The Braille Forum Vol. XIII September-October 1974 No. 2 Published Bi-Monthly by the American Council of the Blind Oklahoma City, Oklahoma * President: Floyd Qualls 106 N.E. 2nd Street Oklahoma City, OK 73104 * National Representative: Durward K. McDaniel 818 18th Street, N.W. Suite 700 Washington, DC 20006 * Editor: Mary T. Ballard 190 Lattimore Road Rochester, NY 14620 (716) 244-8364 The Braille Forum seeks to promote the independence and dignity of all blind people; to stress responsibility of citizenship; to alert the public to the abilities and accomplishments of the blind. The Braille Forum carries official news of the American Council of the Blind and its programs. It is available for expression of views and concerns common to all blind persons. ***** ** Contents Notice to Subscribers Dessert, Anyone?, by Joyce L. Smith A Penny a Day, by George Card New Vista for Chicago ACB Conventioners, by Margaret Freer Convention Tapes Available Blind Students: Out of Limbo and on the Line, by Mack Riley Randolph-Sheppard Vendors Meet in Chicago, by Ione Miller The Dog-Guide User and Employment, by Catherine Gleitz VIDPI Meets in Chicago, by Mary Jane Schmitt Commission on Citizen Consumer Participation, by A. Marie Morrison A Look at "Workshops" for the Blind in Russia, by Tom Parker New Machine Identifies Money for Blind People The White Cane Business, by Claudell S. Stocker Seeing the World: Bull Sessions in Spain, by Joseph Wiedenmayer In Memoriam: Peter F. Campbell, by Phyllis Stern Florida Leader Dies More Can Get SSI Pay Now Here and There, by Sue Graves ACB Resolutions, 1974 ACB Officers and Directors ***** ** Notice to Subscribers The Braille Forum is available in braille, large type, open-reel tape (7-inch reel, dual track, ips 3 3/4) and cassette (ips 1 7/8). Items intended for publication in the Braille Forum should be sent to the editor, Mary T. Ballard, 190 Lattimore Road, Rochester, NY 14620, or to one of the associate editors: George Card, 605 South Few Street, Madison, WI 53703 Margaret Freer, 11816 West Blue Mound Road, Wauwatosa, WI 53226 Ione B. Miller, 9291 Fermi Avenue, San Diego, CA 92123 Joseph Wiedenmayer, 5604 Montgomery Street, Chevy Chase, MD 20015 Subscriptions and address changes for all four editions should be sent to Floyd Qualls, 106 N.E. 2nd Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104. Those much needed and appreciated cash contributions may be sent to ACB Treasurer J. Edward Miller, 2621 Chesterfield Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina 28205. Anyone who wishes to remember the American Council of the Blind in his or her Last Will and Testament may use the following language in a special paragraph for that purpose: "I give and bequeath unto the American Council of the Blind, a District of Columbia not-for-profit corporation, the sum of $ _____ "; or: " _____ % of my net estate"; or: "the following described property: ... ". "Said bequest is made and devised to be used for the Council's corporate purposes, in the interest of blind and visually impaired persons." If your wishes are more complex, have your attorney communicate with the Council's national office. ***** ** Dessert, Anyone? By Joyce L. Smith (Editor's Note: Joyce Smith is Supervisor, Community Services Department, Huntsville Subregional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Huntsville, Alabama.) A regional librarian, in a recent publication, compared quality library service for the blind and handicapped to a loaf of bread and stressed the need for a "full-loaf, whole­grain and enriched." Readers being served by subregional libraries were, in her estimation, receiving not a full loaf but "half-a-loaf, a single slice, or sometimes only a crumb." Realizing that generalizing about any subject is always a risky business, I will not claim to speak for all eighty-two subregional libraries but only for those with which I am familiar in Alabama, Virginia, and Florida. We feel we are providing not just "good bread," and a large chunk at that, but an added treat, "dessert," as well. The U.S. Congress recognized in 1966 the need for strengthening and expanding this specialized library service and they passed two laws. One, Public Law 89-522, made library services available for the first time to those who could not read print of ordinary sizes for reasons other than legal blindness. These included visual limitations and handicaps which prevented holding a book or turning pages. At the same time Congress passed the Library Services and Construction Act which made funds available to State Library agencies for the purpose of establishing or improving library services to blind and handicapped persons. Included was permission for the development of subregional libraries in public libraries. Alabama was one of the first in the country to take this progressive step, not because the Regional library was poor, but because we recognized the desirability of bringing the service to the people where they were and the advantages inherent in operating on the local level. Mere duplication of services offered by a Regional Library is not sufficient cause to warrant subregional library operation. It must be capable of going beyond that point and meeting the needs of the users in a variety of innovative and valuable ways. Subregional librarians have the advantage of personally getting to know the readers, of developing warm friendships, mutual respect, and close working relationships through home visits, phone calls, and joint participation in community activities. We recognize the wide range of personality traits, educational backgrounds, vocational abilities, and reading tastes of all library users, sighted, blind, or handicapped. Our readers are not blind people. They are people who happen to be blind or visually limited, or physically handicapped. We regard them as whole people -- not just a mind, not just a body, not just a vocation, or just an avocation, but a whole person. Many are wonderful, some are irritable, some young, some old, some smart, some dumb, some educated, some illiterate -- all kinds with many, many dreams, aspirations, fears, needs, joys. Therefore, we strive to serve the whole person, not only with interesting leisure-time reading, but also with information on employment opportunities, new laws which will affect them, the many service agencies available to them, and by offering assistance in locating and obtaining textbooks or special aids. Inquiries on any subject are encouraged and the librarians utilize the full capabilities of the reference departments in their public libraries in seeking answers to these reference questions. This is a strong point of subregional libraries. The lack of books has been justly criticized as a major problem for all libraries serving the blind and handicapped. This has been caused by inadequate funding and is now being aggravated by the energy crisis and lack of basic raw materials for production. Subregional libraries have had comparatively small collections. These are being expanded rapidly. No library will ever have as complete a collection as is desirable nor in the quantitation preferred. However, this is not essential if there is an excellent inter-library-loan system developed and fully utilized and an active program of book production in all libraries. Most title requests are and will continue to be filled quickly with books on hand. Any not held locally can be speedily obtained by borrowing them from other libraries. The automated national bibliographic service, now being developed by the Library of Congress, will enable a librarian anywhere in the nation to quickly determine the availability of a title in a format usable by blind and handicapped readers. This will allow complete access to all materials available anywhere in the country for all readers and will be a prime example of full utilization of available materials with sophisticated management techniques. It will allow a far greater selection of titles than could be provided if each library were to hold only copies of the books produced in mass quantities by the Library of Congress. Here, again, the subregional libraries are a valuable asset as they supplement the titles produced by the Library of Congress with locally recorded books and periodicals and with the purchase of commercially produced records and tapes, using local funding. Nationally, interests and reading tastes vary considerably among residents of hustling New York City, the cattle land of the Southwest, the northern wheat growing areas, or the Bible Belt South. The Library of Congress collection must be diverse enough to satisfy all areas of the country. The same holds true within a smaller geographical area. Surely, there are special and varying interests held by people within even a single state. The Mobile librarian would probably have more requests for books on deep sea fishing than would the librarian in the Anniston hill country. A diary account of the capture of Huntsville by those "damn Yankees" would be of little interest to the peanut growers of Dothan and titles desired by cosmopolitan Birmingham residents just might offend readers in tiny Lick Skillet. Because of this each librarian is especially attuned to the wistful "I wish ..." comments made by the readers in that particular area and those wishes are often fulfilled by volunteer tapists. A day-by-day project of recording worksheets used by a blind employee or brailling small books for a little girl just learning to read are examples of the direct one-to-one relationship so often found in local library work. Many subregional libraries have invested in expensive tape duplication equipment and are mass producing local recordings, copying talking book records onto cassettes, and repairing broken cassettes. Who is doing this work? Perhaps in some areas librarians have been drafted into the service and resent the additional responsibilities. In our area it is not the case. Many of the subregional librarians were hired specifically for this aspect of librarianship. Where transfers have been made it has been done after careful evaluation of personality traits, ability, and interest in the work. Since special courses on serving the blind and handicapped are few indeed in library schools, programs of in-service training including frequent workshops for exchange of ideas and suggestions and required reading and study have been beneficial for many of us. Perhaps no sighted person can ever totally understand the world of blindness, but we do try. Being actively involved in organizations of the blind and other handicaps is also enlightening with the side benefit of being fun. The most common ingredients found in the subregional librarians whom I've met have been a sincere love for the work, a high degree of empathy (not sympathy or pity), and a willingness to work hard. Truly, these books are heavy, dirty, smelly at times, with a wondrous penchant for hooking buckles and cascading down upon our heads, and even harbor small surprises such as a cockroach which leapt out and ran up my arm one day. (That's one more reason for our inspecting all incoming mail before sending it on to you.) Librarians also become accomplished speakers after a few months on the job as we give our free time for speech-making to civic clubs, church groups, radio and TV programs. This pays off in two ways: better understanding by the sighted populace and spreading the word to eligible but unaware people in the community. It has become the norm that the number of people served in an area increases by 100% within a year after a subregional library opens its doors. Innovation is another key word in local services. It is far simpler to experiment and try new approaches to serving on a small scale than to gear up a national or even a state program. We have successes; we have failures; we keep trying. Involvement by members of the sighted community is constant in subregionals, with volunteers recording, brailling, typing large print, filing, checking in materials and learning. College students preparing for careers in special education draw heavily upon the writings on blindness, physical handicaps, exceptional children, architectural barriers, and other subjects on hand. Parents of blind children browse through the pamphlets and leave with a lighter step and renewed hope, knowing not only that "Johnny" will read, but also, will have future gainful employment. It's easy to pat oneself on the back; it's harder to be objective. One way to judge is to listen to the readers themselves, their compliments and their complaints and to seek their suggestions for improvements. The feedback from readers on the local level is high, and what could possibly touch a person and inspire him to greater endeavors note than a "God bless you. Your service is a life-saver for me" note found in a box of records or a tearful voice on the phone, calling to say a good-bye before moving back to a distant state and to comment that although the Regional Library there is one of the best in the country, "It's so big and they'll never give me the personal warmth and wonderful service that you did here." It is up to the readers to make the final verdict -- do we give bread crumbs, a whole loaf, or that plus dessert? ***** ** A Penny A Day By George Card When I was a little shaver, a nickel was real wealth. For one thing, I could then spend at least half an hour pouring over the candy counter at the neighborhood grocery picking out five kinds. The other day, someone gave one of my neighbor's grandchildren one of those nickels. He brought it to his mother and asked, "Mommy, what can I buy with this?" So what about the lowly penny in this day of runaway inflation? We can drop it into a twelve-minute parking meter, but that's about it. And yet, when there are enough of them, they can do a very great deal. Because it steadfastly refuses to make the sort of heart-rending, tear-jerking, emotional appeal for funds that really brings in the money but is so destructive to the image of the blind, the American Council of the Blind has not been able to do many of the things that need doing. Mis Laverne Humphrey of Knoxville, Tennessee, who is a member of ACB's Finance Committee, came up with the idea that if every member of our national organization would contribute just a penny a day, it would amount to more than $30,000 a year, and that would help just tremendously. As soon as we reached home, Darlene and I sent Ed Miller, ACB Treasurer, our check for $3.65, and I know that nearly all the other members of our big Wisconsin delegation did the same. Many a single round of drinks costs more than that, and we think nothing of it. Who among us is so poor or so tight that he cannot afford one cent a day for such a cause? Let's bury Ed Miller beneath a veritable avalanche of these little checks! The American Council of the Blind imposes no individual dues. When our state organization pays the dues out of its treasury, we have no personal investment, and we tend to forget that it is our ACB. When we do have an investment, even such a little one, the feeling becomes entirely different. Make those checks payable to ACB and send them to J. Edward Miller, 2621 Chesterfield Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28205. ***** ** New Vistas for Chicago ACB Conventioners By Margaret Freer (Editor's note: Margaret Freer served as chairman of the Public Relations Committee for the 1974 convention. She and her committee spent long hours manning the press desk throughout the week and in arranging the pre-convention meeting with the Hotel-Motel Association personnel. During the entire convention they worked closely with Evelyn Nelson, the LaSalle Public Relations Officer, to provide outstanding radio, TV, and newspaper coverage. Press releases went out daily -- many of them -- and they were used not only in Chicago but around the country by the AP and UPI wire services.) Those 1974 ACB conventioners who saw Chicago from the heights of the new Sears Tower were treated to a spectacular view. Just as spectacular was the scene at the LaSalle Hotel where some 800 registered members worked to establish viewpoints and decisions that would affect the environment of the blind. The serious dedication, the enthusiasm of its youth, the professionalism of all were among observations of onlookers. The host affiliate was the Illinois Federation of the Blind. Behind the scenes on Friday, July 26, convention planners smoothed the path with a hotel session on "Serving Blind Guests." Forty-two members of the Chicago Hotel-Motel Association attended, including representatives of the Playboy Towers. Director was Wells Morey, a Chicago-area rehabilitation teacher. It was informative as well as a public-relations tool to let people know ACB would be in town. Officers and others arrived early that evening. Emphasis was on allowing the blind person the dignity of performing on his own, unless he asks for or looks as though he needs help. Impromptu dramatizations by ACBers and hotel employees covered typical situations from the moment of arrival to departure. The convention proper was preceded by special-interest group meetings and activities. These included a Sunday evening boat trip on Lake Michigan and ABLA and VISTA banquets on Monday, while the RSVA members wined and dined (but did not touch) at the Playboy Club. Other pursuits of conventioners included current theater, George Shearing at the London House, and rumor has it that some even played pool on Rush Street, following the advice of the seminar on recreation to broaden one's scope. Meanwhile, back at the La Salle, while these people broke down old images of blindness, committees worked far into the night, drawing up resolutions and legislation to guide ACB's future. At the top of the La Salle, chess players moved kings, and "ham" radio operators of the ACB Service Net picked up and sent messages, uniting a husband and wife on honeymoon -- he in Paraguay on business, while she attended the convention. Reports of these and other special-interest activities will appear elsewhere in this and subsequent issues of the Braille Forum. On Wednesday, July 31, at 1:15 P.M., ACB President Floyd Qualls sounded the gavel for the opening of the 1974 convention. Program Chairman Floyd R. Cargill, of Springfield, Illinois, produced a roster of speakers of note in many fields of concern. Outstanding was Thursday's medical-research program. Dr. Morton F. Goldberg of Chicago's Medical Center, who spoke on the use of vitrectomy in diabetic retinopathy and other diseases, felt the greatest hope at present was in new diagnostic devices. Dr. Albert M. Potts, Director of Research, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Chicago, took a new look at retinitis pigmentosa through genetic counseling. Kent Wimmer, an attorney from Salt Lake City, totally blind for nearly twenty years, took us into the operating room by way of a tape recorder, where experiments were made in artificial stimulation of the visual cortex, and ACBers shared the moment when he first saw stars of light. In an age where more is spent on eye makeup than on eye research, the discussion and displays of electronic aids and appliances was encouraging to those who viewed exhibits during the week. In her talk on Social Security Supplemental Security Income, Eleanor Bader of the Social Security Administration said there were many blind people who were eligible for SSI and who had not applied. Thursday-afternoon "Fun Time" was left free for "seeing Chicago on your own" through tours or individual pursuits. This was followed by various receptions, while the Hospitality Room remained open to new and old friends prior to the evening dance-party. Dialogue Magazine held an Open House where readers could meet the editors and friends of Dialogue. A reception hosted by the ACB Committee for Deaf-Blind Adults was gratifyingly well attended. Hospitality and fellowship permeated the La Salle Hotel as conventioners danced until 1:00 A.M. On Friday morning, it was back to the Ballroom for the Third General Session. Lewis Vieceli, Coordinator of the Placement Counselor Training and Rehabilitation Institute, Southern Illinois University, chaired a panel entitled, "The Name of the Game Is Employment." Included were a discussion of placement on the national scale by George Magers, Rehabilitation Service Administration, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and a description of the Occupational Information Library by Benjamin Pumo, Greater Detroit Society for the Blind. The day's program also included a panel on transportation problems of the blind. Earlier, Durward McDaniel had reported on air travel, saying that an attempt was being made to impose restrictions on handicapped persons, demanding sighted accompaniment, and that members should oppose such construction. In Friday's panel discussion, various situations were posed by representatives of both rural and urban areas, with the final spokesman touching lightly upon the most important element of all: human resources -- the help available through relating in your own community. Featured speaker at the annual banquet on Friday night was Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia, author of S. 2581, the Randolph-Sheppard Amendments of 1974. After urging his audience to participate in the preservation of the rights of blind vendors and warning that the Postal Union was making every effort to block even consideration of this vital bill by the House of Representatives, he left listeners with this provocative thought: "Who has the greatest handicap? ... The man or woman who carries malice in his heart." ACB's 1974 Ambassador Award was presented to Charley Boswell of Birmingham, Alabama, well-known blind golfer, who in addition to owning his own insurance company, in 197i was appointed by Governor George Wallace to be Commissioner of Revenue for the State of Alabama. The George Card Award went to Fred Lilley of St. Louis, Missouri, whose long service to the American Council to the Missouri Federation of the Blind, to Lionism and to his community is an outstanding record of achievement. The Ann Sullivan Macy Award, given jointly by the Perkins School for the Blind and the Industrial Home for the Blind, was presented by Dr. Robert Smithdas, Director of Community Education, National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults, to another Missourian, Jack Murphey, in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a deaf-blind person. The annual Ned Freeman Article of the Year Award was presented to Billie Elder for her Braille Forum article "May Their Tribe Increase." The $100 check was returned to ACB for promotion of leadership training seminars. Red Graham of old-time radio's "Duffy's Tavern" was master of ceremonies and placed ACB's dignitaries in an original Tavern sketch as a closing. At Saturday's business session, all officers were re-elected, with the exception of Catherine Skivers, who was unable to be present at the convention. Replacing her is Helen Vargo of Topeka, Kansas, who served the convention as secretary pro tem. Four new Board members were elected: Herbert Pitz of Wisconsin, Jack Lewis of Georgia, Dr. Otis Stephens of Tennessee, and George Fogarty of California. New affiliates welcomed into the Council were Missouri Federation of the Blind, Michigan Association of the Blind Eddy County Council of the Blind (New Mexico) National Alliance of Blind Students, and American Council of the Blind of South Carolina. Resolutions approved by the Convention will appear in full as space permits in this and forthcoming issues of the Braille Forum. Adoption of an amendment to By-Law 2, raising the maximum annual affiliate dues from $250.00 to $312.50, thus making this figure consistent with the maximum affiliate vote (based upon 625 members), finalized the convention. Thanks go to many for a memorable convention, chairmanned by S. Bradley Burson, hosted by the Illinois Federation of the Blind, and undergirded by the many untiring volunteers who served at registration and hospitality. All of this adds up to make Chicago in '74 a challenge to Mobile, Alabama in '75, Hot Springs, Arkansas in '76, and "Heaven in '77" in Florida. ***** ** Convention Tapes Available The 1974 ACB national convention, including the annual banquet, is available on open-reel tape, 4-track, 1 7/8 ips. Those interested in receiving a copy should send two 1800-foot reels of tape to Mary T. Ballard, 190 Lattimore Road, Rochester, New York 14620. Please be sure to include your name and address along with the tapes, preferably in braille. ***** ** Blind Students: Out of Limbo and On the Line By Mack Riley The National Alliance of Blind Students became the forty-seventh affiliate of the American Council of the Blind upon receipt of a charter presented by President Floyd Qualls during ceremonies August 3 in Chicago. NABS was officially organized last year at the ACB national convention in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to the affiliation ceremony, the student organization met during two sessions, July 30-31. Those sessions involved consideration of projects and plans, amendments to the student constitution, and the election of new officers. Two minor clarification amendments to the constitution and by-laws were proposed and passed. A comprehensive non­discriminatory clause was added to the constitution which, in effect, prohibits discrimination because of race, color, creed, national origin, age, handicap, sex, sexual orientation, or marital status. New officers elected for 1974-75 include Mack Riley, California State University, Los Angeles, President; Andrew Woods, Columbia University, New York, First Vice President; Doug Slatten, Arizona State University, Tempe, Second Vice President; and Ben Manley, Mercer University, Georgia, Treasurer. Bernice Kandarian, Arizona State University, Tempe was re-elected Secretary for another term. For the first time NABS participated fully in the affairs of ACB as an affiliate, from the nominating committee meeting down to the five o'clock adjournment on Saturday afternoon. Blind students were seen almost everywhere during the convention: at the various hospitalities, the party-dance, the banquet, and even on the ninety-seventh floor of the John Hancock Building. Many informal and convivial discussions were held late into the nights at the La Salle. Others interested in the National Alliance of Blind Students may direct their inquiries to Mack Riley, President, P.O. Box 2401, Bell Gardens, California 90201. ***** ** The Randolph-Sheppard Vendors Meet in Chicago By Ione B. Miller From the opening of the Board of Directors meeting on the evening of July 27th through the closing of the RSVA convention on July 31st, the vendors were involved in a bustle of activity. Officers elected at the 1974 convention were: President, Homer Steele from Ill.; First Vice President, Chester Holden from Ark.; Second Vice President, Ione Miller from Calif.; Secretary, Karen Perzentka from Wis.; and Treasurer, Francis Morton from Tenn. RSVA shows a 33 1/3% increase in membership this year with some decisive moves for accomplishment. Most of the affiliates reported that they had been working for passage of the Randolph-Sheppard Act Amendments of 1974. Barry Feazell and his committee did an excellent job of hosting the 1974 RSVA convention. Many informative and interesting things were learned from the speakers. A hundred and forty people were aboard the boat cruise that beautiful balmy night on Lake Michigan. Fifty people took advantage of the tour of Old Town and the Playboy Club dinner. Lucille Strelow was the lucky one to carry home the traditional bunny tail plaque. Two bus loads of the operators took off to enjoy a tour of enterprise locations and a Chinese dinner at the DuPage County Administration Center. One bus load managed to get lost for a while and barely arrived in time for dinner. Over a hundred operators attended the RSVA luncheon on Tuesday, July 30th where they heard Robert R. Humphreys, Special Counsel to the Senate Committee on Labor & Public Welfare, discuss the Randolph-Sheppard Act Amendment. A citation from RSVA was presented to Mr. Humphreys for his diligent efforts in working with the Randolph-Sheppard Act Amendments and the RSVA Award of the year was given to a very astounded, surprised and appreciative me (Ione Miller). ***** ** The Dog Guide User and Employment By Catherine Gleitz The third annual convention of Guide Dog Users, Inc. was held on Thursday afternoon, August 1, at the La Salle Hotel in Chicago. Phyllis Stern, this year's program chairman assembled an excellent panel on the theme, "Special Problems as They Relate to Employment of the Visually Handicapped Using Guide Dogs for Mobility." Bill Wettendorf, Studio Director of Dialogue, acted as moderator and kept the discussion smooth and lively with his witticisms. Among ideas brought out by panelists were the following: "A person should have the ability to be mobile if one wants to be an active participant in society," according to Harold Carter, Executive Director, Illinois Federation of the Blind. He went on to point out that, "One should use the method of mobility which works best for that person. A blind person should get an unbiased overlook at all methods of mobility." People can work with food even if they work a dog guide. The washing of hands is essential for everyone, sighted or blind. There is never an office where a small space cannot be found near an employee using a dog guide. In a factory, the same thing prevails. A dog guide can be situated near his owner, who can function as efficiently as his fellow workers. Dog-guide owners are on a par with persons having sight, because of the smoothness with which they are able to travel. If a problem does exist, it may be the dog-guide user's fault, not the dog's. The long­cane technique has proved its merit, and so has the dog guide. One method should not be in competition with the other. Often when an employer uses a dog for an excuse for not hiring a blind person, it is more a case of his objection to hiring a blind person in the first place. It is important that positive public-relations tactics be used in resolving negative attitudes toward the use of dog guides. National officers elected at the business meeting were: President, Mrs. Catherine Gleitz, Baldwin, New York; First Vice President, Cy Selfridge, Aurora, Colorado; Second Vice President, Garland Dowling, Silver Spring, Maryland; Recording Secretary, Sherill O'Brien, Springfield, Illinois; Treasurer, Donna Pastore, North Arlington, Virginia. For further information on Guide Dog Users, Inc., contact Mrs. Catherine Gleitz, President, 2130 Maple Street, Baldwin, New York 11510. ***** ** VIDPI Meets in Chicago By Mary Jane Schmitt The Visually Impaired Data Processors International held its annual meeting July 29-31, 1974 at the La Salle Hotel in Chicago. Participants received an update on existing VIDPI projects, traded "tricks of the trade," and discussed VIDPI activities for the coming year. The banquet was held on Tuesday evening, and Wednesday morning's session was highlighted by an Optacon demonstration. At the business meeting on Tuesday afternoon, a spirited discussion evolved relative to VIDPI's future. By an unquestionable majority, the membership authorized the VIDPI Board of Directors to take the necessary steps to effectuate affiliation with the American Council of the Blind. At its post-convention meeting, the ACB Board unanimously approved VIDPI's application for affiliation. An amendment raising membership dues to $20 per year was approved, because additional revenue is required to meet rising costs. New officers were elected. For further information about VIDPI, contact the president, McKinley Young, 514 Quackenbos Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001. ***** ** Commission on Citizen Consumer Participation By A. Marie Morrison On July 27, Chairman Reese Robrahn called to order the 1974 meeting of the American Council of the Blind Commission on Citizen Consumer Participation. He explained that a project has been written, designing a program for seminars to be held throughout the United States for the purpose of training blind or visually impaired persons to function on social agency boards and committees as consumer advocates. He then requested those attending the meeting to assist by advising the Commission on the development of (1) literature, (2) standards, and (3) a program for training seminars. The meeting then subdivided into sessions to discuss these areas in detail, and much progress was made. Most of the persons who attended have had experience serving on agency boards and therefore, were able to make realistic, concrete recommendations. Chairman Robrahn announced to the group that the Commission will make every effort to raise funds to begin having seminars within this next year. ****** ** A Look at "Workshops" for the Blind in Russia By Tom Parker (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a somewhat abridged version of a report made by Mr. Parker to the members of the National League of the Blind after he returned from a visit to Russia in the company of several colleagues. The situation of subsidized workshops in our country is much the same as in England, so that the material that follows is of real significance. Those who attended our Milwaukee convention will remember Tom Parker as one of our speakers.) When we went to Russia, we went as the guests of a Russian trade union, the Local Industries Public Service Workers Union. This includes all blind operatives as a separate section of that bigger union. All workers in the Soviet Union have to belong to a trade union; therefore, all members in the special enterprises for the blind were members of the trade union. Everybody from the director to the last trainee belongs to the same union, and all workers have to pay one per cent of their wages as union dues. They have in the country an organization known as the All-Russia Society for the Blind, which regards itself as being a state within a state. It operates some 247 special enterprises for the blind. They do not use the term "workshop" or "factory"; they use the term "special enterprise," to distinguish these from state enterprises, which is the norm. What surprised us was the absence of seeing disabled in these special enterprises, but, rather, a very considerable mixture of sighted, able-bodied workers. We went there from a country where all the workshops for the blind, with the exception of one, are heavily subsidized. Within 24 hours, we were talking to people who claim that all the special enterprises for the blind in the Soviet Union are making a profit. In these 247 enterprises, there are approximately 100,000 operatives. Often the mixture of blind and other workers is 55 percent blind and 45 percent able-bodied workers. Dealing with the participation of workers, we were told that 80 percent of the management from directors down were blind people. These 247 enterprises, they claimed, had a turn-over of 500 million rubles in the last year for which statistics were available, and they had made a net profit of some 14 percent -- in other words, 70 million rubles. Of this 70 million rubles, 42 million had been plowed back into capital equipment and capital investment to keep the enterprises modern. Out of the profits, they had built 2,500 flats for operatives during that year. Whereas originally a nominal rent had been charged for this sort of accommodation, they have now moved to a phase of rent-free accommodations for the operatives. I had heard about this before I went and never felt happy, because it looked to me as though blind people would be housed in ghettos. But we were told that this accommodation was available to all operatives, blind or sighted, and that it was the normal pattern of their industrial life: Steel-workers would tend to be automobile housed in steel complexes, automobile workers in automobile complexes. And in an aside, an interpreter said to me, "If you spent a Russian winter, you would be glad of the shortest distance between home and employment." Now, they make this sort of profit, and they claim that for seventeen years they have not required any government subsidy. They were given heavy capital injection to establish the enterprises and were then more or less allowed to develop the industrial activity. Having been conditioned to this sort of employment being subsidized heavily, we found it somewhat difficult to understand until we started to look at the enterprises. In case you think we were shown the best, I want to make it quite clear that before we went, we were asked to suggest the program which we would like them to organize. Of course, we said we would like to see their educational facilities, employment facilities, and the general welfare facilities for the blind. I had heard that they had a small factory in Moscow way before the war, making electrical motors. Since the war, I had heard of a very large enterprise in Leningrad engaged in the electrical industry, making switch gear, from the very small domestic switch to large industrial equipment. So we specified that we would like to see these two workshops. Fortunately, they did this. At the Moscow enterprise, there were 700 operatives -- 400 of them blind and 300 ordinary, able-bodied sighted workers performing skilled jobs, key jobs. Judged by British standards, they probably have a difficult problem, because if a blind person wants to work, it is a legal obligation on the part of the All-Russia Society for the Blind to provide him with a job. Obviously, the skills of their blind vary in the same way as the skills of our blind people do. But by bringing in 300 out of 700 able-bodied sighted workers, they were obviously able to break down jobs so that the least skilled could be absorbed. In addition to this, they seemed to have an out-worker system for blind workers with additional disabilities, where work is taken to them in their home and the finished material brought back. The enterprise in Moscow was a real industrial setup. The noise is something which I think we would find it very, very difficult to accept. Imagine the noise produced by 300 stamping machines pressing out parts -- all of them up to 52-ton capacity! They said they had tried to do something about this. They had reduced the noise level, and research was still proceeding to reduce it farther. But they had one ingenious approach to this problem. All operators are provided with a "personal communication station," which meant a pair of headphones with muffs, attached to a control box. Those doing repetitive work that did not require concentration could listen to a talking book, a radio, or lectures. How do they work on a contract system? This is important. We found, for instance, that this enterprise was turning out 185,000 starter motors in a year, from the castings for the housing of the units to the wiring of the armatures -- the complete job. They were also making electric light fittings and control units, and what we saw elsewhere suggested that they had pretty much a monopoly on television, radio and tape recorder leads, fitting the plugs, cutting the leads, and so on. So we asked questions about their contract position. What we found was that the enterprises were told by the State Planning Department how much they were to produce during the year, as a target for that year. They were guaranteed a supply of raw materials, for which they paid, and the finished articles were then taken away by the State Planning Department and allocated to the enterprises that would be using them. For example, they told us the starter motor costs seven rubles to produce. The state paid eleven rubles per unit for it and allocated the motors to tractor plants, bus plants, and car plants where they would be used in the final assembly. Now we began to see why it was possible for them to talk in terms of making a profit. They did not have to maintain a selling organization; they did not have to incur the expense of promotional campaigns for the product; and they did not have to pay fees for consultant services. Obviously, if you take away these three elements and production can be planned without having to worry as to whether the finished articles are going to be disposed of, they you can see how it is possible to strip away a lot of costs which the workshops in this country are having to carry. A lovely phrase which we kept coming across is that they were doing "socially useful labor," and if they came up to that criterion, it was more important than any profit element. From Moscow, we traveled to Leningrad. Leningrad itself has some nine special enterprises for the blind. They talk in terms of some 9,000 workers throughout the region, including blind and seeing operatives. Six enterprises were in the city itself, a city with a population of three million. The Leningrad special enterprise was the one which I found the most fascinating. In the first department were all able-bodied workers -- tool-makers, jig-makers, servicing personnel. Then we went into a department where blind men and women were doing extremely complicated wiring into specially designed jigs. They were using braille directions and braille diagrams. The jig I examined looked to be capable of handling up to about a dozen different colored leads. Then we went into another section where again blind people were operating presses; another section where they were assembling parts. I think it was at this point where I began to recognize what was being done. Here the parts being assembled were turning out to be electrical relays. Again in the final assembly room, fully sighted workers were doing intricate soldering, ending up with automatic telephone which were being exported, I think they said, to some 27 different countries. By law, blind workers in the Soviet Union work one hour a day less than other workers doing the same work. They are on a six-hour day, as against a normal seven-hour day, and overtime is strictly forbidden. But don't get too excited, because this was a six-day week. However, they were expecting next year to go on a five-day week. Then, of course, we wanted to know about the wages. There is a basic wage common to all workers in the same trade, but the wage above that is absolute, pure piece-work, with blind workers and sighted workers receiving the same piece rate for the job. Obviously, this is going to produce a lower income for the blind worker, because he is already six hours a week down on productive earnings. We were told that there is a state disability pension for blind workers. They have to qualify with a year's service by the time they are 20 before they can get it. We were told that training periods spent in study at higher-education establishments or universities are counted as periods of employment. All students, whether blind or sighted, receive a salary during their student days. Looking at the wage position, it seems that the average blind worker would earn 100 rubles a month, with the best of them going up to 120. The average sighted worker doing the same job would be earning about 170 rubles a month, with the best of them going up to 200. The state disability pension for the blind worker was a minimum of 50 rubles per month and a maximum of 120 rubles per month, according to the family circumstances. Of interest was the role of women. We found that they occupied extremely important jobs in the trade union movement and also in the special enterprises. The chief production engineer, for instance, in Moscow was a woman. When one of our party asked whether blind married women were allowed to work, the answer was, "Is there any reason why they shouldn't?" In fact, halfway through the visit, I asked whether men were allowed to take on any responsible jobs, because up to then we had only seen them driving buses and sweeping up leaves. In Leningrad, in addition to the automatic telephone exchanges, we saw small transformers, remote-control units, again electrical fittings, and again television, radio, and tape recorder leads. It looks as though with the mixing of ordinary, able-bodied workers and blind workers, they have been able to approach a completely industrial setup as far as the enterprises are concerned, and the thing that surprised us was that instead of talking about losses as we do, they were showing us things that they were providing out of profits. In the cultural complex in Leningrad, for example, provided out of the profits of the nine special enterprises for the blind, they showed us a theater that they had built -- 550 seats, revolving stage, and quite a lot of additionalfacilities in the way of rehearsal rooms, a music room, gymnasium, and so on -- all financed from profits, with running costs supported again by profits from the enterprises. We went down to the Caucasus and saw another facility that comes out of profits, the Health Center (they call it a convalescent home). We were all satisfied that it was more a miniature hospital than a convalescent home. It housed 150 patients. Any member of the union who needed convalescent treatment had a right to go there for 24 days in a year, with the expenses being met out of union funds from this 1 percent. We found there a 90-some staff for 150 patients. We were frankly amazed, because it had its own X-ray department, its own dental department, and a general medical setup -- something far beyond what we would normally regard as being available in an ordinary convalescent home in this country. One other advantage that they have is what they call a National Society of Inventors and Rationalizers. If there is a particular problem either in the daily living of a blind person or in the employment of blind people, it is given to this organization to "sort out." There is no question of financial reward or anything like that for the people who sort it out. They seem to derive a great deal of satisfaction from a national award for what they call "socialist emulation." There were other things that we saw that we liked; that we think were a considerable improvement on what goes on in this country. Certainly we came back with ideas, some of which are impracticable because we are not in a planned economy, but some of which are very, very practicable, that we would like to be discussing in greater detail with people concerned with development of workshop employment in this country. ***** ** New Machine Identifies Money for Blind People (Reprinted from the National Enquirer) A device developed through space age technology makes money talk for blind people, enabling them to tell the denomination of any bill. "Until now a blind vendor had to trust a customer to be telling the truth about any bill larger than a one, but not any more," said research analyst Charles Dreyer. The money identifier he and research assistant Jean Carter developed is about the size of a cigar box and has a wand that contains a light and a sensitive phototransistor. Light and dark patterns on the backs of bills are translated into sound waves. "As you pass the wand over the back of a bill, it emits tones in patterns," Dreyer said. "The back of each bill is different, so they give off different tones. Once you learn them, they are easy to identify." For example, the rapid pace of blips from a $1 bill are easily distinguishable from the more regular tones that result when scanning a $20 bill, he said. Said Miss Carter, "On a $5 bill you listen for the columns on the Lincoln Memorial. They give a pattern like riding a roller coaster. "On a $10 bill you get high tones on the ends and a warble in the middle with a gentle break as the scanner crosses the Treasury Building." The two researchers developed the device at the Southwest Research Center in San Antonio, Tex., under a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contract aimed at applying space technology to biomedical and rehabilitative uses. Elmo Knoch, director of training at the Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind in Little Rock, told THE ENQUIRER: "This device holds great potential. I took it to a meeting of 80 blind high school kids and in about 15 minutes most of them were correctly identifying the bills by listening to the sound patterns." ***** ** The White Cane Business By Claudell S. Stocker Kansas Rehabilitation Center for the Blind (Reprinted from K.A.B. News) Agencies and organizations that serve the blind do a remarkable job selling legislation, rehabilitation, new employment opportunities, and in organizing blind bowling leagues. However, with all this energy and prolific words, the very thing we experience the most, we do the least about: BLINDNESS. Who knows more about the tragedy, pain, and inconvenience of blindness than we do? But who takes time to talk about what we can do about it? We spend hours telling the public-school children about braille and how "little blind children react," but do we tell the students about snowballs, firecrackers, B-B guns being the biggest blinders of American school children? We speak to service organizations about the mobility of the modern blind man, displaying those beautiful long white canes. But what do we tell these people about the importance of seeing an ophthalmologist every two years for examinations that can prevent blindness from glaucoma, or discover operable cataracts or even diabetes? We speak to ladies' church societies about all the braille Bibles distributed by the American Bible Society, demonstrate how a blind housewife threads a needle. But how often do we tell them that one out of ten Americans will be directly affected by a serious visual impairment during his or her lifetime, or about how many small children are blinded by household products and home accidents each year? Sometimes I think we work harder for the "National Prevention of Sight" than we do for the prevention of blindness. In this modern, education-oriented culture of ours, we all live close to some public or private school. But how many of us really know for sure that the students are wearing safety goggles in science, manual arts, and art classes? We are all doing a magnificent job recruiting new students for special-education classes, the residential school for the blind, the rehabilitation center for the blind, and the blind bowling league. But by our gross neglect to inform the public that 50 percent of all blindness is preventable, we are making sure we stay in the white cane business. Every day of our lives, we are directly affected by serious visual impairment of blindness through personal experience -- our loved ones, our friends, or in our volunteer or professional work. What have you done today to help another become aware of the precious value of his vision? Or by not doing this, how many white canes have you "sold" for the future? ***** ** Seeing the World Bull Sessions in Spain By Joseph Wiedenmayer "The Brave Bulls," they were called by the writer, Barnaby Conrad, who fought some of them when he was a young American vice consul in Spain, until he resigned shortly before I arrived. Before that, another American, Sydney Franklin, of Brooklyn was famous in Spain's bull rings. But among the great Spanish toreadors when I lived there were El Cordobes and Manolete, who was gored and killed at the height of his career. I saw them and many others during the Sunday bull fights I attended in the company of my Spanish and American friends. To some Americans, it is a cruel sport with "brave bulls." To others -- and to all Spaniards -- it is a refined art requiring meticulous skill. One need only face a bull in his stall a couple of feet away to realize how big and awesome a bull can be. Viewed from the grandstand of the arena, he seems less dangerous. But not to the toreador in the ring, as he performs his graceful, courageous, but cautious "passes" and "veronicas" and eventually conquers the weakened and tired animal. That is the sad part. No bull is ever killed on arrival in the arena, when he is fresh and vigorous. Running bulls in the streets of Pamplona once each year is another session, and seen nowhere else in the world. The purpose of the amateur participants is to run with or ahead of the big bulls, not to kill them. What I learned from a bull in Madrid in 1947, I shall never forget. A Spanish friend took me to see a novillada, which is an amateur bullfight watched and participated in by the guests in a private arena seating several hundred people. After a glass of Dry Sack sherry with other guests in the host's villa, my friend escorting me to the arena. Sitting in the front row awaiting the first event in the ring, my host explained that only small, young bulls not yet qualified for professional bullfights are used; and instead of swords and barbed sticks and sharp lances, only short wooden sticks with blunt ends are employed by the amateur performers, so as not to hurt the prize bulls. A carpa, red cloth, as in professional fights, is also carried. My friend stressed the cardinal rule for all toreadors, amateurs and professionals. It is: Never take the eyes off the bull while fighting him — not even for a second. When he concluded briefing me, I asked him why the three senoritas near us were carrying Red Cross bags. "In case a bull gets scratched or cut by the sticks," he replied. Then the gate at the far end of the arena opened and the first of the bulls ran in. A man on horseback gave him a gentle, harmless prod with a long blunt pole. The amateur participant, a pretty senorita, was ready with a stick in one hand and a red cloth in the other when the bull charged toward her as she waved her carpa. When the bull was within a few feet of her, she flourished the red carpa in a "pass," took a quick side step, and poked the bull in the shoulder with her stick as he raced past within inches of her body. "Bravo! Bravo!" shouted several hundred spectators. The next two bulls encountered young men who performed with varying degrees of skill and without mishap to themselves. Suddenly, without warning and before the fourth bull was due to enter the ring, my good friend stood up and shouted to the nearest spectators, "El consul americano — the American consul! We want the American consul next in the ring." I was the consul! The crowd responded with, "El consul americano:" urging me to take a turn. I was dumbfounded. I had never seen a novillada in my life, no less participating in one. But my friend urged me to try it. "You can always drop the cloth and stick and run away before the bull approaches you," he said. So I decided to be a good sport among friends and walked out into the arena, where I was handed a carpa and a stick. My heart was beating pretty fast. Once again the gate opened and in rushed a roaring bull. Down there he didn't look little to me. He looked enormous. My immediate reaction was to run, too -- in the opposite direction. But instead, I held my ground. I did what I had seen the others do. I flourished the red carpa, attempted the "pass," and the bull charged past me. The crowd roared approval with "Bravos" for my performance. I felt proud of myself and made a hands-over-the-head boxer's gesture as I turned around to face the crowd, with my back to the bull. Wham: The bull hit me in the rear end and slammed me against the arena wall. Again the crowd roared "Bravo!" But this time it was for the bull, not me. Everybody laughed except me. The senoritas with their Red Cross bags rushed to my side, not the bull's. That was why they were there -- to give first aid to us. I was shaken, indeed, but only my pride and my hearing aid were hurt. The impact knocked my hearing aid to the ground and the clumsy bull stepped on it. At that time in 1947, I did not know yet that I already had advancing retinitis pigmentosa or "tunnel" vision, and neither did the bull. My visual acuity was still quite good, although unbeknown to me, my peripheral vision was not. I learned the hard way why it is said, "Never take your eyes off the bull!" As in life, it is a good policy to keep our eyes on the target, the goal we strive to reach over the years, or we'll get knocked all over the lot. ***** ** In Memoriam: Peter F. Campbell By Phyllis Stern Peter F. Campbell, Field Representative of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, died in the Peekskill Hospital early on the morning of Wednesday, September 4, at the age of 62. This simple fact will bring various memories flooding into the minds of the hundreds of people who knew him. Peter Campbell was born in Boston, July 27, 1912. He was a graduate of the Perkins Institute and continued his education at Boston University. His employment background was as diversified as his talents -- including owning and managing a boarding house he owned in the Boston area. Almost eighteen years ago, the directors of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a newly established guide-dog school in Yorktown Heights, New York, asked Peter to accept the position of Field Representative and Director of Student Services. At Guiding Eyes, Pete achieved what all men strive for: work he believed in and loved. Pete was one of the charter members of the Yorktown Heights Lions Club and for several years held the position of Sight Conservation Chairman on the District Governor's cabinet. Over the past several years, Pete attended the conventions of both national organizations of the blind, various meetings of professional organizations, and countless state conventions, making lasting friendships wherever he went. On a tape recently sent to a friend, he said that since his cancer surgery in March, he had received almost two thousand cards, tapes and letters wishing him well. He added that he hoped he would be able to answer them all. Peter is survived by his wife Frieda and their two lovely daughters, Claudia and Penny. In addition, Frieda and Pete were over the past ten years foster parents to sixteen small children, giving them perhaps the first taste of love and understanding they were to know. Peter Campbell was loved and called friend by literally hundreds of people. Those friends who really knew him and attended one of Peter's parties would join in one fervent prayer: that the kindly light he so often sang of will lead him to the peace and rest he so richly deserves. ***** ** Florida Leader Dies We were all shocked and grieved at the Chicago convention when we learned that Larry Thompson of Tampa, Florida had suffered a fatal fall from a roof-repairing job a few days earlier. Larry was a founding member of the American Council of the Blind and served on its Board of Directors. He had been president of his Tampa chapter, and also of the organization which is now our Florida affiliate. In the 1950's he had also been a member of the National Federation of the Blind Executive Committee. He will be sorely missed. ***** ** More Can Get SSI Pay Now (By Robert F. Gurske, Social Security Administrator; Reprinted from Wisconsin State Journal, August 4, 1974) A change in the interpretation of one of the regulations concerning the Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, program may mean benefit payments now that were not possible before. SSI payments to a single person can be as high as $216 a month and to a couple $329. For this, land over and above one acre on which the home was located was considered a resource of the owner, and therefore its value was figured along with any savings, stocks, or bonds and had to fall below the $1,500 if single, $2,250 for married couples, if both were eligible, resource limitation. Since a home of reasonable value (approximately $25,000 market value) is allowable and not considered a resource, the regulation did not seem fair to those with modest homes situated on more than one acre. As a result of a change in regulations, land contiguous to the home will be evaluated along with the home, and if both the home and land are of reasonable value, the person could qualify for SSI. "Contiguous land" means all land adjoining the home, including any lands separated only by roads, rivers or streams. It cannot be separated by intervening property owned by another person. If you have any questions, or if you were turned down previously because you owned land, and you feel this change may affect you, contact your nearest Social Security Office. ***** ** Here and There By Sue Graves From JOURNAL OF REHABILITATION: Los Angeles Apollo Laser, Inc. has announced a new electronic visual aid for the partially sighted: a compact, portable CCTV reading machine that weighs only 29 pounds and costs only $950, complete. The machine features a high-contrast picture -- black on white or white on black, at the flick of a switch -- inline viewing on a 12-inch monitor, and a "zoom" lens for 5 to 30-times magnification range, with more available if needed. For further information, contact Apollo Lasers, Inc., 6357 Arizona Circle, Los Angeles, CA 90045. United Workers for the Blind, an affiliate of the Missouri Federation of the Blind, are to be congratulated for a job well done. Their dream of a home or apartment building for the blind has now become a reality. Thanks to the persistence and hours of work by these dedicated people, there is now an eight-unit apartment building for the blind in St. Louis, which boasts of wall-to-wall carpeting, central heating and air conditioning, and reasonable rent. Braille Patterns Now Available: Fingertip Patterns, developed by Verna L. Dotson, are designed for the blind seamstress who desires to be independent. The Fingertip Pattern is made from heavy paper, easy to cut around. As in print, each piece will be clearly marked. The embossed lines and darts, along with the braille instruction sheet, enable the blind to construct a garment without sighted help. Slacks, blouses, skirts, and simple dresses will be available. $1.25 per pattern. For further details, write to Fingertip Patterns, 155 N. Bellaire Avenue, Louisville, KY 40206. Through the Rain and Rainbow, by Professor Lyle M. Crist, long-time friend of Dr. Richard Kinney, is the biography of the Executive Director of the Hadley School for the Blind. Dr. Kinney is an outstanding educator, lecturer, and poet who has been blind since age seven and deaf since age twenty. This book will be of interest to those who have met Dr. Kinney personally, as well as to those who have not known him. The book, about Dr. Kinney and the late Evelyn Kinney, can be ordered from Abingdon Press, 201 8th Avenue, South Nashville, TN 37202. From UCB COURIER (Utah): NaDeen Hackwell, a member of the Board of Directors of the Utah Council of the Blind and president of the Employees Association of the Internal Revenue Service in Ogden, was selected as Handicapped Employee of the Year at IRS, in recognition of her excellent work record her efforts in behalf of other handicapped workers, and her many innovative and helpful suggestions for improving work output at the IRS Service Center. From AFB WASHINGTON REPORT: A $200,000 grant to establish an office in Washington, D.C. for the newly created National Industries for the Severely Handicapped (NISH) has been announced by HEW Secretary Casper W. Weinberger. NISH will be a focal point for efforts to assist in obtaining government contracts under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act for sheltered workshops employing severely handicapped persons and will be a counterpart of National Industries for the Blind, which has served workshops for the blind in a similar capacity for many years. With HEW's Rehabilitation Services Administration assuming the coordinating role, participants in NISH will be the following six non-profit agencies: Goodwill Industries of America, International Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, Jewish Occupational Council, National Association of Retarded Citizens, National Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults, and United Cerebral Palsy Association. All of these organizations have workshop affiliates. An abridged version of the ink-print periodical Chess Life and Review, minus ads, is available in braille. Subscription price is $15 for twelve monthly issues. To order, write Mrs. J.M. Beck, Executive Director, Volunteer Services for the Blind, 919 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. From NEGRO BRAILLE MAGAZINE comes the report that Marty Snyder, a blind 60-year-old retired restauranteur from Clarkstown, New York, has been chosen to head that community's nine-member committee to censor movies, cabaret acts, and printed matter. According to the article: "There are some who consider the appointment unfair, but Snyder, a former mess sergeant to General Dwight Eisenhower and an admitted conservative, says he has no reservations about how well he can serve as a guardian of Clarkstown's morals ... " -- Joe Walker has worked at several different radio stations during his career as a sportscaster. Although he has never actually seen a sporting event because he is blind, he listens to the radio and attends these events and then does his own broadcasts. Joe's boss and station manager says: "Joe isn't handicapped. He just can't see. He can do everything around here. He's my utility man. He cuts commercials, does a 'talk' show, newscasts, and even a Gospel program. He's quite a guy." From ILLINOIS BRAILLE MESSENGER: Wilbur Wright College is offering a post-secondary education program for blind students in the Chicago area. They will be offering three courses for the blind population: Home Economics for the Blind, Counseling for the Blind, and Communicative Skills -­ Braille I. For further information, contact Orlando A. Poozio, Dean, Community Service--Continuing Education, Wilbur Wright College, 3400 N. Austin Avenue, Chicago, IL 60634. -- Psycho­Social Rehabilitation Problems is a new book written by Alvin Roberts, Rehabilitation Teacher, Marion, Illinois. The book presents a variety of techniques by which counselors, teachers, social workers, and other workers with the blind can assist newly blinded individuals to cope with the psychological and social problems related to visual impairment. The book is published by Charles C. Thomas, Publishers, 301-327 E. Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, IL 62717, and the cost is $8.95 per copy. From MAB NEWS (Mich.): A file system listing and describing employment opportunities for blind persons is being developed at the Greater Detroit Society for the Blind. This library card-file system will consist of two basic parts: (1) an occupational literature file of about 1,000 cards, listing all available literature on the training, placement, and employment of the blind and (2) a job description file of about 500 names, covering job titles, educational requirements, and special training and job modifications, where necessary. The file will be periodically updated and was expected to be available by early this year, at about $50 per set. For further information, write to Occupational Information Library, 140 Ash Street, Detroit, MI 48208. Stevie Wonder, graduate of the Michigan School for the Blind, received four awards and a standing ovation at the 16th annual Grammy Awards at the Hollywood Palladium. This famous singer and song writer was given awards for the songs "Superstition" and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." At a recent news conference in Los Angeles, Stevie Wonder announced his plans to move to Africa, where he will establish residency in Ghana and tour parts of Africa to raise money to hep unfortunate children, especially the blind. From KAB NEWS (Kan.): At a dinner at Tommy's Restaurant, Walter Schreiner, then president of the Kansas Association of the Blind, and M. Augie McCollum of the Topeka Association of the Visually Impaired, presented a check to the representatives of the Kansas-Paraguay People-to-People Association, who were visiting in Topeka. The money was to be used for the construction of a building for the blind. The letter received in acknowledgement of this check stated that the money would be used for the rehabilitation center which was under construction. From the MISSOURI CHRONICLE: Edgar M. Buell was born in Hamilton, Indiana and went to Laos sixteen years ago after the death of his wife. He is one of the founders of a school for the blind children of Laos, which is not easy, as Laotians believe blindness is a result of sin, and, he says, "We have not even convinced Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma that the blind may be taught." The sixty-year-old Pop Buell now has 21 children enrolled in the Vientiane school for the blind, where he teaches them to read and write braille and how to adapt to their sightless condition. He hopes soon to be able to occupy a larger house where he may have more space to teach more things such as teaching the blind children to tend vegetable gardens so he can defray some of his expenses. The modest school is supported by some small grants from various foundations and, more importantly, by private contributions. Readers will be saddened to learn of the death of Mrs. Annie B. Johnson Shaheen. Mrs. Shaheen will be remembered by many as a rehabilitation teacher in North Carolina for many years, and also as the wife of Ernest G. Shaheen, Assistant Editor of the Matilda Ziegler Magazine. ***** *** ACB Resolutions, 1974 Following is the complete text of all resolutions adopted by the ACB National Convention. ** Resolution 74-01 WHEREAS, most states now have laws pertaining to the use of guide dogs and/or white canes by blind persons; and WHEREAS, these state laws differ in greater or lesser degree with respect to traffic regulations and the accessibility of housing and places of public accommodation to blind persons using guide dogs; and WHEREAS, blind persons comprise a significant part of our highly mobile national population, moving freely from state to state; and WHEREAS, difference in the laws pertaining to use of guide dogs and white canes may often cause confusion and create real danger to blind persons; and WHEREAS, a clear need thus exists for uniform legislation that would assure equal protection of laws to all blind persons using guide dogs, white canes, or other bona fide aids to physical mobility; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the American Council of the Blind, in Convention assembled at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, August 3, 1974, that this organization give its full support to the enactment of Federal legislation (1) establishing uniformity of traffic regulations designed for the protection of blind pedestrians; and (2) protecting the equal rights of guide-dog users with respect to housing and full accessibility to public places. ** Resolution 74-02 WHEREAS, numerous "spot announcements" regarding blind persons appear on television and radio; and WHEREAS, some of these announcements emanate from organizations and agencies that do not always project a positive image of blind persons and which are primarily interested in promoting narrow interests not shared by the total community of blind persons; and WHEREAS, a positive and comprehensive educational approach regarding the needs and abilities of blind persons is badly needed on a nationwide scale; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind, in Convention assembled at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, August 3, 1974, that a national campaign be undertaken to develop a series of positive, constructive spot announcements on television and radio that will present blind persons and organizations of the blind in a more favorable light; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, when funds permit, the American Council of the Blind employ a well-informed, competent public relations person to conduct this program. ** Resolution 74-03 WHEREAS, a rapid increase in the use of books for the blind and physically handicapped has resulted in a shortage of talking book and cassette machines and long waiting lists for popular titles at the regional libraries; and WHEREAS, the budget of the Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress should be substantially increased to provide more books and equipment to meet current demands; and WHEREAS, the program administered by the Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is larger than those of several departments of the Library of Congress, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Council of the Blind, in Convention assembled at Chicago, Illinois, August 3, 1974, instruct its President and National Representative to seek Congressional action elevating services for the blind and physically handicapped to full departmental status in the Library of Congress, and increasing the budget to a level sufficient to eliminate shortages of equipment and reduce the waiting time for books to an acceptable period. ** Resolution 74-04 WHEREAS, a nation-wide movement is under way to remove architectural barriers inhibiting the movement of physically handicapped persons; and WHEREAS, blind persons encounter considerable inconvenience from the absence of uniformity in the location and identifiable form of elevator controls in hotels, hospitals, and other buildings; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind, at its 1974 Convention at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, that the National Office of this organization is directed to contact the National Bureau of Standards and urge the adoption of a policy Requiring uniformity in the location of elevator controls in all new buildings and on all newly installed equipment in existing buildings, and further requiring that such controls be marked with raised, readily identifiable tactile symbols. ** Resolution 74-06 WHEREAS, braille is essential to blind and deaf-blind persons as a means of written communication; and WHEREAS, evidence of relaxation in teaching braille is provided by the fact that the IBM Electric Braille Typewriter has not been widely accepted; and WHEREAS, it is important that a reliable and easy means of writing braille, such as that afforded by the IBM Electric Braille Typewriter, be readily available to persons who have not received extensive training in the intricacies of the braille system; and WHEREAS, it appears that the slate and stylus have been neglected in school programs, even though their portability makes them highly desirable writing instruments; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Council of the Blind, in Convention assembled at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, on August 3, 1974: 1. Urges emphasis on the teaching of braille in all schools and rehabilitation centers for the blind; 2. Urges that the IBM Electric Braille Typewriter be made standard equipment ·in every agency, library, nursing home, school, public institution, and office serving blind people; 3. Urges the Library of Congress and all volunteer transcribing organizations to teach transcribers to use the IBM Electric Braille Typewriter; 4. Urges that financial subsidies be sought to bring the cost of the IBM Electric Braille Typewriter within the means of all blind persons; 5. Urges that all blind students be taught to use the slate and stylus; and 6. Urges that copies of this resolution be directed to the Library of Congress, all rehabilitation agencies for the blind, all residential schools for the blind, all state offices of education, all organized braille transcribing groups, and the International Business Machine Corporation. ** Resolution 74-07 WHEREAS, Good Cheer, the national magazine for the deaf-blind, has been circulated free of charge throughout the past thirty-five years, depending for support on volunteer donations from individuals and a few organizations (three of the latter == the Missouri Federation of the Blind, and the American Foundation for the Blind, and the Wisconsin Council of the Blind -- have generously contributed between three-fifths and two-thirds of the magazine's very limited funds since about 1960); and WHEREAS, it would be necessary to suspend publication of Good Cheer if any of these three major donors withdrew its support -- a fact of life that became quite apparent last year when the annual $250 gift of the American Foundation for the Blind was unavoidably delayed for many months; and WHEREAS, the collapse of Good Cheer, the only braille publication of its kind in the United States, would be a severe blow to those more disadvantaged deaf-blind persons who, despite their social and economic privations, are eager to read about the activities and accomplishments of their doubly handicapped peers; and who often form lifelong friendships with pen pals discovered in the pages of Good Cheer; and WHEREAS, the British and Canadian governments fully subsidize similar braille magazines for their deaf-blind citizens; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind, in Convention assembled at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, August 3, 1974, that this organization urge its National Representative, officers and directors to request the Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress to provide adequate funds for the support of Good Cheer, an expense that would be far less than the cost of providing braille and recorded editions of any ink-print periodical now available to the blind; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that, pending favorable action by the Library of Congress, the American Council of the Blind urge its affiliates to help Good Cheer. ** Resolution 74-08 WHEREAS, court reporters must be certified through written examinations to work in some state courts; and WHEREAS, it appears that at least six states have laws or personnel regulations forbidding the use of a Stenomask by persons taking such examinations; and WHEREAS, such restrictions discriminate against competent typists who are blind and thus cannot take the examinations either by hand or shorthand machine; and WHEREAS, blind people have proved themselves to be reliable court reporters in both Federal and state courts; and WHEREAS, the Visually Impaired Secretarial Transcribers Association (VISTA) has called attention to a specific case in Illinois in which an experienced blind transcriber was denied the right to take the certification examination with a Stenomask, and in which help is being sought to eliminate the restriction; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Council of the Blind, in Convention assembled on August 3, 1974, at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, hereby authorizes its National Representative to give assistance, upon request by the Illinois affiliate, in conducting research on the legal status of personnel practices in Illinois regarding the certification requirements for court reporters, and to offer suggestions for remedying any unfair practices; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Representative endeavor to identify all other states that have similar restrictions and offer recommendations for correcting them. ** Resolution 74-09 WHEREAS, Title XVI of the Social Security Act discriminates against married couples as beneficiaries, in that they are eligible for smaller benefits than are unmarried couples, thereby unjustly imposing a penalty on persons who are married; and WHEREAS, Federal benefits are not adequate to meet the needs of married couples; and WHEREAS, it is socially undesirable to reduce benefits because of marriage; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind in Convention assembled on August 3, 1974, in Chicago, Illinois, that the officers and Legislative Committee be requested to seek the elimination of existing discrimination against married couples in the amount of such benefits. ** Resolution 74-10 WHEREAS, the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of American has embarked upon a campaign to send 75,000 letters to the House of Representatives, and in particular to the House Select Subcommittee on Education, which now has before it S. 2581, the Randolph-Sheppard Amendments of 1974; and WHEREAS, the American Council of the Blind and the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America have worked diligently in support of this progressive legislation in cooperation with other organizations; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RES6LVED, by the American Council of the Blind in Convention assembled on August 3, 1974, at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, that its officers and Legislative Committee be requested to assist the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America in its mailing project in the interest of securing enactment of S. 2581; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that participating members be advised to send copies of letters and signed petitions to the ACB National Office. ** Resolution 74-11 WHEREAS, several affiliates of the "federation" American Council of the Blind still retain the word in their titles, thereby creating considerable confusion among blind people and the general public because of similarity in name to other organizations; and WHEREAS, such confusion leads to misunderstandings that are not in the best interests of blind people in ACB organizations; and WHEREAS, American Council of the Blind affiliates in Florida and Tennessee have acted officially by substituting the word "council" for the word "federation" in their titles, while at the same time retaining their original charters in the old names, to prevent their use by any other organization; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind, assembled in Chicago, Illinois, on August 3, 1974, that those affiliates with confusing words in their titles consider taking action similar to that of Tennessee and Florida. ** Resolution 74-12 WHEREAS, our democratic society is based upon the constitutional grant of equal rights, privileges, and immunities to each citizen; and WHEREAS, the national programs of rehabilitation and financial support for military veterans and civilians are grossly dissimilar; and WHEREAS, programs for veterans are based on full recognition of the rights and dignity of each individual and have demonstrated greater success and economy than other programs based on minimum subsistence and piecemeal rehabilitation; and WHEREAS, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act was originally limited to veterans and was later extended to all disabled persons, but on a far more restricted basis than provisions applicable to veterans; and WHEREAS, the double standard thereby created is not only unfair but also wastefully expensive, particularly in the use of manpower for investigatory activities that result in the destruction of personal dignity, thus undermining the very purpose of the program; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the American Council of the Blind, assembled in Convention in Chicago, Illinois on August 3, 1974, in recognition of the rights of all people to fair and equal consideration in accordance with the basic law, petition the United States Congress, Federal agencies, and administrative officers charged with responsibility for the implementation of these programs to work for the establishment of financial support, medical and rehabilitation services, educational assistance, and employment opportunities for all blind, deaf-blind, and other severely disabled citizens, on terms of equality with programs provided for veterans. ** Resolution 74-13 WHEREAS, a writer who is a respected member of the American Council of the Blind has called attention to the non-existence of any organization explicitly devoted to writers and potential writers who are visually impaired, and has requested that ACB consider the establishment of such an organization; and WHEREAS, many persons with visual impairments might benefit from such an organization; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind, at its Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois, August 3, 1974, that the President appoint a committee to ascertain the interest in and desirability of such an organization. ** Resolution 74-14 WHEREAS, large sums of money are spent on research dealing with problems of vision and mobility; and WHEREAS, hundreds of agencies, lacking the money for conducting basic research on the nature of blindness, are nevertheless responsible for providing rehabilitation services for blind persons; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind, assembled in Chicago, Illinois, on August 3, 1974, direct its officers and National Representative to take whatever action is necessary to introduce legislation creating a major research center on blindness and mobility as part of the National Institutes of Health. ** Resolution 74-15 WHEREAS, the National Center for Law and the Handicapped has contributed to the advancement of legal rights of the handicapped, including blind persons; and WHEREAS, cooperation between the American Council of the Blind and the National Center for Law and the Handicapped is in the best interests of all blind and visually handicapped persons; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the American Council of the Blind in convention assembled at the La Salle Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, August 3, 1974, that the officers and National Representative of this organization are hereby authorized to cooperate with the National Center for Law and the Handicapped on projects of mutual concern and importance. ** Resolution 74-16 WHEREAS, on January 1, 1973, the Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare constituted the National Advisory Committee on the Blind and Visually Handicapped; and WHEREAS, on March 7, 1974, its members were duly notified that this Committee was dissolved and discontinued; and WHEREAS, during the past decade, the principle of citizen consumer participation has become well established and widely recognized through the service of numerous consumers as advisers, consultants, policy-makers, and planners in the affairs of government and the community at all levels; and WHEREAS, the continued implementation of this principle is a necessary and appropriate function of our system of democracy; and WHEREAS, consistent with this function, it is the established right and duty of citizen consumers who are blind or visually impaired to serve in such capacities in relation to all agencies that provide programs and services for the blind and visually handicapped; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that this Convention of the American Council of the Blind, held in Chicago, Illinois, August 3, 1974, expresses its strenuous disapproval of the dissolution of the National Advisory Committee on the Blind and Visually Handicapped, and hereby calls upon the Honorable Casper Weinberger, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, forthwith to re-establish and re-constitute such committee. The following paragraphs are excerpts of a letter from James G. Chandler, former Librarian and President of Volunteers for the Visually Handicapped, to Floyd Qualls, July 26, 1974: ... As a former librarian and as the president of Volunteers for the Visually Handicapped, I have become painfully aware of the inadequacy of reference materials immediately available to the blind. In particular, it seems both inconvenient and unnecessary that there is no up-to-date, authoritative, inexpensive dictionary that a blind person can consult without assistance. For nearly a year, I have been pondering this problem and have discussed one possible solution with anyone who will listen. It appears to be technically feasible to record a dictionary on tape so that it will be immediately accessible to anyone who can operate a Library of Congress cassette player. In the past, it was difficult to find a specific word within a tape, but an indexing technique being tested at the University of Louisville and the American Printing House for the Blind shows great promise. Further refinement and the actual recording of the dictionary would probably require approximately one to two years. It will be most helpful to all concerned with this project to have an indication of interest from your members ... In response to this letter, the American Council of the Blind Convention adopted the following resolution: ** Resolution 74-17 BE IT RESOLVED, that the 1974 Convention of the American Council of the Blind hereby commends Mr. James Chandler for his efforts and services in the production of a cassette tape edition of a complete standard dictionary; and further hereby expresses its encouragement and support of this dictionary project, which will fulfill a previously unmet need of students, professionals, and other blind or visually impaired persons. ** Resolution 74-18 WHEREAS, the Arizona Council of the Blind has made a voluntary contribution of $500.00 to the American Council of the Blind to help in paying the cost of its good work in the interests of blind persons throughout the country, and had advocated a plan for a special fund-raising event by each ACB affiliate which, it is hoped, would annually produce at least $500.00, respectively, for the voluntary support of ACB; and WHEREAS, the plan is in no way an assessment, and would be carried out by each affiliate in its own way; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the American Council of the Blind, assembled in Chicago, Illinois, on August 3, 1974, that each affiliate be urged to follow the recommended practice of the Arizona Council of the Blind, beginning, if possible, in the last half of this year. ***** ** ACB Officers and Directors * President: Floyd Qualls, 106 N.E. 2nd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104 * First Vice President: S. Bradley Burson, 917 Kenyon Street, Downers Grove, IL 60515 * Second Vice President: Billie Elder, 5317 W. 29th Street, Little Rock., AR 72204 * Secretary: M. Helen Vargo, 833 Oakley Street, Topeka, KS 66606 * Treasurer: J. Edward Miller, 2621 Chesterfield Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28205 George Fogarty, 5565 Florence Terrace, Oakland, CA 94611 Jack Lewis, 540 Rogers Drive, Macon, GA 30204 Lester McGlaughn, 2403 Monroe Avenue, Gadsden, AL 35901 Wallace Menning, 2750 Ellis Avenue, N.E., Salem, OR 97301 Herbert Pitz, 403 Merritt Street, Oshkosh, WI 54001 Norman Robinson, 7107 S. King Drive, Chicago, IL 60619 Reese Robrahn, 818 18th Street, N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20006 Otis Stephens, 2021 Kemper Lane, Knoxville, TN 37920 John Vanlandingham, 5800 N. 19th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85015 ###