The Braille Forum Vol. X May 1972 No. 6 Published Bi-Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma * Editor: Earl Scharry 5714 Ridgway Ave. Rockville, MD 20851 * Associate Editors: George Card 605 South Few St. Madison, WI 53703 Ione B. Miller 9291 Fermi Avenue San Diego, CA 92123 * 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. ***** ** Contents Notice to Subscribers I Am Mr. Ed Go Team Go Portland -- "City of Roses" -- Welcomes ACB Convention, by Edna Williams ABLA Announces Program, by George Howeiler Dog Guide Users Will Meet in Portland Blind Students Will Meet in Portland For Women Only Short- and Long-Range Goals for Blind Teachers: Conference Call, by Robert McCann 1972 VISTA Convention, by Betty Ann Jones Editors' Workshop, Portland 1972 Melodonic Chorus to Sing in Portland, by Tessie Jones RSVA Convention Outline, by Ione Miller Visually Impaired Social Workers Will Meet in Portland Seminar for Blind Computer Programmers in Portland, by S. Bradley Burson ACB Service Net News, by Doris Hauser An ACB Affiliate in the Nation's Capitol Utah and Nevada Form Council Organizations Hello Hoosiers, by Sue Graves An Affiliate Is Born, by Fred C. Lilley Idaho Council Works on Legislation She Rides, Swims -- But Can't Buy Insurance Coalition for Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments, by Durward K. McDaniel Action on Amtrak Fare Concessions for Blind Persons, by S. Bradley Burson Your Fact-Finding Help Needed for Vending Machine Expose, by Durward K. McDaniel A Beloved Leader Passes, by George Card VISTA Reviews, by Betty Ann Jones GE Electronic Magnifier Electric Typewriter -- Discount Prelude Project, by George Card Employment Opportunity: San Diego Recreation Center to Launch New Project, by Ione Miller Here and There, by George Card ACB Officers Directors ***** ** Notice to Subscribers The Braille Forum is available in braille, large type, and on tape -- seven-inch, dual track, ips 3 and ¾. 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 may be sent to ACB Treasurer Fred Krepela, 241 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301. ***** ** I Am Mr. Ed By Earl Scharry A not so funny thing happened on the way to the Forum. The March issue of the Forum was only beginning to germinate when on February 20th, last, I suffered a stroke which landed me in the hospital and left me without the use of my left leg, arm and hand and incapacitated me for any kind of work. This interfered with the publishing of the March issue on schedule. However, almost before I knew it, Anne Dewees and Durward had taken over and got it completed. I have read that issue and find it well done. This is not surprising because both of them have been very helpful from the very beginning. I am now out of the hospital and once again at home with my loved ones. This is a good morale builder and so are the scores of messages from people of good will all over the country which poured in. I would like to be able to thank each one of you individually, but will express my appreciation here in the hope that it will reach everyone in this way. It was very heartening to receive these messages of sympathy, concern and encouragement often accompanied by generous gifts and other generous words. You have given me an additional incentive to want to return to an active world which includes so many wonderful people. ***** ** Go Team Go By Earl Scharry The ease and skill with which Durward and Anne took over the publication of the Forum in this emergency is very heartening to one who believes that this magazine, just like ACB itself, should never become the vehicle or instrument of any one person but should be the result of cooperation and teamwork among many. This has always been true of the Forum. It depends upon the help of the associate editors and the Publications Board which has been very responsible and constructive. I acknowledge also the help of those who get out the tape and print editions and maintain the mailing lists. My special appreciation goes to those who contribute original material for publication. The Publications Board has added two new associate editors whose names you should be reading on the front cover. I hope that we can add other associate editors in the near future. It may be possible to assign special fields of interest to my associates. I would like to have reports of special events and activities. Your suggestions and reporting on news and events will be welcome. ***** ** Portland - 'City of Roses' - Welcomes ACB Convention By Edna Williams Oregon's mild climate beckons you to celebrate our country's July 4th birthday with a Get-Acquainted Party that evening in the Portland-Hilton — less than 100 miles east of Oregon's 400 miles of Pacific Ocean shoreline and sandy beaches. To the east in the Cascade Mountains is our spectacular Mt. Hood, many lakes and mountain resorts, and Bend Country -- with its petrified forests and lava beds where the astronauts practiced their moon walking. A trip up our famous Columbia River scenic highway takes you to see Bonneville Dam and its power turbines, the ship locks and fish ladders — all of interest. To the south one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the bottomless very, very blue Crater Lake, and still further south the intriguing Oregon Caves. How about a deep-sea fishing party? Or trout fishing in our many lakes and streams? Hear stories of Oregon's big game hunting or game birds which abound. Oregon claims vacationers who have become permanent. Portland's 103-acre Washington Park offers the International Rose Test Gardens, the world-renowned Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Western Forestry Center with The Talking Tree, newly created Japanese Gardens, a zoo, a miniature railroad for your enjoyment, tennis courts, the arboretum -- truly, grounds to enjoy. On Thursday afternoon conventioneers may tour the Oral Hull Park for the Blind Gardens of Enchantment, the largest of seven similar in the United States. Representatives of the Garden Clubs who established it for your enjoyment will be there to help, so your tour can be more meaningful. The Park Rose Lions, who for several years have prepared and served a sumptuous, barbecued chicken dinner, will again exercise their talents. For your listening pleasure, The Twilighters, an extremely popular dance band, will charm and delight. These blind young musicians are in constant demand. Meet old friends and make new ones at this gala affair. Who of you isn't anxious to hear the featured speaker from the Walt Disney Productions? This man is outstanding, and I'll go on record that you won't want to miss Michael F. Vance at the Friday evening banquet. Pertinent information for those traveling to the Convention: If you are arriving by bus, the Greyhound and Trailways terminals are one short block from the Hilton Hotel. Cabs are available from the train station which is located near the downtown core area; cabs are available also from the airport, or you may take the Grayline limousine service from the airport to the hotel. Limousines leave the airport every thirty minutes (on the hour and half-hour) from 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. The adult fare is $1.75, one-half fare for children. The hotel is situated between Sixth Avenue and Broadway (7th Avenue). The Sixth Avenue entrance is on ground level and leads to the Main Lobby. There are two entrances off Broadway: The Broadway Lobby encircles the elevators and leads down 4 steps into the Main lobby while the Ballroom Lobby leads to the escalators descending to the Ballroom Foyer and convention headquarters. Hotel conveniences include free ice on every floor; free morning coffee in every room; beverage machines on every floor; heated swimming pool; sauna bath; escalators, elevators and stairs for reaching the convention area. Special Interest groups should register for rooms as attending the ACB Convention to obtain the special hotel convention rates. Registration hours will be: Sunday, July 2: 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Monday, July 3: 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon Tuesday, July 4: 12:00 Noon – 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 5: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Thursday, July 6: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon Friday, July 7: 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The Registration Desk will be located in the Ballroom Foyer, two "flights" below street level. The hotel is air-conditioned and Portland weather, even in July, can be quite cool, so we suggest a light coat and sweater for your comfort. For dining, the hotel offers a coffee shop, dining rooms and the unique Canlis Restaurant atop the Hilton, which offers a dramatic view of the mountains and the Portland skyline. In addition to the hotel facilities, there are many restaurants within a few blocks. You should find a copy of The Portland Guide in your hotel room, which lists many of these restaurants and a map directing you to their location. The Convention Committee will be happy to help you enjoy your convention program, social activities, tours and exhibits. We urge you to seriously consider attending a top­notch convention of the American Council of the Blind -- in the great Northwest. Those who do not pre-register must make their hotel reservations two weeks prior to the opening date of the convention. Check-in time is 2:00 p.m. or later. Rooms are held only to 6:00 p.m. on date of arrival, unless the Hotel is otherwise notified. ***** ** A. B. L.A. Announces Program by George Howeiler The American Blind Lawyers Association, a special interest group affiliated with the ACB, will hold its annual conference this year at the Hilton Hotel in Portland, Oregon. The conference will begin with a meeting of its Board of Directors on Sunday, July 2, at 8:00 p.m. and end with a business meeting during the late afternoon of July 4. Items of the program will include: "Trends in the Legal Profession" by Harold G. Wren, Dean of Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College; "Legal Aid for the Blind" by Jay Folberg, Director of Legal Aid for Multnomah County; "Additional Sources of Income for the Blind Attorney" by Marcus Roberson, Attorney at Law at San Antonio, Texas, and others; "A Career with Corporations and Securities" by Frank Healy, Corporations Commissioner for the State of Oregon; "Organizing a Blind Credit Union" by John Vanlandingham, Attorney at Law, Phoenix, Arizona and President of ABLA; "The Problem of Office Economics" by Phillip Pofcher, Attorney at Law, Roslindale, Massachusetts and others; "The Growing Field of Medical Malpractice" by Norman Herring, Attorney at Law, Phoenix, Arizona; "The Biological Time Bomb and its Legal Implications" by Norman Robinson, Attorney at Law, Chicago, Illinois; "Tips by on Personal Robinson, Injury Cases" by Vernon Williams, Attorney at Law, Aberdeen, South Dakota; "Tips on Probate Practice" by Arnold Sadler, Attorney at Law, Seattle, Washington; "Government Is My Client" by Paul Kirton, House Counsel, Dept. of the Interior, Washington, D.C. and "Comments on No-Fault Insurance" by Leonard duBoff, Instructor, Sanford Law School. On July 3, a luncheon will be held in Ballroom A of the Hilton, hosted by the Broadway Toastmasters Club. That evening comes "The Hour of Levity" beginning at 6:30, at which time "Diamond Lil and Her Four Judges," a musical assemblage consisting of a court reporter and judges, will entertain. At 8:00 is the President's Banquet featuring Judge Reese Robrahn, ACB President. Conference arrangements are in the hands of George Howeiler, and any questions relating to the conference should be directed to him: P.O. Box 366, Sandy, Oregon 97055. ***** ** Dog Guide Users Will Meet in Portland The Coordinating Committee of Dog Guide Users will meet at 8 P.M. on Monday, July 3rd to complete their organization and make plans for future activities. The meeting will be conducted by Phyllis Stern of Oak Park, Illinois, who is vice chairman of the group. This special committee was formed during the 1971 ACB convention to concern itself with particular interests of blind persons who use dog guides and with the interests of blind persons generally. It has been enthusiastically received and expects to hold annual meetings during the same week as the ACB convention. Members and officers of the organization have been actively supporting legislation which would prohibit discrimination against those using dog guides. An invitation to join will be issued in the near future. Annual dues are two dollars. ***** ** Blind Students Will Meet in Portland Mack Riley, Chairman of the National Coordinating Committee of Blind Students, has announced that the Committee and students will meet at the Hilton Hotel at 9:30 A.M. on Wednesday, July 5th, to complete plans for a permanent national association and to outline projects and goals of the group. Blind students are invited to attend this meeting. Additional information will be released prior to the meeting. Inquiries may be directed to Mack Riley, P.O. Box 2401, Bell Gardens, California, 90201. ***** ** For Women Only On Wednesday, July 5, at 9:30 am, a seminar will be held on the role of visually handicapped women and how they can use their abilities in a self-help organization. The meeting will be at the Portland Hilton Hotel, Portland, Oregon. Speakers will include a member of the national organization of the American Council of the Blind and a spokeswoman for the Women's Rights Movement. A panel discussion will follow consisting of three women involved in organization of visually handicapped persons. Discussions will be on a national, state and local level. ***** ** Short- and Long-Range Goals for Blind Teachers: Conference Call by Robert McCann Notice to Members and Other Blind Teachers: The First Annual Conference of the National Association of Blind Teachers will meet in the Portland Hilton Hotel, Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, July 4, at 10:00 A.M. The purpose of our conference is to study short- and long-range goals for our Association. What shall our goals be for 1973? Should we survey the country and see how many blind teachers are working? Should we attempt to set up a National Directory of Blind Teachers? What legislative provisions do various states have in reference to blind persons in the field of education? These are a few of the short-range goals that we will consider. What about standards of training for the blind teacher? What techniques and methods can a blind teacher use that will help him in his work? How can we update the present statistics that are available concerning blind persons in the teaching field? The above questions, though only an incomplete list, indicate that there is much to be done. Won't you attend the Portland conference and add your views and abilities to the program of the National Association of Blind Teachers? Where we go from here depends upon how much thinking can be put to work. The need for planning and service is great. We must lead the way to protect and extend our mutual interest and to assist other blind persons who will enter our profession. Voting membership dues for blind teachers are $3.00 annually and for students, $2.00 annually. Associate membership dues are $2.00 annually. You are invited to join. Yours very truly, Robert McCann, President National Association of Blind Teachers P.S. -- Other officers and directors of our organization are: Wyman Howard - First Vice-President, Council Bluffs, Iowa; Donna Pastore - Second Vice-President, Arlington, Virginia; Susan Harden - Recording Secretary, Batavia, New York; Mabel Bailey - Corresponding Secretary, Eureka, Illinois; and Robert Campbell - Treasurer, Berkeley, California. Directors are Gregory Robinson, Eugene, Oregon; Philip White, Flint, Michigan; Mrs. Hazel Daigle, New Orleans, Louisiana; and Richard Johnson, Janesville, Wisconsin. ***** ** 1972 VISTA Convention By Betty Ann Jones The 1972 Convention of the Visually Impaired Secretarial Transcribers Association will be held at the Portland Hilton, Portland, Oregon, July 3, 4 and 5. This year's tentative program will highlight the participation of employers and will include a working office operated when the regular conference is not in session. Such an office will permit on-the-spot inspection of work as it is actually produced. Other program plans include a newsletter workshop and a presentation outlining devices now on the drawing boards for use by the visually impaired secretary or transcriber. Ample time will be allotted for a general discussion of those things working secretaries and transcribers would like to see invented and a discussion of work problems presently being encountered. The VISTA luncheon and the Red, White and Blue Firecracker Hour is a "must" for all attending this year's convention. Come and taste the "Rocket Launching" punch! You've heard of the "Social Secretary." This year you will meet the "Sociable Secretaries." Red, white and blue garb the required attire for the Firecracker Hour. We are especially anxious to be "sociable" with out west coast cohorts, and we urge all interested secretaries and transcribers who would like preregistration forms or would like more information to contact: Miss Betty Ann Jones, President, Visually Impaired Secretarial Transcribers Association, 907 Harper Street, Utica, New York 13502. ***** ** Editors' Workshop, Portland, 1972 Helen Vargo, Chairman of ACB's Publications Board announces that there will be another editors' workshop this year. The one held in Milwaukee was quite successful, and editors of periodicals expressed a desire to continue the training sessions this convention. If you are an editor of a periodical anywhere in the country and would like to share your knowledge and skills with others while you learn more about the job of editing, you are welcome to attend and to participate. Also, if you or your organization would like to learn about how to start and publish a periodical, you, too, are welcome. The Workshop will be conducted on Tuesday, July 4th, from 2 to 5 P.M. in the Directors Suite of the Portland Hilton Hotel. We will be prepared to spend additional time with smaller groups and individuals at other times during the convention week. Persons interested in more information may communicate with Helen Vargo at 833 Oakley St., Topeka, Kansas 66606. ***** ** Melodonic Chorus to Sing in Portland By Tessie Jones Members of the Melodonic Chorus are very pleased to have been able to accept the invitation from American Council of the Blind to sing at their convention in Portland, Oregon. The chorus is planning to offer a varied program which should be agreeable and interesting to everyone. An hour and a half concert will be presented on Wednesday, July 5, in the Portland Hilton Hotel beginning at 8:00 pm. You are all invited. The chorus has been organized for a number of years and has presented numerous concerts and programs in many localities. Performances have been given for schools, churches, civic organizations, benefits, etc. Members of the chorus are hoping to meet and make many friends at the convention and to offer an evening of music that will prove to be a pleasing experience to everyone. ***** ** RSVA Convention Outline by Ione Miller The theme of the convention is "Success Tomorrow Through Action Today." Sunday, July 2: Board of Directors of RSVA will meet in the Hilton Hotel at 8:00 pm. Monday, July 3: The convention convenes in the morning. Luncheon speaker will be Congressman Al Ullman. The evening will be devoted to an operator's party. Tuesday, July 4: Forum in the morning and afternoon. A group of operators will discuss methods they used to improve their stands, and BEP and HEW will discuss ways they used to overcome problems-state and national. Wednesday, July 5: Election of officers with the session closing at noon. ***** ** "Visually Impaired Social Workers Will Meet in Portland" Last year, a coordinating committee was formed. This year there will be a meeting of social workers at 1:30 P.M. on Monday, July 3rd, at the Hilton Hotel. Visually impaired social workers are invited to attend and to participate in the formation of a permanent association which will concern itself with social work and with the particular interests and concerns of visually impaired social workers. Inquiries may be directed to Eunice Fiorito, Chairman, 330 East 33rd St., New York, New York, 10016. Other members of the coordinating committee are: Dr. Vincent Laridaen of Milwaukee; Mary Grace Lodico. of Plainfield, N.J.; Jack C. Lewis of Macon, Ga.; Mary Burdell of Waterloo, Iowa; and Jim Walsh of Philadelphia. ***** ** Seminar for Blind Computer Programmers in Portland by S. Bradley Burson Conference Chairman For the fourth consecutive year, the American Council of the Blind is sponsoring a seminar for blind computer programmers to be held at the Portland Hilton Hotel, Portland, Oregon on Monday and Tuesday, July 3 - 4. Anyone concerned with employment for blind persons in the data-processing field is invited to participate. The program will concentrate on two major areas: "On-the Job Problems and Their Solutions" (technical or otherwise), and "Employment Opportunities." Students in training for this kind of work are particularly urged to attend and profit from the experience of the 'old timers' in the business. These technical discussions have always proved to be lively and extremely beneficial. We especially want to invite supervisors and other representatives from the management sector to take part in the discussions, for it is their reactions and suggestions which point the way to excellence and job performance. Registration will begin Sunday, July 2. Room rates are: single - $10.00; Twin or Double - $16.00 (plus tax). Please mention that you are attending part of the ACB Convention, for these special rates. Write: Hilton Hotel, 921 S.W. 6th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204. (Do not send money). Please notify John Simpson, Registration Chairman, 7012 South Miller, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73159 as to your intent to attend. I urge you all to plan to stay in Portland the remainder of the week and attend the annual ACB Convention which will formally convene Wednesday, July 5, 1972. ***** ** ACB Service Net News By Doris Hauser Travis Harris, W5PGD, president of the ACB Service Net, tells me that the Service Net has applied for affiliation with the American Council of the Blind and hopes for acceptance at the Portland Convention in July. Those radio amateurs who are planning on attending the convention will be pleased to learn that 'Hamshack' facilities, like the ones in Milwaukee, will be available. I received a very interesting and informative letter from Mike Ewart, WA3ELL, a senior at St. Mary's College in Maryland. He has volunteered braille information concerning the Military Amateur Radio Service, generally known as the 'Mars' net. Any blind operator who would like braille copies of the authentication tables used in conjunction with the ISG Manual 4392, may write to Mike Ewart, 9100 Old Hartford Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21234. Letters like Mike's are very much appreciated. Anyone having information concerning blind radio operators may send it to me and I will pass it along in this column. Information may also be had by tuning in the Service net every day at 12:00 noon CST on 14.305 kh. The Ham Shack at the ACB convention will be a large suite on the top floor of the Hilton. Our station will be in operation at intervals throughout the week of the general and special meetings beginning July 2nd. The station will be installed on July 1st. The suite has several bedrooms which are being reserved for occupancy by hams. We expect a large number of Hams to attend and to help in the handling of traffic for conventioneers and others. Travis Harris has announced a business meeting of the ACB Service Net for 7 P.M. on Tuesday, July 4th in the Hilton Hotel. ***** ** An ACB Affiliate in the Nation's Capitol The District of Columbia Association of Workers for the Blind was organized a half century ago and has been active as a membership organization during its existence. ACB is pleased to welcome this outstanding organization to membership. It will be represented at the Portland convention. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial association with this organization of mature and capable people. The Association's officers and directors are: Mr. Jean Dorf, President; Edmund Browning, First Vice President; Oral O. Miller, Second Vice President; Mr. William Birchfield, Recording Secretary; Helen Ecker, Secretary-Treasurer. The two additional directors are Ann Chapman and Earl Scharry. ***** ** Utah and Nevada Form Council Organizations In April, organizing meetings were held in Salt Lake City and Reno where two new statewide organizations were formed. These new groups will bring the number affiliated with ACB to forty-two. Both organizations will be represented at the Portland convention. The Braille Forum welcomes our new members to ACB. The officers and directors of the Utah Council of the Blind are: Leland Kent Wimmer, President; Professor John Crandell of Provo, Vice President; Adolf Feher of Provo, Secretary; Shirley Foulger of Salt Lake City, Treasurer; Lee Brown and Palmer Houghton of Provo, Grant Mack of Salt Lake City, and NaDeen Hackwell of Ogden are on the board of directors. The officers and directors of the Nevada Council of the Blind are: Charles S. Burns of Reno, President; John Needham of Reno, First Vice President; Robert McDougall of Boulder City, Second Vice President; A.H. Bushman of Reno, Secretary, Lisa Salazar of Reno, Recording Secretary; Catherine Vogel of Reno, Treasurer; Rev. John M. Merkouris of Reno, Chaplin; Lillian Fritchie of Sparks, Public Relations. The directors are P. W. Hutchinson of Reno; Pam Cantrell of Reno; J.W. Long of Lovelock; James Ellis of Boulder City; and Mr. Hallford of Reno. ***** ** Hello Hoosiers By Sue H. Graves As a native of Indiana it gives me much personal pleasure to bring you this report. The first meeting of the American Council of the Blind of Indiana was held at the Atkinson Hotel on Saturday, May 13. At this time the following officers and members of the board were elected: President, William G. Smith, Fort Wayne; Vice President, K. Roger Smith, Indianapolis; Secretary, Don Koors, Indianapolis, Treasurer, Mrs. Patricia Price, Indianapolis; Board Members, Cade Verner, Indianapolis; John Watson, Indianapolis; Erskine Miller, Indianapolis; John Huffman, Lebanon. Plans are already underway to increase membership and the board of directors is making plans for the first regular convention. Congratulations, Indiana, and good luck with your new, worthwhile venture. ***** ** An Affiliate Is Born By Fred C. Lilley Recently, I was privileged to enjoy two of the most unusual and exciting experiences of my life. Both occurred during a brief span of less than forty-eight hours. On the evening of February 24 I was honored by being the guest speaker of the Jackson, Mississippi Metropolitan Lions Club. This in itself is not so extraordinary since, during my sixteen years as a Lion I have spoken before other clubs, but what did make this event so outstanding was the fact that this club is composed entirely of blind Lions. As I sat and listened to the discussion of their various activities, I was amazed at the progress they had made in their two-year period of existence, and more proud than ever that I am a Lion. The president, Lion Billy Mayfield, explained that the Lions of Mississippi were in the process of raising funds to build a library for the blind, and that his club had just received an award ae the top money raiser in the state. This is not only Lionism in action; it is a group of blind men working to provide a much-needed service to their fellow blind citizens. Durward McDaniel called my attention to this group of blind Lions. He learned of the club while meeting blind people who had shown interest in forming a Mississippi affiliate of the American Council of the Blind. The date of the speaking engagement was not a coincidence, as it was known that the Mississippi group was planning an organizing convention for Saturday, February 26. On Friday evening, February 25, we were invited to visit the meeting of the organizing committee, held in the library of the Mississippi School for the Blind, a fine modern building. The purpose of the meeting was to review the bylaws to be presented to the convention the following day. More than sixty enthusiastic Mississippi citizens met on Saturday morning at the Heidelberg Hotel for the first session. In addition, visitors from other states (eight from Alabama, four from Tennessee and one each from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana) came at their own expense to share knowledge and experience and to extend their best wishes for success of the new organization. The sessions were chaired by Becky Floyd with dignity, poise and wit. I extended the official greetings on behalf of President Robrahn and the other officers and directors of the Council. A luncheon was held on the roof garden of the hotel. It was well attended and there was much good food and conversation enjoyed by all. Again, as guest speaker, I found a very attentive audience, interested in the American Council of the Blind and its programs. The afternoon session was devoted to the adoption of by­laws. Indeed it would be simple to say that this task was accomplished easily, by a unanimous vote of each section and article; but, in fact, many questions were asked and differences of opinion which caused occasional flares of Southern temper. However, when the final vote was taken on the completed bylaws it was unanimous. Miss Becky Floyd never once lost her cool throughout the session and everyone was permitted to speak freely and openly. As parliamentarian, I remained silent except when asked for a ruling by the chair. The officers elected were: President, Rebecca Floyd, Sardis; Vice President, Bill Spigner, Tupelo; Recording Secretary, Linda McKenzie, Jackson; Corresponding Secretary, Raymond Williams, Senatobia; Treasurer, Peggy Maddox, Jackson; Parliamentarian, Doyle Case, Jackson; with Board Members Elson Smith, Andrew Oliver, Winfred Caffey, Ben McMillan, Sara LaPrade, and Clement Sanders, all of Jackson. This affiliate was conceived and organized by capable Mississippians. There was no need for outsiders to scour the state for potential members and to lead the discussions and indoctrinate those in attendance. In conclusion, I would like to say that we found everyone and everything in Jackson, Mississippi completely delightful. If this is considered a "backward state," then those of us who look upon ourselves as more advanced should take the tour which we were privileged to take during our stay. From the Mississippi Industries for the Blind to the Mississippi School for the Blind, to the newly-constructed and almost completed rehabilitation center, we witnessed only the finest in facilities. In addition, there were two other work facilities close by, which we did not have the opportunity to visit. The newest affiliate of the American Council of the Blind is one which will take its place and be heard in our ACB meetings, and we welcome these Mississippians as an independent state affiliate of the American Council of the Blind. ***** ** Idaho Council Works on Legislation At the first meeting of the Idaho Council of the Blind on January 8, 1972, its founders resolved to ask the legislature to oppose the establishment of a library and the use of rehabilitation funds for its operation. The legislature agreed with the Council and did not pass such legislation. At the same meeting, the new organization resolved to sponsor legislation "providing for the reporting of children suspected of having severe auditory and/or visual impairment by licensed physicians to the State Department of Public Health." The Governor signed House Bill 676 on March 27 1972. This law should greatly facilitate early reporting of cases of sight and hearing impairment. The text of the new law is as follows: REPORTING OF CHILDREN SUSPECTED OF HAVING SEVERE AUDITORY AND/OR VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. -- Each licensed physician shall be required, after the effective date of this act, to provide the state department of health, on forms to be provided by the department, the names of children who are suspected of having severe auditory and/or visual impairment who are seen by said physician. In addition, should any physician, optometrist, audiologist or any certified person in charge of an examination, receive as a patient any child who is suspected of having severe auditory and/or visual impairment, and whom he believes has not been reported, it shall be the duty and responsibility of such person to include this information on said report. Parents shall be notified by such person that their child has been so reported. ***** ** She Rides, Swims -- But Can't Buy Insurance (Reprinted from the Washington Star, May 12, 1979) By Judith Randal Star Staff Writer Mary Lynn Fletcher, 26, is a senior at the University of Tennessee, majoring in political science. When she was five, she came down with polio which cost her parents $64,000 in medical expenses over the next fourteen years and left her with badly crippled legs. That, however, has not kept her from swimming, riding horseback and leading an active life. Indeed, when she is graduated in August, she will have two college degrees. But her disability has made it impossible for her to buy individual health insurance and has subjected her to job discrimination because of quotas in many group policies carried by employers limiting the number of handicapped people that can be hired. Describing these experiences yesterday in testimony before the Senate Anti-trust and Monopoly subcommittee, which is holding hearings on commercial health insurance practices Miss Fletcher said that the Aetna, Travelers, and Mutual of Omaha Insurance Companies all have refused to sell her health and accident policies. And the Bankers Life and Casualty Company of Chicago, with whom she now has group coverage (thanks to a former job) will not reimburse her for any illness connected to her "pre-existing" condition. The company can and does, however, increase her premiums whenever she makes a claim, she said. At present, she said, health insurance costs her $532 a year, covers only 60 percent of any hospitalization she may require and does not pay doctors' bills except for surgery. Miss Fletcher told subcommittee chairman Sen. Phillip Hart, D-Mich, that she has reason to believe that insurance firms use the "pre-existing" condition clause as a dodge. Two years ago, for example, she fell downstairs and had to have a back operation. She filed a claim to the Zurick Insurance Company of Chicago, which insures students at her university, only to have it rejected on the grounds that the surgery was necessitated by her having had polio. Had it not been for the efforts of a lawyer friend, she testified, the claim would not have been paid. Even for those who are not handicapped, she said, student policies are inadequate since there are only four days a year when people can sign up and there is an arbitrary limit of $2,500 per illness at a time when charges in the campus hospital are at least $50 a day. ***** ** Coalition for Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments By Durward McDaniel The six major organizations of and for the blind developed amendments, most of which were included in bills introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressmen Carl Perkins, Kentucky and John Brademas, Indiana. Some of the proposed amendments were included in H.R. 8395 which was adopted by the House on March 20, 1972 and others were commented on favorably in the Committee Report. Nevertheless, the most significant amendments advocated were not included. Because the amendments advocated, recognized the fact that severely handicapped persons have difficulty in obtaining rehabilitation services, other organizations concerned with non-visual impairments became interested for the first time in a concerted approach to our common problems. An informal coalition was formed consisting of the six organizations of and for the blind and others such as United Cerebral Palsy Association, National Association for Retarded Children, Epilepsy Foundation, National Association of Coordinators of State Programs for the Mentally Retarded, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, and the Council for Exceptional Children. A revised set of objectives has been developed and presented to the Subcommittee of the Handicapped of the Senate Committee of Labor and Public Welfare. While each organization retained the right to differ on individual details, the combined efforts of these organizations afforded the best promise for badly needed amendments to assure services for severely handicapped persons. The organizations filed statements, and their representatives will complete oral testimony in June. The Council's statement of May 23, 1972, appears below. The set of amendments referred to are too lengthy to reprint here. The Council's position stated in paragraphs 1, 4 and 7 and parts of 5 and 8 are not included in the joint recommended amendments. 1. Extension of Services to Non-disabled Individuals One of the major facts about vocational rehabilitation throughout this country is that the rate of rehabilitation is falling farther and farther behind in relation to the needs and demands of the handicapped population. All indications are that the rehabilitation performance will continue to fall short of meeting the needs of physically and mentally handicapped people. Nevertheless, H.R. 8395 would extend rehabilitation and related services to large classes of persons who are not disabled. If this should be done, the performance record for disabled persons will necessarily suffer, and the provision of services will fall even farther behind the needs. We are not unsympathetic to the problems of those who are not disabled but who are disadvantaged for a variety of other reasons and causes. H.R. 8395 would authorize increases in the amounts of money to be spent for rehabilitation, but the increases would need to be multiplied several-fold to pay for the provision of services to the millions of non-disabled disadvantaged persons who would be included by H.R. 8395. The Council believes that non-disabled disadvantaged persons can more appropriately be served through educational, health and manpower programs. It is not logical or practical for those who administer rehabilitation programs to ask for authority to serve a population group two or three times as large as the groups whose needs they are not now able to meet. Accordingly, Title II of H.R. 8395 should be deleted entirely from the bill. Its deletion will not deprive any physically or mentally handicapped person of service. 2. Progressive Amendments Proposed to H.R. 8395 We join with organizations of and for the blind and other handicapped persons in support of the proposed amendments which are appended to the joint statement of the American Foundation for the Blind, the Blinded Veterans Association and the American Association of Workers for the Blind. These and other progressive amendments were included in H.R. 9847 but were not added to H.R. 8395. These amendments are long over-due in the Vocational Rehabilitation Act. The increased authorizations for funding are badly needed and will make possible substantial improvements in service programs for blind and severely handicapped persons. Congress should establish rehabilitation services for the blind and severely handicapped as a matter of right and without any limitation as to age. These proposed amendments affording handicapped persons the right to a hearing, arbitration and judicial review are progressive provisions which also assure the right to be represented at any stage of such proceedings. Our amendments would create a priority for services for the blind and severely handicapped persons. These are the people who are all too often left waiting for services because their problems are more 9ifficult and costly to deal with. The history of rehabilitation has demonstrated that such an extraordinary provision is necessary to help the severely handicapped by reversing the system which routinely favors the easier and less costly cases. Traditionally, administrators of these programs have resisted categorical services and priorities. The severely handicapped should not have to wait longer for services than any other, but they will continue to wait for services unless Congress creates an unavoidable priority. 3. Division for the Blind and Visually Handicapped For 30 years there has been a Division of the Blind and Visually Handicapped at the federal level in vocational rehabilitation. Last year this Division was abolished in an administrative reorganization. All of the major organizations of and for the blind protested the abolition, and the Division was restored. The existence and function of the Division for the Blind and Visually Handicapped have been major factors in the development and progress of programs for the blind. All of the major organizations of and for the blind are united in the desire to secure a statutory status for this Division, which will assure its continued existence and which will make possible an ever-increasing emphasis on the service needs and the specialized problems of blind persons. We need and request the support of Congress to secure the Division for the Blind and Visually Handicapped at this time. 4. 100% Federal Funding In most of the States there have never been enough specially trained and skilled professional staff to deal with the rehabilitation and related service needs of blind and visually handicapped persons. This deficiency arises in part from an unwillingness of the States to finance adequate special staffing and in some instances from an ill-advised opposition to such specialization programs. Such administrative opposition to specialization occurs most frequently (although there are some exceptions) in State agencies where rehabilitation services for blind and visually handicapped persons have been integrated or merged with those for all other handicapped persons without regard for special needs. Solutions to such deficiencies at the State level cannot be achieved on a state-by-state basis. The solution must be provided by Congress through the provision of 100% federal funding of administrative costs and by the requirement of specially trained and skilled staff to deal with the problems of blind and visually handicapped persons. As a necessary counterpart to 100% federal funding of administrative costs, we advocate that Congress take the next logical step to assure adequate funds for rehabilitation services for blind and visually handicapped persons through the provision of 100% federal funding of rehabilitation services and the requirement of priorities (as provided in H.R. 9847) for the use of rehabilitation funds for blind and other severely handicapped persons. Without these solutions the rehabilitation story for the blind and other severely handicapped will have to be repeated again and again to succeeding sessions of Congress. "Rehabilitation as usual" has not been good enough to meet needs of blind and severely handicapped persons, and we urge these solutions now. 5. Consumer Participation The American Council of the Blind approves in principle the existence and function of the National Policy and Performance Council, the National Advisory Council on Vocational Rehabilitation and the National Commission on Transportation and Housing for the Handicapped. However, we are impressed with the fact that such positions are normally filled by persons who do not represent the interests, needs and concerns of handicapped persons. Such organizations cannot make a meaningful contribution to the solution of rehabilitation problems of the blind and visually handicapped so long as representatives of blind persons are excluded from such positions. We recommend amendments which will assure the appointment of representatives of blind and visually handicapped persons to these organizations. 6. Services for Older Blind Persons The purpose of S. 1030 is to assure that at least some services will be made available to older blind persons. The categorical authorizations in S. 1030 will, to the extent provided, preclude the continued neglect of such persons. Seventy-five percent (75%) of the estimated 430,000 blind persons in the United States are 40 years of age or older. It is intolerable that so many have been substantially abandoned in terms of service. Some administrators may argue that it is unfair to create such a category without doing the same for many others. However, no one has suggested a better solution to the problem of administrative neglect of this important category of handicapped persons. The lack of available money is another opposing argument to S. 1030, but the provision of more liberal federal funding, specialized authorizations and priorities will assure adequate sums for these purposes. The "lack of money" argument underscores further the undesirability of extending the Vocational Rehabilitation Act to non­disabled disadvantaged persons. Blind people who have passed the age of 40 still need to earn a living for themselves and their families and to adjust to living with impaired sight. They have many useful years remaining, and can and should make valuable contributions to our society. 7. The Office for the Handicapped, S. 3158 The proposed Office for the Handicapped could conceivably render a valuable service. However, we request that the National Advisory Committee on Services for the Blind and Visually Handicapped be specifically named in Section 2, paragraph (1) of S. 3158. This Committee was created by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare at the request of all the major organizations of and for the blind. Its future is uncertain because it was created for a limited period of time only. This Committee offers the only formal procedure for direct consumer and citizen participation for the blind population, and it deserves statutory status. 8. National Information and Resource Center The National Information and Resource Center for the Handicapped provided for in H.R. 8395 can and will perform a useful function for handicapped individuals and the agencies serving them, and its creation is long overdue. We recommend that it be placed in the Office for the Handicapped, provided for in S. 3158. ***** ** Action on Amtrak Fare Concessions for Blind Persons By S. Bradley Burson In 1927, Congress passed an Act permitting bus lines and railroads to allow sighted guides traveling with blind passengers to go at free or reduced rates. Since the law was only permissive, all of the carriers did not respond immediately, but by the late thirties most of the rail and bus lines had implemented the concession. This was helped greatly by the willingness of the American Foundation for the Blind to assume the administrative responsibilities required for the operation of the arrangement. Upon proper proof of blindness, the Foundation issues certificates to be used when purchasing tickets. Many blind people have used this arrangement, and although some disapprove, a majority favors it. In response to requests made by ACB and the Illinois Federation of the Blind, Senator Adalai E. Stevenson and Congressman Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois introduced companion bills in the Senate and House of Representatives (S. 1303 and H.R. 8196) which would permit airlines to grant similar fare concessions. At this time, these bills are pending in the appropriate committees of the Congress. Because of the serious decline in the quality and quantity of rail passenger service, Congress has created Amtrak, a federally subsidized corporation, whose function it is to operate passenger trains throughout the country. In the fall of 1971 Amtrak announced its intention to discontinue honoring the reduced-fare coupons supplied by the Foundation. This decision was to have taken effect on April 29, 1972. The Council was urged to take steps which would reverse the arbitrary decision and to protect the interests of blind people. On December 3, 1971, this writer as ACB Legislative Chairman and ACB's National Representative, Durward McDaniel, consulted with James Healey, Administrative Assistant to Congressman Rostenkowski. Mr. Healey promptly arranged conferences with Coleman Conroy, Legislative Advisor to Congressman Ralph H. Metcalfe and James Larocca, Administrative Assistant to Congressman John Murphy of New York. Both of the latter Congressmen are members of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce and are on the Sub-Committee which deals with Amtrak legislation. Both Mr. Conroy and Mr. Larocca were extremely responsive to our concern and assured us that they would make every effort to reverse the Amtrak decision. Congressman Murphy presented an amendment before the Sub-Committee which would have strengthened the 1927 Act by making the fare concession mandatory upon Amtrak. Faced with a threat of a mandatory legislative obligation to implement the 1927 Act, Amtrak promptly reversed its decision and has announced that it will continue to honor the reduced-fare concession. While this latest decision is not necessarily permanent, it probably will be. If anyone has any problem with Amtrak about the fare concession, the Council's national office should be notified promptly. *** ** Your Fact-Finding Help Needed for Vending Machine Expose By Durward McDaniel The contest over who is to receive vending machine commissions from machines operated on federal property has been well publicized through litigation and our collective attempts to amend the Randolph-Sheppard Act. The present prospect is that we will not be able by legislation to prevent federal employee associations from continuing to take this money in lieu of the blind operators and, in some instances, the state vending stand program. A responsible journalist is conducting an extensive investigation into the whole subject of vending machine income and what happens to it after it reaches employee welfare and recreation groups. The publicity which can come from these journalistic efforts and publication may play an important part in changing the will of Congress and the Executive Branch of the federal government on this issue. Accordingly, your personal help is solicited to report facts as you or others may know them. Our investigating journalist would like answers to the questions shown below and any other information which may bear on the issue or which may lead to additional facts. 1. Describe any problems you or any blind vendor has had because of competition with employee welfare and recreation grounds on federal property. 2. Has anyone ever asked you or a blind vendor to share any of your business income with an employee welfare or recreation group? 3. Do you know of anyone who suffered a decrease in income because a vending stand was required to be moved to a less desirable location? 4. Can you furnish examples of uses made of vending machine money be employee groups? 5. Do you know of any federal vending location where there was a blind operator who lost the location to commercial vendors? 6. Do you know of any new federal buildings where vending stands are not included and where other commercial vendors were allowed to operate? 7. Do you know of cases where blind operators on federal property have been restricted as to the items they can sell because of the competition of commercial vendors or employee association activities within the property? Some may have pertinent information not covered by these questions. It will be welcome. This is an important project and all readers are urged to cooperate and to bring it to the attention of blind vendors. Send all information without delay to ACB's national office. ***** ** A Beloved Leader Passes By George Card As a member of one of the seven state organizations which united in 1940 to form the first national organization of the blind, Victor Buttram, of Peoria, Illinois, was a force in the organized blind movement from the very beginning. He served as President of the Illinois Federation on three different occasions and at other times headed his local group. For many years he was chief lobbyist on matters affecting the blind before the Illinois Legislature. A telephone call from Bob O'Shaughnessy in Chicago brought the sad news that the end had come to Vic on Sunday, March 19. He was a victim of cancer and we had known for months that the outcome was probably inevitable but one is never really prepared when the shock comes. There had been a remission of pain several days before the end when Vic had slipped into a merciful coma. Victor Buttram was a distinguished member of the Ex­ecutive Committee of the National Federation before 1960. Those who remember the all-day debate at the Santa Fe convention in 1959, where the first real confrontation took place, will also remember that Vic undoubtedly made the best and most effective presentation of the day. What he said then was objective, judicious, conciliatory and full of sweet reasonableness. If his counsel had been followed, we might still all be members of one great national organization. Vic's most outstanding characteristic was complete sincerity. He had the love and respect of all who knew him, and he will be sorely missed. ***** ** VISTA Reviews By Betty Ann Jones The first issue of the Visually Impaired Secretarial Transcribers Association's newsletter, "VISTA REVIEWS" has been published. This issue features the entire text of the written findings of the Panel on Employed Secretaries at the National Training Institute on Special and Technical Secretarial Occupations for the Blind. It was hosted by the Hadley School for the Blind and funded by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. This quarterly publication will be sent free of charge to all VISTA members. However, since many others may find this particular issue useful, VISTA is offering it to anyone interested at the cost of one dollar. Please address all requests for the spring issue of "VISTA REVIEWS" to: Mrs. Natalie Black, Editor 6415 Granite Houston, Texas 77018 ***** ** GE Electronic Magnifier The General Electric Company, in cooperation with the Low Vision Clinic of the Sinai Hospital of Detroit has developed an Electronic Magnifier, Model 701, for the partially sighted. This unit is essentially a modified closed-circuit television apparatus. It can easily be modified for any special tasks and individual needs to perform, such as reading, writing, editing from a typewriter, reading fixed dials, reading music, etc. The Electronic Magnifier is available to individuals only on a written prescription from a Low Vision Clinic or its equivalent. The reason for this condition is that the Electronic Magnifier is a visual aid, and often other aids can adequately help the partially sighted. Further information may be obtained by writing: General Electric Co., 680 Antoinette Street, Detroit, Michigan 48202. ***** ** Electric Typewriter - Discount (Reprinted from Matilda Ziegler Magazine, April 1972) The Remington Electric 713 which replaces a 711, is now available. It is offered with pica or elite type and costs $175.50. A carrying case is optional for $15.00, additional. (The case must be ordered at the time the typewriter is ordered to obtain it at this price.) The major difference between the 713 and the 711 is that the 713 has a 13-inch carriage. It. also has a paper adjustor, which is used to realign the paper if it has to be reinserted to correct a typing error. The typewriter has 44 keys, 88 characters, a page-end indicator and paper support, an electric carriage return, an electric key set tabulator, six electric repeat actions for non-stop typing, and a two-color ribbon. This is not a portable but can be transported conveniently if you have the carrying case. The color is beige. This typewriter has the extra type feature making additional specialized type faces available for specific applications such as Mathematics, Medical-Pharmacy, Engineering, and Foreign languages. The extra type slug fits on the "plus-equal" key and is easy to install and remove. The slug for each special application costs $10.00 and consists of 12 additional characters (six upper and six lower case), two of which are always the plus and equals sign. The slug must be ordered to imprint the particular characters you want imprinted. We are also pleased to announce that an additional portable manual is now available. It is the Remington 333 Performer and costs $45.00. The type face is "educational," allowing 11 spaces to the inch. There are 44 keys, 88 characters, a preset tabulator and two-color ribbon and stencil selector. The carrying case is leatherette and the color is two-tone charcoal and beige. (Send inquiries or pre-paid orders to Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind, 20 West 17th Street, New York, New York 10011.) ***** ** Prelude Project, Hadley School by George Card The Hadley School for the Blind has announced an innovative development program under a $65,000 research grant from the Spencer Foundation. The program, known as the Prelude Project, will develop and pilot teach over a three-year period a basic, relevant cluster of short, clear, practical correspondence courses designed to help the average blind person achieve higher levels of personal competence and intellectual independence. Dr. Richard Kinney said that the Prelude courses will include concentrated study of relevant Braille, typing, speech, listening and "Pocketbook" math -- all subjects of vital daily concern to the blind citizen. "The key-note of every Prelude course will be its relevance to daily life," he said. "In Relevant Braille, for example, among the first things we will teach newly blinded persons to read and write are addresses, phone numbers, recipes and check stubs." ***** ** Employment Opportunity: San Diego Recreation Center to Launch New Project By Ione Miller Metropolitan San Diego has become the second largest city in the state of California. For some time, San Diego County has been without a sound comprehensive community training facility for the blind population. In view of these facts, the Board of Directors of the San Diego Recreation Center recently made application to the State Department of Rehabilitation to establish a program to expand rehabilitation services. Its intent is to provide the blind population of the community with a program of pre-vocational and vocational adjustment training and employment placement services. The program will be centered around pre-vocational adjustment orientation, mobility training and job development, and placement services. Priority will be given to Department of Rehabilitation clients. This program is expected to be operated primarily by blind persons who understand the problems of blindness. Voluntary assistance will be utilized under strict supervision. The Center is expected to have job openings for specialists in positions of director, secretary, mobility instructor, job development and placement officer, counselor and teacher. Applications may be sent to: Personnel Committee of the Board of Directors of the San Diego Recreation Center, 1805 Upas Street, San Diego, California 92103. ***** ** Here and There By George Card From the KAB NEWS: The NAC On-Site Review Team found that an outstanding plus for our state agency for the blind was its involvement with KAB. This included a full awareness of the consistent, active and thorough interest of the agency-KAB advisory committee and also the leadership of Judge Reese Robrahn for the NAC Agency Self-Study Review Board. -- Judge Robrahn, Topeka, has been appointed to the 15-member Advisory Board of the Secretary of HEW. From the BADGER INFORMER: The Sunrise Nursing Horne has now in operation another service, an eye examination room complete with all equipment, available to all ophthalmologists and making unnecessary difficult trips by residents. Every Tuesday an optician from Bausch & Lomb Optical firm is on duty from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. to adjust glasses, fix frames, clean hearing aids and can give 24-hour service for filling of prescriptions. The only charge is where new parts or prescriptions are needed. From the WIS. OPTOMETRIST: Statistics show that 13-16% of school age children still have undetected visual problems when only the Snellen test and gross observation are done in a screening program. The National Society for the Prevention of Blindness says, "A complete, competent, professional eye examination is the ideal goal for every child before entering school and at stated strategic intervals during school life." From the Missouri CHRONICLE: There is now a diagnostic center at Hannibal, where deaf-blind children from our region may be sent for tests and evaluation to determine whether a given child is mentally retarded or merely in need of training in the use of communication methods suitable for the deaf­blind. The importance of such centers cannot be overestimated. It is common knowledge that educable deaf-blind persons have already been discovered in institutions for the mentally retarded. -- Our Springfield chapter has unanimously voted to endorse the support of Senator Stevenson's bill to authorize air fare concessions to the blind and other seriously handicapped passengers. -- Industry is hit by an estimated 1,000 eye injuries every working day of the year. From PARADE: The majority of children born with crossed eyes need surgery soon or they will never develop normal vision. So warns Dr. Marshall M. Parks, Washington Children's Hospital. Many physicians postpone surgery for years, he points out, in the hope that the eyes will correct themselves. "But congenital crossed eyes never goes away by itself," he says. "Surgery is the only treatment and ideally it should be done around six months of age." If one waits too long, the eyes may never develop normal binocular vision, although late surgery may render them cosmetically normal. From the NEW OUTLOOK: With a gift of $20,000 from the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center has purchased a Zeiss photocoagulator, a device used in the treatment of certain disorders of the retina. This brings the total amount of gifts received by the University Medical Center from the Lions Foundation to $185,000. -- DIALOGUE, the magazine for blind and deaf-blind persons published in Berwyn, Illinois, has proposed to the Congressional committee concerned with the new U.S. Postal Service that the weight limit on first-class mail be increased from one ounce to three ounces per unit of postage so that recorded tapes and heavy braille messages can be mailed at the current rate of postage -- eight cents. Such mail would be marked "First-Class Mail for the Blind." The DIALOGUE proposal has been unanimously endorsed by the conventions of the AAWB and the ACB. From the Arizona Council NEWSLETTER: The Library of Congress now has available both in braille and Talking Book form a booklet entitled "Personal Money Management." From the FEDERATION NEWS: The Michigan Federation of the Blind, the Mich. Association of Workers for the Blind and the NFB of Michigan will hold a joint convention in 1973. These groups have requested the Dept. of Social Services to create a 12-man advisory committee made up of three from each of the above organizations and three from the general public. -- A "country campus" for Michigan's blind children will be established on a 300-acre, gently rolling, wooded site northeast of Grand Rapids. Officials say there are more than 50,000 Christmas trees on the farm and that profit of $40,000 to $50,000 could be made if all the trees were sold. Seedlings could be planted and the operation continued, perhaps with visually handicapped workers involved. Plans call for new buildings and trails to be built and some farm animals will be provided, including several "middle­aged" horses a farmer has said he will donate. -- Kenneth Hinga, Vice President of the MFB, has assumed his new duties as Regional Supervisor of Rehabilitation Services. The first annual convention of the Liberty Alliance of the Blind (Pa.) sounded quite interesting. On Saturday afternoon, April 22, there were three workshops: Agency Change From Within and/or From Without; Diversity in the Blind Movement — Good or Evil?; Blind Power in Legislation -- Federal, State and Local." The ACB and other organizations were invited to attend. From PARADE: In the past a cataract operation was painful and costly -- over $1,000, including a week's hospitalization, followed by several weeks' recuperation. New inventions, however, promise to send patients back to work the day after eye surgery. One is a needle-enclosed blade which revolves much like a Waring blender to pulverize the diseased lens. The other, the Phaco Emulsifier, consists of a needle vibrating at ultrasonic speed to detach the diseased lens. From the NEW OUTLOOK: Only four percent of persons above 65 are in institutions and only 13.8 percent of those over 85. No other generation in recorded history has undergone the changes which have come about in the lifetime of our present-day older people. -- In New York the first $550 of college tuition to a blind student will be paid regardless of family circumstances but income and other resources are now being considered for additional tuition. -- On January 9, 1972, New York City AM radio station WHN inaugurated "Out of Sight," a weekly half-hour program focused on the employment, rehabilitation, and mobility of blind persons. Air time is Sunday mornings at 8:00. Guests have included Judge Reese H. Robrahn and Eunice Fiorito. -- The American Blind Lawyers Association, an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind, has established a referral system to assist blind persons in obtaining preliminary advice on legal questions; a Board of Editors for the purpose of publishing a quarterly law journal on cassettes for blind lawyers, judges, teachers and students; and a Student Advisory Committee to assist blind students preparing for, or desiring to enter the law profession. Further information is available from the President of the Association, Judge John Van Landingham, 5800 North 19th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 84015. From the ABC DIGEST (Calif.): Since introduction of the Taxpayer Service Representatives Vocational Training Course at Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind, 55 blind or visually handicapped graduates have been placed in IRS offices of 33 states. From the Oregon STYLUS: The best argument in favor of an independent Commission is that its programs can out­perform those administered by an umbrella agency. A study done by the Administrator of the Oregon Commission for the Blind (which is now threatened by legislative action) reveals that, of the 34 agencies for the blind in the country, 10 have a Commission form of management; and of those 10, five are within the top eight highest-producing agencies in the country. -- The future of Oregon's School for the Blind appears bleak as a result of recent actions of the State Department of Education. Although the contents of the official report are not yet known to the blind, the next move may be to combine the schools for the deaf and the blind and to use the campus of the latter school for other purposes. One probable result would be that most blind students would be forced to enter the public school system, regardless of their wishes in the matter. From the Vermont INFORMER: On April 22 the Vermont Council of the Blind and the Blind Leadership Club of Massachusetts* jointly sponsored an educational seminar in Worcester, Mass. Blind people from the New England States were invited to attend. -- This issue describes a successful sleigh-ride party and that brings nostalgic memories to this writer and perhaps to some others of my generation. -- The Vermont Council is really doing something about neglected older blind persons in the nursing homes of that state. From the SEEING EYE GUIDE: Seeing Eye classes have been numbered consecutively from the initial group of only two students who trained in Nashville in the spring of 1929 (Class Number One). On December 17, 1971, we bade farewell to Classes 800, 801 and 802. Among the twenty dogs that went home with their new owners was Seeing Eye Dog Number 6000. And among the ten students successfully completing training with first dogs was Student Number 3600. * (one of the newer ACB affiliates) ***** ** ACB Officers * President: Judge Reese Robrahn, 329 Woodbury Lane, Topeka, Kansas 66606 * First Vice President: Dr. S. Bradley Burson, 917 Kenyon St., 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. Catherine Skivers, 836 Resota St., Hayward, California 94545 George Card, 605 South Few Street, Madison, Wisc. 53703 Floyd Qualls, 106 N.E. 2nd Street, Okla. City, Okla. 73104 Earl Scharry, 5714 Ridgway 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 ###