THE Braille Forum Vol. XXXIII May 1995 No. 11 Published By The American Council of the Blind THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND STRIVES TO INCREASE THE INDEPENDENCE, SECURITY, EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY, AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE. LeRoy F. Saunders, President Oral O. Miller, J.D., National Representative Nolan Crabb, Editor Sharon Lovering, Editorial Assistant National Office: 1155 15th St. N.W. Suite 720 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 467-5081 Fax: (202) 467-5085 Electronic bulletin board: (202) 331-1058 THE BRAILLE FORUM is available in braille, large print, half- speed four-track cassette tape and MS-DOS computer disk. Subscription requests, address changes, and items intended for publication should be sent to: Nolan Crabb, THE BRAILLE FORUM, 1155 15th St. N.W., Suite 720, Washington, DC 20005. Submission deadlines are the first of the month. Those much-needed contributions, which are tax-deductible, can be sent to Brian Charlson at the same address. If you wish to remember a relative or friend by sharing in the council's continuing work, the national office has printed cards available to acknowledge contributions made by loved ones in memory of deceased people. Anyone wishing to remember the American Council of the Blind in his/her Last Will and Testament may do so by including a special paragraph for that purpose. If your wishes are complex, you may contact the ACB National Office. For the latest in legislative and governmental news, call the "Washington Connection" toll-free at (800) 424-8666, 6 p.m. to midnight eastern time Monday through Friday. Washington, D.C., residents only call 331-2876. Copyright 1995 American Council of the Blind TABLE OF CONTENTS President's Message, by LeRoy F. Saunders News Briefs From The ACB National Office, by Oral O. Miller 1995 Convention Provides Many Opportunities, Challenges, by John A. Horst FIA Convention þ Tried And True With New Tunes And Twists, by Janiece Petersen Help Keep Our Convention From Going To The Dogs, by Jenine McKeown Affiliate News Seminar Attendance Hits Record High As ACB Members Converge On Washington, by Sharon Lovering and Nolan Crabb We Have To Keep On Keeping On, by Mary Jane Owen Anatomy Of A Cyberspace Facilitator, by Nolan Crabb Here And There, by Elizabeth M. Lennon High Tech Swap Shop You Can Do It, by Ardis Bazyn Do You Know What A QMB Or An SLMB Is?, by Glenn M. Plunkett CORRECTION In the January "Here and There" column under an item titled "Cyprus Trip, Anyone?", an editing error occurred. The sentence about applicants mentioning the communities' interest should have read, "Applicants should mention that this program is of interest to both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities." PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE by LeRoy F. Saunders I am very pleased to announce that the Affiliated Leadership League of and for the Blind of America and the American Council of the Blind's legislative seminar last month was an unparalleled success in terms of the attendance. It was by far the largest group we have had in Washington over the years. I attended the Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute, sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind, held prior to the ALL conference, but due to a family emergency, I had to leave early Sunday morning just as the ALL program was beginning. I was very disappointed to hear key Congressional staffers tell us no matter how we may feel or what we may do, Congress will pass legislation, the effects of which concern us. Rest assured that all the national organizations of and for the blind who are based or who have representatives within the Washington, D.C. area (and some who are not), are working extremely hard to convince Congress not to eliminate the linkage in substantial gainful activity numbers which blind recipients have traditionally had with retirees. We're also working hard to convince them not to move Title I of the Rehabilitation Act into a consolidation bill which will eventually send Title I money to the states through a block grant. You have my word that ACB is making every effort possible to ensure Congress does not make these changes. Congress seems to be making every effort possible to funnel federal money into states to support national programs through block grants. Therefore, the governors and legislatures of each state can make a determination as to how they want to spend the block grants and which state agencies will receive funding. It is extremely important we make a consolidated and meaningful effort on the state level to ensure that this money is appropriately spent. It is also mandatory that consumers within each state monitor proposals for the allocation of these funds and insist that this money goes to those private or public agencies for whom it is allocated, and that it is used properly for the benefit of blind and visually impaired individuals. Also, since there is such momentum on the federal and state levels to make every budget cut possible, I am sure separate agencies for the blind will come under attack again as efforts are made to consolidate them in with other agencies. Those who live in states that have a separate service for the blind will need to stay alert and make every effort possible to keep this agency separate. Those of us who have been around for quite some time know blind and visually impaired people receive much better service generally from separate agencies for the blind than we get from agencies that are combined with other services. As power shifts from Washington to the states, our state affiliates will become more of a key factor in guaranteeing that money is available for the services which are needed by blind consumers. I urge all of our state affiliate leaders and members to begin building a legislative strategy þ one which can be implemented very quickly and provide quick, accurate feedback regarding legislative activities in their particular states. ACB, on the national level will do everything it can to assist state affiliates. However, we can only do so much because of limited resources þ both personnel and money. We will most likely see many changes coming from Congress; some of them will be of great concern to us. However, it is up to us to accept the changes which are made and make them work to the benefit of all blind Americans. We must keep a positive outlook, difficult though it may sometimes be, in order to make sure individuals receive the best service possible. Before we know it, it will be time for our convention in Greensboro, N.C. I hope all of you have made reservations with our hotels there and have finalized arrangements with the various transportation options available to get there. We at ACB are working very diligently to put together an excellent convention program. If you combine the actions of this fast-moving Congress with the other issues of importance to us, you'll see that we have much to talk about. Of course, there will be tours and other activities which will certainly enhance your convention experience. If you have not made any arrangements by now, please do so soon while openings are still available. NEWS BRIEFS FROM THE ACB NATIONAL OFFICE by Oral O. Miller, National Representative And the saga goes on and on and on regarding detectable warnings, subway platform edges and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Just as the preceding month ended with congressional hearings regarding enforcement or non- enforcement of the federal regulations mandating the installation of detectable warnings on subway platform edges, the past month started with preparations for dealing with the petition by WMATA to be exempted from compliance on the grounds that its vaunted granite edge is equivalent or superior to other surfaces considered. As part of the process, WMATA was required to conduct public hearings to obtain input from people who presumably were knowledgeable on the subject. Since it was anticipated (correctly, as things turned out) that the hearing would consist of little more than the creation of a record to support WMATA's position, the American Council of the Blind, American Foundation for the Blind and the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind conducted a well-attended press conference to give the facts to the media (see "D.C. Subway Authorities Seek To Derail Transit Regulations," April 1995). The press conference was followed by inspection of WMATA's nearby Metro Center station, at which time many interviews were conducted and many feet of film were shot featuring blind people emphasizing the inadequacy of the granite strip as a detectable warning and the need for a truly meaningful warning system. Those interviews were shown on several Washington TV stations over the next few days and not unexpectedly most of those interviews were followed by WMATA's discredited claims that detectable warnings would cost $30 million and are unnecessary. The public hearing which WMATA was required to conduct lasted approximately nine hours altogether and included statements of dozens of witnesses. I testified in the Friday night session at approximately 10:30 p.m. and I was witness number 41 in that session. A very high percentage of the visually impaired witnesses who spoke against detectable warnings came not from the Washington area but from Baltimore and, nevertheless, claimed great familiarity with the Washington subway system. During my brief statement I noted there were so many Baltimore people present that I wondered if I had walked into a pep rally for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team or the Baltimore Colts Canadian League football team. Prior to the hearing ACB staff members had compiled an unofficial list containing the names of 19 blind people who were known to have fallen off WMATA platforms over the years, but during the hearing, we learned of four more þ including one official of the local NFB chapter who had, according to his own statement, fallen off platforms both in Washington and San Francisco. In weeks following this hearing WMATA submitted to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) a petition for "equivalent facilitation" and we suspect that its request was supported by selected statements from, among others, many of the Baltimore residents who were bussed in for the occasion. The American Council of the Blind and other organizations are opposing WMATA's petition to be exempted from complying with the federal regulations, but there is realistically much pressure for the FTA to grant the exemption in a political environment which seems to excuse compliance with regulations unless the federal government pays all the costs of compliance. And as a closing note, the extent to which federal funds could be made available to WMATA is an appropriate subject for another article. The political atmosphere in Washington has changed considerably as the makeup of Congress has changed. It is rare for senators or congressmen to have firsthand knowledge of matters important to disabled people and as a result it is essential for disabled advocates to meet with new senators and congressmen to make them aware of such issues. Glenn Plunkett, Julie Carroll and I were among the dozens of advocates who recently met newly elected Sen. William Frist (R-Tenn.) and chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy, which is a part of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources. This position was formerly held by Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa. Sen. Frist, who is professionally a cardiologist and heart surgeon, expressed interest in learning of the continuing concerns of disabled people and at the same time he expressed his agreement with authorizing the states to make more decisions on such matters and regarding the disposition of funds received through block grants from the federal government. In discussing his transition from medical practice to public service he expressed surprise at the incredibly long days senators must work simply to stay abreast of the countless issues they are expected to deal with each day. As has been said many times before, senators and congressmen need to hear from their constituents back home, not just from advocates in the Washington area. Many weeks are so crowded with activities that national office staff members almost need to look at a calendar to recall everything that has taken place. Such a period took place recently as staff members prepared for and took part in the delegate assembly and legislative workshop of the Affiliated Leadership League of and for the Blind and took part in selected sessions of the Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute and the National Summit on Disability and Aging. The delegate assembly and legislative workshop of the Affiliated Leadership League attracted a record attendance and the hundreds of visits to the Hill focused on such issues as the coming reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the undesirable implications of "one-stop shopping" for rehabilitation and vocational training of blind people and the importance of maintaining the linkage between the substantial gainful activity level of blind recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance and the substantial gainful activity level of retirees aged 65 through 69. Interspersed throughout those busy weeks, however, were more specialized activities such as the collaboration of Nolan Crabb and Julie Carroll in the presentation of a lecture about disability law at Howard University, my participation in the activities of a neighborhood coalition made up of disabled and elderly citizens who are opposing plans by the WMATA to eliminate bus service in certain neighborhoods, Jessica Beach's participation in a workshop regarding sources of scholarship assistance and Jennifer Sutton's participation in a workshop sponsored by the World Institute on Disability dealing with telecommunications training matters. National staff members are frequently called upon to speak at various functions, so there was nothing exceptional when Nolan Crabb was invited to speak at a meeting of employees of the Central Intelligence Agency regarding the production of accessible materials. However, we were amused by his tongue-in- cheek report afterwards that every man he met at the meeting was named John Doe and every woman was named Jane Doe. I'm pleased to report that the ACB affiliates did a more punctual job this year than ever before in sending in their membership list updates. Administrative coordinator Anne Fesh and editorial assistant Sharon Lovering in particular appreciated such promptness because that will facilitate the mailing of the 1995 national convention pre-registration materials on which Christopher Kupczyk and others are now feverishly working. 1995 CONVENTION PROVIDES MANY OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES by John A. Horst, Convention Coordinator Convention time is almost here. By now you should have received your convention information packet. Please complete the convention pre-registration form promptly and return it to the ACB Minneapolis office in the addressed envelope provided. Numbers are limited for some activities. Don't miss out on any features of this great convention in 1995. The program this year will include a variety of subject presentations, panels and seminars. There will be special committee meetings, planned meal functions and receptions. In addition, there will be a tour every day, Saturday, July 1 through Saturday, July 8, to give you the chance to get away from the hotel and experience some of the culture and sights of North Carolina. All tours, except those scheduled before the opening session Sunday evening, will take place in the afternoon so you will not need to miss any of the morning plenary meetings. The Holiday Inn Four Seasons and Convention Center are ready to welcome you to Greensboro and the 1995 convention. Transportation from the Greensboro Triad Airport to the Holiday Inn Four Seasons and Park Lane hotels is provided at no cost. If you will inform the Holiday Inn Four Seasons of your arrival time, the van will be there to meet you. Otherwise, you will need to call the hotel at (910) 292-9161 upon arrival to request pickup. If you are arriving by train or bus, you should call ahead for pickup. Unfortunately, the Fairfield Inn, Comfort Inn and Howard Johnson hotels do not have free transportation from the airport. There is an Airport Express transportation service. They have a service counter in the baggage area at the airport. Telephone (910) 668-0164. Convention dates are Saturday, July 1 to Saturday, July 8. Room rates are $47 per night plus tax for single through quad and reservations must be made by June 9. For all reservations, including those at overflow hotels, call the Holiday Inn Four Seasons at (800) 242-6556. All meetings and activities of the convention will take place at the Holiday Inn Four Seasons. However, several additional hotels are being used for sleeping rooms. These include the Park Lane, which is an extension of the Holiday Inn, the Fairfield Inn, the Comfort Inn, and the Howard Johnson hotel. All are located within one-half mile of the Holiday Inn Four Seasons but convention attendees cannot walk between hotels because of the location of interstate highways. The Fairfield Inn, the Comfort Inn, and the Howard Johnson hotel do not have restaurants, but all three provide continental breakfasts at no cost. There is a Hooters Restaurant located next door to the Howard Johnson hotel that opens at 11 a.m. There are numerous other restaurants in the area. Shuttles will operate from June 30 through Saturday, July 8 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information on overflow hotels, you may call them at: Park Lane (800) 942-6556; Fairfield Inn, (910) 294-9922; Comfort Inn, (910) 294-6220; Howard Johnson, (910) 294-4920. This year, the Friday and Saturday overnight pre-convention tour is fabulous. The Cherokee Indian village, the drama of the Cherokee "Unto These Hills" and the visit to the Biltmore Estate and Winery will be experiences you will not soon forget. See the pre-convention packet or the April "Braille Forum" for times and costs. Other tours scheduled include: Saturday, July 1, tour of Greensboro area. This tour repeated Sunday, July 2. Monday, July 3, tour to Governor's Mansion at Raleigh, N.C. Tuesday, July 4, tour to Old Salem at Winston-Salem, an authentic restored 18th century colonial town. Wednesday, July 5, tour to the furniture discovery center at High Point. High Point is known as the furniture capital of the world. Thursday, July 6, tour to Industries for the Blind distribution center. This NIB plant will be closed during the week of July 4 but the distribution center will be open for a short tour. Also Thursday evening, Friends-In-Art and Guide Dog Users Inc. have planned tours. Friday, July 7, tour to Seagrove pottery-making area. Learn how pottery is made and handle finished pieces. Pottery from this area is shipped around the world. Saturday evening, dinner theater tour. For all tours, see convention pre-registration packet for costs and times of departure and return. The Wednesday night feature this year will be a down-home North Carolina pork and chicken barbecue and dance marathon to take place right in the hotel. There will be line, square and clogger dancing. Leaders will be present to give direction and instruction. This will be your opportunity, along with your friends and fellow convention attendees, to acquaint yourself with these dancing techniques. The cost of this served dinner and entertainment will be only $25. This Wednesday evening dinner and dance will be the feature social event of the convention. As you can see, the 1995 convention will provide you with many opportunities and challenges. You cannot afford to miss it. FIA CONVENTION þ TRIED AND TRUE WITH NEW TUNES AND TWISTS by Janiece Petersen Friends-In-Art of ACB again offers a menu of unique activities that should spark a variety of appetites. No calorie count included, but some early tour departures could leave you without lunch; just expect to put those convention strategies into play, and select from the week's offerings. Sunday þ At the early enough hour of 9 a.m., the board meeting will take place in FIA's suite. Guests are welcome. The mixer will also occur in the suite from 4 to 6 p.m. This year, Showcase performers can sign up for a rehearsal/audition time slot to cut down waiting time on Monday. (See "Managing the Monster," April 1995.) Know your selection and an alternative to avoid duplication; and let us know your accompaniment needs, if musical performance or recitation calls for it. The mixer is also a great time to pay dues and make other arts connections. We will also have door prizes again this year. Our ending hour should leave enough time for dinner prior to the opening of the convention. Monday þ The MIDI workshop, 1:30 to 3 p.m., will feature Bill McCann of Dancing Dots, Inc., and his demonstration of a MIDI-to- braille conversion program. Mike Mandel will chair/host the workshop and facilitate questions. Our first issue of the "MIDI Mag" will be out and ready for discussion. Because of the importance of music technology to composers and performers alike, this set-up, including music keyboard, will again be available in the FIA suite. This workshop will end very much on time because Mike Mandel and Maureen Scanlon, Showcase co-hosts, must be at the rehearsal/audition. Promptly at 3 p.m. we will begin the rehearsal/audition for the Tuesday evening Showcase. We will make every attempt to adhere to the schedule of performers set up at the mixer. John Dashney's story in the April issue should answer most questions, but here's one more reminder: to bring fresh, practiced material ready for melding with on-site accompanists or others in your performance team. The Prose and Poetry reading, 9 to 11 p.m., offers you the opportunity to read your original work to a small group of fellow writers. Since the FIA suite is not on as grand a scale as last year's, a maximum of 25 will make this an intimate gathering. Come a little ahead of time to give your name and other information to Dan Simpson, the host and organizer. Tuesday þ First, at 12:30 comes the Luncheon Plus. This is a stick-to-the-ribs menu, in case your later activities crowd out five leisurely courses. Our speaker, professor Henry Butler, will describe his varied career as instructor, performer, photographer, and co-founder of a camp for young visually impaired artists. The business meeting follows immediately, including election of two board members. At 3:30 in the suite, Paula Penrod from the American Printing House will talk about and show selected sculpture and paintings from the APH's annual art competition "Beyond Sight." These pieces will be on display at other times, but not during capacity crowd activities. The Showcase of the Performing Arts begins promptly at 8 p.m. Participants gather at 7. New co-hosts Maureen Scanlon and Mike Mandel will blend charm, vitality and wit to make those fast segues between entertainers effortless and exciting. New guidelines and emphasis means you'll exit the ballroom before 10:30 having seen the whole show. New equipment will mean that the Showcase is digitally recorded. This adds up to fewer glitches and easier editing. Tapes from other years of Showcase will be available for purchase. Wednesday þ Writers' Workshop, 2 to 5 p.m. Getting started? Running out of steam? Looking for resources? These are three reasons for attending this activity chaired by Dan Simpson. Joining him will be writers from the Master of Fine Arts program, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. There will be writing exercises and other sharing of techniques. In addition, Annemarie Cooke will discuss Recording for the Blind's bibliography of materials on writing. Be sure to bring your writings and your means of taking notes. Annemarie's bibliography will be available at the workshop or by request. Thursday þ Tour the Weatherspoon Galleries with time allotted for the gift shop. The time is currently 1:30 to 5 p.m., subject to change if an earlier departure will save you money. Weatherspoon features art of this century. The entire outdoor sculpture grouping is available for touching. Some pieces must be seen through surgical gloves. A Henry Matisse lithograph has been worked to yarn for touching. Several exhibits highlight clothing: Guatemalan weaving "Moon Woman Sister" is demonstrated through an art bag of artifacts akin to displayed works. "Clothing as Surrogate" highlights clothing as illustrative of person and message. "Dress Stages" shows the considerations in design of theatrical costumes þ some in progress. Weatherspoon is on Tate Street just a few yards from coffee houses with live entertainment. Wheelchairs available through advance request. If your legs routinely give out before your enjoyment does, ask at the FIA suite to have a chair reserved. We will visit six different sites within the Weatherspoon. Friday þ The Sculpting and Pottery Workshop will be held at the Green Hill Gallery. This is an opportunity for two groups of people to create in two media. The group splits when we reach the gallery and trades workshops halfway through the afternoon. The tour loads at 12:30 and returns at 5. Mike Donenfeld, artist and instructor, has been teaching art to visually impaired people for a number of years. He and other arts program volunteers from Guilford College will assist participants as they carve in soapstone or hand build pottery objects. You may want to leave your rings in your pocket or purse during these workshops. Post-banquet CD signing or "An Evening with Henry Butler," in the suite, will give you a chance to hear Henry's art and buy a signed Atlantic Recordings CD. On Your Own þ The Green Hill Gallery is in the process of developing a touch exhibit to run throughout the convention. Their focus is on North Carolina art and artisans. One such inhabitant, Oba Kunle Akinlana, makes authentic African musical instruments. Check the "Newsline" and the suite for more details as this exhibit takes shape. FIA T-shirts þ For the first time this year we will be selling T-shirts. They are just now in final design phase. Some will be used as awards and prizes; or you may buy one as a fitting reminder of who you are þ a Friend-In-Art. Tote Bag Checklist þ Don't leave home without your prose and poetry, note-taking equipment, walking shoes, pre-recorded taped accompaniment, print music for a sighted accompanist (if you choose), clothes that don't mind clay or stone dust, your gift shop allowance, and a few energy bars for some long-pull workshops. And save room for an FIA T-shirt. HELP KEEP OUR CONVENTION FROM GOING TO THE DOGS by Jenine McKeown The 1994 national convention of the American Council of the Blind in Chicago, Illinois will be remembered for many things. Each of us have our own specific favorites among convention activities. There is one memory we will all take with us from our time at the Palmer House Hilton: the guide dog relief area and its consequences. Much could be said about the adequacy, or arguable inadequacy, of this facility. Even more could be said about the situation caused by those who did not clean up when accidents occurred outside the relief area. We really gain nothing by dredging up the past, save for all of us involved in planning the convention learning a valuable lesson about the selection of facilities. The program committee of Guide Dog Users Inc. (GDUI) has made a commitment to work with the national convention committee. Several projects during the 1995 convention may help to eliminate some problems of Chicago and past conventions. In October, members of the GDUI program committee visited the Holiday Inn Four Seasons to discuss relief facilities with the staff. This dialogue began at the close of the Chicago convention and is ongoing with great success. In cooperation with the national convention committee, we have developed a wide range of relief options for guide dog handlers. There will be areas of sod or pavement, placed strategically around the main hotel. Separate areas will be available for those who wish to clean up after their dogs and those who do not. Similar facilities are being developed at the overflow hotels as well. GDUI's program committee is recruiting volunteers, specifically from the "dog community" to help with day-to-day convention activities along with the thousands of other volunteers recruited and trained by ACB. One function of GDUI's volunteer corps will be to assist those people who are interested in learning how to efficiently clean up after their dogs. This skill is seldom emphasized in guide dog training programs. People who do not clean up regularly may find the habit difficult to incorporate into the busy convention schedule. If you would like to learn, however, we are here to help. Assistance will be given on a confidential, non-judgmental basis. Conventions can be quite stressful for the guide dog. People, canes, tight schedules, unfamiliar water and surroundings can all add to illness or poor behavior. To give you and your dog a break from the chaos, GDUI has located several sites to walk or just relax. Trexler Park is a lovely facility just five minutes from the main hotel. There is a lake with paddle boats, paved and gravel trails and a recreation center from which you may call a shuttle for the return trip. A local high school near the hotels has an outdoor track that may also be used for exercise. The large mall located next to the Four Seasons hotel provides yet another escape for you and your dog. GDUI volunteers will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to accompany you on these trips. We do ask that if you use any of these facilities, please be prepared to clean up should your dog have an accident. Choosing not to clean up affects all of us, not only in the area of convention planning, but in public access. In many areas of the country, blind people are exempt from "pooper scooper laws." Why? Although this activity is hardly enjoyable, it is certainly possible, unless someone is unable to bend, etc. Cleaning up after a guide dog factors high on the list of complaints from employers, housing providers and rehabilitation facilities. GDUI, under no circumstances, wishes to humiliate or chastise those who choose not to pick up after their dogs. Please realize though that convention facilities consider past experiences. Costs go up initially when hotels look at the price a facility like the Palmer House paid to keep the hotel clean with all those dogs and all that dog waste. We should consider ourselves fortunate that the American Council of the Blind has treated guide dog handlers fairly and diplomatically. ACB recognizes the impact of the guide dog in the life and independence of a blind person. It would be easy to lay the blame for rising convention costs squarely at our feet and paws. So far, this has not been done. How long can we reasonably expect it to go on though? None of us likes to step in dog feces. We probably grow indignant when a sighted person leaves a dog mess undisturbed in our path. I personally did not clean up after my first two dogs. I learned to do so at our Tampa convention when my third dog would not use the relief area. I felt it was my responsibility to manage this aspect of her daily care. Once over the initial jitters, it became second nature. There is only so much an organization such as GDUI can do to assist with conventions or other situations where blind people gather. Not all of those attending the ACB convention are members of GDUI. Those who are will not be held to a higher standard than other guide dog handlers simply due to their membership. We would hope that everyone would be considerate and make attempts to keep their dogs clean and under control and we will do anything within our power to help. Should you want more information about GDUI, contact Guide Dog Users Inc., Jane Sheehan, Treasurer, 14311 Astrodome Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20906; telephone (301) 598-2131. For more information about the 1995 convention of Guide Dog Users Inc., contact Jenine McKeown, Program Committee Chair, 1815 Gardenstone Drive, Columbus, OH 43235, or Steve and Dottie Cassell, 621 Stratton Way, Durham, N.C. 27077. For emergency vet service, call Veterinary Emergency Services, 1623 Spring Garden St., Greensboro, N.C.; phone (910) 272-7171. The Greensboro Veterinary Hospital is very close to the hotel. Call (910) 299-5431. If you travel light and need food delivered for your dog, you can contact Pets and Pups in the Four Seasons Town Center Mall next to the hotel. Call (910) 854-0004. You may also want to try Pet Land, (910) 294-8101. AFFILIATE NEWS PRE-CONVENTION NEWS FROM RSVA The Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America have planned a wide variety of activities for this year's convention. Some of the "usual" times for various activities have been changed in order to allow for better participation. The pre-convention board meeting will be held Sunday morning. The first program begins Sunday at 1 p.m., when Richard Daly from the General Services Administration-Southeast Region plans to talk about how to improve the relationship between vendors and GSA personnel. Fred Schroeder from Rehabilitation Services Administration has also agreed to come and talk to us. Alvin Butler plans to come and share how to get involved with a national buying program. On Monday at noon there will be a luncheon, after which more interesting programs will follow. There will be updates on the Randolph-Sheppard ad hoc committee, which includes people from NFB Merchants, RSVA, and NCSAB. There will be a panel about business opportunities for vendors outside of the Randolph- Sheppard program. National Industries for the Blind is interested in selling wholesale to vendors as a cooperative effort to help both parties. On Monday evening there will be the RSVA dance, a regular occurrence not to miss. The business meeting will be held on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday afternoon, exhibitors for RSVA will be available. At 8 p.m. Wednesday RSVA will hold its auction. This represents a change in night from previous years, as well as a change in operation. Tickets will cost $10 a person, which will entitle you to have the drinks you'd like and allow you to use your ticket as a $10 discount on any purchase of $25 or more. SEMINAR ATTENDANCE HITS RECORD HIGH AS ACB MEMBERS CONVERGE ON WASHINGTON by Sharon Lovering and Nolan Crabb WASHINGTON þ Members of the American Council of the Blind from throughout the United States joined representatives from other agencies and organizations for the annual delegate assembly and legislative seminar of the Affiliated Leadership League of and for the Blind of America, held here in March. According to ACB President LeRoy Saunders, attendance at the seminar reached an all-time high this year. As has become tradition, ALL delegates met for nearly three days to coordinate strategies and learn about the issues they would later present to Congress. One of the major thrusts of the meetings was the need to educate new members regarding the issues. ALL participants were reminded not to take anything for granted and not to assume that their representative or senator knew the issues in question. Issues ranged in topic from Randolph-Sheppard vending program issues to telecommunications, job training consolidation, the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, social security issues, and tactile currency. TELECOMMUNICATIONS Alan Dinsmore, representing the governmental relations office of the American Foundation for the Blind, began his presentation on telecommunications by describing some of the services which will shortly be available. Innovation in telecommunications is inevitable, according to Dinsmore, "and that's why we have to be seen by everybody who runs those markets as nothing less than full participants." He said pending legislation will allow the Regional Bell Operating Companies to enter the long-distance arena and includes language that calls for equipment and services to be accessible where such access is readily achievable. Mark Richert representing the governmental affairs department at National Industries for the Blind reminded his listeners of the importance of universal service and universal design. "We were amazed to see that their definition in the Senate bill of universal service talked nothing about individuals who otherwise were shut out of the market, but they were, in fact, talking about competition and whatever the majority of Americans can receive. That's their idea of universal service; it's a little contradictory, but what can we do?" Ritchie Geisel, president of Recording for the Blind, spoke following the telecommunications panel. He said the growth and change that had characterized RFB's efforts during the past five years would continue into the next century. "We remain true to our founding mission," he said, "while at the same time growing at an unprecedented rate in expanding services." He assured his listeners that the core service population for RFB continues to be blind and visually impaired students. However, he said 80 percent of the 20,000 new registrations RFB expects to receive this year will include students and others with dyslexia. Geisel says RFB plans to double the number of people it serves by the year 2000. The company's E-text service, a program which offers books via computer disk, will become a second core service alongside tape books. According to Geisel, such goals can only be reached through increasing strategic partnerships such as those currently in operation with IBM, Microsoft, various book publishers, and disability student service providers. "We're also going to get there through more innovative approaches," he explained. He cited as an example RFB's participation with the American Printing House for the Blind, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and the National Library of Canada to create a database of books and other materials in formats other than print. The database is currently hosted by NLS and APH. He said RFB will also be involved in the collection, storage, and distribution of nationally archived electronic texts for elementary school readers. The materials, complete with typesetting codes, could be distributed to the schools for brailling, large print production and electronic text. Geisel said RFB is also interested in the issue of universal standards. It is a member of a group known as ICADD þ the International Committee on Accessible Document Design. "One of the purposes of ICADD is to bring together organizations from throughout the world to help develop one universal standard so we don't have a lot of incompatibility in terms of equipment being used. ... I'm confident that we won't have a lot of separate systems that are not compatible with one another." Geisel concluded his remarks by updating his listeners on his organization's name. He explained that some have felt the name is now misleading, since RFB serves many people with a variety of learning disabilities. Blind people, on the other hand, are concerned that increases in the number of learning-disabled people served will reduce RFB's effectiveness as a textbook provider to blind readers. "RFB is unique," Geisel said reassuringly, "in that doing more for one population doesn't mean doing less for another. After all, dyslexic kids read the same books blind kids do. ... RFB remains the largest educational library for the blind in the world, ... and any organization serving about 15,000 blind students is a blindness organization, and we're not about to change that. E-text is currently a blindness-only service, and we're making an enormous investment in the blindness community through the research and development of this digital text service, and it's all targeted to our blind consumers." Despite that, Geisel said, the organization will likely change its name. "We looked at acronyms like DARE (Disability Access to Reading Essentials), and DEAL (Drop Everything And Listen)," Geisel quipped, "but my all-time favorite was RFB þ as in, Ritchie's Free Books. Ultimately we think we need a name that says something to those who don't know who we are." While he was unable to provide any serious alternatives pending a vote by the organization's board, he suggested that any name change would be relatively minor and would still include the word "blind." The Sunday session concluded with discussions on potential for currency change and health care. MONDAY In keeping with the theme of this year's program þ the national political revolution and how it will affect blind people þ Monday's first set of speakers was Alexander Vachon, legislative assistant to Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and Bob Silverstein, former staff director of the Subcommittee on Disability Policy in the U.S. Senate, Committee on Labor on Human Resources, and has been working with Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) for many years. "This is an important year for the senator," Vachon said. "This is the 50th anniversary of when Sen. Dole himself joined the disability community." Fifty years ago this April, in the hills of Italy, Dole was hit by machine gun fire. He was a quadriplegic for the first year, underwent rehabilitation, and still has limited use of his right limbs. "Throughout his career in the Senate, he has been a strong advocate on behalf of people with disabilities," Vachon continued. "I don't expect that to change; in fact I expect that to be debated more vigorously in this Congress." It was 26 years ago that Dole, then a junior senator from Kansas, made his first speech to the Senate, and he talked about being a person with a disability and his vision of what disability policy was about. He believed it should be based on three values: opportunity, independence and security. Another historical note: this is the 50th anniversary of the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the Salk vaccine. Roosevelt was an architect, and designed what could have been the first accessible home in the United States, his Hilltop home in New York, Vachon stated. He designed his own wheelchair, drew up muscle strength charts still used today by doctors, and "in a fundamental way his work, by putting advocacy in the hands of people who were affected by disabilities, foreshadowed by 40 years ... [the disability community]." "The world has changed dramatically since Franklin Roosevelt," Vachon added. "FDR kept his paralysis a secret. ... I believe it was also a realistic political judgment, that a person in a wheelchair could not be elected president. I trust today, I hope today, that a person with a disability could be easily elected president, and we'll all have a chance to test that hypothesis next year." As far as the revolution goes, he said, "I'm not sure that the disability programs that this revolution has changed ... will have a great impact immediately." He believed that a more pressing concern of disabled people was employment. Despite all the money spent on rehabilitation, the number of people working has dropped, according to two studies Vachon cited. How to improve the number of people working is a bipartisan issue. "The history of the Subcommittee on Disability's policy has been one of bipartisanship since its inception," Bob Silverstein stated. "In the last eight years with Sen. Harkin as the chair, he has probably 15 bills; every single one of them passed the Labor Committee unanimously, and every one but one went through the Senate unanimously. The one that didn't ... the vote on that was 91-6. That happens because of the commitment of the senators like Sen. Harkin, Sen. Dole, Sen. Hatch, Sen. McCain, Sen. Kennedy, Sen. Simon, and hopefully now Sen. Frist, to really work through issues dealing with disability policy. So my hope is that the framework of bipartisanship, the foundation of bipartisanship will prevail in the coming months. ... I hope you don't leave here feeling a total sense of security, however, that everything is fine, because if you do I think you're missing a very important message. We all need your help in educating new members and those who weren't around ... when we fought the ADA fights, when we passed the IDEA ..." There will be questions, Silverstein said, about why that legislation passed, and why it exists. "If the legislation is sound, it will withstand [the questioning]. But there's also a lot of hyperbole, there's a lot of rhetoric that is coming out of this Congress right now, that quite frankly scares me. And it's that rhetoric that we have to be concerned with, when we hear about regulations that are absurd, ridiculous ... Some people call the ADA and IDEA unfunded mandates." Legislation was written to exclude ADA and IDEA from unfunded mandates, but some groups have spearheaded efforts to diminish their importance. He told a story of a writer who had prepared a balanced, somewhat positive story about the ADA and couldn't sell it to the newspapers, who wanted something negative. "Don't think that everything is rosy, but it is the people like the Sen. Doles, the Sen. Hatches, hopefully the Sen. Frists who are saying, 'There is a good public policy. If we have to make certain changes, fine.' That will be based on facts, and we'll deal with that on a case-by-case basis. ... If you just sit down and say everything's fine, we're all going to be picking up the pieces after it's over, and it's going to be too late." Silverstein encouraged the audience to educate their legislators, here or back home, on what the laws mean to each of them. The next speaker was Patricia Morrissey, staff director of the Subcommittee on Disability Policy, Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. She dealt with directions and policies in the new Republican Congress, and came prepared to discuss the timetable for legislation in the subcommittee. IDEA reauthorization is going smoothly, she said. She spoke first about job training. "Having read tons of GAO reports and talked to a lot of folks, I came to the conclusion that we don't have a choice between playing and not playing. If we decide to say we want Title I of the Rehabilitation Act to remain separate and not be considered or involved in this attempt at job training consolidation, that what I think would happen would be anyone with a disability ... [would go] to a one-stop center" once the legislation was enacted, Morrissey said. "I think a lot of the disability community leaders feel the same way: they recognize that there is both a risk and an opportunity attached to being part of the job training consolidation issue," she said. She has devised provisions that she would like to see included in public policy changes. The first six items were general provisions: 1. There has to be predictable funding for a one-stop center. One way of doing that is to set a per-capita limit on dollars spent per person. 2. A first come, first served concept "will level the playing field." 3. Priority would be given to those whose needs were not met the previous year. 4. Maintenance of a list of approved vendors and organizations/programs. 5. There must be access to mediation. 6. Federal outcome standards are needed. The next set of six was disability-specific provisions: 1. There must be presumption of disability. "Let's simplify the paperwork," Morrissey stated. "Why [do we] have to re- establish that someone can't see if they've been blind since birth?" 2. Presumption of employability 3. Access to appropriate personal assistance 4. There must be adequate funds þ the governor commits a certain amount per person. The first dollars (amount set by governor) come from the general fund; only after the general funds are exhausted will rehabilitation turn to the Title I funds. 5. "Anybody with a disability will have a choice as part of their level and nature of assistance," Morrissey stated. 6. a. Have a line item authorization of appropriation for Title I money. b. Amend Title I to make it consistent with the current scheme. "The first thing that has to happen is you have to get your foot in the door, and we're not there yet," Morrissey said. "I think what the recommendations imply to me is that the system will become decentralized. The quality assurance would be based on whatever the federal outcome standards are, and that if people are serious about helping each other get jobs in the community, or assistance so they can get jobs in the community, then the world will be a better place ... If these things don't happen, if people don't help each other, if they don't help shape what the local system looks like, if they don't help shape what the governor does, then things could be worse than they are now." After Patricia Morrissey came a panel composed of Linda Merrill, Michael Byington, John Horst and Pat Beattie that dealt with rehabilitation and agencies for the blind. Pat Beattie acted as the questioner. She said the audience needed to think about how to react to this, and what they needed to tell their congressmen the next morning. "How can we either hold the line or even advance the line to make things better for people who are blind and visually impaired in need of jobs? And 69 percent of us are still in need of jobs." Double access is the idea, Beattie said: first the per- capita, then the Title I funds. She let them react to the "one- stop shop" first. John Horst believed that there should be a separate state agency for the blind; "whether we could or not, I would certainly see this as another challenge ... There needs to be a very strong emphasis on education, what blind people can do." Linda Merrill spoke next. She said she was terrified when she first heard about job consolidation, and saw that when she spoke to Sen. Kassebaum, she was not going to be able to change the senator's mind. Her agency in Wichita is working on figuring out how to get its foot through the door. "We hope that by having our foot in the door early on, and by being pro-active, that we can make the changes that will continue to prove to be good for people who are blind." Michael Byington responded to a question about getting in the line for service. He doesn't know yet if blind people can survive in a one-stop system, but said to keep asking the important questions. "... Since you're going to do this, let us roll up our sleeves and help you figure out how to solve these problems, because these are blind services that we have to have." The panel addressed the concern of people who are losing vision and in "denial." Will these people get help? What are the practical solutions to that? Byington believed there were some solutions, such as asking for some orientation and mobility to learn a new community from the amount of funds you hadn't used yet. Horst added, "Often we don't get the most capable visually impaired people to a rehab agency at present for some reason or other ... so you wonder, with a one-stop center like this, will a visually impaired or blind person see that that's a place for them ... to get what they might need?" People need to know what's available, he said. Merrill believed it was "a little premature" to be making guesses as to whether the people would come to such a center. One big concern was accreditation and certification. How is the disability community going to assure quality outcomes? What processes would be used in certification? "I'm real concerned about the process that's used in this certification," Horst said. "Certainly it has to be professional, it has to be acceptable, and so on. All of us who have been in the rehab business know that once in a while someone will come along and say, 'I want to go to school,' ... and we need to be protective in that kind of situation. ... We really need to be prepared to deal with that kind of situation and have some protection from the accreditation point of view, to be able to say no, and why." "I think that we might as well put it where it is on the issue of certification," Byington interjected. "Pat Morrissey may think that we can implement this system and have the status quo continue as it is; she is dead wrong on that because everything she's saying is a cryptic, 'we're doing something that we have not done,' and that even with those of us in the room, there's disagreement on whether we should do. She is linking accreditation of some type or certification of some type to funding. ..." The last issue the panel addressed was national standards. Merrill said, "It should always be choice: where you choose to work and if you choose to work. Whether it should be measured by other means ... I'm not real sure about." As long as the person is satisfied with the job he or she is doing, that should be the primary outcome. Monday's luncheon speaker was Ralph Neas, the executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, which is the legislative arm of the civil rights movement that coordinates all the national legislative campaigns dealing with civil rights. He looked at issues of concern in the current Congress. His first civil rights issue was Section 504. Shortly after his battle with Guillain-Barre syndrome and after his election to the position of executive director, he met Durward McDaniel, who became a mentor. "Durward McDaniel was one of the most effective disability rights, civil rights people I've ever known. I owe him so much." He requested a moment of silence to honor Durward. "Durward, one more time, I know you're in heaven right now, but I just want to thank you personally for your extraordinary leadership and taking me by the hand on so many occasions, and sharing with me your knowledge and your experience." Before discussing the 104th Congress, Neas stated his thoughts on "the most dramatic story of the civil rights movement in several decades. And that is the decade of the 1980s, which I call the disability decade, where at long, long last the civil rights community, then the Congress, then the entire nation finally began to understand that disability rights are civil rights. It took so long, even within the civil rights community, which should have known better. ..." He described his time working with Sen. Durenberger on disability issues, including the Civil Rights Restoration Act, which addressed the issue of federal funding, and whether or not federal funding could be used to discriminate. Title IX and the Grove City decision were the answers to that question. In the years it took to pass the act, all the groups worked together, and the coalition "built bridges of understanding. People began to learn about one another and, most importantly, learn about one another's issues." Congress overrode then- president Reagan's veto and passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act on March 22, 1988, which made it illegal for any institution that receives federal funds to discriminate against people with disabilities, older Americans, minorities, or women. "It was a grand victory that set us up for what I thought were two of the best victories of the 1980s with respect to disability rights or any other issue." One victory was the Fair Housing Act. The best victory in Neas' opinion was the Americans with Disabilities Act. "I think that the Americans with Disabilities Act was the most significant civil rights bill enacted into law in the last 30 years. I've had an opportunity to work on two or three dozen major bills in the last 20 years ... this, my friends, was a revolutionary bill, a far-reaching bill. As Sen. Tom Harkin said many times, it's the Emancipation Proclamation for persons with disabilities. ... And what a bipartisan effort! Oh, I hope we can even approach that bipartisanship in the future." People said such a bill couldn't be made, but it was, he said. The ADA was "a magnificent victory but I think everybody in this room knows it's only a start." Now, he admonished the audience, is the time to educate the public and enforce the law. The leadership of this Congress is "not something that we've seen ever before." It's conservatives controlling the agendas, the issues, and the timing of those issues, he said. "I'm afraid there's a lot at risk right now. ... The ADA's going to be challenged ... There are leaders of Congress who've said they want to repeal the Americans with Disabilities Act. I don't think that will happen. I think that there are many of us who will make sure that members of the Senate, members of the House, filibuster for the next 20 years before that happens." What scares Neas is the possibility of "undermining" the ADA. There will be compromises ahead, but the audience must be sure the compromises don't undermine what the disability community cares about. He also spoke about quotas and affirmative action. Despite their existence, "we still have serious discrimination in this country. ... We're in the midst of the second American Revolution, and we've accomplished a lot. ... But we can't stop now. We can't let the country go back. ... We've come much, much too far." People are realizing what's at stake and how hard they have to work together. What happens on Capitol Hill depends on what comes from lobbying at the grass-roots level. "No matter whether we win or lose over the next year or two, every year there will be more and more action at the state and local level." There must be organization in order for the action to be useful. People must unite to make sure that coalitions govern their lobbying. "United we can win against the local, state or federal level," Neas said. "I promise you all that disability issues will remain a principal concern ... Disability issues will always be a part of my life." WE HAVE TO KEEP ON KEEPING ON! By Mary Jane Owen Alzheimer's didn't do her in. My beloved mentor, Aunt Naomi Harward, fell, broke her left hip, split her femur lengthwise and now lies in a nursing home in Mesa, Ariz., feeling lost and confused. "I'm all alone, I'm all alone, I'm all alone," she mutters, alternating that refrain with, "No one to talk to, no one to talk to, no one to talk to . . ." And yet she still inspires my determination to keep on keeping on the path she pointed out to me so long ago as she proved one person CAN make a difference if they care and persist. And we all grieve for others. Surely he was one of the most beloved and inspiring of disability advocates since Helen Keller broke clear from behind the double walls of prejudice and fear. Ed Roberts awoke one morning feeling fine and died from a heart attack. He is gone but his vision has been captured in many other minds. The list grows. Irv Zola, Tim Cook, Terrance O'Rourke . . . One by one our heros and colleagues fall. Often they did not choose their battles: circumstances forced engagement. And that is true for many within our ranks. We can not falter as we seek to open opportunities to fit our God-given potential. We know from recent national surveys that four out of five of us WANT to work. Yet only one in 500 of us who find ourselves on the Social Security Disability rolls moves from dependency into a meaningful job. It was Congress' intent that program serve as a bridge back into meaningful opportunities. How can that divergent data be explained? It has a lot to do with that odious phrase, "substantial gainful activity." "SGA" has never had much to do with the actual cash value of a given venture. It merely asserts that if one of us appears to be engaging in productive activities which MIGHT be a part of a paid job, we are, by definition, no longer disabled. Therefore, in SSA's dictionary: "Disability" = "Inability." Struggling to rise above one's limitations means one must no longer be disabled. Due to a series of events, I was asked to testify before Sen. Cohen's (R-Maine) Special Committee on Aging, which is holding hearings on the need for Social Security reform. He had heard I had not cashed several years of checks I'd received following my request the SSA staff no longer involve themselves in evaluating my attempts to return to productive activity. On March 3rd I testified: "Upon discharge from the National Rehabilitation Hospital on June 13, 1987, now a blind, partially hearing wheelchair user, my follow-up treatment plan involved Visiting Nurses' personal care and rehabilitation. I was told by the hospital staff I would be eligible for the Social Security's PASS program with the goal of becoming self-supporting again. While an inpatient I had not ceased to be active and productive. I analyzed the medical and rehabilitation systems from a personal perspective for an international journal and addressed a workshop of women lawyers on the Baby Doe case. "Establishing a consulting office, writing and lecturing seemed a career move allowing a realistic return to full-time work. I prepared a business plan which required $5,000 and began a frustrating and fruitless pursuit of information about PASS certification. I requested several people in professional or advocacy positions to aid in my attempt to get information. None of these inquiries resulted in information. "I was receiving SSDI and struggling at home with my home care assistant and a rehabilitationist to build my strength and increase my stamina. As I reconstruct that time in memory, it was late 1988 when I began to receive telephone calls approximately every two weeks from the local SSA offices asking if I was working. When I reported on my consulting and writing efforts, which were adding very little to my financial resources, I was informed I was performing Substantial Gainful Activity and jeopardizing my eligibility. I repeatedly requested information about the PASS option, telling the SSA staff I'd been told this program would allow me to become self-supporting by collecting and saving certain money to apply to my business plan. The SSA employees who called said they'd never heard of such a thing and it sounded highly inappropriate. 'You are supposed to be disabled and if you're working, you don't deserve benefits.' "In the fall of 1989 I verbally requested termination of SSA involvement in my life and followed up with a written letter. I was surprised when checks continued to arrive and anticipated they'd stop soon. I did not cash them and thought I might do an amusing column about this big budgeted bureaucracy's failure to keep their records straight." The pile of uncashed checks continued to grow from 1989 to 1994. In a letter last year I quoted my request for termination: "I will never stop struggling to be self-sufficient. I have no intention of playing the 'disability' role you think is appropriate for me. Please discontinue the SSA disability checks immediately. I would rather go out on the street and beg from strangers than deal any further with you! "As far as I was concerned, the SSA was not a system which was focused on helping people move from dependency toward independence and I wanted no more to do with it. . . . It was not easy for me to persist during the months following my discharge from the National Rehabilitation Hospital back in the 1980s. As a blind, partially hearing wheelchair user, I found many barriers in my path toward productive living and a meaningful job. During the time I was attempting to make it as a writer and consultant, I often felt frustrated that neither SSA nor the rehabilitation system were able to give me the assistance or support which would have moved me more easily and rapidly into a new career. But I have gained much in self-recognition of my strengths and stubbornest. I know to the core of my being that no one can turn another into a victim. It is only when we accept that role ourselves that it has any meaning. I am not a victim nor was I one when the man from the local SSA office tried to make me into one by his insistence that I couldn't be eligible for SSA funds if I was struggling to move toward greater self-determination and productivity. I am glad I resisted and told him to get out of my way and let me find assistance from sources which enhanced my self-empowerment." In concluding my testimony I asserted: "I see little evidence of a shift away from a pejorative and negative approach toward those of us who strive to live as independently as possible. At a minimum, SSA should be reinforcing the basic dignity and value of each person, no matter their disabilities, encouraging moves toward productive living." Before acquiring my various physiological glitches I had the privilege of remaining private. It is painful to expose myself and my pain and limitations to the world. But I know that some of us must tell our stories if we are to crack through the walls which keep us segregated and dependent. I trace my strength to earlier roots. There was an ancestor named Adams who got together with some friends to throw tea into the Boston Harbor to defy unjust authority. And my Irish grandparents struggled to pay for passage to America where they built a better life for their children. And those who lived in this land before the "white man" came knew the power of the "web of life" and the interaction of all that is here to be shared. That sense still clings to the family tree. All of us can draw strength to augment our fears and weakness. Ed's spirit of risk and challenge can infect us. Irv's sense of scholarship can instruct us. Tim's knowledge of the law can defend us. Terrance's skill in finding new routes to educate the unknowing can inspire us to seek our own way of advocacy. And Naomi's tears, as together we watched "Schindler's List," will continue to wash away any hesitancy to become involved. For what brought about those tears was confirmation that our individual efforts make small differences but those differences forever change the world. ANATOMY OF A CYBERSPACE FACILITATOR by Nolan Crabb Anyone who ever sat through a long meeting (and that includes nearly all of us), understands that the meeting's value is directly linked to how comfortable you are, the type of information being discussed, and how efficiently the meeting is run. Imagine being the facilitator of a meeting that includes hundreds of participants, lasts 24 hours a day every day, and where the attendees, not the facilitator, set the agenda. As the person in charge, it's up to you to keep your conference room clean and to ensure there's a climate that allows differing perspectives to be fairly represented. Yours is a meeting in which people constantly come and go and where no one really looks at one another while they do the talking and listening. If you can picture yourself doing that kind of work, you may be a good candidate for the position of cyberspace facilitator. Just what is a cyberspace facilitator? Enter David Oberhart þ a cyberspace facilitator who would much rather be called a system operator or sysop. A resident of Sanborn, N.Y., Oberhart oversees the DisAbilities Roundtable on GEnie, a computer on-line service that allows callers to send messages and computer files to one another via their telephone modems and computers. Oberhart's DisAbilities Roundtable is one of hundreds of meeting rooms you can visit as a GEnie subscriber. If you drop into one of his meetings, you'll likely see messages from blind and otherwise disabled computer users dealing with a plethora of topics associated with disability. GEnie is one of several on-line services and direct Internet providers who offer various types of connections and services. You can send and receive documents or computer programs, and all of these services offer meeting rooms devoted to specific topics. Some services call them conferences or forums; GEnie's are called Roundtables. On the Internet, these meeting rooms are referred to as mailing lists or Usenet newsgroups. Regardless of what they're called, these meeting rooms can range in topic from ham radio to science fiction; from on-line classes to on-line games. And while other on-line services are increasingly adopting ever more graphical interfaces that inhibit or preclude connection and use by those who rely on braille displays or speech synthesizers to relay information, Oberhart says GEnie has no plans to scrap its text-based service for the foreseeable future. Oberhart's journey down the road that eventually led him to be sysop of the DisAbilities Roundtable began when he was a boy who was influenced by the space program. "I've always loved science and science fiction because of my appreciation for the space program, " he recalls. "So it was natural that I'd be interested in computers as well." Oberhart was a junior in high school when Apple Computer introduced its first machines. That year, 1977, was also the year he lost his sight completely due to glaucoma. During his sophomore year at the University of Iowa, Oberhart was irrevocably bitten by the computer bug. The computer represented for him, as it does for so many, a new-found independence. "I ended up taking a student loan to get that first computer," he says, "and I never went back." His purchasing patterns from that time on became similar to others bitten by the digital bug. He both wanted and needed bigger and better equipment. "I would never have gone to grad school if I hadn't had a computer," he says. Around the same time, he began telecommunicating on computer bulletin boards. "Ten years ago," he remembers, "telecommunicating on a bulletin board was a real crapshoot. Getting my Apple modem to talk to a Tandy machine was tricky." Following graduate school, Oberhart's career took him to Fairbanks, Alaska, where he taught speech and drama and broadcasting and journalism for two years. Today, he teaches in the Fine Arts Division's communications department at Niagara County Community College in western New York. He counts himself lucky to be working in the field in which he graduated. Oberhart became affiliated with GEnie as a user in 1987. When the company changed its pricing slightly and when he changed his location from Alaska to New York, his activity with the on- line service increased. Soon after that, he made the transition from Apple to the MS-DOS world, began using a special mail sending and receiving program called PC Aladdin and his involvement with the on-line service grew. "I had volunteered in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Roundtable as a librarian," he explains, "archiving old messages and sending them up to the library." Eventually, he became involved as a volunteer with the DisAbilities Roundtable. He had been an assistant sysop for 10 months before assuming the sysop's position in early February of this year. He says he sees his role as an information provider to be of great importance. "I don't provide the information, of course, not single-handedly," he explains. "I want to create a climate where people can share their expertise on things with one another and do so in a friendly, non-threatening environment." Oberhart views digitized meeting rooms like the one he runs as great equalizers in a world all too eager to label and categorize people. "It doesn't matter how you access our system," he explains. "These conferences allow people who use braille, speech, even a Morse Code key, to access our systems and not be categorized and labeled." Oberhart is optimistic about the computing future for blind and partially sighted users. "I'm not as hesitant about dealing with the graphical interface as I used to be," he explains. "I think when GEnie does go to a graphical interface, the technology will be in place that will allow all of us to make that jump." He says there are real benefits to being part of the GEnie on-line world specifically. "The IBM PC Library offers more than 40,000 downloadable shareware programs. There are several configuration files for screen readers that allow you to efficiently operate the off-line mail reader." ACB members interested in signing up as GEnie subscribers may do so. Those who do sign up using the instructions below will receive $150 credit in the first month of service. Oberhart says you'll need the extra free time just to get acquainted with the system. He says there is a manual designed to help you learn the system. Subscribers are charged $8.95 per month for four free hours of non-prime use. Non-prime use occurs between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. weekdays local time, and weekends are considered non-prime time. After the four hours, you're charged $3 per additional hour. In addition, you'll pay for premium services. You can get full-text magazine articles, but it will cost you in many cases. You don't need a proprietary disk from GEnie to go online. "You can use whatever telecommunications program you normally use," Oberhart says. Instructions For Subscribing to GEnie Please note that ACB does not receive funding from GEnie as a result of your decision to sign up. Oberhart says if enough ACB members sign up, he will create a category within his DisAbilities Roundtable for council members. To sign up, you'll need a computer equipped with a modem and telecommunications software and a credit card or checking account. 1. Set your communications software for half-duplex (local echo) at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud. Recommended communications parameters 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit. 2. Dial toll-free in the U.S. at 1-800-638-8369 (or in Canada at 1-800-387-8330). Upon connection, type HHH 3. At the U#= prompt, type JOINGENIE and press 4. At the offer code prompt enter ACB123. 5. Have a major credit card ready. In the U.S., you may also use your checking account number. (There is a $2.00 monthly fee for all checking accounts.) In Canada, Visa and MasterCard only. For more information in the United States or Canada, call 1-800-638-9636 or write: GEnie, c/o GE Information Services, P.O. Box 6403, Rockville, MD 20850-1785. HERE & THERE by Elizabeth M. Lennon The announcement of new products and services in this column should not be considered an endorsement of those products and services by the American Council of the Blind, its staff or elected officials. Products and services are listed free of charge for the benefit of our readers. "The Braille Forum" cannot be responsible for the reliability of products or services mentioned. TECHNOLOGY EXPO An Adaptive Technology Exposition will be held June 2-3 at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver. ATExpo '95 will feature exhibits from national manufacturers, distributors and retailers of assistive technologies for the disabled community. It is expected to attract up to 200 vendors; products to be displayed and sold include communication devices, clothing, computers, hearing and vision products, sports and recreational equipment, daily living aids and publications. For more information, call (303) 832-4885. HIGHBROOK CAMP Highbrook Lodge, the Cleveland Sight Center's summer camp, will open for its 67th season June 14. The camp, serving blind and visually impaired children and adults, is one of the few doing so that is fully accredited by the American Camping Association. The camp accepts campers from throughout the United States. For applications and information, contact Bashir Masoodi camp director, or Jackie Crayton camp registrar, at: Cleveland Sight Center, 1909 E. 101st St., P.O. Box 1988, Cleveland, OH 44106; phone (216) 791- 8118. ORAL HULL CAMP Seven fun-filled days for blind and visually impaired adults at Oral Hull Park include swimming, crafts, competitive games, fishing, a beach trip, great food and entertainment for just $175. The two sessions will be held July 22-29 and August 19-26, 1995. Come and enjoy country living with modern accommodations. For more information, write to the Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind, P.O. Box 157, Sandy, OR 97055, or phone (503) 668-6195. ADA BULLETIN BOARD Current information about the Americans with Disabilities Act is now available to computer users on the Internet or who use SpecialNet services. It's called the ADA.INDEPENDENT bulletin board, and it features articles on trends, practices and issues in the implementation and enforcement of the ADA. It also contains items about special services and products that enhance independent living. It is, however, a read-only board. To submit ADA-related items for consideration, send them to Deborah Leuchovius ADA Specialist, PACER Center, 4826 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55417-1098; phone (612) 827-2966; e-mail HN2338@HANDSNET.ORG or MNPACER@GTEENS.COM; or fax (612) 827-3065. For more information about SpecialNet, contact GTE Educational Network Services, 5525 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 320,,, Irving, TX 75038; phone (800) 927- 3000. RRTC NEEDS YOU The Mississippi State University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center needs your help. If you would like to have a voice in changing the blindness rehabilitation center, join the National Consumer Feedback Network. Contact Suzanne Ewing at (601) 325- 2001. AFB RECEIVES GRANT The American Foundation for the Blind has been awarded a $500,000 grant by the Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, for a two-year project involving research on described video's audience and distribution methods. The project will investigate the potential audience for video description and determine the best method of delivery. Current video description consumers will be contacted in order to assess the impact it has had on their lives, and a sample of blind and visually impaired Americans will be interviewed in order to determine their familiarity with it, as well as their needs and interests in TV viewing. CALL FOR PARENTS Parents with disabilities are needed for a national needs assessment survey. Berkeley Planning Associates is now conducting the nation's first survey of parents with disabilities to gather information about challenges, barriers and unique needs, and to document the kinds of service system responses that public policy changes need to address. If you are such a person, and you're interested in sharing your experiences and willing to take a few minutes to complete a mail survey, call or write to Sabrina Williams, Berkeley Planning Associates, 440 Grand Ave., Suite 500, Oakland, CA 94610; phone (800) 897-0272. SPEAK UP! The National Center on Accessibility is conducting a survey of people with disabilities to find out their concerns and desires related to recreation, parks and tourism. How do you spend your leisure time? What are your interests in various activities? The center wants you to participate. Call (800) 424-1877 (voice/TDD). A few weeks later you will receive a survey to complete and a stamped envelope to return the survey. WALK AND READ According to the "Missouri Chronicle," there is a device that enables you to listen to your talking book or stereo on a regular radio. This is a little FM transmitter; check to see if your radio can pick up the FM band. It costs $29, and is available from Damark. It's catalog number 8501 409036. To order, phone (800) 697-2002. NEW BOOK "Into the Jury Box: A Disability Accommodation Guide for State Court" was recently released by the American Bar Association's Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law and Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly under a grant from the State Justice Institute. This new guide seeks to help courts overcome barriers and enhance juror access. To obtain a copy, send your name, address, and $15 (single copy price) to ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, 1800 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Discounts are available for multiple copies. For more information, phone (202) 331-2240. INPUT NEEDED Doris Pennington, 57 E. Beechwold Blvd., Columbus, OH 43214- 2105, is interested in starting a home business which would provide brailled knitting and crochet patterns. According to an announcement from Pennington, the books would be current and would provide the latest styles. She asks "Braille Forum" readers with interest in knitting and crocheting to provide input to her on which types of patterns are most useful. Contact her in braille or cassette at the above address. STRETCH-VIEW Stretch-View is a new wide-view rectangular magnifier that stretches the viewing area. The three-diopter lens' wider viewing area allows for comfortable vision with both eyes and reduces eyestrain. An ESD-safe version is available. Contact Jim Vollmer at Dazor Manufacturing Corp., (800) 345-9103. DISCOVER COLUMBUS Robotron Proprietary Limited has a new product, the Columbus Talking Compass. It is hand-held with speech output; the four major compass points and interim points are spoken. The user orients the compass in the required direction and queries the device by pressing a button; the compass point is spoken. The user may choose between two spoken languages from the following: English, Japanese, French, German, Korean or Spanish. Other languages are available upon special request. The language is selected by sliding a small switch on the side of the case. It costs $125 plus $5 shipping and handling. To order, or get more information, contact John Panarese, Technologies for the Visually Impaired, 9 Nolan Court, Hauppage, N.Y. 11788; phone (516) 724- 4479. SEE IT MY WAY "Try to See It My Way" is a packet that explores visual impairment, both here and overseas, and is aimed at 7- to 11-year- olds. It presents issues concerning eye health and blindness prevention in the United Kingdom and developing countries. The packet includes a teacher's handbook, audio tape, posters and braille card, and is suitable for use with sighted and visually impaired children. It costs 12 pounds for international orders; 9 pounds 60 for orders within the U.K. To obtain it, send your request, along with your name and address, to Sight Savers International, Grosvenor Hall, Bolnore Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 4BX, UK. GENTLE WORDS Gentle Words for Yesterday's Children is a series of taped stories, thematically related, with discussion questions and short summaries. Each tape is accompanied by a large-print and braille version of the transcript. Packet one deals with animal friends; packet two is called "It's All in How You Look at It." Packet three is called "The Cloud Painter," and it is a series of stories a grandmother tells her granddaughter. Packet four explores the age-old question "How will it turn out?" Packet five deals with favorite objects, and it's called "It Just Doesn't Get Any Better." Packet six, "Punctuation Marks on the Landscape," brings back memories of silos, windmills, rural mailboxes and abandoned farmhouses. For more information, contact Soft Side Enterprises, P.O. Box 411, Ladysmith WI 54848; phone (715) 532-7292. HOME BUYERS' GUIDE Fannie Mae's "Guide to Home Ownership" is available on tape. It includes three tapes, braille versions of the charts and worksheets, and costs $10. To order, call the Fannie Mae Fulfillment Center at (800) 471-5554 and request item number LM059. NEW TEACHING AIDS Exceptional Teaching Aids has several new items available. "Teaching the Braille Slate and Stylus," an 18-minute video demonstrating the use of slate and stylus, costs $40. The manual that augments it costs $15. "Braille Literacy at Work" is a 27- minute video showing proficient braille users at work. It costs $40. "Teaching Signature Writing to Those Who Are Visually Impaired" shows everyone, both young and old, how to make a signature legible. The video and book in 12-point type cost $55; the 18-point book costs $15, and the raised-line braille book costs $30. "Braille Literacy Instruction for Students Who Speak English as a Second Language" shows people learning to read and write braille while they are also learning English. This video costs $40. "Teaching Braille to Adults: Options for Instruction" is a video dealing with becoming more independent. It costs $40. And for the teachers out there, "Creative Play Activities for Children with Disabilities" is a book containing 250 games and activities designed for use with children from babyhood to 8 years old. It costs $15.95. To order, call (800) 549-6999, or fax (510) 582- 5911. RADIO STORIES ON TAPE The ZBS Foundation has produced cassettes and CDs of stories aired on public radio. If you're a fan of such adventure stories as "The Turban of El Morya," check these out. These tapes have continuous music and sound effects taped live in countries such as Morocco, Mexico, Brazil, Bali and India. For more information, or to request a catalog, contact ZBS Foundation, RR 1 Box 1201, Fort Edward, NY 12823-9713; phone (518) 695-6406. SOUP IS GOOD According to the "Missouri Chronicle," answers to questions you may have about any of the Campbell's Soup products are available. Call (800) 257-8443. ACBI OPPORTUNITIES The American Council of the Blind of Indiana recently started an "opportunities" program, according to a press release. The Hank Hofstetter Opportunity Grant Fund is available in part or whole to assist any certified legally blind resident of Indiana. The intent is to partially or fully fund such activity, materials and/or equipment as may enhance the educational or vocational aims of one who may be unable to get funding any other way. A secondary purpose of the fund will be to advise applicants of such other known means as may be available to meet their needs. Those interested in applying may do so by writing to the Hank Hofstetter Opportunity Grant Fund, c/o James R. Durst, Indiana School for the Blind, 7725 N. College Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46240. The following information should be included with the request: name, address, phone number; date of birth; opportunity they wish to participate in and/or equipment and supplies needed; a one-page statement as to why they feel they should be considered for the grant; a list of other sources/options they have explored; reference letter from someone they worked with or have known other than personal friend or family member, and two return self-addressed, stamped envelopes. Applications should be submitted at least three months prior to the need to give the selection committee time to review the requests. For more information, contact Rev. Maurice E. Brockman, 3806 Pepper Chase Ct., Bloomington, IN 47401; phone (812) 334-8141. ANOTHER COMPASS The Talking Wayfinder LC electronic compass, produced by Precision Navigation, Inc., is based on technology originally developed for the U.S. military. It reads out eight directions: north, south, east, west, northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast, and runs on two AAA batteries (which are included). It has auto voice mode for automatic voice readings of direction change, and auto mode shut-off option with one-button voice prompt. For more information, contact Precision Navigation at 1235 Pear Ave., Suite 111, Mountain View, CA 94043; phone (415) 962-8777. NEED VOLUNTEERS If you are interested in being an evaluator of the Unified Braille Code, send your name and address, along with the group þ braille readers, braille teachers, or braille transcribers þ you would like to be included in, to: Emerson Foulke Braille Research Center, American Printing House for the Blind, P.O. Box 6085, Louisville, KY 40206; phone (502) 899-2362. ACCESSIBLE TRAIL The Sugarland Valley Nature Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in the last stages of construction of a universally accessible trail about a quarter mile south of the Sugarlands Visitor Center. This is the first accessible trail in the Great Smoky Mountains developed with educational exhibits for everyone. It will tell the natural and cultural story of the park. It is scheduled to open sometime this spring. For more information, contact Eugene Cox, 107 Park Headquarters Rd., Gatlinburg, TN 37738; phone (615) 436-1256. EARN UP TO $700 PER MONTH Men and women ages 18-85 without light perception and using no prescription medications are invited to participate in a study on circadian rhythms and sleep patterns in the blind. The study is being conducted at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. The study involves wearing an ambulatory monitor while you live at home and spending 4-5 days in the laboratory each month. Participants will be paid for their efforts and may also find out valuable information about their eyes and their sleep-wake patterns. For more information, call the hospital at 800-722-5520, extension 1132, at any time. Specify your interest in the "blind study." LARGE PRINT STATEMENTS Smith Barney will now offer large print monthly statements to its visually impaired clients under its settlement with the Department of Justice. The agreement resolves a complaint filed by a legally blind person who alleged that Smith Barney violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to print enlarged monthly statements. Smith Barney will have to pay the complainant $1,500 and notify branch managers, financial consultants and new clients of the new policy. FRAGRANCE GARDEN One of the many attractions for visitors to Lee County, Fla., is a recently opened, accessible fragrance garden for persons with disabilities. The garden features raised flower beds with braille and large print signs. The garden is located within Lakes Park, a popular county recreational facility that features a lake with swimming and boating, cookout and picnic areas, children's play areas, a fitness trail and other amenities. It is located on Gladiolus Drive a few blocks west of the intersection of U.S. 41. For more information, call Lakes Park at (813) 432-2000, or the Visitors and Convention Bureau at (813) 338-3500. NEW AT NLS Wells B. "Brad" Kormann has been appointed chief of the NLS Materials Development Division effective February 6. His responsibilities include managing activities related to the selection, development, production, distribution, control and repair of reading materials and related equipment; establishing and assuring standards of quality for the products; monitoring contracts with and providing guidance to more than 50 agencies, organizations, associations, publishers and firms that participate in providing reading resources and equipment; directing the activities of the book and equipment advisory committees; and supervising the six sections that make up the division. Kormann had served as program manager at Naval Air Systems Command for six years. HIGH TECH SWAP SHOP FOR SALE:Arkenstone E-card True Scan reader, connects to talking computer. Includes two cards, Hewlett-Packard scanner, and cassette tapes for installation and learning to use. Asking $500. Call Jana Robertson at (214) 341-3120. FOR SALE OR TRADE: Meva 4-inch portable CCTV, barely used, maintenance contract through February 1996. Asking $1,300; negotiable. Want to trade for 20-inch CCTV, preferably TSI product. Contact Kent Stanley, 1815 Gardenstone Dr., Columbus, OH 43235; phone (614) 766-4532 or (614) 766-5524. FOR SALE: Perkins brailler þ excellent condition, never used. Asking $200. Call Pat at (503) 271-2953. FOR SALE: Optacon model R1D in excellent condition. Asking $400. Contact Sandra Thomas at 16821 Flanders St., Granada Hills, CA 91344; phone (818) 831-0830. FOR SALE: One Type 'n Speak 640 with manuals, cables and service contract through October 1995. Asking $1,000. Also, wanted: a Braille 'n Speak with 64K memory. If interested, please contact Rodney Neely at 1716 Grove Ave., Apt. 1, Radford, VA 24141. FOR SALE: Due to failing health, I must sell much of my adaptive equipment. Thiel Beta X3 terminal and braille embosser #TBX 8343 and #TBX 8639 with manuals, six- and eight-dot braille, graphics, 130 cps. Like new. Asking $6,000 each. Epson DFX 5000 printer with 15-inch carriage. Can handle two types of forms with the press of a button. Asking $600. Epson DX35 printer with extra daisy wheels and ribbons, $125. DECTalk speech synthesizer, stand- alone with serial cable, $950. Speaqualizer speech synthesizer for IBM PCs with computer card, control box with speaker, earphone jack, and 19-key keypad and cable, $175. Votrax speech synthesizer, model 200B, has both serial and parallel ports, $125. Echo PC external speech synthesizer, $75. IBM XT, two 10-megabyte hard drives, two 5 1/4 floppies, Intel 386 accelerator card on internal circuit board. Includes Artic 210 speech synthesizer card and software. Asking $275. Braille Bible, King James version. Complete old and new testament, grade two braille, 16 volumes, $200. "The Nemeth Code of Braille Mathematics and Scientific Notation," grade two braille, five volumes, includes geometric formulas, tables of weights, etc. Asking $25. Contact Robert Larson at (408) 985-2843, or write to him at 2467 Homestead Rd., Santa Clara, CA 95050. FOR SALE: TSI VDU Versabraille display unit, $100. Versabraille II+ (internal drive), $2,500 or best offer. Versabraille II (two drives) $2,500 or best offer. Toshiba T1200 laptop with Artic, two floppy drives, $500 or best offer. Perkins brailler, $275. Optacon RD1 with all accessories, $1,500 or best offer. Epson HX 100 Small Talk with printer and tape drive, $200. Artic Business Vision speech for PC, board and software, $350 or best offer. Echo II PC speech synthesizer, $50. Votrax Type and Talk speech synthesizer, $50. Apple II plus CPU (3), $35 each. Apple II disk drives (5), $20 each. Echo II speech board for Apple II, $25. Sony 105 quarter-track tape deck, $100. Braille Dymo labeler, $35. Keeler lighted eyeglass magnifier, right side, $50 or best offer. Contact Jill Gross, 7221 Shalkop St., Philadelphia, PA 19128-3205; phone (215) 487-0347. FOR SALE: Digital DEC PC with internal speech card. One year old, with latest speech drivers (version 4.2). $750. Call Sean Cummins at (602) 639-2111. FOR SALE: Apple computer equipment. Includes Apple IIC, color monitor, external disk drive and Cricket speech synthesizer. Also includes Wordtalk word processing program and Termtalk terminal program. $275 or best offer. Contact Richard Fiorello at (716) 873-4132 after 6 p.m. Eastern time. YOU CAN DO IT by Ardis Bazyn Have you ever wished you were in a different career? I have enjoyed what I am doing but have always wondered if I could do something else also. Have you felt you were stuck in a rut because you thought you were too old to go back to school? Well, at one time I thought that, until I talked to several friends and my sister Charlene, who had gone back at my age. I was getting too close to 40 when I finally decided that I would "take the challenge." For several years I had regretted not ever going to college when I was younger. I had, of course, taken the food service management training needed to have a business in the Randolph- Sheppard program. I was now interested in doing more than just this. My husband, Dave, has many health problems which have led me to thinking seriously about future finances. I began to think it to my advantage to have a degree behind me which would allow me more flexibility. Of course, before I took the plunge, I did check out the three colleges in my community to find out what majors they had to offer. I also checked with a counselor at each to see what departments or persons to talk to in regard to special services I might need. I also did some soul searching to decide what I really wanted to go to school for. After checking on these questions, I pursued the possibility of testing out some courses. After all these preliminaries, I finally was ready to sign up for courses. When I first started thinking about college, I was concerned about my ability to keep up with classes, working, family commitments, and the other activities I am involved in. Most of all, I had lost my sight as an adult and therefore I was not sure I could handle it being totally blind. Perhaps you may think I was naive, especially since we all claim that blind persons can do whatever they want. However, I'm sure I am not the only one who has a queasy feeling when starting a new venture. I decided to take it slow the first semester. I studied for two college equivalency tests and took one class in public speaking, which I would need for one of the majors I wanted. I only passed one of the two college equivalency tests, probably because I did not really know how much studying I needed for them, but I did not have any trouble getting my homework done for the course I took. The second semester I decided to be brave and take four classes to be a full-time student. Since I had gained some confidence my first semester, I did not have any difficulty completing these courses. I did find that I needed to plan my time very carefully in order to fulfill all my obligations. Now after two and a half years, I have received my A.A. degree and have transferred to a four-year college. This spring I am enjoying junior status in my majors. I once thought that I would not be able to go to college, but after the encouragement of many friends and relatives, I am glad that I did decide to go back. I now encourage anyone who has thought about going back to college to sincerely think about it again. I'm sure that if I can do it, anyone can. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A QMB OR AN SLMB IS? by Glenn M. Plunkett You may know one þ a QMB is a Qualified Medicare Beneficiary and a SLMB is a Specified Low-Income Beneficiary. They are also the names of programs designed to offer help for Medicare beneficiaries who meet certain specified income levels. Those income levels are related to the national poverty levels for the United States. Under the QMB program, states are required to pay the Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance) premiums, deductibles, and insurance expenses for Medicare beneficiaries who meet the program's income and resource requirements. Under the SLMB program states pay only the full Medicare Part B monthly premium ($46.10 in 1995). Eligibility for the SLMB program may be retroactive for up to three calendar months. Both of the programs are administered by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) in conjunction with the states. The rules vary from state to state. In general, they are: * An individual may qualify for the QMB program if his or her income is near the national poverty level þ $7,470 annually in 1995 (about $643 per month). For a family of two, the 1995 poverty level income is near $10,030 annually (or $856 per month). Those amounts apply for residents of 48 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In Alaska, the 1995 poverty levels are $9,340 annually for an individual ($798 per month) and $12,540 annually for a family of two ($1,065 per month). In Hawaii, the 1995 poverty levels are $8,610 per year ($738 per month) for an individual and $11,550 per year ($983 per month) for a family of two. Under this program, $20 in monthly income is not counted toward the limit. The amounts shown here include the disregarded income. As an example of how the QMB program can help þ under Part A of Medicare, the hospital deductibles (for 1995) are $716 for the first 60 days of a hospital stay and $179 per day for days 61-90 in the hospital þ those deductibles would be paid, if one qualifies for the QMB program. If you think you might qualify for help under either program, you will need to file a claim with your state of local welfare or social service agency. Only your state can decide if you are eligible for help from either the QMB or the SLMB programs. However, if you think you may qualify but have not filed for Medicare Part A, contact your local social security field office to find out if you need to file an application, or call SSA's toll free number (800) 772-1213. * For the SLMB program, annual income must be 120 percent or less of the 1995 national poverty levels. Residents of the 48 states and the District of Columbia may qualify if, for an individual, monthly income is $767 or less and for a couple it is $1,023 or less. In Alaska, an individual may qualify for SLMB if monthly income is $954 or less; for a family of two, the monthly income limit is $1,274 or less. In Hawaii, the corresponding amounts are $881 or less for an individual and $1,175 or less for a family of two. Under the SLMB program, $20 in monthly income is not counted toward the limit, and these figures reflect that income disregard. * Resources þ such as bank accounts or stocks þ may not exceed $4,000 for one person or $6,000 for a family of two. Resources generally are things you own. However, not everything is counted; for example, the house you live in does not count, and in some circumstances, your car may not count. For more information about either program, call the Health Care Financing Administration toll free at (800) 638-6833. ACB BOARD OF DIRECTORS Immediate Past President: Otis Stephens, Ph.D., Knoxville, TN Sue Ammeter, Seattle, WA Ardis Bazyn, Cedar Rapids, IA Patricia Beattie, Arlington, VA Christopher Gray, San Jose, CA John Horst, Wilkes-Barre, PA Jean Mann, Guilderland, NY Kristal Platt, Omaha, NE M.J. Schmitt, Berwyn, IL Pamela Shaw, Silver Spring, MD Richard Villa, Bedford, TX BOARD OF PUBLICATIONS Billie Jean Hill, Chairperson, Alexandria, VA Kim Charlson, Watertown, MA Thomas Mitchell, North Salt Lake City, UT Mitch Pomerantz, Los Angeles, CA Edward Potter, Goldsboro, NC Ex Officio: Laura Oftedahl, Watertown, MA ACB OFFICERS PRESIDENT LEROY SAUNDERS 2118 N.W. 21st ST. OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73107 FIRST VICE PRESIDENT CHARLES S.P. HODGE 1131 S. FOREST DR. ARLINGTON, VA 22204 SECOND VICE PRESIDENT STEPHEN SPEICHER 825 M ST., SUITE 216 LINCOLN, NE 68508 SECRETARY PATRICIA PRICE 5707 BROCKTON DRIVE #302 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46220 TREASURER BRIAN CHARLSON 57 GRANDVIEW AVENUE WATERTOWN, MA 02172 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ELIZABETH M. LENNON