the National Center for the Blind and is a member of the
Baltimore Chapter. Matthew has had some difficulties, but we
believe he is now fine. On Tuesday, October 20, Mrs. Boeshore,
Dr. Jernigan's longtime secretary (whom many of us still think of
as Miss Myrick), gave birth to Robert Joseph, Jr., who weighed
ten pounds five ounces. Then, on November 16, Donna and Larry
Posont of Michigan became the parents of Ruthann Marie, who
weighed in at eight pounds two ounces and joins a sister and two
brothers in the Posont family. Larry is president of the NFB
Merchants Division. On Tuesday, November 17, Susie and Bennett
Prows became the parents of a baby daughter, Rebecca Jean,
weighing seven pounds fourteen ounces at birth. Bennett is the
president of the National Federation of the Blind of Washington
State. The following day, November 18, Suzanne and Jim Mitchell
of Kansas became the parents of a second son, Alexander Neal, who
weighed seven pounds five ounces. Congratulations to the proud
parents; we welcome all these babies into the Federation family
and look forward to greeting them in the coming months.

**New Amateur Net:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
                 Blind and Handicap Service Net
     Robert Ramsey from Waterloo, Iowa, has called to say that he
is setting up an amateur radio service net for the blind and
handicapped. Interested persons should tune to 39.20 on the 75
meter band on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday, at 7 Central
Standard Time. Interested persons may also call Mr. Ramsey at
[phone].

**Holocaust Tracing Service Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Did you lose a relative during the Holocaust? Do you want to
verify a family member's death? Do you need certification for
reparation or pensions for survivors? Are you looking for missing
relatives? Now that the Soviets have opened their war archives
containing valuable records, a new Holocaust and war victims
tracing service has been established by the American Red Cross to
assist the blind and all other handicapped people. To help in
completing the Red Cross inquiry form, the Jewish Heritage for
the Blind provides instructions in Braille and large print and
provides information on scheduling appointments with a Red Cross
volunteer. There is no charge for this service. For free
information send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the Jewish
Heritage for the Blind, Tracing Service, 1655 East 24th Street,
Brooklyn, New York 11229.

**Braille Children's Books Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     We are pleased to inform you that we have received a
shipment of seven Braille story books, originally produced by
Artscroll, one of the leading publishing houses. We would be glad
to make these fine publications available to blind individuals,
libraries, or rehabilitation centers at no cost. Please contact
the Jewish Heritage for the Blind, 1655 East 24th Street,
Brooklyn, New York 11229; [phone].

**Elected:
     John Parker, first vice president of the Lakes Region
Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of New Hampshire,
reports the following chapter election results: Mildred (Mickey)
Dickey, president; John Parker, first vice president; Lewis
Clark, second vice president; David Mohr, Secretary; and Claire
Parker, treasurer.

**For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     Out-of-date high-tech equipment in good working condition
for sale. A VersaBraille II system with two 3.5-inch disk drives
and print and Braille manuals. Asking $2,000 or best offer.
     A Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler, asking $900 or best
offer. For more information about either of these items, write or
call Barbara Schaefer or Beth Hunter at Blind Focus, 2801
Wyandotte, 3rd Floor, Kansas City, Missouri 64108; (816) 753-
6533.


[Photo: Portrait. CAPTION: Russ Sanford.]

**In Memoriam:
     Betty Niceley, president of the National Federation of the
Blind of Kentucky, has written to report with sadness the death
of Russ Sanford on September 29, 1992. For many years Russ was a
dependable source of understanding and support for
Federationists. His loyalty and dedication were demonstrated by
his regular attendance at Washington Seminars, as well as at
national and state conventions. He was a well-known champion of
blind merchants and served in various capacities on state and
national boards dealing with vendor-related matters.
     Our Kentucky affiliate will miss Russ in a special way. He
was always there to assist and encourage our new members
attending their first national conventions. It was his feeling
that the true spirit of Federationism could be captured there.
His willingness to contribute whatever time and money might be
needed to reach a Federation goal will long be remembered. May he
rest in peace with the knowledge that we shall continue in our
efforts to follow his example.

**New Braille AT&T Calling Card:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     AT&T recently introduced a newly redesigned, easy to read
Braille calling card that can be used to place local, long
distance, and international calls from any phone without the need
to use change. The card has a permanent number, so users can keep
the same card, even if they move. The card protects customers
from higher costs charged by other operator services companies
and gives users access to a variety of AT&T services, including:
     AT&T USADirect Service and AT&T World Connect Service, which
connect overseas travelers to an English-speaking AT&T operator
when calling back to the U.S. and around the world.
     Discounts on AT&T Calling Card calls, through the Reach Out
America Plan with the Card Discount Option;
     24-hour operator service;
     Access to AT&T Message Service, which enables callers to
record messages in their own voice and send them to another phone
at any time the caller chooses;
     AT&T Language Line Service, which provides 24-hour,
telephone-based access to interpreters who assist customers in
more than 140 languages; and
     The Braille AT&T Calling Card is printed in Grade 2 Braille.
Instructions, card information and selected promotional
materials, provided in Braille, are included with each new
Braille card. For further information, or to order the Braille
card, customers may call 1-800-942-6021.

**For Sale:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     I have for sale a V-Tek Index Braille printer system with
keyboard (used less then ten hours), twelve-foot cable, Braille
and print manuals, and ten cases of continuous-feed paper. The
Index printer is also a stand-alone word processor capable of a
dumb mode and communicating with your printer. Asking $1500 or
best offer. Contact Mark Alexander at 3612 Bailey Rd.,
Bloomfield, New York 14469; [phone].

**Honored:
     Warren Figueiredo, an active Federationist from Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, writes to announce that on October 23, 1992, Joanne
Wilson, Director of the Louisiana Center for the Blind, president
of the NFB of Louisiana, and member of the Board of Directors of
the National Federation of the Blind, was named Disabled Citizen
of the Year at the Governor of Louisiana's Conference for Persons
with Disabilities. The award reads as follows:
               Twelfth Annual Award of Achievement
                      1992 Governor's Award
                  Disabled Citizen of the Year
                          Presented to
                          Joanne Wilson
                               By
                Louisiana Rehabilitation Services
                  Department of Social Services


**In Memorium:
     From the Editor: Word has just reached me of the death on
November 27, 1992, of Virginia Gonzalez of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Virginia is survived by her husband Albert, who was president of
the New Mexico affiliate during the turbulent days of the
National Federation of the Blind's civil war in the late 1950's.
Albert and Virginia were among those who staunchly worked to
resist the efforts of those who were trying to destroy the
organized blind movement. They were principally responsible for
the arrangements and planning of the NFB convention in Santa Fe
in 1959, and those who were present during that tumultuous
meeting will never forget their hard work and steadfast devotion-
-nor should they be forgotten by later generations of our
movement.
     I have stayed in the Gonzalez home on more than one occasion
and feel a keen personal loss in the death of Virginia. Albert
continues his practice of law but is now semi-retired. Virginia
will be greatly missed throughout New Mexico and in other parts
of the country as well.

**Pharmacy By Mail:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
     We are pleased to announce a new service available to all
members of the National Federation of the Blind called the Athena
Rx Home Pharmacy. This service offers competitive pricing for all
prescription medications with the convenience of express delivery
to your home (or office) at no extra charge. Members can access
Athena Rx Home Pharmacy via the 1-800 number listed below to
place prescription orders, check pricing, or consult a pharmacist
with questions regarding your medication. These and other free
services will be especially attractive to those members who are
taking chronic or maintenance medications.

Additional Advantages of the Athena Rx Program:
Refill reminder notices are sent to you so you don't run out of
your medication.
There are no membership fees, delivery fees, or other hidden
charges.
Your medical information remains confidential because Athena
pharmacists provide private consultations over the phone--not in
a busy drug store.
Customer Service can be reached from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST,
Monday through Friday, with 24-hour access to the pharmacist in
case of an emergency. Please feel free to call Athena with any
questions at 1-800-528-4362.

**Seminar Notice:
     We recently received the following notice from the National
Federation of the Blind of California. The seminar should be
timely and interesting. Here is the information:

           Transition in Education: Career Development
               and Job Opportunities for the Blind

     Tuck Tinsley, executive director of the American Printing
House for the Blind, will be the luncheon speaker at a seminar to
be held on Saturday, February 27, 1993, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00
p.m. at the San Jose, California, Hilton and Towers. The seminar
is being hosted by the National Federation of the Blind of
California and the Northern California Chapter of the Association
for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually
Impaired. Among the other speakers on the agenda are Fred
Schroeder, formerly the director of Programs for Children with
Low-Incidence Disabilities, Albuquerque Public Schools, currently
executive director, New Mexico Commission for the Blind; Sally
Mangold, Chairperson, Programs in the Education of the Visually
Impaired, San Francisco State University; and Jack Hazekamp,
Special Education Consultant, California Department of Education.
     The agenda will include topics of interest to special
education teachers, rehabilitation counselors, and classroom
teachers--all of whom are preparing the blind or visually
impaired student for adulthood and security through successful
employment. A comprehensive agenda is being planned which will
encourage discussion and audience participation. The seminar
registration fee is $30.00 and includes the luncheon. Pre-
registration by February 15 is $25.00. Registration begins at
9:00 a.m., and packets for pre-registrants will be available for
pickup at that time.
     The San Jose Hilton and Towers is located at 300 Almaden
Boulevard, San Jose, California. Hotel rates for persons
attending the seminar are $60.00 for single and double occupancy,
which includes a continental breakfast in the hotel restaurant.
Reservations should made directly with the hotel by calling (408)
287-2100.
     Those interested may pre-register for this seminar by
sending the following information to Seminar Registration, NFB of
California, 5982 South Land Park Drive, Sacramento, California
95822: name, address, city, ZIP, and telephone (home and work).
Each registration should be accompanied by a check in the amount
of $25.00 made payable to the NFB of California and should be in
the hands of seminar planners no later than February 15.



SOCIAL SECURITY, SSI, AND MEDICARE FACTS FOR 1993

     The beginning of each year brings with it annual adjustments
in Social Security programs. The changes include new tax rates,
higher exempt earnings amounts, Social Security and SSI
cost-of-living increases, and changes in deductible and
co-insurance requirements under Medicare. Here are the new facts
for 1993:
     FICA and Self-Employment Tax Rates: The FICA tax rate for
employees and their employers remains at 7.65%. This rate
includes payments to the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability
Insurance (OASDI) Trust Fund of 6.2% and an additional 1.45%
payment to the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund. The maximum
FICA amount to be paid by an employee during 1993 is $5,528.70,
up from $5,328.90 during 1992. Self-employed persons will pay a
Social Security tax of 15.3% during 1993, and their maximum
Social Security contribution will be $11,057.40. The self-
employment tax rate of 15.3% includes 12.4% which is paid to the
OASDI trust fund and 2.9% which is paid to the HI trust fund.
     Ceiling on Earnings Subject to Tax: During 1992 the ceiling
on taxable earnings for contributions to the OASDI trust fund was
$55,500, and the ceiling on taxable earnings for contribution to
the HI trust fund was $130,200. These ceilings have been
increased for 1993 to $57,600 for the OASDI trust fund and
$135,000 for the HI trust fund.
     Quarters of Coverage: Eligibility for retirement,
survivors', and disability insurance benefits is based in large
part on the number of quarters of coverage earned by any
individual during periods of work. Anyone may earn up to four
quarters of coverage during a single year. During 1992 a Social
Security quarter of coverage was credited for earnings of $570 in
any calendar quarter. Anyone who earned $2,280 for the year
(regardless of when the earnings occurred during the year) was
given four quarters of coverage. In 1993 a Social Security
quarter of coverage will be credited for earnings of $590 during
a calendar quarter. Four quarters can be earned with annual
earnings of $2,360.
     Exempt Earnings: The earnings exemption for blind people
receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits is
the same as the exempt amount for individuals age 65 through 69
who receive Social Security retirement benefits. The monthly
exempt amount in 1992 was $850 of gross earned income. During
1993 the exempt amount will be $880. Technically, this exemption
is referred to as an amount of monthly gross earnings which does
not show "substantial gainful activity." Earnings of $880 or more
per month before taxes for a blind SSDI beneficiary in 1993 will
show substantial gainful activity after subtracting any unearned
(or subsidy) income and applying any deductions for
impairment-related work expenses.
     Social Security Benefit Amounts for 1993: All Social
Security benefits, including retirement, survivors', disability,
and dependents' benefits are increased by 3.0% beginning January,
1993. The exact dollar increase for any individual will depend
upon the amount being paid.
     Standard SSI Benefit Increase: Beginning January, 1993, the
federal payment amounts for SSI individuals and couples are as
follows: individuals, $434 per month; couples, $652 per month.
These amounts are increased from: individuals, $422 per month;
couples, $633 per month.
     Medicare Deductibles and Co-insurance: Medicare Part A
coverage provides hospital insurance to most Social Security
beneficiaries. The co-insurance payment is the charge that the
hospital makes to a Medicare beneficiary for any hospital stay.
Medicare then pays the hospital charges above the beneficiary's
co-insurance amount. The Part A co-insurance amount charged for a
hospital stay of not longer than 60 days was $652 during 1992 and
is increased to $676 during 1993. Beginning with the 61st day
through the 90th day there is a daily co-insurance amount of $169
per day, up from $163 in 1992. Each Medicare beneficiary has
sixty "reserve days" for hospital stays longer than ninety days.
The co-insurance amount to be paid during each reserve day is
$338, up from $326 in 1992.
     For most beneficiaries there is no monthly premium charge
for Medicare Part A coverage. Persons who become ineligible for
Social Security Disability Insurance cash benefits can continue
to receive Medicare Part A coverage premium-free for 36 months
following the end of a trial work period. After that time the
individual may purchase Part A coverage. The premium rate for
this coverage during 1993 is $221 per month.
     The Medicare Part B (medical insurance) deductible remains
at $100 in 1993. This is an annual deductible amount. The
Medicare Part B basic monthly premium rate will increase from
$31.80 charged to each beneficiary and withheld from Social
Security checks during 1992 to $36.60 per month during 1993.
Medicare Part B coverage may be continued for persons who
complete a trial work period and become ineligible to receive
Social Security Disability Insurance cash benefits. This monthly
premium rate is $36.60, the same amount paid by Social Security
beneficiaries through withholding from their monthly Social
Security checks.


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     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 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."
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