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                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR

                     August-September, 1996

                     Barbara Pierce, Editor


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


              THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
                     MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT



                         National Office
                       1800 Johnson Street
                   Baltimore, Maryland 21230

                             * * * *



           Letters to the President, address changes,
        subscription requests, orders for NFB literature,
       articles for the Monitor, and letters to the Editor
             should be sent to the National Office.

                             * * * *



Monitor subscriptions cost the Federation about twenty-five
dollars per year. Members are invited, and non-members are
requested, to cover the subscription cost. Donations should be
made payable to National Federation of the Blind and sent to:


                National Federation of the Blind
                       1800 Johnson Street
                   Baltimore, Maryland 21230

                             * * * *

THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION
SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND--IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES

ISSN 0006-8829

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

                                           AUGUST/SEPTEMBER, 1996



                            CONTENTS

1996 CONVENTION ROUNDUP
  by Barbara Pierce

PRESIDENTIAL REPORT
  by Marc Maurer

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND AWARDS FOR 1996

                               THE REVOLUTION OF THE KERNEL BOOKS

  by Kenneth Jernigan

THE SCHOLARSHIP CLASS OF 1996

                                          THE ESSENCE OF MATURITY

  by Marc Maurer

CLIENT OR CONSUMER?
RE-DEFINING RESPONSIBILITY IN PROGRAMS OF REHABILITATION
  by Fredric K. Schroeder, Ph.D.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF THE BLIND, JULY, 1996
  by Ramona Walhof


      Copyright (&+c) 1996 National Federation of the Blind
[LEAD PHOTOS: There are five lead photos in this issue. Photo #1:
In the center, Dr. Jernigan's hands are shown as he reads
Braille. Caption: Dr. Jernigan's hands Photo #2: Matthew Jin of
Washington State sits on the floor reading a TWIN VISION book.
Caption: Matthew Jin of Washington State Photo #3: Stuart Weller
of Washington State sits on the floor reading a Braille
book.Caption: Stuart Weller of Washington State Photo #4: Angela
Howard of Louisiana reads the Braille tag of a cane at NFB Aids
and Appliances. Caption: Angela Howard of Louisiana Photo #5:
Frank Meunier of Connecticut reads Braille at a microphone during
the Music Division's Showcase of Talent. Caption: Frank Meunier
of Connecticut General Caption: Braille at all ages at the
Convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Anaheim,
California, during the first week of July, 1996]

[Photo/Caption #1: A bird's eye view of the Hilton's outdoor pool
and part of the city of Anaheim]

[Photo/Caption #2: Many deaf-blind people attend the NFB
convention. Kathleen Spear walks down the hall after the meeting
of the National Association of Guide Dog Users.]

[Photo #3: Carolina Snader pushes along a popping push-toy.
Caption: Carolina Snader, a deaf-blind child from Mexico, enjoys
her second NFB convention.]

[Photo #4: Russell Anderson carries Miles Anderson and walks down
a hallway. Caption: Russell Anderson of Minnesota and his son
Miles en route to one of the many meetings held at the 1996
National Convention]

[Photo/Caption #5: Ed McDonald, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of West Virginia, and his fiance Karen
Chandler enjoy the Braille 'n Speak seminar. By the time this
issue is published, the couple will be happily married.]

[Photo/Caption #6: Christine Hall of New Mexico, President of the
National Organization of the Senior Blind]

[Photo/Caption #7: Jim Willows, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of California, welcomes delegates to the
1996 National Convention at the Opening General Session on
Tuesday, July 2.]

[Photo/Caption #8: NFB Camp gave children hours of fun with many
different toys and activities. Here Brian Hergert of Washington
State plays with a Musical Shape & Sort.]

[Photo/Caption #9: The National Organization of Parents of Blind
Children is a strong component of NFB activities and conventions.
And the whole family takes part. Here the Hovander family from
the state of Washington stops in the hallway to talk with each
other and to look ahead to the rest of the day. But not for long.
It is clear that Ryan is about to move out for parts unknown--
exploring and discovering. Federationists are like that.]

[Photo/Caption #10: President Maurer and Dr. Jernigan meet David
Sexton of California.]
[Photo/Caption #11: Representative Christopher Cox]

[Photo #12: Betsy Zaborowski and John Chrisman stand together.
Caption: Betsy Zaborowski and John Chrisman gave numerous
demonstrations of the NEWSLINE network.]

[Photo #13: A group plays cards. Caption: Monte Carlo Night was
again a fun time for all.]

[Photo #14: Larry Posont is sits in the audience wearing a large
hat with stars and stripes. Caption: Larry Posont of Michigan
gets into the spirit of Independence Day!]

[Photo/Caption #15: Zbigniew Terpilowski, Vice President of the
Polish Association of the Blind and Director of the
Rehabilitation and Training Center, Bydgoszcz]

[Photo/Caption #16: Heather Harmon moves the Convention with her
grace and wisdom.]

[Photos #17 & 18: Caption #17: Jim Near and . . . Caption #18:
Lloyd Johnson of Idaho: proof that Federationists involve
themselves in a number of activities, including building a
house.]

[Photo/Caption #19: Last year's $10,000 American Action Fund
scholarship winner Emily Ross, and two of this year's scholarship
winners, Ana Ugarte and Brigid Doherty, made it to the very end
of the General Session on Friday. But just barely!]


                   _1996 _CONVENTION _ROUNDUP

                      _by _Barbara _Pierce

  An aura of happily ever after surrounds much of southern
California. This is certainly true of Anaheim with its perfect
weather, vacationing tourists, and ever-present reminders of
Disneyland. The 1996 convention of the National Federation of the
Blind, held at the Anaheim Hilton, seemed in some ways to reflect
the optimism, inner tranquility, and determination to take charge
of tomorrow that Walt Disney made famous. But energy, fun, and
commitment to hard work also filled the convention and radiated
from the thousands of Federationists who flocked to southern
California the first week of July.
  The Anaheim Hilton and Towers is a splendid facility for a
large convention. The staff were pleasant and helpful without
being intrusive. The hotel restaurants served excellent food with
commendable efficiency. And the hundreds of sleeping rooms on
each of the nine floors above the convention space meant that it
was possible for the energetic and the impatient to climb steps
at those times when the elevators were most crowded.
  By Friday, June 28, hundreds of white canes and many guide dogs
were in evidence in the hotel lobby and the surrounding streets
and restaurants of Anaheim. By the time the seminar for parents
of blind children began Saturday morning, there were more than
200 families with blind, deaf-blind, or multiply-handicapped
blind youngsters ready to participate in an exciting day of panel
discussions, workshops, round tables, and seminars.
  That evening, while families got acquainted and children took
part in a talent show, blind teens and some of their sighted
siblings gathered for their own (parents not invited) get-
together and scavenger hunt. Working in small groups, each led by
a blind adult, they found ten different locations in the hotel
and picked up a pre-arranged item to prove that they had
successfully found it. Sighted teens were invited to use
sleepshades and canes, which some did. The evening ended with
games and prizes. By the time the eighteen participants
separated, they had made friends and exchanged room numbers.
Friendships were strengthened and extended to even more teens
Sunday afternoon with another time and place for teens only.
  Throughout the day and evening Saturday, eager Federationists
could choose from over a dozen meetings, workshops, and seminars.
One of the most popular, as it is every year, was the annual Job
Opportunities for the Blind (JOB) seminar, sponsored jointly by
the National Federation of the Blind and the U.S. Department of
Labor. Members of the National Association of Guide Dog Users,
the Writers Division, and people interested in the problems faced
by those who are deaf-blind also gathered for seminars.
  By Sunday the convention was in full swing. Convention
registration and the exhibit hall both opened ahead of schedule
Sunday morning, and hundreds of people were on hand to take
advantage of the fact. The exhibit hall did a land-office
business, as always, from the moment its doors were thrown open.
Fifty-three exhibitors from outside the NFB had space in the
California Pavilion, which was spacious enough to provide wide
aisles and easy movement along the rows of displays and
demonstrations.
  Sunday afternoon the Resolutions Committee met, with an
audience of several hundred in attendance. The committee
considered twenty-two resolutions, and the Board of Directors
considered one. Nineteen were eventually brought to the floor of
the convention for debate and vote by the delegates. The texts of
the resolutions considered by the convention appear elsewhere in
this issue.
  Sunday evening and Monday afternoon and evening Federationists
could choose among thirty-three committee and division meetings
and seminars, eleven on Sunday and twenty-two on Monday. This
count does not include a number of demonstrations of the Myna
palmtop computer and of the NFB's NEWSLINE(&+r) for the Blind
network, which delivers digitized newspaper text over the
telephone. The NEWSLINE network now includes a growing number of
cities, with more on the horizon. The count of convention
activities on Monday does not include two performances of Jerry
Whittle's new play, __Between the Moon and the _Stars, presented
by the Louisiana Center for the Blind Players. Both performances
took place Monday evening.
  Before the convention began, Mike May, Vice President for Sales
for Arkenstone, had asked the NFB to find a couple of blind
teenagers to work in Disneyland with a film crew from the
Discovery Channel on Monday. The idea was to record the two using
their white canes as well as Strider(&+r), Arkenstone's new
portable computer with digitized maps and a Global Positioning
System (GPS), to tell them where various attractions were in
Disneyland. Angela Sasser of Louisiana and Ellen Nichols of
Maryland agreed to dedicate their morning to the project.
  According to the camera crew, the segment should air sometime
during October on the Discovery Channel's program "Beyond
Tomorrow." The Strider units being used during the convention
were prototypes only and had experienced some difficulty
performing in the summer heat over the weekend, but on the day of
the filming Strider behaved impeccably. The Federationists did
the same, doing what they were asked to do with real
professionalism. All went without a hitch until the moment when
the young women were instructed to enter one attraction through
the exit. They balked at that, asking why they should not stand
in line like everybody else. The crew explained that it was
Disney policy to send blind customers through the easier, faster
route. The girls refused on the grounds that they wanted no part
of a policy that they believed segregated them and promulgated
the notion that blind people need special treatment. Rather than
make an issue of the impasse, the camera crew canceled that part
of the filming.
  The young women were sorry to inconvenience the crew and would
have been happy to do as they were asked if what they were being
requested to do had not been standard Disney policy for dealing
with blind people. They believed that such policies are
destructive of blind people in the long run, and on principle
Angela and Ellen could not allow themselves to appear to agree
with the policy for the convenience of the cameras and the
schedule. It's exciting and reassuring to see our teens growing
up with strong principles about rights and wrongs in the
treatment of blind people.
  The annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the National
Federation of the Blind and the first official general session of
the 1996 convention was called to order at 9:00 a.m. Monday.
After calling the roll, President Maurer invited those present to
stand with him for a moment of silence in memory of our
Federation brothers and sisters who had died during the past
year. The first agenda item was the announcement that at this
year's convention the five constitutional officer positions and
six at-large positions on the Board of Directors were open for
election. President Maurer then announced that National Board
member and President of the NFB of West Virginia Ed McDonald and
his fianc Karen Chandler were to be married during the West
Virginia convention, August 9 to 11. Everyone present wished Ed
and Karen joy. President Maurer then congratulated Rick Fox,
President of the Connecticut affiliate, and his new wife Debbie
Bloomer Fox, who were married June 1.
  Jim Willows, President of the National Federation of the Blind
of California, came to the podium to welcome convention delegates
to the Golden State and to make several announcements. He
concluded his remarks by explaining that it was affiliate policy
to share all bequests equally with the national organization. In
that spirit the California affiliate has contributed $63,590 in
bequests to the National office of the Federation during the past
year. The California Board of Directors had contemplated waiting
until the convention to present one check, but knowing that
expenses continue throughout the year, they decided to pass the
funds along as soon as they were available.
  Dr. Jernigan, President Emeritus of the National Federation of
the Blind and Chairman of Convention Arrangements, made a number
of announcements, including the pleasant news that well over 2000
people had registered for the convention on Sunday. He also gave
particular recognition to both E. U. Parker of Mississippi and
Ron Johnson of Iowa, who died this past spring. E. U.'s wife Gene
has sent a number of contributions in E. U.'s memory to the NFB,
including one from his estate in the amount of $50,000. A
scholarship in E. U. Parker's memory has been established and
will be presented for the first time in 1996 to an outstanding
American student. When Ron Johnson realized that he was losing
his fight against diabetes, he made arrangements to purchase an
insurance policy, which will pay the National Federation of the
Blind $50,000. Dr. Jernigan invited all present to consider what
the NFB has meant in their lives and follow E. U.'s and Ron's
example.
  President Maurer thanked the United Parcel Service and its UPS
Foundation, which have supported the work of the NFB for several
years, including a contribution of $10,000 during the past year.
Representatives from the Foundation attended the convention and
are working with the Federation to help blind people find
employment.
  Allen Harris, Treasurer of the NFB and President of the
Michigan affiliate, announced that because of a bequest, the NFB
of Michigan has made a contribution of $40,000 to the national
organization. Bruce Gardner, President of the NFB of Arizona,
then announced that his affiliate had divided its income from
special projects and bequests equally with the national
organization in recognition of all that each member receives from
the nationwide movement. This year Arizona has contributed
$38,000 from bequests to the national organization.
  President Maurer next called Steve Benson, Chairman of the
Blind Educator of the Year Award Selection Committee, to present
this year's award to Carla McQuillan, President of the NFB of
Oregon. A full report of the presentation appears elsewhere in
this issue. Sharon Maneki, Chairwoman of the Distinguished
Educator of Blind Children Selection Committee, presented the
1996 award to Ann Boyd of Ohio. This presentation also appears
elsewhere in this issue.
  Peggy Elliott, Chairman of the Scholarship Committee, was
called to the microphone to present the scholarship class of
1996, which consists of twenty-seven members. A full report of
the 1996 scholarship program appears elsewhere in this issue.
President Maurer entertained a motion to conduct a scholarship
program next year similar to the current one. The motion carried
unanimously.
  He then announced that the Committee on the Senior Blind had
met at this convention and decided to petition to become a
division. Its proposed constitution was in order, so the Board of
Directors voted to admit the National Organization of the Senior
Blind, with Christine Hall of New Mexico as its president, to
status as a division of the National Federation of the Blind.
This is as good a place as any to mention that the Diabetic
Division voted to change its name to the Diabetes Action Network.
It is still, of course, a division of the National Federation of
the Blind.
  David DeNotaris, one of the leaders of the New Jersey
affiliate, next spoke to the Board of Directors and audience
about an exciting new fund-raising possibility with the American
Communications Network, a customer acquisition company in the
burgeoning telecommunications industry. As a first step he
invited interested Federationists to switch their long-distance
service to LCI International, which bills in six-second
increments. The Federation benefits financially each time an
individual does so. But in addition there are business
opportunities for interested members of the organization and for
the NFB as a whole in ACN's growing group of telecommunication
interests: paging, cellular phones, cable, etc. Those interested
in more information about these opportunities should contact
David DeNotaris at [phone].
  The Board then turned its attention to the Associates Program.
Those recruited to become Members-at-large (Associates) not only
make contributions to the NFB but also become full-fledged
members. The top ten recruiters this year by number of Associates
and by dollar amount are as follows:


                      __Top Ten in _Number

                   _of _Associates _Recruited

10. Veronica Smith (New Mexico), 65
9. John Blake (New Mexico), 65
8. Bill Isaacs (Illinois) 71
7. Frank Lee (Alabama) 75
6. Laura Biro (Michigan), 76
5. Kenneth Jernigan (Maryland), 78
4. Karen Mayry (South Dakota), 83
3. Arthur Schreiber (New Mexico), 87
2. Carlos Servan (New Mexico) 89
1. Tom Stevens (Missouri), 135


               __Top Ten in Dollar Amount _Raised

10. John Blake (New Mexico), $1,341
9. Ed Vaughan (Missouri), $1,360
8. Tom Stevens (Missouri), $1,478
7. Jim Gashel (Maryland), $1,526
6. Jim Salas (New Mexico), $1,541
5. Mary Ellen Jernigan (Maryland), $1,745
4. Karen Mayry (South Dakota), $2,620
3. Marc Maurer (Maryland), $2,795
2. Duane Gerstenberger (Maryland), $3,016
1. Kenneth Jernigan (Maryland), $15,551
  After some discussion of the importance of the Associates
Program, President Maurer adjourned the meeting.
  As 9:45 Tuesday morning approached, the area outside the
convention ballroom began to fill with Federationists--
registering, exchanging banquet tickets, and selling all kinds of
items to the crowd surging toward the meeting room. The ballroom
itself filled with cheering, shouting delegates, who were clearly
ready to enjoy the morning's program to the full.
  At precisely 9:45 a.m. President Maurer called the convention
to order. Following the opening ceremonies, President Maurer
invited Jim Willows, President of the host affiliate, to welcome
the convention. Jim did so with grace and brevity. During his
remarks he invited some Disney friends (Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and
Donald Duck) to join him at the podium. With an assist from Bruce
Sexton, member of the Federation and father of scholarship winner
Brook Sexton, they did so and welcomed the convention. A word of
thanks should go to Carla McQuillan, President of the NFB of
Oregon and volunteer Director this year of NFB Camp. Over a
hundred youngsters were enrolled in this innovative child-care
program, in which blind and sighted kids alike enjoyed activities
and programs while their parents attended convention sessions.
Carla put together an excellent crew of teachers and recruited
all kinds of blind adults to drop in on NFB Camp to lead
programs. It was a wonderful experience for everyone and gave
parents the peace of mind to pay attention to what was happening
on the convention agenda.
  The main event of the Tuesday morning session was the roll call
of states. This year each state president or convention delegate
was asked to respond to the roll call by providing the following
pieces of information: name of delegate and alternate delegate,
name of representative to the Nominating Committee, place and
date of the next state convention, name of national
representative (if already assigned), and status of NEWSLINE
negotiations. In addition we learned several interesting bits of
information. A number of states could boast their state agency
director or other agency officials as part of the delegation.
Betty Niceley announced that, after five difficult weeks during
which it looked as though the state agency serving the blind was
going to be subsumed under another agency, Kentucky newspapers
had just announced that the agency serving the blind was safe,
thanks to the hard work of the NFB of Kentucky and others from
both within and without the state. Carl Jacobsen announced that
the director of the New York Commission for the Blind had almost
lost his job for supporting positions held by the NFB of New
York. Carl then said that the director's job had been saved by
the intervention of Federationists. Joanne Wilson announced that
her son Joel, who was gravely ill last winter and spring, was
part of the Louisiana delegation in Anaheim, completely restored
to health. Gary Mackenstadt, president of the NFB of Washington,
announced that over 60 percent of the 108-member Washington state
delegation were attending their first convention.
  Sixty-four vociferous Canadians took an active part in this
year's convention. Paul Gabias, President of the National
Federation of the Blind: Advocates for Equality, spoke briefly
following the roll call and presented Braille and print copies of
the _Canadian _Blind _Monitor, the publication of the NFB:AE, to
President Maurer and Dr. Jernigan. Dr. Jernigan then announced
that seventy-three visitors from other countries (the number grew
to eighty-four before the close of the convention) were present.
In addition to Canada, the countries represented were Australia,
Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, and Turkey.
  The afternoon session began as always with a packed house
listening raptly to President Maurer's annual report. He
articulated the position of the National Federation of the Blind
in a number of areas and gave notice to friend and foe alike of
what the future holds in store. But he ended his report with a
ringing statement of the covenant that binds the Federation
together:
    Let me conclude by repeating what I have said to you in
  one way or another year after year at the end of these
  reports. I think I understand the responsibility you have
  given me by electing me as President of this
  organization, and I have done the best I can to live up
  to it. As long as you keep electing me, I will continue
  to try to live up to it. But there is something more.
  There must be a bond of understanding between us, between
  you as members and me as President--and I think there is.
  That is the only way that the accomplishments we have
  made have been possible. That is the only way they can
  continue. I must be willing to stand in the front line
  and never duck the hard decisions. When there are risks,
  I must be prepared to take them--and I must not count the
  cost. I must work as hard as I can and put the Federation
  first. I must give and sacrifice and love.
    And there are things that you must do, you the members
  --you who give the Federation its strength and provide
  its moral right to exist and lead the way in the struggle
  of the blind to be free. You must stand with me when the
  battle is hard. You must support me when our efforts on
  behalf of the blind bring criticism and personal attack.
  You must reinforce, encourage, and give heart.

  The entire text of President Maurer's report appears elsewhere
in this issue.
  Following the Presidential Report, Helen Thomas, White House
Bureau Chief for United Press International, addressed the
convention on the subject "Covering the White House from Kennedy
to Clinton." Ms. Thomas is both witty and wise, and her
commentary on the political scene captivated the audience.
  The next speaker was Dr. Giacomo Basadonna of the Yale
University School of Medicine. Dr. Basadonna's topic was
"Diabetes Management and Organ Transplant." His remarks were
interesting and comprehensible, and his message was balanced but
optimistic. He urged diabetics to consider kidney transplant as
soon as complications begin, because results are now excellent.
He also said that pancreas transplants are improving, and he was
hopeful that the next ten years would bring further breakthroughs
in transplantation for diabetics.
  Dr. Jernigan then made a presentation titled "The Revolution of
the Kernel Books." The entire text of his remarks is printed
elsewhere in this issue. Here is a snippet from the beginning:

  _Revolution, the dictionary tells us, is "sudden or
  momentous change." It is "activities directed toward
  bringing about basic changes in the socioeconomic
  structure, as of a minority or cultural segment of the
  population." By these standards what we have achieved
  during the past five years in writing, publishing, and
  distributing the Kernel Books is a revolution. We have
  brought about a "sudden" and "momentous change" in
  attitudes about the blind, our own attitudes and those of
  society. We have initiated "activities directed toward"
  causing "basic changes in the socioeconomic structure of
  a minority, a cultural segment of the population." And we
  have done it in half a decade.
    Revolutions consist of intangibles--burdens that tax
  the spirit, toil that has no drama, belief that buoys
  hope, and dreams that cross the night to span the day.
  Revolution? From these little books? Yes, revolution.
  Never mind that the tone is gentle and the message
  nonconfrontive. The effect is felt, and basic changes are
  being made in the socioeconomic structure.

  "Equal Employment Opportunity for People Who Are Blind: The Law
and the Policies to Make it Work" was the title of an address
delivered by Gilbert Casellas, chairman of the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission. Mr. Casellas reported on streamlining
initiatives made by the Commission during the last several years,
which have reduced the backlog of cases brought to the EEOC. He
pledged increased commitment to listening to and working with
consumers to enable the EEOC to make the most of its resources,
but he urged the audience to work hard to insure that sufficient
funds are available to carry out the Commission's vital work.
  Tuesday evening was filled with meetings and activities. Before
an enthusiastic audience, the Music Division conducted its
Showcase of Talent at 8:00 p.m. The California affiliate also
hosted a reception and dance that evening. A six-piece orchestra
played all kinds of music and did it so well that party-goers
didn't want them to stop. Scholarship winners, members of the
national Board of Directors, and officers of the NFB of
California all circulated during the evening's festivities to
meet the crowd.
  The first item of business on Wednesday morning was the
election for two-year terms of the officers and six members of
the Board of Directors. Ramona Walhof, who chaired the Nominating
Committee, reported that the slate of nominees brought for
consideration to the convention floor included Marc Maurer
(Maryland), President; Joyce Scanlan (Minnesota), First Vice
President; Peggy Elliott (Iowa), Second Vice President; Ramona
Walhof (Idaho), Secretary; Allen Harris (Michigan), Treasurer;
and members of the Board: Steve Benson (Illinois), Charles Brown
(Virginia), Richard Edlund (Kansas), Sam Gleese (Mississippi),
Diane McGeorge (Colorado), and Gary Wunder (Missouri). All of the
nominees were elected. President Maurer struck a note echoed in
one way or another by each board member who was elected. He said:
    I very much appreciate the honor of serving this
  organization as President. As all of you know, it is my
  firm conviction--a conviction which I believe is
  substantiated by the facts--that the National Federation
  of the Blind is the single most important entity dealing
  with blindness in our country and, as far as I know, in
  the world today. It is an honor to be a part of the
  Federation and to lead it.

  The members of the board elected last year and having one year
remaining in their terms were Don Capps, South Carolina; Wayne
Davis, Florida; Priscilla Ferris, Massachusetts; Ed McDonald,
West Virginia; Betty Niceley, Kentucky; and Joanne Wilson,
Louisiana.
  The Hon. Christopher Cox, a proven friend of the blind and a
representative from the 47th Congressional district of
California, spoke briefly to the convention. He pledged continued
support for the concept of removing work disincentives for blind
recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance. He also
listened with concern to our warning that the House of
Representatives was about to pass an appropriations bill that
would allow the Librarian of Congress to move funds allocated for
the Books for the Blind Program to any other program which he
perceived to have a more pressing need. Mr. Cox assured the
Convention that he would conduct a colloquy with the Chairman of
the Appropriations Committee articulating their shared
understanding that the Books for the Blind Program should not be
eroded. He was as good as his word, subsequently conducting that
colloquy on July 10. The Senate then passed a version of the bill
to which (at the request of the NFB) Senator Connie Mack of
Florida added an amendment removing the language that could have
compromised the budget of the National Library Service. Later the
House concurred in conference, so the threat to the National
Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped was
eliminated.
  Carl Augusto, Chief Executive Officer of the American
Foundation for the Blind, next reviewed programs and plans at the
Foundation and urged continued joint effort among organizations
of and for the blind to protect specialized services and full
access to technology for blind people wherever and whenever
possible. Ted Henter, President of Henter-Joyce, Inc., spoke
about "Building an Enterprise on the Cutting Edge of Technology."
He compared such an effort to preparing for and racing in the
Indianapolis 500 and commented that all of life can be seen as
the same kind of demanding enterprise.
  The concluding agenda item for the morning was an address by
Ruth Pierce, Deputy Commissioner for Human Resources, Social
Security Administration. Her title was "Social Security and
Employment: Compatible Means for Achieving Independence and Self-
Support." Ms. Pierce reassured her audience that the Social
Security retirement trust fund is in no danger of running out of
money in the immediate future. Adjustments will have to be made
in the early years of the next century, but there is still plenty
of time to decide sensibly on a sound program of restructuring.
The disability program is under increasing pressure, and she said
that the Social Security Administration is working to institute
changes that will encourage, not discourage, recipients who are
able to work to do so.
  Wednesday afternoon and evening are free time at NFB
conventions. This year a number of tours were available to those
interested in learning more about parts of southern California.
But there were also a number of activities taking place at the
convention hotel. The exhibit hall was open and filled with
people who hadn't yet found time to take a look at what was
available. NEWSLINE and Myna demonstrations took place, as well
as a hands-on demonstration of all the most recent updates of
Blazie Engineering products. There were workshops for Social
Security recipients and parents interested in cane travel for
their blind children. Several activities and screenings of
Descriptive Video movies took place, and a number of committees
took advantage of the relatively open schedule to conduct
meetings. And of course the evening concluded with the National
Association of Blind Students' annual Monte Carlo Night, filled
with games and laughter.
  In addition to all this, seven volunteer cane users agreed to
help with a field test of Strider, Arkenstone's portable
orientation tool using digital maps and the Global Positioning
System. Departing from the hotel roughly every half hour, they
each walked independently to the front gate of Disneyland. Three
carried and used Strider in addition to their white canes. The
other four used the white cane only. Arkenstone officials wanted
to know how well Strider would stand up to normal use by ordinary
walkers and how easily people could be taught to use the device
for a relatively simple trip. The results of the field test were
interesting and helpful to Arkenstone. For only one of the
Strider trips did the equipment function during the entire trip,
but that walker posted the best time. The results were as
follows:
Dawn Hodge (New Hampshire) 20 minutes, Strider
Jay Wolfe (Texas) 32 minutes, Strider
Eric Duffy (Ohio) 35 minutes, Strider
Latania Reed (Louisiana) 41 minutes
Tracy Duffy (Ohio) 46 minutes
Bruce Brooks (Texas) 52 minutes
A seventh participant (Sheila Johnson of California) began the
walk, but her cane broke shortly after she started, so she was
disqualified.
  Strider proved itself to be a helpful tool in areas where there
were few other pedestrians and large parking lots to traverse.
Arkenstone is now working on solving some of the problems that
the field test uncovered. Maybe we will see a rematch in New
Orleans.
  The Thursday convention agenda is always crowded, and this
year, one presentation held over from Wednesday was added. With
Dr. Jernigan presiding, the first subject for delegate
consideration was international matters. Dr. Jernigan began with
a general report of his activities with the World Blind Union
during the past year. He raised the question of how much of our
organizational time and effort should be directed in the years
ahead to matters beyond our borders.
  He then introduced a panel to present "Twenty Leaders and a
Month of Training in Poland." The participants were Joyce
Scanlan, First Vice President of the National Federation of the
Blind and Director of BLIND, Inc.; Jerry Whittle, First Vice
President of the National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana
and an instructor at the Louisiana Center for the Blind; Zbigniew
Terpilowski, Vice President of the Polish Association of the
Blind and Director of the Rehabilitation and Training Center,
Bydgoszcz; and Homer Page, First Vice President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Colorado and Director of the Colorado
Center for the Blind. During March of this year two groups of
instructors from our three Federation adult rehabilitation
centers traveled to Poland at the invitation of the Polish
Association of the Blind to work with people there on ways to
improve the quality of rehabilitation for blind people in that
country. The three Americans on the panel spoke movingly of their
experience, and Mr. Terpilowski spoke with the assistance of an
interpreter of the hopes and dreams of the Polish blind.
  Concluding the international portion of the agenda were remarks
by David Blyth (President of the World Blind Union and Director
of Employment Services, Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind,
Melbourne, Australia) and Euclid Herie (Treasurer of the World
Blind Union and President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Canadian National Institute for the Blind). Mr. Blyth commented
that as in the U. S. Australia has passed legislation mandating
equal treatment for blind citizens, but finding the resources and
the determination to carry out the law is proving to be
difficult. Dr. Herie expressed the hope that Toronto will soon
have a NEWSLINE local service center and that the _Globe _and
_Mail will then be available to NEWSLINE readers on both sides of
the border.
  Dr. Sharon Sacks, President-elect of the Association for
Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired
and Professor in the Division of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services at San Jose State University in
California, spoke briefly to the convention. She will be the
first blind President of AER, and she said that she is eager to
help the organization mature and grow in its ability to work
effectively internally and with other organizations in the
blindness field. She has taught blind children and young adults
and has a strong interest in improving the social development of
blind young people. (By the time this edition of the _Monitor
reaches you, Dr. Sacks will be president of AER.)
  Deane Blazie, President of Blazie Engineering, was the final
speaker on the Thursday morning agenda. He reviewed the latest
technology and innovations in the Blazie line of products. It is
clear from what he said and from the decisions made by his
company that Mr. Blazie is committed to working closely with his
customers and with the organized blind movement.
  The afternoon session began with a stirring speech by Dr. Fred
Schroeder, Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services
Administration. His title was "Client or Consumer? Re-defining
Responsibility in Programs of Rehabilitation." The text of his
remarks appears elsewhere in this issue.
  The following agenda item was one of the most delightful and
inspiring things that happened during the entire convention. It
was an address by Heather Harmon of Washington State entitled
"Blind, 88, and on the Rocks." Heather learned about the NFB from
a Kernel Book just after she became blind two years ago at age
eighty-six. She is now a student at the Colorado Center for the
Blind, where she has charmed students and staff alike. Listening
to her remarks, it was easy to understand why.
  President Maurer then announced that a letter had just arrived
by Special Delivery, which he asked Duane Gerstenberger to read
to the Convention.

                                                 Washington, D.C.

                                                       July, 1996


    Warm greetings to everyone gathered in Anaheim,
  California, for the 1996 convention of the National
  Federation of the Blind.
    Our success as a nation depends upon our ability to
  embrace the creativity and energy of all our people.
  Since its inception, the National Federation of the Blind
  has played a vital role in enabling blind people
  throughout the United States to achieve independence.
  Bringing new hope and opportunity into their lives, you
  can take great pride in your strong record of outreach to
  the blind community.
    My Administration stands with you in promoting the
  inclusion of blind persons into all aspects of our
  national life. As we work together to increase the blind
  community's access to education, rehabilitative services,
  health care, and employment, I commend you for helping to
  ensure that every citizen enjoys an equal share in the
  American Dream.
    Best wishes for a productive convention and every
  future success.

                                                     Bill Clinton

                                                  The White House


  Frank Kurt Cylke, Director of the National Library
  Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, next
  spoke to the Convention. His title was "Program
  Refinements: Addressing Current Budget Concerns." He
  began by commenting that he found Heather Harmon's
  remarks one of the most inspirational speeches he had
  ever heard, and he thought it was rather hard to have to
  follow both her and the President of the United States.
  He then thanked the Convention for its spontaneous and
  determined response to the budget threat to the Books for
  the Blind Program that had arisen during the week. Mr.
  Cylke reviewed current programs and outlined future plans
  at NLS.
  The next speaker was Millicent Collinsworth. Her topic
  was "Acting for the Silver Screen and Teaching Self-
  Defense: Two Careers for the Blind." Ms. Collinsworth
  talked about both of these interesting careers and
  concluded by saying that everyone has a responsibility to
  leave this world better than he or she found it, and she
  is proud to know that, in teaching blind people to defend
  themselves, she is accomplishing that goal.
  Dr. Tuck Tinsley, President of the American Printing
  House for the Blind, gave a report that was announced as
  an update about the Printing House, but which was
  actually a review of the history of the Printing House
  rather cleverly tied to landmarks in the history of the
  NFB. "The Blind Real Estate Broker in Business" was the
  title of an address delivered by the Rev. Oliver Willis,
  a member of the Board of Commissioners of the South
  Carolina Commission for the Blind.
  Jim Near and Lloyd Johnson are from Boise, Idaho.
  Together they made the next presentation, much to the
  delight of the entire audience. Their title was "We're
  75; We Built a House; and We're Blind." They weren't
  kidding either. They told the delegates exactly how they
  did it.
  The final presentation of the afternoon was by Charles
  Cheadle, son of Barbara and John Cheadle, longtime
  leaders in the Federation and now members of the national
  staff. "The Blind Scout Becoming an Eagle" was his title,
  and his theme was the value of growing up in the
  Federation because it teaches one strength, wisdom, and
  determination to succeed.
  A huge and exuberant crowd poured into the banquet hall
  when it opened at 7:00 Thursday evening for the event
  which is always the high point of Federation conventions.
  Dr. Jernigan acted as master of ceremonies, a job that he
  undertook with his customary relish, charm, and firmness.
  The Jacobus tenBroek Award was presented this year to
  Joanne Wilson, President of the Louisiana affiliate and
  member of the National Board of Directors. Ramona Walhof,
  who chairs the selection committee, made the
  presentation, which is reported in full elsewhere in this
  issue.
  When President Maurer rose to make his annual address,
  the audience, which had been unrestrained in the
  expression of its high spirits, settled into rapt
  attention. His title was "The Essence of Maturity," and
  as always, it embodied the philosophy, dreams, and
  determination of the organized blind movement as it nears
  the close of the millennium. The full text of President
  Maurer's address appears elsewhere in this issue, but in
  closing he said:

    Our progress toward full participation in society is
  accelerating, and our goal of full citizenship is near at
  hand. What stretches before us will not be easy (none of
  the travel on our road to freedom has been), but we have
  come a great way farther than we still have to go.
    Let me conclude, as I have so often done, by reminding
  you of the commitment that holds us together and guides
  our actions. As we go forward, you have the right to
  expect that I as President will never ask you to make
  sacrifices that I am not willing to make, that I will not
  ask you to take risks that I am not willing to take. You
  have the right to expect that I will lead, and that I
  will do it decisively. You have the right to expect that
  I will give to you and our movement my time, my effort,
  my devotion--and, yes, my love. And I have the right to
  expect certain things from you. This week you elected me
  again as President, and by that act you undertook by
  implication an equal commitment. You gave me the
  responsibility of standing in the front ranks to lead by
  example and not just with words. Here in your presence I
  publicly pledge to bring all that I have to the effort. I
  made that commitment ten years ago when you first elected
  me to be your President, and I repeat it tonight. I have
  tried to live up to it every day that I have been in
  office, and I will try to live up to it every day in the
  future.
    That is my unequivocal commitment. Now let me say a
  word about what is required of you. I have the right to
  expect that you will support me in my efforts, that you
  will share with me our triumphs, and also that you will
  stand by me in time of trouble and disappointment. These
  mutual commitments are what make us a family and not just
  an association, a movement and not just an organization.
  As we look to the year ahead, let us go with pride; let
  us go with confidence; let us go with maturity. My
  brothers and my sisters, we will make it come true.

  The concluding activity of the evening was the presentation of
twenty-seven scholarships to this year's class of winners. A full
report of the accomplishments and plans of these scholars, as
well as the list of the scholarships each received, appears
elsewhere in this issue. The $10,000 American Action Fund
Scholarship was awarded to Brigid Doherty, a tenBroek Fellow, who
also received an NFB scholarship in 1993. When Dr. Jernigan drew
the name for the final door prize and gaveled the banquet to a
close, Federationists rose, recognizing that once again they were
ready to face the challenges of the future.
  Despite the fact that the after-banquet party went on into the
small hours of the night, the convention opened on the stroke of
nine Friday morning. The first order of business was the
financial report, which in its several parts took most of the
morning. One of the interludes in this important activity was a
brief encomium on Ella Fitzgerald by Californian Barbara Baack.
Before her death, Ms. Fitzgerald had become blind and a double
amputee due to diabetes. Her story is proof of the fact that
blindness can happen to anyone, that our work has an impact on
the lives of all blind people whether they recognize the fact or
not, and that we must all do what we can to make a difference in
the world as Ella Fitzgerald did.
  Friday afternoon Jim Gashel made his annual Washington report,
and nineteen resolutions were brought before the Convention for
consideration. The texts of the resolutions appear elsewhere in
this issue.
  As the convention drew to a close, reports were made by several
vitally important committees. Jim Omvig, who chairs the Pre-
Authorized Check (PAC) Plan Committee, announced that sixty-eight
new people had joined the program during the week, making
automatic monthly contributions to the NFB from their checking
accounts. The amount contributed annually as we came into the
convention was $322,000, and we set a goal of raising that to
$350,000 by the close of the convention. Thanks to the Michigan
affiliate, we bettered the mark by reaching $350,300 annually by
Friday afternoon.
  Ted Young, Chairman of the Shares Unlimited in NFB (SUN)
Committee, announced that $12,015 had been contributed during the
week to the SUN Program, which provides long-term investment in
the organization. The Oregon affiliate led the list of
contributors with the purchase of 150 SUN shares. At the
suggestion of Jan Gawith of Idaho, groups and individuals were
invited to contribute seven (or multiples of seven) SUN shares in
honor of Dr. Jernigan's birthday this coming November. The tally
will continue until Thanksgiving, but individuals, chapters,
affiliates, divisions, and small groups kicked off the effort
with an enthusiastic response to the challenge. Twenty
contributions of $70 and one of $700 were made during the
convention. Now it's up to the organization as a whole to see
what more we can do to wish Dr. Jernigan a very happy birthday.
  By the time convention registration closed, we had registered
2708 attendees, just shy of the all-time high of 2762 in New
Orleans in 1991. Throughout the convention this year Joanne
Wilson, President of the National Federation of the Blind of
Louisiana, kept reminding the crowd that we were "coming to
heaven in ninety-seven," and it was clear from the response that
everyone was eager to get back to New Orleans. When the gavel
fell announcing the close of the 1996 convention of the National
Federation of the Blind, everyone present realized that together
we had just participated in an extraordinary, week-long
experience of camaraderie and shared purpose. As Dr. Jernigan
said, "The Federation is at peace with itself," but nonetheless
vigilant to protect the rights of blind people and eager to march
forward into the promise of tomorrow.

[Photo/Caption #20: President Maurer delivers his annual report
to NFB members at the Hilton and Towers Hotel, Anaheim,
California, Tuesday afternoon, July 2, 1996.]

[Photo #21: Audience members are stand and clap. Caption: The
response to President Maurer's report was enthusiastic and
energetic. These Federationists are ready to face the world, and
to take on the many challenges life will bring.]


                      _PRESIDENTIAL _REPORT

               __NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE _BLIND

                      _ANAHEIM, _CALIFORNIA

                         _JULY _2, _1996

  During the past twelve months the National Federation of the
Blind has engaged in a broader array of activities than ever
before in its history. This has necessarily meant heightened
awareness, growing sophistication, and dealing with problems of
increasing complexity. Yet, as we gather at this convention, we
come with confidence--confidence borne of a sense of harmony and
inner belief that we will find the resources, muster the will,
and encompass the vision to meet the challenges ahead.
  We in the Federation have many assets, but the most important
of these is the solid phalanx of our members, the people who make
our movement what it is--the students, the parents of blind
children, the children themselves, the vendors, the
professionals, the officials of programs for the blind, the
laborers in the sheltered shops, the workers in industry, the
graduates of Federation orientation centers, the successful
business people, and the ones who have not yet found employment.
And there are others: the families and friends of the blind who
are as much a part of our organization as we who are blind. These
are the people who neither expect nor get special thanks since
they are equal participants in the movement. They are the people
who in partnership with the rest of us distribute literature
about the Federation, sell candy, organize chapter meetings,
encourage the discouraged, and carry on the tens of thousands of
daily tasks that make the Federation what it is. We are the blind
from every segment of society and from every corner of America--
we are the people of the organized blind movement.
  One of the most exciting developments in the history of the
National Federation of the Blind is NEWSLINE for the Blind(&+r),
the nationwide network which offers newspapers to the blind by
touch tone telephone. A pilot project to demonstrate the
workability of the NEWSLINE Network(&+r) was initiated last year.
At that time _USA _Today was on line. Today, not only is there
_USA _Today, but also the _Chicago _Tribune, the _New _York
_Times, and local newspapers. The revolutionary character of this
development was recognized last fall by the Greater Baltimore
Committee, a group of a thousand business leaders in Baltimore.
This committee conducted an event in October of 1995 called Tech
Night. NEWSLINE for the Blind(&+r) was demonstrated to thousands
of individuals and was featured at a gala banquet. The
demonstration was simulcast to individuals all over the world
through the Internet. It is estimated that nine million people
saw it.
  In April of this year, a camera crew and reporter from the
Cable News Network came to the National Center for the Blind to
examine NEWSLINE(&+r) and to conduct an interview. The story was
broadcast on the news program of CNN at frequent intervals for a
full day; it was carried on the CNN Airport Network for a
weekend; and it was featured as part of the Cable News Network
program describing the most innovative technological products now
becoming available. CNN carried our name and the story of our
work to over two hundred countries.
  This spring we were invited for an interview on the nationally
broadcast "CBS This Morning" program. The first item to be
considered was NEWSLINE for the Blind(&+r). We also demonstrated
products from the International Braille and Technology Center for
the Blind and described the work of the Federation. The message
was carried to millions of homes in every part of the nation.
  At our convention last year the president of the Polish
Association of the Blind, Tadeusz Madzia, presented a summary of
activities of the blind in Poland. He spoke eloquently of the
inspiration which Dr. Kenneth Jernigan brought to the blind of
his country in 1990, and he said that he hoped to see us develop
joint activities and an ongoing relationship. For the entire
month of March of this year, blind instructors from the Colorado
Center for the Blind, the Louisiana Center for the Blind, and the
Minnesota center for the blind went to Poland to conduct training
courses for professionals in work with the blind in that country
and to work alongside teachers and blind students. And this is
not the end. Officials at the Polish Association of the Blind
have indicated that they would like to have blind people from
their country travel to the United States to observe and
participate in classes at our centers. Representatives of the
Polish Association of the Blind are with us at this convention.
  It is interesting to note how the various strands of our work
come together to form a consistent pattern. At the end of April
of this year, I received a letter from Larry Campbell, one of the
most widely traveled and internationally known professionals in
work with the blind in this country. His letter said:

    I am writing you this note from Warsaw, although it is
  unlikely to reach you before I get home in another week.
    I couldn't resist sharing this little story with you. This
  morning I woke up quite early, and as is my habit when
  travelling, I hit the remote control for the television while I
  was half asleep. I thought I heard your voice. I fumbled for my
  glasses, and when I found them, my eyes confirmed what my ears
  already knew. There you were in living color on CNN doing that
  very nice piece on the newspaper project. I'm sure it reached
  lots of people here in Eastern Europe.
    When I got to the Polish Association of the Blind for a
  meeting with Tadeusz Madzia and Ludwik Rosiennik, NFB was once
  again a topic of conversation. The workshop that NFB recently
  conducted here has had very positive results--lots of thinking
  about revising the rehabilitation process. I was quite pleased
  to learn of this work, since I am working on a new project that
  involves Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech
  Republic. The work that NFB has done will, I think, have a very
  positive impact.

  So said Larry Campbell.
  In the summer of 1995 we learned of allegations of abuse and
neglect of children at the New Mexico School for the Visually
Handicapped. However, they were reported to us by anonymous
letters. Such letters are easy to write, hard to verify, and
almost always useless. But these letters contained so much
specificity that we felt an obligation to investigate. Working
through both our National Office and our state affiliate in New
Mexico, we began the search for the truth.
  We found current and former students who said that the
pregnancy rate for girls at the school was high, that sexual
activity between boys and girls at the school was not uncommon,
that sexual attack by staff members against students was a
repeated pattern, that drugs were frequently used on campus by
students, that alcoholic beverages were obtained by students,
that sometimes staff members supplied drugs and alcohol in
exchange for sex, that physical abuse of students occurred at the
school, and that the superintendent knew about it and did little
to stop it.
  We collected documentation and turned it over to the Attorney
General of New Mexico and other officials. Although we were told
that an investigation was being conducted, months passed with no
result. We asked the students and former students if they would
be prepared to make affidavits setting forth the details of the
abuse. State officials in New Mexico seemed to take the attitude
that, if the administrators at the School said that it didn't
happen, the blind students and the parents of blind children
could not be believed. Those who had been victims of the alleged
abuse asked what could be done. They had come to us for help. We
had promised to bring the matter to public attention. We had
informed the officials who were supposed to act. But nothing had
changed. If government officials are unable or unwilling to
protect the rights of blind children, then we must look to our
own resources. That is one of the reasons why we have a National
Federation of the Blind.
  We started looking for a lawyer. On May 14, 1996, a lawsuit was
filed in federal court in New Mexico on behalf of students and
former students at the school for the blind. That evening the
filing of the lawsuit was reported on the NBC Nightly News, and
the next evening a follow-up, during which I spoke, was carried.
The details of the lawsuit and the allegations that led to its
filing will soon appear in the _Braille _Monitor.
  Meanwhile, I have this to say. If we were only dealing with New
Mexico, it would be bad enough. But we are not just dealing with
New Mexico. We are dealing with a pattern! During the past year
we have reported abuses at the schools for the blind in Arkansas
and Illinois. And our information is that such abuses are also
alleged to exist in other schools as well. I want to be clear
about what I am saying. It is not that all schools for the blind
are bad. They aren't. There are some that are doing an excellent
job, and we will support and work closely with them.
  But there are others! And we have a message for those others,
one that they would do well to heed. To such schools we say, when
you permit or, by your neglect, condone abuse and mistreatment of
blind children, we will expose your behavior to the public; we
will confront you with whatever force may be required; and we
will put a stop to what you are doing. Be assured that we mean
what we say and that we can make it happen!
  As Federation members know, we established the International
Braille and Technology Center for the Blind on November 16, 1990,
our fiftieth birthday. It houses the most extensive collection of
technology for the blind in the world, including at least one of
every device of which we are aware that produces information from
computers in either speech or Braille. The commitment we made at
the opening of the Center was to maintain this collection of
equipment and to acquire all additional useful machines for the
blind that become available. During the past year we have added
four new Braille embossers and obtained or upgraded four Braille
translation software packages, three DOS-based screen reading
programs, eight screen review programs for Windows, two stand-
alone reading machines, four PC-based reading systems, and four
note-takers. In order to keep current and to operate all the
computer programs, we have upgraded our machines and purchased a
number of computers in the pentium class. In addition, we have
added Atlas Speaks, a talking atlas of the United States.
  Much of the information provided by computer is gathered
through the Information Superhighway, sometimes called the
Internet. We have created in the International Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind an Internet work station, which
can be used to demonstrate methods for obtaining information in
speech, in Braille, or in refreshable Braille.
  One of the services available through the Internet is
electronic mail. We are beginning distribution of information by
this system. Our monthly publication, the _Braille _Monitor, is
now being distributed automatically by e-mail to those who want
it. If the experiment works, and we feel certain that it will,
other publications will soon be offered for distribution
electronically.
  The International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind
is a technology laboratory for examining, testing, and comparing
different information access systems for the blind. It is a
resource for employers, for agencies for the blind, for
governmental entities, for developers of technology, and for
blind users. Each year we receive thousands of calls requesting
information about technology from throughout the United States
and a number of other countries.
  Late in 1995 we added an additional training program to those
that we have been conducting. The Information Access Technology
Training Program seeks to give personnel from state vocational
rehabilitation agencies background and knowledge about access
technology. A major focus of this program is week-long seminars
conducted at the National Center for the Blind. Four of these
have occurred since late 1995, and eight more will take place
during the next two years. This program, conducted by the
National Federation of the Blind, is sponsored by the
Rehabilitation Services Administration. Nowhere else in the world
is there gathered in one place the array of equipment to make
such classes possible. Nowhere else in the world is there the
depth of understanding of technological devices or the commitment
to gathering information for the blind that is needed to conduct
such classes. Such training classes could not occur without the
National Federation of the Blind.
  In 1991 the National Federation of the Blind convened the first
U.S./Canada Conference on Technology for the Blind. It was an
outstanding success. For the first time consumers of products for
the blind, manufacturers of such products, and organizations
associated with blind people came together to exchange ideas and
to plan for the months and years ahead. In 1993 the Second
U.S./Canada Conference on Technology for the Blind was convened.
This coming fall we will bring together at the National Center
for the Blind the Third U.S./Canada Conference on Technology for
the Blind, and this time we will expand the participation to a
broader base from other nations.
  Last year I reported to you that the National Federation of the
Blind had created an Internet site on the World Wide Web. This is
one more mechanism for distributing literature about the reality
of blindness. Already we have filled almost fifty web pages with
information about blindness and the Federation. Among the
documents we have placed there are __Walking Alone and Marching
_Together, the _Braille _Monitor, _Future _Reflections,
publications of Job Opportunities for the Blind, the __Voice of
the _Diabetic, Kernel books, order forms for literature and aids
and appliances, laws concerning the blind, and hundreds of other
documents. It is our intention to create the best computer-
searchable library of information on blindness in existence, and
we are well on the way to doing it.
  My wife Patricia serves as a full-time volunteer. She
coordinates the distribution of material through the Internet.
Within the last year there have been more than 13,000 requests
for information and more than 40,000 electronic pages distributed
to people in the United States and other countries, including
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil,
Canada, Columbia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia,
Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta,
Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal,
Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden,
Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United
Kingdom, and Uruguay.
  Increasingly we of the National Federation of the Blind are
taking direct action to provide orientation and adjustment
services. In Minnesota our center, Blindness: Learning in New
Dimensions, acquired new classrooms and office space at a
facility which had been built early in the century by the
Pillsbury family. Although this facility has required substantial
remodeling, the basic structure is sound, and it will be both
aesthetically pleasing and functional. I was most pleased to join
Joyce Scanlan, the director of our Minnesota Center, and a number
of public officials for the dedication of this newly-opened
facility last fall.
  In Colorado our orientation center, the Colorado Center for the
Blind, outgrew its quarters. Additional space was acquired, and
remodeling to provide the offices and classrooms for a training
center for the blind has now been completed. An open house to
dedicate the Center occurred last fall. In the presence of the
news media, the president of our Colorado affiliate, Diane
McGeorge; the director of the Colorado Center for the Blind,
Homer Page; and I cut the ribbon to initiate the opening of the
new facility.
  Our Louisiana Center for the Blind has also undertaken
expansion. An additional building has been purchased across the
street from the original Center, and a wing has been added to the
original building. This much-expanded space has meant that
programs of training could be broadened with additional classes
and a more varied curriculum. Last fall I was present when our
Louisiana Center for the Blind celebrated its tenth anniversary
and dedicated its new facilities in a public ceremony, which
included several hundred graduates, many political leaders, and
senior officials of rehabilitation and other state agencies.
  Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, who serves as President Emeritus of the
National Federation of the Blind and President of the North
America/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union, has continued
to represent us in international meetings. He traveled earlier
this year to a meeting of the officers of the World Blind Union
in Italy. This coming August he and some of the rest of us from
the Federation will participate in the fourth General Assembly of
the World Blind Union in Canada. It is important that we work
with the blind from throughout the world to expand the
understanding of blindness. Our participation in the World Blind
Union has helped bring information to us that we would otherwise
not have had, and it has also enabled us to share information
with others.
  The upbeat, imaginative work of the National Federation of the
Blind is becoming known throughout the world. The officers of the
World Blind Union met at the National Center for the Blind this
spring. For several days we hosted visitors from six continents.
  Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, who has been a leader of the National
Federation of the Blind for almost half a century, is unexcelled
in his ability to negotiate and explain. Last January former
ambassador Nicholas Veliotes, the president of the Association of
American Publishers, came to the National Center for the Blind
for a meeting with Dr. Jernigan and other representatives of the
Federation. We discussed cooperation between the Federation and
the publishers and considered possible amendments to the U.S.
Copyright Act. One of the problems in the process of producing
Braille is receiving permission for published material to be put
into a format that can be used by the blind. After a long day of
discussion, it was agreed that the blind and the publishers would
jointly support amendments to the copyright law which would
eliminate this problem by making copyright permission
automatically available to nonprofit groups and governmental
entities producing material in a format that can be used by the
blind. This language is currently before Congress, and prospects
for its passage are extremely good.
  A year ago, at the time of the National Federation of the Blind
convention in Chicago, the very existence of the vocational
rehabilitation program in this country was in doubt. A proposal,
known as the "CAREERS Bill," had been introduced in Congress and
was scheduled for consideration on the House floor. This bill
would have eliminated all categorical programs of rehabilitation
for the blind. It would have replaced them with a program
purporting to assist all people seeking employment. Of course,
general programs to assist the unemployed are already
theoretically available to the blind, and the result is zero. We
get nothing from such programs--no training, no understanding of
our problems or needs, no jobs, no nothing. We were facing a
crisis.
  Of course, we were not the only organization to feel concern.
But many of the others expressed frustration and a feeling of
inability to do much about the matter. This was further
exacerbated by statements from some of the largest operators of
sheltered shops in the country--Goodwill Industries, the
Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC), the United Cerebral
Palsy Association, and others. These organizations apparently
believed that the handicapped would automatically be referred to
their sheltered shop programs by the employment agency created
under the CAREERS Bill, and so they were for it. They and many
members of Congress told us that the CAREERS Bill was a certainty
to pass. They urged us to support it so that we would have an
opportunity for input. In effect, they said: "If you don't
support it, you'll be cut out of all of the negotiations."
  However, we resisted the seduction, as I hope we always will.
We fought the bill regardless of the threats. It is this sort of
thing that makes some people call us militant and others call us
radical. Let them! What good is an organization if it only fights
for what everybody else favors and nobody opposes? We know full
well that the vocational rehabilitation program is not perfect,
but we also know that having no program at all is worse. We are
determined to reform and improve rehabilitation, but we are also
determined to preserve the program.
  We urged members of Congress to take the rehabilitation program
out of the CAREERS Bill, and we urged agencies for the blind and
others not to compromise. We were informed that the CAREERS Bill
could not be defeated or amended, but we kept fighting. At our
urging an amendment to preserve the rehabilitation program was
presented on the floor of the House on September 19, 1995. When
the votes were counted, we prevailed 231 to 192. It was a major
victory, and although many groups and individuals helped make it
happen, almost everybody agrees that we did the coordinating and
took the lead. May it ever be so!
  On another legislative front, maintaining the linkage between
the blind and senior citizens in Social Security earnings, we
have not been as successful. There is little to say except that
during the past year we made a strong effort; we gave it
everything we had; we didn't get the job done; and we will keep
at it until we do. As we have often observed, we frequently lose
skirmishes; we sometimes lose battles; but we never lose wars--
for the war is not over until we win. So it will be with Social
Security.
  With respect to another aspect of Social Security, we have just
completed a series of training workshops in the area of Social
Security work incentives. These seminars were conducted in South
Carolina, New Mexico, and Iowa. Rehabilitation personnel and
consumers often do not know about the work incentive provisions
of the Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental
Security Income programs. This lack of knowledge keeps blind
people out of the work force and out of productive jobs. However,
our training programs offer new perspective and new hope.
Furthermore, with three years of experience in providing this
information, we are now in a position to offer classes to
rehabilitation personnel whenever satisfactory arrangements can
be made to meet the costs. This too is a way in which we are
changing what it means to be blind.
  We continue to provide assistance to blind vendors in the
Randolph-Sheppard program. Jim Gashel, our Director of
Governmental Affairs, is serving on a federal arbitration panel
which has been convened by the Secretary of Education to resolve
a dispute between the Mississippi Division of Rehabilitation and
the United States Air Force. Will blind vendors be permitted to
operate vending facilities at Keesler Air Force Base near Biloxi,
Mississippi? The full food service contract for the base is worth
several million dollars a year. A hearing on this matter was held
in June in Washington. The language of the Randolph-Sheppard Act
is clear. Blind vendors have a priority. We should have the
opportunity to provide the food service. In this case we are
representing the agency for the blind. When agencies for the
blind want expert assistance, an increasing number are coming to
the National Federation of the Blind. A decision is expected
later this summer, and we expect to win.
  In another case we are helping to challenge a court decision
which threatens to place severe limits on the powers of an
arbitration panel convened under the Randolph-Sheppard Act. The
decision by the United States District Court in Maryland says
that the arbitration panel does not have the power to tell an
agency violating the Act that it must take corrective action.
Instead, the court decision states, the arbitration panel can
only determine that the Act was violated. The agency may take
whatever steps it wishes to correct or not correct the violation.
If this decision remains unchanged, much of the value of an
appeal under the Randolph-Sheppard program is gone. We are
assisting the Attorney General of Maryland with the case. The
lower court decision ignores the plain language of the Randolph-
Sheppard Act and almost twenty years of legal precedents and
cases. It ignores the entire history of arbitration decisions.
And we will work until the decision has been reversed.
  Bobbi Miller is a Federation member in Illinois. One of the
first things she learned, after becoming blind just a few years
ago, was that her employer, the Illinois Department of
Corrections, intended to throw her out because she was blind.
They forced her to resign under protest. She asked us for help,
and we are giving it. Scott LaBarre, the president of the
National Association of Blind Lawyers, filed a lawsuit on her
behalf about a year ago. But the court was just as discriminatory
as the Department of Corrections had been. Without even giving
Bobbi Miller a hearing, it issued a decision in favor of the
state. The decision says that there is not one single solitary
job that a blind person can do in a correctional facility--not
one. We can't wash the dishes or scrub the floors or manage the
paperwork or interview the prisoners or consider paroles or do
purchasing or write manuals or serve in the administration or do
anything else. We are helpless, the judge said. The Court's
ruling cannot remain unchallenged--and it will not. We are
helping with the appeal. If we are unwilling to fight for our own
rights, nobody else will do it for us. We must defend ourselves.
We are doing it in the Bobbi Miller case, and we expect to win.
  Last year I reported to you that we were helping a blind person
bring a case against a nursing home in North Carolina. Barbara
Kreisberg, one of our members, had been dismissed from her
position as director of the facility because of blindness. Senior
management of the nursing home company refused to discuss or
negotiate regarding the dismissal. We filed a lawsuit. I am
pleased to be able to tell you that the matter has been settled.
Part of the settlement agreement says that I may not tell you
about the specifics. However, I can tell you that we caught them
red-handed and that they settled accordingly. Otherwise we would
not have discontinued our lawsuit. I suspect that it will be a
long time before the nursing home company forgets the name of the
National Federation of the Blind.
  In most instances I am happy to say that we are able to work in
partnership with state rehabilitation agencies for the blind.
However, there are other instances in which the behavior of
officials in such agencies is reminiscent of a bygone time. This
is currently true in Missouri. Some months back, rehabilitation
officials in Missouri issued an order to counsellors and others
at the agency that they were not to provide any information to
blind clients about the National Federation of the Blind. Agency
personnel were even forbidden to tell blind persons whether they
were members of the Federation. In the past the National
Federation of the Blind had conducted joint projects with the
agency to give orientation to blind students getting ready to go
to college, and both the students and agency officials had
uniformly praised the quality of the work. Now there is to be a
total blackout, an order that agency personnel may not give any
information about the Federation or distribute any of its
literature, regardless of how helpful or informative such
literature might be.
  We have informed the Missouri rehabilitation officials that
what they are doing is illegal. To say to blind clients that they
may not have information about programs of interest to them
because those programs are offered by an organization that state
officials may not like is a violation of Constitutional rights
and basic human freedom. We who are blind have a right to freedom
of association, freedom of speech, and freedom of thought. No
government official (whether state or federal) has the right to
say otherwise, but when we said this to the agency officials in
Missouri, they told us, in effect, to get lost. They would do
what they pleased, they said, and part of what they pleased to do
was to ban any reference to the National Federation of the Blind
by any person at the Missouri agency for the blind.

  Well, we can only answer in kind. Let them try to make it
stick. We are preparing to file a lawsuit, and we expect to win
it. As we have repeatedly said, we prefer peace and cooperative
relations, but we will not take peace at any price. If we can
have peace only by giving up our freedom and human dignity and
crawling on our bellies, then we will fight. I am not speaking
lightly. This lawsuit will cost money--maybe a lot of money. But
this is a fundamental issue. We will raise the funds; we will
fight with every weapon we can get; and we intend to win.
  We have continued to assist with Social Security appeals. Terry
Hasselbring, who lives in Estill Springs, Tennessee, was told
that, because he had begun to work and receive a paycheck, he was
getting too much money to receive Social Security benefits. He
was also told that he had been paid $6,379.20 more than he
deserved. He would no longer receive benefits, said Social
Security officials, and he must repay the $6,379.20. We helped
with an appeal, and a new determination has been made. Terry
Hasselbring will not be required to pay $6,379.20, and his Social
Security benefits will continue to be paid. This, too, is what
the National Federation of the Blind is about.
  That is one case, but there are dozens of others. Marie Hahn in
Amarillo, Texas, has been told that she must repay $18,340. The
facts show that she does not owe this money. Verna Kerley from
Cookeville, Tennessee, has been told that she is no longer
eligible for benefits and that she must repay $53,866. Alan
Alcorn of Kansas City, Kansas, has been ordered to send the
Social Security Administration a check for $60,275. They told him
that he had received benefits to which he was not entitled. In
each of these cases the National Federation of the Blind is
helping, and we believe we can make the difference.
  The Diabetes Action Network, the diabetics division of the
National Federation of the Blind, has been instrumental in
persuading officials at the Food and Drug Administration to
consider modification of insulin containers so that the different
kinds of insulin can be readily identified by touch. Tom Ley,
President of the Diabetes Action Network, and Ed Bryant, Editor
of the __Voice of the _Diabetic, pointed out to officials at the
Food and Drug Administration that putting insulin of different
kinds into bottles of different shapes would simplify
identification for the blind and sighted alike and would assist
in assuring that incorrect doses of insulin did not occur.
  We have continued this year providing information about
blindness to many thousands of people. Visitors have come to the
National Center for the Blind from all parts of the United States
and from over twenty foreign countries. Through our Materials
Center we distribute over four hundred different kinds of
specialized products for the blind, including Braille watches,
canes, Braille slates, and hundreds of others. This year we have
served over eighteen thousand people by mail, in person, and by
phone. We receive in the Materials Center in excess of two
hundred calls per week. There are over a thousand different
literature items available for distribution. During the year we
have shipped from the Materials Center two million items weighing
over seventy-five thousand pounds.

  At last year's convention we produced a new video depicting the
crisis in Braille literacy. This video, "That the Blind May
Read," is a powerful summation of the failure of the educational
system to teach blind people Braille. If the blind are to become
competent, we must be able to read. This video tells the story of
the need for Braille and of the failure of teachers to fill that
need. Over seven hundred fifty copies of this video have now been
distributed. It has been shown on dozens of television stations
and a number of television networks.
  Then there is the program of Job Opportunities for the Blind,
which we continue to operate in conjunction with the U.S.
Department of Labor. Through this effort we have helped over one
hundred blind Americans get full-time jobs at good salaries
during the past year. These newly-hired blind people work in
diverse occupations from medical transcriptionist to customer
assistant for Chevrolet, from accountant to Sheriff's Office
emergency dispatcher, from teacher to translator on the Hindi
desk for Voice of America, and more.
  In addition to the _Braille _Monitor, which is distributed to
tens of thousands of people each month, we record and mail over
ten thousand copies of _Future _Reflections, the magazine for
parents and educators of blind children. During the past year we
have sent out more than nine thousand Presidential Releases; more
than ten thousand recorded JOB Bulletins; and more than eighteen
thousand recorded editions of the __Voice of the _Diabetic.
  The __Voice of the _Diabetic, our publication for those
interested in the problems of blind diabetics, is the most widely
circulated magazine in the blindness field in America today. We
distribute more than 142,000 copies each quarter, and we expect
to exceed the one hundred fifty thousand mark this year.
  We also produce the recorded edition of __The American Bar
Association _Journal. And, of course, there are the other
publications--newsletters from divisions of the Federation, from
state affiliates, from local chapters, and from committees.
  One of the most positive projects we have ever undertaken,
which will be covered in more detail later in the convention, is
our publication of the Kernel Books. More than three million of
them are now abroad in the land. They describe blindness with a
level of understanding and persuasive power unlike anything ever
before written.
  Remodeling at the National Center for the Blind has been
undertaken this year, along with the ongoing maintenance
necessary to keep our facilities in first-class condition.
Whenever we can, we build for the long term. Our facilities are
functional, but they are also solidly built with a touch of
class.
  So what does all of this recital of facts and statistics mean?
What does it say as to where we have been and where we are going?
Well, for one thing it says that we are alive and moving, the
most dynamic force in the affairs of the blind today. It also
bodes well for the future.
  Let me conclude by repeating what I have said to you in one way
or another year after year at the end of these reports. I think I
understand the responsibility you have given me by electing me as
President of this organization, and I have done the best I can to
live up to it. As long as you keep electing me, I will continue
to try to live up to it. But there is something more. There must
be a bond of understanding between us, between you as members and
me as President--and I think there is. That is the only way that
the accomplishments we have made have been possible. That is the
only way they can continue. I must be willing to stand in the
front line and never duck the hard decisions. When there are
risks, I must be prepared to take them--and I must not count the
cost. I must work as hard as I can and put the Federation first.
I must give and sacrifice and love.
  And there are things that you must do, you the members--you who
give the Federation its strength and provide its moral right to
exist and lead the way in the struggle of the blind to be free.
You must stand with me when the battle is hard. You must support
me when our efforts on behalf of the blind bring criticism and
personal attack. You must reinforce, encourage, and give heart.
  These are the promises we must make to each other. These are
the commitments we must give and keep--and I know that we will.
If we do, we will not be defeated, for we cannot. We will not
even be slowed in our progress, for none will have the moral
right to stand in our way. These are my pledges--and this is my
report.

[Photo/Caption #22: Sharon Maneki, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Maryland, presents the 1996
Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award to Ann Boyd of
Ohio.]

[Photo/Caption #23: Carla McQuillan, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Oregon, receives the Blind Educator of
the Year Award while Dr. Jernigan congratulates her.]

[Photo/Caption #24: Ramona Walhof, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Idaho, presents the Jacobus tenBroek
Award to Joyce Scanlan, President of the National Federation of
the Blind of Minnesota, while Dr. Jernigan looks on.]

               __NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE _BLIND

                       _AWARDS _FOR _1996

  National Federation of the Blind awards are not bestowed
lightly. If an appropriate recipient does not emerge from the
pool of candidates for a particular award, it is simply not
presented. At this year's convention three presentations were
made. Here is the way it happened:


                  _The _Distinguished _Educator


                   __of Blind Children _Award

  __At the Monday morning Board of Directors meeting Sharon
Maneki, President of the National Federation of the Blind of
Maryland and Chairwoman of the Distinguished Educator of Blind
Children Selection Committee, presented that award. She _said:

  Good morning, Mr. President and fellow Federationists. The
committee this year, which consists of Allen Harris, Joyce
Scanlan, Jacquilyn Billey, and me, is honored to bring you a
truly distinguished educator. We in the National Federation of
the Blind started this award because we recognize the importance
of education as a means of promoting freedom and equality and of
breaking down the barriers of discrimination.
  This year we are awarding one of our sighted colleagues. She
has been a teacher for twenty-three years. She teaches in the
Gallipolis School District. She teaches every student from pre-
kindergarten to sixth grade Braille, mobility, daily living, and
anything else that they need to know. In her spare time she
teaches adults Braille. She teaches senior citizens independence
skills. She is also a member of the National Federation of the
Blind. As a matter of fact, she drives an hour each way to attend
her chapter, which is the Southeast Chapter of the NFB of Ohio.
  Ladies and gentlemen, join me in recognizing Ann Boyd.
[applause]

  Ann also receives $500 and a plaque that reads:


                  _DISTINGUISHED _EDUCATOR _OF


                        _BLIND _CHILDREN

              The National Federation of the Blind

                             honors

                            Ann Boyd

               For your skill in teaching Braille

                 and the use of the white cane,

               For generously devoting extra time

             to meet the needs of your students, and

                   For inspiring your students

              to perform beyond their expectations.

           You are our colleague, our friend, our ally

                       on the barricades.

                   You champion our movement;

                    you strengthen our hopes;

                      you share our dreams.

                           July, 1996
  Congratulations. [applause]

  __This was Ann Boyd's _response:

  I would like to thank the NFB. If it wasn't for you, I'm not
sure I could do my job. On my telephone at home the number one
button is Barbara Pierce; the number two button is Eric Duffy;
the number three button is John Smith; and number four is 911. So
you know what's most important in my life. [laughter]
  I thank you, and I hope to meet a lot of parents this afternoon
at the Parents Division meeting. Thank you very, very much.


               __Blind Educator of the Year _Award

  __Steve Benson, Chairman of the Blind Educator of the Year
Selection Committee and President of the National Federation of
the Blind of Illinois, came to the podium during the meeting of
the Board of Directors to present this award. Here is what he
_said:

  Thank you President Maurer. Thank you also, Pat Munson, Judy
Sanders, Homer Page, and Adelmo Vigil--the selection committee--
for your time and thoughtful consideration of the 1996 nominees
for this award.
  It is normal for blind people to be Scout leaders, auto
mechanics, writers, scientists, reservationists, merchants,
school board members, politicians, lawyers, wrestling coaches,
electrical engineers, or teachers. Jacobus tenBroek, an
outstanding teacher, dedicated his adult life to demonstrating
the normality of blind people's participating in the full current
of life on a basis of equality with sighted people. It is also
normal for blind people to have high expectations and to excel in
whatever activity we pursue.
  The 1996 Blind Educator of the Year Award winner is certainly
normal. She has high expectations for herself and her students.
She excels in the teaching profession. She carries the
Federation's torch of freedom as she advocates for children,
blind and sighted alike. She strives to remove the social and
economic barriers that sometimes exclude us from the classroom or
other places of employment. She is an ardent supporter of Braille
literacy.
  The Blind Educator of the Year Award consists of a check in the
amount of $500 and a plaque that reads:


                  __BLIND EDUCATOR OF THE _YEAR

                             _AWARD

                National Federation of the Blind

                          Presented to

              (I'll skip the name for the moment.)

                        in recognition of

                   outstanding accomplishments

                   in the teaching profession.

                    You enhance the present.

                      You build the future.

                          July 1, 1996

  Now, if Carla McQuillan will make her way to the platform....
[applause] While Carla is making her way to the microphone, let
me tell you that she is a graduate of the University of Illinois.
For more than a dozen years she has taught, using the Montessori
method. She moved to Oregon in 1990. Before she opened Children's
Choice Montessori School, she worked with state officials
regarding blind people as foster parents. As a result of that
work, she had no difficulty getting a license for her school. Now
the state officials seek her out to do staff training regarding
blind people who are making application to conduct home day care
centers.
  Children's Choice Montessori School currently has fifty
children enrolled. In the fall Carla, her faculty, and seventy
students will move into a brand new building. Carla already has
her eye on property next door to expand the school. She is
president of the Oregon affiliate.

  __This is what Carla McQuillan had to _say:

  Thank you. As Mr. Benson let you know, I came into this
organization in Illinois when I was in college. [voice beginning
to tremble](I had absolutely no idea this was going to happen.)
In Oregon we don't say, "Will Carla cry at convention?" People
take bets on _when it's going to happen.
  In the fall, when we move to our new building, I will be moving
primarily into administration and out of the classroom. This past
year I've realized how much I treasure working with the children
in the classroom. We just purchased in the spring a whole set of
brand new materials ($10,000 worth of Montessori materials), and
to emphasize to the children the value of these materials and the
care with which we wanted them to handle the materials, I took a
raw egg and passed it from one child to the next in a circle to
see if we could get it all the way around. "This is how carefully
we need to treat our materials." I was focusing on planning for
NFB Camp and getting back to my office to do the things I needed
to in the afternoon when I'm not in the class teaching. Of
course, when you have a group of children, they all want to say
something. And I'm going on, "Oh yeah, yeah, I'm sure you have
something wonderful to say, Heath. What is it?" And this child
said, "You know, I have a wonderful idea. If we all treated each
other as carefully as we treat this egg, wouldn't that be a much
better world for all of us?"
  And I thought, "Carla, don't you ever forget that the wisdom
comes from the children, and that's why we do it." That's why
every teacher does what we do--because we don't get paid for it.
  Again, I would like to thank this organization for giving me
the confidence and the strength and the skills to do what I do. I
hope that, if any of you out there want to do what I do, you'll
come talk to me this week. I'd be happy to help you out. Thank
you very much. [applause]


                  __The Jacobus tenBroek _Award

  On Thursday evening, July 4, Ramona Walhof, Secretary of the
National Federation of the Blind, President of the NFB of Idaho
and Chairwoman of the Jacobus tenBroek Award Selection Committee,
came to the podium to make a very special presentation. This is
what she said:

  __The Jacobus tenBroek Award is given to one of our own who has
made outstanding contributions to the organization and to the
blind. This year the committee (which consists of Alan Harris,
Jim Omvig, Joyce Scanlan, and me) has chosen a person who is a
pioneer, a builder, and a leader among us. I first met this
person in the 1960's, and I have watched her grow and become
increasingly effective through the last thirty years. As the
years have gone by, her work has affected the lives of more and
more blind people. Joanne Wilson grew up in Iowa [applause].
Joanne Wilson grew up in Iowa and attended the orientation and
adjustment center there when Dr. Jernigan was in charge. She
joined the NFB and helped to organize a new chapter in Ames,
where she lived and was a college student. In the 1970's she
served a term as First Vice President of the NFB of Iowa. But the
time came when Joanne and her family moved to Louisiana, and she
said she found more need there among blind people than she could
ever have dreamed. Immediately Joanne went to work and began to
make changes. She was elected President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Louisiana in 1983. Two years later the
governor and the state legislature made a grant to the NFB of
Louisiana to establish an orientation and adjustment training
center there. Knowing the money would not be enough to run the
program for the first year and that she and others would have to
raise money to supplement the grant, Joanne opened the center
anyway and modeled it after the one she had attended in Iowa, run
by Dr. Jernigan, to help blind Louisianans to achieve freedom.
  She has done more, however, than follow a good model. We have
seen the Louisiana Center for the Blind under the leadership of
Joanne Wilson become innovative and grow and prosper. Joanne has
encouraged Jerry Whittle and the Louisiana Center Players to
become a new dimension in training for the blind to build
confidence. The summer programs for blind teenagers and youth, I
believe, began in Louisiana. If not, they very nearly _did.
  __The first NEWSLINE(&+r) local service center opened in
Louisiana. Joanne did not think up all these ideas; she gave the
leadership necessary to make them happen. Under Joanne's
leadership the NFB of Louisiana has grown from seven small
chapters to more than twenty large ones. In 1995 I attended the
convention of the NFB of Louisiana, and there were more than
three hundred enthusiastic Federationists _there.
  __Graduates of the Louisiana Center have dispersed throughout
the country, and many are taking leadership roles in their
communities and chapters. The Louisiana Center now owns residence
apartments and classroom buildings, which have been expanded and
remodeled into an outstanding facility. Those of us who attended
previous conventions have heard Joanne Wilson tell us what
motivates her. When her students and new members of the
Federation succeed in achievements they thought impossible for a
blind person in general, and for themselves in particular, she
knows her work is worthwhile and feels her own reward. We
understand that feeling, but we also know that it takes
determination and ability to do the work that Joanne does.
Joanne, we congratulate you and we admire your _work.[applause]
  __I've given Joanne a plaque, which I'm going to read to you.
She's holding it up. It _says:


                    _JACOBUS _tenBROEK _AWARD

                National Federation of the Blind

                          Presented to

                          Joanne Wilson

                 For your dedication, sacrifice,

                         and commitment

             on behalf of the blind of this nation.

           Your contribution is measured not in steps

                          but in miles,

            not by individual experiences but by your

                             impact

            on the lives of the blind of the nation.

                     Whenever we have asked,

                       you have answered.

             We call you our colleague with respect.

                We call you our friend with love.

                          July 4, 1996

  __When Joanne stepped to the microphone, this is what she
_said:

  This is absolutely one of the biggest honors I have ever had in
my whole life. Recently I heard a Native American say, "One lone
flower does not a spring make," and I feel that very deeply about
the Federation. I've done my work here, but without all the work
all of you do and all the Federationists in the last fifty-six
years, there would not be a spring. There would not be a
Federation. I grew up in the sixties. My first convention was in
1966, and I had the most wonderful mentors in the world. I
remember as a student at the Iowa Commission for the Blind
watching Dr. Jernigan stay late each night working diligently in
his office, directing the Commission for the Blind and also the
National Federation of the Blind. Later I watched Mr. Maurer. I
remember recently, when he came to the Louisiana Center for the
Blind, I said to Mr. Maurer, "Don't you ever get tired?" He said,
"Yes, but that doesn't matter. You have to continue to do,
because a person who is asking you to do doesn't understand that
you are tired, and you keep doing it." I learned from that. He
mentored me.
  One of my favorite sayings is, "If I've seen further, it is
because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." We in the
Federation have stood on the shoulders of giants. We have stood
on the shoulders of Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, Dr. Jernigan, Mr.
Maurer, our state presidents, and our local chapter presidents.
It's our job to hold our shoulders straight to allow other people
to stand on our shoulders so they can see further.
  Recently I've spent a lot of time in a hospital room, and I had
a chance to think a lot. During that time I thought about the
Federation a lot. My son was critically ill. I remember one day
they told me that he would probably end up in a nursing home, and
I prayed that morning, and I said, "You know, if he's going to
require twenty-four hour a day care, how am I going to do this?
How am I going to do the Federation, the Louisiana Center for the
Blind, and take care of him?" I said to God, "It's in your hands.
Show me what direction you want me to go. If you want me to
change the course of what I'm doing, I'll do it, but show it to
me." That afternoon Joel started responding, and he started
getting better. I knew that God had a direction for me to keep
working with the Federation.
  I think the greatest gift the Federation has ever given to me
is giving me meaning to my life, and it's given meaning to your
lives. The Federation has made me a stronger person. It has made
each of us stronger. But beyond that it has given me meaning so
that when my life has passed (I spent time thinking about how
short life was recently, and I thought life is short, but I can
look back--all of you can look back); because of the Federation,
you have some meaning and reason for life. Because we've had the
opportunity to give, our lives have counted for something.
  One of my favorite quotes is from _The _Prophet. It says,
"Man's daily work is his temple and religion." I thank you, the
Federation, for giving meaning to my life and to all our lives.
Thank you. [applause]

[Photo/Caption #25: Kenneth Jernigan speaks of a revolution the
roots of which are several little books.]

              __THE REVOLUTION OF THE KERNEL _BOOKS

           __An Address Delivered By Kenneth _Jernigan

                      _At _the _Convention

           __Of the National Federation of the _Blind

              __Anaheim, California, July 2, _1996

  _Revolution, the dictionary tells us, is "sudden or momentous
change." It is "activities directed toward bringing about basic
changes in the socioeconomic structure, as of a minority or
cultural segment of the population." By these standards, what we
have achieved during the past five years in writing, publishing,
and distributing the Kernel Books is a revolution. We have
brought about a "sudden" and "momentous change" in attitudes
about the blind, our own attitudes and those of society. We have
initiated "activities directed toward" causing "basic changes in
the socioeconomic structure of a minority, a cultural segment of
the population." And we have done it in half a decade.
  We produced the first Kernel Book (__What Color is the _Sun) in
1991. In 1992 we published _The _Freedom _Bell and __As the Twig
is _Bent. In 1993 it was _Making _Hay and _The _Journey. In 1994
__Standing on One _Foot and __When the Blizzard _Blows. Last year
it was __Toothpaste and Railroad _Tracks and _Tapping _the
_Charcoal; and today we are releasing __Old Dogs and New _Tricks.
The eleventh Kernel Book (_Beginnings _and _Blueprints) is
already written and ready for publication. It will be released
sometime this fall. More than three million of the Kernel Books
are now in circulation, and the demand for them grows every day.
  These are the facts, the statistics, easily gathered and
quickly told. But revolutions are made of more than facts. They
consist of intangibles--burdens that tax the spirit, toil that
has no drama, belief that buoys hope, and dreams that cross the
night to span the day. Revolution? From these little books? Yes,
revolution. Never mind that the tone is gentle and the message
nonconfrontive. The effect is felt, and basic changes are being
made in the socioeconomic structure. Here are samples of typical
letters:

                                                       Fall, 1993

  Dear Sir:
    To read this valuable little book, _The _Journey, and
  to learn of the great accomplishments of the blind in
  spite of the odds, and to learn how we the members of the
  sighted public are sometimes unwittingly detrimental is a
  shock, but an eye opener. This should be read by
  everybody, and I am loaning my copy to various
  acquaintances. God bless the work you do.

                                                   November, 1994

    Thanks so much for the books. As I sat reading _Making
  _Hay, nonstop with the use of my magnifier, I felt
  comforted as if by an old friend. I have lived with what
  I have called "eye problems" all of my life, but now I
  think I can begin adjusting to my blindness.
    I'm not really familiar with NFB since it was only by
  chance that I got your address to begin with, so being
  new, I need all the help I can get. The NFB sounds like a
  wonderful family to belong to, an inspiration to all and
  a place where people can be understood. You speak of four
  books. May I now receive the others?
    Thank you again for giving me hope.

                                                   February, 1992

    I received a book called __What Color Is the _Sun about
  six months ago, and since I have read it, my life has
  been changed. I wasn't going to read it at first. I just
  tossed it onto the nightstand.
    However, one night I decided to read a few pages to see
  what it was about. I started reading, and I was so
  interested in the different stories that before I knew
  it, I was halfway through the book. I have read it three
  times. And every time I feel that I'm in each story. I
  was wondering if there is any other material like this
  that I can get. I never have liked to read, but these
  stories touch my heart. I'm only twenty-two years old,
  but after reading your books, I feel that I have lived in
  the thirties and forties.

                                                        May, 1995

    Recently I discovered your little book _The _Freedom
  _Bell. I picked it up from a table in a retirement home.
  I can't tell you how much it means to me to discover
  somebody who cares enough to answer our questions. My
  sight has been deteriorating rapidly, and it is very
  scary. I am desperately serious. I need your help. I
  neglected to tell you my age. I am eighty-three, but that
  doesn't mean I'm not sharp.

                                                       July, 1995

    The course that I taught this past spring at the
  university was a real success. I had thirty-four students
  --most of them studying special education. The course was
  entitled The Education of Sensory-Impaired Children.
    I began each class period with a discussion of an
  assigned essay from __What Color Is the _Sun. The
  discussions were lively and valuable. I felt that my
  students learned a great deal about blindness--mostly
  what blindness does not mean. I am sure that the articles
  had quite an impact upon their view of blindness. We read
  every article in the book.
    Will I use one of your books next year? I certainly
  will--either the same one or another Kernel Book.

                                                  September, 1991

    Thank you, thank you for the book __What Color Is the
  _Sun. I am sighted but can't find the words to describe
  what that book has done for me. It really opened my eyes!
    Never again will I gaze upon blindness with a sort of
  indifference, which I am afraid I have done most of my
  eighty years. Sighted people NEED the exposure this book
  gives, and thank God it came my way.

                                                  September, 1991

    My name is April, and I am twelve years old. I'm not
  blind, but I have read your book __What Color Is the
  _Sun. I now think I should thank you for publishing it.
  Out of the one hundred twenty pages I learned a lot about
  blindness. I used to feel sorry for blind people. Now I
  realize that I made a big mistake.
    I just felt I should thank you from the bottom of my
  heart. THANK YOU!

  These are just a few of the many letters that we are
increasingly receiving. They tell, as nothing else could, of a
new way of thought about blindness that is sweeping the land, and
they speak of the effectiveness of the Kernel Books. Since we are
releasing the tenth Kernel Book today (__Old Dogs and New
_Tricks), let me use its introduction and first article to show
you how the revolution is being accomplished. Here is the
introduction:

  With this volume we publish the tenth Kernel Book. The first
nine have been well received. No, they have been more than that.
The comments have been nationwide and enthusiastic. I think it is
not too much to say that these little books are playing a
significant part in changing what it means to be blind in America
in the last decade of the twentieth century.
  And what are the Kernel Books about? They deal with blindness,
but not in a medical or professional way. They are a departure
from what is usually written, an attempt to take the mystery out
of blindness by giving firsthand accounts of how blind people
live on a daily basis. Other firsthand stories about blindness
have been written, of course, but not in such large numbers and
not in this format.
  Year after year and book after book we are building a picture
that shows what blind people are really like and how they feel.
The details differ, but the pattern is the same. In effect, the
people who are writing in these pages are saying:

    Blindness is not as strange as you may think it is, and
  it doesn't have to be as terrifying. I am blind, and this
  is how I lead my daily life--not just in broad terms but
  in my activities. Here is how I know whether a light is
  on when I enter a room--how I cook my food, raise my
  children, and participate in church activities. Mostly my
  life is just about like yours. It has more detail than
  drama about it, being a mixture of joy and sorrow,
  laughter and tears.
    I don't spend most of my time thinking about blindness.
  It is simply one of the facts of my life. I remember it
  when I need to, but that's about all. I think about who
  is running for President, last night's dinner, and
  today's discussion with a friend.

  This is what the people who appear in this book are saying. I
know them. They are friends of mine, colleagues in the National
Federation of the Blind. Some have been my students. I have met
others in a variety of ways. But by and large our common bond is
the National Federation of the Blind.
  In fact, the National Federation of the Blind has been the
vehicle for improving the quality of life for blind people
throughout the country. It has certainly changed my life,
teaching me to think about my blindness in new ways and helping
me understand what I can do and be.
  The Federation is a nationwide organization primarily composed
of blind people. It is a self-help and self-support organization,
believing that blind people should take responsibility for their
own lives and that what they need is training and opportunity,
not dependence and lifelong care. The Federation believes that
blind people can and should do for themselves, that they should
work with each other and cooperate with their sighted neighbors
to make the world a better place than it was when they entered
it.
  As to the specifics of the present Kernel Book, the title
pretty much says it. It is never too late to learn new techniques
and new ways of thought. This is true for the blind as well as
the sighted, the old as well as the young. We hope you will enjoy
these stories and that, whether your goal is to climb a mountain
or knit a sweater, you will succeed--and that along the way you
will learn new tricks.

Kenneth Jernigan
Baltimore, Maryland
1996

  That is the introduction. Now, let me share with you the first
article. It is written by me (editors take such prerogatives),
and it is the title story of the collection. Here is what it
says:

  Old dogs, we are told, can't learn new tricks. Maybe--but dogs
aren't human. What about humans? Can they learn new tricks?
Specifically, can a person who becomes blind in adult life learn
to function independently? And what about children? A blind child
grows up in a world designed for the sighted. If the child is to
learn to get along, he or she must find different techniques from
those used by sighted associates and friends.
  Can it be done? Of course it can. It happens every day. The
question is not whether but how. Make it personal. What about
you? If you became blind tomorrow, could you manage? How would
you handle the hundreds of details of your daily life?
  When I was a child, I had a little sight--not much, but a
little. If it wasn't too bright or too dark, I could see step-
ups. I couldn't see step-downs, but I could see the lines and
shadows of the step-ups. I could see the contrast between a
sidewalk and grass, and I could see the difference between the
country road that ran by the farm where I lived and the
vegetation on either side of it. At night I could see the moon if
it was full, but not the stars.
  It wasn't much, but it helped. I could go into a room at night,
for instance, and immediately tell whether the light was on; and
in the daytime I could tell whether there was a window, and where
it was. Under the right lighting conditions, I might be able to
see an open door, and I might be able to tell where a person or a
tree was. Sometimes yes--sometimes no. It was deceptive, and it
caused me bumps and bruises--but I managed.
  When I was in my early thirties, I lost all sense of dark and
light. It happened so gradually that I wasn't aware of it until I
thought back a few weeks and realized what I wasn't seeing. For
all intents and purposes I was totally blind from childhood, but
shortly after I became thirty, there was no doubt about it. I was
--and almost forty years later, I still am.
  With that background, let me talk about techniques. How do
blind people function? How do they manage the nuts and bolts of
daily life? More particularly, how do I do it? I can't give you a
complete catalogue, of course, but I can give you a sample.
  Let's begin with whether a light is on in a room. When I was a
boy on the farm in Tennessee, it was a kerosene (or, as we called
it, a coal oil) lamp. Today in my home in Baltimore it is an
electric light. But the problem is the same. How do I know
whether the light is on?
  In most situations there is a switch on the wall, and if it is
up, the light is on. If it is down, the light is off. But there
are three- and four-way switches, allowing a person to turn a
light on in one part of the house and turn it off in another.
  I have just such an arrangement in the house where I now live.
You can turn the hall light on at the front door, at the back
door, or on the stair landing. The ceiling is too high for me to
reach the light bulb to know whether it is giving out heat, so
unless I come up with some kind of non-visual technique, I won't
be able to tell. Yet there are times when sighted people visit me
and then leave without telling me whether they have turned off
the light. If my wife has gone to bed (which sometimes happens),
I either have to have some way to know whether the light is on or
else take a chance on letting it burn all night.
  The technique I use is really quite simple, and it is quick and
efficient. Several years ago a friend gave me a set of musical
teacups for Christmas. If you pick one of them up, it plays __You
Light Up My _Life. When you set it down, it stops. I was curious
about this and, after experimenting, found that, when light hits
the bottom of the cup, it starts the music.
  I think the cups cost six or seven dollars apiece, and I have a
half-dozen of them. I also now have a perfect light detector. I
have stored five of the cups in the attic and have left one of
them sitting on the kitchen counter.
  Now, if I want to know whether a light is on anywhere in the
house, all I have to do is pick up my teacup and walk through the
rooms. It's quick, and it works. There are fancy light detectors
that have been invented for the blind (detectors that cost a good
deal more than six dollars), but I don't need them. My teacup
works just fine.
  Before leaving the kitchen, let me deal with carrying liquid.
If the glass or cup isn't full, there isn't any trouble. It
doesn't matter if the container isn't exactly level. But if you
want a full glass of water as a measure for cooking rice or
something else, it does matter.
  In such cases I used to have difficulty in carrying the
container level and keeping the water from spilling. But not
anymore. The technique I use is amazingly easy, and I think it
will work for anybody. I wish I had thought of it sooner. I pick
up the glass in one hand with my thumb on one side of it and my
index finger across from it on the other side of the glass. I am
holding the glass at the top, outside of the rim. My hand is
above the glass, and I hold it loosely enough for it to find its
own level. It works well, and I rarely spill a drop. Try it.
  There isn't any magic about these techniques. It is simply a
matter of thinking them up and doing a little experimenting. I
know a blind woman, for instance, who doesn't pour vanilla or
other similar liquids into a quarter teaspoon--or, for that
matter, a teaspoon or a tablespoon. She puts the liquid into a
small jar, bends the spoon handle until the bowl of the spoon is
parallel with the floor, and then dips the liquid. It gives a
perfect measure, and it's no trouble at all. Of course, if your
measuring spoons are plastic, it won't work. Get spoons that are
metal.
  Then there is the matter of cooking eggs. If you want them
scrambled, there isn't any problem, but what if you want them
fried? The same woman who taught me about the measuring spoons
also taught me about egg frying.
  Take a tuna can, or some other can about that size, and cut
both ends out of it. Get your frying pan to the temperature you
want; place the open-ended can or cans in the pan; and break the
egg into the can.
  You can touch the top of the can to tell where it is, and when
you get ready to turn the egg, slide a spatula under the bottom
of the can, and pick the egg up. It will be perfectly formed, and
you can turn it without difficulty.
  I understand that blind persons are not the only ones who
sometimes have trouble turning the eggs they are frying. Some
sighted persons have the same difficulty. Egg templates are sold
commercially, I am told, using essentially the technique I have
described--but why bother? The tuna can works just fine, and
there isn't any point in wasting money or going to extra trouble.
  Some commercial gadgets are really an advantage in cooking.
Earlier I mentioned rice. Commercial rice-cookers solve a lot of
problems--at least the one at my house does.
  My wife is sighted, and I am blind, but we both use and like
the rice-cooker. You put twice as much water as rice into it, and
you turn it on. You don't do anything else. When the rice is
done, the cooker knows and it turns itself off--no sticking, no
stirring, no wondering about how long to cook or when to take it
up.
  That rice-cooker also knows other things, and it has a mind of
its own. Once I was cooking oatmeal, and the cooker turned itself
off before I thought the oatmeal was ready. I turned it back on,
but it dug in its heels. It turned itself right off again. The
cooker was right. The oatmeal was done.
  As I think about it, I suppose the cooker has a thermostat,
which begins to show a rise in temperature when a given quantity
of the liquid has boiled away. At that stage it probably turns
itself off, but I really don't know. After all, I am not
interested in the mechanics of rice-cookers. I just want to get a
good bowl of rice or oatmeal or whatever else it is I want for
breakfast or dinner.
  Sometimes the techniques I devise almost get me into trouble.
Last summer is a good example. As you know, I plan conventions
and make hotel arrangements for the National Federation of the
Blind. The meeting I have in mind was to be held in Chicago last
summer.
  A lot of hotels have stopped using regular metal keys and have
gone to a plastic card with a magnetic strip on it. I can see
their point. The cards cost almost nothing while metal keys are
expensive, and if somebody carries a hotel key away or loses it,
the hotel has to go to the expense of changing the lock and
replacing the key.
  The combination on the magnetic lock, however, can be changed
from the hotel's front desk by a computer that is connected to
all of the rooms. It is inexpensive and efficient. But the card
must be inserted into the door lock in exactly the right way, the
proper end and the proper side being placed just so.
  The card is shiny plastic, so how does a blind person know
which side of it to place up and which end to insert? One way to
do it, of course, is by trial and error. After all, there are
only four ways it can go--but sometimes, even if you have the
card right, it doesn't work on the first try. So the whole thing
can be a nuisance if you can't tell which side of the card is
which.
  But in most cases you can. Ordinarily the magnetic strip is
slightly slicker than the rest of the card, and quite easy to
feel. Usually it goes on the bottom and toward the right. Even if
you couldn't tell by this method, any enterprising blind person
would make a little nick in the card or do something else just as
simple.
  When I was planning for last summer's convention, I met with
the hotel staff to talk to them about the dos and don'ts. Mostly
I wanted to put them at ease and help them realize that they
didn't need to go to extra expense or trouble just because they
were dealing with blind people.
  In this context I told them about the hotel keys and showed
them that the magnetic strip was easy to identify by touch. I
said that they didn't need to spend any time or money making
extra marks on the cards for those attending the convention. They
said they understood, and we passed on to other things.
  When the date of the convention arrived and I checked into the
hotel, the man behind the desk handed me a magnetic key and told
me with great satisfaction that he had specially marked it with
tape so that I could tell which side of it was which. What was I
to do? If I told him that I didn't need the marking and showed
him how easy it was to feel the magnetic strip, he would likely
be embarrassed and maybe even angry. If I didn't tell him, the
hotel would spend time and money on marking the keys and doing
similar things, and then probably feel that our meeting was less
valuable than others because of the extra trouble and expense.
  I handled it as gently and as well as I could, talking again to
all of the hotel staff the next day and mentioning the matter in
general terms. In one form or another this is a problem that
blind people face again and again. It has no easy solution.
  Most people have great good will toward us. They think that, if
they were blind, they wouldn't be able to do anything at all, so
they try to figure out ways to help us. The situation is
complicated by the fact that sometimes the help is needed, but
very often it isn't. I don't know of any way to deal sensibly
with the matter except to try to get people to approach us
straight on and without a lot of emotion. If somebody wonders
whether we need help, ask us. If we say no, accept it. If we say
yes, accept that too.
  As a further complication, what happens if a blind person is
rude or touchy when help is offered? Most of us aren't, but
unfortunately (just as with the sighted) a few of us are. Whether
sighted or blind, not everybody is an angel--or, for that matter
even a responsible everyday citizen.
  My answer is that we who are blind should be treated the way
you would treat anybody else. How would you deal with a sighted
person who behaved rudely toward you? Deal with the blind person
the same way. Hopefully most of us (blind or sighted) will treat
each other with consideration and respect.
  The techniques to permit a blind person to function on a daily
basis are worth knowing. No, they are more than that. They are
key to real independence and comfortable daily living. But they
are not the most important thing that a blind person must learn.
This brings me to the reason I have devoted so much of my life to
the work of the National Federation of the Blind. In my opinion
the National Federation of the Blind has done more than any other
single thing to make life better for blind people in this country
in the twentieth century.
  I first became acquainted with the National Federation of the
Blind in the late 1940's when both it and I were a great deal
younger than we now are. It and its brilliant president, Dr.
Jacobus tenBroek, helped me learn a whole new way of thought
about what I was and what I could be. Dr. tenBroek taught by
example. His blindness did not keep him from earning graduate
degrees and being a respected college professor and
Constitutional scholar. The same was true of others I met.
  The National Federation of the Blind meant then (as it means
today) that it is respectable to be blind, that blindness will
not keep you from doing what you want to do or prevent you from
being what you want to be if you have reasonable training and
opportunity and if you do not think of yourself as a victim.
  A core principle of the organization is that we as blind people
do not want or need custody or paternalistic care, that we can
and should do for ourselves, that we should not ask others for
assistance until we have done all we can to solve our own
problems, and that we (not the government) should have prime
responsibility for our welfare and support.
  Does this mean that we do not want or need help from others? No
--quite the contrary. If we are to go the rest of the way to full
participation and first-class status in society, it is true that
we must do for ourselves, but it is equally true that we must
have help and understanding from our sighted friends and the
larger public. Without it we will fail.
  Meanwhile we will do what we can to help ourselves. And despite
the old proverb, we think that (whether we are old or young) we
can continue to learn.

  That is the first article in the tenth Kernel Book. The others
are "The Sliding Board," "Tending to My Knitting," "Roller
Coasters," "Serving Communion," and "Loving Elizabeth." Six
articles plus the introduction, ninety-one pages. A little book--
a revolutionary message.
  When we think of the revolution of the Kernel Books and look
back through the years to understand the present and reckon the
future, we need to consider the accuracy of our past predictions.
The exercise may give us both insight and humility. In 1973 (at
that time I was still President of the Federation), I spoke at
our convention banquet in New York City. The subject was
blindness and history, and those who were there will remember
that I ventured a prediction. I was talking about future
historians and what they would say about our movement.
  In the context of that '73 Convention my prediction seemed
unlikely and far from the mark. Dr. tenBroek had died five years
earlier, and the second generation of the movement was just
coming to maturity. NAC (the National Accreditation Council for
Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped) had been
established in the mid-sixties, and with more than a hundred
accredited organizations, it was threatening to sweep all before
it. The agencies dominated the field--and we (unlike today) had
scant resources, few friends, and many opponents. In such an
atmosphere the prediction I made at the 1973 banquet seemed
nothing less than visionary. This is what I said:

    While no man can predict the future, I feel absolute
  confidence as to what the historians will say. They will
  tell of a system of governmental and private agencies
  established to serve the blind, which became so custodial
  and so repressive that reaction was inevitable. They will
  tell that the blind ("their time come 'round at last")
  began to acquire a new self-image, along with rising
  expectations, and that they determined to organize and
  speak for themselves. And they will tell of Jacobus
  tenBroek--of how he, as a young college professor (blind
  and brilliant), stood forth to lead the movement.
    They will tell how the agencies first tried to ignore
  us, then resented us, then feared us, and finally came to
  hate us--with the emotion and false logic and cruel
  desperation which dying systems always feel toward the
  new about to replace them.
    They will tell of the growth of our movement through
  the forties and fifties and of our civil war. They will
  tell how we emerged from that civil war into the sixties,
  stronger and more vital than we had ever been; and how
  more and more of the agencies began to make common cause
  with us for the betterment of the blind. They will tell
  of our court cases, our legislative efforts, and our
  organizational struggles--and they will record the sorrow
  and mourning of the blind at the death of their great
  leader Jacobus tenBroek.
    They will also record the events of the 1970's when the
  reactionaries among the agencies became even more so, and
  the blind of the second generation of the NFB stood forth
  to meet them. They will talk of how these agencies
  established the National Accreditation Council for
  Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped
  (NAC), and with it tried to control all work with the
  blind, and our lives. They will tell how NAC and the
  other reactionary agencies gradually lost ground and gave
  way before us. They will tell of new and better agencies
  rising to work in partnership with the blind, and of
  harmony and progress as the century draws to an end. They
  will relate how the blind passed from second-class
  citizenship through a period of hostility to equality and
  first-class status in society. But future historians will
  only record these events if we make them come true. They
  can help us be remembered, but they cannot help us dream.
  That we must do for ourselves. They can give us acclaim,
  but not guts and courage. They can give us recognition
  and appreciation, but not determination or compassion or
  good judgment. We must either find those things for
  ourselves or not have them at all.

  That was 1973 (twenty-three years ago), and in broad terms the
prediction has come true. The century draws to a close, and there
is unprecedented harmony among agencies and organizations of and
for the blind. But what about the future? What will our situation
be like when we meet twenty-three years from now, in 2019?
  By then the members of the first generation of the movement
will almost certainly be gone, and so will many of those of the
second, my generation. Even the numbers of the third generation
will be thinning, and the fourth generation will be coming to
dominance. And the fifth generation will be knocking at the door.
The Federation will be seventy-nine years old, approaching the
end of its first century. If I am still here, I will be ninety-
two, undoubtedly more symbol than substance. Marc Maurer will be
sixty-eight, either no longer President or coming close to the
end of his time in office.
  So what will the movement be like when we meet in 2019? The
past five years have taught me that there will be undreamed-of
surprises, for no one could possibly have foreseen the two most
important events of this decade--the establishment of the
NEWSLINE Network(&+r) and the coming of the Kernel Books. But if
I am not sure of specifics, I am absolutely certain of the
general direction our organization will take. Our mutual faith
and trust in each other will be unchanged, and all else will
follow. I never come into the convention hall without a lift of
spirit and a surge of joy, for I know to the depths of my being
that our shared bond of love and trust will never change and that
because of it we will be unswervable in our determination and
unstoppable in our progress.
  As I said in 1973, we have come a long way together in this
movement. Some of us are veterans, going back to the forties;
others are new recruits, fresh to the ranks. Some are young; some
are old. Some are educated, others not. It makes no difference.
In everything that matters we are one; we are the movement; we
are the blind.
  And through the Kernel Books we are telling our story, in our
own voice and our own way. My brothers and my sisters, let us
continue to make it come true!

[Photo/Caption #26: 1996 Scholarship Winners (Left to right,
front row: Debra DeLorey, Ana Ugarte, Brigid Doherty, Priscilla
McKinley, Jennifer Schiffelbein, Eric Fanning, Jay Wolf, Shawn
Mayo, and Darsean Harrell. Left to right, middle row: Brenda
Walburn, Marie Kouthoofd, Brian Miller, Kellie Hickman, Sheila
Johnson, Matthew Bornstein, Jessica Springer, Jasmine Sethi,
Brook Sexton, Sheila Compton, Sarah Lanier, and Kristyn Leigh.
Left to right, back row: Charles Cheadle, Michael Richman, Dawn
Hodge, Mark Stracks, Daryl Swinson, and Jackie Mushington.]

[Photo/Caption #27: After winning the $10,000 American Action
Fund Scholarship Brigid Doherty speaks to the Convention.]

                __THE SCHOLARSHIP CLASS OF _1996

  __From the Editor: Twenty-seven men and women from
Massachusetts to Texas arrived at the Anaheim Hilton Hotel as
members of the National Federation of the Blind scholarship class
of 1996. Not counting their expense-paid trips to the convention,
this year the class divided $91,000 in scholarship awards, which
were made at the close of the Thursday, July 4, banquet. This
year's class is a remarkable group of students--bright,
energetic, and eager to change the world. They met the full
convention during the meeting of the Board of Directors on Monday
morning. Peggy Elliott, Chairman of the Scholarship Committee,
introduced each of them by saying the name and the student's home
state and school state. This is what first she and then each of
them had to _say:

  Good morning, fellow Federationists. It is my pleasure once
again to be able to introduce to you a wonderful class of
scholarship winners. I'm sure that, when you hear these men and
women, you'll agree with me that we have a wonderful group of
current scholarship winners, current or future colleagues. These
are wonderful people. Winners, please come forward. I do want to
mention a few things as the winners are making their way forward.
It's easy to identify a scholarship winner. Largely you'll find
them with one of the members of the Scholarship Committee. I'll
read that committee in a minute. You'll also find them wearing
unique ribbons. Only our scholarship winners are allowed to wear
the royal purple ribbon of the National Federation of the Blind
Scholarship Winner. You can identify them by that ribbon. We are
giving twenty-seven scholarships this year. It will be a personal
pleasure to give a scholarship in memory of a man who taught me a
lot and who was a good friend and colleague, E. U. Parker. I am
looking forward to that opportunity, not, of course, to the fact
that we've lost him, but to the fact that he's continuing to
give, even though he himself is gone.
  Twenty-seven scholarships. Twenty-three of those people will
get a check for $3,000. Three of the people you are about to hear
will get a check for $4,000. One of these men and women will
receive from the National Federation of the Blind a scholarship
in the amount of $10,000. [applause]
  As you know, the Scholarship Committee met once to choose these
people and will meet one more time. We won't tell you when. We
won't tell you where. And, when we get there, we're going to
check under the tables and behind the drapes to be sure that
we're all by ourselves, alone. Then we will decide who will win
the scholarships. They will be announced on Thursday evening at
the banquet of the National Federation of the Blind. At that time
the $10,000 winner will have the opportunity to walk across the
stage, to stop, and to speak briefly to the National Federation
of the Blind assembled.
  I'm going to read very quickly the list of the members of the
Scholarship Committee so that you can find these scholarship
winners and congratulate them. I have told them that 3,000 people
want to meet them. Was I correct? [applause] Okay, the members of
the Scholarship Committee are Adrienne Asch of Massachusetts,
Rich Bennett of Delaware, Steve Benson of Illinois, Charlie Brown
of Virginia, Evie Dow of New Jersey, Pam Dubel of Louisiana,
Priscilla Ferris of Massachusetts, Michael Goss of Maryland, John
Halverson of Missouri, Allen Harris of Michigan, David Hyde of
Oregon, Carl Jacobsen of New York, Kristin Jocums of Utah, Reggie
Lindsey of Tennessee, Sharon Maneki of Maryland, Lynn Matioli of
Maryland, Carla McQuillan of Oregon, John Miller of California,
Homer Page of Colorado, Barbara Pierce of Ohio, Bennett Prows of
Washington State, Joyce Scanlan of Minnesota, Steve Shelton of
Oklahoma, John Smith of Ohio, Larry Streeter of Idaho, Ramona
Walhof of Idaho, Melissa Williamson of Alabama, Jim Willows of
California, Joanne Wilson of Louisiana, and Gary Wunder of
Missouri. These are the people you can find and with whom you can
find scholarship winners. They are also the people with the
responsibility for making the decision. I think you'll see this
year's decision will be a difficult one.

  _Matthew _Bornstein: Colorado, Colorado. My name is Matthew
Bornstein. I'm a second-semester sophomore at the University of
Colorado. I'm majoring in history and possibly will soon be doing
a dual major with international relations. I had a very harrowing
experience yesterday. I am a highly functioning, vision-impaired
person, so I've relied on my sight a great deal. John Miller, my
mentor, talked me into doing cane travel for the first time,
using sleepshades. I quickly realized, when I walked into the
ballroom without the sleepshades yet, that as opposed to paying
attention to the fine figures of the ladies in front of me going
in, I should have been paying attention to the outline of the
room, for when I put the sleepshades on, I was suddenly lost.
Quickly, though, I found my way and began to learn the basics of
cane travel. I did not want to be like my uncle. My uncle had
been in a motorcycle accident and lost nearly all of his sight
when he was in his middle thirties. Now my Aunt Lori guides him
around. He does not use a cane. He relies on her. I do not want
to be like that. I want to be able to get on, on my own with a
cane if my sight deteriorates to that level. I'm going to do it
on my own. I'm glad I came. This is my first time here at a
National Federation of the Blind conference. I thank you very
much.

  _Charles _Cheadle: Maryland, Maryland. Hello everybody. I've
been attending conventions of the National Federation of the
Blind now for over ten years. That's a very long time for a young
person. I'm very happy to be here. I'd like to thank everybody,
especially the Scholarship Committee members for giving me this
opportunity. I'll be attending the University of Maryland,
Baltimore County, in the fall as an incoming freshman. I'm not
sure what I'll be studying, but it will probably be ancient
studies.

  _Sheila _Compton: South Carolina, South Carolina. I'm Sheila
Compton from Columbia, South Carolina. I am presently attending
the University of South Carolina working on a doctorate of
education degree in curriculum and instruction. I hope to use
this degree to administer programs statewide for blind children
and adults. As I reflect on the last twenty-five years that I
have been in the Federation, I remember my first convention was
in 1971 in Houston. At this time I had two small children and
thought that I would never be able to go to college and to
achieve a degree, but I learned at that convention. I saw so many
people who were successful, and through the influence and
encouragement that my friends in the National Federation of the
Blind have shown me throughout the years, I have been able to
achieve the success that I had hoped to early on in life. I
appreciate and am honored to be here as a recipient of a National
Federation of the Blind scholarship. Thank you.

  _Debra _DeLorey: Massachusetts, Massachusetts. Hi. My name is
Debbie, and I'm from Massachusetts. I'd like to tell you that
this is my first convention and how impressed I am. Already I'm
looking forward to going to convention in New Orleans. I can't
wait to see you all there also. Right now I'm a junior at
Northeastern University in Massachusetts. I'm planning on moving
on to my master's and doctorate working in the field of clinical
psychology as well as research in neuro-physiology. I'd like to
share with you right now a quote that was said by Jessie Jackson
at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C., because it
always reminds me of what I can do. "If my mind can conceive it
and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it." Thank you.

  _Peggy _Elliott: Every year, if it can locate enough good
candidates, the National Federation of the Blind gives at least
three scholarships to previous scholarship winners. Those of you
who are current or previous winners and who are going back to
school should make sure to apply because we will consider you for
a second scholarship and the status of tenBroek Fellow. One of
the tenBroek Fellows this year is our next winner; she won a
scholarship previously and is here for a second time.

  _Brigid _Doherty: Oregon, Virginia. My name is Brigid Doherty.
I'm a senior at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon,
where I'm majoring in international studies with a concentration
in Latin America. Peggy has given me a small amount of grace. I
am not in Virginia yet, though I'm thinking about moving back
there when I do look for work, which will be in the field of
labor relations more than likely, where I hope to combine my love
and interest in advocacy with my Spanish language skills.. Thank
you very much, I'm honored to be here.

  _Eric _Fanning: Illinois, Illinois. Thank you very much. I'm
Eric Fanning. In the fall I will be attending Carlton College. I
will be a freshman at Carlton College in Minnesota. I intend to
study physics with emphasis in astronomy. This is my first
convention. So far I have been having a lot of fun and learning a
lot of new and interesting things. For a career goal I intend to
go for my Ph.D. someday and then enter the field of research. I'd
like to thank the Scholarship Committee.

  _Darsean _Harrell: New Jersey, New Jersey. I have two more
semesters to go at Camden County College, and then I hope to
transfer to West Chester U. in Pennsylvania. I like joining the
NFB because it's very informational, and it's very knowledgeable.
This is my first convention, and it won't be my last. My dream is
to become a wife, mother, and speech pathologist. Thank you.

  _Kellie _Hickman: Texas, Texas. Good morning fellow
Federationists. This is a great honor to be here, quite a
surprise too. My plans for the future (when I grow up) are to
work in family therapy as well as individual counseling. I'd like
to concentrate, though, on people who are blind and their
families. I'd like to have some influence on their attitudes
because that's where everything starts. I'd like to close with a
couple of statements. One of our Scholarship Committee members
said that next year we were looking for heaven in '97. We are
looking forward to that right? [applause] Exactly. But we can't
wait for '98. See ya'll in Dallas. Thanks a lot.

  _Dawn _Hodge: New Hampshire, New Hampshire. Hi. As you know, my
name is Dawn Hodge. I'm very happy to be here, to be honored by
this committee, amongst such knowledge and wisdom, and the
foresight to choose such a wonderful panel of scholarship
winners. I'm privileged to be one of them. I'm presently
attending the University of New Hampshire. I'm pursuing a degree
in family studies with a minor in social work. I hope to become a
family therapist and then go on and get my master's, perhaps in
marriage and family therapy or social work. I feel that families
are the nucleus or core of any society. Without healthy families
you won't have a healthy society. So we want to help our
families, those with disabilities and those without, to be
productive, constructive, positive, and active members and
contributors to our society and positive NFBers as well. Thank
you. I look forward to enjoying everybody's company. Come look me
up, talk with me.

  _Sheila _Johnson: California, California. Hi. My name is Sheila
Johnson. I'm a senior at San Diego State University. I'll be
graduating with my bachelor's in December. I will be going into a
bilingual credential teaching program at San Diego State, where
in 1998 I will have my bilingual teaching credential. Right now I
wanted to say that I'm one of those people that's doing a lot,
but you don't know it until people tell you because I'm always
looking ahead, saying I need to do more. I'm out there all the
time, and I don't realize how much I'm changing until I find out
I'm the only blind person with a white cane in the community, the
only person on the street. Thank you so much for all your
support. I'm so thankful that we today have an organization, a
family like this that I can turn to and get support and
encouragement. Thank you.

  _Marie _Kouthoofd: New York, New York. Hi. My name is Marie
Kouthoofd. I attend the State University of New York, College of
Rockport. I am a psychology major and plan to go into clinical
psychology. I am interested in research and also counseling. I
have quite a rigorous schedule. I have three children: one that's
six, one that's four, and one that's three months. I am a second
degree black belt, and I instruct tae kwon do and self-defense.
This is my first convention. To be honest, when I applied for the
NFB scholarship, I didn't know anything about NFB, what they
stood for, nor what I was in for. [laughter] Since I've been
here, I've been crying, filled with fear, or filled with
determination--or maybe all three. I know one thing. When I leave
this convention--well, I'm going to leave with either three,
four, or ten grand, but I'm also going to leave with something
more. This convention has changed me, and I don't know how to
explain it, but I have finally found a place where I can fit in,
where I don't have to be afraid of going blind or being blind.
Thank you.

  _Sarah _Lanier: Alabama, Alabama. Good morning everyone. It
feels really great to be here, and I would like to thank the
Scholarship Committee for giving me this opportunity. I plan to
start at Auburn University in the fall, majoring in biology and
mathematics education. So, those of you who are in high school,
wait a little while and maybe you'll get to be in my class. I
recently graduated from Hillcrest High School, which is a private
school, very small, as valedictorian of the class of '96, and I
plan to maintain that academic standing in college. If any of you
have any questions, just look me up. Thank you.

  _Kristyn _Leigh: Illinois, Illinois. Good morning. I'm Kristyn
Leigh, and I'm from Illinois. This is my second NFB national
convention. I got my bachelor's in history with a business minor
in 1993. I worked for a couple of years, and now I've completed
one year of graduate school. In the fall I will be a second-year
graduate student at Illinois State University, working on a
master's to teach blind children, special education.

  _Peggy _Elliott: Our next scholarship winner is the second
tenBroek Fellow in the 1996 scholarship class, and I guess
perhaps that gives her some right to have a foot in three states
rather than in two.

  _Shawn _Mayo: Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri. Good morning. I'm
Shawn Mayo. I'm currently attending BLIND, Inc. In the fall I
will begin my master's program at Southwest Missouri State
University. It will be in clinical psychology, and I plan to go
on for a Ph.D. and work with chronically ill children and in
psycho-oncology, which is with pediatric and adolescent cancer
patients. It's a great honor to be a tenBroek fellow. Thank you.

  _Priscilla _McKinley: Iowa, Iowa. Hi. I'm Priscilla McKinley. I
received my undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa in
English and moved on to the MFA non-fiction writing program. I
also teach freshman rhetoric at the university (reading, writing,
and speaking for some people who do not have rhetoric in their
colleges)--everybody asks, "What is rhetoric?" I am a mother of a
twelve-year-old son and am a newlywed (second marriage). They are
off at Disneyland right now, having fun. I have three goals right
now. One is to teach college writing, which I am doing now, but
as slave labor as a teaching assistant. Two, is to write a
bestseller that will top Robert Waller's __Bridges of Madison
_County and make __The New York _Times Bestseller List for fifty
weeks in a row. If he can do it, so can I, right? [applause] My
third goal is to be like some of the people on the Scholarship
Committee and be standing up and saying, "This is my twentieth
convention." This is my first, and I will not miss any as long as
I live. I guarantee it. Thank you.

  _Brian _Miller: California, California. Thank you to the
Scholarship Committee, the Board of Directors, and fellow
Federationists and sponsors, who support this program. It is an
honor and privilege to be up here. My name is Brian Miller. I am
currently completing my master's degree in political science at
San Diego State University with emphasis in Latin American
studies. I plan to go on to a Ph.D. program and possibly a
teaching credential. Eventually I would like to put that to use
in doing some research, teaching, and possibly working in the
foreign service to employ my language skills. Just a quick
anecdote: as I was sitting through the JOB seminar yesterday and
the student seminar as well, I was remembering a time when my
father and mother used to ask me when I got out of high school,
"When are you going to go out and get a job? When are you going
to get out of school and get work?" At the time, of course, I
thought it was an onerous thing to burden me with, but now it
actually occurs to me that it was a compliment that they were
paying me. They were actually sure that I was going to be out
working and being just like everybody else and nothing different.
Thank you very much.

  _Jackie _Mushington: Maryland, Colorado. Good morning, fellow
Federationists. As Ms. Elliott said, my name is Jackie
Mushington. I live in Maryland. I am currently at Colorado. I
just completed the full-time program in Colorado, and now I'm
working as a summer counselor in Colorado, practicing my skills.
I am a senior at Clark Atlantic University, majoring in early
childhood education with a minor in psychology. Someday I hope to
follow in Ms. McQuillan's steps. I plan to open my own
preparatory institute, starting with kindergarten through
elementary. This is my third convention, and I'm very happy to be
a member of the 1996 scholarship class.

  _Michael _Richman: Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Hi. My name is
Michael Richman. I'm a graduate student at Temple University in
the program of education, getting my master's to teach high
school English. I will be teaching in the fall at a private
school for learning-disabled kids, and I hope to continue
teaching and doing some writing. I'm also a musician.

  _Jennifer _Schiffelbein: Kansas, Kansas. I'm from Topeka,
Kansas, not Kansas, Kansas. I will be a sophomore in the fall at
Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. I'm working towards
a degree in both chemistry and chemical engineering. I would like
to have an emphasis on new materials development. Aside from
that, I'd like to travel around the world and see everybody. Also
I'm a musician, too. I play the flute. I do a lot of things. I'm
glad to be here. Thanks.

  _Jasmin _Sethi: New Jersey, Massachusetts. Good morning. I'm an
entering college freshman at Harvard University, where I am
planning to major in economics. After that I'd like to pursue a
career in financial consulting for private businesses. I'm very
honored to be a member of this talented and very friendly
scholarship class. It is my first convention, and I'm looking
forward to meeting as many people as I can. Thank you.

  _Brook _Sexton: California, Utah. Hello. I'm really happy to be
here today. It's a real honor to be a scholarship winner. I am
attending Brigham Young University as a freshman next year and
plan to study English, which I think is what I want to do, but I
will decide later. Thank you.

  _Jessica _Springer: California, Idaho. Hi. This fall, I will be
a sophomore at Albertson College of Idaho. I'm a double major in
political science and biology. My concentration in political
science is pre-law. With my education I'm hoping to become a
lawyer in either criminal law or maybe Constitutional law.
Hopefully beyond that I will become a judge. I'm really happy to
be here, and I've really found a new family. Thank you.

  _Peggy _Elliott: And our third and final tenBroek Fellow for
this year is:

  _Mark _Stracks: Connecticut, Connecticut. Good morning fellow
Federationists. I am Mark Stracks. I am from East Hartford,
Connecticut. I am currently a third-year student at the
University of Connecticut School of Medicine and a candidate for
the degree of master of public health at the University of
Connecticut Graduate School. My ultimate career goals are to
practice clinical medicine and to undertake research in the field
of clinical medicine and public health. Thanks.

  _Daryl _Swinson: Arkansas, Arkansas. Good morning. My name is
Daryl Swinson. I'm from Fort Smith, Arkansas. I'm attending
Westark Community College and Arkansas Technical University with
a major in computer information systems. I'd like to thank Jim
Omvig and Ruth Swenson for getting me involved in the NFB even if
it didn't seem to take very well at first. This is my first
National Convention. I'm having a great time even if I'm not
getting enough sleep. Thank you.

  _Ana _Ugarte: Oregon, Massachusetts. Good morning. I have a
bachelor of arts degree in music from Portland State University,
and in the fall I will be starting my master of music and vocal
performance at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. I
am a graduate of the Colorado Center for the Blind. Currently I
am the assistant coordinator for the summer youth program at the
Colorado Center. When I'm done with my master's, I hope to go on
to get my doctorate of musical arts and get a teaching position
at the university level. Thank you.

  _Brenda _Walburn: Texas, Texas. My name is Brenda Walburn. I'm
from Wichita Falls, Texas. I'm currently attending Midwestern
State University. I received a bachelor's degree in social work,
and I'm in my second year of graduate studies in counseling. I
plan to go on and get my Ph.D. in counseling psychology and
someday to be in private practice doing individual and family
therapy. Thank you this is a great honor.

  _Jay _Wolf: Texas, Texas. I'm Jay Wolf. I'm always last at
these things, and I'm hoping Thursday night that I'll be last.
But anyway. I'm from Wichita Falls, Texas. I'm currently in
Denver, teaching cane travel at the Colorado Center. I'm majoring
in business administration emphasizing in management and real
estate. Real estate was just recently added, because a few years
ago they said that I couldn't start my own business, and I did
it. Then I was looking for a house about six months ago and
talking to the real estate agent, and he said, "Well, a blind
person couldn't do that." So, we'll talk about it in a couple of
years and see what happens. Thanks a lot.

  _Peggy _Elliott: "And there, fellow Federationists, is the 1996
scholarship class." [applause]

  __As you can see, we have an impressive group of scholarship
winners this year. Here are the awards they _received:

$3,000 NFB: Matthew Bornstein, Charles Cheadle, Sheila Compton,
  Debra DeLorey, Darsean Harrell, Kellie Hickman, Dawn Hodge,
  Sheila Johnson, Kristyn Leigh, Jackie Mushington, Jennifer
  Schiffelbein, Brook Sexton, Brenda Walburn, and Jay Wolf.
$3,000 Frank Walton Horn Memorial Scholarship: Eric Fanning
$3,000 Hermione Grant Calhoun Scholarship: Marie Kouthoofd
$3,000 Kuchler-Killian Memorial Scholarship: Sarah Lanier
$3,000 Humanities Scholarship: Priscilla McKinley
$3,000 Mozelle and Willard Gold Memorial Scholarship: Brian
  Miller
$3,000 Educator of Tomorrow Scholarship: Michael Richman
$3,000 Howard Brown Rickard Scholarship: Jasmin Sethi
$3,000 E. U. Parker Memorial Scholarship: Mark Stracks
$3,000 Computer Science Scholarship: Daryl Swinson
$4,000 NFB Scholarship: Shawn Mayo and Jessica Springer
$4,000 Melva T. Owen Memorial Scholarship: Ana Ugarte
$10,000 American Action Fund Scholarship: Brigid Doherty

  Brigid Doherty was invited to say a few words to the banquet
audience as she received her award. This is what she said:

  Thank you, thank you very much. President Maurer, Dr. Jernigan,
it is, indeed, an honor to be standing here at this podium in
this room. I want to say to you, to my fellow scholarship
recipients, and to everyone in this room that I personally plan
to keep my promise to this organization, and I am going to work
with all the love and all the effort I have in me to repay even a
portion of what has been given to me, not just tonight, but since
I was first introduced to the National Federation of the Blind
four years ago. And I also plan to keep in touch with my fellow
scholarship recipients and hold them to the pledge that they have
made here this week to grow in our friendship--these are
wonderful people. I didn't know many of them before this week,
but I want to get to know them better. I want to work with them
to carry on what has already been started, thank goodness. So
thank you all, and Dr. Jernigan, and President Maurer, I will see
you in New Orleans. [applause]

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

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

[Photo/Caption #28: Marc Maurer delivers the banquet address at
the 1996 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind.]

[Photo/Caption #29: Nearly 2,500 Federationists listen with rapt
attention as President Maurer gives his speech.]

                   __THE ESSENCE OF _MATURITY

                   __An Address Delivered _by

                          _MARC _MAURER

         __President, National Federation of the _Blind

           __At the Banquet of the Annual _Convention

              __Anaheim, California, July 4, _1996

  Maturity is the exercise of intelligence in the fourth
dimension--time. As Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, who was then serving as
President of the National Federation of the Blind, said in 1986:
"To the extent one ranges backward in time to understand the
causes of present conditions, and to the extent one ranges
forward to anticipate future consequences of present acts, one is
mature. Maturity is intelligence in depth." So Dr. Jernigan said
in 1986.
  Not only do individuals need maturity, but civilizations,
organizations, and cultures need it as well. Whether a society
can reach maturity depends on the maturity of the people within
it and its capacity to internalize their maturity. If a society
is to mature, it must balance two competing interests. It must
welcome diversity and experimentation and at the same time
maintain stability and order. Experimentation and diversification
diminish stability, but they are essential for growth. However,
if stability is lost, there will be no structure in which to
experiment. Both the instability of experimentation and the
stability of order are required.
  Maturity for a society or an individual cannot be achieved
without reaching new understandings and perspective. This
requires effort and a tolerance for pain--sometimes financial,
sometimes emotional, and sometimes physical. Individuals and
societies that are unwilling to expend effort or tolerate pain to
achieve a desirable goal in the future cannot attain maturity.
  The maturity of the individual and the maturity of the society
are related. One cannot develop without encouraging the other.
One cannot diminish without inhibiting the other. To build a
strong society it is essential to enhance the maturity of its
members, to incorporate that maturity into the group as a whole,
to tolerate pain in the interest of achieving desirable goals, to
welcome diversity, and to maintain order.
  In the minds of certain people today the blind in some respects
are regarded as children. We resemble children, they would have
us believe, because we lack the two qualities that give
significance to individuals or groups--the capacity to make
substantial contributions and the capacity to cause serious
trouble. But the blind and children, in this formulation, are not
the same. The children will grow up. The blind will not. The
children may commit indiscretions and be forgiven. The blind will
be inactive with no indiscretions to forgive. Maturity may come
to the one, but not to the other. Growth and development are to
be expected with children, but the blind (though we will grow
physically) will not achieve the development or perspective
required for decision making--we will not gain maturity. Rather
we will remain, according to this view, as children in need of
custody and care.
  Those who believe that the blind should be viewed as children
have tacitly accepted the misguided notion that for us there can
be no future because for us there has been no past. Since they
are part of the society in which we live, their maturity affects
our maturity--our growth, our development--our capacity to
exercise intelligence in time. But there is another side to that
coin. Since we are part of the society in which they live, our
maturity affects their maturity--their growth, their development
--their capacity to exercise intelligence in time. If we are to
gain maturity and if we are to enhance the maturity of our
society, we must demonstrate that this conception of blindness is
wrong. We who are blind have the understanding, the energy, and
the will to direct our own lives, to make our contributions, and
(if need be) to meet confrontation head on; and we will permit no
one else to do it for us. Our past, though sometimes filled with
misunderstanding and misery, is the precursor of today. Our
future is what we will make it. We will act, recognizing that the
consequences will be determined by our capacity to comprehend,
our judgment, our courage, and our faith in each other. But above
all we will act!
  In 1940 the brilliant blind scholar and professor, Dr. Jacobus
tenBroek, and a small group of other like-minded blind people
brought into being in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the National
Federation of the Blind. With that one act the future of the
blind was altered for all time. As we came to organize,
conditions for blind people were bleak. Employment for the blind
was virtually unknown. Education occurred at schools for the
blind, but the administrators of those institutions rarely
expected blind students to continue their instruction at the
university level. Libraries for the blind existed, but the
collection of books available for distribution was not large. The
adult rehabilitation program operated jointly by federal and
state governments had been created, but the blind were not part
of it because it was felt that they could not benefit from
rehabilitation. As rehabilitation officials said, we were not
"feasible." The Social Security Act had been adopted in 1935,
providing some measure of support to the blind; and the Randolph-
Sheppard Act to create vending opportunities for the blind had
been adopted in 1936, but the small number of vending stands
which had been established were tiny operations selling (for the
most part) tobacco products, newspapers, and candy. In certain
places sheltered workshops for the blind had been in existence
for decades (some for as long as a century), but these offered
only repetitive hand assembly work at pitifully low wages in
miserable working conditions.
  A top-quality education; a career in government service or the
professions; employment in industry or the private sector; a
standard of living sufficient to permit dating, marriage, the
establishment of a family, and the purchase of a home; training
and support to begin a private business; and participation in
politics--none of this was for the blind. However, Dr. tenBroek
and his small band of colleagues thought otherwise. He and the
others with him believed that conditions for the blind would
never change unless the blind themselves controlled the events of
their own destiny. He believed that blindness need not be the
determining factor of our future. He believed that unemployment
and lack of opportunity could be changed and that the future for
the blind could be different--but only if we made it happen. He
set the Federation on the road we have followed ever since. He
gave us a standard to follow and a method for achieving the goal.
He told us that it would not be easy--that it would require
effort and a tolerance for pain. But he promised that the effort
and the pain would bring results. Look about you! We the blind
have gathered here tonight in our thousands. Dr. tenBroek said
that we could make a difference, and if he were with us tonight,
he would be pleased with what the National Federation of the
Blind has become--the strongest, most positive, most vital force
in the affairs of the blind today.
  In the fall of 1995 members of the National Federation of the
Blind hosted a black-tie dinner at the National Center for the
Blind in Baltimore to support and promote one of the most
innovative developments in our history, NEWSLINE for the
Blind(&+r). As Federation members know, this is the completely
automated digital network that brings daily newspapers to the
blind by touch-tone telephone. National newspapers such as _USA
_Today, the _New _York _Times, and the _Chicago _Tribune can be
read by phone anytime during the day or night. This development
has far-reaching implications. The absence of knowledge signifies
the absence of the possibility for choice. The presence of
knowledge indicates the exact opposite--the awareness of
opportunity, the possibility for choice, and the freedom to act.
  We invited the press to be present at our black-tie dinner; we
described the vital work of the National Federation of the Blind;
we demonstrated NEWSLINE for the Blind(&+r); and we discussed the
impact that broad-ranging information services would have on the
lives of blind people. But the story that appeared in the
newspaper the next day did not contain the drama of the work of
the Federation or the potential alteration in the future of the
blind. Instead, to be perfectly frank, the reporter didn't get
it. He reiterated the old, familiar theme, the stereotype--the
blind can become good musicians. The importance of the
NEWSLINE(&+r) event was not, he seemed to say, the development of
opportunity for the blind or enhanced access to information. It
was music. The item in the newspaper began with the headline,
"Boy upstages NEWSLINE." The text reads:

    The star of NEWSLINE Night at the National Federation of the
  Blind was, of course, NEWSLINE, a system that converts
  newspapers into synthetic voice and delivers it through
  telephone lines to blind people. It's an exciting new on-ramp
  to the information highway, allowing the nation's blind to
  "read" newspapers first thing in the morning, the way the rest
  of us do.
    During the black-tie dinner at the NFB headquarters in South
  Baltimore [the reporter writes], guests heard a demonstration;
  a synthesized voice read excerpts of stories fresh from USA
  Today, one of the first newspapers to agree to participate in
  the system.
    As impressive as NEWSLINE was [the article continues], a kid
  in dark glasses and tails almost stole the show.
    Jermaine Gardner, a twelve-year-old boy, was called to the
  Yamaha grand in the front of the dining room, then proceeded to
  dazzle us with performances of classical selections, from
  Mendelssohn to Beethoven, scherzo to sonata.
    I'm telling you, he was fabulous [says the reporter]. He was
  accompanied to the dinner by his "managers," James and Jacqui
  Gardner. They should be right proud. Jermaine, who was born
  blind, has been playing classical music since he was 2,
  performing since he was 4. By the way [says the article], his
  business card notes that Jermaine is available for weddings,
  socials, and "children's Barney parties."

  This is what the newspaper said, and it is not that the details
are incorrect but that the perception, the tone, and the depth of
understanding are wrong. Is it really impressive that a blind boy
of twelve can play the piano, even that he can play it extremely
well, even that he can play it like a genius? Maybe--but the
musical performance fades into relative insignificance compared
to the revolutionary impact which NEWSLINE(&+r) will make on the
lives of thousands and tens of thousands of blind people
throughout the nation, and ultimately the world. NEWSLINE(&+r)
was the star, of course, and the reporter simply missed it and
flubbed his opportunity. And what was it that the reporter
thought was "fabulous"? A blind kid playing the piano.
  Did the reporter believe that blind people are unable to play
the piano? Is that why he found the performance so enthralling?
Or is it that he thought there was nothing else in the evening
worth reporting--nothing else that would strike a chord with his
readers? Suppose, he thought, NEWSLINE(&+r) would change the
world for the blind--what difference could it possibly make in
the broader society? What difference could it make to the people
who really matter? Unstated but always present is the silent
assertion that the future of blind people is not worth the
trouble to report. Just give us the piano player--that's where
blind people excel. It never occurred to the reporter that blind
people have already made contributions to society (contributions
he not only wants but needs) and that we will continue to do so.
Apparently it never occurred to him that we, who are part of the
society in which he lives, will necessarily help shape his
future. He thought of NEWSLINE(&+r) as an impressive new toy with
which the blind could amuse themselves, but the blind (according
to his understanding) have nothing to give--except a little
music. He thought of us as children. In fact, he concludes his
newspaper item by telling us that the blind musician is available
for socials and children's Barney parties. It matters very little
how we spend our time--unless, of course, we can be entertaining
--unless we can play the piano.
  This newspaper account completely misses the point. There are
some of us who do play the piano--play it well--and are proud of
our ability. However, this is not what defines us as human
beings. NEWSLINE for the Blind(&+r), on the other hand, is
opening to the blind entirely new vistas of knowledge, of
thought, and of experience. Our capacity to participate in the
activities of our day is increased by NEWSLINE(&+r). No one can
predict how important this is because the impact that it will
have has not yet been realized. But we are certain that it will
add to our capacity to contribute to our society. It will give us
the knowledge to shape a better future not only for ourselves but
also for the very reporter who misunderstands us. Our past, even
our recent past, though sometimes filled with misunderstanding,
is the precursor of today's conditions. We will act, recognizing
that the consequences, even though not always wholly anticipated,
will be determined by our capacity to comprehend, our judgment,
our courage, and our faith in each other. But above all it is
certain that we will act.
  We should not be surprised by newspaper reporters who lack the
perception and experience to understand the importance and drama
of our struggle to move from second-class status to full equality
in society. But we should expect something better from programs
for the blind--something more knowledgeable, more in tune with
reality. The purpose of governmental and private agencies for the
blind is, after all, to help blind users of their services
achieve their highest potential.
  It is gratifying that an increasing number of the agencies for
the blind are working ever more closely with us with positive
results. However, there are, in a few instances, still some so-
called professionals in agencies for the blind who regard the
organized blind movement not as a welcome partner but as an
interfering adversary. In such agencies it is not astonishing
that services for the blind are minimal and poor.
  An article which appeared in the Sunday, April 21, 1996,
edition of the _Hartford _Courant, one of the most widely-
distributed newspapers in the state of Connecticut, describes
with pride the services of the Board of Education and Services
for the Blind (BESB), the state-run rehabilitation agency. Keep
in mind that we are not talking about ancient history. The
article was written less than three months ago.
  It begins with the headline, "Jobs for the Blind," and contains
photographs of three workers who have been employed at the
workshop for from nine to fifteen years. The theme of the article
is contained in the subtitle, which reads: "At BESB Industries,
visually impaired workers gain self-esteem." The impression
conveyed by these statements is that blind employees are offered
long-term employment, job security, a high level of self-esteem,
recognition of their innate normality and capacity, and a level
of pay sufficient to provide a livelihood. This impression is
reinforced by the portions of the article that describe
manufacturing in the workshop. The business at BESB is not
trivial. The article puts it this way:

    Each month the employees, some using special sewing machines,
  sew up to 20,000 pairs of sweat pants for the Army, 1,200 life
  vests for the Navy, and 5,000 "kit bags" for the Air Force,
  bags used as soft-sided luggage.
    In March, the company was awarded a $13 million government
  contract to sew up to 800,000 T-shirts a year for the Army.

  This is what the newspaper says, and with all of these
thousands of items being produced for all of these millions of
federal dollars, what do the blind get? The newspaper tells us.
Here are excerpts from the article:

    Inside a concrete and brick building the Board of Education
  and Services for the Blind, or BESB Industries, offers about
  115 people--the majority of whom are completely blind--the
  chance to hold a job and earn a salary. For many of the workers
  the program has provided something more: a chance to feel
  useful again.
    [The newspaper continues,] "This job has given me the
  opportunity to do the things I didn't think I would ever be
  able to do," [said one of the sewing machine operators.]
    "It's a challenge," he continued, "and it's good for people
  to know blind people can be productive members in society."
    The 25,000-square-foot building housing BESB [the article
  continues] is filled with people who strongly believe that. And
  they show up for work each day--some making as little as $1.50
  an hour--to prove it to themselves, and sometimes to others.

  I interrupt to observe that they are also coming to the
workshop to produce 800,000 T-shirts a year so that the agency
can get thirteen million federal dollars, but back to the
article.

    Overall, the average pay rate [says the article] is $3.50 an
  hour, less than the minimum wage, now at $4.25 an hour.
    But for some of the employees at the West Hartford workshop,
  pay is not an issue.
    Howie Schwartz, 59, of Southington [the article continues],
  who has worked there for the past nine years, said that his job
  has given him so much, he would work for free.
    "Don't tell them, but I'd come here for nothing, because this
  place has given me back some of my self-respect. What I do
  counts."
    Schwartz [the article continues] lost his sight in 1985. When
  he had his sight, he was in charge of more than eighty
  employees in a manufacturing plant.

  Let me interrupt the article to emphasize what I just read to
you. This man was in charge of more than eighty employees in a
manufacturing plant, and now he is working for substandard wages
--and in an environment that has so conditioned him that he would
feel grateful to have the job even if it gave him no pay at all.
Yet some people have the nerve to tell us that we are being
negative when we point out the abuses of this kind of operation.
He supervised eighty employees! Eighty employees--and now he
works for a pittance and has been conditioned to think so little
of himself that he is grateful. But back to the article:

    Schwartz said he did not work for a year after losing his
  vision. "You don't know what bored is until you've sat at home
  for a year."
    "Now I'm using my past experiences and past contacts, and I
  know I'm making a contribution," said Schwartz, who worked for
  five years sewing various products before becoming responsible
  for purchasing. "I'm useful."

  These are statements from the _Hartford _Courant. They promise
jobs and self-esteem for the blind. But the promise is false, and
the dream is a nightmare. One of the essential characteristics of
a job is that the person doing the work gets paid--and at a
salary commensurate with ability and performance. There is
nothing wrong with volunteering time and effort. Most of the work
of the National Federation of the Blind is done through
volunteers. However, we know when we are volunteering. We don't
pretend that it is something else. How different it is at the
agency for the blind in Connecticut. At Services for the Blind
the choices are apparently simple. Blind people who want to work
can sit at home and be bored or produce T-shirts in the workshop
at an average of $3.50 an hour. But they do get self-esteem. Let
me ask you this, shall we offer to trade? Will the supervisors at
the workshop take the subminimum wages and the self-esteem and
let us have their salaries? Are they willing to work for $3.50 an
hour? That comes to less than $7,500 a year.
  But there is more in the article. Consider the description of
services provided to a woman who has been receiving the benefit
of this rehabilitation program for over three decades. She became
blind in her twenties, and she was understandably afraid. What
did the agency do to help? This is how the newspaper tells it.

    [Kathy] Lunge, 57, of Wethersfield, was 23, with a newborn
  baby, when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor that eventually
  took her vision.
    After she recovered from treatment for the brain tumor, she
  was afraid to leave home.
    "It was hard to cope. I wouldn't leave the house," [the blind
  mother said.]
    Then she was told about a special program BESB runs for blind
  people who are homebound. Those in the program work on crafts
  and other projects at home, and the products are eventually
  sold, mainly through a joint program with local Lions Club
  organizations.
    [The article continues] The program is designed to be
  therapeutic, [Fred] Zaiko [BESB director of industries] said,
  and give participants a feeling of self-worth.
    Today the program is solely for people who can't, and
  probably won't ever, leave their homes [the article says]. But
  when social workers approached Lunge in the 1960's, they hoped
  she would eventually be able to [you guessed it] work at the
  workshop.
    She did. [I interrupt the newspaper story to ask how long did
  it take for Services to the Blind to assist this blind worker
  to get out of the home and into the workshop? The article tells
  us. Remember that services began for this blind woman in the
  1960's.] After gaining confidence while working in the home
  program [says the article], Lunge in 1981 began traveling to
  the workshop to sew. Now she's a receptionist there.
    In 1991 Lunge was chosen as the National Blind Worker of the
  Year.
    "If you don't have any goals, you just sit and feel sorry for
  yourself. That's what I did," Lunge said. "Here you don't have
  a chance to do that. Here you are a busy, normal person going
  off to work. That is a gift you cannot imagine."

  This is the description of services for the blind printed in
the newspaper. A young woman with a baby suffers serious medical
problems in 1962 and eventually becomes blind. She remains
homebound, being served by the agency for the blind until 1981.
In 1981 she begins sewing at the workshop and finally becomes a
receptionist. The lowest wage for the blind at the workshop is
$1.50 an hour. The average wage for blind people is $3.50 an
hour. She is grateful for her job. She does not believe she
deserves such good fortune. Those who work at the agency have
given her a gift of such great value that it is hard to imagine.
  However, viewed in proper perspective, such a gift might be
known by the ugly name of exploitation. If Kathy Lunge is today
capable of being a receptionist, is it believable that she was
only capable of sitting at home year after year? The images
clash. The professionals at the Connecticut agency for the blind
have discovered that there are blind people who believe that
there is no alternative to the boredom of sitting at home except
work at the workshop. Maybe these professionals don't know any
better. Maybe they don't have any incentive to know any better.
Maybe if their own lives were involved, they would find a way to
know better.
  In their despair (in the circumstances, how could it be
otherwise?), many of the blind caught in this trap are prepared
to take any alternative they can get--no matter how small. And
they are prepared to be grateful for it. The professionals at the
agency encourage that attitude.
  The situation in Connecticut is further complicated by the fact
that the volunteer board responsible for the operation of the
agency seems both responsive and sensible, but the professionals
who administer the program have all the advantages in their
effort to maintain the status quo. I met the chairman of the
board this spring. He is an intelligent, sensitive human being--
and he has the strongest possible motivation to see that programs
for the blind in Connecticut function imaginatively and well. He
has a blind son. But he is not knowledgeable in the complexities
of the federal/state bureaucratic maze, a maze in which the
professionals can hide and dodge and double talk. Moreover, he
does not have an extensive background in dealing with blind
people. What is he to do when he is told, "Yes, but your son is
different--your son is not like these other poor helpless blind
people, who can do nothing else but spend their days in the
workshop or at home!" He will have to be strong, indeed, to go up
against the odds--to resist the seduction of the flattery, to
ferret out the facts from the fiction, and to find the time and
the courage to match wits with the bureaucrats, who have nothing
better to do all day every day but to wage the contest and build
their image of sensitive expertise. Maybe he can do it. I hope he
can. It sometimes happens. But the odds are against him. It goes
without saying that we will help him and the other members of the
board if we can, but it will be a race between whether he can
bring the professionals into line before they get there first and
poison him against the organized blind movement.
  The professionals at the agency for the blind in Connecticut
may believe that the blind are unimportant--that we resemble
children. But we know better. We who are blind are not inactive;
we are not inferior; and we will not behave as if we were.
Perhaps there was a time when second-rate jobs and substandard
wages in the sheltered shop were all that the blind could hope to
get, but that time is no more. We have the understanding, the
energy, and the determination; and we are prepared, if need be,
to meet confrontation with confrontation. We recognize that
future conditions will be the consequences of present acts. But
above all we will act.
  A master's degree program to instruct teachers of the blind at
Northern Illinois University distributes to the candidates for
advanced degrees information about how to assist the blind and
those with low vision. This course of study is euphemistically
known as Programs in Vision. Apparently the word _blind is not to
be used by the professionals because it connotes inferiority. One
of the teaching tools in the program is a document entitled "Over
65 Tips & Tricks for People with Low Vision to Use in the Home."
The abstruse nature of this educational program and the depth of
understanding required to comprehend it are indicated by its so-
called tips. Keep in mind that this information is not offered in
undergraduate school but only in the master's program. Here are
some of the tips for you--if you're not totally blind that is--if
you have enough remaining vision to be able to perform these
complex maneuvers. Those who are totally blind will have to wait.
Here is tip number one.

  Place the cat's food and water on a small table to avoid
  stepping in it.

  That's not a bad idea. Maybe you could place the cat on the
table along with the food and water to avoid stepping on it. But
back to the tips.

  Tie brightly colored ribbon bows to the ends of TV or radio
  antennae.

  Why would a person want to do that? Is it easier to locate the
television if there's a bright red bow on the end of the antenna?
Or do the professors in the vision program at Northern Illinois
University think that these bright colors will cheer us up? When
I have visited blind people in their homes, I haven't found any
such bows--and there aren't any in mine. But then, of course, I
am totally blind. But there is more.

  Staple drinking straws onto cupboard shelves or drawers [the
  document tells us] to create organizational areas.
  [Or here's an imaginative one.] Floating objects such as ice
  cubes or a clean ping-pong ball help in determining whether a
  glass is full.

  Think about this one for a moment. Your company comes over, and
you want to offer refreshments. So you fetch out glasses and a
bowl of ping-pong balls. You pour in a little liquid and drop in
a ping-pong ball. If the ping-pong ball thumps on the bottom of
the glass, you can be sure more liquid is needed. If not, you
have a choice. You can pour more liquid or add more ping-pong
balls. But there are unanswered questions which have not been
addressed in this list of helpful hints. How many ping-pong balls
should go into the glass? Do you give the glass to your guest
with or without ping-pong balls? At Northern Illinois University
there is a program to study these weighty matters, and professors
to teach such things. But here is another tip--this is for the
bathroom.

  Use a contrasting color toilet seat cover so it's very obvious
  whether the lid is up or down.

  The assumptions in these suggestions about the ability of the
blind would be amusing if they were not so serious. We can't
figure out if the toilet seat is up or down, can't find the TV
without a big red bow, can't avoid stepping in the cat food
unless it's on a table, and can't organize cupboards or drawers
without stapling drinking straws to them. What do the professors
at Northern Illinois University think blind people are like? If
you still have doubts, perhaps this suggestion about making the
bed will make the matter clear.

  Make the bed once with great care [the document says]; mark
  each sheet and blanket where it touches the corners of the bed
  with safety pins--each time thereafter when the bed is made up,
  simply line up the corners.

  I don't know when the professors at Northern Illinois
University learned to make their beds, but I remember doing it
when I was four or five years old. My mother didn't know it was
so complicated. She taught me to do it without the pins. Now that
you have been informed by those who teach the teachers of the
blind that this task is more intricate and difficult than you had
imagined, you can go back to your hotel rooms, locate the corners
of your beds, and insert the safety pins. And for all of this you
can thank the professors at Northern Illinois University.
  Can they really believe it? Do they imagine that blind people
are so backward that teachers of the blind should study bed-
making for the blind at the post-graduate level? Do they think we
resemble small children? Oh, but I am being presumptuous! It is
not the blind that they are talking about. They believe you have
to have a little sight to do the things they prescribe. They
don't believe the totally blind can do these things at all. If
the high-powered educators think this way, is it any wonder that
newspaper reporters and the general public sometimes
misunderstand? We are not children, and we will not be treated as
children. Let them teach bed-making to each other if they want.
But let them leave us out of it, and let them leave educational
programs for teachers of the blind out of it. We prefer peace and
goodwill, but we are prepared to meet confrontation with
confrontation if we must. We have the determination, the
understanding, and the energy--and we will act.
  In 1996 are there still people who believe that the blind
resemble children? Indeed there are, and sometimes the message is
being driven home with such force that it is accepted and
internalized even by some of the blind. The myth is powerful and
destructive. But no matter how powerful or destructive, it can
and will be changed. We of the National Federation of the Blind
are determined to make it so, and we will not be swayed from the
purpose.
  There are newspaper reporters who fail to comprehend that we
are coming to be as much a part of society as they are and that
this trend must and will continue to accelerate. There are
professionals in agencies for the blind who use us for their own
ends--who tell us that services for the blind are adequate when
they get blind people out of the home and into the workshop at
subminimum wages. There are professors at the university who
insist that we tie bright ribbons on our television antennae and
put ping-pong balls in our glasses. They say that matters of such
moment should be elevated to the university classroom at the
postgraduate level. There are still blind people who are beaten
down and kept out--forced to sit at home and accept custody and,
moreover, made to like it.
  Since some may (either deliberately or otherwise) misunderstand
what I am saying, let me sort some things out for the record. Not
all university programs that train teachers for the blind are
negative or trivial in their performance. Far from it. Not all
state agencies for the blind are regressive in their behavior.
And not all newspaper reporters are lacking in perception. In
fact, I am glad to say that many of the universities, most of the
state agencies, and a growing number of reporters are living in
today's reality and working with positive and constructive
attitudes. It is for this very reason that we must call attention
to those that are not. A few (I emphasize, a few) professionals
in the field of work with the blind still live in the yesterday
of limited understanding and negative concepts about the capacity
of the blind. These we are determined to change, and we will not
be swayed from the purpose. We are just as determined to support
and work in partnership with those who live in the present and
look to the future.
  Yes, the things I have described are still occurring in 1996;
and if that were all of the story, the picture would be bleak
beyond bearing. But that is not all of the story--not even the
most important part of it. You and I, the National Federation of
the Blind, are the other part of the equation--the element that
is making the difference, the factor that has been of increasing
importance since 1940 and that today is the moving force.
  Maturity demands that we be prepared to expend effort and
tolerate pain. It also requires that we range backward in time to
understand the causes of present conditions and that we look
forward to anticipate future consequences of present acts.
  If the professors in Illinois, the agency officials in
Connecticut, and the reporter in Maryland are correct in their
assessment, blindness is intolerable and so is our future. But of
course they are not correct. Their logic is false, and their
perceptions are those of a bygone era, totally failing to take
into account the realities of today and the possibilities of
tomorrow. Their maturity is at the level of the children they
believe we resemble.
  Let us leave it at that. Ultimately our concern is not with
them but with what lies ahead. Our progress toward full
participation in society is accelerating, and our goal of full
citizenship is near at hand. What stretches before us will not be
easy (none of the travel on our road to freedom has been), but we
have come a great way farther than we still have to go.
  Let me conclude, as I have so often done, by reminding you of
the commitment that holds us together and guides our actions. As
we go forward, you have the right to expect that I as President
will never ask you to make sacrifices that I am not willing to
make, that I will not ask you to take risks that I am not willing
to take. You have the right to expect that I will lead and that I
will do it decisively. You have the right to expect that I will
give to you and our movement my time, my effort, my devotion--
and, yes, my love. And I have the right to expect certain things
from you. This week you elected me again as President, and by
that act you undertook by implication an equal commitment. You
gave me the responsibility of standing in the front ranks to lead
by example and not just with words. Here in your presence I
publicly pledge to bring all that I have to the effort. I made
that commitment ten years ago when you first elected me to be
your President, and I repeat it tonight. I have tried to live up
to it every day that I have been in office, and I will try to
live up to it every day in the future.
  That is my unequivocal commitment. Now let me say a word about
what is required of you. I have the right to expect that you will
support me in my efforts, that you will share with me our
triumphs, and also that you will stand by me in time of trouble
and disappointment. These mutual commitments are what make us a
family and not just an association, a movement and not just an
organization. As we look to the year ahead, let us go with pride;
let us go with confidence; let us go with maturity. My brothers
and my sisters, we will make it come true.

[Photo/Caption #30: Fredric K. Schroeder, Commissioner of
Rehabilitation Services Administration]

        __CLIENT OR CONSUMER? RE-DEFINING _RESPONSIBILITY

                __IN PROGRAMS OF _REHABILITATION

                   __by Fredric K. _Schroeder

  __From the Editor: Fred Schroeder is more than the Commissioner
of the Rehabilitation Services Administration; he is loved and
respected by thousands of blind people across the country. Before
assuming his current position with the U.S. Department of
Education, Dr. Schroeder was Director of the New Mexico
Commission for the Blind and a member of the Board of Directors
of the National Federation of the Blind. He addressed the 1996
NFB convention on Thursday afternoon, July 4. This is what he
_said:

  Last year the public rehabilitation program faced a serious
legislative challenge. S. 143, introduced by Senator Nancy
Kassebaum of Kansas, sought to consolidate America's job training
programs into a single workforce development system, which would
have been block granted to the states. Initially the workforce
consolidation proposal included vocational rehabilitation;
however, Senator Kassebaum soon recognized that, while there is
significant advantage in linking vocational rehabilitation to the
consolidated system, the comprehensive nature of vocational
rehabilitation makes it uniquely different from other job
training programs. As a result S. 143 was modified to provide
important linkages between vocational rehabilitation and the
generic system while maintaining specialized services through a
distinct program of vocational rehabilitation.
  In the House the treatment of vocational rehabilitation was
approached much differently. Congressman Howard (Buck) McKeon of
California introduced H.R. 1617, which proposed merging
vocational rehabilitation into a generic block-grant job-training
program. In essence this plan would have entirely voucherized
rehabilitation services. Many questions persisted throughout the
H.R. 1617 debate. In particular blind people questioned whether
generic workforce-development personnel would have the knowledge
and experience to assist a newly blind person in developing a
plan of services which would ensure access to instruction in cane
travel and Braille reading and writing in a context that would
promote the development of self-confidence and positive attitudes
about blindness. Under the McKeon plan, who would provide these
services given that in twenty-one states and territories there
are no private service providers offering services to the blind,
and even where private services do exist, what would have
happened if a blind person spent his or her voucher and was still
unable to find work?
  On September 19, 1995, Congressman Jay Dickey of Arkansas and
Congressman Gene Green of Texas introduced an amendment on the
House floor to remove vocational rehabilitation from H.R. 1617.
As you know, the amendment was adopted, thereby staving off the
amalgamation of rehabilitation services into a generic job
training system. And why was this vote successful? Why was it
possible to persuade forty-one Republican Members of Congress to
join with the minority in opposition to House leadership? In a
word the answer is advocacy--not the advocacy of state
rehabilitation professionals, although they did their part; not
the advocacy of those professional associations providing
rehabilitation services, although many of them did their part as
well. But in truth and in fact it was the advocacy of consumers
and, more specifically, the advocacy of blind people, organized
through the National Federation of the Blind.
  In the Spring of 1995 the National Federation of the Blind
convened a meeting at the National Center for the Blind in
Baltimore of representatives of the major blindness
organizations. At that meeting a group was formed to provide
coordinated advocacy from throughout all sectors of the blindness
field--professionals joining with consumers, but perhaps of
greater significance, professionals joining with consumers in an
effort led by the blind themselves.
  There is an important lesson to be learned from this
experience. If the rehabilitation system is to survive, it will
do so only as long as blind people and others with disabilities
regard the system as capable of delivering high quality
rehabilitation services. If consumers lose faith in the system,
then no amount of professional advocacy can save it. The only
protection that the rehabilitation system has is the degree to
which it wins the confidence of those people who come to the
system for help.
  In 1992 the Rehabilitation Act was amended in a number of
important ways. Perhaps the most important change was the
addition of a clear policy explicitly providing for a client's
right to equal partnership throughout the rehabilitation process.
And what was the driving force behind this change? It was the
National Federation of the Blind. The National Federation of the
Blind believed that blind people and others with disabilities
must have the right to make informed choices about their
vocational goals, the services that will enable them to reach
those goals, and the entity to provide those services.
  The choice amendments demonstrate the fundamental principle
that blind people and others with disabilities must be active
participants in the rehabilitation process. It is the client's
future that is at stake and the choices that are made must make
sense from the perspective of the client. Similarly, the way
rehabilitation services are administered must also make sense
from the client's perspective.
  There has been a longstanding belief that the rehabilitation
system is cumbersome and slow to respond. As a result the 1992
amendments included a provision that eligibility decisions must
be made within sixty days from the date of application, unless
the client agrees to an extension of time. While this is the law,
it is important to keep in mind the driving force leading to this
change. The sixty-day requirement was added in response to the
frustration which many clients experienced, and it is that
frustration which must be addressed by our system of
rehabilitation. If a client is determined eligible on the
sixtieth day and he or she believes that a determination could
have been made on the third day following application, then the
client will perceive the system to be bureaucratized and
unresponsive. By contrast, if there are good and legitimate
reasons why a determination of eligibility cannot be made in
sixty days and the client agrees to an extension, and if the
client perceives that his or her counselor is working hard to
move the process along, then the client will continue to have
faith in the system.
  The law alone cannot solve the problem. Shortly after the 1992
Amendments were enacted, we saw a decrease in the time it took to
determine clients eligible for services. At the same time we saw
an increase in the time it took for an IWRP (Individualized
Written Rehabilitation Plan) to be developed after a
determination of eligibility was made. Rather than waiting to be
determined eligible, clients were waiting for plans to be
developed. Compliance with the new law did very little to address
the frustration that stimulated the sixty-day eligibility
requirement. If the rehabilitation system is to be defended, then
recipients of rehabilitation services must believe that the
system is worth defending.
  As a result the Rehabilitation Services Administration has
entered into a collaborative effort with state rehabilitation
agencies to streamline our nation's vocational rehabilitation
service-delivery system. In February of this year, RSA entered
into an agreement with the Council of State Administrators of
Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) to promote the streamlining
initiative with state vocational rehabilitation agencies
throughout the United States. We believe that by streamlining the
rehabilitation process we can address much of the frustration
which clients have experienced and ensure that the system
continues to respond to the demand for increased efficiency for
and partnership with clients entering the system. If we are
successful in creating an efficient system driven by the
principle of informed choice resulting in high quality jobs, then
the public program will legitimately be able to withstand any
challenge. The measure of our success will be the degree to which
clients of the system perceive there to be value in the system.
  The perception of value has two parts. First, there must be a
perception of value within the process. Clients must believe that
rehabilitation counselors are well trained and able to provide
needed services. But a perception of value in the process alone
is not sufficient. The client must also obtain a satisfying job
with good pay, good benefits, and the prospect for upward
mobility--a good quality job and an efficient process leading to
that job.
  There is some evidence that the system is beginning to respond.
In fiscal year 1995 209,509 clients were successfully placed in
employment, an increase of 3.2 percent over the previous year.
For blind people the rate of increase was even greater. In fiscal
year 1994 (the most current year for which data are available),
11,409 blind people were successfully rehabilitated, an increase
of 6.3 percent over the previous year.
  The Randolph-Sheppard Program, which celebrated its sixtieth
anniversary on June 20 of this year, continues to be an important
source of high quality employment for the blind. As of fiscal
year 1995 there were 3,510 blind vendors operating 3,414 vending
facilities located on federal and other property. The program
generated $408.9 million in gross income and $80.2 million in net
earnings to vendors, for an average annual earnings of $26,420
per vendor.
  Our priority is on employment, and the system continues to make
steady progress in this area. But, when we say employment, we do
not mean simply a job. We do not want to press the system so hard
for numbers that counselors are encouraged to seek out only the
quickest and cheapest placements for the easiest-to- place
people. We do not want to place such a premium on numbers that
counselors are driven to work with a large number of inexpensive
cases and to shy away from employment opportunities that may be
less certain, more complex, and more expensive. We want people to
find jobs, but beyond this we want people to find job that they
themselves find satisfying--jobs that anyone in society would be
glad to have. The 1992 Amendments describe this concept in terms
of employment outcomes consistent with an individual's
"strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, and
capabilities." In other words, jobs that people want and value.
  As I have previously mentioned, we at the Rehabilitation
Services Administration believe that the most important measure
of our work is the degree to which clients of our services
perceive value in the system. Accordingly we have restructured
our comprehensive monitoring to focus on high-quality employment.
Did the individual go to work? Is there evidence of informed
choice throughout the process? In essence, was it a job
consistent with the individual's strengths, resources,
priorities, concerns, abilities, and capabilities--a job that was
valued by the client. We have a responsibility to monitor for
compliance, but our prime responsibility is to ensure that the
rehabilitation process delivers high-quality services as measured
by the recipients of those services.
  The system must be pressed to be efficient. The system must be
pressed to place more and more people in employment each year.
But, most of all, the system must work in partnership with those
it serves. Without this partnership circumstance and not
imagination will drive our system. Without this partnership
economics will dictate that clients be tracked into the most
expedient jobs at the lowest possible cost. Without this
partnership the system will be doomed to stagnation and failure.
  Together blind people and professionals can work as partners to
create new and expanded opportunities. Yet, as we look to the
future, one important truth remains. Throughout history the
inspiration for change has invariably come from blind people
themselves. As long as there have been blind people, there have
been those who have been able to see beyond society's
expectations. There have been those who have had the courage and
the will to strive for something better than what was known.
These people, mostly unsung, are real heroes in the movement of
the blind toward first-class status.
  On May 1, 1996, Pauline Gomez passed away. Pauline was a
lifelong resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a founding member
of the New Mexico affiliate of the National Federation of the
Blind. Pauline was an example of a blind person who wanted more
out of life than conventional thinking of her day would have
believed was possible. Pauline wanted to be a teacher at a time
when it was assumed that the blind could only teach blind
children at schools for the blind. But Pauline did not want to
teach at a school for the blind; she wanted to stay in her home
community of Santa Fe. To teach, she needed a college education.
After graduating from high school, she enrolled at the University
of New Mexico in Albuquerque. It did not matter to Pauline that
no other blind person had ever attended the University of New
Mexico. She wanted to be a teacher, and to be a teacher she
needed an education, so she did what she needed to do. After
completing her education, she opened a private kindergarten in
her home in Santa Fe. As the reputation of her school, Los Ninos,
grew, eventually Pauline built a separate school on the property
adjacent to her home. Although Pauline retired in the early
1980's, it is still true today that virtually every prominent
family in Santa Fe has had its children taught by Pauline.
  In her life Pauline embodied the teachings of the National
Federation of the Blind--the teachings of Dr. tenBroek, Dr.
Jernigan, and President Maurer. Through her life and work she has
changed forever the attitudes of society about the capacity of
blind people to live full and normal lives. But her life did more
than simply change the attitudes of sighted people in her
community. Through her work in the National Federation of the
Blind, Pauline inspired countless other blind people throughout
New Mexico and the nation.
  I was one of those young blind people whom she touched and
inspired. Through the way she lived her life, Pauline encouraged
me to believe I could be more than I had ever thought I could be.
I owe to Pauline an unpayable debt, not simply a debt of
gratitude, but a debt of responsibility. It is the debt that we
as blind people collectively owe to all those who came before us.
For throughout our history we have had our pioneers. We owe a
debt of gratitude to Pauline Gomez for daring to challenge
society's assumptions about us, and we owe a debt of
responsibility to keep alive her pioneering spirit and to
continue challenging those beliefs and attitudes that would
relegate us to lives of diminished opportunity.
  The rehabilitation system can and should be our partner. But it
is blind people themselves who must chart their own course. This
has been our history, and inevitably it will be our future. The
private and public agencies can speed our progress, but they
cannot set our goals for us. The Rehabilitation Services
Administration is committed to a system wherein blind people and
others with disabilities can look to the rehabilitation program
for meaningful partnership along the road toward first-class
status: partnership that includes professional services drawn
from the best of our experience, research, and technology;
partnership that includes informed choice as a living part of the
rehabilitation system; partnership rooted in the belief that
today's impossibility is tomorrow's probability; partnership with
the expertise and the resources to make it meaningful;
partnership that results in a good job with good wages, good
benefits, and a promising future; and, most important,
partnership that is felt by the individual client who walks
through the door of the local rehabilitation office in need of
help.

[Photo/Caption #31: President Maurer meets with the Resolutions
Committee while Ramona Walhof chairs.]

                  __RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY _THE

                   __ANNUAL CONVENTION OF _THE

               __NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE _BLIND

                          _JULY, _1996

                       _by _Ramona _Walhof

  __From the Editor: Ramona Walhof is the Secretary of the
National Federation of the Blind and President of the NFB of
Idaho. She also serves as the Chairman of the Resolutions
Committee. Each year she presides over the receipt and handling
of all resolutions until they are acted upon by the convention.
This is what she has to say about the resolutions considered at
the 1996 convention of the National Federation of the _Blind:

  In 1996 the Resolutions Committee met at 1:30 p.m. Sunday
afternoon, as has become traditional. The committee consists of
nearly fifty active Federationists from all parts of the country.
  The 1996 convention passed nineteen resolutions. The National
Federation of the Blind takes its resolutions seriously. These
are policy statements of the organization, and we use them to let
others know what our positions are.
  Any member of the NFB may present a resolution to the committee
for consideration. After reading and discussing it, the
Resolutions Committee votes either "do pass" or "do not pass." In
order to receive action, resolutions must be written clearly and
presented to the NFB President or the committee chairman at least
two weeks before the convention. The Board of Directors may also
bring resolutions to the convention for action.
  We know that NFB resolutions are taken seriously by Congress
and others. At the time of this writing (less than one month
after the convention) Congress has already acted affirmatively on
legislation advocated by two of our resolutions: 96-101 and
96-03. The issues in the legislation (funding Books for the Blind
at the Library of Congress and reducing copyright requirements
for Books for the Blind) have been addressed by NFB
representatives in various ways. All the resolutions are clear
statements of our goals and are important tools in our work.
  This year four resolutions were voted do not pass by the
committee, so they never came to the convention floor for action.
These resolutions are not printed here. One resolution was
recommended do pass by the committee but defeated on the
convention floor. As usual, we are providing full texts of all
resolutions debated this year by the National Federation of the
Blind in convention assembled. Here is a brief description of
each:

  _Resolution _96-101, which was first considered by the Board of
Directors, calls upon Congress to retain a rigid Books for the
Blind appropriation for the Library of Congress.
  _Resolution _96-01 reaffirms the NFB's commitment to the link
between blind SSDI recipients and retirees with respect to Social
Security exempt earnings.
  _Resolution _96-02 urges the timely and orderly pursuit of the
International Council on English Braille's Unified Braille Code
project. The resolution was defeated.
  _Resolution _96-03 seeks quick action by Congress on copyright
revisions.
  _Resolution _96-04 provides direction for services that make
audio voice-overs to describe videos.
  _Resolution _96-05 urges Congress to act quickly to revise the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and to include
requirements for Braille in that revision.
  _Resolution _96-08 charges the Congress to retain leadership by
the federal government of specialized rehabilitation services for
the blind in the states and public agencies.
  _Resolution _96-09 condemns the Department of Veterans Affairs
policy which disqualifies blind persons as travel instructors.
  _Resolution _96-10 calls for continued federal support of
public transportation and Amtrak.
  _Resolution _96-11 calls for equal access for the blind to
telecommunications services and equipment.
  _Resolution _96-12 expresses extreme displeasure toward the
Seeing Eye for its behavior and attitude at recent NFB
conventions.
  _Resolution _96-14 protests the practice of the Post Office to
contract with Coca Cola and other companies when they could and
should provide food service under the Randolph-Sheppard program.
  _Resolution _96-15 urges Congress to retain the spirit of the
Randolph-Sheppard Act when considering legislation to reform
concessions policies in public land and national park areas.
  _Resolution _96-16 seeks to insure that organizations of the
blind will be the dominant voice on advisory councils for state
rehabilitation agencies serving blind citizens.
  _Resolution _96-17 condemns the National Council on Independent
Living (NCIL) statements that characterize separate agencies for
the blind as providers of segregated services and reaffirms the
long-standing NFB position that separate agencies for the blind
are best.
  _Resolution _96-19 calls upon the Equal Employment
Opportunities Commission to establish a policy seeking to make
computer technology accessible to the blind.
  _Resolution _96-20 calls upon the Social Security
Administration to create work-report and benefit-adjustment
procedures which will not needlessly penalize SSI and SSDI
recipients when they go to work.
  _Resolution _96-21 seeks to preserve and strengthen specialized
programs for the blind in the states which maintain
accountability.
  _Resolution _96-22 urges the Social Security Administration to
adopt a thirty-day requirement for approval of PASS applications.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-101

  WHEREAS, the Committee on Appropriations in the U. S. House of
Representatives has approved funding for fiscal year 1997 for
Books for the Blind from the Library of Congress in the amount of
$44,964,000; and
  WHEREAS, this sum is a portion of the total budget for the
Library of Congress, and instructions in the Committee report on
the Appropriations bill would allow the Librarian of Congress to
shift money from one program to another, placing in jeopardy the
appropriation for Books for the Blind; and
  WHEREAS, the amount specified by Congress for Books for the
Blind in the appropriations bill is presently protected against
being used for other purposes of the Library of Congress, and
this policy must be continued if blind people are to receive the
reading matter which they need; and
  WHEREAS, the Books for the Blind program is the principal
source of Braille and recorded books and magazines for blind
persons throughout the country, and the number of books and
magazines is already far too few, which is why under no
circumstances should money be taken from the Books for the Blind
program: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization call upon the
Congress to protect funding for the Books for the Blind program
by prohibiting the Librarian of Congress from shifting funds for
that program to any other activity of the Library of Congress.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-01

  WHEREAS, the Social Security Amendments of 1977 established an
identical earnings exemption threshold for blind people and for
individuals who retire at age sixty-five; and
  WHEREAS, amendments to the Social Security Act which were
included in legislation recently passed to raise the ceiling on
the national debt have also raised the earnings exemption
threshold for seniors but not for the blind; and
  WHEREAS, while the Social Security Act limit on earnings for
blind people remains at the level established in January, 1996
(subject to automatic annual adjustments), the senior citizens'
exempt amount will be increased in seven mandated increments
which far exceed inflation adjustments; and
  WHEREAS, the mandated increases for seniors will result in an
earnings exemption of $30,000 effective in 2002, while the
earnings limit for blind people in the same year is expected to
be $14,400; and
  WHEREAS, the decision to separate the blind persons' and senior
citizens' earnings exemptions reflects a pro-work policy for
seniors but, by comparison, continues a far more restrictive work
policy which blind people are still forced to endure; and
  WHEREAS, the disability of blindness is not defined by the
inability to work, and, therefore, blind people should be
encouraged to become productive to the maximum extent possible by
lifting the restriction on earnings: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization reaffirm its long-
standing view that provisions of the Social Security Act which
impose economic hardships on blind people who work must be
changed; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we request prompt action by
Congress at least to restore the earnings exemption policy by
which blind people and seniors have had an identical exempt
amount for almost twenty years.


                        RESOLUTION 96-02

  WHEREAS, Standard English Braille is recognized throughout the
English-speaking world as the basic code for literacy among blind
persons; and
  WHEREAS, the International Council on English Braille (ICEB)
now seeks to enhance standard English Braille by adding new
symbols necessary to writing in sciences and technology; and
  WHEREAS, the ICEB is committed to extending the Braille code
without significant changes to the basic literary code; and
  WHEREAS, ICEB has established the Unified Braille Code Project
Committee and various technical committees with representation
from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United
Kingdom, and the United States to accomplish the task of
developing the Unified Braille Code; and
  WHEREAS, the ICEB has contracted with the International Braille
Research Center to conduct an extensive evaluation of the
proposed Unified Braille Code through direct involvement of blind
consumers, transcribers, and teachers of Braille in all
participating countries; and
  WHEREAS, this international effort has demonstrated great
progress toward developing an enriched English Braille code that
will serve blind people well into the next century: Now,
therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization work to ensure timely
and orderly pursuit of this project to its successful conclusion;
and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization work to ensure
that a unified Braille code be adopted and that after its
adoption all blind students pursuing an academic course of study
receive instruction in the Unified Braille Code and any other
Braille codes, such as the Braille Music Code, that the student
and/or the student's parent or parents deem necessary for a full
and complete education.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-03

  WHEREAS, present provisions of the Copyright Act require
approval by copyright holders before ink-print editions of
published works may be transcribed or reproduced in Braille or
sound-recorded formats; and
  WHEREAS, imposition of the existing approval process does not
serve the legitimate interests of publishers since there is no
competition whatsoever resulting from the circulation of
copyrighted matter in specialized formats for blind people who
cannot use and generally do not purchase the ink-print editions;
and
  WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind and the
Association of American Publishers have successfully negotiated
the terms of a revision to the Copyright Act which have been set
forth in a detailed legislative proposal; and
  WHEREAS, the copyright amendments which have now been
recommended to the Congress would permit conversion of published
works into specialized formats (including Braille, sound-
recorded, or digital reproductions) without obtaining permission
for the conversion or circulation of the material to blind
persons or to other persons with disabilities as defined in the
proposal; and
  WHEREAS, enactment of this legislation would respond to an
acknowledged need of blind people to have printed matter produced
in usable formats without undue delay from the time of the
original ink-print publication: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization request expedited
consideration and passage by Congress of the proposed copyright
revisions so that this legislation may be signed into law during
the remaining weeks of the 104th Congress.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-04

  WHEREAS, presentation of information by audio-visual means is
now a vital part of modern life; and
  WHEREAS, audio description of visual images is a service that
adds oral description of visual images to television and movie
programs; and
  WHEREAS, audio description of visual images can be quite useful
by adding to the entertainment value of the presentation for
blind viewers; and
  WHEREAS, the Federal Communications Commission is considering
the extent to which audio description should be required in
television programming; and
  WHEREAS, although audio description may at times make the
presentation more enjoyable, this fact alone does not necessarily
justify a requirement by the federal government that virtually
all audio/visual programming must contain audio descriptions of
visual images; and
  WHEREAS, a requirement by the federal government for audio
description in virtually all television programming would place
an undue emphasis on entertainment as an issue for the blind and
tend to draw public attention away from the real and cruel forms
of economic discrimination and exclusion of blind people from
normal integration into society which exist: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization support voluntary use
of audio description in television programming but oppose the
imposition of audio description as a federal mandate; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, to the extent that a mandate is
justified, we urge the Federal Communications Commission to
require both audio and visual presentation of essential
information for the public such as warnings of hazardous weather
or other emergency conditions.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-05

  WHEREAS, legislation to amend the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act and extend the funding authority for certain
programs now conducted under the Act is being considered in the
House of Representatives and the Senate; and
  WHEREAS, these measures are an extensive revision of the Act
and include some controversial changes such as allowing local
education agencies to alter the placement of a child with a
disability as a disciplinary measure; and
  WHEREAS, despite the controversy over changes such as this, the
legislation as passed by the House of Representatives contains an
unambiguous endorsement of the need for Braille for a blind
child, requiring that Braille instruction and services must be
included in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) of the
blind child unless all members of the IEP team agree that Braille
is not needed by the child; and
  WHEREAS, this decisive approach toward Braille services for
blind students represents the most positive statement on Braille
services for children who are blind ever approved by a
legislative body: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization urge the Congress to
complete action this year on a bill to revise and extend programs
conducted under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;
and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon those responsible for
negotiating the final bill in Congress to include in that bill
the precise language as passed by the House on Braille
instruction and the use of Braille to be included in the
Individualized Education Program of any child who is blind.

  Resolution 96-06 was submitted by Rami Rabby and was voted no
pass during the Sunday Afternoon Resolution Committee meeting.

  Resolution 96-07 was submitted by Linwood Gallagher and was
voted no pass during the Sunday afternoon Resolutions Committee
meeting.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-08

  WHEREAS, the authority for programs under title I and other
important sections of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is presently
scheduled to expire on September 30, 1997; and
  WHEREAS, the upcoming reauthorization of programs under the
Rehabilitation Act will be occurring at a time when the very
existence of many federal programs has been called into question
by a number of Congressional leaders; and
  WHEREAS, during the first session of the 104th Congress the
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunity in the U. S.
House of Representatives recommended a merger of the vocational
rehabilitation program with job training, education, and other
programs for unemployed people; and
  WHEREAS, this proposal was turned back only at the last minute
on the floor of the House of Representatives when an amendment to
remove the vocational rehabilitation program from the
consolidation requirements was approved against the express
position taken by the responsible House committee leaders; and
  WHEREAS, the impetus for consolidation of federal programs has
been an effort to reduce federal spending under the guise of
turning responsibility for program organization and management
completely over to state and local governments; and
  WHEREAS, reforming the vocational rehabilitation program so
that consumer responsiveness and client choice can prevail over
claims of bureaucratic necessity is long overdue, but submerging
the program into the generic job training system would not
achieve this goal and would sacrifice the identifiable service-
delivery system which now exists: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization urge the Congress to
reaffirm the commitment to specialized services by maintaining
leadership within the federal government over statewide and
identifiable public vocational rehabilitation agencies; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization continue to serve
as an advocate for an identifiable vocational rehabilitation
service-delivery system throughout the coming debate over
reauthorization of programs under the Rehabilitation Act.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-09

  WHEREAS, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides skills
training, and other adjustment services to blinded veterans
through specialized centers which are located in Tucson, Arizona;
Birmingham, Alabama; West Haven, Connecticut; Palo Alto,
California; Hines, Illinois; and San Juan, Puerto Rico; and
  WHEREAS, orientation and mobility training is a significant
adjustment service provided to those attending the centers in
almost every case; and
  WHEREAS, the Department of Veterans Affairs has made a
conscious policy determination that, regardless of ability or
qualifications, all totally blind individuals must be excluded
from teaching orientation and mobility to the blind, whether as
full instructors or as interns-in-training; and
  WHEREAS, the general counsel of the Department of Veterans
Affairs has issued a memorandum under date of October 23, 1995,
which attempts to justify the Department's position by concluding
that "... totally blind `O and M' instructors pose a significant
risk of harm to their students due to their inability to correct
improper techniques, to monitor and accurately report events, and
to react quickly enough to events and situations so as to avoid
placing the blind student in dangerous situations"; and
  WHEREAS, the general counsel's conclusions are purportedly
based on facts but are actually nothing more than a prejudicial
restatement of the position taken by certain sighted
professionals who feel the need to be superior and cannot accept
the fact that blind people can teach other blind people to travel
with independence and safety: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization condemn and deplore
the Department of Veterans Affairs' policy of excluding totally
blind people from employment or internship training as
instructors in orientation and mobility for the blind; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in view of the cabinet-level
status of the Department of Veterans Affairs, this organization
bring the Department's policy against blind mobility instructors
to the attention of President Clinton and others responsible for
coordination of federal, domestic, and civil rights policies with
the request that the policy against blind mobility instructors be
withdrawn.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-10

  WHEREAS, public transportation provides thousands of blind
Americans the freedom of movement essential to lead active,
productive lives; and
  WHEREAS, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act
(ISTEA) consolidates federal assistance for highway and public
transportation, giving states and localities greater
responsibility and flexibility to use federal funds for road
and/or transit projects; and
  WHEREAS, federal transit support includes capital grants based
on local matching funds, as well as operating assistance for all
modes--"fixed-route" bus, rail, paratransit, and subsidized taxi
service; and
  WHEREAS, Amtrak operates long-distance, regional, and corridor
train service and has contractual arrangements to operate
commuter train service for several transit systems throughout the
country; and
  WHEREAS, Amtrak already has curtailed daily service to tri-
weekly on several routes and has eliminated portions of other
routes, while raising fares; and
  WHEREAS, Amtrak expects federal operating assistance to phase
out by the year 2,000 but projects the need for ongoing capital
assistance: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization strongly support the
reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act, calling for continued federal capital and
operating assistance, while maintaining state and local
responsibility and flexibility to determine transportation
projects and allocate federal funds accordingly; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call for
continued federal assistance to Amtrak.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-11

  WHEREAS, Congress has enacted the Telecommunications Act of
1996, which includes provisions that require telecommunications
services and equipment to be accessible to and usable by persons
with disabilities; and
  WHEREAS, guidelines which define access by persons with
disabilities in the context of telecommunications will initially
be developed by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers
Compliance Board and will be subject to final review and
enforcement by the Federal Communications Commission; and
  WHEREAS, ready access to telecommunications services and
equipment is a matter of pivotal concern to blind individuals
since information necessary for work, entertainment, and social
interaction is rapidly becoming available for distribution only
through various telecommunications networks; and
  WHEREAS, exclusion from the means of communication which is
widely available to and in general use by most people would lead
to intolerable forms of isolation and segregation of blind people
from the rest of our modern society; and
  WHEREAS, the guidelines and standards issued must avoid these
conditions by requiring the use of effective access alternatives,
including alternatives in which vision is not needed to navigate
through or control elements in the telecommunications system in
order to identify, retrieve, or benefit from the information
available: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization insist upon a policy
of equal access to telecommunications services and equipment
which must, because of the nature of the technology involved,
include requirements for equivalent, parallel access for non-
visual use whenever access is otherwise achieved primarily by
visual means; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we invite leaders in the
telecommunications industry to work directly with the National
Federation of the Blind in order to implement the equal access--
including parallel access--standards established.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-12

  WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind promotes
security, equality, and opportunity for the blind; and
  WHEREAS, the Federation promotes gatherings of blind persons
including blind children, parents of blind children, and sighted
supporters of the blind at local, state, and national conventions
in order to increase positive attitudes toward blindness and
blind people both in the blind community and throughout society
as a whole; and
  WHEREAS, one of the means by which the Federation increases
positive attitudes toward blindness and blind people is by
promoting respect for blind people; and
  WHEREAS, the Seeing Eye, Inc., has been attending Federation
conventions for the past twenty-five years, and has for the past
twenty-three years availed itself of Federation convention
facilities to hold an annual breakfast for its graduates, at no
cost to the graduates; and
  WHEREAS, Seeing Eye representatives have been able to reduce
their hotel costs by at least two-thirds by taking advantage of
Federation hotel rates, even though many Seeing Eye staff members
have consistently been unwilling to pay the nominal registration
fee (currently ten dollars) paid by all who attend Federation
conventions; and
  WHEREAS, because of rising convention costs the Federation
finds it necessary to charge vendors, agencies, and all other
non-member groups a fee for the use of meeting rooms for their
activities at Federation conventions; and
  WHEREAS, the Seeing Eye has refused to pay the fee and has
refused to deal with the Federation directly but instead has
begun the practice of holding its breakfasts for Seeing Eye
graduates and guests at a neighboring hotel, this despite the
fact that the Seeing Eye is the richest guide dog school in the
United States, having millions of dollars at its disposal; and
  WHEREAS, at the 1995 NFB Convention in Chicago the Seeing Eye
attempted to undermine the Federation by engaging in subterfuge
in planning and holding its breakfast outside the hotel, in that
it singled out its graduates and surreptitiously provided them
with information about the time and location of its breakfast,
thereby attempting to create a schism between its graduates and
other members of the National Federation of the Blind; and
  WHEREAS, in the Spring/Summer, 1996, issue of _Harness _Up!, a
publication of the National Association of Guide Dog Users, a
division of the National Federation of the Blind, the Seeing Eye
was warned that the Federation would no longer tolerate such
behavior and that the Federation would no longer announce or
sanction Seeing Eye breakfasts if they were to be held secretly
and outside Federation convention premises; and
  WHEREAS, during the registration period at the 1996 annual
meeting of the National Association of Guide Dog Users at the NFB
Convention, the Seeing Eye again engaged in subterfuge and
trickery, handing out Braille information concerning the location
of its breakfast in such a way as to take advantage of the fact
that the majority of the members of the Division, being blind,
would not be able to see what Seeing Eye staff members were
doing; and
  WHEREAS, the breakfast was held the following day at the
Marriott Hotel, causing discomfort to Seeing Eye graduates and
others who attended, because it was clear that the Seeing Eye was
attempting to disrupt Federation activities by trying to isolate
its graduates from the other members of the Federation; and
  WHEREAS, these reprehensible practices of the Seeing Eye are an
insult to the organized blind of this country and a calculated
act of hostility toward the Federation: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that the National Federation of the Blind
express its extreme displeasure with the behavior of the Seeing
Eye and its staff members; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, if this situation cannot be
amicably resolved, the President of the National Federation of
the Blind be authorized and instructed to call for and organize
picketing of Seeing Eye headquarters in order to inform the
general public that, while the Seeing Eye trains and provides
guide dogs and instruction in their use, its attitude toward
blind people and the organized blind movement of the nation is
characterized by contempt and disrespect; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, if no resolution of this problem
can be achieved, we give the broadest possible publicity to this
cavalier behavior toward the blind by the Seeing Eye; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent
to the Seeing Eye.

  Resolution 96-13 was submitted by Peter Donahue and was voted
no pass by the Resolutions Committee during its Sunday afternoon
meeting.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-14

  WHEREAS, the Randolph-Sheppard Act declares that an unambiguous
priority is legally in effect to give blind persons the right to
operate vending facilities on federal property; and
  WHEREAS, property under the control of the United States Postal
Service is specifically identified as falling within the priority
assigned by law to blind vendors; and
  WHEREAS, in spite of these provisions of federal law, officials
of the Postal Service have acknowledged that a new initiative
(described as "experimental") is underway in which, as a
departure from existing Postal Service policy, vending machines
dispensing Coca-Cola products have been installed in customer
lobbies of some Postal Service facilities; and
  WHEREAS, a memorandum marked "Highly Confidential" sent to U.
S. bottlers of Coca-Cola products from a Coca-Cola USA Operations
office in Atlanta, Georgia, confirms the initiative occurring at
Postal Service sites, describing the project as a "strategic
alliance which is expected to result in a ten-year agreement to
provide Postal Service customers with Coca-Cola products through
full-service vending"; and
  WHEREAS, the strategic alliance envisioned by Congress in
enacting the Randolph-Sheppard Act was to result in opportunities
for blind people to serve the food and beverage needs of Postal
Service customers and employees, in preference to a direct
relationship between the Postal Service and any particular
bottler of soft drinks: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization file an official
protest with the United States Postal Service concerning its use
of full-service vending through Coca-Cola or any other commercial
bottler of soft-drinks in lieu of first making plans to provide
sales opportunities to blind vendors; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization enlist the active
support of members of Congress and officials in the executive
branch who have oversight responsibilities to ensure that the
priority for blind persons to operate vending facilities
(including vending machines) at Postal Service sites is strictly
enforced.

                       _RESOLUTION _96-15

  WHEREAS, the priority granted by the Randolph-Sheppard Act to
blind persons for the operation of vending facilities applies to
any building, land, or other real property which is owned,
leased, or occupied by any department, agency, or instrumentality
of the United States; and
  WHEREAS, the priority under the plain language of the law
applies to public land areas of the United States, including
national parks and other recreation, tourist, or other public-use
facilities; and
  WHEREAS, proposals pending in Congress would promote the
competitive awarding of business opportunities in national parks
and public land areas as a means of raising revenues for the
federal government; and
  WHEREAS, changes in federal laws and regulations regarding
concessions policies must protect and promote application of the
Randolph-Sheppard Act priority for blind vendors: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization urge the Congress to
include fulfillment of the priority granted by the Randolph-
Sheppard Act as an affirmative duty in legislation to reform
concessions policies in public land and national park areas; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the responsible officials
and agencies of the executive branch to adopt regulations which
will expand opportunities for blind vendors in national parks and
public land areas.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-16

  WHEREAS, the 1992 amendments to the federal Rehabilitation Act
created a new federal mandate for state rehabilitation agencies
to have advisory councils, directing that the membership of such
advisory councils must consist of at least one person
representing the following: (a) the statewide independent living
council, (b) parent training and information centers, (c) the
client assistance program, (d) vocational rehabilitation
counselors, (e) community rehabilitation program service
providers, (f) a parent of an individual with a disability, (g)
representatives from business, industry, and labor, (h) a current
or former client of the agency, and (i) representation from blind
consumers; and
  WHEREAS, advisory councils, which existed in many states prior
to the 1992 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act, have included
requirements for a significant number of the council members to
be selected from organized consumer groups; and
  WHEREAS, the 1992 federal requirements have resulted in
diminishing opportunities for elected representatives from
consumer organizations to serve on advisory councils; and
  WHEREAS, this situation is best exemplified by changes made in
the advisory councils in Washington state and Mississippi, where
organized blind consumers have lost their majority representation
on the advisory councils in favor of the selection of individuals
who, in most instances, actually represent no one but themselves
and are not accountable to the blind in the state: Now,
therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization condemn and deplore
requirements for advisory councils which have undermined the
voice of the blind in agencies for the blind; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the Congress of the
United States to amend the Rehabilitation Act to ensure that
representatives of organizations of the blind are the majority
voice on advisory councils of state rehabilitation agencies
serving the blind.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-17

  WHEREAS, in a letter sent to the National Federation of the
Blind under date of June 3, 1996, the President of the National
Council on Independent Living (NCIL) referred to specialized
programs which serve the blind as "segregated services" and
programs which serve a general disability clientele without
specialization as "integrated programs"; and
  WHEREAS, use of the term "integrated setting" in the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is meant to express the goal of
integrating persons with disabilities into employment and other
programs open to all, regardless of disability; and
  WHEREAS, the goal of achieving integration into society can
best be advanced by programs which meet the relevant, specialized
needs of blind people; and
  WHEREAS, "integrated setting" as used in the Rehabilitation Act
does not imply that independent living centers are necessarily
more integrated than other rehabilitation programs and, in fact,
they are not; and
  WHEREAS, the characterization of specialized services for the
blind as "segregated" and general programs as "integrated" is a
value judgment by NCIL which only reflects that particular
organization's avowed bias against specialized programs for the
blind: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization condemn and deplore
the view of the National Council on Independent Living that
specialization of services constitutes any form of segregation,
harmful or otherwise; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we reaffirm the longstanding policy
of this organization to preserve and create wherever possible a
specialized approach to services for the blind provided by
identifiable and consumer-responsive agencies.

  Resolution 96-18 was submitted by Linwood Gallagher and was
voted no pass by the committee at its Sunday afternoon meeting.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-19

  WHEREAS, title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act
prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of
disability; and
  WHEREAS, employers who are covered by the Act are required and
expected to provide equal opportunities for persons with
disabilities in regard to matters such as hiring, work
assignments, promotions, training, career development, and other
conditions of employment; and
  WHEREAS, use of modern computer technology has become the norm
in the American workplace to such an extent that competitive
performance of employees often depends upon their ability to
receive and process information provided solely by electronic
means; and
  WHEREAS, computer technology provided to blind people in the
workplace is often substandard and is frequently not equipped to
integrate into the networks or systems that sighted employees
use, resulting in time and opportunities lost due to artificial
barriers; and
  WHEREAS, the limitations imposed upon blind employees by
technology barriers have not been addressed as discriminatory
employment practices, although lack of opportunity can clearly be
documented as a systemic problem affecting a significant
percentage of blind people who work: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization petition the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission to establish a clear and non-
discriminatory employment policy to address the widespread
condition of technology barriers that adversely affect equal
employment opportunities for people who are blind.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-20

  WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration has an avowed goal
of encouraging Disability Insurance beneficiaries and
Supplemental Security Income recipients to attempt to work and
eventually leave the rolls due to work activity; and
  WHEREAS, officials of the Social Security Administration
continue to voice great frustration about the fact that less than
one percent of the beneficiaries actually leave the rolls
annually due to work activity; and
  WHEREAS, procedures used by the Social Security Administration
reflect a non-work presumption and rely almost exclusively on
after-the-fact corrections if beneficiaries report work; and
  WHEREAS, the after-the-fact procedures for reconciling work
activity issues leave beneficiaries in considerable confusion and
doubt as to their status in regard to continued eligibility or
the possibility of liability for an overpayment caused by
working; and
  WHEREAS, uncertainty and the fear of consequences lead
beneficiaries to mistrust work incentives and not to use them as
a result: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization reaffirm its position
that use of work incentives by persons who receive Disability
Insurance or Supplemental Security Income benefits largely
depends upon creating work report and benefit adjustment
procedures that anticipate work activity and seek to minimize the
after-the-fact consequences that can be caused by earnings; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we enlist the cooperation of the
Social Security Administration in jointly planning a work
reporting system that assists beneficiaries by providing them
with workable and responsive procedures to maximize, not
penalize, their productive efforts.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-21

  WHEREAS, a planned and orchestrated effort has been underway in
the United States to give states and governors more discretion in
the organization of many tax-supported programs; and
  WHEREAS, the exercise of greater discretion in organizing
service-delivery systems at the state level frequently means
program consolidation, which can often occur with very little
regard or forethought given to the specific mission of particular
agencies; and
  WHEREAS, programs which serve target populations, such as the
relatively small programs that provide vocational rehabilitation
and other essential services to the blind, are predictably placed
at great risk when the tide of program consolidation begins to
rise within a state; and
  WHEREAS, examples of the consolidation efforts underway can be
seen in the states of Georgia and Kentucky, where in both
instances plans were quietly made administratively to merge
identifiable service-delivery structures so that personnel and
programs exclusively devoted to serving the blind would be shared
and merged with other, more general disability-related services
for alleged reasons of efficiency; and
  WHEREAS, combining agencies which have the focused
responsibility of serving blind people with programs with a far
less precise mission and a far more diverse clientele defeats the
purpose of efficiency and results in growing dependency caused by
lack of relevant service: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization call upon political
leaders in the states to preserve and strengthen a service-
delivery structure for blind people which provides both personnel
and programs with clear lines of accountability for serving their
identified, specialized needs.


                       _RESOLUTION _96-22

  WHEREAS, the Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS) is an
important feature of the Supplemental Security Income program,
allowing SSI recipients to designate a portion of their income or
resources for use in achieving self-support goals; and
  WHEREAS, fulfilling the PASS often involves participation in
education or training opportunities which begin at fixed times
with enrollment dependent on the fixed schedule, rather than
waiting for the Social Security Administration to complete the
evaluation of a PASS; and
  WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration has recently
established centralized procedures for evaluating and approving
all PASS applications, rather than allowing personnel in the
local Social Security offices to approve PASS applications; and
  WHEREAS, submission of all PASS applications to approval
through a centralized process in all instances is
bureaucratically rigid and, at a minimum, is likely to result in
substantial delays with training opportunities postponed for the
sole reason that the paperwork is not yet finished so that the
PASS can begin: Now, therefore,
  BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1996, in the City of
Anaheim, California, that this organization urge the Social
Security Administration to adopt expedited procedures for
obtaining approval of PASS applications in critical cases; and
  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, whether the processing of PASS
applications continues to be centralized or not, we reaffirm and
communicate to the Social Security Administration the position of
this organization that a thirty-day prompt approval standard
should be in effect for PASS applications, with the presumption
that the PASS is approved if the application has not been acted
upon within that time.