THE Braille Forum Vol. XXXVI November 1997 No. 5 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. Paul Edwards, President Oral O. Miller, J.D., Executive Director 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 Web Site: http://www.acb.org 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. Those much-needed contributions, which are tax-deductible, can be sent to Patricia Beattie, treasurer, at the above 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 1997 American Council of the Blind TABLE OF CONTENTS President's Message: Help Wanted, by Paul Edwards Report Of The Executive Director, by Oral O. Miller For 1998, It's Orlando Magic, The Adventure Of A Lifetime, by John A. Horst No Hot Dogs For The Guide Dogs! An Advocacy Partnership At Work, by Jenine Stanley She's Ringing Up Sales With Her Jingles, by Nolan Crabb Ask The Advocates: Knowledge Is Power, by Mark Richert Robotron's Aria: It Does Everything But Sing!, by Nolan Crabb Here And There, by Elizabeth M. Lennon Affiliate News High Tech Swap Shop Summary of 1997 ACB Resolutions ELECTRONIC JOB BANK UP The advocacy services staff at the ACB national office is proud to announce the establishment of a new, electronic Job Bank. The Job Bank is posted on the internet and contains job listings sent to ACB and other appropriate listings. This service is available now! To access the Job Bank, please contact our web site at http://www.acb.org, and then click on the ACB Job Bank link. Thank you, and good luck. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE: HELP WANTED by Paul Edwards Deadlines are wonderful things! They require that those of us who try to meet them become suddenly and immediately ready to write! This is usually not a huge problem but, with several crises happening at work and in between trips to Missouri and Virginia and trying to put together the report of the Development Committee which met in Chicago, there is just too much going on to feel settled and secure. This message is not going to be one of those finely crafted jewels of literary excellence that you have become accustomed to seeing from me. Instead it is going to be a series of shorter thoughts sort of strung together on a basic theme. At the convention this summer I announced my intention to allocate more responsibility to my officers. I've done that now! Each ACB officer will supervise a group of committees. I have tried to look at what I saw as the strengths of my officers in deciding what groups to ask them to supervise. They are now in the process of putting together their final committee lists which I will then look at to make sure that we have affiliate, gender and ethnic equity. Then we will be ready to go. The executive director will also be calling committee chairs during November as part of the 1998 budgetary preparation process. Without the assistance of all the officers, ACB would be much farther behind this year than it now is. There has just not been enough of me to go around this summer and fall. At various times the help of all my officers has been indispensable and more of it is definitely wanted! As many of you know, both the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration employ a number of people who are blind. Both of these agencies are making extensive changes to their computer interfaces. We have already heard from some people who are finding the new interfaces very difficult to use and who are concerned about their jobs. The ACB is part of a task force on information access which is trying to take a more systematic approach toward finding out how things are going at these agencies. We have set up an e-mail address that you can use to let us know if you are having problems. In fact, just let us know who you are even if you are not having problems. If you work for the tax people, write to us at IRS@ACB.ORG and if you work for Social Security, contact us at SSA@acb.org. If you have not yet become an e-mail junkie, write to Brian Charlson, 57 Grandview Ave., Watertown, MA 02172. We want to know about people who are being affected by these changes so we can help. The last kind of help that I want to discuss concerns all of you. Over the past month or so we have been working hard, with your assistance, to try to persuade Congress that the Gorton amendment is a bad idea. As you may know, the Gorton amendment would have taken a substantial portion of funds that are funneled through the Department of Education and sent those dollars directly to local school districts. Among the programs that appear to have been included are such programs as those that provide dollars to the American Printing House for the Blind, programs aiming to make technology available in every classroom, a portion of the vocational rehabilitation allocation and a range of other initiatives. People who are blind can and do benefit from many of the programs that would not be funded because their dollars had been block granted. I've heard from many affiliate leaders and many people who have managed to get inaccurate information from others about this issue. In some measure, this is the result of the increasing quantity of information that is available on any given subject. Thus ACB was by no means alone in the information provision arena. Many of our folks work closely with their blindness agencies and some of the information that those people were given by organizations that should know better was flat-out inaccurate. At bottom, the issue is who should you believe. The American Council of the Blind speaks for you and represents the interests of consumers. Often our interests and those of other groups such as vocational rehabilitation agencies coincide. Sometimes they do not. The rehabilitation organizations took a much narrower position on the Gorton amendment than did ACB, the American Foundation for the Blind and National Industries for the Blind. The three organizations all took the position that the Gorton amendment as a whole should be defeated and excised from the legislation to which it is attached. Other organizations were only interested in seeing rehabilitation dollars protected. I heard from many people that the Gorton amendment is no longer an issue. People spoke of our complete victory and indicated that there was no longer any need for us to act. As of October 22, 1997, the day this is being written, no decision has been made. Some promises have been made by Senator Gorton but these relate only to rehabilitation. There has certainly been no final and complete victory and many programs from which people who are blind can benefit are still in jeopardy. Your primary source of information should be the Washington Connection. Anyone who has e-mail can automatically receive updates of the Connection as soon as they are released. Contact Krista Dubroff at our national office to be placed on the list. You can also utilize our 800 number to access the Washington Connection weekday evenings and all day on weekends. That number is (800) 424-8666. If something changes, the Connection will tell you. Until the Connection changes, take any information you may receive from other sources with a healthy dollop of salt. ACB is your organization! We take positions that we believe are in the best interests of blind people all over this country. Please help us by listening carefully to the positions we propose on the Washington Connection and then help us by sharing our position with all your friends and colleagues. We need you to be prepared to stand up and ask where the information that differs from ours comes from and we need you to be prepared to express your skepticism about positions or information that appears radically different from what you get from the Connection. So my message this time is all about help. I have and will continue to avail myself of the invaluable help of the other officers of ACB. Help us develop a list of those people who are being affected by the changes at IRS and SSA. Most of all, help us by becoming advocates who purvey accurate information. When I was working on my education degree one of the more colorful definitions of education that I ran across indicated that a good educational system could be judged by the ability of those who had been educated to detect crap. Let us help you to become highly efficient crap detectors! REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR by Oral O. Miller In view of the enormous amount of effort connected with planning and conducting the ACB annual national convention there is a tendency on the part of many people to assume very incorrectly that activities go dormant between mid-July and January of the next year. Indeed, incorrect! Many aspects of advocacy and public education are, like the 90 percent of the iceberg that is unseen, underwater. Within recent weeks, for example, ACB staff members have spent six full days meeting with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) committees responsible for drafting accessibility standards (regarding buildings, banking machines, etc.) and countless other hours meeting with the Health Care Finance Administration, National Institutes of Health, Amtrak, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and congressional offices. Many extremely important issues flared brightly, were dealt with by staff and members and were resolved in some manner so quickly that they could be monitored successfully only on a day-by-day basis via the Washington Connection and electronic alerts. In this category we include a legislative effort to subordinate the priority contained in the Randolph-Sheppard Act to the priority contained in the Veterans Canteen Service Act and another legislative effort to lump federal rehabilitation funds into simple block grants to be made to the states. These issues may be less pressing now than they were a few weeks ago, but they are likely to come back and it is essential for ACB members to stay abreast of such matters by, for example, calling the Washington Connection regularly and availing themselves of other sources of accurate and up-to-date information. Anyone wanting to be added to ACB's internet network alert system or fax alert system should contact the ACB national office, which absolutely cannot make individual calls to publicize late-breaking issues. Levi Strauss guide dog ad Yes, advocacy organization cooperation and grassroots advocacy efforts pay off! I am pleased to underscore the importance of the victory attained by ACB and our affiliate Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI) in convincing Levi Strauss & Co. to withdraw its TV advertisement that showed a pretty young woman (undoubtedly attired in Levi's apparel) feeding a hot dog to a working guide dog without the blind handler of the dog supposedly knowing about the incident. This action came about only as the result of communicating with Levi Strauss officials, explaining the seriousness of the irresponsible ad, publicizing the matter to countless grassroots advocates and demanding remedial action. We commend Levi Strauss & Co. for the corrective action taken to date and we encourage that company to take further action to undo any damage done. For further information on this subject, see the separate article in this issue titled "No Hot Dogs for the Guide Dogs!" International visitors In recent weeks the American Council of the Blind has been honored with visits by dignitaries and advocates from several nations. These dedicated people contacted ACB to share knowledge and assist one another in accomplishing the joint goal of improving the well-being of blind people throughout the world. We were fascinated, for example, to learn of the work of Mr. Xu Bailun founder of the Golden Key Center for the Visually Impaired, Beijing, People's Republic of China, in beginning to develop a system to provide at least minimal mainstream education for the great majority of the blind young people in China who are not able to attend that nation's residential schools, most of which are located in large cities. We were pleased to hear of the further work also of Ms. Zhuang Ai Ling of the Amity Foundation of Nanjing, People's Republic of China, whom it was my pleasure to meet last year while leading the People to People International Delegation to the People's Republic of China to share information regarding the education and rehabilitation of blind people. Although we in the USA are justified in working to improve the status of blind people in every category, we are forced to consider how fortunate blind Americans are when compared to our colleagues in other countries. This point was brought home vividly to us during the recent visit of Mr. Akram Karimovich Bobokalonov, founder of the Society for Invalids and the Blind of Tajikistan. We hope that the information which we shared with Mr. Bobokalonov will be of assistance as he, a blinded former photographer, works desperately to find jobs for blind and other disabled people in that distant central Asian nation, whose program for the blind no longer receives assistance from the sources available to it prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. More on the Metro lawsuit Although the time has not yet come to announce total victory in the lawsuit filed by the American Council of the Blind and other plaintiffs to compel the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act by installing detectable warning strips along platform edges, we are extremely encouraged by WMATA's admission (finally) that its proposed infrared detected and vibrator- transmitted warning system is inadequate (to put it mildly) and that a detectable surface would be better. Many ACB members in the Washington metropolitan area (including ACB national office staff members) took part in tests recently conducted by the Battelle Institute for WMATA to ascertain the detectability of truncated domes made of different materials and located in slightly different positions in relation to platform edges. Inasmuch as results obtained can be influenced easily by the testing protocol used, many who took the test (including this writer) pointed out vigorously to Battelle representatives that the protocol was flawed very seriously because it forced the people being tested to approach the platform edge straight ahead from an exact right angle rather than as a traveler might approach the edge while walking along the platform and gradually coming closer to the edge or as he or she might come near the edge while turning, stopping, starting and changing directions in avoiding other people or objects on the platform. There was also a significant difference between the ways in which the various surfaces being tested were attached to the platform, thereby influencing their detectability. In summary, stay tuned to see how these latest test results are misused as the WMATA prolongs a controversy which has already cost the taxpayers and transit riders many millions of dollars. New CFC number By the time this issue of "The Braille Forum" is received, most ACB members and many others will have received ACB's only fund-raising request of the year. Inasmuch as ACB's dues are truly nominal and it costs approximately $20 a year to send the braille edition of "The Braille Forum" to one person and it costs more than that to pay for one person to call the Washington Connection just once a week, I urge everyone to respond as generously as possible with a tax-deductible donation this year. We appreciate also the generous assistance we receive from members and friends who assist ACB via donations through the Combined Federal Campaign, the United Way or other job site campaigns. Due to the restructuring of several of the federated associations through which non-profit organizations take part in the Combined Federal Campaign and several other job site campaigns, ACB's new organization identification number as a member of the Human Service Charities of America is 2802. FOR 1998, IT'S ORLANDO MAGIC, THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME by John A. Horst, Convention Coordinator The 1998 convention of the American Council of the Blind will take place at the Clarion Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Fla. The dates are Saturday, July 4 to Saturday, July 11. The Clarion Plaza, a 14-story first-class hotel, offers 650 rooms. It is located on International Drive at the hub of Orlando's famous attractions. The address is 9700 International Dr., Orlando, Fla. 32819-8114. Reservations can be made at any time by calling (800) 366-9700 or (407) 352-9700. The rate is $55 per night plus tax for up to four people per room. As always, a credit card number or one night's payment must be provided to hold your reservation. All convention activities will take place at this hotel. The overflow hotel is the Quality Inn Plaza located about two blocks from the Clarion. It is within easy walking distance with only driveways into parking lots to cross. However, shuttle service will be provided by the Clarion. This hotel is located at 9000 International Drive, Orlando, Fla. 32819; phone (407) 345- 8585. Rates at this hotel are $51 per night plus tax for up to four people per room. Town and Country Van Service provides transportation from the airport to both hotels. The cost is $12 one way. Its telephone number is (407) 828-3036. Carl McCoy, president of the Florida Council of the Blind, is appointing a host committee. He along with members of this committee will be working closely with the convention committee to plan a successful convention. Mid-year meetings For 1998, the ACB winter meetings will be held at the Clarion Plaza on Saturday, February 14 to Monday, February 16. The affiliate presidents' meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and continue until Sunday noon. The ACB board of directors will meet Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. Hotel reservations for these meetings can be made at any time. The cut-off date is January 13, 1998. Convention rates will apply. Special-interest group presidents and committee chairs will soon receive a response form from the ACB national office. Please use this form to advise ACB of the date and time of your sessions, the estimated number of people who will attend, and any special arrangements you desire. This should be done as soon as possible but no later than December 15, 1997. Reservations at the convention hotel ACB members who have made reservations early and those who have made reservations for groups are asked to be certain that the rooms you have reserved will be used. If for some reason you decide you will not be attending the convention or your group is smaller than anticipated, please cancel rooms immediately so that they can be assigned to others. This year, 1997, a number of rooms at the Adam's Mark in Houston were canceled at the last minute and remained vacant during the convention. Airline reservations Since Orlando is a popular destination, airline reservations to attend the February meetings and the convention should be made as early as possible if you wish to obtain the lowest cost and the flight times you desire. ACB will again contract with AAA Travel from Muskogee, Okla., for ACB travel for 1998. This travel agency provides the lowest fares and secures complimentary tickets that are used by ACB personnel. Also, this contract includes a profit- sharing provision that benefits ACB. As a result, you will be assisting ACB if you utilize this travel agency. Please call (800) 259-9299 for all your ACB-related travel needs. Agreements for 1998 will be established with American and Delta airlines through AAA Travel of Muskogee. If your flight reservations are made 60 days or more before your scheduled flight, you will receive a 10 percent discount. After that, a 5 percent discount. Reservations must be made through AAA Travel of Muskogee with one of these airlines. Preparation for ACB's 37th convention is well on its way. Don't miss fabulous Orlando, Fla., in 1998. CAPTION (All photos copyright 1997 by Jowdy Photography.) Theater by the Blind's Maureen O'Hare, Peter Seymour, and George Ashiotis perform a selection from "What It Means to Be Blind" at the banquet Friday night. NO HOT DOGS FOR THE GUIDE DOGS! An Advocacy Partnership At Work by Jenine Stanley Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI) encourages images of guide dog teams in the popular media. But one of the worst nightmares for an advocacy organization is an inappropriate portrayal of its constituency. Imagine the turmoil created when a commercial for Levi Strauss jeans featured a woman feeding a hot dog to a guide dog in harness as its blind handler stood by, not reacting. This ad, part of a series airing in the United States and Canada from mid-summer 1997, did in fact show a real guide dog/blind person team, but the situation was far from the "diversity" point Levi Strauss hoped to portray. In the ad, the man and woman establish through contact at the beginning of the spot that they have some sort of relationship. The woman then goes to a hot dog vendor and buys a hot dog, making a point that it must be "plain." She returns to where the blind man is leaning against a wall, leg bent, displaying the Levi product. She calls to the dog, which is wearing its harness, and feeds it the hot dog. The dog gulps down the food quite happily. Mobilizing for advocacy This image sent chills and definite anger through the guide dog community. GDUI released information about the ad in mid- September. To our surprise, dog handlers were already reporting instances of the public feeding their guide dogs and directly attributing the action to having seen it in a commercial. Clear, direct advocacy was definitely needed in this situation. Though GDUI is the largest international organization of people interested in guide dogs, with more than 870 members in seven countries, we are still a group of volunteers, with real jobs and very busy lives. We had no means to send out the press releases necessary to alert the media and get the attention of Levi Strauss officials. Then it occurred to me that the ACB national office had our answer! At the GDUI convention in 1997, Mark Richert, ACB's director of advocacy services, gave an excellent presentation as part of our self-advocacy panel. I thought he could help us with the Levi situation. Help he certainly did. From the first phone call, an enthusiasm took hold. Richert and Sarah DeYoung, his assistant, took the draft of a press release I had created and crafted a statement from both GDUI and ACB. The press release went out the same day we wrote it þ September 22. On September 25 a piece appeared on the front page of the "USA Today" Life section. The piece was small, but it spotlighted the issue. The press release appeared in several major newspapers over the next week. The advocacy effort was further fueled by the determination and excitement of the thousands of people who got on the electronic mail band wagon. While the ACB staff fielded press calls at the national office, I sent out status reports via e-mail. I received hundreds of responses from people on the Internet who had also found the ad frustrating. They wrote letters and shared the form letter responses of Levi Strauss. Orientation/mobility instructors, dog breeders, puppy raisers and concerned citizens joined the letter writing and telephoning campaign. It doesn't happen overnight One week after our press release hit, we had heard nothing official from Levi Strauss. GDUI members were relentless in calling the company and soon hit pay dirt. Mark Hogan of Levi's Consumer Relations Department returned my call during the afternoon of September 30, asking exactly who GDUI was and what we wanted. I explained our position þ we wanted the ad pulled and replaced with a more responsible portrayal of guide dogs. Hogan, obviously extremely busy during our first conversation, didn't seem to grasp the significance of our request. The advertising agency that produced the commercials, Foote, Cone & Belding, went in search of a guide dog team for the commercial. Paul Rutkowski was approached and though he was too old for the part of the man, the ad agency asked if they might use his guide dog. When Rutkowski heard the script for the commercial, he flatly refused the offer and explained in detail why this image would not be appropriate. The agency disregarded Rutkowski's explanation and found another guide dog handler who fit the part and who was willing to allow his dog to follow the script and eat the hot dog. Officials at Levi Strauss, when confronted with the fact that feeding a working dog can be dangerous, responded by saying that the handler in the ad had explained that "the dog is only working when I have my hand on the harness handle." Obviously, this view of a working dog is purely subjective and not the standard taught at the guide dog schools or followed by the majority of handlers. A change of attitude After my conversation with Mr. Hogan of Levi Strauss, I was frustrated with how ineffective our efforts had been to this point in educating the company about the damage the ad was doing across the country. I released Hogan's direct dial number to those on the Internet who had responded so readily. Then I called Mark Richert at ACB to discuss what to do next. Richert suggested that we put together a letter again from ACB and GDUI and send it, registered mail, to the Levi Strauss CEO with a specified date for action if no response came. He also mentioned another press release and further action should Levi Strauss not take this matter seriously. Around 9 p.m. (EDT) September 30, Mr. Hogan called me to let me know that Levi Strauss had decided, based on consumer feedback, to phase out the ad until it could be re-edited to take out the feeding scene. The re-edited ad should begin airing in either December or February. Hogan was apologetic about the problems the ad caused and noted that the large amount of public feedback helped Levi Strauss realize the gravity of the situation. I assured Mr. Hogan that GDUI was pleased with the decision and appreciated the image of a guide dog and blind person in its ads, if portrayed responsibly. But simply phasing out the ad was not enough. As more and more handlers and members of the public contacted Mr. Hogan, it became apparent that Levi Strauss was trying to hush the issue rather than acknowledging the significant danger the image could cause. GDUI and ACB went ahead with plans for the joint letter demanding an official public response from Levi Strauss. Though this response came, we still were not happy with its matter-of-fact feel. On October 15, another press release hit the media regarding GDUI and ACB's feeling about this issue and representation of blind people and their means of independence in the media in general. Levi Strauss ultimately agreed to pull the television advertisements. What did we learn? First and foremost, we learned that ACB can offer a valuable resource in its advocacy services staff to assist special-interest affiliates. Before contacting Richert, I would suggest that any group answer the following questions. Answers will help him to figure out with you the best strategy to take. 1. What is the issue, who does it affect and how? Our issue was twofold þ the dog being fed and the blind person seeming to be oblivious. 2. What would your organization like to see as an acceptable outcome? We wanted the ad changed to reflect a more realistic, responsible image of a guide dog team. We didn't just want the ad taken off the air. There had to be a proper depiction to replace it and some acknowledgement of wrong having been done by Levi Strauss. 3. What can your organization bring to the table to assist in the effort? I wrote a draft press release then e-mailed it to Richert for proofing and further dissemination. I also used the GDUI network via e-mail to spread the word about the press release. ACB staff put the press release and the ACB letter to Levi Strauss on its Internet lists while I distributed this information to other interested parties and lists. GDUI members shared their letters via e-mail and encouraged others not on the Internet to write and call. I then offered to write this article on our joint efforts so that more people could hear about successful advocacy. What else did we learn? I sincerely hope that all guide dog handlers were given pause to think about what they would do if approached about being part of such a commercial being seen by millions of people. By allowing his dog to be portrayed in such a manner, the handler gave a potentially dangerous impression to the public. The negative impact of feeding and other interference from the public was felt by people with other types of disabilities who work with service animals. We must realize that we represent an entire segment of the population. What we choose to do regarding the conduct of ourselves and our dogs can affect the very rights we cherish. The guide dog handler's irresponsibility in choosing to participate in this commercial brings up the "ownership" debate. This man was trained with his dog by The Seeing Eye, which, based on its belief in the dignity of blind people, gives graduates full ownership of the dog upon graduation. This situation put officials at The Seeing Eye in a difficult position, quite unfairly. Though they had no legal recourse regarding the use of the dog, people perceived them as responsible because they did not stop or punish the graduate. Using the dog in such a commercial venture is a violation of the contracts of many guide dog schools that do not provide such unconditional ownership. For graduates of these programs, such actions could result in the dog being reclaimed by the school. Unfortunately, the sole act of owning or not owning a guide dog legally would not stop people from engaging in irresponsible behavior. GDUI, ACB and the United States Council of Dog Guide Schools want to work together on outreach to advertising agencies and the media on the appropriate portrayal of service animals and their handlers. Guide dog handlers know the special feeling when a partnership really works. I look forward to future partnership with Mark Richert and the ACB staff to advance the rights and appropriate depiction of guide dog teams. (Editor's Note: Levi Strauss Associates Inc. agreed to pull the offending television advertisements from all markets where they were running. To acknowledge this action, and to further explain the concerns raised by blind people and guide dog users, ACB widely distributed the following press release to the media.) Levi Strauss Pulls Ad Endangering Blind People and Guide Dogs Washington, D.C., October 15, 1997 þ Responding to the concerns of thousands of blind and visually impaired people, Levi Strauss Associates Inc. has decided to stop running television advertisements showing a young woman feeding a hot dog to a dog guide while the dog's blind handler stands by oblivious to the action. In a letter dated October 13, 1997, to the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and Guide Dog Users Inc. (GDUI), Levi Strauss' Vice President for Marketing and Research, Steve Goldstein, said, "We thought we'd done our homework. However, ... this portrayal was not responsible or accurate. ... We should have been more diligent in our research." Jenine Stanley, President of GDUI, says that the Levi's ad was "sending a demeaning and harmful message about blind people and guide dogs. Whether it is actively guiding its blind handler or not, never pet or feed a guide dog while it is wearing its harness. Interfering with the dog may lead to a breakdown in the dog's training, endangering the safety of both the dog and its blind handler." In an effort to explain Levi Strauss' initial decision to run the ad, Mr. Goldstein said, "We discussed the script with the actor and the guide dog's owner. We learned that the guide dog's owner occasionally allows his own guide dog to eat human food including hot dogs, but that the dog was allowed to do so only when it was being held by a leash, not its harness, and hence was 'off duty.'" But William Hansen, Chair of the United States Council of Dog Guide Schools, rejects this justification. "Personal preferences, such as that displayed by the handler of the dog in the Levi ad, are merely personal choices and are practices that are not recommended or condoned," Hansen says. The Levi's ad has already spawned imitation by the public. "In the last few weeks, we have been learning about many members of the public feeding or otherwise interfering with guide dogs and attributing their actions to the Levi's ad," says Mark Richert, Director of Advocacy Services for ACB. To address a nationwide increase in interference with guide dogs by the public, a number of states have enacted laws making harassment or interference a crime. Now that the ad is no longer running, ACB and GDUI have called upon Levi Strauss to replace the ad with a "more responsible" portrayal of interaction with guide dogs. Says Stanley, "Today, October 15th, is National White Cane Safety Day, a day to recognize the right of people who are blind to travel safely and independently. Whether we use canes or guide dogs, this right is too valuable to be mocked or diminished by the kind of misinformation contained in Levi Strauss' ad. We hope that Levi Strauss will try to help undo the damage that's been done." Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI) is an international support and advocacy organization which promotes acceptance of blind people and their dogs, works for enforcement, expansion and standardization of laws admitting guide dogs into public places, advocates for quality training and follow-up services, and publishes the newsletter, "Pawtracks," on cassette. Blind and visually impaired persons who use guide dogs or are interested in guide dogs, professionals employed by guide dog training schools and other interested individuals are members of GDUI. The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is the nation's leading membership organization of blind and visually impaired people. ACB was founded in 1961 and strives to further the independence, equality and quality of life of Americans who are blind. ACB fulfills this mission by raising awareness about the capabilities of people who are blind, advocating for the rights of blind persons and providing extensive information resources to ACB members and others. The United States Council of Dog Guide Schools is a professional association dedicated to improving the quality of breeding, training and related services to produce the most effective guide dog/blind person team. SHE'S RINGING UP SALES WITH HER JINGLES by Nolan Crabb If you're over 25, and someone were to say to you, "Winston tastes good ..." you could probably finish the phrase with "like a cigarette should." You might even be able to sing the tune. And of course, there's "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" and "plop, plop, fizz, fizz," both jingles referring to Alka- Seltzer. If you were to hear the slogan "GE: We bring good things to life," you could probably sing the song for the ad. TV and radio jingles are indeed powerful weapons used by clever advertisers to get us to buy their products. Terri Anderson- Lifsey is an independent warrior on the battlefield of memorable persuasion. The jingles she writes, sings, and sells are ringing up sales for the companies who buy her work. Blind from birth, Anderson-Lifsey isn't a nameless face in a teeming crowd of jingle writers at an ad agency in New York. Rather, she is LT Productions, a gutsy little production house in Round Rock, Texas, a few miles north of Austin, that isn't afraid to take on the big agencies if she has to to sell jingles to companies eager to get you singing their slogans and buying their products. Jingle writing is the ultimate home business for someone who is technologically savvy and musically gifted. But like many good things, LT Productions was born out of tragedy and trouble. The company was forged in the fire of loss þ the loss of a career and two guide dogs within months. She was simultaneously plagued with a series of health problems. "I guess I've always liked singing," she says. "I began singing and performing in elementary school. Lots of folks told me I had the gift þ the voice needed to make it in the music business." She knew how to sing when she tried entertaining others for a living. It was in that arena of scrambling for bookings and the like where she learned the determination sheþd need to make it as a jingle writer. "You need every bit as much determination as talent to make it. A lot of people wouldn't think that. They'd figure jingle writing is pretty insignificant compared to writing and singing songs in some concert hall. But in some ways, jingle writing is even more challenging. With jingles you only have a few seconds to create a memory and motivate someone." Anderson-Lifsey eventually determined she wanted something the unforgiving and complicated lifestyle of the entertainment world couldn't provide. Uncertain as to what to do, she took massage therapy classes. Although she holds a valid license in massage therapy, health problems prematurely ended that career, forcing her to look again at music as her ticket to economic independence. "I heard scores of ads for these 900 line date companies," she recalls. "I just sat down one day with the equipment I had at hand and created a jingle for one of them. I took the chance and played it to the guy who owned the company. He liked it instantly, and the company bought the jingle. Before I knew it, it was on radio stations all over Utah." With that sale, Anderson-Lifsey was bitten by the jingle- writing bug. "It became clear to me that I could do this business no matter where I lived. That's a good thing, because I had moved from Utah to Texas shortly after selling that first jingle. I could succeed without having to travel extensively, and I could sell jingles literally anywhere in this country right from the house." That's exactly what's happened in the year since she began earnestly working at it. With help from Alvin Hurwitz, a member of the Senior Core of Retired Executives, Anderson-Lifsey built a business plan that would enable her to turn a dream into a money- making reality. With her plan in place, she approached the Texas Commission for the Blind and explained her adaptive equipment needs. Rather than back away and encourage Anderson-Lifsey to pursue a more traditional career, Rachel Simpson, an innovative rehabilitation counselor at the commission agreed to buy the equipment þ a decision that seems to be paying off. Today, Anderson-Lifsey's jingles can be heard on radio stations from Austin to Florida. Her Internet web site offers a variety of sample jingles and sounds she's created with her computers and keyboards. "I still have a lot of work to do to grow this business," she explains, "but my jingles are out there. I've sold to cable companies, flower shops, restaurants þ the sheer variety has been incredible." Anderson-Lifsey says jingles can be used by even the smallest companies for a variety of reasons. "They're inexpensive and versatile. Let's say you're a creator of screenreader technology and you want to draw attention to yourself at a convention: Get a jingle and have it playing at your exhibit booth. Jingles aren't just for radio or TV, although that's their primary market, of course." As a challenge, "The Braille Forum" asked Anderson-Lifsey to create a jingle for a fictional screenreader company we called Talk of the Town. Any resemblance to any company with that or a similar name is purely coincidental. Within hours after the challenge was issued, we got the call; the jingle for Talk of the Town was done, and the digital audio tape was on its way to us. Those of you who enjoy the cassette edition of "The Braille Forum" can hear an example of Anderson-Lifsey's jingle for the fictitious screenreader manufacturer. "It's rare when you find something that's as challenging and enjoyable as this is," she says. "I'm still learning about the business, but I'm networking with the right people who can help with the right answers. Sure, it's discouraging some days when you try to sell something and the business wants you to give them your jingle, but you keep at it, and the sales come." Once the jingle portion of the business reaches a specific target, Anderson-Lifsey wants to cut her own CD. She has the means and the talent to do it now, but she wants the jingle side of the business to be bigger than it is, and that will take some time. So how does one give birth to a jingle? "You have to know what the company does," Anderson-Lifsey explains. "You have to know what the ownerþs perception of the company is. You have to get the owner to give you three or four ideas on what he or she feels is most important about the company. With those ideas, you go to work. Usually the lyrics come first. Then you just play around with the music until it sounds right." Anderson-Lifsey says she tries to give her clients a variety of jingles from which to pick. "Of course, I'll nudge them in the direction I think they ought to go, but when it's all said and done, I'll sell whichever one they like." She admits it's still a thrill to hear her work on the radio. "Most people don't get much of a thrill out of listening to commercials," she says. "But I've come to appreciate the effort and talent that goes into the music in ads, so I actually enjoy listening to them. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get excited about hearing one of mine." For more information about Anderson-Lifsey and LT Productions, visit her site on the Internet at http://www.prismnet.com/ltpro or call the company at (512) 255- 0443. ASK THE ADVOCATES: Knowledge Is Power by Mark Richert PRELIMINARY REMARKS In this edition of "Ask The Advocates," we explore two of the more common questions asked by ACB members and others. The first question concerns a problem that occurs all too frequently, namely allegations of overpayment of benefits by the Social Security Administration. The second question concerns the scope of the right to have information provided in media accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. As will be the case with any of the answers to the questions raised in this column, the answers provided are not intended to address all aspects of the issue. Rather, the answers are designed to help you to be more aware of some basic information that is often overlooked. If you are dealing with issues related to these questions, or any others which appear in the future, please do not hesitate to contact the national office to discuss the specific circumstances you face. The answers provided may give guidance or perhaps reassurance, but they are not meant to be exhaustive. A more detailed treatment of these issues, or discussion of future topics, will be based upon your interest and input. Please let me know what you would like to see discussed. Now, to this month's questions. QUESTION: I've been receiving benefits from Social Security for some time. I thought I'd been playing by the rules. Then they sent me a letter saying that I owe them thousands of dollars. I don't have that kind of money, and I don't know where I would get it. What can I do? ANSWER: Overpayments of benefits by the Social Security Administration (SSA) happen more often than you might think. One government study estimated that hundreds of millions of dollars of SSA's budget could be saved each year if better procedures were put in place to reduce the problem. There are lots of reasons why an overpayment of benefits can happen. Misapplication of the rules by SSA representatives, consumer difficulty in grappling with the complex web of regulations that SSA follows, the failure of those receiving benefits to notify SSA when they begin to work, or even mere paperwork mistakes and typographical errors can lead to overpayment. As a first step, it is important to determine the basis for the claim that you have been overpaid. You shouldn't just assume that the claims made by SSA are the gospel, and you certainly should not simply ignore the notices and hope that they will stop coming or that nothing will happen if you don't respond. When you receive the notice of overpayment, your first step is to decide whether to seek reconsideration of the determination that an overpayment exists. The overpayment determination must be questioned within 60 days of the notice in order to protect the right to challenge both the existence of an overpayment or the amount of the overpayment. If there is any question about the overpayment, such issue must be raised immediately. For both SSDI and SSI benefits, this request for reconsideration filed within 30 days is supposed to stop the SSA from beginning the process to recover the overpayment. Although we can help you determine whether you really do owe money to SSA, let me tell you about another option. If you are reasonably certain that you do in fact owe the money, or if it becomes clear that establishing that you do not owe the refund will be difficult, you can seek to waive the requirement that you pay back the money. Waiver may be requested at any time, even after SSA's attempt to recover the overpayment has begun. Waiver involves a subjective evaluation, and SSA must offer an opportunity for a face-to-face conference. To obtain the waiver, you must show two things. First you must demonstrate that overpayment was made to you through no fault of your own, meaning that you have been acting in good faith. As is always the case when dealing with SSA, keep a copy of every piece of paper they send to you. If you make any telephone inquiries or any in-person visits to a Social Security office, follow up the conversation with a letter summarizing the discussion. Always make a note of the name of the person with whom you spoke, and keep a copy of letters and other documents you send. Demonstrating that you have been acting in good faith will be much easier to establish if you have such materials. For example, being able to show that you notified SSA about changes in your work status will go a long way to show no fault. Generally speaking, simply arguing that the rules are too complicated to understand will not do, but if you can show that you have acted cooperatively with SSA or that you have responded to requests for information, you can show no fault. If you have questions about how any of the rules are supposed to work, you are encouraged to contact the national office. Secondly, to obtain a waiver, you must also be able to show that paying SSA back will cause financial hardship. This does not mean that you must show that paying SSA back will make you completely broke. To make a showing of financial hardship, you will be asked to provide some basic information about your resources, if any, and about any income you may or may not have. This information will be evaluated and a determination will be made as to whether the burden of refunding the overpayment is significant. If you have acted in good faith, and if it will be a hardship for you to make the refund, the requirement will be waived. Generally, SSA has been fair in granting waivers. However, SSA's decision not to waive the requirement in your case is appealable, much like any other decision. If you are ultimately determined to be required to refund the money, you should know that you are not required to repay SSA the entire amount in one payment. You are permitted to make payment in installments over a three-year period. Moreover, there are procedures in place to help reduce the amount of the overpayment itself and to regulate the maximum amount per month that would be required of you. If you have any questions, or would like more specific information, please contact ACB. QUESTION: I've been a braille reader for as long as I can remember. I thought the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requires that I be given materials like bank statements, menus, or even standardized test documents in braille. But I'm always being told that braille is not available. Isn't the ADA being violated? ANSWER: It depends, but unfortunately, the general answer to this question is no. There is no unequivocal right to braille, large print or any other form of accessible media contained in the ADA. There is, however, an unequivocal right to "effective communication." With some particulars, the ADA requires that your employer or potential employer, your state and local government, and the stores, theaters, doctors' offices, and other places of public accommodation you frequent, give you equal access to information. In the employment context for example, covered by Title I of the ADA, employers must make "reasonable accommodations" to give you access to information that will enable you to participate equally in the workplace and to compete for job opportunities effectively. An employer can do this in a number of ways, including producing documents like employee handbooks or job applications in accessible media. They can also provide the assistance of a reader to give you access to the material. Whatever accommodation is made, it needs only to be effective; it does not need to be the accommodation you prefer. Similarly, banks, restaurants and other places of public accommodation, covered by Title III of the ADA, need not offer their customers braille materials. Indeed, ADA technical assistance materials produced by the Department of Justice specifically mention restaurant menus as an example of the kind of items that need not be produced in accessible formats. Banks do not have to provide you with braille bank statements. They do, however, need to give you access to the information on your bank statement with the same level of privacy and security provided to other customers. The bank can use an automated telephone system or customer service staff to read statement information. If, however, these options are not available or the bank refuses to provide them, you have a strong argument that braille should be provided. If producing the statement in an accessible medium is the only effective reasonable accommodation that is offered, the bank is not permitted to charge an extra fee to produce the statement. If other effective options are available, an extra fee can be required. One important point to remember is that the ADA does say that accommodations will not be required when they unduly burden employers, state and local governments, or public accommodations. Although it is hard to imagine any bank successfully arguing that the cost of producing braille documentation would be financially burdensome, some smaller businesses could show that the effort and expense of producing materials is too great to bear. The matter of testing materials is interesting because it highlights an important feature of the ADA. State and local governments, addressed by Title II of the ADA, operate under a higher standard with respect to the provision of accessible materials. For years, programs and services offered by state and local government entities receiving federal financial assistance have been required by the Rehabilitation Act to make materials accessible. In recognition of this long-standing mandate, Title II of the ADA requires that an individual's preference of accommodation be given priority. Certainly, entities covered by Title II may argue an undue burden defense. However, where possible, a preference, such as braille, should be honored. So, where a privately run university, covered under Title III, might refuse to produce materials in large print or braille without offending the ADA, state-run universities need to respond to the individual's preference. Likewise, states which require passage of a state-administered exam to secure a license must give the individual's preference priority. In contrast, private entities administering examinations are required to make reasonable accommodations but need not defer to the preference of the test taker. Again, if you have any questions, please contact the national office. CAPTION Mark Richert, ACB's director of advocacy services, introduces the panel on accessible voting at the 1997 national convention. ROBOTRON'S ARIA: IT DOES EVERYTHING BUT SING! by Nolan Crabb So you're thinking about one of those portable notetakers with a braille keyboard. You're thinking about buying one, but you can't get excited about it. You've seen the Braille 'N Speak, after all, and while it does a fine job at what it does, something somewhere's nagging at you þ forcing you to wonder if there isn't an alternative. Indeed, there is. It's available at a good price, especially when you consider the capabilities. It's called the Aria, a product of Robotron, an Australian manufacturer of adaptive equipment for blind users. The Aria has so much to offer that you can't afford to ignore it as an option. It appears that Robotron is committed to making serious inroads into the U.S. market with its Aria. If you've ever seen or used a Braille 'N Speak, you have some idea as to the dimensions of the Aria. Like the Braille 'N Speak, it's designed to serve as a notetaker, clock/calendar, and calculator. But in fairness to both products, that's where the comparisons have to end. You see, the Aria is not merely a dedicated word processor with extra features. It's an actual computer with a DOS- compatible operating system. With the Aria, you can import and export files in WordPerfect, copy files from one directory to another as you would in DOS using a regular computer, and more. These are very different machines. If you're a traveler who takes lots of notes on the go, the Aria might be what you're looking for. The Aria can use memory cards which allow you to have the fast equivalent of a hard disk inside the machine. The unit we borrowed from Technologies for the Visually Impaired, Inc., the primary Robotron dealer in the U.S., did not include a memory card. Still, it worked fine without one. With one inserted, however, you have pretty solid computing power at your disposal. While the machine has a braillewriter-style keyboard, it also offers function keys and cursor keys like a full-sized computer. The function keys carry out various tasks depending upon which Aria feature you're working in at the time. Setting It Up: Running the setup routines for the Aria is easily accomplished. In the setup, you can determine whether you want grade 1, grade 2 or computer braille. You can set the speech volume, pitch, rate, inflection, and more simply by moving the cursor keys through the various talking menus. Once set up, the machine remains as you set it. (I lost full battery power once and lost all my settings, but they can be saved to a memory card for easy retrieval if necessary. I experienced that loss only once during the eight weeks or so I used the machine.) The Word Processor: When you turn on the Aria, it sounds a beep, then seconds later a harp chord plays. While you may not have a divine or angelic computing session every time, that harp sound reminds you that this machine includes an impressive sound chip capable of producing voice, primitive beeps, great sound effects, touchtone telephone keypad sounds, and musical sounds. The Aria is capable of playing WAV files þ files that produce music or sound usually associated with DOS or Windows-based computers. After the harp plays, you can tap function key 1 to enter the built-in word processor. Once you're there, you can simply begin typing or set up your pages and margins. There's a special effects menu for bolding and underlining text, page numbering, page breaks, tabs, and more. A two-keystroke combination lets you save your files, import them, and export them. You can import files from other sources and export them as WordPerfect, Wordstar or other file formats. You can do the kind of things you might expect to do with a word processor þ block text, move text, spell check your document, count the words, etc. Of course, you can print to either an Epson-compatible or LaserJet-compatible printer. The Aria has some substantially flexible braille translation capabilities that would let you connect a braille printer to the computer and produce respectable braille. The Clock: The Aria includes built-in clock, stopwatch, and timer functions. In addition, you can set reminder alarms and a wake- up alarm that would bring the heaviest sleeper to his trembling feet. It begins with a loud rooster crow then blows an incredibly loud, obnoxious and persistent train whistle until you stop it. There's no snooze feature, but after being hit with that train whistle, you'll be grabbing the Aria and your clothes simultaneously. This is a wonderful machine for those ham operators or shortwave listeners who want to keep track of their local time and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) concurrently. You can set your local time and then have the clock keep track of another time zone. You can swap the two around or simply have one spoken then the other. It's great for those contact logs you want to keep. The Calculator: The calculator is very full featured as nearly as I could tell. It appears that the scientific functions are robust, and you can entertain yourself for hours converting miles to kilometers, liters to gallons, Fahrenheit temperatures to centigrade ones and much more. If you're just balancing the checkbook or doing relatively simple day-to-day kinds of calculations, you won't even stretch this calculator function. Telecommunications: The telecommunications capability of this machine is one of the best things it has to offer. You don't need special added software. Everything's built in, including the protocols or languages needed for computers to smoothly send and receive files. The Aria allows for easy setup of the terminal and serial port, and the communications with an Internet server or other on- line service are smooth and seamless. Of course, you'll still need a modem. For the person on the go interested in quickly sending and receiving files, the Aria truly shines. For what it's worth, this machine can also function as a DecTalk- compatible speech synthesizer. Please realize that while it is DecTalk compatible, it sounds nothing like a DecTalk. The Telephone Directory: A braille notetaker wouldn't be worth much if it didn't offer the ability to create some kind of address book that includes phone numbers. In this area, the Aria does nicely. You can create telephone directories of almost unlimited size. I didn't like the address feature particularly. I would have liked a feature that would allow multiple addresses for individuals. But the actual phone number portion more than made up for the address inconvenience. In fact, I was downright dazzled by it. The Aria can not only store your phone directory, it can actually dial the number for you. Simply hold your telephone mouthpiece up to the Aria's speaker, tap a key, and the sound chip comes alive and sounds the telephone keypad tones. This is a must-have feature especially if you're a ham operator who wants to connect to the public telephone system with your radio. While most handheld ham radios have telephone keypads on them, there may be times when you want to dial without someone seeing the special codes you may have to enter to connect your radio to the telephone system. By holding your radio near the Aria, you could have the computer do the dialing for you while you hold down the push-to-talk key. You don't have to be something as esoteric as a ham operator to enjoy this feature. Those long-distance codes that can tax your memory can be stored safely in the Aria and effortlessly dialed from your hotel room or even a phone booth. You can sort the phone directory and search it for names. You can even load a separate directory should you want to do so. The Diary: The diary lets you set up appointments that can be sorted, searched, and edited. The calendar here is OK, but it could be easier to use. You can determine on what day of the week a certain date will occur, and you can figure out quickly the number of days from one date to another. The File Manager: The Aria's file manager lets you rename, delete, copy, search for a specific file, tag or mark files for further manipulation, change the file attributes, remove a directory from the built-in RAM disk or the memory card, format a drive, and speak the status of your disk. It's pretty comprehensive and relies heavily on the function keys, as do most of the other Aria features. Battery Life: While battery life may depend somewhat on the intensive nature of the task you've asked the Aria to perform, I got somewhere between six and ten hours on a charge. Robotron says the battery can be fully charged in three hours. You can determine how much battery life is left by a three-key combination. The battery's life is measured in percent. When charging, the Aria simply says "charging." I found the battery percentage gauge somewhat unreliable. At one point, I was assured by the machine that I had 100 percent of battery life. A bit later, that percentage had slipped to 75. That's natural enough. But when the gauge mysteriously rebounded to 100 percent a few minutes later, I had to question the integrity of the gauge or the battery. Of course, with NiCad batteries, anything is possible, so placing blame entirely on the equipment may not be fair. The Manual: The folks at Robotron certainly know how to write a user's manual. This one is extremely clear, concisely written, and very logically presented. If I were buying a notetaker for the first time, I'd consider the Aria because of the clarity of the manual. Regardless of your experience or lack thereof with notetakers, you can teach yourself how to use this machine quite easily with the manual. Having said all that, I admit I yearned for a reference section where the commands were all laid out with brief explanations. Some kind of reference card would be valuable to first-time users. The cassette version of the manual is thoroughly tone indexed, and the Australian accent of the narrator makes listening to it a novel experience. If you have to judge a product by its manual to some degree, the Aria gets high marks on that alone. So Is It Perfect? The Aria's far from perfect. In fact, there are some starkly negative things about the unit that should force any buyer to take a hard look at the machine before the wallet comes out. First, I never got used to the keyboard. In fairness to Robotron, I should admit that while I learned to use a braillewriter at age four, I've always been somewhat faster on a good old qwerty keyboard. So there's my bias up front. Still, I use a Braille 'N Speak rather heavily, and I've achieved a respectable speed with it. Not so with the Aria keyboard. It feels spongy rather than springy. I had to use a moderate amount of pressure just to get the right keystrokes. More than once, I've attempted to check the battery life only to find myself in the initial setup section called mode. I think the keys are just too far apart and the action too unresponsive to ever make this machine a keyboard aficionado's dream. Add to that the fact that you can choose between two keyboard settings only þ click keys and spoken keys. Those rapid typists among us would prefer a silent keys setting where it neither clicked nor spoke when a key was depressed. The absence of this silent key setting is a real problem for anyone who doesn't want to hear constant clicking or letters spoken through the earphone or speaker. Keyboard performance is a very subjective thing, however. I strongly recommend you play with one of these units a bit before buying if possible. You may find the keyboard OK, but I never got used to it. There were times when the design of this unit bugged me. To simply turn it off, for example, you have to press all four cursor keys at once. If you ever played Twister as a kid, this Aria turning-off exercise will bring back fond memories. It feels like a miniature game of hand twister every time you turn it off. Come on, guys. If you're serious about the U.S. market, give us a simple on/off switch. I'll bet there isn't a prospective American buyer who wouldn't pay another 50 cents or so to get a convenient on/off switch. Heck, we might even pay a buck or two for it. This machine with its multiple simultaneous keystrokes isn't designed with touch typists in mind. You have to take your hands off the six writing keys in order to hit a function key or a shifted function key. In some instances, the shift key and the function key will be at nearly opposite ends of the computer, necessitating a two-handed approach. In its defense, the Aria is small and there had to be some keyboard compromises made to keep it that way. If small's the name of your game, chances are you will tolerate most, but probably not all, of the keyboard compromises. I initially hated the speech in the Aria. As one who loves to crank the rate of a synthesizer to something akin to astronomical heights, I figured I could stand any voice. The Braille 'N Speak's speech chip comes up with some pretty primitive sounding speech much of the time. Initially, I thought the Aria was worse. As I worked with it and learned to manipulate it more to my liking, I'd say the Aria might be slightly better at some things. I had a difficult time making the speech pronunciation dictionary work correctly. The Bottom Line: The multiple capabilities of the Aria make it a good deal for the price. Interactive games are now available, the word processor is probably adequate for most needs, and the telecommunications and telephone directory enhance the value of the machine a great deal. The calendar and diary are probably the most lackluster features, and the reminder alarms you can set for appointments or whatever may not be loud enough to get your attention if you're doing something away from the Aria. If you like braillewriter keyboards, you'll probably want to consider buying this machine. At press time, the Aria costs $1,245. The price includes a two megabyte flash RAM card. Other packaging options are available, including external storage devices. You can upgrade the unit simply by downloading new software; no need to send it back for chip replacements. For additional information, contact TFVI, 9 Nolan Ct., Hauppauge, NY 11788. Tel. (516) 724-4479. E- mail: tvii@cris.com. HERE AND 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. POETRY CONTEST The Tennessee Council holds a poetry contest, so sharpen your stylus and give us your best! It can be free verse, or it can be rhyme; just be sure to mail it on time! Each poem is limited to no more than 20 lines; send five bucks per entry; you can enter many times. There is cash to be won, so the winners can boast when the judges agree on the three they like most. The Tennessee Council of the Blind will award $150 for first place, $100 for second place, and $50 for third place. Entries must be original, unpublished work, no more than 20 lines long. There is a $5 entry fee per poem payable by check or money order. Entries may be submitted in braille, print or cassette. Mail them no later than March 31, 1998 to Tennessee Council, Attn: Dot Taylor, Treasurer, 3636 King George Cove, Memphis, TN 38118. Winners will be notified no later than April 30, 1998, and will be announced in the first available space in this magazine. The decision of the judges will be final. KRAFT COOKBOOKS Kraft has recently released several cookbooks in print and braille. "Baker's Easiest Ever Chocolate Recipes" is a collection of chocolate recipes from Kraft Creative Kitchens, most of which can be prepared in just minutes. "Package Preparation Directions" includes the directions on the packages of Shake 'n Bake, Kraft's Macaroni & Cheese, Stove Top, and DiGiorno, among others. "Holiday Homecoming" is a cookbook that includes a special collection of recipes, menus and suggestions for sharing the holidays with family and friends. "Baker's Easiest Ever Chocolate Recipes" costs $10; the other two books cost $12.95 each. Place your large print orders with Kraft Cookbooks, P.O. Box 8806, Maple Plain, MN 55593- 8806; phone (888) 322-6322. Braille orders for the first two books should be placed with National Braille Press, 88 St. Stephen St., Boston, MA 02115. "Holiday Homecoming" braille orders should be placed with Braille International, 3290 SE Slater St., Stuart, FL 34997; phone (800) 336-3142 or (407) 286-8366. HOLIDAY CARDS The Seeing Eye has holiday cards available. "Holiday Hopes" shows three puppies playing with a harness, surrounded by a decorative border of dog biscuits twined with red ribbon. Inside, a section of biscuit-ribbon border frames an adult German shepherd wearing a harness; the greeting says, "May all your hopes and dreams come true." "Special Delivery" depicts Santa Claus delivering a squirming sackful of puppies to the front door of The Seeing Eye. A few straggling puppies catch up through the snow on the front path. The greeting says, "Delivering warm wishes for the holidays." Cards are packaged in boxes of 20 with 20 envelopes; each box is $13 plus $6.95 postage and handling for the first box, $1 for each additional box. Orders paid by check or credit card may be sent to The Seeing Eye, c/o Parcel Plus, Chester Springs Shopping Center, Route 206, Chester, NJ 07930; make checks payable to The Seeing Eye. You may fax credit card orders to (908) 879- 5661 or e-mail them to www.seeingeye@chester.parcelplus.com provide your name, address, and telephone number, and for credit card orders, the type of card, number and expiration date. ACB QUILT? Attention, all state and special-interest affiliates! The Mid-Tennessee Council of the Blind is coordinating the creation of an ACB quilt. The group is hoping the quilt will "cover" every aspect of ACB. It is asking each affiliate to design a square representing its role in ACB. MTCB will send a square to each group that wants to participate. You will be responsible for embroidering or appliqueing a scene, logo, slogan, or tactile representation to make your square reflect who you are and what you stand for. Then return the finished square to: Attn: Tennie Dietsch, 6434 Industrial Pkwy., Calvert City, KY 42029. The completed quilt will be presented for raffling at the 1998 national convention; however, this raffle will be a bit different, in that individuals will be purchasing chances on behalf of the affiliate of their choice. The group holding the winning ticket will have the privilege of keeping the quilt for a year. It can be exhibited at your state fair, state convention, or wherever you wish to showcase it. The quilt will be brought back to the next national convention to be won by another group. Proceeds from the first raffle will be split 50-50 between ACB and MTCB. In subsequent raffles, the funds raised will be equally divided between ACB, MTCB and the group returning the quilt. When interest wanes, the quilt will be presented to the ACB national office to be used as a wall hanging. Please notify MTCB in writing no later than December 31 as to whether your group will be participating. We need to know the total number of squares we will have for the quilt. All finished squares must be received by March 31, 1998. We need your support and participation to make this project a success. It's a great way to raise money for the national organization while generating potential funds for your group. If you have any questions about this project, call Brenda Trevino, president of MTCB, at (615) 228- 3221. Let's work together to tell our story in stitches and create a work of art that will be displayed with pride for many years to come. LITERACY PACKETS The Braille Revival League has produced its 1998 Braille Literacy Month packet (January 1998) containing numerous resources for conducting a variety of braille literacy activities. It includes information on the history of braille, recommendations for projects, a sample proclamation, assorted posters, information on BRL, a bibliography of books about Louis Braille, a public service announcement, an IBM-compatible 3.5-inch diskette which contains ASCII, WordPerfect 5.1 and braille translated files of all the printed material in the packet. If you or your organization would be interested in a packet, send a check for $5 to cover the cost of production and mailing to: Braille Revival League, Kim Charlson, President, 57 Grandview Ave., Watertown, 02172-1634; phone (617) 926-9198; e-mail kcharlson@acb.org MOVED! Ron's Braille Transcribing Service has moved! The new address is 9910 E. Peach St., Girard, PA 16417; phone (814) 774-5709. No collect calls. NORTHEAST SKI The 1998 Northeast Regional Ski for Light event will take place January 7-11 in Sherman, Pa. For an application, or more information, contact Barry and Louise Wood at (201) 868-3336. BRAILLE T-SHIRTS New braille T-shirts are now available from the Mid-Tennessee Council of the Blind. There are two designs: one with a small cameo picture of Louis Braille on the upper left chest, with the message on the front reading "Louis says you can do it in the dark" (available in black only); and "Living life hands on" in teal or purple. Both designs have the braille and print alphabets in puff paint on the back. They are short-sleeved, 50-50 cotton/polyester in sizes large, extra large and extra-extra large. To order a shirt, send $16 check or money order to the Mid-Tennessee Council of the Blind, c/o Elizabeth Hopp, 3135 Tyree Springs Rd., Hendersonville, TN 37075, and specify size, color and message desired. For more information, call (615) 356-4940. ROOM TO MOVE Room To Move is a new sports organization that promotes a partnership between the sighted and blind communities to promote and compete in team events on the national level. Anyone may join as a competitor, volunteer, or member/donor. Dues are $10 per year or $100 for a lifetime membership. With your dues payment, you get a quarterly newsletter and discounts on entry fees for upcoming events. The organization's goal is to have 2,000 competitors and 2,000 volunteers by the year 2000. For more information, or an application, write to Dale Tompkins, R.R. 1 Box 218, Shoreham, VT 05770. COPING BOOK "Coping with Macular Degeneration" is now available. It's a book that deals with visual rehabilitation, including things you need to know, the aids that will help, and the skills you must master. Each chapter contains information related to these three themes. The standard print edition costs $4.50 (Texas residents add 35 cents sales tax; orders outside US add $2 shipping); large print, $12 (Texas residents, 94 cents sales tax; orders outside US add $6 shipping); and cassette, $19.95 (Texas residents add $1.57 sales tax; orders outside US add $4 shipping). Order the book from Vision Loss Technology, 4619 93rd St., Lubbock, TX 79424-5011; phone (806) 794-6387. Personal checks are accepted; no credit card orders or CODs. Foreign checks are accepted if payable in U.S. dollars. GRANT GUIDE The 10th edition of "Directory of Grants for Organizations Serving People with Disabilities" is now available from Research Grant Guides, Inc., Dept. 3A, P.O. Box 1214, Loxahatchee, FL 33470; phone (561) 795-6129. It costs $59.50 plus $6 shipping and handling. MAKE YOUR MAC TALK TalkingKeys Pro v2.0 is a text-to-speech output device for the Macintosh. It features speech output of keystrokes (one at a time, or word by word), uses Macintalk speech, speech output of menu selections, special features for novice users, and much more. It costs $89.95 plus $3 shipping ($5 shipping outside the United States). To order by credit card, call (303) 422-0757, or send your order with check made payable to Graham Software Company, 8609 Ingalls Cir., Arvada, CO 80003. OVERBROOK ABROAD The International Program at Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia is seeking people ages 16 to 21 from throughout the world who are blind or visually impaired, with the intelligence, energy and determination to make a difference in the lives of blind people. Candidates must be in good academic standing, have a basic knowledge of English, be interested in adaptive computer technology for the blind, and demonstrate independence and leadership skills. This program is designed to develop leadership capabilities of young blind people, provide them with the skills they need to succeed in higher education and the workplace, and to help improve the situation of other blind and visually impaired people in their countries. For information and admissions materials, contact Lawrence F. Campbell, Admissions Committee, International Program, Overbrook School for the Blind, 6333 Malvern Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19151-2579; phone (215) 878-8700. JOB OPENINGS The Clovernook Center is recruiting for a variety of positions in its production facility. Job openings include packers, material handlers, machine operators, utility personnel, quality assurance, and warehouse personnel. Contact Mike Walsh, Clovernook Center for the Blind, 7000 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45231; phone (513) 522-3860. CONFERENCE The International Association of Assistance Dog Partners, a cross-disability consumer advocacy organization of people partnered with guide, hearing and service dogs, will hold its fourth annual conference in Orlando, Fla., on January 10, 1998. For registration and membership information, contact Joan Froling, P.O. Box 1326, Sterling Heights, MI 48311; phone (810) 826-3938. CALLER ID A talking caller ID, called CIDney, is now available from Full Life Products. It is a small stand-alone unit that logs callers' numbers and verbally announces the name and/or number of the caller over its built-in speaker and/or cordless phone. Four different models, starting at $59.95, offer various features including two- line capability, outgoing messages, call waiting compatibility and more. For more information, or to order, call (888) 888-4153 or (603) 569-2240. ACCOMMODATIONS HANDBOOK The Department of Veterans Affairs Blind Rehabilitation Services Committee on Reasonable Accommodations has produced a handbook on reasonable accommodations. This handbook provides a succinct overview of the law, examples of requests for reasonable accommodation, a definition of reasonable, and several case laws. For a free copy, call Margie Donovan, VIST Coordinator, at (415) 750-6604. Please specify your choice of format: large print or ASCII disk. SEEDLINGS BOOKS The 1998 Seedlings Braille Books for Children catalog is now available. It contains more than 300 low-cost braille books for children; 38 new books have been added. For more information, check the company's web page at http://www.22cent.com/seedlings/ For a free catalog, call (800) 777-8552, or write to Seedlings, P.O. Box 51924, Livonia, MI 48151-5924, or e-mail seedlink@aol.com COMPUTER GAMES Personal Computer Systems has available 10 fast-action games for computers, including Card Club, PCS Car Racing Circuit, Panzers in North Africa, baseball, Fox and Hounds, shooting range, Tenpin Bowling, Mobius Mountain, Monopoly, and Any Night Football. For a free catalog, or more information, contact the company at 551 Compton Ave., Perth Amboy, NJ 08861. CATALOG UPDATE The 1997 "No Frills, Just Priced Right" catalog is now available from Jett & Smith. It contains more than 300 products for daily living and special occasions, including guide dog products like "Cool Paws" and "Cool-Lapsa Bowl." To request your free catalog on cassette or 3.5-inch diskette (one per address please), call (760) 778-8280. If you have ordered from the company before, the new catalog will be automatically shipped. Jett & Smith does not ship outside the United States. BOLD SKIING BOLD of Aspen offers skiing in the Colorado Rockies for blind people from throughout the United States and Canada. The company provides instructions, guides, equipment if needed, reduced lift ticket prices, and more. Winter activities include alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, dog sledding, and snowmobiling. For more information, or an application, contact BOLD, Inc., c/o Francesca Campione, Program Director, 533 E. Main St., Aspen, CO 81611, or phone (970) 925-9511. MIGEL WINNERS Philip H. Hatlen, superintendent of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and Bettye Krolick, a literary and music braillist, are the winners of the American Foundation for the Blind's 1997 Migel Medals. Hatlen received the professional award; Krolick received the volunteer award. Hatlen began his career in the mid-1950s as a teacher of students with visual impairments who were included in regular classrooms; in 1962, he became principal of the California School for the Blind, and in 1966 he accepted a position at San Francisco State University in teacher preparation. After 24 years he left to become superintendent at the Texas School. Krolick learned braille at the University of Illinois and was certified by the Library of Congress as a literary braillist in 1965, and as a music braillist in 1967. She has conducted numerous workshops, seminars, and short courses for vision teachers, music teachers, and volunteer braille music transcribers, and has helped introduce the use of personal computers for the transcription of all braille codes, and has evaluated many of the software programs now available to perform this task. AFFILIATE NEWS NORTH DAKOTA SCHOLARSHIPS In June, the North Dakota Association of the Blind awarded its $1,000 scholarship for 1997 to Jeremy Shmitt, a student pursuing a degree in computer science at the University of North Dakota. The North Dakota Association of the Blind has three scholarships available to North Dakota residents who are visually impaired and have a sophomore or higher standing in their course of study at a college or trade school in the state. One scholarship is for $1,000, and two are for $500 each. Interested students should request application forms from their school's disabled student services office, or write to Ruth Poer at 525 5th St. E, #208, West Fargo, ND 58078. In addition to the scholarships, the association hosts a summer camp for blind adults and conducts a family adjustment seminar for those who are experiencing vision loss together with their family members. HIGH TECH SWAP SHOP FOR SALE: Reconditioned Perkins brailler. Asking $350. Trade-in accepted. Payment plan negotiable. Call Nino Pacini evenings or weekends at (313) 885-7330. FOR SALE: Sunbeam Health Monitor with synthesized speech and visual display, measures blood pressure, weight and temperature, $50. Fostec 250 four-track professional-type recorder, many features, $400. Echo chamber, $140. 12-band equalizer, $60. Volume pedal for use with electric guitar, etc., $60. Yamaha programmable rhythm section, $100. Contact Lois Howard at 61951 High Hill Rd., Cambridge, OH 43725, or phone her at (614) 432-2287. FOR SALE: Electric wheelchair with brain box and joystick. In excellent condition. Contact Laura Antranigian at (207) 773-0532, or write to Mark Chapman, 79 Falmouth St., Basement Apartment, Portland, ME 04102. FOR SALE: Vista screen magnification system for XT/AT & Vista 2 for microchannel PC. Asking only shipping charges; no other fee involved. Call Patty at (814) 255-3119 or e-mail voyager@nb.net FOR SALE: PCMCIA Keynote Gold voice card synthesizer, $850. German-made braillewriter, $100. Index Basic D interpoint braille printer, $3,000; under warranty until April 1998. Contact Sharon Klug, 4951 Collett Little Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76119, or phone (817) 561-4616. FOR SALE: Reading machine. Asking $1,000. Call Martha Andrews at (912) 961-6007. SUMMARY OF 1997 ACB RESOLUTIONS Resolution 97-01 calls upon the National Park Service to reproduce the same braille information in a readable format which currently exists in an artistic but unreadable braille format located on the Roosevelt Memorial, and to provide all excerpts located on the memorial in accessible formats. Resolution 97-02 supports S.J. Res. 29 requiring that at least one depiction of President Roosevelt as an individual with a disability be permanently incorporated into the design of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial. Resolution 97-03 calls upon affiliates of ACB, with ACB staff assistance, to pursue all administrative, legal, and legislative means necessary to assure that state and local governmental entities purchase accessible hardware and software. Resolution 97-04 urges the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop, and release for comment, aggressive and stringent rules concerning implementation of the access provisions of the Telecommunications Act. Resolution 97-05 directs the officers and staff of ACB to arrange for a meeting with individuals at the highest level of the Microsoft Corporation to express deep displeasure with the current approach to Active Accessibility (MSAA), sets forth strategies which ACB affiliates and staff are encouraged or directed to do to attempt to move Microsoft toward a remedy for Active Accessibility (MSAA) problems, and urges Microsoft Corporation to take specific interim steps to involve consumer organizations of blind people and developers of products for persons who are blind in the creation of a comprehensive marketing strategy that will enable mainstream applications developers to have a full understanding of the specific needs of blind consumers. Resolution 97-06 urges Blazie Engineering to provide equal levels of service at conventions of the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind, and sets forth actions to be taken should Blazie fail to respond favorably. Resolution 97-07 urges the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to establish a policy requiring a line item for video description in all appropriate video production budgets for NEH-funded projects. Resolution 97-08 demands that the General Services Administration (GSA) cease and desist in its unlawful treatment of Randolph-Sheppard vendors which has resulted in failure to provide for due process rights, and in locking vendors out of GSA facilities to which they were assigned, and also urges the Commissioner of Rehabilitation to take specific steps to ensure that all national and regional GSA personnel adhere to the Randolph-Sheppard Act and regulations. Resolution 97-09 urges the Federal Transit Administration to compile a national database of fixed route bus and train services, as well as paratransit providers, to be available at least through a toll-free telephone number and through an accessible World Wide Web site, and also encourages affiliates of the American Council of the Blind to participate with local providers in seeing that this database is properly maintained. Resolution 97-10 urges affiliates of the American Council of the Blind to advocate for contractual and budgeting procedures in local communities which are based on actual transit needs of blind and disabled community members, and not based on ADA minimums. Resolution 97-11 concerns proper implementation of all ADA paratransit provisions. It deals with the same content as 97-16. The committee thus chose to develop 97-16 and the maker of 97-11 withdrew it. Resolution 97-12 directs the president of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) to advocate for, and communicate with, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) to increase the time allotted for position briefings on specific legislative issues to a minimum of at least one full day at the ACB/AFB Josephine Taylor Leadership Conference. Resolution 97-13 urges that specialized rehabilitation services for the blind, including the option of delivery through separate agencies for the blind, be retained as Congress reauthorizes the Rehabilitation Act. Resolution 97-14 urges retention of specific stand-alone provisions for independent living services for older blind, contained in Title VII, chapter II, of the Rehabilitation Act, and urges additional funding for older blind independent living programs. Resolution 97-15 calls upon Congress to take certain actions with regard to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Congress had already acted on this legislation by the time this resolution would have come to the floor, so it was withdrawn by its maker. Resolution 97-16 calls for full implementation of all ADA paratransit requirements and for Congress to authorize spending for more comprehensive and accessible transportation services. Resolution 97-17 objects to the Social Security Administration's usurpation of federal law, and sets forth action steps for the American Council of the Blind to take in dealing with the situation. Resolution 97-18 seeks issuance, by the President of the United States, of an executive order which solidifies and clarifies the superior authority of the Secretary of Education and the Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services to administer the blind vending facility program and to interpret the Randolph-Sheppard Act. Resolution 97-19 notes that the Department of Defense (DOD) has this year sought legislation to exempt dining hall mess services on military installations from the Randolph-Sheppard Act, notes support for the DOD position by other entities who normally support specialized or categorical employment for people who are blind, and urges the Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services to stand firm against assaults on the Randolph-Sheppard program, and to lodge complaints with the President's Domestic Policy Counsel concerning incursions against the Randolph-Sheppard Act. Resolution 97-20 urges the Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services to develop and establish a policy setting forth clear procedures for contracting with military entities thus enabling blind vendors with the Randolph-Sheppard Program to operate dining mess halls on military properties. Resolution 97-21 directs the president of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) to convene a task force to draft, and circulate to eligibility determination entities, a primer concerning factors which should be considered in applying ADA Title II paratransit eligibility regulations to the needs of persons who are blind, visually impaired, and multiply disabled blind. Resolution 97-22 sets forth the definition for "integrated, competitive employment," which the American Council of the Blind urges be used in all federal legislation where need exists to define this term. Resolution 97-23 was rejected and defeated by majority vote of the convention. It concerns ACB's reaction to the revival of Mr. Magoo by the Disney Corporation. Resolution 97-24 supports H.R. 612 and S. 375 which would restore parity between Social Security earnings limits for the elderly and for persons who are blind, urges affiliates of the American Council of the Blind to advocate for additional co- sponsors for these pieces of legislation, and expresses thanks to those congresspersons and senators who are already co-sponsoring. Resolution 97-25 sets forth fundraising policies involving the American Council of the Blind (ACB) and its affiliates. Resolution 97-26 restores the Pledge of Allegiance to be spoken by the American Council of the Blind delegation at national conventions. Resolution 97-27 directs that the officers, directors and staff of the American Council of the Blind work with other interested blindness organizations to assure that radio reading services for people who are blind be provided with allocated band width in the new standard defining and regulating digital radio broadcasting in the United States. Resolution 97-28 expresses abhorrence of disrespect shown to braille by the designer of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial and urges press outlets who conveyed information concerning the designer's explanation of "impression of braille" to convey material that will serve to lessen the gross misunderstanding of braille which has been created. Resolution 97-29 calls for a logo or designation to document accessible web sites. The maker of this resolution withdrew it for further study and research. Resolution 97-30 directs the American Council of the Blind to develop and disseminate a voting access position paper which shall be distributed to all state affiliates, urges affiliates to use this paper in voter access advocacy efforts in their states, prescribes follow-up and reporting activities on the part of the executive director of ACB, urges coalitioning with other disability organizations to further the objectives of the resolution and requires that a follow-up article on this subject appear in a winter-spring issue of the "Braille Forum." Resolution 97-31 urges Congress not to establish additional federal means testing requirements for vocational rehabilitation services and to maintain the current Rehabilitation Act provisions concerning comparable benefits and services. Resolution 97-32 urges the strengthening of enforcement of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act through support for the proposed Dodd Amendment, and urges all federal agencies to, in the absence of adequate federal enforcement, acquire only equipment and software which provides full access beyond any question or challenge. Resolution 97-33 directs the staff of the American Council of the Blind, along with others designated by the president, to develop a model law for the purpose of advocating strengthening of state protections against malicious and harmful interference with guide dogs and/or their handlers, and directs the above referenced entities to develop educational materials and potential enforcement options relevant to the prevention of malicious and harmful interference with guide dogs and/or handlers so that such materials may be disseminated to enforcement agencies by affiliates. Resolution 97-34 was withdrawn by its maker. It concerns ACB's position regarding the revival of Mr. Magoo by the Disney Corporation. Resolution 97-35 was rejected and defeated by majority vote of the convention. It deals with ACB's position on the revival of Mr. Magoo by the Disney Corporation. Resolution 97-36 commends Northwest Airlines for their use of universal design principles in the remodeling of the interiors of their aircraft, commends particularly their use of braille signage, urges other airlines to follow Northwest's lead in this area, and urges federal regulatory agencies to require accessible signage in aircraft. Resolution 97-37 directs the staff of the American Council of the Blind, and such committees, associates or members who may be designated by its president, to develop a comprehensive position paper setting forth strategies for use in advocating for third- party reimbursement for orientation and mobility instructors and rehabilitation teachers. Resolution 97-38 thanks the volunteers who helped with the 1997 convention of the American Council of the Blind. Resolution 97-39 thanks the hotels involved in the 1997 convention of the American Council of the Blind. Resolution 97-40 thanks the host affiliate for the 1997 convention of the American Council of the Blind. ACB BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sue Ammeter, Seattle, WA Ardis Bazyn, Cedar Rapids, IA John Buckley, Knoxville, TN Dawn Christensen, Holland, OH Christopher Gray, San Francisco, CA John Horst, Wilkes-Barre, PA Kristal Platt, Omaha, NE M.J. Schmitt, Forest Park, IL Pamela Shaw, Philadelphia, PA Richard Villa, Austin, TX BOARD OF PUBLICATIONS Carol McCarl, Chairperson, Salem, OR Kim Charlson, Watertown, MA Thomas Mitchell, North Salt Lake City, UT Mitch Pomerantz, Los Angeles, CA Jay Doudna, Lancaster, PA Ex Officio: Laura Oftedahl, Watertown, MA ACB OFFICERS PRESIDENT PAUL EDWARDS 20330 NE 20TH CT. MIAMI, FL 33179 FIRST VICE PRESIDENT BRIAN CHARLSON 57 GRANDVIEW AVE. WATERTOWN, MA 02172 SECOND VICE PRESIDENT STEPHEN SPEICHER 825 M ST., SUITE 216 LINCOLN, NE 68508 SECRETARY CYNTHIA TOWERS 556 N. 80TH ST. SEATTLE, WA 98103 TREASURER PATRICIA BEATTIE CRYSTAL TOWERS #206 NORTH 1600 S. EADS ST. ARLINGTON, VA 22202 IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT LeRoy Saunders 2118 NW 21st St. Oklahoma City, OK 73107 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ELIZABETH M. LENNON, Kalamazoo, MI