The Braille Forum Vol. XI January-February 1973 No. 4 Published Bi-Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma * Editor: Earl Scharry 5714 Ridgeway Ave. Rockville, MD 20851 * Acting Editor: Mary T. Ballard 190 Lattimore Road Rochester, NY 14620 * National Representative: Durward K. McDaniel 20 E. Street NW, Suite 215 Washington, D.C. 20001 * President: Floyd Qualls 106 N.E. 2nd St. Oklahoma City, OK 73104 * Associate Editors: George Card 605 South Few St. Madison, WI 53703 Margaret Freer 11816 West Blue Mound Rd. Wauwatosa, WI 53226 Ione B. Miller 9291 Fermi Avenue San Diego, CA 92123 To inform its readers and to provide an impartial Forum for discussion. ***** ** Table of Contents Notice to Subscribers Meet the Acting Editor, by Mary Jane Schmitt "There Was an Old Woman ..." Consumer Participation, by Reese Robrahn ACB Convention, 1973 Special-Interest Groups: Knoxville, 1973 American Blind Lawyers Association National Association of Blind Teachers National Coordinating Committee of Blind Students Awards Nominations Requested Summary -- Health Care Legislation, by Ellen Rae Starr Dancer's Sight Restored Leadership Training -- The Prescription for a Viable Organization, by Billie Elder Music City Soundtrack Convention, Y'all Come, by Durward K. McDaniel Here and There, by George Card Governor McCall, the Oregon Commission, Merger, by Durward K. McDaniel Seminar on the Deaf-Blind, by Judy Pool Dr. Bob Riley, ACB's 1972 Ambassador State Conventions and Seminar Highlights Government Drops Vending Stand Rules U.N. Planning War on River Blindness ACB Resolutions Blind Cricket ACB Officers and Directors ***** ** Notice to Subscribers The Braille Forum is available in braille, large type, and on tape -- (7-inch reel, dual track, ips 3 and 3/4), and on cassette (ips 15/16). 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 Edward Miller, 2621 Chesterfield Ave., Charlotte, North Carolina 28205. ***** ** Meet the Acting Editor By Mary Jane Schmitt It is with great pleasure and personal pride that I carry out the assignment given me by the Chairman of the Board of Publications to introduce the new Acting Editor of the Braille Forum, Mary Ballard. Mary and I were school chums at the New York State School for the Blind at Batavia. While at Batavia, Mary was active in extracurricular activities and won the coveted track medal. Upon graduation in 1950, she accepted a position as Dictaphone operator at Geneseo State Teachers College and, because of her interest in furthering her education, took several college courses during her five years there. Then in 1955, determined to finish her education, Mary entered the University of Rochester. During her junior year she served as feature editor of the campus newspaper and for a time had a program on the campus radio station. She received her BA in Spanish in 1959 and was awarded an exchange scholarship to study for a year at the University of Madrid. Mary returned more confident and more interested in challenge than ever. In late 1960 she accepted her present position as legal secretary with a Rochester law firm. Shortly thereafter, she began teaching elementary English for the Hadley School on a part-time basis, and she continues to enjoy this work. Describing Mary's scholastic efforts serves only to demonstrate her love of challenge, and that's what she envisions her work on the Forum will be. She is a rare human being -- a strange mixture of continuing inquisitiveness, quiescent forcefulness and dignity, and shy sensitivity. And she always stands behind what she says! For instance, Mary came into ACB via the special-interest-group route because of her interest in ABLA, VISTA, and the Service Net (she is a Ham and is a Service Net director). Although she joined the state and local organizations, she insisted that her schedule would permit her to be only an inactive member and that she probably would participate infrequently, if at all, on the local level. Please note that her inactivity has permitted her to be Recording Secretary of our chapter and to participate on the local board and a committee or two, and she is currently a candidate for president of the local organization. I am certain that Mary will do a splendid job as acting editor. We wish you well, Mary; but, looking ahead, I can't help but wonder what it would be like to have you as an active member of ACB. ***** ** "There Was An Old Woman ..." "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe ..." Admittedly, the analogy is not perfect because, really, I am not an old woman! It is apropos, however, in that the old woman in that nursery rhyme must, indeed, have lived in a very large shoe, and I feel the shoes I presently occupy are much, much too big for me. To assume, almost without experience, editorship of a publication with the reputation and high standards of the Forum is a big order. To serve as acting editor for a person the stature of Earl Scharry is truly a monumental undertaking, an undertaking which I approach with both humility and determination. Though, of course, there will be no great change in the magazine, I do have a few new ideas; and comments and suggestions from you, the readers, are welcomed and encouraged at any time. This is your magazine, and with your patience, cooperation, and constructive ideas, I am certain I can help make the Braille Forum truly worthy of the great organization it serves. -- MTB ***** ** Consumer Participation By Reese Robrahn While it is true that for many years in the field of work for the blind and visually handicapped, there has been practiced some forms of citizen or consumer participation and involvement in some instances by legislative mandate. It must be concluded that such consumer participation and involvement for the most part has been advisory only. It is contended by many that even where policy-making status was accorded to the blind consumer, it was mere tokenism, and that all too frequently selection of the blind citizen to fill positions on policy-making boards, commissions, and committees was conducted in a manner calculated to bypass those who were leaders or representatives of organizations of the blind. Moreover, it is contended by many that all too frequently the agencies established to provide services to the blind and visually handicapped have espoused and practiced the fulfillment of the principle of consumer participation as having been met and adequately discharged by the simple expediency of hiring a sprinkling of blind professionals to fill certain staff positions. Having stated the foregoing, however, it would be less than objective to omit recognition of the fact that there have been some notable exceptions. During the last decade there has been a marked change in the attitude and posture of the professionals in the field of work for the blind and visually handicapped towards the demands of organizations of the blind for a greater voice and involvement in the planning and delivery of services to blind men, women, and children. But acceptance of the principle of consumer participation by the field as a right obtaining to those served by the field has not yet reached the point at which it may be said that it is general. Professionalism is predicated upon the establishment, maintenance, and upgrading of standards in the field of endeavor, standards in academics, work experience, continuing education, and in-service training and ethics. The very premise of lay consumer participation, that is to say, the right of the lay users of specialized programs and services, and those who fall within the eligibility group, to have a voice in the formulation of policies controlling the service system which plans and delivers the services to them, is wholly repugnant to professionalism. Edgar and Jean Cahn, in "Citizen Participation," in Hans B.C. Spiegel (Ed.). Citizen Participation in Urban Development (Washington, D.C.: NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science, 1968), pp. 218 and 219, annunciated the following pertinent conclusions: "... participation, in and of itself, constitutes affirmative activity -- an exercise of the very initiative, the creativity, the self-reliance, the faith that specific programs ... seek to instill. Participation is, in fact, the necessary concomitant of our faith in the dignity and worth of the individual. It is costly, it is time-consuming, it is frustrating, but we cannot dispense with it." The development of a comprehensive program and procedures for consumer participation in service systems serving the blind and visually handicapped has been slow and fraught with confusion and misunderstanding, and sometimes with a total breakdown in communication and interaction. Pressures are ever increasing for recognition and implementation of the rights of the blind citizen-consumer. These pressures constitute but a very small part of a much greater force of pressures that has been gathering and accumulating like flood waters behind a reservoir dam. These pressures have come from all corners of the land, from all strata of the structures of our society, and from all of its institutions, with civil rights at the center pole. Provision for welfare aid and social services, until comparatively recent history, was the act of noblesse oblige. The gift of aid and assistance to the poor, to the lame, to the halt and to the blind, was not a responsibility of the government or of the officialdom of the community. The nobility, the aristocracy and the rich, in their beneficence, bestow charities upon the unfortunate and the afflicted, as the fruits of their generosity and in demonstration of the extent of their own good fortune and well-being. Some of this attitude towards aid and assistance for our fellow man in need still prevails, but much of it was dispelled during the years of the great depression of the 1930s. The founding of the so-called Western democracy on this continent brought with it some acceptance of responsibility by government for the welfare needs of its citizens, but in those early years the major burden and role was carried by institutions such as the church, fraternal lodges, benefit associations and charitable societies. In those early days population was sparse, communities were small, every man knew his neighbors and their fortunes and misfortunes. Initiative for health was not incumbent upon the person in need. His plight was an immediate concern of his neighbors and the community. This was best exemplified in the New England villages with their town meetings. Two centuries have brought vast and far-sweeping changes in our nation and its peoples. Large urban areas are now commonplace. Fast and far-flung transportation systems have given great mobility to our populations. Members of families are separated by great distances, modes of work and manner of lifestyles. The term "neighboring" has lost much of its historical meaning and connotation. The governmental service systems have likewise greatly expanded into gigantic departments, agencies, offices, bureaus, boards and commissions. The inevitable result is the impersonalization of not only the government and the institutions of the community, but the impersonalization of the day-to-day contacts and associations in the life of the individual. The real impact and devastation of this impersonalization in our modern society is evidenced by and found in the anonymity of the millions of Americans who fall within the low-income groups. It is observed that these people are frequently without resources of their own, without family or friends to whom they may turn for help, without knowledge of the existence of available assistance and services from public agencies. They frequently appear to be lost, confused, frustrated, and to be without hope. It is this aspect of the social scene of modern America, together with other social ills, that fomented and built up pressures until triggered by the events of the decade of the '60s, and which has culminated in widespread acceptance and implementation of consumer participation. Citizen involvement in the affairs of government is in the best tradition of Western democracy. Consumer participation in the context of this statement is but an extension or evolution of that tradition. The total phenomenon has already reached and passed the point of no return. Industry and business sectors have long since led the way in consumer involvement. Competition in the market place and the profit motive incentive among commercial interests brought about an early realization of the need, desirability, and value of consumer involvement. That is to say that business sectors of our communities long ago developed, and are now utilizing, very elaborate and costly systems of involving consumers and prospective consumers of their goods, products and services, so that they might ascertain from them and assess what features, designs, and price tags will produce the greatest demand in the market place. Much may be learned from this source of experience. Two conclusions are made readily apparent from a study of experience of commercial interests, which are most appropriate to consideration here. First, it is not only desirable, but it is necessary that the consumers be associated together in formal organizations for collective action. Second, independence of the consumer organization is indispensable. Some of the compelling considerations establishing the need for formal organizations of consumer populations are: (a) the organization provides a vehicle for a cross-section involvement of the group; (b) the organization provides a mechanism for confluence of viewpoint and consensus opinion;(c) the organization provides the mechanism for setting group goals; (d) the organization assures a continuity in attitudes towards the means adopted for the realization of goals; (e) the organization provides the vehicle for the selection of representatives to the service system. It is of paramount importance that the consumer organization remains independent and autonomous from the service system, because control of the consumer organization by the service system will produce only policies, plans, services, and methodology which are conceived from the ingrown ideas, attitudes, and philosophy of the administrators of the service system. Thus all justification for the consumer participation plan thereby, quite effectively, is nullified. There is widespread experimentation with many forms and variations of consumer participation throughout the United States. The nature of the programs and services, the group to be served, and the structure of the service system itself provide the variant factors for an infinite variety of plans and procedures, It can be stated, however, that generally the following forms or combinations, or variations thereof, are utilized: (a) Suggestion boxes, opinion sampling, and poll-taking. (b) Establishment of advisory committees, boards, and teams. (c) Filling positions on policy-making bodies with representatives from the consumer group in numbers ranging from nominal representation to controlling representation. (d) Placing ultimate and absolute control of planning and policy determination in the hands of the consumer group. From a functional standpoint consumers may be utilized and integrated with the service system in four major areas: (1) Services provided by the service system can be delivered by employees recruited from the consumer group served. This procedure has several obvious advantages. It provides gainful employment to some members of the consumer population for which there is always the problem of chronic unemployment. However, such employment opportunity should always be offered on the condition of formalized education or training so that the job holder may become better equipped to perform his immediate tasks and so that he may acquire the qualification and tools for advancement. The consumer employee may bring to the program a fresh perspective that cannot be fully appreciated by a non-consumer. His interpretation then to other members of the consumer group may be more effective and may accomplish a greater acceptance of service programs. Such employment policy assures open lines of communication between the service system and those who comprise the consumer eligibility group. (2) It may be appropriate to fund specific programs to be directed and staffed by the consumer organization. Again, this plan provides employment opportunities for some members of the consumer group; and in addition, it provides opportunity for the development of volunteer work projects for many of its members. It creates the atmosphere and facility for the introduction of innovations, and development of initiative and self-reliance; and it provides some real-life roles which tend to restore damaged or destroyed self-concepts. (3) If consumer participation is to be truly meaningful, representatives of the consumer group must be involved in planning and policy determination. This involvement must be more than tokenism, a gesture of good will and comradery. If the planning and policy-making body is not comprised entirely of consumer representatives, then, at the minimum, the proportion of representation of the consumers must be sufficient in numbers to equalize or offset the weight of opinion and viewpoint of professionals representing the service system. It is of major importance in order to ensure cross-section availability of representatives from the consumer population that the service system pay the necessary and actual expenses of the members of these bodies; and it is highly desirable that a modest honorarium be paid also. The foregoing is especially appropriate where the consumer group has wide geographic distribution. The service system can be of inestimable aid to these lay planners and policy makers by furnishing such materials to them well in advance of the time when such materials would be helpful in providing information relating to proposed plans and policy consideration. (4) A program of advocacy is another appropriate function in which the consumer population may be involved. Advocacy at best is an expensive undertaking. Lack of funds puts it virtually beyond the reach of individuals comprising the consumer group. Even the well organized and adequately funded consumer group finds it not feasible financially to engage in an advocacy program. One approach to the solution of this problem is through the use of the ombudsman. This program provides advocacy for those who do not have funds in the same way that the public defender program provides legal services to those who are charged with the commission of criminal offenses and who are without adequate funds to hire their own legal counsel. But perhaps the most appropriate plan would involve the funding of an advocacy office within the service system itself utilizing members of the consumer population to staff it. This plan offers the advantages of easy accessibility to the advocate office by the members of the consumer group, and ready accessibility of the advocate office to records and files and staff members of the service system. According to many students of sociology and political science, this nation is now entering its age of social maturity. The events of the last decade have wrought in our citizenry a reawakening of its social conscience and sense of responsibility for well-being and self-attainment, one for the other. This phenomenon has manifested itself in the recognition and implementation of the principle and right of consumer participation in the determination and administration of their affairs. If the field of work for the blind and visually handicapped fails to heed this sociological and political fact of life today, then most assuredly it will be misconceptions guilty of and will have fallen prey to one of the very misconceptions commonly held by the public about blindness and its problems, i.e., that the blind are helpless and cannot achieve management of their own affairs or attain their human potential by reason of lack of eyesight. The American Council of the Blind regards the immediate implementation of the principle of consumer participation in the field of programs and services for the blind and visually handicapped, in its most full and true sense of meaning and definition, as the greatest and best hope for the success of the field, now and in the future, and for the survival as first-class citizens of those whom it serves. ***** ** ACB Convention, 1973 Plans are well under way for the 1973 ACB Convention in Knoxville, Tennessee. Our convention site, the Hyatt-Regency, is Knoxville's finest hotel. It offers excellent facilities for all convention activities, professional and social. Remember Convention Week is July 15-21, with general ACB meetings beginning on Wednesday, July 18. The Convention Committee has a number of ideas for entertainment of delegates and guests. To mention just one, we are planning a trip to the top of "Old Smoky," complete with hiking on the Appalachian Trail for those energetic types who feel up to it, a picnic in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and an evening performance of a well-known musical in Gatlinburg's famous Hunter Hills Theatre Under the Stars. Plans are also in progress for other great entertainment, but more about that later. In the meantime, start making plans for a fabulous time next July, complete with old-fashioned Tennessee hospitality. Among the special features of the convention will be a seminar on legislation and lobbying on Wednesday the 18th and another major seminar on National Health Care Insurance on Friday afternoon the 20th. Additional details will be furnished in succeeding issues of the Forum and in a special pre-registration mailing. In addition to the Council convention, associated groups and special-interest affiliates of the Council will be holding conferences from Sunday the 15th to noon Wednesday. Some of them are the American Blind Lawyers Association, National Association of Blind Teachers, Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America, Visually Impaired Secretarial and Transcribers Association, Guide Dog Users, Inc., ACB Service Net, World Council of Blind Lions, National Coordinating Committee of Blind Students, and National Organization of Visually Impaired Allied Social Professionals. Persons planning to participate in the ACB convention or in the special conferences should request the ACB convention rates when writing for room reservations to the Hyatt-Regency Hotel, 500 Hill Avenue, S.E., Knoxville, Tennessee 37915. The rates are: single rooms, $12.00; double rooms, $18.00; 3 to a room, $22.00; 4 to a room, $26.00. There will be no charge for children under 14 years of age sharing an accommodation with an adult. Special hotel reservation cards may be obtained from Richard Stansfield, General Chairman, 1314 Woodcrest, Knoxville, Tennessee 37918 or from the ACB national office. ***** ** Special-Interest Groups: Knoxville, 1973 AMERICAN BLIND LAWYERS ASSOCIATION will hold a two-day seminar July 16-17, 1973i at Knoxville, Tennessee. Vernon Williams, ABLA president, recently attended a board meeting of ABLA, at which the program for the 1973 seminar was planned. It is hoped that there will be a representative of the American Bar Association as well as presentations by two or three blind lawyers who have been successful in specialized fields, to make up a part of the program for this year's seminar. The theme is, "The Independent Blind Lawyer and His Methods of Obtaining Success." All blind lawyers are urged to seriously consider attending this year's seminar. Membership for attendance is not a requirement, although interested lawyers may contact Vernon Williams or the National Office of the American Council of the Blind for applications beforehand. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLIND TEACHERS is looking forward to the 1973 convention in Knoxville, Tennessee. We will meet either on Wednesday morning, July 18, or on Tuesday afternoon, July 17. All of you who attend the 1973 convention should be sure to include the National Association of Blind Teachers on your program. You don't have to be a teacher to support us. Just come to the meeting and see how you can help. NATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF BLIND STUDENTS and all other interested adult blind students will meet July 18, 1973, at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the purpose of officially organizing the National Blind Student Organization. Specific time and place of meeting will be announced later. A supplementary ad hoc committee with members from all ACB affiliate areas is being sought, in an effort to make the organizational meeting a more representative body. The meeting will include ratification of the constitution for which the Coordinating Committee has been charged and the election of officers. An additional meeting will be called during the convention to map out plans and projects for the new organization. The members of the Coordinating Committee include: Mack Riley (Chairman), Daniel Alvarez, Dave Kohlbeck, Gregory Robinson, and Glenda Simpson. Any adult blind person interested in organizational efforts of the proposed organization should write to Mack Riley, P.O. Box 2401, Bell Gardens, California 90201. ***** ** Award Nominations Requested The ACB Awards Committee is seeking nominations for two awards which will be presented at the 1973 ACB Convention. The Ambassador Award is presented annually to a blind person who has performed distinguished service in his own community or state in which he resides. The George Card Award is one which is periodically awarded to an outstanding blind person who has contributed significantly to the betterment of blind people in general. This award is not limited by locality or nature of contribution, and is not necessarily awarded every year. If you know of a blind person who, in your opinion, is worthy of the recognition afforded by either of these awards, the members of the Awards Committee would appreciate hearing from you no later than May 1, 1973. Please enumerate your reasons for making a particular nomination, so that the award presentation can be suitable for the occasion. These awards are a cherished part of the ACB tradition, so help us to choose wisely in making our selections. Nominations may be sent to any of the following: Wally Menning, Chairman ACB Awards Committee 2750 Ellis Avenue, N.E, Salem, Oregon 97301 Bette Krause 2121 P Street, N.W., Apt. 615 Washington, D.C. 20037 Sue Graves 5017 Starker Avenue Madison, Wisc. 53716 ***** ** Summary -- Health Care Legislation By Ellen Rae Starr (Ed. note: We welcome this new writer; she is the new secretary in our Washington office; you will meet her in person at the convention in Knoxville.) Unlike other legislation before Congress, health insurance will directly affect every person living in the United States, Wilbur Mills, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, has stated that during this, the 93rd Congress, a national health insurance bill will be the first legislation considered by his Committee, Because it does affect each of us, we need to be fully aware of the major plans which will be considered. The major plans are the Kennedy-Griffiths bill, the Nixon Administration bill, and the American Medical Association bill. The future of health care in the United States. will be determined by the passage of one of these bills. Each of us, rich or poor, blind or sighted, needs equal access to, health care. In this issue of the Braille Forum, I shall summarize the Kennedy-Griffiths proposal, because it is the most extensive of the three. The Kennedy-Griffiths bill, known as the Health Security Act, was introduced into the Congress in 1971. All residents of the United States would be covered under the same plan and would have all health care paid for by this program. There would be no exclusions for pre-existing conditions, no limitations on preventive medical services, no co-insurance or deductibles, no waiting periods. Benefits would cover the entire range of personal health care services, including prevention and early detection of disease, care and treatment of illness and medical rehabilitation. National Health Security would be financed by taxes on employers, employees, the self-employed and unearned individual income, and matched by Federal tax revenues. This would be known as the Health Security Trust Fund. More specifically, the employer would pay 3.5% of his payroll, the self-employed would pay 2.5% of his income up to $15,000.00 and employees and other individuals would pay 1% of their income up to $15,000.00. An individual who has no income would, nevertheless, be covered by the Health Security Act, through the Health Security Trust Fund. All the payments for covered Fund services would be made directly by the Health Security Trust Fund under continuing surveillance by Congress. Health Security would establish strong quality controls by having Congress review the operation of the program and by having the medical profession review the quality of medical care. It would be administered by a 5-member Health Security Board as part of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. It would assure public accountability by guaranteeing consumer representation at all levels of administration and by establishing a local office in each community to receive and investigate complaints and to assist the consumer. An organized plan would be established for controlling cost and providing controls to assure better and more comprehensive health care. Health Security offers constructive means for solving health problems of all groups in our society. It is the only proposal that would include all eye care coverage. It is also the only proposal which would not exclude coverage due to a pre-existing condition. This single standard of comprehensive benefits for all Americans would eliminate the need for costly, separate programs for the poor, as we now have in Medicaid, and for the elderly, as in Medicare. In short, Health Security would provide one standard of benefits for all. In the upcoming issues of the Braille Forum, I will try to summarize the Nixon Administration proposal and the AMA proposal. In addition, on July 20 at the Knoxville convention, a 2-hour seminar is planned to study and discuss the health care proposals. ***** ** Dancer's Sight Restored MADRID -- Cuba's prima ballerina, Alicia Alonso, who has danced for the past decade throughout the world despite being almost blind, said here tonight her sight has just been completely restored. A series of operations at a clinic in Barcelona Spain has restored her sight and "opened up a new, colorful world," she told reporters shortly before returning to Havana. "It is wonderful to see green salads again, but oh, those hippies -- I would like to tell them they are missing so much," Miss Alonso said. Her eye problems began in 1943, when doctors diagnosed detached retinas in both eyes. A series of operations re-attached the retinas, but within 10 years she was undergoing major eye surgery again -- this time for cataracts. "During all those years, all I could see were the lights in the theater," she recalled. Miss Alonso, who is in her 40s, says she is "100 years old externally, just-born inside." She came to Spain last month during a European tour for a last-ditch attempt to get her sight back. One of the world's leading ophthalmologists, Dr. Joaquin Barraguer, and visiting Cuban eye surgeon Dr. Othon Gomez Ruinz, completed the operations in Barcelona on Oct. 3. "I shall be dancing again within six or seven months. And I plan to do some choreography in Cuba," she added. Despite her severe eye ailment, Miss Alonso won the coveted grand prix in Paris twice and several other major international ballet prizes. ***** ** Leadership Training: The Prescription for a Viable Organization By Billie Elder The failure to cultivate its human resources is the most serious mistake an organization can make. The nurture and replenishment of an ample supply of trained, experienced leaders is the only insurance an organization has against the dry rot which infects an organization when it does not constantly infuse new blood into the body politic. It is no accident that leaders are so often found in clusters, because "people" skills, a very descriptive synonym for leadership skills, are most easily learned and practiced through the interactive process of mind and spirit of those who know upon those who would learn. The mind is honed to a finer edge and the heart grows larger by the reciprocal influence of these who study and plan together for a better tomorrow. Enthusiasm is kindled and fanned to a white heat in concert with kindred spirits dedicated to a common cause. The springs of creativity burst forth in even the most arid places under the stimulus of a group which is thinking, analyzing, and planning a worthwhile undertaking. Any group of Council members who wish to actualize their potential for leadership is encouraged to take the seminar route, although other roads may lead to the same destination. However, the seminar route offers a very direct, pleasant, and rewarding means of bringing potential leaders into contact with those who have already gained their rite of passage. The Council contains among its membership and its friends individuals who have acquired expertise in leadership skills as well as great numbers of members whose "people" skills have never been cultivated. In a world which progresses from crisis to crisis, in a society which depends for survival upon intelligent participation, and in an organization which has so much to offer its members, to flounder about uninformed and untrained is to court defeat and disaster. The undirected and unfulfilled individual does not live alone; his life is interlaced with other lives. Herein lies both the threat and the promise. Assistance in the planning and implementation of seminars is available from the Coordinator of the American Council of the Blind Seminars, Billie Elder. This position was recently created by President Qualls in order to strengthen services offered by the national organization to its affiliates. The tri-fold process of step-by-step planning, procurement of presenters of subject matter, and the smooth implementation of a leadership training program can be custom tailored to fit the needs of any affiliates if the problem is attacked with both determination and imagination. The responsible use of freedom and creativity in solving local problems is the prerogative of Council members and so the Coordinator will offer guidance and assistance rather than cut and dried plans. A diagnosis of the needs of the area of leadership development is the first step, and an appropriate treatment plan can then be worked out. The Proceedings of the Oklahoma-Arkansas-Kansas Regional Seminar are available to Council members who wish to take the seminar route for the development of the human resources at all organizational levels. Prepared in booklet form in both braille and large print, the Proceedings contain a planning schedule, a description of the design, a time line of unfolding events, summaries of sessions and evaluations by the participants, The presenters in the substantive sessions included Judge Reese Robrahn, Durward McDaniel, Floyd Cargill, Helen Vargo, Vernon Metcalf, Dr. Bob Riley Floyd Qualls and Shirley Croxton. The areas of focus were: The Role of the Organization, Goals and Objectives, Public Relations, Publications, Techniques of Lobbying, Fund Raising and Membership. A list of resources is included. Copies of the Proceedings are available free of charge to individual members, chapters and affiliates in quantities. Order from Billie Elder, 5317 W. 29th St., Little Rock, Arkansas 72204. ***** ** Music City Soundtrack Convention, Y'all Come By Durward K. McDaniel Country and western music lovers will gather at the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, for the third convention of the Music City Soundtrack Association. "Country music is our bond," say the founders of this unique organization. In less than four years it has acquired dues-paying members throughout the country and more than 6,000 listeners to the Music City Soundtrack, its quarterly periodical on reel and cassette tape. The Soundtrack features music and vocals, interviews with and articles about country and western entertainers. The Soundtrack is loaned without charge through many regional libraries for the blind and directly by the Association. Persons interested in the fun and fellowship of this convention are invited to be in Nashville on June 14th to 17th, 1973. The new and fabulous Opryland, U.S.A. will be one of the major entertainment features, and of course, the convention will spend Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry. Special daily hotel rates at the Hermitage (231 6th Avenue, North, in Nashville) are $9.50 to $10.50 for single rooms; $11.50 for double rooms; $20.00 for 4 to a room. For further information about the convention, membership, receiving the Soundtrack, and a brochure on Opryland, U.S.A., write to Crawford Pike at 605 North Street, Talladega, Alabama 35160. These enthusiasts say, "The sound of the Seventies is the Nashville sound." If you don't believe it, they'd like to prove it to you in Nashville in June. ***** ** Here and There By George Card From VISUALLY HANDICAPPED VIEWS: On October 13 Howard Hanson, Director of South Dakota Services to the Blind and former national President of the AAWB, was honored by his alma mater, S.D. State U., as this year's outstanding alumnus. From the SEEING EYE GUIDE: Roy Andries de Groot writes of the usefulness of the Seeing Eye identification cards carried by graduates. A train conductor in France asked him to pay full fare for Nusta, his seeing eye dog. With exemplary presence of mind, Mr. de Groot produced his ID card (bearing dog's and master's photos). This so impressed the conductor (who apparently could read no English) that he simply handed it back, tipped his hat to Nusta and went on his way, giving her a free ride. (Mr. de Groot will be remembered by those who attended the 1971 ACB convention.) -- John P. Patterson, of Buffalo, N. Y., and charter ACB member was honored by the Erie County Bar Association for his 50 years as a member of the bar and for his many years of service to the community. Mr. Patterson was also recently reappointed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller to serve as one of the five members of the N.Y. State Commission for the Visually Handicapped, his sixth term. Durward McDaniel writes: "The ACB of Indiana held its first regular convention on October 28 and more than 100 dues-paying members were in attendance: This is an outstanding group and it has very capable leadership. As of the 28th, it has 178 members who paid dues of $3 per year. I predict that the group will double in size within one year." The current FEDERATION NEWS (Mich.) has an item which may interest some feminine readers. A detailed guide to effective costuming prepared by students of the Fashion Institute of Technology is now available in braille, entitled "My Fashion Handbook." Send 50 cents to New York Association for the Blind Lighthouse, 111 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022. -- Radio station WFBE-FM, Flint, continues to broadcast a program for the visually handicapped for one hour twice a week, directed toward VIP's (Visually handicapped people -- very important people). A new housing complex has opened in Baton Rouge, La., which will have a vending stand grocery store run by a blind vendor. This is believed to be a national first. The worst snob in the world is not the intellectual but the uncultivated man who smugly believes that whatever he does not grasp is meaningless or unnecessarily complicated to befuddle the common sense. -- Sidney Harris From the LION: The future is a very important part of the present at the Boston-based Retina Foundation. Since its establishment in 1950, the Foundation has grown to be one of the most respected eye research centers in the world, with a dedicated staff to whom today's work is merely a step toward tomorrow's greater and more far-reaching achievements. Regarding transplants, for example, the Retina Foundation plans to direct research to determine if severed nerve fibers in the retina and optic nerve can be induced to regenerate. If this can be brought about, the dream of transplanting entire human eyes can become a reality. From the AP: Ed Shirley, now 25 and blind since the age of 13, has become the first blind graduate of the American Motorcycle Institute's mechanic course. At its annual convention in October the Missouri Federation of the Blind re-elected Alma Murphy as its President by acclamation. She writes in the MISSOURI CHRONICLE: "Let me remind you of my promise to the 1970 convention that, if elected President, I would neither initiate nor join in a movement to take Missouri into the American Council of the Blind. I have now become convinced that our independent state organization is not equipped to cope with national legislation, that we desperately need an able and friendly representative in Washington at all times and that someday (the sooner the better, if you ask me) our organization will read the 'handwriting on the wall' and recognize the imperative necessity of joining the American Council of the Blind. So I feel obligated to announce that I have no intention of renewing the promise I made at our 1970 convention." --The Missouri Federation is preparing to fight hard to keep its Bureau for the Blind as a separate agency. -- October is a glorious month -- Too late for hay fever, too early for pneumonia; in the mighty pageant of the hills each patch of woods elects its own tree beauty queen. -- There is no census of deaf-blind in the U. S., although it is estimated perhaps there are now 10,000. -- John Weidlich, blind since birth, reads news over a St. Louis TV station several times a day as a part of his full-time job. Vice President and General Manager, Jim Herd, stated that his performance has been phenomenal. -- R.I.T.E., one of the St. Louis chapters, realized a very substantial profit through sponsorship of a concert by the U.S. Marine Band. In the current issue of AT LIBERTY (Pa.) Editor Rita Drill describes the activities of a totally blind lieutenant in the sheriff's office in Indianapolis, who now directs the activities of one shift of the detective department. Also of a blind psychiatrist in Charlottesville, Va., who frequently uses hypnotism in his medical practice. Bill Klontz, of Waterloo, Iowa, former President of the IAB and charter member of the Iowa Council of the Blind, passed away in September. From the KAB NEWS: In Kansas the Medical Eye Care Program is now confined to those non-assistance persons who are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid, but who would still experience a hardship in personally financing needed eye care. About 100 such persons are served annually. -- The 1974 budget for the Rehabilitation Center for the Blind includes a request for an additional mobility instructor for the Center who will spend over half his time in home communities of former clients and those who cannot leave their area for training and will conduct seminars related to orientation for parents and teachers of special education. -- The Extra Step Award was conferred upon M. Augie McCollom. Augie has been an employment specialist for the past 36 years and has an impressive record to his credit. He recently returned from a trip to Paraguay where he distributed $25,000 worth of antibiotics and 1,000 pairs of eyeglasses. -- Gus Robrahn, Burlington, Kansas, father of Judge Reese Robrahn, passed away in September. From the AFB NEWSLETTER: This year the Migel Medals went to Senator Jennings Randolph and to Noel Price, both of whom have become big names in the employment of the blind. The Senator, of course, is identified with the vending stand program and Mr. Price with workshop facilities. The latter formerly headed the workshop in Jackson, Mississippi, where he expanded a staff of 40 and an income of $200,000 in 1946 to a staff of 300 and over $3 million dollars in sales in 1964 when he left to join the NIB. -- Too often, the blind voter and even the election officials do not know the voting rights of the handicapped are protected by special laws. Since the laws vary from state to state, the Foundation distributed to newspapers a list of the state laws with a letter urging them to inform the public of those laws. In addition, public service spot announcements have been sent to all radio stations in the country. The spots are tailored for each state. -- A recent survey indicates that the incidence of children born without eyes (anophthalmia) and extremely small eyes (microphthalmia) is sharply increasing. The cause is not now known to medical science. From the OREGON STYLUS: With the admission of the Dews Park Chapter, OCB welcomed its 14th affiliate. -- Greg Robinson was re-elected as President of OCB. From the HOOSIER STAR-LIGHT: With a group of blind persons listening and feeling in astonishment, engineers from MIT demonstrated a new computer system that translates English into Braille almost instantaneously. While the device is not yet available commercially, its designers say that it may open up new professions to the blind and eliminate the months that sightless persons often wait to have special materials transcribed. Teachers could prepare daily lessons in Braille. The system embosses a full page of Braille cells in about 90 seconds. By hand the same task takes a skilled operator six or seven minutes. Grade II Braille is used. The program is already in use by the Atlanta School System. Others are used by blind students and scientists at MIT and commercial companies in the Boston area. From THE PROMOTER (N.D.): Supt. Herbert Jeffrey has announced plans to retire at the end of his present term of office, which will be June 30, 1973. -- Plans are being formulated to have a deaf-blind program at our school next year. -- AFB now offers the Panasonic Talking Clock Radio, model RC6900, which announces the time to the minute when a button is pressed. -- Dick Corcoran won an award for top counselor with Vocational Rehab nationally and went to Puerto Rico to accept this award at their annual meeting. From the Florida WHITE CANE BULLETIN: The Jacksonville chapter sponsors the baseball concession stands at two fields and has found it quite a money-making proposition. -- James Root of Jacksonville became the new President at the 1972 convention. -- Our Florida affiliate has been the driving force behind the formation of the congress of organizations of and for the blind in that state. This congress will convene periodically with the Governor's Advisory Council to the Bureau of Blind Services. From the ABC DIGEST (Calif.): It is difficult to put into words how sorry we were to learn of the passing of our good friend and charter member of ABC, John Hebner, who was a very outstanding man among us. -- One in every 20 preschool age children in the U.S. has a vision problem which, if uncorrected, can seriously interfere with his development and schooling. The present preschool vision screening programs cover less than 500,000 of the 16 million children in the age group 3-6. The National Society for the Prevention of Blindness is offering a home eye test kit, enabling parents to do a vision screening of their preschoolers at home. The kit is available free of charge. Write to NSPB, 79 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016. -- John Marocco continued work as a film engineer at NBC, New York City, after losing his sight, making adaptations where necessary. He is also a councilman in Eastchester, NY. -- A totally blind electronics technology teacher, Milton Liljestrand, builds complex diagrams on the blackboard and uses intricate instruments to demonstrate electronic principles to his students. He has taught at RCA Institute in New York City since 1945. -- William T. Snyder, Baltimore, Md., was the first legally blind public relations counselor to earn accreditation by the Public Relations Society of America. He is founder and proprietor of a public relations counseling firm in Baltimore. With this issue of the Braille Forum my editorship of the "Here and There" column comes to an end. I originated the column in 1955, and it has appeared in three publications, the BRAILLE MONITOR, the FREE PRESS and -- during the past ten years -- in the BRAILLE FORUM. Its chief focus has been on news items of special interest to my fellow-blind but with as much variety and change of pace as possible and with now and then a bit of a sparkle. Down through these years a great many people have written and spoken kind words about the column, and to all these my heartfelt thanks. ***** ** Governor McCall, The Oregon Commission, Merger By Durward K. McDaniel On October 30, 1972, Governor Tom McCall attended the Board meeting of the Oregon Commission for the Blind which was held in the Governor's conference room. It was the first time in the 35-year history of the Commission that a governor had met with the Commission. The meeting was attended by the members of the Commission, staff, representatives of organizations of the blind and interested blind persons. Governor McCall's administration had previously advocated that the Commission for the Blind be merged with a new Department of Human Resources along with other state agencies. The merger was opposed by organizations of the blind, and it did not occur. At the meeting, Governor McCall assured those present of his continuing interest in the work of the Commission and the well-being of blind people. He took that occasion to announce that his administration does not plan to seek the merger of the Commission with the larger Department. He described Wally Menning as a good salesman and said that Wally had convinced him that the blind of Oregon do not want the merger. Apparently, the merger issue is settled for the foreseeable future. Many Forum readers know Wally Menning as the past President of the Oregon Commission for the Blind, President of the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America and as a new ACB Board member. ***** ** A Seminar on the Deaf-Blind By Judy Pool Early this year a one-week seminar on training the deaf-blind was held at the National Center on Training Deaf-Blind Mutes and Adults in New York City. In attendance were rehabilitation teachers and counselors, an educational coordinator of the deaf-blind, and a social worker. Because more and more deaf-blind clients are being found, workers with the blind will be called upon to assist increasing numbers of such individuals in adjustment to their handicap. Prime consideration was therefore given to communication with deaf-blind persons and to learning more about the special problems encountered by them. Personal contact and direct work with such persons were emphasized throughout the seminar. Those in attendance were kept busy from morning until night. Directors of the Center gave a history of work for the deaf-blind and of the involvement of the National Center, which is an outgrowth of the services offered by the Industrial Home for the Blind. A staff audiologist described the structure of the ear and types of ear diseases and hearing deficiencies. Counselors and social workers pointed out the difficulties in working with deaf-blind persons who have no language skills whatsoever, as well as the difficulties which can be expected when meeting a deaf-blind person for the first time. Speech therapists and communications specialists demonstrated the teaching of simple language verbal skills and lipreading. A manual alphabet and other forms of communication techniques were taught to participants. From the rehabilitation teacher's point of view, the real nitty-gritty of actually teaching certain basic skills to the deaf-blind was of supreme importance. The highly qualified staff instructors explained and demonstrated the teaching of such skills as mobility, braille, typing, cooking, sewing, grooming, woodworking, and techniques of daily living. I had the thrilling experience of teaching a 42-year-old deaf-blind man how to use an 11-speed mixer. Another beneficial experience was interviewing a deaf-blind person as one might well have to do on the job. Two evenings were spent intermingling with deaf-blind trainees in residence -- just talking with them or playing such games as scrabble, cards, dominoes, and bingo. The actual person-to-person contact with deaf-blind people was perhaps the most valuable experience received during the seminar. Participants toured the National Center and the training facilities of the Industrial Home for the Blind. It was truly a pleasure to meet Peter Salmon, well-known leader in the field of work for the deaf-blind. Robert Smithdas, a deaf-blind staff employee (well known for his book Life at My Fingertips and for his poetry), addressed the seminar and discussed many of the severe problems he has encountered. Mr. Lou Betica of the Center's staff was a splendid coordinator of this highly successful seminar. ***** ** Dr. Bob Riley ACB's 1972 Ambassador The distinguished winner of the Ambassador Award in 1972 was Lieutenant Governor Bob Riley of Arkansas. He was elected to that office in 1970 and was re-elected in 1972. He is professor of political science at Ouachita Baptist University at Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Dr. Riley joined the U.S. Marines in 1941 when he was a junior in high school. He served overseas for two years and sustained a wound which caused his blindness. He returned to his native Arkansas where he renewed his education and achieved numerous degrees, including a doctorate in education. While he was a student at the University of Arkansas, he was twice elected to the State House of Representatives, where he was the only freshman member to chair a major standing committee, Veterans Affairs. He is now one of the most active and sought after civic leaders in his state. The Arkansas Council of the Blind nominated Dr. Riley for the Ambassador Award and amply documented his qualifications, which show conclusively that he has earned the title. After he received the award at the Council's Portland convention, he wrote the following letter to Chester Holden, President of the Arkansas Council: "Dear Chester: "Thank you and Mrs. Holden for being so nice to Claudia and me at the convention in Portland. I was greatly honored by the award, but more so by the magnanimity of our local organization in presenting my name. The honor is yours and the work for the blind in Arkansas. I am only symbolic of what that work has produced. I was proud for you and our local Council for having their candidate selected, and I think that it brings favorable recognition to our state in a very becoming way. "Please keep me apprised of future meetings and activities of our local Council. I feel privileged to be a member and wish to participate in every constructive way. "Please thank the Council for me and assure them of my continued interest and sense of responsibility." "Respectfully, Dr. Bob Riley Lieutenant Governor" Congratulations, Ambassador Bob Riley. You are a most worthy ambassador, and we know that your achievements and success will continue to grow. ***** ** State Convention and Seminar Highlights The 1972 convention of the Vermont Council of the Blind was held in Brattleboro on Saturday, September 23, 1972. The luncheon speaker was Norman Case, member of the American Blind Lawyers Association, who gave a most inspiring talk entitled, "Is It Consistent to Be Inconsistent?" Featured on the afternoon program were Mr. Grant Burtnett of Winchester, Massachusetts, who demonstrated the Apollo Laser, a reading device for people with very limited vision, and Helen Nichols, Field Supervisor, Benington-Rutland Opportunity Council, 010, who gave an enlightened talk concerning welfare rates for the poor. On October 21, 1972, a New England Seminar was held in Boston, hosted by the Blind Leadership Club of Massachusetts, with the cooperation of the Vermont Council of the Blind. Items considered included membership recruitment and public relations, services and resources, and communications. There will be another such seminar held in Brattleboro in April, 1973. The Oklahoma Federation of the Blind held its 1972 convention in Oklahoma City October 6-8. A featured speaker on Saturday morning was Joe Carter, Press Secretary for Oklahoma Governor David Hall, whose talk focused on accomplishments of OFB, citing particularly the new Radio Talking Book program soon to be established in Oklahoma under the Department of Institutions, Social and Rehabilitative Services. Lester McGlaughn, president of the Alabama Federation of the Blind, described various fund-raising projects used by that organization. Also playing an important part were ACB President Floyd Qualls, who spoke concerning organizational activity on the national level, and ACB Representative Durward McDaniel who spoke on national legislation pertaining to the blind and to the "youth movement." Perhaps unique to the Oklahoma convention was the emphasis given voter registration. J.L. Hamil, Visual Services Counselor, spoke on the need for blind persons to assume their rightful place in this country by expressing their opinion through voting. Arrangements were made for an official of the Oklahoma County Registration Board to be present, specifically to register blind voters of Oklahoma County. At the banquet on Saturday evening, ACB President Floyd Qualls presented Aileen McDaniel with a plaque of Oklahoma and an IBM Selectric typewriter, in recognition of her meritorious service to the blind over the years. Officers elected at the Sunday morning board meeting were: President, John Simpson; First Vice President, Dr. John Logan; Second Vice President, Floyd Qualls; Secretary, Shirley Croxton; Treasurer, Bea Stephens. ACB of New York State sponsored a Legislative Seminar in Albany on December 2, 1972. Conceived and designed primarily as a learning experience, the meeting included talks by Dr. S. Bradley Burson, Legislative Chairman for National ACB, by a professor of political science from the State University Teachers College at Albany, and by the special counsel to the Chairman of the State Joint Legislative Committee on the Mentally and Physically Handicapped, and covered such broad areas as policy-making, lobbying, and how most effectively to approach one's legislator. The luncheon speaker, a legislative aide, spoke from the grassroots point of view, specifically detailing the do's and don'ts of writing to legislators and precisely what must be done to get bills processed. In the afternoon, participants were divided into small "think-tank" discussion groups. Interestingly enough, meeting independently, all three groups reached the same general conclusions as to what must be emphasized in upcoming legislative activity, with greatest emphasis being given top position to the Governor-sponsored bill to create a single commission responsible for all categories of handicapped persons. ***** ** Government Drops Vending Stand Rules (Reprinted from TOPEKA DAILY CAPITAL, December 1, 1972) WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government backed down Thursday on a proposal to curtail food sales at vending stands operated by blind persons in federal buildings. The General Services Administration said protests from various organizations pointed out alternative means of balancing competition between vending stands and cafeterias located in the same buildings. Financial problems of cafeterias and increasing difficulty in obtaining cafeteria concessionaires in government buildings were cited by GSA in publishing proposed new regulations in the Federal Register Oct. 5. * Sales Limited The new regulations would have limited vending stands and vending machines to sales of newspapers magazines tobacco products, prepackaged confections "and such other articles" determined by GSA not to reduce substantially the ability of cafeterias to serve federal employees economically and efficiently. GSA said at the time that it did not intend to apply the rules changes to the 455 vending stands currently operated by blind persons in GSA-administered federal buildings across the country, but only to new permit holders. * Monopoly Charged The statement was challenged by Durward K. McDaniel, legal counsel for Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America a national organization of blind venders and an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind. McDaniel accused the GSA of attempting to create a discrimination monopoly in favor of cafeterias operated by private corporations and vending machines from which some federal employee welfare and recreation groups draw commissions. Blind persons are given preference in the operation of vending stands in federal buildings under the Randolph-Sheppard Act. A second preference goes to members of socially and economically deprived groups under the anti-poverty program. ***** ** U.N. Planning War on River Blindness (Reprinted from the WASHINGTON POST, Nov. 12, 1972) UNITED NATIONS -- The bleak picture of insects conquering man's habitat is not science fiction. It is happening in tropical Africa and could happen throughout the tropics of the world. In the vast belt of tropical Africa people are abandoning fertile areas along river banks and moving to less productive regions inland to escape a small, ugly black fly. The fly, named simulium, is the carrier of river blindness, a disease that ravages village populations in a slow and cruel manner. The fly has made its appearance is a vast African area stretching from the 15th latitude between Senegal and Ethiopia in the north to a line running from Angola to Tanzania in the globe. It is also spreading in South America, and if there is no concerted effort to control it, experts at the United Nations fear, it may cover the entire tropical belt of the globe. River blindness does not immediately deprive a victim of his eyesight. Its first symptoms are apathy and general deterioration of health. Then, it gradually dims the eyesight and eventually causes total blindness if the victim remains under continued exposure to the fly. According to an estimate of the World Health Organization (WHO) there are about 30 million persons suffering from this kind of blindness in the world. WHO's main effort is focused on seven countries in the Volta River basis which, the organization says, "contains the worst area in the world for the simulium fly growing problem of depopulation." "When we enter a village or fly over it, we can usually tell at once if the simulium has struck," James Wright, WHO Chief of Vector Biology and Control, said. If nothing is done, the place will wind up like many other river bank villages. One of them, where they fly took its toll, is described in a WHO study: "Named Arabe, the village is located five miles from the Red Volta River, close to the border between Ghana and Upper Volta. Two hundred people live here. Twenty of them are blind, and the others are nearly all suffering from the same disease that could make them blind. "Arabe children, often only toddlers, guide blind men who should be in the prime of life. And some years from now, unless they desert the village, these toddlers will themselves be clutching the end of a walking stick and be helplessly led around." ***** ** ACB Resolutions * American Council of the Blind Resolution No. 72-03 WHEREAS a Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation has been established for the purpose of research into the causes and cures of this disease; and WHEREAS this Foundation will need funds to support these projects; and WHEREAS the American Council of the Blind, as a national organization, is in a position to publicize and to encourage the work of this Foundation: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind, in convention assembled this day, the 7th day of July, 1972, that its officers and directors publicize, encourage, and assist the National Foundation for Retinitis Pigmentosa in its search for possible cures of this disease. Approved, July 7, 1972 * Resolution No. 72-06 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the convention of the American Council of the Blind on this 7th day of July, 1972, that a Committee be formed at this convention whose duty shall be to enlist, train, and supervise volunteers who are willing to participate in organizing efforts on behalf of this organization. The President shall appoint a chairman who shall enlist the assistance of experienced organizers to train those volunteers who come forward at any convention and submit themselves to a course of training in organizing techniques and in the basic philosophy and goals of the American Council of the Blind. This Committee shall also have the duty to collect and supply literature and materials and to conduct seminars for the voluntary participants. This Committee shall work in conjunction and in cooperation with the Membership Committee of the Council. Approved, July 7, 1972 ***** ** Blind Cricket (Reprinted from THE NEW BEACON, August, 1972) 1972 is a very important year in the history of blind cricket in Australia. The Victorian Association of Blind Cricketeers is celebrating its golden anniversary and the Queensland Blind Wattle Cricket Club, its twenty-first. The 11th Interstate Blind Cricket Carnival will begin in Brisbane on December 29, and for the first time every Australian state will be represented. Each state has its own blind cricket club or clubs. In some cases clubs have their own playing grounds and club houses. A blind cricket team (like a sighted one) is composed of eleven players, six with partial sight and five who are totally or virtually blind. Blind cricket may be described as a game where sound takes the place of sight and in which blind and partially sighted men can demonstrate their adjustment to their disability. On April 9, at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloon-gabba, the Australian blind eleven played against a sighted team organized by, the Sportsmen's Association of Queensland, which contained a number of international players. ***** ** ACB Officers * President: Floyd Qualls, 106 N.E. 2nd Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104 * First Vice President: Dr. S. Bradley Burson, 917 Kenyon St., Downers Grove, Ill. 60515 * Second Vice President: Mrs. Billie Elder, 5317 W. 29th St., Little Rock, Ark. 72204 * Secretary: Mrs. Catherine Skivers, 836 Resota St., Hayward, California 94545 * Treasurer: J. Edward Miller, 2621 Chesterfield Ave., Charlotte, N.C. 28205 ** Directors George Card, 605 South Few Street, Madison, Wisc. 53703 Paul Kirton, Rt. 1, Box 56 C, Woodford, Va. 22580 Lester McGlaughn, 2403 Monroe Ave., Gadsden, Ala. 35901 Wallace Menning, 2750 Ellis Ave., Salem, Ore. 97301 Norman Robinson, 7107 South King Dr., Chicago, Ill. 60619 Reese Robrahn, 329 Woodburn Lane, Topeka, Kan. 66606 Earl Scharry, 5714 Ridgway Ave., Rockville, MD 20851 John Vanlandingham, 5800 North 19th Ave., Phoenix, Ariz. 85015 Vernon Williams, P.O. Box 826, Aberdeen, South Dakota 57401 ###