The Braille Forum Vol. II March 1964 No. 5 Published Bi-Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma To Inform Its Readers and to Provide an Impartial Forum for Discussion * Editor: Mrs. Marie M. Boring 1113 Camden Avenue Durham, N.C. 27701 * Associate Editors: Ned E. Freeman 136 Gee's Mill Road Conyers, Georgia 30207 Mrs. Mary Jane Hills 33 1/2 Edmonds St. Rochester, N.Y. 14607 George Card 605 South Few St. Madison, WI 53703 * Executive Offices: 136 Gee's Mill Road Conyers, Georgia 30207 ***** ** Statement of Editorial Policy The Braille Forum is dedicated to promoting the greater independence, autonomy and dignity of all blind people. The Forum will carry official ACB news and programs, but its pages will also be available for free expression of views and opinions. Insofar as possible the Forum will publish news of organizations and agencies of and for the blind and any developments of interest to its readers. Timely material is solicited. Selections of material will be made on the basis of interest, timeliness, originality, clarity and forcefulness of expression. In controversial matters space will be made available for the presentation of divergent points of view. ** Notice The Braille Forum is available in braille, inkprint and on tape. Miss June Goldsmith, 652 E. Mallory Avenue, Memphis, Tenn. 38106, should be notified of any change of address or of any person desiring to receive the braille or inkprint editions. The tape edition may be obtained from Mr. Melvin D. Cohen, Tape Library for the Blind, Inc., 94 Broad St., SW., Atlanta 3, Georgia. Letters and material for publication should be submitted to the Editor or to one of the Associate Editors. ***** ** Table of Contents ACB President's Fireside Chat Announcement 1964 ACB Convention Niagara Falls Tour ACB Committee on Evaluation of Services to the Blind Georgia Federation Hears Successful Blind, by Jack C. Lewis Employment Opportunities in Physical Therapy and Massage, by Al Drake She Reached for the Rainbow, by Patricia Nadine Yarbrough The "No" People Can Be Beaten, by Dr. Eleanor Brown The Voice Between the Station Breaks Words to Live By, by Robert Russell A Short Course in Public Relations, by Catherine Peart The Eye Bank Situation, by George Card More about the Cranmer Abacus, by Fred L. Gissoni Thumbs Up, by Mary Walton Bind Bowlers Tournament Letters from Readers Hyde Park Corner, Conducted by Earl Scharry Here and There, by George Card ACB Officers and Directors ***** ** ACB President's Fireside Chat My Friends: In my last visit with you I spoke of the need to become involved with other people. In that same issue of the FORUM appeared two letters which I shall use as pegs upon which to hang this column. Florence Watson expressed the need of the deaf-blind for more news in braille and told of the newsletters being circulated by two ladies. Would some of you be willing to perform a similar service for the deaf-blind in your own state or region? From correspondence I have had with some of these people, it seems that one of the things the deaf-blind miss most is news of local, state and regional interest which does not get into the magazines of national circulation. If it were possible to have a number of people preparing letters of this type and distributing them in their own area, this could go far toward meeting this lack. I shall be glad to serve as a clearinghouse if any of you are interested either in volunteering your services or in receiving such a letter. With a number of such circulating groups, perhaps eventually we will be able to arrange to have the letters duplicated so that several copies can be sent out simultaneously. I do hope some of you will be interested. Then there is the letter from Mr. Varma in India. In of all of the less developed countries of the world, the position of the blind is as bad or worse than Mr. Varma describes. Many of you read the letters from Dr. Isobel Grant which appeared in the Braille Monitor some years ago as she toured the world studying the conditions in many of these evolving nations. The shortage of braille and other educational material for the blind is acute. Also, many of these people have little knowledge of us or our way of life and are constantly being bombarded with tales of "Yankee imperialism." Last year I tried to activate a committee which would work to increase the amount of English braille available in Asia and Africa and to improve the understanding between the blind people of these countries and ourselves. How would you like to share some of your braille magazines with someone overseas? The Forum has readers in quite a number of foreign lands including Germany, Jordan and New Zealand, to mention only three. The postage would not be more than one or two cents anywhere in the world for the usual size braille magazine. Or perhaps you would like to write to someone in a distant country. Of course, all of the people from whom we hear directly read and write English braille, but perhaps you would like to correspond in their own tongue. I have a letter from a blind teacher in Spain. I know some of you speak Spanish and probably know Spanish braille. Both you and he would gain much from an exchange of views and experiences. My own German magazine and correspondence have brought me much information and pleasure. If you are interested in this project, let me hear from you. Hate and war stem from ignorance and fear. Love and peace come with understanding and the sharing of experiences. Faithfully yours, Ned Freeman ***** ** Announcement We welcome to the masthead of this issue of the Braille Forum a new associate editor -- our old friend and yours, George Card. George's column "Here and There" has been the most popular feature of the Forum since its inception and before that in both the Braille Free Press and the Braille Monitor. In addition to his regular column, George has contributed a considerable amount of the material which has appeared in this magazine in past months. We are happy to have George as an official member of the Forum staff and are sure that his comments and suggestions will do much to make this an even better publication than it has been heretofore. ***** ** 1964 ACB Convention The 1964 convention of the American Council of the Blind will be held at the Manger Hotel, 26 Clinton Avenue, South, Rochester, New York from July 23 through July 26. While Delbert Aman, Program Chairman, is putting together interesting program items to educate and stimulate you, all ACB members in the Rochester area have been making arrangements for special activities to entertain you during your spare moments. We urge as many of you as possible to come early and stay late. Wednesday afternoon, July 22, the feature race at Finger Lakes Raceway in Canandaigua will be the American Council of the Blind Handicap. We want to see as many of our members there as possible. Thursday evening, there will be a dance in the ballroom of the hotel; and, on Friday afternoon and evening, an extensive tour of Niagara Falls will be offered for those wishing to go. An article more fully explaining this tour appears below. Saturday evening, we will climax the convention with our banquet, the speaker to be announced later. Room rates are: single, $7.00; double, $10.00; twin bedrooms, $12.00, with all rooms air conditioned. Please make reservations directly with the hotel and send a copy to Mrs. Mary Jane Hills, 33 1/2 Edmonds Street, Rochester, New York 14607. So that we will have some idea how many people plan to take the Niagara Falls tour, we would appreciate it if you would specify in your letter to the hotel if you intend to take the Friday tour. The Manger Hotels have offered us a unique and inexpensive plan for those intending to continue on to New York to attend the World's Fair. If we can attract a minimum of thirty people, they will charter a bus for the trip from Rochester to New York. For $33.15 per person, you will be granted your transportation to New York, two nights' accommodations at the Manger Vanderbilt, transportation and admission to the Fair for two days. With hotel rates as prohibitively high as they are in New York City this is truly a fine package deal. If you are contemplating taking advantage of this New York trip, please so designate when making reservations for the convention. The deadline for taking advantage of these accommodations is May 1, so please be prompt! If, by that date, we do not have a sufficient number of interested people so that we can fill one bus, you will be notified that the trip is canceled. So plan now to come to the Empire State. After all -- where can you be offered more -- a stimulating and entertaining convention, a trip to the races, Niagara Falls, the World's Fair, and ACB members ready and willing to make you comfortable and keep you smiling. We hope to see all of you in July. Mary Jane Hills Arrangements Chairman ***** ** Niagara Falls Tour Those who attend the 1964 convention of the American Council of the Blind will have an opportunity to visit Niagara Falls on Friday afternoon, July 24. The cost of the tour will be $12.00; reservations must be made two weeks in advance, but payment may be made on the date of the trip. The tour will last 12 hours and will include a 180-mile round trip on comfortable buses over the historic Ridge Road through cobblestone house country; this road was once known as the "Honeymoon Trail" and in still earlier days was a stage coach route to the West. The tour will pass the Niagara Escarpment, a New York State power project, and will cross the Lewiston Bridge, the largest fixed arch bridge in the world. All tourists must be able to pass through customs into Canada if not American citizens. Tourists will have a rest stop at Queenston Heights Park, where a battle in the War of 1812 was fought. Following the rest stop the tour will continue to the Sir Adam Beck Hydro Stations, passing the Floral Clock with 20 thousand blossoms and 500-pound hands. Government guides will conduct the tourists through one of the hydro stations. The tour will also include a trip on the "Maid of the Mist," where tourists will don slickers and board the powerful diesel boat for a circle trip into the very bowl at the base the Horseshoe Falls and pass the American Falls for a real contact with the mighty roar and spray of the falls. A full course dinner will be served tourists in the Rainbow Restaurant on the tenth floor of the famous Sheraton Brock Hotel. After dinner tourists will climb the cliff to the Seagram Tower that stands 600 feet above the waters of the Niagara. Tourists will also be able to walk along the top of the gorge in the setting of Victoria Park and Oakes Garden Theater. Tourists will be permitted to see the spectacle of lighting the area with lights of 13 billion candle power after dark. These are only a few of the sights and experiences which this trip to Niagara Falls will afford, so make your plans now to take advantage of this 12-hour tour to be remembered a lifetime. ***** ** ACB Committee on Evaluation of Services to the Blind Blindness is a cause of inequality in our society. Blind people as individuals and through their organizations cannot expect those who do not suffer from this cause of inequality to lead the way to remedies which will help cancel it out. For that matter, blind people and organizations of the blind should not be surprised when blind persons who have succeeded in overcoming the barriers of the inequality of opportunity because of blindness stop thinking and working for ways it can be better overcome for their fellows. Services to the blind are directed toward providing equal opportunities or equal security for blind individuals. It has frequently occurred to me that more thought and effort is being spent on how to provide blind people the security. Therefore, it was refreshing to read the thought of Leonard C. Aymon in the October issue of the Braille Forum, '63. He wonders if blind people are receiving equal opportunities for training their abilities as are now being offered citizens with sight. There is no doubt in my mind that an evaluation of the educational and training opportunities open to blind people is much needed. It is hoped that Mr. Aymon will help our committee efforts in this area. Sometimes we in the 20th century forget that our nation leads all others and still leads in giving each individual an equal opportunity no matter where he was born, no matter what his economic status and parents' pedigrees. Our nation did this through free education for all, thus giving each individual an equal opportunity to overcome the inequalities of his environmental surroundings. Today we often forget about the power behind this idea and allow it to be buried in what many consider a mere petty struggle to have government provide security through medical care, housing and welfare doles. These are necessary, but it is hoped that our readers will join me and Mr. Aymon in a reawakening, and that education and training with all its possibilities for improving the status of the blind will be appreciated and placed in proper perspective. Let us determine whether the equal opportunities for education and training of the blind are being achieved. Mr. Aymon does not believe that they are. What is your belief and what would your evaluation of education and training opportunities for the blind be? (Education and training for the blind is only one area of service to the blind which our committee wants to begin evaluating. So do not limit your thoughts to this one area alone and do not keep your thoughts to yourself.) Larry Thompson, Chairman 104 West Hanlon St. Tampa, Fla. 33604 ***** ** Georgia Federation Hears Successful Blind By Jack C. Lewis The Georgia Federation of the Blind held its annual convention in Atlanta on October 12th and 13th. On Saturday at 9 a.m. in the convention hall of the Georgian Hotel, President Walter R. McDonald called the meeting to order. The Saturday session was made up of many interesting programs which covered a broad range of topics. Miss Mary Marsh vividly described the program for the education of blind children in the Atlanta Public School System. Also, a representative from the Department of Family and Children Services, formerly the Department of Welfare, explained the requirements for drawing assistance and told of the many duties of a welfare agent. The GFB convention crowd was glad to hear of two men in attendance who recently had the good fortune of losing their extra income tax exemption. Tom Barbaree of Griffin has recently had a delicate eye operation which restored his vision. Tom, who for many years depended on the use of a cane, was employed at the Factory for the Blind in Griffin. Now, with almost perfect vision he anticipates no major difficulty in obtaining successful employment. The guest speaker, Al Drake of Tallahassee, also has been taken out of the category of legal blindness thanks to a successful operation. During the afternoon session, Mr. Drake described the functions of a masseur. It is a field that more blind people should consider, he contends. Al Drake conceded to a questioner from the floor that a masseur is a man who gets paid for what other men get slapped for. Also taking part on the program was Patricia Nadine Yarbrough of Southern Pines, N.C. Mrs. Yarbrough, a graduate of Mercer University, and the mother of two, is a social case worker. She resigned as a medical secretary in a Macon hospital to assume her new position in early 1963. Also on the afternoon program, Dr. Otis Stephens of Statesboro described his duties as a college professor at Georgia Southern College. Dr. Stephens is confident that this field is one which should be considered by more blind qualified students. While attending Johns Hopkins University, he, along with three others, received from President Kennedy an award as the most outstanding blind person using the services of The Recording for the Blind. Doctor Stephens, twenty-eight years of age, is Associate Professor of Political Science at Georgia Southern. As banquet speaker, Mr. Bill Sims, Chairman of the Governor's Committee for the Employment of the Physically Handicapped, told of the program and the effort of his committee to locate employment for these disabled people. No one is more qualified than Mr. Sims to hold such an office. Approximately half of the employees of his manufacturing concern are physically handicapped. The Sunday morning session consisted largely of an enthusiastic discussion of the situation of our factories for the blind. To improve the conditions of these substandard factories will continue to be one of the GFB's major projects. Two resolutions presented by Ned E. Freeman, GFB Second Vice President and President of the ACB, were adopted without opposition. The first resolution is to support the efforts being made by the ACB to amend the Federal Aviation Act so as to permit airlines to give the same kind of concessions to blind or otherwise disabled persons as these people now receive from railways and bus lines. The second resolution adopted by the 1963 convention is a pledge to support the efforts of the ACB and others to broaden the scope of the crippled children's program, so as to provide improved and expanded services for the visually handicapped and the multiple handicapped children. By the same token, this resolution urges the General Assembly of Georgia to take action which would improve these services and facilities for Georgia's multiple handicapped children including the use of facilities outside the State of Georgia where such facilities are not available within the State. Garland Layton, of Bainbridge, was unanimously re-elected to a second three-year term on the Board of Directors. On Sunday afternoon the members of the group went by bus to Piedmont Park, where they enjoyed a delicious chicken box lunch. Then the group toured Fragrance Gardens, a garden established for the blind. Practically every type of rose was displayed, except Four Roses, as well as many other kinds of beautiful flowers. Immediately after the tour through the beautiful floral gardens the group returned to the Georgian Hotel, where the convention was officially concluded. With over one hundred in attendance, everyone seemed to agree that this was one of the most enjoyable and productive conventions in the history of the GFB. ***** ** Opportunities for Employment of the Blind in the Fields of Physical Therapy and Massage By Al Drake (Editor's note: Al Drake, of Tallahassee, Florida, was one of the organizers of the American Council of the Blind and served as a member of the provisional Board of Directors from July 1961 to July 1962. In 1962 an operation restored a considerable degree of useful vision to Al. When, in 1944, ophthalmologists warned him that he might lose what vision he then had, Al was advised to prepare for a field in which he would be able to work with or without sight. He gives credit to Mr. Ed Moriarity of Ortho Vocational Services, Cleveland, for directing his attention and interest to the field of massage and for helping him complete his training in night classes at Great Lakes College.) Before we can determine the opportunities for the employment of blind persons in the fields of physical therapy and massage, let us examine this type of employment. I will confine my discussion to one phase of physical therapy -- that in which I am engaged. This is the practice of massage, which is one of the specialized divisions of the overall practice of physical therapy. There are several definitions of massage. The book says: "Body massage is a personal health service employing the use of various manipulations for the improvement of health, for weight reduction and weight gaining." The definition I like best is one by Dr. Kellogg in his book, which says: "Massage is the scientific manipulation of the body for therapeutic purposes." Massage consists of such movements as mere touch or contact, stroking, friction, kneading, percussion, vibration and joint manipulation. To practice body massage the operator must have a strong healthy body, firm muscles, soft hands and a delicate touch. He must have a pleasant personality and be able to adopt a professional attitude toward his work. A competent operator, besides knowing the theory and practice of body massage, should also have an understanding of the following requirements: 1. Laws and Regulations. He should have a knowledge of the rights and obligations and restrictions concerning the legal practice of massage. Laws and regulations in the practice of body massage differ from state to state and from town to town. Some states have no laws regarding the practice of massage, but there are certain health requirements that must be met within city limits. 2. Record of Treatments. The operator must be able to analyze the condition and needs of the patron. He should also know when it is necessary to consult a physician. He must be able to keep an accurate record of treatments and the results obtained. 3. Anatomy and Physiology. The operator must know the functions and interdependence of the muscular, nervous and circulatory systems of the body. He should know the normal and abnormal appearance of the skin and know how to take the pulse and temperature of the body. 4. Electricity. The operator should know the different types of electric currents and their physiological effects on body tissue. He should know how to apply ultraviolet or infrared rays to the body and know their physiological effects on the body. 5. Hydrotherapy. The operator should know the external application of water to the body by means of baths, showers and sprays and know their physiological effects on the body. 6. Exercise. The operator should know progressive and corrective exercises for reducing or developing the body. The operator should be able to tell when a treatment is indicated and when it is contra-indicated. This, in brief, will give you some idea of what is required of a person entering the field of massage and physical therapy. The practice of massage and physical forms of treatment is not new. Instinctively man resorted to pressing and rubbing the body to relieve pain and certain ills. Both the Bible and Koran recorded the use of aromatics to anoint the body for the purpose of lubricating the skin and increasing its attractiveness. Among the Greeks and the Romans both great lovers of beauty -- massage is enlisted in the development of a strong body. Long before the Christian Era, the Oriental races recognized and appreciated the value of massage. In China, Japan and India there is evidence that massage was employed to give suppleness to the muscles as well as to stimulate their action. From the Far East the practice of massage spread to Europe. The Greeks made genuine progress in using massage to preserve health and cure disease. The physician Herodicus, of the 5th century B.C., prolonged the lives of Greek patients by having their bodies rubbed and exercised. It is said that Plato accused Herodicus of doing an ill service to the state by keeping people alive, people who ought to die because they caused more expense than they were worth to the community. Hippocrates -- a pupil of Herodicus -- who later became famous as the "Father of Medicine," understood the effects of different modes of application. He wrote: "Hard rubbing binds, much rubbing causes parts to waste, and moderate rubbing makes them grow." This advice, given 2,000 years ago, is still applicable today. The Romans acquired the practice of bathing and massage from the Greeks, and a masseur was highly respected for his ability to treat weak and disabling conditions. It was not, however, until the 19th century that a scientific system of massage was formulated, applied for certain purposes and according to definite rules. The introduction of massage in this country was not until 1877. Final acceptance of massage came during and immediately following World War I when its merits were proven in the restoration of functional activities to injured limbs. During World War II massage was employed on a large scale in Army and Navy hospitals for the recovery of war casualties. Now you may wonder what the comparison is between the practice of massage and the practice of physical therapy. For a moment I would like to refer to my own State of Florida and give you the comparison of the educational qualifications there between massage and physical therapy, and possibly show you a closer relationship of the two fields. First, let me say that Florida has the highest educational standards of any state in the United States that must be met in order to qualify for the practice of massage. The law requires 950 hours in a recognized school of massage as follows: 200 hours each of physiology, anatomy, and hydrotherapy; 100 hours each of theory of massage, including indications and contraindications thereof, and hygiene and practical demonstrations; and 150 hours of colon therapy. A person may also qualify by becoming an apprentice with the approval of the board of massage. When an applicant has finished his schooling or apprenticeship, and his application has been accepted by the Florida Board of Massage, he then must pass an examination given by the board before he can become a registered practitioner. To become a registered therapist in the State of Florida you must be a graduate of a school giving a course in physical therapy which has been approved by the American Medical Association or the American Physical Therapy Association. This physical therapy law was passed in Florida in 1957. Now, of what does the practice of physical therapy consist? According to the Florida legal definition, it is the treatment of any disability, injury, disease, or any other condition of health of human beings, or the prevention of such conditions, and rehabilitation by the use of air, cold, heat, electricity, exercise, massage, radiant energy, including ultraviolet and infrared rays, ultrasound and water. Note that in the practice of massage we use most of the same properties as used by physical therapists. However, with the extended time of training in physical therapy, you would probably learn those properties and the use thereof in much more detail and could use them to a much greater advantage than a massage practitioner who finishes schooling in six or seven months. Now you have a little of the history, the qualifications, and the preparation necessary to become engaged in the practice of massage and physical therapy. Let us look at the opportunities for employment of the blind in these fields. Body massage is accomplished mostly through the sense of touch. Sense of touch is also important in the field of physical therapy, but there would be many more electrical and mechanical modalities employed in this field. There are many people with little or no sight in both of these fields. According to the book Placing the Blind and Visually Handicapped in Professional Occupations, prepared under a grant from the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, most of the blind osteopaths, chiropractors and physical therapists who were interviewed limited their practice mostly to some form of manipulation. There are no physical therapy schools in the United States which admit blind students. Referring again to the state of Florida. I know of only one registered physical therapist here who is blind. He is doing well and has many referrals from doctors. His sighted wife assists him and acts as his receptionist. There are several persons in Florida practicing massage who are blind, or have little vision. In a recent conversation with Howard Walton, secretary of the Florida Board of Massage, I learned that there are 26 visually handicapped persons now in active practice of massage. There are five visually handicapped students now in the school of massage. Others have successfully passed the examination for registration and moved to other states. Mr. Walton says, concerning these blind practitioners, "I can state that most of them are a credit to the profession and to themselves." It is true with the blind, as with the sighted, that there are those who are not talented to do this line of work. To be successful in this field a person must have an interest in helping people, must have a sensitive touch, and must be able to detect areas of tension or troubled areas which are contra-indicated for massage. I think the opportunities for employment of blind people who are interested in a profession which gives a needed service are good -- if that person is adapted to this kind of work and has the physical strength and endurance. Most of the athletic clubs, YMCA's, and the larger hospitals and clinics use someone who is specialized in this field of work. Many of my customers who travel complain about not being able to find this type of service in other cities. I know of prominent people in central and north Florida who are looking for persons in this field to come to the city and open a place of business of this type. There is a demand for this type of operation, and I know of no one who can fill these needs better than some of my friends who have little or no vision. Having the knowledge necessary to practice massage, I know of no other business or profession you could go into with as little capital outlay as would be necessary in this field. Your main tools are your hands. You may have a small vibrator, heat lamp, shower and a steam cabinet or steam room. Of course, the more you invest, the more business you can expect. ***** ** She Reached for the Rainbow By Patricia Nadine Yarbrough (Editor's note: Mrs. Yarbrough is a graduate of the Georgia Academy for the Blind and has been an active member of the Georgia Federation of the Blind and its Macon chapter. She has a lovely singing voice and plays the piano. She was trained as a telephone operator but no position was available to a blind girl. She was then among the first medical secretaries to be trained and employed at the Macon General Hospital, Macon, Georgia. While holding this position and keeping house for her husband and two little girls, she also attended Mercer University on Saturdays and during the summer.) Upon graduation from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, in 1962, I faced the inevitable question, What next? After surveying the possibilities for employment in Georgia, I was sure I would have to look elsewhere for opportunity. Similar to a reach for the end of the rainbow, I wrote to the North Carolina State Commission for the Blind to ask if there were any openings in this agency. To my utter amazement, I was mailed applications for social caseworker for the blind, which I completed and sent back to Raleigh. Later, Miss Christine Anderson, supervisor of the Social Service Division, called asking if I were still interested and interviewed me on the phone. In July my family and I moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina, and I became a member of the staff of the State Commission for the Blind. By March 1935 the legal procedures necessary to form this agency had been completed in the N.C. General Assembly. Thus, the North Carolina Commission for the Bind became a reality. The commission is composed of three major divisions. The first of these is the Medical Division, whose purpose is to offer eye examinations in doctors' offices and in group clinics, and to sustain several eye clinics at centers throughout North Carolina. The program also pays for surgery or hospitalization when recommended by a physician. The second major division, the Rehabilitation Division, is composed of five units. These are: (1) a program of general rehabilitation services; (2) the Adjustment Center at Butner, N.C., for the adult blind, in operation 11 months of the year; (3) a home industry division wherein qualified teachers go into homes, teach handicrafts, and buy finished articles to resell; (4) a program which includes five workshops for the blind; and (5) a bureau of employment for the blind. The third major division of the North Carolina State Commission for the Blind is the Social Service Division which covers practically every requirement needed to help the blind help themselves. This program is supported by a central supervisor, six field representatives, and thirty-eight caseworkers, most of whom are blind men and women well trained and qualified, working under the local supervision of the director of welfare of each county. It is here that I began as a caseworker. This type of service has already proven to be the most challenging experience of my life, as well as giving a personal satisfaction that comes only from serving your own. My main responsibilities are to the needy blind: to assist with financial or other problems; to visit them at least twice a year; to make referrals for special medical care or rehabilitation services; to find and register new cases of blindness and to register children for the state school for the blind; to make application and recommendations for gift radios and talking books; to work closely with the Lions Clubs in meeting the needs of the blind of North Carolina; and to aid the visually handicapped person be an accepted member of his local community. These are my challenges for every tomorrow. A Chinese proverb says, "Togetherness is strength." The Lions Clubs, the Association for the Blind, and the Commission for the Blind of North Carolina work together to produce a stronger and more effective program of services for its blind citizens. ***** ** The "No" People Can Be Beaten By Dr. Eleanor Brown (From the Tulsa, Oklahoma, WORLD.) When I was five years old, my mother took me into her arms. "Eleanor," she said, "at last you are going to be able to go to school where there will be other blind children. The school is in Columbus, and you will be gone for a long time. You won't come home for dinner or supper; you won't see any of us for months." I pondered this a while and decided that even being away for months would be all right if I could but go to school. It was a dream of mine to be able to read and spell like my older sister Catherine. Eventually I stretched that dream into attending high school, then college and even to teaching; for at that very early age I believed that dreams could come true. Today at 76 I know they can. I suppose the first thing I learned about dreams came in my very first day at the Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus. It was when I discovered that they were going to teach me to read with my fingers. I balked; this was not what I had in mind at all. But soon with the guidance of good teachers when I said my prayers at night I stopped asking "Please, God, make me read like Catherine" and said only, "Please, God, help me to read." What I learned then has stood me in good stead ever since -- with dreams you bargain a bit. When I was fourteen, I learned something else. If you want your dreams to come true, you are going to have to cope with what I call the "No" people. I met them after my mother died, and I was spending my three months' vacation from school at Clovernook, a home for blind women at Mount Healthy, Ohio. I could have stayed and worked there the rest of my life, but I chose to go back to school instead. The "No" people were opposed to this, as they were opposed to my being the first blind student at Ohio State University. Again and again in my life I was to find the same attitude. It is one that blind people -- and I suppose all people with handicaps -- must face and fight. So long as we do the routine thing, we find much help and many benefactors. If a blind person wants to cross a street a pedestrian will gladly and graciously help him; but if he wants to cross the country, there will always be someone to object and say it can't be done and that it shouldn't be attempted. I found this attitude again when admitted to and my degree in sight. I began applying for teaching posts. "We think," the placement agent at Ohio State said, "that you might secure a job as instructor in basketry or weaving in a school for the blind." I was hurt. furious. "I came to college to use my mind, not my hands," I replied probably too icily. Then when I least expected it, I received word that the Dayton Board of Education had hired me to teach high school the next September. Friends in my old home town had worked in my behalf. Another dream had come true. I was confident that I could teach the subjects at State High, but keeping discipline in classes of obstreperous teenagers was the question. The answer came in simply being one jump ahead of my students. It came easy for me to recognize voices; and, once I had fixed the name with the voice, insisting that students retain the same seats each day, the battle was all but over. Martha, for example, would be called upon to recite. There would be a faint odor of peppermint about her, and her speech would seem a little hampered. "Martha, do you have gum?" I would ask. "Yes, Ma'am," she would answer, embarrassed and puzzled. "Please take it out." The wonder of how I could tell what they were doing kept my students guessing, and that in turn helped me to control them. I taught high school from 1914 until 1953, and I never stopped wanting to go to school. It was this yearning to study that led me to what I look back on as my greatest adventure -- trying for a Ph.D. Now the "No" people came out in throngs. There were those who didn't want me to waste my time. There were even professors who angrily opposed me. I faced problems with money, health, the exhausting years of study; but at Columbia University in June of 1934 I became the first blind woman to obtain a Ph.D. I had written a thesis on Milton's blindness. How do you make dreams come true? I have my own formula. Be true to yourself; cultivate the best in life -- books, friends, ideals -- make use of what you have; don't waste; don't ignore; but chiefly work, think and pray. Are not these things available to all of us? ***** ** The Voice Between the Station Breaks (The following article is taken from the October 1963 issue of Performance.) The operator's eyes frolicked. Her voice rose to an uncontrolled pitch. In a moment of containment she managed to blurt out, "I'll give him your message as soon as he's off the air." Then she swept the switchboard clear and collapsed in merriment. "Wait 'til Ed hears this one," she told her partner. "Some civic group wants him to judge a beauty contest!" It would be all over the cafeteria by noon, the hour that Ed Walker finished his morning show, and all the station wags would have the time advantage of manufacturing clever witticisms to greet his entrance. He would still them with his usual devastating retorts, however, for he was used to their bantering around the radio station. Outside the walls, though, where Ed Walker is a popular radio voice heard by hundreds of thousands, very few listeners realize that he has been totally blind since birth. Little wonder that Ed is always being called upon to participate in gatherings and goings-on around Washington. Since his first WRC show in 1955, when a critic referred to him as "the most refreshing new radio personality to be uncovered in Washington this year," Ed Walker's wealth of talent has attracted a large and faithful audience. Currently his broadcast day consists of two 2-hour shows, "Man About Music" in the mornings and "Time for Music" in the afternoons. His working day stretches out to about 9 hours, however, as he translates weather, news, and commercial announcements into braille notes, and plans his next day's shows. The braille typewriter is standard equipment near his microphone and is in constant use while the records are spinning. Close by is a precision clock with touchable dials that enables him to keep up a split-second schedule in unison with his engineer. And also within reach is a telephone -- his only intimate contact with the world outside his heavy glass studio. One would imagine that mike fright would be a natural reaction in such a situation: The realization that one is alone in a radio booth, speaking glibly and conversationally from braille notes, saying things that will be heard by thousands. And all around, darkness. Added to this is the compulsion in a highly competitive business to be good; in fact, better than the next. For WRC is expected to be a standard bearer; it is one of five stations throughout the country which is owned and operated by the National Broadcasting Co. Only once can Ed Walker remember being momentarily unnerved by the enormous significance of his position. That was in the fall of 1955 when he first moved over to NBC from a suburban local station. Just before his first words he heard the three notes of the musical chime which is the network's audible symbol. The sound seemed to swell into a crescendo of excitement and triumph and he had to work fast to untie his vocal cords to meet his engineer's signal. Finding himself on an NBC station, or indeed merely dreaming of a radio career, is a tribute to Ed's talents rather than to his nervous system. It didn't happen it was contrived in an orderly and persistent fashion, but only after his frank evaluation that he was born with what it takes to go into radio work. He was bitten early. Looking backward, he can trace the bug's incubation period to his fifth or sixth year, when he set up a make-believe radio station in his basement and succeeded in dislodging the complacent quietness of his Forrest, Ill., neighborhood. His records and phonograph accompanied him later to the Maryland School for the Blind. Growing up with music was, for him, synonymous with getting closer to radio. This, still later, was the tall, gangling youth who walked into the D.C. Division of Vocational Rehabilitation -- in the lean days before the expanded Federal-State program -- and asked for assistance in earning a college degree in radio work. The laws of feasibility must have loomed out in bold typeface before the counselor's eyes as Ed's dream spilled out. Gradually the counselor's hesitation swerved aside in favor of Ed's bold, persuasive words, and arrangements were made for him to attend American University. But, said the vocational rehab people, your aspirations need to be grounded in some good solid sociology courses; stay away from the airwaves until some professional opinion backs your goal. For 2 years Ed stuck to his sociology courses in the classroom. Around the campus, however, he mixed almost exclusively with those students who were majoring in radio or television. Two of them were with him one day when they came across an old radio station in one of the college buildings. It had been laid to rest years before and no one since had bothered to disturb its dusty demise. They got it working and were soon making a name for themselves around the campus with their music and chatter. Before long they were accepting engagements to entertain at fraternity and other college parties. Ed was finally getting the feel of the microphone. He further developed his very keen sense of mimicry and satire. He discovered dozens of voices. He cut tapes, gathered copy, and with his partners, canvassed the commercial stations in search of a spot. One station actually hired him -- at a graveyard hour on Sunday evening. But this was enough to help Ed convince his counselors that he should switch his college major to radio. Following graduation he found immediate work at a suburban station with one of his classmates, Willard Scott. Ed is quick to pay tribute to Willard's spunk in blazing the same trail for both of them. Billed as "The Joy Boys of Radio," they put on a rollicking show which earned them popularity within their first year. The following year, when Willard moved to WRC, Ed followed on a temporary basis, doing a morning show in the suburbs and an afternoon show on WRC. In a year he had proved to his new employer that he could handle a permanent spot, so he severed his other connection and has been happy ever after with NBC. And the National Broadcasting Co. has been happy with Ed Walker. "Sure, they took a chance," Ed admits; "but I guess I've proved myself." He likes the fact that he receives no special consideration, even though he has to work longer hours than the other musicastors, translating all his copy into his braille notebook. "I'm just as liable for criticism as anyone else," he states seriously; then, with a chuckle, adds, "and I sure get my share of it." One gathers the impression that Ed Walker, his blindness notwithstanding, is a very perceptive person. ***** ** Words to Live By By Robert Russell Ever since I was a young child, people have stared at me. Knots of window-shoppers are suddenly silent as I pass, and when they think me out of earshot, they say, "Isn't it a shame!" And when someone helps me across a crowded intersection, his curiosity cannot be restrained. "What's it like? Just darkness, eh? Always dark like midnight, I suppose? It must be very strange. But, then, you have a sixth sense, don't you? All you people do. Very strange!" "Well," I asked myself, "am I so strange?" I have come to the conclusion that they are right -- I am peculiar. I am convinced, also, that those window-shoppers, if they considered the question seriously, would come to the same conclusion about themselves. For we are all oddities, all peculiar, all individuals. But the loneliness of being separate and distinct is softened by our sharing a common life. We all thrill to the same hopes and cower before the same monsters, and most of all, we are all forced to act on insufficient knowledge. We are forced irrevocably to commit ourselves financially, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually without being able to foresee the consequences. As parents, as teachers, as statesmen, we are all the blind leading the blind. The future into which you walk is as dark to you as the pavement before the feet of the blind. When next you see a blind man walking down a busy street, do not think to yourself, "There goes an unusual man!" The courage to walk into the unknown is the courage required of all human beings. Think instead, "There goes a man who knows no more about his next step than I do about mine. In this world we are all brothers." (Mr. Russell, an associate professor of English literature at Franklin and Marshall College, has been blind since childhood. He is now on sabbatical leave in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. His "Words to Live By," which appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune, Dec. 15, 1963, are adapted from his autobiography, "To Catch an Angel: Adventures in the World I Cannot See," by permission of the Vanguard Press, Copyright 1962, by Robert Russell.) ***** ** A Short Course in Public Relations The six most important words -- I admit I made a mistake The five most important words -- I am proud of you The four most important words -- What is your opinion? The three most important words -- If you please The two most important words -- Thank you The most important word -- We The least important word -- I (Quoted in ABC Digest from speech by Catherine Peart, PR Chairman, California Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs) ***** ** The Eye Bank Situation By George Card In my state there is now only one eye bank, which is situated in Milwaukee and accepts donated corneas only from within Milwaukee County. Both the Wisconsin Lions Foundation and the Wisconsin Council of the Blind feel that it may be desirable to expand this program, and we have both been doing some fairly extensive research on this subject. The first eye bank in the world was established in New York in the early 1940s and by 1945 there were about 20 scattered over the country. Unfortunately, at least half of these were operated in a haphazard manner and without the proper ophthalmological supervision and guidance. It soon became apparent that some sort of national organization of eye banks, with professional and ethical standards observed by its members, must become reality if eye banks were to perform the service which was so badly needed. Very extensive studies were carried on by the four American organizations of ophthalmologists, acting through a joint committee. It was not until 1959, however, that a really effective eye bank organization came into being -- the American Association of Eye Banks. There is still a long way to go, but the future now seems much brighter. In my own research I finally came upon an article in the November 1962 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology which contains some really authoritative information. It clears up several of the misconceptions which have become prevalent -- such as that corneas are only usable for transplant operations within 24 or 48 hours after removal. The truth is that fresh corneas are usable up to 72 hours after removal and are flown by jet plane to almost any spot on the globe, but a method has also been worked out now for preserving them indefinitely. I quote from the source named above: "Preservation of corneas by dehydration in glycerin with molecular sieve and storage at room temperature was successfully developed in the Washington Eye Bank and Research Foundation." This is all important. Six of these dehydrated corneas were recently used in Israel and all six operations were successful. It is impossible to secure cornea donations in much of Asia because of religious prejudice, and this has made the performance of the sight restoring operations out of the question for thousands and thousands of blind persons in the Middle East and Far East whose visions could have been given back to them if a supply of donated corneas could have been obtained. American and European eye banks, functioning through a recently set up international eye bank, are sending every cornea that can be spared, but at best it is no more than a dribble. Even in our country many archaic state laws still nullify the wishes of the would-be donors, and in almost all states the nearest surviving relative can ignore the desires of the deceased -- even when these have been made explicit in writing. The Human Tissues Act, adopted in the United Kingdom last year, has completely changed this situation in that jurisdiction. There would probably be several times as many donations in the United States each year if it were generally realized that the slight operation in no way disfigures the donor. ***** ** More about the Cranmer Abacus (From the November NEW OUTLOOK FOR THE BLIND) While a sighted person zips through a set of calculations with a pencil and paper, slide-rule, or electric calculating machine, the blind student either strains over a set of mental calculations, busies himself with one of the peg-board arithmetic slates, or struggles with the forward writing, back-spacing, and line spacing of a braillewriter. ... With the advent of the Cranmer abacus for the blind, we are about to witness a significant breakthrough in the mechanics of calculation for the blind. Soon the blind partner of a two-man laboratory team may be the one doing the intricate calculations while his sighted partner makes visual observations. This is because the Cranmer abacus promises to enable blind people to work more quickly, more efficiently, and with less effort than a sighted person who is using a pencil and paper. ... Designed by a blind person, with blind people in mind, the Cranmer abacus is light in weight, low in cost, self-contained, pocket-sized, and purely mechanical in its operation. This means that having learned the processes of abacus calculation and having practiced until bead manipulation is a matter of habit rather than of conscious effort, the blind abacus operator is able to add, subtract, multiply, divide, extract roots, calculate decimals, and do the arithmetic associated with fractions with absolutely no mental calculation on his part. ... The speed which blind people are able to achieve promises to be far greater than anything available to date. ... Blind people need not avoid areas of interest and study because of the time-consuming aspects of computation. ... Those vending stand operators who have been taught to use the abacus are lavish in their praise. ... Profit-and-loss calculations can be made with lightning speed, and time spent in vending stand bookkeeping is reduced several-fold. The Cranmer Abacus for the Blind is available from the American Printing House for the Blind. Also available is a one-volume press braille instruction book entitled USING THE CRANMER ABACUS FOR THE BLIND. ... For the instructions on tape, write to the author of this article, Mr. Fred L. Gissoni, Department of Education, 122 West High Street, Lexington, Kentucky. ... ***** ** Thumbs Up By Mary Walton Having spent several months recently in a rehabilitation center where I became acquainted with the long cane technique, I can add my testimony to that of many others as to its proven effectiveness. To those of us who cannot love, afford, adjust to and properly care for a guide dog, this wonderful extension to the right arm, when its use is learned correctly, is a boon and a blessing of untold worth. But I wonder if the time isn't almost upon us when some one travel instructor will have to work out some kind of safe, effective thumb technique to be added to the mobility program of all or most training centers for the blind. Train and bus travel is simple, even for the most helplessly dependent blind person. After being taken to the station by a relative, friend or taxi and purchasing his ticket, he is placed aboard by his escort or a redcap, seated, and can remain happily in his place, allowing the miles to fly by until he reaches the desired destination. Once there, he may, if not met at the station, have someone call a cab for him or take him to the nearest phone where he can call and make all necessary arrangements. Travel by plane or luxury bus is simpler still, for the hostess is always at hand, ready to give needed assistance. But today's transportation situation in many parts of our nation creates problems even for the most independent and skilled blind traveler. Along the Eastern Seaboard, commuters' trains still take many to and from their work. Large cities, for the most part, still have busy, crowded railway and bus terminals, for all roads still lead to these great commercial and industrial centers as they were once said to lead to Rome. But as one travels away from the big cities in any direction, the picture changes drastically. Cars, no longer a luxury but a necessity, throng the highways in increasing numbers and, as more people travel in their cars, fewer and fewer go by train or bus with the result that, one by one, these public transportation facilities are being discontinued. Many towns and small cities across our nation are completely without any kind of passenger service; in others it is next to impossible to make any kind of trip without one or more changes, generally involving hours of waiting. Where does all this leave the blind person who must travel away from his home town? All too often, stranded high and dry. He must depend on a relative, friend, hired driver or, if he has an exceptional amount of courage, his trusty thumb. Many states have some provisions for payment of drivers for their blind home teachers, counselors, social workers, etc. Others insist that all such employees must see well enough to do their own driving, and in a few, the blind employee must travel by thumb! I have always had a deep admiration for such intrepid blind hitch-hikers. But what of the in-betweens who, while not completely dependent, just haven't got what it takes to go out and brave the hazards of the highway in this manner, and yet who must travel? Even the most loving and dedicated of relatives or friends cannot be expected to be at one's beck and call every time there's a need to take to the highway. For those of us who are not traveling in connection with some form of steady employment, to pay the driver is out of the question. So please, Mr. Researcher, wherever you are, make your next project one in "How to Travel without Convenient Transportation Facilities." ***** ** American Blind Bowling Association Holds Tournament The 17th Annual ABBA Championship Tournament will be held May 28, 29, 30, 31, 1964, at the Del-Fair Lanes, with headquarters in the Sheraton-Gibson Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. Some 800 blind bowlers from all over the United States and Canada are expected to participate in what has become one of the most competitive recreational activities among the blind. Compared to the initial beginning of our organization some 17 years ago, when only 13 five-man teams were represented, blind bowling has taken tremendous leaps forward. A mere handful of blind bowlers who became interested in this competitive activity in Philadelphia joined with other interested members from Chester, Bethlehem, Reading and Allentown to form the Inter-State Blind Bowlers League, from which emerged the American Blind Bowling Association, Inc. Over the years ABBA has attempted to develop along the structure set forth by the American Bowling Congress, following its rules and regulations as closely as is practical. Added to this structure, however, was a standard 15-foot rail 31 inches high, which is placed to the left of the gutter for right-handed bowlers and to the right of the gutter for left-handed bowlers, and acts as a guide for the totally blind contestants. Volunteer pin spotters and scorekeepers are a vital part of our efforts to make the game both interesting and entertaining. Each bowler is kept informed of the action and direction of his ball, while at the same time the number of pins standing is called to his attention. Since ABBA was organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it has urged local leagues throughout the country to develop programs of bowling and eventual participation in these annual tournaments. By moving the tournament site from year to year throughout the country, we continue to promote interest in bowling activities. Anyone or any group interested in becoming officially sanctioned through ABBA may do so by writing Mr. Leroy Price, Secretary-Treasurer, P.O. Box 537, Williamsport, Pennsylvania 17704. Other officers of ABBA are: John Murken, President; Ercole J. Oristaglio, first vice-president; Roy J. Ward, second vice-president; and Mrs. Roberta Looney, tournament director. Doris Hurley, Publicity Chair 408 Ludlow Avenue, Apt. 59 Cincinnati, Ohio 45220 ***** ** Letters from Readers * To the Editor: I am one of the subscribers to the Braille Forum here in Grand Rapids. In this month's section on "Letters from Readers," it was good to read Mrs. Florence Watson's letter about the need of the deaf-blind for more news. We all believe that the blind and the deaf-blind should be as well informed as possible. ... I hope something can be done to get more news to the deaf-blind. I would like to hear from you in grade 2 braille. ... I enjoy the Braille Forum very much and look forward to each issue. -- Sincerely, Tom Lyons, Hillside Hotel, 103 1/2 Division Avenue, South Grand Rapids, Michigan *** To the Editor: It was a pleasure to read the Braille Forum of January, 1964. This is the first issue I have read, and I would like to congratulate the American Council of the Blind for bringing out such a good magazine. ... Such a magazine was long overdue for people without sight. I am a single man, 30 years of age and at present working as a resource teacher for blind children with the Gary public school system. I am the only legally blind person teaching in the public schools of Indiana. I am a graduate of the University of Kashmir and a law graduate of the University of Delhi in India. I have a master's degree in special education with specialization in teaching the visually handicapped from Hunter College of the City University of New York. I have taught at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind, where I worked with multiply handicapped blind children for about four years. I have also served for the past seven summers as counselor at several camps for blind children and blind adults, including Camp Wapanacki, Hardwick, Vermont; the Vacation Camp for the Blind at Spring Valley, New York; and Camp Highbrook Lodge, Chardon, Ohio. I also worked for a while as a social worker with the Brooklyn Industrial Home for the Blind in New York. Now that I have introduced myself, I would like to comment on some of the articles in the January Forum. It is true that many successful blind persons are trying to help other blind people who are still struggling to find their proper place in society. However, it is also true that many successful blind people would rather have nothing to do with the rest of the blind. This attitude has been called "denial of identification." This may be in part due to the overemphasis on the importance of blind persons belonging to the whole community. To some extent this is understandable, but too much emphasis on belonging to the total community can create some problems. In the same issue there was an article by a highly qualified blind person on the employment of blind people. I believe that employment is a problem for blind people all over the world. I believe that the difficulties in getting employment cannot all be from a lack of knowledge on the part of employers, for most of them know some blind person who is successful. It stems from what I may call unconscious prejudice; however, I am convinced that blind persons can overcome this prejudice through hard struggle. The greatest problem of the blind is getting and maintaining employment. ... The employment problem has been alleviated in some European countries by setting a quota for the employment of blind persons in industry. ... Let me thank you once again for sending me the Forum. I hope to contribute some articles to it. With best wishes, Bashir A. Masoodi, 411 W. 8th Ave., Gary, Indiana ***** *** Hyde Park Corner Conducted by Earl Scharry ** Two Sides and a New Angle. -- In this issue we are pleased to present a contribution from Jack Murphey in which he takes sharp issue with the views expressed by Mary Walton in the January issue. We welcome the free expression of both viewpoints as a healthy sign that ACB is big enough to encompass a wide range of views and that they can meet and compete in this forum and eventually be mutually modified and reconciled. Back in 1960 then Senator Lyndon Johnson propounded an interesting philosophy of government. He maintained that it is not helpful to think in terms of "two sides to every question," one of which must prevail and the other be discredited and go down to defeat and oblivion. He believes that to every controversy there is somewhere an answer which will be acceptable and best for all. He thinks that it is the duty of the government to find this one national solution. "Hyde Park Corner" is dedicated to a similar conviction. We believe that the one right answer can and should be found, but that before this can be done there must be complete freedom of expression for all shades of opinion, just as successful labor arbitrators go on the supposition that as long as they can keep both sides talking there is a chance of finding a common ground acceptable to both. We feel that nothing whatever is to be gained by the suppression of the views of a minority. Just as long as one side feels itself humiliated and suppressed, we have not found the solution which is completely right. Truth is not static (at least not in the political sense), and nothing can ever be settled irrevocably. In 1858 Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in a series of debates which were as thorough and public as debates can possibly be. The result was the repudiation of Lincoln's contention that a house divided cannot stand. Yet he did not abandon his position, and two years later the verdict was reversed. We of the American Council are not likely to forget the dire consequences of a freedom of expression that is free only for those of the dominant faction and for those who do not stray from the dominant point of view of the moment. With freedom of expression like that, who needs censorship'? Nor are we likely to forget that on a certain memorable "Day of Decision," after 12 hours of debate, our position in support of complete freedom of expression was decisively rejected. Yet we did not feel that this decision was irrevocable, and we did not abandon our principles. Had we done so, there would be no American Council of the Blind today. Jack Murphey's comments follow, and we think he is to be commended for his candor and restraint. ** Put Your Theory to the Acid Test It is my opinion that the Braille Forum's dedication to the principle of free discussion does not obligate the magazine to encourage an interminable debate on ACB fund-raising methods. Although our lack of unanimity on the greeting card project is regrettable, there is, nevertheless, a time for words and a time for deeds facts of life to which our more idealistic members seem oblivious. This issue was so candidly, so thoroughly, so objectively discussed by the ACB board and convention that the overwhelming affirmative vote should have closed the debate until new and compelling reasons make further discussion advisable. But Miss Walton's unfavorable comments on the ACB greeting card mailing are anything but new, and the ACB is in no position to accept her offer to vend its wares. It seems to me, therefore, that her sincere, well-written contribution to "Hyde Park Corner" is nothing more than an invitation to resume the futile game of reasoning in a circle -- a dangerous pastime for organizations as well as for individuals because, as Hamlet expressed it: "Thus the native hue of resolution In sicklied o'er with a pale cast of thought And enterprises of great pith and moment Their currents turn awry and lose the name of action." Does this mean that members of the minority group should abandon their principles? Not at all. It means that this writer thinks the time has come for them to stop talking and to begin acting. Instead of merely objecting to our official fund-raising gimmick (a purely negative approach to the ACB's financial needs), I should like to see them prove the efficacy of their own fund-raising theory. If those who oppose the mailing of unordered merchandise really believe that satisfactory results can be achieved by selling things to their families, friends and neighbors, why don't they try it? Why not put their theory to the acid test? Could any argument against unordered merchandise be more eloquent, more forceful, more constructive than a steady and adequate stream of hard-earned dollars from those who quake at the thought of a frown from the Better Business Bureau? -- Jack Murphey, 4103 Castleman Avenue, St. Louis 10, Missouri ***** ** Here and There By George Card The November issue of the Montana Observer announces the resignation of Bill Farmer of Billings as its editor. For the past four years Mr. Farmer has produced one of the finest and most ably edited newsletters in the whole country. His literary skill and good taste have established a high standard of excellence which will be very hard for any successor to emulate. A second prominent, totally blind lawyer has succeeded in obtaining a regular hunting license. He did it to demonstrate the laxity of the laws of his state. This time it was Robert Mahoney of Detroit -- who has served in the state legislature for several terms. He has introduced a bill providing for a mandatory short course in the use of firearms before a hunting license can be issued. Attorney Arnold Sadler of Seattle did the same thing a couple of years back. From Performance: A gathering of fellow mayors, attending the annual convention of the American Municipal Association in Houston, Texas, witnessed the presentation of the President's Committee's 1962 Public Personnel Award to the Honorable Henry Loeb, mayor of Memphis. The award is presented annually to an employee or official of a public agency who has made outstanding contributions in facilitating employment of the handicapped. When he became Memphis Commissioner of Public Works, Loeb personally placed 400 handicapped persons on the city payroll. Through his drive and enthusiasm, 28 vending stands operated by blind persons have been established in the Memphis area. ... Sponsored by a Chicago Soroptimist Club, the Hadley School is now offering a course in English to Spanish-speaking students throughout Latin America. Once these students have gained a working knowledge of English, the whole Hadley curriculum will be available to them, and this will open up new vistas for a blind population which is still largely denied educational opportunities. From the Peoriarea Observer: Victor Buttram was presented the Mary McCann Award at the Illinois Federation convention banquet on Oct. 19. This is the highest honor which the IFB confers and perhaps no one has ever been more deserving of it than this dedicated leader. ... Among other useful pamphlets now available rom the American Foundation for the Blind are ones on the subject of income tax exemptions, financial aid to blind persons and election laws affecting blind persons. From The Hoosier Star-Light: During recent meetings of the Indianapolis Manpower Commission and the Independent Garage Owners Association, Edmundo James Brown gave demonstrations of his mechanical skills. Those who witnessed these demonstrations were enthusiastic and asked many questions pertaining to the work capabilities of blind individuals. The current newsletter of the Oakland Orientation Center contains a profile of Mrs. Olga Werksman. This courageous lady lost her sight in 1954 as a result of diabetic retinopathy and, although she subsequently became badly crippled and at times confined to a wheelchair, she obtained her MSW degree from UCLA and is now holding a responsible position in Los Angeles as a social worker for the Motion Picture Relief Fund. She performs her duties with the aid of a highly efficient driver-secretary. Her son, Roger is one of the top-ranking amateur tennis players in the U.S. ... Another profile is that of Mr. Mike McAviney who also received training at OOCB and who is now the second blind person to be enrolled in the Peace Corps. He has been assigned to Ecuador. The first person accepted was Marilyn Brandt of San Antonio, Texas, who has been sent to the Dominican Republic. ... Two other products of the OOCB are Roy Howe of Elsinore and Owen Huntley of Salinas, who have become highly successful in the unusual occupation of manufacturing beautiful picture frames for California artists. ... There are now a total of 17 OOCB graduates employed as teachers -- 13 of them teaching sighted children. ...Two other graduates are learning Russian at Washington, D.C., and will become official government interpreters. ... The new OOCB facilities in Albany will be ready for occupancy in June 1964. Gregory B. Khachadoorian, prominent blind lawyer of Arlington, Mass., is now serving his third term in the state legislature and a few months ago was appointed by Governor Furcolo to a five-year term on the Advisory Committee to the Division of the Blind. According to information supplied by Miss Stella Babigian of Boston, Greg has been elected chairman of his political party's state committee. During the last session the state legislature cleared away many of the roadblocks which have heretofore made it extremely difficult for blind teachers to secure positions in the public schools of Massachusetts. George G. Bonsky, Box 123, Hartville, Ohio, is the new president of the Ohio Council of the Blind. Clyde Ross declined to be a candidate for re-election. Clyde had served since 1950. A so-called "Little Hoover Commission" was appointed by the Ohio governor to suggest ways of reducing costs. It recommended that the Ohio Commission for the Blind be transferred from the Department of Public Welfare to the Department of Education, and Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind be absorbed into the Bureau of General Rehabilitation. The Ohio Council is sponsoring what is hoped will be a vigorous letter-writing campaign of protest to the governor. The Montana Observer reports that Bob Gohn, blind for the past 43 years, successfully runs a bar in what was once the State Capitol building in Great Falls. He very seldom requires any assistance. Several winters ago he laid a new hardwood floor in his bar, stopping now and then to wait on customers. ... From The Hoosier Star-Light: In the last two years, 88 individuals have been rescued from blindness by operations performed with materials supplied through the eye bank established within the Department of Ophthalmology of the Indiana University School of Medicine and supported by the 388 Lions Clubs in the state of Indiana. Mrs. Kathleen Schirm, who has been deaf-blind for the past 17 years, is employed by the Juniata Foundation Branch of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind where she makes coils for electronic equipment for Fisher Electronics, cutting the coils in varying lengths depending on the unit involved. She competes favorably, not only with other workshop employees, but with non-handicapped workers in the electronic company plant. ... Allen H. Merrill, a lawyer, has been elected president of the board of directors of Recording for the Blind, Inc. He succeeds Mrs. Federick B. Payne, who now is chairman of the board. Widely scattered alumni of the old North Dakota School for the Blind in Bathgate may be interested to learn that the building is now being used as a rest home. Listen reports that a survey by the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness shows that in spite of all warnings, 247 persons received eye injuries from the July 20 solar eclipse. ... John F. Mungovan, after praising the Boston police for their suppression of blind begging, goes on, "Of course the best way to be rid of beggars would be for the general public to withhold that impulse and not give to them. If the business was unprofitable, they would soon quit. We should try to get over to those who contribute to beggars that every time they drop a coin in the beggar's cup, they are hurting almost 10,000 blind persons in Massachusetts. We are writing each chief of police in the state calling his attention to the law and asking his cooperation in getting beggars off the street. We will take steps to have newspapers print a story which informs the public on how blind people feel about this begging. ..." From the AP, Minneapolis, Dec. 20: The cabbies and other regulars who eat breakfast at the same cafe as Arne Paulson are giving him a Christmas gift Monday a business place all his own. Paulson, 28, has been blind since birth. He doesn't know of the nickels, pennies, and quarters which have been chipped in or of the cup set up in the restaurant with a sign saying "For Arne's Newstand." Two of the cafe customers did the carpentry; a construction firm donated the lumber; another company provided a sliding window for the red and white enclosed stand. From the Peoriarea Observer: A new service has come to Peoria which should be comforting to sick and elderly people who live alone. It is a telephone innovation which is sold on a $3 per month basis to anyone. At a specified time or times each day the person is called to see how he is and if he needs anything. The service will pick up and deliver medicine, provide ambulance service when needed, and assist and counsel in an effort to break the feeling of loneliness. The blind of Illinois have suffered a drastic cut in their aid grants because of the new law scrambling all services. They are advised to use powdered milk and add margarine to it instead of buying whole milk; eat white potatoes; eat navy beans instead of limas; drink grapefruit juice instead of orange juice; bake their own bread; substitute cornflakes for more costly cereals. (Victor asks how many sighted people know how to bake bread these days.) From a correspondent in Oregon: George Howeiler has been very active in the Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind as a coordinator and a member of the Foundation's executive board. I rather expect that George will have an article giving the progress of the Oral Hull Foundation and its aspirations for future growth and activity ready to send to the Braille Forum in the very near future. Besides being busy with this foundation, he was seriously ill in 1963, which meant he had to curtail many of his activities. In the current issue of the ABC Digest, Juliet Bindt, in her capacity as president of the Associated Blind of California, attended the first meeting of the new California Board of Social Welfare on November 6. This board no longer has rule-making powers, but its members are convinced that they will be performing an invaluable service as an advisory and investigative body. Julie offered several recommendations -- including a study of the evils of mendicancy among the blind and subsequent publicizing. Also the creation of an advisory committee to the new board, made up of representatives from organized recipient groups of the aged, blind and disabled. She also reported on her visit to the recent convention of the Kansas Association of the Blind, at which she was the banquet speaker and during which KAB voted to become an ACB affiliate. Her report of the KAB program was most enlightening. The KAB has attained its big membership through an annual award of $50 to the person bringing in the most new members -- two points for a blind and one for a sighted new member. Julie pointed out that Kansas home teachers provide services for children as well as for the adult blind. She also reported that Warren Thompson, director of the newly organized California Department of Rehabilitation, has appointed a blind man, David R. Mendelson, as deputy director and chief of Rehabilitation Services for the Blind. At its fall convention the ABC had re-elected Julie to a third two-year term as president. At the coming spring convention Dr. Edward J. Waterhouse will be a featured speaker. The Hoosier Star-Light reports that the Indiana Workshop for the Blind, up to this time operated by the state, is being turned over to Goodwill Industries to "get the state out of proprietary competitive business." There has been considerable opposition by the blind of Indiana. Six blind students at Georgetown University are studying German and 21 others are studying Russian in the second class of an experimental program to prepare them for diplomatic service as interpreters. A New York firm will be hired to conduct a $100,000 study of that state's public assistance programs. From the Florida White Cane: On December 27 the State Board of the Florida Council for the Blind, meeting in Miami, unanimously appointed Murdock Martin to succeed Harry E. Simmons as executive director of the Florida Council for the Blind. ... This issue reports the death of two of the Florida Federation's most prominent and active members, Rev. Calvin Williams and Judge Norman stone, both of Tallahassee. Both had served as blind members of the Florida Council for the Blind, and both had attended the 1955 NFB convention at Louisville as delegates. Norman became a charter member of the FFB when it was formed in 1953. The passing of these two outstanding Floridians is a severe loss to the organized blind movement. ... On December 19 Larry Thompson was among those appointed by the Florida Council for the Blind to membership on the seven-man advisory committee to that agency. A.H. Drake of Tallahassee was invited to be a speaker at the Georgia Federation of the Blind convention this fall to give that organization the benefit of his experience and opinions about massage work as a profession for the blind. ... Efforts to form an alumni association of the Florida School for the Blind graduates were discouraged by the school authorities for many years, but it appears that these authorities are now ready to cooperate. ... President Thompson of the Florida Federation plans an onslaught in 1964 on the archaic Florida regulations which effectively bar blind persons from receiving training as teachers. Larry Thompson quotes with approval the recent statement by Father Carroll that, while the marriage of two totally blind persons may involve serious problems, these are not necessarily more serious than those involved in the marriage of persons with normal sight. He also notes that in many states, agencies handling adoptions are now permitting children to go to couples where one partner is blind. All the newly elected officers of the Atlanta chapter of the Georgia Federation are ACB members -- Jack Lewis, president; first vice-president, Johnny Oxford; second vice-president, Ned Freeman; secretary, Loretta Freeman, and treasurer, Eva Jacques. Jack has been a chapter president in both Savannah, Georgia, and Anniston, Alabama. He writes that he is delighted with his Cranmer abacus and hopes that many blind people will obtain this useful piece of equipment. He also warmly recommends the Talking Lion. From the Informational Bulletin of the Oregon Council of the Blind: Through the legislative efforts of the4 OCB, the Reader's Fund has been gradually increased from $500 to $750 and then to $1,000 a year. 20 blind students in Oregon colleges are now receiving it. Other news from the Oregon Council: Mrs. Dorothy Skenzick, 502 N.E. Hewitt Lane, Roseburg, is now state president; membership dues have been reduced to $1 a year; Wilbur Harrison, 2010 Emerald St., Eugene, is the Council's new legislative chairman; the October convention welcomed the new Chetco chapter of Brookings. The December New Outlook records the passing of Stephen E. Parker, supt. of the Virginia Commission for the Blind Handicapped Workshop in Charlottesville, and Dr. David F. Gillette, board chairman of the New York State Commission for the Blind, as well as of A.L. Archibald, former executive director of the NFB. On October 20 a new Brattleboro chapter joined the revivified Vermont Council of the Blind. The great popularity of the film "Tom Jones," based on the novel by Sir Henry Fielding, brings to mind the fact that his blind half-brother, Sir John Fielding, became the most famous of all London magistrates. He is generally credited with having developed the organization of plain-clothes detectives which was known for a century in England as the "Bow Street Runners." Sir John is a principal character in the talking book, "The Demoniacs." On December 15 Durward McDaniel journeyed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and addressed a special meeting of blind persons in that city who are interested in form1ng an ACB affiliate. At a meeting held the preceding week in Phoenix, Arizona, the big Maricopa Club of the Blind voted to apply for affiliation with our steadily growing ACB. The Maricopa Club is the largest organization of blind people in Arizona. Its very capable president is Lawrence Stein, a successful blind piano technician. From The Lion. Before a Washington, D.C., audience which included many Russians, a group composed of 15 blind students studying to become Russian translators and teachers sang a number of popular Cossack and folk tunes in perfect Russian and then breezed through Anton Chekhov's "The Wedding," without flubbing a syllable. This was after only six months of study in their course. ***** ** ACB Officers and Directors President: Ned E. Freeman, 136 Gee's Mill Rd., Conyers, Ga. 30207 1st Vice President: Durward K. McDaniel, 305 Midwest Bldg., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102 2nd Vice President: David Krause, 4628 Livingston Rd., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032 Secretary: Mrs. Alma Murphey, 4103 Castleman Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63110 Treasurer: Reese H. Robrahn, 308 Columbian Building, Topeka, Kansas 66603 ** Directors * Directors Until 1966: George Card, 605 S. Few Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703 Delbert K. Aman, 220 West Second St., Pierre, South Dakota G. Paul Kirton, Room 6327, Department of the Interior, Washington 25, D.C. Mrs. Marie M. Boring, 1113 Camden Avenue, Durham, North Carolina 27701 * Directors Until 1964: F. Winfield Orrell, 5209 Alabama Avenue, Chattanooga, Tennessee Mrs. Mary Jane Hills, 33 Edmonds St., Rochester, New York 14607 Earl Scharry, 264 Saunders Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, 40206 Robert W. Campbell, 253 Stonewall Road, Berkeley 5, California ###