The Braille Forum Vol. IX November 1970 No. 3 Published Bi-Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma * Editor: Alma Murphey 4103 Castleman Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110 * Associate Editors: George Card 605 South Few St. Madison, WI 53703 Earl Scharry 5714 Ridgway Ave. Rockville, MD 20851 * President: Reese Robrahn 329 Woodbury Lane Topeka, KS 66606 * National Representative: Durward K. McDaniel 20 E Street NW Suite 215 Washington, DC 20001 To inform its readers and to provide an impartial Forum for discussion. ***** ** Table of Contents Notice to Subscribers Arkansas Council Organizes Special Interest Groups 1971 Congratulations to the ACB of Maryland KAB Celebrates 50th Anniversary, by M. Helen Vargo In Memoriam, by Fred C. Lilley Copyright Legislation Report Postal Reorganization Act and Free Matter S. 2461 -- Randolph-Sheppard Amendments of 1970 S. 3425 -- Wagner-O'Day Amendments of 1970 Treasurer's Report October 5, 1970 Fools Rush In, by Kenneth Hinga Blind Welfare in Iran Electric Sugar Dispenser ACB Tapes Proving Popular An Unexpected Pleasure, by Loretta Freeman Here and There, by George Card ACB Officers Directors American Council of the Blind Convention Guidelines ***** ** Notice to Subscribers The Braille Forum is available in braille, large type, and on tape -- seven-inch, dual track, ips 3-3/4. Subscriptions and address changes should be sent to Floyd Qualls, who is in charge of our three mailing lists. His address is: 106 N.E. 2nd Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104. Items intended for publication should be sent to the editor or to one of the associate editors. Those much-needed and appreciated cash contributions should be sent to ACB Treasurer Fred Krepela, 241 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301. ***** ** Arkansas Council Organizes On October 3rd, the newest applicant for ACB affiliation formed. By-laws were adopted and officers were elected to serve until the first regular convention which is tentatively planned early in 1971. The Arkansas Council will be the 27th affiliate of ACB. Chester Holden was elected president, Dr. Guy Smith, first vice-president, Aubrey Baker, second vice-president, Christine Taylor, Secretary and Flossy MacElmurry, Treasurer. Welcome to the ACB team -- Arkansas! We also acknowledge the good reports of progress in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Colorado. Who wants to be next? ***** ** Special Interest Groups 1971 Last July, five special interest groups met in their own meetings immediately prior to the general convention of the ACB. The same organizations are planning their 1971 conventions for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to the Sheraton-Schroeder Hotel. The ACB convention will begin on Wednesday afternoon July 24 and will continue through Saturday, July 31. Accordingly, the special interest groups are scheduling their sessions for the 26, 27 and the morning of the 28, with advance registration on Sunday, the 25th of July. The American Blind Lawyers Association with John Valandingham, president; ACB Service Net, Travis L. Harris, Coordinator; the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America, Wally Menning, President; the Visually Impaired Data Processors International, Raythel Jones, President; and the Visually Impaired Secretarial Transcribers Association, Betty Ann Jones, President, are the five established groups. We are very mindful of the Blind Lions Association, Fred C. Lilley, Chairman, which held a special luncheon last July in honor of the president of Lions International. Our Lions will be in Milwaukee too. Others such as students and teachers are under consideration. Details of these meetings will be announced in later issues of the Forum. Interested persons wishing to receive information directly from any these organizations should communicate directly with them. However, requests for information may be forwarded to the ACB National Office, Suite 215, 20 E Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20001. The ACB's National Representative will be assisting interest groups according to their wishes and plans. We believe that all of these organizations, including ACB, will have a record attendance in Milwaukee. Our Wisconsin friends know how to put on conventions, and they are already at work. ***** ** Congratulations to the ACB of Maryland "Stride," the newsletter of the American Council of the Blind of Maryland, made its first appearance in September. Issued bi-monthly except for July and August, this unique bulletin seems destined to attract favorable attention throughout the country. Subscriptions: $2.00 per year. Editor: Robert M. Harmon. Please address all correspondence to: ACB of Maryland, 20 E Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001. The following quotations were excerpted from the September issue of STRIDE: "We want this (Stride) to be an informative, readable and respected vehicle, above all. We want it to be meaty. In issues to come, we will have original articles on developments which affect the blind (and, incidentally, the world at large, because of the total impact these developments produce)." "Dr. Carter C. Collins, of the Smith-Kettlewell Institute in San Francisco, will be among our contributors." "Another researcher, Dr. Vito A. Proscia, Director of the Sensory Aids Evaluation and Development Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also has an article in the wings for Stride." "Highlights of the literature, from research from strata of endeavor that are meaningful will be captured -- admittedly with some degree of selection, for lack of space -- captured and set before our readers." The Braille Forum welcomes this new publication and offers hearty congratulations to the ACB of Maryland and to the editor, Robert M. Harmon. ***** ** KAB Celebrates 50th Anniversary By M. Helen Vargo The 50th anniversary of the Kansas Association of the Blind was joyfully celebrated during our annual convention at Topeka, October 9th through the 11th. Two hundred persons, including Mr. and Mrs. Ed Bradley of Oklahoma, and Durward McDaniel, ACB's National Representative, were present. In keeping with the theme, Golden Memories, Golden Opportunities, the convention heard excerpts from taped interviews and other programs from as far back as the 1920s; while inspiring discussions of current issues affecting the social and economic welfare of the blind focused our attention on today's challenging problems and opportunities. Also in keeping with the theme of the convention, the Eleanor A. Wilson Award was presented to Mrs. Lovelia Hilty, for her distinguished service to the blind over the past 50 years. Mrs. Hilty is the sole survivor of the KAB's organizing meeting in 1920. The climatic event of this memorable convention was the appearance of Governor Docking, who read and signed his White Cane Safety Day proclamation in our presence. Our 1970 convention was an unforgettable experience for all who attended. We sincerely wish that more people had been there, and we cordially invite all our friends to join us next year at Wichita. ***** ** In Memoriam By Fred C. Lilley The Illinois Federation of the Blind, one of the staunchest supporters of ACB, was saddened recently by the death of its President, Jack Reed. It was my privilege to know and work with Jack for many years and to call him friend. Jack was a man who lived and practiced what he believed. It was his opinion that handicapped people, properly trained, could function as well as anyone when placed according to their ability. He opened the Alton Secretarial Service and built it into a thriving business. As business increased and additional people were needed on the staff, he sought out and employed qualified handicapped people. His payroll often included as many as twelve people. Jack was the leader of the Madison County Association of the Blind for as many years as I can remember and under his leadership it became one of the most active affiliates of the Illinois Federation. I shall always remember a state convention hosted by the Madison County Association under Jack's management. Jack was a fighter for ACB and believed in it completely. Under his stewardship for almost four years, the Illinois Federation of the Blind made one of its most important advances and has recently embarked on one of its most ambitious projects. Yes, Jack Reed will be missed in the halls of the organized blind, at all levels, and I as well as others will miss him as a friend. ***** ** Copyright Legislation Report There has been widespread interest and some concern among blind persons because of the possible effect of pending legislation S. 543, which would revise the copyright law. Opinions differ as to the effect which this bill would have upon the right or privilege to make sound recordings of copyrighted material for use by blind persons. S. 543 will not be passed by this Congress, and there will be no copyright revision at this time. On August 17, 1970, Senator John L. McClellan introduced Senate Joint Resolution 230 to extend through December 31, 1971, the renewal term of any copyright subsisting on the date of approval of that resolution. In advocating the adoption of S.J.R. 230 the Senator explained the principal reason for the failure to act favorably on S. 543. That reason relates to a controversy as to the rights and liabilities of cable television distributors and apparent objections of the Federal Communications Commission. A smaller copyright revision bill was considered, but not passed, by the 90th Congress, and a similar Senate Joint Resolution was introduced in that Congress on May 22, 1968. On that date Senator McClellan made the following statement relating to the interests of blind persons in sound recordings of copyrighted material: "In recent weeks members of the subcommittee and other Senators have received hundreds of letters expressing opposition to the pending legislation on the grounds that it would allegedly interfere with the use of copyrighted materials by our blind citizens and would subject individuals to lawsuits for copyright infringement because of the personal use of tape recorders. Several Senators have requested that the subcommittee should explore these objections before reporting a bill. I have recently been assured by the Copyright Office, which drafted the pending bill, that these fears are unwarranted, and that the passage of the bill would not be harmful either to the blind or those who use tape recorders for their personal enjoyment." A new copyright revision bill will be introduced in the 92nd Congress, and the BRAILLE FORUM will advise you of it and will inform you of any changes which may affect the rights or privileges of blind persons. ***** ** Postal Reorganization Act and Free Matter Concern has been expressed about the possible effect of the Postal Reorganization Act (Public Law 91-375) on free mailing privileges for the blind and handicapped. The new law was enacted on August 12, 1970. The sections relating to our subject will take effect within one year on that date, "on the date or dates established therefor by the Board of Governors and published by it in the Federal Register." Whether the free mailing privileges remain entirely free will depend upon future appropriations by Congress. Section 3627 of the Act provides: "If Congress fails to appropriate an amount authorized under section 2401(c) of this title for any class of mail sent at a free or reduced rate under section 3217, 3403-3405, or 3626 of this title, or under the Federal Voting Assistance Act of 1955, the rate for that class may be adjusted in accordance with the provisions of this sub-chapter so that the increased revenues received from the users of such class will equal the amount for that class that Congress was to appropriate." Section 2401 (c) provides: "There are authorized to be appropriated to the Postal Service each year a sum determined by the Postal Service to be equal to the difference between the revenues the Postal Service would have received if sections 3217, 3403-3405, and 3626 of this title and the Federal Voting Assistance Act of 1955 had not been enacted and the estimated revenues to be received on mail carried under such sections and Act." The foregoing is an authorization and not an appropriation of money. Appropriations by Congress will have to be made annually for these purposes. The pertinent sections referred to above on free matter appear in the new act as follows: "S 3403. Matter for blind and other handicapped persons (a) The matter described in subsection (b) of this section (other than matter mailed under section 3404 of this title) may be mailed free of postage, if — "(1) the matter is for the use of the blind or other persons who cannot use or read conventionally printed material because of a physical impairment and who are certified by competent authority as unable to read normal reading material in accordance with the provisions of Sections 135a and 135b of title 2; "(2) no charge or rental, subscription, or other fee, is required for such matter or a charge, or rental subscription, or other fee is required for such matter not in excess of the cost thereof; "(3) the matter may be opened by the Postal Service for inspection; and "(4) the matter contains no advertising. "(b) The free mailing privilege provided by subsection (a) of this section is extended to -- "(1) reading and musical scores; "(2) sound reproductions; "(3) paper, records, tapes, and other material for the production of reading matter, musical scores, or sound reproductions; "(4) reproducers or parts thereof, for sound reproductions; and "(5) braille writers, typewriters, educational or other materials or devices, or parts thereof, used for writing by, or specifically designed or adapted for use of, a blind person or a person having a physical impairment as described in subsection (a)(1) of this section. "S 3404. Unsealed letters sent by blind or physically handicapped persons. "Unsealed letters sent by a blind person or a person having a physical impairment, as described in section 3404 (a) (1) of this title, in raised characters or sightsaving type, or in the form of sound recordings, may be mailed free of postage. "S 3405. Markings "All matter relating to blind or other handicapped persons under section 3404 or 3404 of this title, shall bear the words "Free Matter for the Blind or Handicapped," or words to that effect specified by the Postal Service, in the upper right-hand corner of the address area." ***** ** S. 2461 -- Randolph-Sheppard Amendments of 1970 S. 2461 passed the Senate on September 28th and has been assigned the House Education Committee. Congressman Carl Perkins is the Committee Chairman. The bill will be considered by the Select Subcommittee on Education of which Congressman John Brademas is the Chairman. There is still time for action in this Session since Congress has decided to come back after the elections. All of the major organizations of and for the blind are supporting S. 2461. Two undesirable amendments were added by the Senate Committee, but it is still a very desirable bill and will, if enacted into law, make great improvements in the vending operations. All of the supporting organizations, including particularly the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America and the ACB urge the letters of support be sent to Congressman Brademas without delay. Blind and partially sighted persons who are engaged in vending operations are invited and urged to join the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors. It is the only national organization of its kind. Annual dues are $5.00 and are payable on or before May 31st. The RSVA Treasurer is Wayne Gilmore, 737 South Clifton Street, Wichita, Kansas. Organization of vendors are invited and urged to join their organizations with RSVA thereby association all of their members in this mutually beneficial organization. See this and other issues of the Forum for details of the 1971 convention of RSVA in Milwaukee. ***** ** S. 3425 -- Wagner-O'Day Amendments of 1970 S. 3425 passed the Senate on September 28th and has been referred to the House Committee on Government Operations. This bill has been discussed in two previous issues, November 1969 and March 1970. ACB has provided the only opposition to the expansion of Federal procurement to nonprofit workshops for the handicapped. Since 1938, the number of workshops for the blind participating in this program has increased to seventy-seven. Last fiscal year, allocations of Federal purchase orders amounted to about 14 million dollars or about one half of the all-time high figure of 1967. The bill provides for Federal procurement of services as well as products. It provides that workshops for the blind will have a priority in the sale of products and a priority in the sale of services until July 1, 1976. The basis for ACB's opposition is that there is not enough business for the workshops for the blind in this modestly successful program. We are not unsympathetic to the needs of institutions which have been created without regard to their employment possibilities, but the sharing of this source of work will result in adversity for many of those blind workers who depend upon workshop employment for their living. The bill provides that a qualified nonprofit agency must have at least 75 percent of its direct labor comprised of blind or other severely handicapped individuals. Clearly, this would permit workshops for the blind to meet the 75 percent requirement by using other handicapped workers to the exclusion of blind workers. Some workshops for the blind and the Chairman of the Committee on the Purchase of Blind-made products have openly advocated such a mixing of blind and other handicapped workers. ACB believes that in such a mixing of the blind and other handicapped, blind workers would be the losers. Moreover, the allowance that the required percentage can be satisfied by combining the blind with other handicapped could, for example, permit a Good Will Industries agency to hire a few blind people and claim the priority stipulated in the bill for agencies for the blind, thereby circumventing the priorities. A workshop for the blind is not defined in the bill. This bill has made progress and may pass. It has been supported by the American Foundation for the Blind, The American Association of Workers for the Blind, the General Council of Workshops for the Blind and National Industries for the Blind. The blind workers in the shops have no effective means of protecting their jobs and the supporting agencies for the blind have not consulted the blind workers as to their wishes about this bill. We recognize that opinions differ radically as to the quality and desirability of workshops. ACB is concerned about the economic effect of this legislation upon blind workers who need to retain this source of livelihood. ACB advocated that shop workers be afforded all of the rights and benefits of regular industry but the organizations favoring S. 3425 gave no support. Who is for the blind? ***** ** Treasurer's Report October 5, 1970 Fred Krepela, Treasurer, American Council of the Blind, 241 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301 The following contributions have been received during June, July, August and September, 1970: * Members-At-Large - $3.00 Roy Andries deGroot, New York, New York; Charles Solomon Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Betty Heanne Stewart, Lewiston, Idaho; Mr. & Mrs. McKinley Young, Jr., Austin, Texas * Affiliate Memberships - 20 cents per member South Dakota Association for the Blind; The Associated Blind, Inc., New York, New York; North Carolina Federation of the Blind; Tennessee Federation of the Blind; Florida Federation of the Blind; Iowa Council of the Blind; Michigan Federation of the Blind; Georgia Federation of the Blind; Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America; Lone Star State Federation of the Blind; Illinois Federation of the Blind, Inc.; Las Luminarias of the New Mexico Council of the Blind * Contributions to Braille Forum - $610.00 total Charles Thibodo, San Jose, California; George Fogarty, San Francisco, California; Elmer Leger, Hayward, California; Hail Wisconsin Council of the Blind, Madison, Wisconsin - $250.00; Hail Wisconsin Lions Foundation, Inc., Woodville, Wisconsin - $200.00; E.U. Parker, Jr., Laurel, Mississippi; Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America, Wichita, Kansas - $100.00; John P. Patterson, Buffalo, New York * General Contributions - $3,173.82 Total The Associated Blind, Inc., New York, New York; Windham County Council of the Blind, Brattleboro, Vermont; Charles Solomon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Maymie Tuttle, Mendon, Illinois; George Fogarty, San Francisco, California; Hail Wisconsin Council of the Blind, Madison, Wisconsin - $3,025.82; Mrs. Alvin Smith, Greenville, Texas; Alice Gons Van der Voort, Wilmington, Ohio; Freeman Johnson, Las Vegas, Nevada; Anna Williamson, Alderpoint, California; Mrs. Rees L. Morgan, Baltimore, Maryland; Mrs. J. Thomas Jewell, New Roads, Louisiana; Mrs. Marjorie G. Hardy, West Covina, California Wasn't that a wonderful contribution from the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and also the Wisconsin Lions Sight Foundation? How about your state affiliate or Lions — can they match or top Wisconsin? However, many thanks to all contributors; the small ones count up, too. ***** ** Fools Rush In By Kenneth Hinga In June of this year it was my dubious pleasure to have breakfast with an upstart rehabilitation counselor who had been in the business of working with the blind for at least six months. He had read Father Carroll's book, conferred with a competent rehab teacher and studied the manual from cover to cover. I don't know which manual he studies -- there's almost enough of them now so every blind person can pick his own edition. I think my companion already suspected what a poorly adjusted blind man I am when I folded my cane and latched on to his arm when entering the restaurant. I most certainly should have been able to wind my way around the other patrons and find my place at a corner table. The first query from my reluctant guide was, "Didn't you ever have mobility training?" I had to confess that I had never taken the sixteen-week course, but that I did travel from one end of my state to the other in my work, and that I have journeyed by myself all over this fair land of ours: The proper thing for me to do was to get rid of the folding cane and get a cane about ten inches longer and learn to maneuver without hanging on somebody's arm. The situation that really began to show me up as a poorly adjusted blind person came when the waitress brought our coffee. My friend explained to me that the cream pitcher was at 12:45, directly behind my water glass and the salt and pepper shakers. It took some persuasion to convince the expert that I did not use cream in coffee. There was no excuse for not using cream when all you need to do is find the pitcher and pour the desired amount over your finger which you hold neatly against the little spout. I somewhat timidly responded that if I did want cream, I would request him or the waitress to give me a squirt. At home it was one matter, but in a public eating place I chose the more convenient procedure. I needed to go to a good rehabilitation center. I realize now that I should have ordered toast or a breakfast roll instead of the pancakes. My friend handed me a sticky pitcher of syrup, and I could feel his stare as he waited for my next move. Fortunately for me the waitress returned about that time for a coffee refill, and I quietly asked her to pour the stuff on my pancakes. She graciously complied, and Mr. X again suggested that I enroll in some rehab center. Frankly, I didn't feel much like carrying on a conversation during the meal. I was thinking to myself, however, while hacking away at the pancakes as to just how independent a blind person should be. Somehow along these forty years of blindness I must have missed the boat. It is true that I have never been without employment since leaving high school, worked my way through six years of college, sent my own two boys to college, own a respectable home with a new car in the garage -- and I can't even pour my own syrup or beat my way to a chair in the far corner of the restaurant. Just to make my companion feel better, I concluded our morning get-together by admitting that I probably could benefit from a training session in a good rehab center. I too, have met blind people who functioned completely independently while dining out. They even display the brown badge of courage on their ties or dresses to prove they cut their own steak. "One thing more," I remarked to my parting friend, "If you're thinking of writing another manual -- don't send me a copy. I already have more information than my personal adjustment will ever absorb." ***** ** Blind Welfare in Iran From the World Council NEWSLETTER: "Over the past thirty years, there has been a renaissance in the thoughts and ideas, in the intrinsic conditions, and in the practices and outward conditions of the Iranians. Great surges of activity have taken place, social and political changes have come with extraordinary rapidity in the wake of one another, and there have been vast measures of re-organization, re-orientation and re-adjustment. As an example, we may consider the changes that have taken place in the field of blindness and its prevention in Iran. Twenty-eight years ago there were only four ophthalmologists in Tehran. No eye department worth mentioning existed in the hospitals of Tehran. The incidence of trachoma among two large groups of the educated class amounted to no less than 14%. Among the poorer classes it was considerably higher. The vast majority of the blindness was due to conjunctival infections. Now there is an association of ophthalmologists in Tehran with a membership of more than 120, and the majority of these ophthalmic surgeons have been trained and educated in the schools of Western Europe and America. In Tehran, there are three first-rate ophthalmic departments, with 300 beds, associated with the Tehran University Medical School. There are also two ophthalmic departments with 100 beds in the Ministry of Health hospitals in Tehran, and several eye clinics are attached to the social and health insurance organizations and to the numerous private hospitals and nursing homes in Tehran. The University of Tehran has a three-year post graduate course of specialization in ophthalmology, where graduates of medicine study ophthalmology and become attached to one of the three ophthalmic departments. More than 150 eye surgeons have specialized at the Tehran Medical School. The incidence of trachoma in Tehran among school children is now less than 1 in 1,000, and the incidence of blindness is considerably diminished owing to improved educational and sanitary facilities and to better preventative measures. Iran has a population of about 21 million. There are some 48,000 villages dispersed in different regions, with long intervening distances, in a highly mountainous country. This tends to render the provision of a comprehensive scheme of sanitary and health services rather difficult and costly. Yet despite these geographical and economic factors, tremendous strides have been taken. The provision of the Literacy Corps, the Sanitary Corps and the Rural Development Corps have paved the way for further reforms. Members of these bodies are sent out to the villages to combat illiteracy and disease, and to guide and advise on health and educational problems, as well as on agricultural and rural development questions. Education of the Blind received an impetus from the efforts of Tehran's Lion's Club six years ago. Donations were collected and a committee for the care of the blind was set up under Mr. Hassan Alavi's chairmanship. The Reza Pahlavi School for the Blind was thus founded and two suitable candidates, Mr. Minai and Mr. Baghai, were sent to England on a two-year scholarship to study blind education. The Reza Pahlavi School for the Blind began its classes in March 1964 and has fifty residential boys between the ages of six and fifteen years, forty-eight non-residential boys between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five years attending technical classes in the workshops. There is also a class for massage attended by four students. The workshops include carpentry, brush making, carpet and rug weaving, metal working and telephone operating, and are conducted by skilled technicians placed at their disposal by the Ministry of Education. A dormitory is being built for girls who will be admitted next year. A printing press for Braille is being purchased to enable the School to have an adequate supply of books for distribution in Iran. Arrangements have been made with the Ministry of Education to train a certain number of tutors for teaching blind children in the provincial schools. Five tutors for the provinces have been accepted for training this year: Two classes for educating blind adults are being held outside the school premises in different parts of Tehran. The education work in the provinces consists of one school for the blind in Tabriz and two blind schools in Isfahan. In Shiraz and Ahwaz there are day schools for the blind, and efforts are being made in Kirman and Babol to open day schools for the blind." ***** ** Electric Sugar Dispenser Editor's Note: The many vending stand operators who are members of ACB should certainly be interested in the following, which is taken from the Calif. Blind Business Men's NEWSLETTER: Ask any operator what his hardest job is, and he will tell you that one of the worst is cleaning up spilled food and beverage left by customers. One of the worst culprits is the sugar bowl. Nobody knows where to find the last place a customer has waved it around the outside rim of a cup. We now have a solution -- an electric sugar dispenser. It is made by the Avenco Company, 2412 University Avenue, South East, Minneapolis, MN 55400. It holds five pounds of sugar at a time and dispenses up to one teaspoon per revolution as per adjustment. The cost is approximately $60. One of our operators said it saved him as much as $25 per month over sugar packets. It has one problem. You must brush it out after every coffee break with a tube brush to keep the steam from the coffee cups from caking the sugar in the opening. This item is useful to the blind program, and how about those customers that keep running off with the sugar bowl? Huh-uh, it's too heavy and the cord won't reach. ***** ** ACB Tapes Proving Popular The recent listing of tape topics available through the ACB Tape Library has brought an unexpectedly brisk response. Requests have come from Rehab Centers and Libraries as well as from individuals and it is not going to be possible to fill these requests as promptly as we might have hoped. This is to advise that we are grateful for the interest shown and for this opportunity to be of service and we will do the copying as quickly as possible. This one-man office keeps pretty busy, and we would ask your patience. A correction is in order, too. The one except ion to the price of $1.50 per 7" reel is "Using the Cranmer Abacus" by Fred Gissone. This book requires a full 1,800-ft. reel of tape, plus a smaller reel of 400' for the practice exercises and the total cost is $2.75. Very often the tapes sent to us are too short and have to be returned, so it is usually more satisfactory for us to furnish the tape for this item. Address: ACB Tape Library Service, 136 Gee's Mill Road, Conyers, Georgia 30207. ***** ** An Unexpected Pleasure By Loretta Freeman The month of July was to be a quiet time with no plans; an opportunity to catch up on many neglected chores and to take life a little easy while all the family was traveling far and wide. I was really looking forward to it. But, alas, for well laid plans. On very short notice I was up and away on a most delightful jaunt. The original destination was to be Oklahoma City, where I was advised that I was "expected." Now, just up the road a piece from our convention city is Denver where we have close relatives, and it would be a pity to be so near. So it was, "Round trip to Denver, please." Now, the only way to fly to Oklahoma City from Atlanta is via Dallas or Chicago, which seems sorta round about, but, then, I was never very good at geography. I chose Dallas since I'd never been there and thought I'd stop a while and see the town. But "excursion" on my ticket meant a four-hour stopover was the limit, so I had to hurry. The taxi driver was a good guide. As we whizzed along a fine new freeway he identified some beautiful buildings, especially the tall pure gold home of Zales Jewelers sparkling in the sun, and he pointed out the window where that tragic shot was fired, as well as the JFK Memorial; all on the way to the famous and fabulous Nieman-Marcus Department Store which was my destination. The spacious elegance of the old store enveloped like a golden cloak, and I wandered around under the glistening chandeliers completely enchanted by the beauty and the unusualness about me, including exquisite arrangements of real flowers in lavish containers, featuring at this time clusters of white cymbidium orchids. Like Cinderella the hour sped by too soon for me and I nearly missed my plane. We had hardly settled in the plane when it was time to get off for Oklahoma City, the ACB convention, and the joy of greeting many friends. Of special interest to Oklahoma visitors are the oil wells pumping away -- kerplunk-kerplunk right on the Capitol parking lot! After an early morning flight to Denver I was enjoying breakfast with my sister-in-law in that airport. Highlights in Denver, where the view of the mountains is spectacular, were the famed and still glamorous old Brown Palace where Mollie Brown held forth in all her glory, and the unusual Red Rocks amphitheatre, so unique in their magnificence. In a few days we were driving due north to Buffalo thrilling to the view of the Rockies to the West and spontaneously quoting, " ... From purple mountains' majesty beyond the fruited plain." Beautiful, beautiful. Riding along the highway, too, were the gay crowds headed for Cheyenne and the annual Frontier Days. There were endless miles of now deserted and drought-dried winter sheep grazing land; the once notorious Teapot Dome area with oil pumps as far as the eye could see, and along the way the great rock formation that once resembled a teapot but whose spout and handle are now eroded beyond recognition; then looming ahead were Big Horn mountains, which meant we were nearing our destination. Shortly beyond Buffalo, a turn off the highway and over several miles of rough and rocky mountain valley road, we came upon the cabin about which we had been hearing for forty years and dreaming of someday visiting. Like a picture the little house made entirely of untrimmed logs nestled back among tall spruce trees and was dwarfed almost to obscurity by the tall mountain range behind, the higher peaks capped with snow, and wild flowers of many colors among the green spread like a carpet before it. For a week I reveled in the complete joy of this most restful spot where a rapid, foaming stream came bounding over rocks only a few feet from the rustic porch. This was our only water supply. There was a deep spot where we could dip the buckets and many tangled roots among which to rest the milk jugs and a watermelon or two. Promptly on schedule there drove toward us the two large campers we had been expecting and out poured our two families from Georgia -- nine school-age children and four adults; most recently from Yellowstone, winding up the circle tour of the great West. Such a joyous reunion and introductions! Added to the group already on hand at the cabin there were twenty-five for dinner that evening and for a luscious pancake breakfast next morning. There was mountain hiking, fishing in the creek, total freedom and much picture taking for two unforgettable days; then the regretful farewells and we Georgia folk turned toward home, taking with us memories to cherish for a lifetime. Those chores still awaiting when I returned home somehow seemed less burdensome. ***** ** Here and There By George Card From NATIONAL NEWS OF THE BLIND (Canada): Light stimulation and exercise with the Projectoscope have shown encouraging results in restoring sight to an amblyopic eye (lazy eye). At one time it was felt that very little could be done to improve the vision in an amblyopic eye after the early years of childhood. Another useful device is the Remote Central Inta-line Chart, a small delicate device which will tell parents very quickly if their child requires glasses or if there is a possibility of the child developing amblyopia. It will serve children as young as three years of age. -- Fred Hedrick, who became blind at the age of 13, was recently appointed a Judge of the Appeals Court of North Carolina with a salary of $26,000 a year. From the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind NEWSLETTER: The German Federal Parliament has enacted substantial changes in the assistance legislation relating to the blind. One of the most important is that the minimum amount of the monthly financial allowance for civilian blind must not be allowed to fall below the minimum level of similar allowances for war blinded. -- The Industrial Home for the Blind in Brooklyn, N.Y., has developed a pre-school vision screening program which allowed some 15,000 children to have their vision screened during school months. More than 500 youngsters gave indication of having defective vision and were referred for professional examinations. -- The Revised International Manual of Braille Music Notation is available· for $2,50 at the World Council's Paris Headquarters, 14 bis, rue Daru, Paris Se. The OCB BULLETIN reports: A tiny balloon device developed by Firestone has helped surgeons restore sight to six persons suffering from severe detachment of the retina. It consists of a latex rubber balloon less than 1/16 of an inch in diameter before inflation. Surgeons insert the ballon into the patient's eye and gently inflate it to a diameter of 10 millimeters. The expanding balloon gently moves the retinas back into their normal position, where they are surgically held in place. A survey conducted by the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness to determine the effects of the intensive publicity campaign concerning possible eye damage from the March 7 solar eclipse showed that only 134 cases of such damage actually occurred -- a figure far smaller than had been feared. The current issue of the ABC DIGEST (Calif.) marks the completion of its first 10 years under the extremely able editorship of Harriet Penner Fielding. In reviewing the past decade President Cathy Skivers writes that 10 years ago all was bitterness and strife but that the California Council of the Blind and the Associated Blind of California have come to each other's opinions and abilities and present a unified front to the legislature. -- This year we have been told by legislators that bills calling for expenditure of money would be defeated and that we would do better to concentrate on defeating legislation which is detrimental to the blind. This we have done. The PALMETTO AURORAN (S.C.) reports that its Spartanburg Chapter set a new record in ticket sales by selling 2763 for its fund-raising barbecue dinner. Its President Bob Oglesby sold 1000 of these. -- Fred L. Crawford, of the S.C. Commission for the Blind, who was a featured speaker at our Charlotte convention in 1969, states that a number of blind broom makers who formerly earned $27 a week have now been trained for competitive employment in which they now make as much as $150-$200 a week. In the Commission's prevention of blindness program 4000 persons were served last year, including about 900 who got free spectacles. In the current issue Mr. Crawford writes: "The Commission for the Blind has always been concerned with the viewpoints, problems and opinions, as well as the advice of blind residents of the state." Our Oregon affiliate, like so many organizations of the blind in other states, is faced with a desperate battle to prevent its specialized agency from being swallowed up and rendered impotent. From the Oregon Council BULLETIN: "The proposed bill for the enlargement of the Department of Human Resources would give much power to the administrator of this department. The chairman of the Commission of the Blind would have advisory power only and the Commission as an independent agency would cease to exist. It is believed that the Blind of the state would have their needs neglected, that inefficient bureaucracy would develop and expenses would increase when services decrease." Condensed from an article by Railton James, a psychologist, in the San Francisco CHRONICLE, August 16: It used to be thought that the blind developed a knack for interpreting the different air currents that hit the face as they approached various obstacles -- the so-called 'facial vision' theory. This has now been disproved. Researchers covered the faces of both sighted and blind subjects with felt veil to screen them from air currents. Then they asked them to walk toward a wall and signal when it was detected. Despite the veil, most subjects would signal the presence of the wall before they hit it. But when the ears were plugged to eliminate sounds, they all failed to detect the wall before running into it. This was proved beyond all doubt by further experiment. One of the investigators walked toward the wall carrying a microphone. The subject sat in a sound­proofed room listening through earphones to the sounds picked up by the microphone as it was carried along. Even under these conditions, the subject was still able to detect the wall before the investigator walked into it." From LISTEN: While conceding that science will some day develop artificial sight -- or "visual prosthesis" — MIT professor Robert W. Mann stressed that in his opinion it will be at least 10 or 20 years before even the first tentative steps toward such a development can be taken and that blind people should get along in the world the way it is without counting too much on unrealistic hopes based on future developments. -- Dr. Edward J. Waterhouse, director of Perkins School for the Blind, along with Genevieve Caulfield, a blind American woman who has spent many years in work for the blind in Asia, and Maria Theresa Pho-Thi Lang-Tai, founder of a school for blind girls in Saigon, was honored recently by the Viet Nam Council of Foreign Relations for exceptional and meritorious service to Vietnam. -- George E. Keane, director of community relations and program development at the Brooklyn Industrial Home for the Blind, has retired after 42 years of service. -- A new interpretation of Medicare regulations has resulted in a major cutback in coverage for elderly patients requiring visiting nurse services. Only patients whose condition will definitely improve or who are in the terminal stage of an illness are eligible for Medicare services from the Visiting Nurses Association. -- The number of blind persons rehabilitated and placed in employment in Massachusetts has shown a substantial increase for the 10th consecutive year. During 1969 the number was 160, an increase of 27 over the previous year. The Commission also reports that an additional 116 young people are attending colleges and universities under a scholarship program. -- Helen Tullis, blind, was recently appointed to the staff of the Department of Education, state of Maryland, as assistant supervisor of pedestrian safety. Before that she was pedestrian chairman of the Maryland Traffic Safety Commission for 12 years. -- Joseph Maffei, 12, of Waltham, Mass., a blind roller skater, has become state and regional champion in dance, figure and speed skating. He is also an accomplished drummer and has won three belts in judo competition. -- Allan A. Iseley of Burlington, N.C., farms at night because, he says, "There's so much less noise distraction. Blind since high school days, Iseley is master of his 250-acre farm which includes a large herd of cattle and nine acres of tobacco. With no special training he has learned to drive 45 cattle from one pasture to another, to feed and inject them with hypodermics and even castrate the bulls. He identifies the cows with different sizes of bells. A staff and a transistor radio help him at corn planting time. About the only things he needs help with are mowing, hoeing and chopping. He has two hired hands to help him out. -- Four persons were killed and two others critically injured in the crash of a private plane which was taking members of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind on a joyride. -- In Kalispell, Montana, Wilbur Korb, the blind operator of a newspaper stand at the local post office, didn't realize he was receiving some unusual dollar bills after he and his wife Pauline, also blind, were involved in an accident. After Korb began to notice the people kept wanting change for dollar bills, his banker explained that many had been $5, $10 and $20 bills. His customers had provided Korb and his wife with an extra $1,254 to help with hospital bills. -- A record class of 28 graduated from Perkins this year. One member was Chan Poh Lin, a deaf-blind girl who came to Perkins nine years ago from her native Singapore and who now can communicate in English, a language she had never heard before she became deaf and blind while in her early teens. -- Approximately 1,500 blind children in private schools will profit from legislation recently approved by the President which permits books and educational aids to be distributed for use in private, non-profit schools as well as public schools. The American Foundation for the Blind and its sister organization, the American Foundation for Overseas Blind, have a new president. He is John S. Crowley who succeeds Jansen Noyes, Jr., the latter becoming chairman of the board of trustees. In his address to the triennial conference of the National League of the Blind (U.K.) earlier this year President Dan West faced the same reality with which we are increasingly being confronted at the state level and even at the national level. He said in part: "I think that the whole of the welfare system of this country will be tied up in such a way that the blind will be included in the disabled group and that any improvements that come along will be to all disabled people. The day seems to be approaching when the idea that blind people will get special consideration will disappear. I feel we should be communicating with these other disabled sections to help them and to give them the benefit of our advice. Not to amalgamate with them, not to take them over or to ask them to take us over, but to give them the benefit of the experience which we have gained over the years." -- This issue of the BLIND ADVOCATE deals with another problem which we share with the British: "While we welcome the improvement in the services available to other sections of handicapped persons, we are anxious about the deterioration in the former services provided by home teachers. Many of these were looked on as being almost personal friends of the blind people they visited." -- The League has now taken in sighted disabled workers employed in workshops for the blind as full members. On September 26 Jack Reed, President of the Illinois Federation of the Blind, passed away -- the victim of a heart attack. From the HOOSIER-STAR LIGHT: Harold (Hal) Krents, blind Harvard Law School student, will be long remembered for his clever song written to General Lewis Hershey after Krents had been classified 1-A by his local draft board. He may be longer remembered as the inspiration for a hit show which is now playing to capacity audiences on Broadway. (From what I heard, "Butterflies are Free" gives a highly distorted picture of blindness. It is said to be extremely funny but will not improve the public image of the blind.) -- Officials planning the 197i White House Conference on Aging have been urged to include the subject of blindness on the conference agenda in a telegram sent by the National Task Force on Geriatric Blindness of the American Foundation of the Blind. -- At latest count there were 2 million people whose last name is Smith on the Social Security rolls, 1.5 million whose name is Johnson and 1.3 million whose name is Williams. Dr. Edward J. Waterhouse, Director of the Perkins School for the Blind, will retire next August and be succeeded by a former Perkins student, Benjamin F. Smith, the first blind man to hold this office in the history of the School. (During my years as U.S. delegate to the World Council, I came to know this distinguished educator and to admire him greatly. May his well-earned years of retirement be blessed with peace and tranquility in the knowledge that his life work has been a significant contribution to the education of blind youth.) ***** ** ACB Officers President: Judge Reese Robrahn, 329 Woodbury Lane, Topeka, Kansas 66606 First Vice-President: Dr. S. Bradley Burson, 917 Kenyon Street, Downers Grove, Ill. 60515 Second Vice-President: Vernon Williams, 217 Western Union Bldg., Aberdeen, South Dakota 54701 Secretary: Mrs. Mary Jane Schmitt, 510 Tarrington Rd., Rochester, New York 14609 Treasurer: Fred Krepela, 241 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301 ** Directors Mrs. Cathie Skivers, 836 Resota St., Hayward, California 94545 George Card, 605 South Few Street, Madison, Wisc. 53703 Floyd Qualls, 106 N. E. 2nd Street, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73104 Earl Scharry, 5714 Ridgeway Ave., Rockville, Md. 20851 J. Edward Miller, 2621 Chesterfield Ave., Charlotte, N.C. 28205 David Krause, 2121 P Street, N.W., Washington, D. C. 20037 Fred Lilley, 7629 Dale Ave., Richmond Heights, MO 63117 Don Cameron, 724 S. Davis Blvd., Tampa, Fla. 33609 ***** ** American Council of the Blind Convention Guidelines Adopted July, 1970 * Foreword The special committee to prepare a comprehensive and workable set of ACB convention guidelines gave careful consideration to many facets of conducting a convention, yet we are aware that some details not covered in this formalized guidelines handbook are sure to require attention as they arise. Therefore, the ACB convention Guidelines are not designed to be limiting in scope with reference to courteous and essential details relevant to an efficiently conducted convention. Rather, it is felt that the following guidelines are minimal to insure the comfort and convenience of conventionaires, and the smooth operation of all convention events. Respectfully, George Card, Wisconsin Floyd Qualls, Oklahoma M. Helen Vargo, Kansas ** ACB Convention Guidelines The American Council of the Blind Annual Convention Committee chairman shall be appointed by the host affiliate, and be selected from its membership; the committee shall be composed primarily of members selected by the host affiliate, but shall include a member of the Board of Directors who shall supervise arrangements and planning (ACB Board directive), but he need not be designated chairman of the committee. For more efficient distribution of assignments, two working sub­committees shall comprise the Annual Convention Committee: 1. The Annual Convention Host Affiliate Program Committee, and 2. The Annual Convention Host Affiliate Arrangements Committee. * I. Program Committee The Program Committee shall plan and arrange for all program items: A. Choose a theme; B. Select and contact program participants, advising each of their topics, time allocation for presentation, and scheduled time on the program; C. Secure adequate and appropriate personal data about each participant, to be used in introductions by the presiding officer — the data shall be in braille, print or sound according to the preference of the presiding officer; and the data should include such information as: background material, position and affiliation, and credits; D. Arrange for publication of the finalized program in braille and print. The published copy shall have calendared every program item in sequence including: 1. Name of the presiding officer, type of session, time and place; 2. Topics, name, title, and time allocation for each participant; 3. Time for program breaks and re-convening, 4. Time, place, presiding officer and participant and/or participants for official meal meetings, i.e., breakfast, luncheon, banquet; 5. Time and place for Board meeting and committee meetings; 6. Time, place and host for special social functions; 7. Hours, place and host for hospitality room if provided; 8. Hours and place for exhibits if available; 9. Time and place for registration; 10. Location of information desk; 11. Identify guides and designate time of their available service; E. Arrange for interdenominational invocation for the opening session of the convention, and to precede the opening ceremonies of the banquet; F. The following ACB Board directive shall be adhered to: Both sessions of the last day of the annual convention shall be devoted entirely to business and internal affairs of ACB, and no program item shall be placed on the agenda for the last day; in addition, in election years, one additional session shall be devoted exclusively to business and internal affairs of ACB, making a total of three business sessions during election years. * II. Arrangements Committee The arrangements committee shall make and coordinate all local convention arrangements: A. Select and arrange for convention headquarters; B. Reserve appropriate and adequate number of meeting rooms; C. Ascertain number and type of courtesy suites and rooms available through hotel management; D. Schedule time, place and cost of official meals and select menu for same; E. Make sure of adequate seating at head table for meetings, and indicate seating arrangement with place cards at head table at banquet; the presiding officer should be advised of the seating arrangement; F. Arrange for registration facilities, attendants, badges, sale of tickets, distribution of programs and courtesy parking stickers; G. Arrange for convention information desk; H. Arrange for ballot box, and ballots to be used for secret balloting if needed; I. Provide guides to give assistance to and from meeting room, and aides to assist presiding officer; J. Place braille numbers on room doors, elevators, and on each floor outside the elevators; K. Arrange for adequate sound system facilities for general meeting including official meal meetings. * III. Convention Bank Account The following ACB Board directive shall be adhered to: If funds of ACB are expended in conducting the Annual Convention, such funds, together with all other convention receipts, shall be deposited in a separate and distinct bank account in charge of some member of the host affiliate, and a full and complete report of such receipts and the disposal thereof, shall be made by the person in charge of such account to the Treasurer of ACB within sixty days after the close of the annual convention. * IV. Publicity The ACB Annual Convention Committee Chairman shall appoint at least one person on the local scene to arrange for and coordinate convention publicity in cooperation with the chairman of the ACB Public Relations Committee; publicity should include: press, radio and TV coverage. * V. Implementation A. It is courteous to speakers, and stimulates more delegate participation and response if meetings begin and end according to program schedule. Door prizes might be considered as a means of enticing delegates to be on time; and the presiding officer should clock speakers, and discussion periods, not permitting them to run more than five minutes beyond the allotted time; B. The Program Committee shall have the program finalized in sufficient time for details of the program to be in the May issue of "The Braille Forum," and shall assume responsibility for forwarding the information to the Editor of same; C. Registration Services: 1. The registration desk shall be open at least two hours the evening prior to the first day of the Annual Convention, and at least eight hours a day, no less than the first two days of the convention; 2. No fewer than two persons shall be on duty at the registration desk throughout the convention; 3. Registrars shall be able to give information regarding qualifications for voting delegates; 4. Delegates shall be issued badges readily distinguishing voting delegates from visiting delegates; D. Guides and aides: 1. Guide service shall be available one-half hour before general sessions to not less than one half hour after the end of the general session; 2. The guides shall be oriented as to satisfactory techniques of guide service, and have their responsibilities as guides clearly defined; 3. Aides shall be available to assist the presiding officer throughout program and business meetings, to do necessary reading, see that program participants are on hand for their presentations, and give other assistance as needed; E. If a hospitality room is available, the arrangements committee shall designate a hosting committee to be on duty all hours that the hospitality room in open; F. The arrangements committee shall be responsible for getting information to "The Braille Forum" on room rates and cost of official meals; this information should be made available early in the year; G. Information Service: 1. An information desk shall be located in the vicinity of the registration desk; 2. It shall be manned by at least one person at all times; 3. Available information should include: location of nearby eating establishments, shopping areas, better restaurants and clubs, tours, places of special interest, services available for care of dog guides, braille lists on request of emergency telephone numbers, and if the hotel has numbers for inside service, they should also be available in braille, and appropriate information and assistance should be available to late arrivals at the convention. * VI. Greeting Committee It would be courteous for the Host Affiliate to appoint a greeting committee to: A. Meet out-of-town non-member program participants, B. Issue informal invitations to special meal functions of the convention to such participants, and appropriate dignitaries who are visiting delegates. ###