The Braille Forum Vol. XXII July 1983 No. 1 ACB Awards Scholarships to Twelve Outstanding Postsecondary Students Published monthly by the American Council of the Blind Mary T. Ballard, Editor ***** National Office: Oral O. Miller 1211 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Suite 506 Washington, DC 20036 1-800-424-8666 Editorial Office The Braille Forum: Mary T. Ballard 190 Lattimore Road Rochester, NY 14620 (716) 244-8364 Contributing Editors Elizabeth Lennon 1315 Greenwood Avenue Kalamazoo, MI 49007 ** ACB Officers * President: Grant Mack 139 East South Temple, Suite 5000 Salt Lake City, UT 84111 * First Vice President: Dr. Otis H. Stephens 2021 Kemper Lane, S.W. Knoxville, TN 37920 * Second Vice President: Dr. Robert T. McLean Box 237 Department Of Mathematical Sciences Loyola University New Orleans, LA 70118 * Secretary: Karen Perzentka 6913 Colony Drive Madison, WI 53717 * Treasurer: James R. Olsen Summit Bank Bldg., Suite 822 310 4th Avenue, S. Minneapolis, MN 55415 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 President's Message, by Grant Mack ACB Awards Scholarships to Twelve Superior Blind Students News Briefs from the ACB National Office, by Oral O. Miller A Personal Perspective on Accreditation, by Scott Marshall Top Radio Airplay Expected for ACB Announcements, by Laura Oftedahl Lifeprints -- Showcasing Concerns of Visually Impaired Youth Social Security Acts to Reform Disability Review Process, by Barbara Nelson Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler Introduced at Annual PCEH Meeting, by John M. Williams ACB Action to Safeguard Accessible Air Transportation for Handicapped People, by Barbara Nelson HUD Issues Section 504 Regulations for Programs It Funds Subway Safety Committee "On Track" How Far We've Come (Part II) -- Where We Are Today: Cataracts TSPS Information Processing System ARRS Update, by Rosie Hurwitz Talking Coin Counter Able to Act The Inventor of "Cruise Control" Notice of Dismissal of Class Action High Tech Swap Shop Calendar of Events Here and There, by Elizabeth M. Lennon Notice to Subscribers ***** ** President's Message By Grant Mack In mid-June, the Second Annual Report of the American Council of the Blind rolled off the presses in Minneapolis. The true significance of that event can be better understood when it is brought to mind that last year, the ACB published its first Annual Report. That marked the first time an organization of consumer blind in this country had ever published a complete disclosure of its activities, both financial and otherwise, to the public. The fact that ACB has now printed its second such annual report is indicative of the ever-growing responsibility of the American Council. If we are to be the most responsible organization of the blind in this country we must tell those people from whom we solicit funds exactly what the money is used for, how much money is collected, and where it comes from. We have now established a financial pattern which should continue into the future. You who are members of ACB should be proud of this year's published report. I would urge that each of you request a copy, either in print or recorded form, and acquaint yourself with exactly what it contains. You will note that the American Council of the Blind is a very fast-growing organization, both in numbers and influence as well as responsibility. Our recently acquired financial stability has come as a result of establishing a chain of Thrift Stores. In 1982, three new stores were opened -- in Memphis, Tennessee, in Garland, Texas, and in Crystal, Minnesota. So far in 1983, new stores have been opened in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in Louisville, Kentucky. The Louisville store opened June 9. Thanks to the effective work of Randall Austin, Store Manager, we now not only have what appears to be another very successful store, but several blind and visually impaired persons, members of the American Council of the Blind, were hired as part of the initial staff. The establishing of Thrift Stores, however, is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a means to an end. If ACB is to grow, we need a sound financial base, and the Thrift Stores provide that base, making it possible to expand programs that benefit the blind community. We hope that you, the members and friends of ACB, share the pride with which your officers and Board members look upon the steady, responsible, and sound growth of the American Council of the Blind. ***** ** ACB Awards Scholarships to Twelve Superior Blind Students All 440 applicants for the 1983 Floyd Qualls Memorial Scholarships were impressive blind and visually impaired students enrolled in post-secondary schools. This made the selection process very difficult. Applications were received from scholars in all fifty states, pursuing a vast variety of career training programs and involved in countless extracurricular organizations and projects. All applicants are to be commended for their academic achievements, determination, and involvement in community service activities. The American Council of the Blind Scholarship Selection Committee is pleased to announce this year's recipients of the Floyd Qualls Memorial Scholarships. The following four outstanding students will receive $2,500 each to help pay for tuition and other school expenses: Carol Gordner, from Bloomsberg, Pennsylvania, freshman in computer information science at Kutztown State College; Lisa Hoffman, Rochester, New York, who will begin business administration studies at St. John Fisher College there in September; Richard Holborow of Wyckoff, New Jersey, who begins his junior year at Cornell University in the fall, majoring in biology and society; and Erik Nordstrom, Shakopee, Minnesota, a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Morris, who is looking toward a degree in chemical engineering. The $1500 Floyd Qualls Scholarship recipients include: Audrey Curran, who resides in Paso Robles, California, and is working on her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Fielding Institute, Santa Barbara; Thomas Galante, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, studying for a Master's degree in human resources management at the University of Pittsburgh; Karen Helmacy, Pompton Plains, New Jersey, incoming freshman in political science/pre-law at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Avram Rudy Vener, from Weston, Connecticut, and who is entering his junior year in computer science studies at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology. Mr. Vener is deaf-blind. (Of the other eleven ACB scholarship recipients, five are totally blind and six have low vision.) Those deserving students who will receive $1,000 Floyd Qualls Scholarships are: Lucinda Ellis, Pensacola, Florida, who will begin veterinary school at the University of Florida-Gainesville, in the fall of 1983; Robert Kraft, New York, New York, in his last year of law school at Columbia University School of Law; Bernard Timothy Rehovsky, fourth-year accounting major at the University of North Dakota in his home town of Grand Forks; and Jeffrey Siebrandt, Killeen, Texas, who will begin school in the fall as a computer science major at Texas A & M. Criteria used to select Floyd Qualls Scholarship recipients include, among other factors, academic record, financial need, and involvement in extracurricular activities. The ACB officers and Board of Directors are proud of this worthwhile scholarship program and wish it were possible to honor many more of the outstanding and enthusiastic blind and visually impaired students who applied this year. The ACB Scholarship Selection Committee, chaired by ACB Board member M.J. Schmitt of Chicago, put in many long and difficult hours during the months of May and June. Thanks to these deserving volunteers and their readers: Robert Campbell, Carla Franklin, Carol McCarl, Patricia Price, Otis Stephens, and Geraldine Stroh. ***** ** News Briefs from the ACB National Office By Oral O. Miller National Representative During the period covered by this report, ACB national staff members attended state conventions or other major meetings in Pennsylvania, Idaho, Florida, Illinois, and Arizona. The Illinois conference, sponsored by the Illinois Council of the Blind, featured a leadership training seminar at which both Scott Marshall and Barbara Nelson served as lecturers. The Idaho convention focused on the "new look" of that state's Commission for the Blind, and also underscored the dedication of the Idaho Council to become a truly statewide organization, with statewide impact. ACB Public Affairs Director Laura Oftedahl reports that attendance at the Florida Council of the Blind was the largest to date. During the first week of June, it was ACB's pleasure to host the meeting of the National Accreditation Council of Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped. It is the Commission on Accreditation that decides, after very detailed and exhaustive deliberations, whether accreditation will be extended to an applicant. The members of the Commission serve on it voluntarily, receiving reimbursement only for their costs, plus refreshments and a limited number of meals provided by a host organization. During late May, the ACB National Representative was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD). The American Council of the Blind has been a supporter of ACCD since formation of the latter organization approximately seven years ago, and in spite of recent financial setbacks caused by the reduction in Federal contract grants, ACCD can still be a very vital force in the handicapped coalition movement. During July 1983, several hundred ACB members will be asked to complete survey questionnaires which are to be sent out by the National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Visual Impairment, located at Mississippi State University. In view of the tremendous importance of the work being done by the Center and the need for confidential input by responsible blind citizens, we urge all ACB members who are contacted to cooperate as fully as possible. The newest generation of ACB public service announcements, discussed elsewhere in this issue, deal with a broad range of subjects and emphasize the value of ACB as a source of information on many areas of concern to blind and visually impaired persons. We feel certain they will please you! ***** ** A Personal Perspective on Accreditation By Scott Marshall The following address was delivered at the annual meeting of the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped in November 1982. Publication of these remarks at this time is particularly appropriate in view of the continued interest in and commitment to accreditation by the American Council of the Blind, as evidenced by the NAC seminar scheduled prior to the 1983 ACB national convention in Phoenix. It is noteworthy that NAC has responded to points raised in these remarks. It has increased the per diem allowance paid to NAC volunteers, and it has provided increased materials in recorded form to blind and visually impaired Commission members. These efforts make all aspects of the NAC process more accessible to blind persons. The NAC standards themselves are available on cassette from Recording for the Blind and will soon be available in accessible form through the National Library Service regional library network. Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to remove my ACB hat for a moment and try to talk to you as a blind person -- a consumer who has been involved with NAC long before I was ever employed by the American Council of the Blind. I come to you as a "loving critic." I am reminded of the story about an interview between Mrs. Billy Graham and a newspaper reporter. The reporter asked Mrs. Graham, "Have you ever thought about divorcing Billy?" She paused for a moment and said, "Divorce, never; murder, yes." My grandfather used to say that you can tell a man by the proverb he uses. Mark Twain once said that citizens are unsafe in their homes while the legislature is in session. Dr. James McComas, Chairman of the Commission on Accreditation, has said: "Agencies and schools for the blind are safe when the Commission on Accreditation is in session so long as they meet the standards." How did I get involved with the Commission, and why? In the fall of1980, I was engaged in the practice of law in Buffalo, New York, making sure that the bus company there paid all legitimate claims and didn't pay the illegitimate ones. I received a letter from my friend, Otis Stephens, asking if I would be interested in joining the Commission. I had heard about NAC and had read the ACB literature, as well as the position of the National Federation of the Blind with respect to accreditation. Beyond that, I knew little about accreditation. I had, however, prior to 1980 served on the New York State Industries for the Blind Board, which is the corporation that handles the sales function for workshops under the New York State use law. I did not know from this experience that those agencies which were not accredited and which were members of the corporation caused us the most concern because they did not deliver goods on time and they did not meet their contracts, and from my perspective, most of all, the conditions for blind workers in those agencies were the poorest. So I wrote Otis a very pious letter and said that, of course, I was very flattered by his confidence and I would join the Commission. Shortly thereafter, I received two notebooks of printed material, about three or four inches thick, from the NAC office, with a brief note indicating that it was every commissioner's responsibility to become familiar with this material prior to the December meeting. It was already November 1. Well, first I found a volunteer and started to go over the material. My initial reaction was that this might not be such an onerous task, after all. The on-site review reports began with a nice summary; there were major recommendations and major commendations. I thought that was all I would have to read. I came to one report that had this recommendation: "The school should provide ongoing organized in-service training for all staff to foster a consistent learning environment throughout the school." Now, if you know what that means, you're a better person than I. I soon found out that I was going to have to read the entire on-site review report to find out exactly what the major recommendations and commendations really meant. Well, my volunteer decided that she didn't want to volunteer for that much reading. So I was stuck at about November 15 without a reader and with lots of material to go through. I then went out and hired somebody and ultimately did get the material read and felt reasonably prepared to attend my first Commission meeting. I arrived at the meeting and spent the first few minutes getting acquainted with my fellow commissioners. I was awe-stricken! Most of them were Ph.D.'s -- university presidents, college teachers, agency directors -- many of them I had heard of, but had never met. The awe lasted for about five minutes, but my respect for the dedicated, concerned people on the Commission will last a lifetime. How does the decision-making process on the Commission work? The chairman first divides the work load. We were divided into panels of four people, each assigned a NAC staff person, to devote specific time and scrutiny to each agency. Each panel included a consumer member. Presently there are four blind people on the Commission on Accreditation. Having previously looked at the material, each panel retires into a separate room to discuss each agency, including the staff recommendation. Each panel reaches a decision, which in turn is recommended to the full Commission. The panel sometimes agrees with the staff recommendation, but just as often disagrees. The full Commission has an opportunity to ask questions, raise problems, and also make recommendations. The decision-making process is not controlled by any one group or faction. The consumers do not predominate; the agencies do not predominate; the public members do not predominate; and the staff member do not predominate. These twelve people from various backgrounds and experiences -- some of them from the blindness system, some of them consumers, some of them from the public sector -- are all able to bring their collective judgments to bear on the decision-making process. The meetings usually last two working days, and it is often necessary to hold evening sessions to thrash out particularly thorny problems so that the fairest and most constructive results can be achieved. That process continues on the Commission today, and I am very proud to be a part of it. I want to share with you some concerns about how we can make consumer participation more effective. I am afraid that many of the consumers involved in the NAC process at all levels are those from what might be described as the "coat and tie brigade": those of us who have either the personal resources or an organization resource to subsidize our involvement in the NAC process. I firmly believe that the per diem paid by NAC to its volunteers is inadequate and, in effect, precludes many blind people from participating. I challenge the Board to consider raising this per diem to an adequate amount so that more blind people can participate. I am sure all of us know blind people who would be willing to participate in the process but for the financial barriers. The financial barriers, of course, go well beyond this per diem. They also include the cost of reading material and those travel expenses in excess of NAC's $42.00 per diem. If we can eliminate the financial barriers, it seems to me we will be in a much better position to involve more blind people in the NAC process. And that is a responsibility of all of us. Each and every one of us should take a personal interest and responsibility to locate a qualified consumer who can participate in one of NAC's activities. Consumerism is like motherhood, America, and apple pie: everybody says it's a good idea, but few people really know how to implement it. I think that there are people out there -- not just any person, but people who are bright, who are motivated, and who are dedicated to seeing improved standards and improved services to blind people qualified people who would be an asset in the NAC process. We must go out and find them. I want to close by putting my ACB hat back on again. I have had the privilege of traveling around the country during the last couple of months representing the largest and fastest growing consumer organization in the United States. I have been privileged to speak to many ACB members at affiliate meetings, NIB meetings, AAWB meetings, and the like. I want to send this message to all of you -- actually not the people in this room, but the people who are not here -- about NAC and the importance of NAC and the need for agencies and schools to be accredited. In my travels, I have heard some complaints: "I don't like the NAC process"; "The Commission on Accreditation made the wrong decision." "How could you guys ever accredit that agency?" "I don't like the NAC staff." ... All these people point a finger at NAC -- and this also includes the members of the National Federation of the Blind and their criticism of the NAC process. If this process is to be meaningful and to survive and to flourish, those of us who think that NAC has to be improved need to work to strengthen it and to change it. No one person, no one decision of the Commission, no one committee appointment is bigger than this organization. I think that we all have to stand up and be counted for accreditation, and work toward changing the process if necessary. Similarly, we all must do more to let people know what is right about NAC and why it is important to blind and visually impaired people. ***** ** Top Radio Airplay Expected for ACB Announcements By Laura Oftedahl Director of Public Affairs A bright new series of public service announcements telling about the American Council of the Blind has just rolled into the top radio stations in the country, and we know they'll be all over the air soon. These spots take a fresh and light approach to talking about attitudes toward blind people, low vision, technological aids for employment, and recreation and leisure-time activities for blind and visually impaired persons. Each announcement uses a real-life situation to convey the message and then directs the listener to call the American Council of the Blind at 1-800- 424-8666 for further information on the topic which was addressed. The ACB National Office will answer inquiries with useful information and literature and will forward the name and address of a caller to state and special-interest affiliates if that person is interested in learning more about ACB activities and services. The one sixty-second and three thirty-second PSA's are contained on discs which have been mailed to the public service directors at 1800 commercial stations throughout the country. The stations receiving the spots are in the top one hundred radio markets. This means that at least one major city in every state will receive the ACB PSA's, and most states have two to five major cities which have received the spots. ACB members and friends living in large and medium-size cities are urged to contact their radio stations to encourage use of the PSA's. Members who would like to work to have the announcements aired on stations in smaller towns may contact the ACB National Office for copies of the discs. ***** ** Lifeprints Showcasing Concerns of Visually Impaired Youth Blindskills, Inc., a new, non-profit corporation, has been chartered in Salem, Oregon, by Carol M. Derouin McCarl and her husband, Bob McCarl, Professional Marketing Consultant. Thrust of the corporation is to help meet the living-skill needs of visually impaired children and young adults. Principal initial project of Blindskills, Inc., is publication of a new magazine, Lifeprints, with Issue No. 1 to be available in September of this year in three formats: large-print, braille, and cassette. Contents of Lifeprints will be written by visually impaired adults and youths whose careers and life-skills will be showcased in an effort to assist visually impaired students in their daily pursuits. Topics will include, but not be limited to, career information, social and communication skills and techniques, recreational and sports opportunities, descriptions of media resources of use to visually impaired students, descriptions of new equipment of use to interested individuals and groups, shared-experience articles written on a regular basis by high-school students, information and travel advice from local and national sources, and information on youth topics such as teen music, fashion, books, foods, entertainment, etc. For a complimentary issue of Lifeprints, please send name and address to Blindskills, Inc., P.O. Box 5181, Salem, OR 97304, and state which of the three formats you prefer to receive. If you wish to contribute an article to Lifeprints, send your material to the same address, along with a self-addressed return mailer with postage affixed. If you wish to make a financial gift to Blindskills, Inc., and/or Lifeprints, send your tax-deductible contributions to the above address and make checks payable to Blindskills, Inc. You will receive a receipt promptly. Blindskills, Inc., has requested the sanction and cooperation of the following organizations and is receiving financial support from them or will be represented by them on the Blindskills Board of Directors: American Council of the Blind, National Association of Blind Teachers, National Alliance of Blind Students, and American Council of the Blind Parents. ***** ** Social Security Acts to Reform Disability Review Process By Barbara Nelson Staff Attorney Margaret Heckler, the new Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced on June 7, 1983, that Social Security will implement a package of major reforms in the process of reviewing the continuing eligibility of Social Security Disability beneficiaries. Disability rights groups, members of Congress, and courts have been critical of the manner in which the social Security Administration has implemented the 1980 mandate from Congress to monitor the continuing eligibility of the Social Security Disability rolls. Critics of the Social Security Administration have charged that SSA went beyond the intention of Congress and used the review process to attempt to cut its budget by removing even some persons who are truly disabled from the program. People with multiple handicaps, mentally retarded and mentally ill people have been hardest hit by the reviews. In all, 350,000 of the 3.9 million Social Security Disability recipients have been cut from the rolls since the process was initiated in 1981, but a large number of these who have appealed their terminations have been reinstated. The reforms announced will: * Slow down the disability review process by increasing the number of people that are exempt from review to about 37 percent of all disabled people receiving benefits. * Temporarily suspend reviews of two-thirds of the reviews of mentally impaired people until Social Security can re-evaluate standards for disability due to mental health problems. * No longer target cases for review based on a profile of beneficiaries who are most likely to be found not to be disabled. Instead, those to be reviewed will be selected randomly. This will result in fewer decisions to terminate benefits and fewer appeals. * Expand Social Security's own internal review designed to find errors in decisions. It now reviews only decisions to grant benefits. It will begin to review decisions to deny benefits, and erroneous decisions will be caught before they are implemented. These reforms are in addition to the process scheduled to begin nationwide by January 1984 of face-to-face interviews for all people whose cases have been selected for review. HHS Secretary Heckler also announced a comprehensive review of all of Social Security's policies and procedures regarding the disability program. She said: "These reforms respond to the concerns expressed by leaders of Congress. These reforms respond to concerns raised by medical and mental health professional groups. These reforms respond to the concerns of the state agencies which administer much of the programs for us. And, most importantly, these reforms respond to the demands of beneficiaries that the review system be as fair and humane and error-free as possible. "We have been listening, we have been studying and searching for further improvement. We are responding with clear-cut actions that will put the highest premium on fairness and compassion -- and will minimize the chance for injustice, dislocation and personal trauma." These welcome reforms, although long overdue, should eliminate much of the hardship and injustice wrought by the present system. ***** ** Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler Introduced at Annual PCEH Meeting By John M. Williams "It is so marvelous! l have to tell my supervisor about it and request that she authorize it to be purchased for me. I can use it to improve my filing system and retrieve information that other people retrieve for me now," said Mrs. Carol Morris, a blind secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "I was told by Mrs. Martha Clark and Ted Henter, sales people for Maryland Computer services, that the Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler can produce tactile maps and a variety of graphs. I shall tell the people at Fairfax High School, and I hope they can purchase at least one or more of them," said a jubilant blind high�school student from Fairfax, Virginia, after he had used it. "I never thought a Perkins Brailler could be so flexible," said Bill Stevens, a General Motors employee. The Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler that they are talking about was seen by hundreds of people for the first time at the annual meeting of the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, held May 4-6 in Washington, D.C. The Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler is a computerized version of the Perkins Brailler. It is microprocessor-based. The unit enables blind and visually impaired users to interact with computers and produce hard-copy braille documents, graphs, and maps. Documents can be stored on standard cassette cartridges. Major application areas include: 1. A braille computer terminal. It works like a standard computer terminal, except the user uses the Perkins keyboard, and information from the computer is embossed. 2. Information storage and retrieval. It has a four-page (4,000 characters) memory. As text is entered, it is stored. This information can be transferred to a tape cassette for storage. The stored information can be recalled for editing or reprinting. This saves the user from thermoforming or rebrailling a document because of typographical error or omission. 3. A low-cost braille printer. The Brailler can be connected to a computer and become a braille embosser. Any data sent from the computer to the Perkins will be printed in braille. Printing speed is approximately ten characters per second. 4. A communication tool for deaf-blind individuals. 5. A braille teaching aid. 6. Permanent braille documentation for "soft braille" devices. 7. A braille writer. Users can enter commands to facilitate use. Commands are given by pressing keys and the space bar at the same time. An example would be pressing keys 4 and 6 and the space bar to cause an automatic carriage return. Such commands also permit the user to set margins, start paragraphs, etc. The Brailler has an RS232C interface and can be connected to most host computers. Its baud rates are 110, 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, and 9600. The original research and development on the Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler was performed by the Bureau for the Blind in Frankfort, Kentucky, under the direction of Tim Cranmer, who is also blind. "The new Brailler increases independence for blind people and is an excellent way for blind people to leap forward in many professional fields," says Cranmer. Price of the Cranmer Modified Perkins Brailler is $2,750.00. It can be ordered by contacting Michael Mason at (301) 879-3366. Discounts are available on quantity orders. ***** ** ACB Action to Safeguard Accessible Air Transportation for the Handicapped By Barbara Nelson Staff Attorney Although Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act has prohibited discrimination against qualified handicapped people since 1973, many issues remain unresolved about the meaning and scope of the law. The American Council of the Blind has been actively involved in trying to shape the development of the law so that it will grow into an effective means of ensuring equal opportunity for handicapped people. To this end, ACB has joined in a lawsuit challenging the Section 504 regulations recently finalized by the Civil Aeronautics Board regarding accessible air transportation for handicapped people. The lawsuit asking for review of the regulations is being brought by ACB, along with the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. When CAB proposed these regulations, ACB and these groups filed extensive comments explaining the abilities and needs of disabled travelers. First, the CAB regulations apply to only a very small number of airlines which receive direct Federal subsidies. The plaintiffs believe that the services and benefits which all airlines receive from the Federal Government (such as air traffic control services) bring them within the scope of Section 504. Second, the plaintiffs believe that the regulations adopted by the CAB give airline personnel the discretion to impose unnecessary conditions on disabled people who wish to travel. The CAB failed to recognize that this kind of discretion may be abused by confused or uneducated airline personnel who may sometimes impose unnecessary requirements on disabled travelers. Finally, the CAB rules contain a requirement that handicapped people needing "extensive special assistance" give an airline 48 hours' notice before they fly. However, the rule is too vague. A handicapped traveler may not realize until he or she reaches the airport that the airline considers him or her to require "extensive special assistance." This could cause unnecessary confusion and could result in some travelers having to delay necessary trips by as much as 48 hours. The lawsuit asks for a review of the CAB regulations. The plaintiffs are being represented at no cost by the Institute for Public Representation of Georgetown University Law School, an organization which has been providing excellent advocacy services on a number of important issues affecting handicapped individuals. ***** ** HUD Issues Section 504 Regulations for Programs It Funds The seemingly endless series of attacks on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act continues as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued what it called "interim final" Section 504 regulations for the programs it funds. These "final" regulations, issued in May, differ dramatically from the proposed regulations issued by HUD for public comment in 1978. The latest regulations, if allowed to become effective in their present form, would interpret Section 504's prohibition against discrimination very narrowly and could make it virtually impossible for handicapped people who suffer discrimination in Federally assisted housing programs to prove their cases. The HUD regulations would allow courts to require handicapped people to prove that discrimination is intentional, which is very difficult to do. Further, they require only 5 percent of apartment units in new housing projects to be physically accessible, even though it is very inexpensive to build accessibility into new structures. Further, even these minimal requirements can be waived. Also, the regulations place more stringent additional eligibility requirements on handicapped persons who wish to live in Federally assisted housing than for other tenants. Finally, the rules contain inadequate and vague enforcement procedures. Disability rights groups, led by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, flexed their political muscles once more and prevailed upon the Department of Housing and Urban Development to revoke these final regulations and to issue them as mere proposals. Those interested now have until September 6, 1983, to comment on the proposed regulations. Copies of the proposed rules are available from Clifton L. Baldwin, Disability Access Coordinator, Room 10184, 451 7th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202) 755-6732. ***** ** Subway Safety Committee "On Track" The Concerned Citizens for Subway Safety in New York City has been working with the Metropolitan Transit Authority there to come to a solution to alleviate the hazardous conditions which exist on the lines which use the R-44 and R-46 subway cars. It seems that the cars are constructed so that there are wide spaces between them which can easily be mistaken as open subway doors. At least two blind persons have fallen between these types of cars in the past six months (see The Braille Forum, "Hazard Cited for the Blind on Subways," February 1983; "Greater New York City Council of the Blind Boards the Subway Safety Campaign," March 1983). The MTA proposed to lay textured strips along the platform edge as a temporary solution. However, the Concerned Citizens rejected that proposal, as they felt this could be potentially hazardous. The Concerned Citizens Committee, consisting of consumers and professionals, is pleased that the MTA has agreed to put up gates between the R-44 and R-46 cars, with project completion expected within a year. The Committee emphasizes that this is an issue that relates to the safety of all individuals: more sighted than blind individuals have been killed or injured because of these hazardous circumstances. ***** ** How Far We've Come Part II Where We Are Today: Cataracts (Reprinted from Sundial, Newsletter of the Eye Research Institute of Retina Foundation, Vol. IX, No. 1, April 1983) (NOTE: Cataracts and retinal detachment have been selected for discussion in this series. Other serious eye problems have been discussed in previous issues of Sundial. If you have any questions about eye disease such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, or diabetic retinopathy, please contact Deborah Bowers, Public Information Officer, Eye Research Institute, 20 Staniford Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114). One of the world's most common eye problems, cataracts, is often misunderstood, and cataract surgery is unduly feared. Many believe that a cataract is a film or membrane that grows over the eye as a person ages, and that removal of a cataract will cause blindness. This is not the case. A cataract is a cloudiness or opacity in the lens of the eye that interferes with vision. The normally transparent lens is located behind the iris and in front of the vitreous gel which fills the center of the eye. The lens of the eye, like the lens of a camera, focuses light entering the eye on the retina. The retina in turn transforms this light stimulation into electrical signals that travel to the brain and complete the visual process. Cataracts range from very minute opacities, which cause little interference with vision, to large, dense areas of cloudiness which cause a marked loss of vision. They may develop over a period of years or within a few months. It is known that cataracts occur when there is a change in the chemical composition of the lens. In most cases, the precise cause of this change cannot be determined. The most common form of cataract seems to be related to aging of the eye. In general, cataracts are classified as senile (those associated with aging), congenital (those present at birth), traumatic (those associated with injury), and secondary (those that occur following other eye diseases or systemic disease). A cataract usually develops gradually and without pain or inflammation. Hazy vision is the most common symptom. As the lens loses clarity, light cannot be focused properly on the retina, and vision is impaired. For example, cataracts frequently cause difficulty with night driving, since the light from the oncoming headlights is scattered by the hazy lens and causes a dazzling sensation. At present, surgery is the only method of treating cataracts. There are no drugs that will dissolve the opacity or prevent its development. However, surgery is performed only if the cataract reduces vision to a significant degree; many cataracts do not need surgery. The standard surgical procedure is to make a small incision in the side of the eye and remove the lens with a special instrument. The incision is then closed and the patient may recuperate in the hospital for a few days. The procedure used depends on the particular needs of the individual case; this can be determined only by a physician. Once the lens has been removed, the function of the eye's natural lens must be taken over by an artificial lens. In the past, the most common approach was to give the patient thick glasses. More recently, contact lenses have been used. These lenses are extremely effective, give the patient a wider field of vision, and may be easier to wear than heavy glasses. The most recent development is to implant a plastic lens in the eye in the same location as the natural lens. This implantation is done at the time the cataractous lens is removed. In uncomplicated cases, the quality of vision obtained with lens implants usually exceeds what would be provided by glasses or contact lenses. However, a lens implant involves greater risk than a standard cataract procedure, and the procedure is not always best for certain patients. Only the ophthalmologist can determine whether an individual would benefit from an implant. As a leading cause of blindness, cataracts are a serious problem. However, cataract extraction is one of the most successful surgical operations performed today. Unless there is some other condition that interferes with vision, surgical removal of a cataract should bring some restoration of sight. ***** ** TSPS Information Processing System (Reprinted from Newsletter No. 26, May 1983, published by Telesensory Systems, Inc.) American Telephone and Telegraph Company's commitment to employment of persons with disabilities took another major step forward earlier this year with the introduction of the TSPS Information Processing System (TIPS) at an Ohio Bell office in Cleveland, Ohio. The TIPS equipment, developed and manufactured by Telesensory Systems, Inc., in cooperation with Bell Laboratories, enables blind and visually impaired persons to become highly skilled TSPS operators and is a start toward opening up a new field of employment opportunities. The TIPS equipment modifies electronic consoles to provide audible and braille signals as an alternative to lighted buttons and displays. The idea of modifying electronic TSPS equipment for operation by blind and visually impaired people began in 1977 with Sensory Aids Foundation and MIT initiating projects that led to demonstration trials at Southwestern Bell in Little Rock, Arkansas, and at Pacific Telephone in Palo Alto, California. "These trials proved conclusively that, given the proper interface equipment, blind and visually impaired people could effectively operate TSPS equipment and meet established performance objectives," said Jay Rochlin, Human Resources Manager at AT&T. Although tests of the early prototype equipment indicated some flaws, Bell managers were nevertheless encouraged that blind and visually impaired people represented a fruitful future source of qualified candidates for the more than 42,500 TSPS operator jobs nationwide. As a result, in 1978, Bell managers contracted with Telesensory Systems, Inc., to develop an improved second generation of interface equipment. The new equipment, now known as TIPS, passed its test at Pacific Telephone in Sacramento, California, in 1981. The TSI-designed equipment uses a microprocessor to convert visual information into audible and braille signals. The information represented by lighted lamps is announced to the operator in computer-synthesized speech. Information appearing on the LED's is presented on a 20-cell braille display on the TIPS console. This unit is designed to fit on a work shelf on the TSPS console directly in front of the operator. The TIPS console contains six braille keys and a space bar, allowing the operator to use the microprocessor-controlled memory as a "scratch pad." The Cleveland system became operational on January 24, 1983. Additional installations are scheduled later this year, and others in subsequent years, according to Rochlin. In some locations, the equipment initially will provide some new jobs. At other locations, it will create job mobility for existing employees. In both cases, Rochlin says, the TIPS equipment begins a new avenue of employment opportunity that will enable Bell to continue its longstanding commitment to efforts to employ qualified disabled people. ***** ** ARRS Update By Rosie Hurwitz, President Association of Radio Reading Services The annual meeting of the Association of Radio Reading Services was held May 16-19 at the Phoenix Hilton Hotel, Phoenix, Arizona. There were outstanding technical presentations by Mike Shields, Engineering Consultant for Minnesota Public Radio, and by Bob Watson, Senior Engineer for Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, as well as other valuable sessions that addressed the theme for this year's meeting: Quest for Professionalism. Among numerous highlights of the conference, which included a teleconference address by Senator Barry Goldwater and surprise drop-in visits from Walter Mondale and junior Arizona Senator Dennis De Concini, was the presentation of the C. Stanley Potter Award for outstanding contributions to the field of radio reading services to Durward K. McDaniel. A resolution expressing appreciation for the many years of effort on behalf of ARRS by ACB was also presented. The text of the resolution follows: BE IT RESOLVED, that this conference go on record to officially recognize the numerous contributions to the Association of Radio Reading Services provided by the American Council of the Blind in drafting the Articles of Incorporation and incorporating ARRS, in handling the annual IRS statements, and, in particular, for the most recent legal and other services ACB volunteered and performed on our behalf to bring about resolution of the issues before the Federal Communications Commission. This conference wishes to single out the contribution of two key ACB figures, members of ARRS, who played a primary role with their counsel and actions in all these proceedings: Durward McDaniel and Barbara Nelson. Following the conference, Henry Salzberger, Chairman of the Board of the North Texas Radio Reading Service, volunteered to serve as the executive director of ARRS. Mr. Salzberger will operate from his Dallas office and, with the President and the Board, will coordinate the efforts and activities of ARRS for the coming year. ***** ** Talking Coin Counter A talking coin counter that allows blind persons to independently sort and count a large volume of mixed coins has been developed by Minnesota State Services for the Blind. The device was conceived by the Business Enterprise Program to assist blind vending route operators with money management. The Brandt Model 963 Microsort Coin Counter, capable of sorting and counting 600 coins per minute, was interfaced with a Digital Pathways SLC-11 microcomputer, and a software program developed by Office Information Systems, Inc., of Minneapolis, in cooperation with the Business Enterprises Program. The blind counter may obtain a spoken message giving the total sum counted and the total for each denomination of coin. A permanent, visible record of this information may also be produced by the addition of a conventional printer. The cost to adapt an existing Brandt Model 963 Microsort Coin Counter is expected to be $5,000 to $6,000 plus any modifications of the prototype. Office Information Systems has developed another microprocessor utilizing a Texas Instrument voice synthesizer, which may reduce the cost to the range of $2,000 to $3,000. Other applications of this equipment may create new employment opportunities for blind persons in financial institutions, commercial vending companies, municipal parking meter systems, coin-operated gambling establishments, or other businesses where large volumes of coins are sorted, counted, and wrapped. We solicit your suggestions for such applications. Address your ideas or inquiries to Minnesota State Services for the Blind; Blind Business Program; 1745 University Avenue; St. Paul, MN 55104. ***** ** Able to Act (Reprinted from American Film Magazine, March 1983) Richard Dreyfuss as a paralyzed artist in "Whose Life Is It, Anyway?"... Patty Duke as a blind and deaf Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker." ... John Voight as a paraplegic Vietnam vet in "Coming Home." The common denominator in those performances is not excellence, but discrimination, according to Rich Curry, a Jesuit brother. He feels such casting is "as ludicrous as putting white people into blackface so they can pretend they are black. It is just as ludicrous to put able-bodied people into disabled roles." To fight what he sees as discrimination against disabled performers, Curry, himself one-armed from birth, has founded the National Theater Workshop of the Handicapped in New York. There, disabled people are being trained to audition for everything from dramatic film roles to commercial endorsements. Getting handicapped people into parts calling for wheelchairs, white canes, and empty sleeves is only one goal he pursues. He would also like to see such roles created by handicapped writers. "Children of a Lesser God" (currently being filmed), "Whose Life?" and "The Elephant Man" are "able bodies' views of the disabled world," he charges. If written by a handicapped playwright, John Merrick's story, he believes, would be vastly different, with "more joy, less pathos, and more confusion on the part of the main character. And the audience would know at the end if he did or did not commit suicide." The suicide that concludes "Whose Life?" disturbed Curry. He calls the play and movie about an artist crippled in an accident "an outrageous piece of crap, because the main character opts out. ... Quadriplegics I saw it with had a totally different reaction." In addition to hoping that the next Long John Silver is played by a one-legged man, Curry wants disabled performers in roles that have no bearing on physical ability. "If ten kids run into a McDonalds in a commercial," he notes, "some will be Alaskans and some will be Orientals. The ethnic barrier has been broken down." So he would like the next batch of ten to include youngsters using crutches and leg braces. Fighting money problems because the workshop "falls between the cracks of funding for the arts and for the disabled," Curry will be content if he can place just one student in a national commercial this year. He estimates that 50 million Americans are disabled in some way. Then he adds wryly, "We are the only minority with an open door policy. Anyone can join us in a second, due to illness or accident." The National Theater Workshop of the Handicapped is located at 106 W. 56 Street, New York, NY 10019; (212) 431-3865. ***** ** The Inventor of "Cruise Control" Freeman N. Hicks Cookeville, TN 38501 (From THE NEW AGE - May 1982). As we travel down the long highways, foot off the accelerator, let's give thanks to a blind engineer who gave us "Cruise Control." Bro. Ralph R. Teetor of Hagerstown, Indiana blinded in an accident at the early age of five, never let the loss of sight stop his ingenious work in the field of engineering. He enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his BS degree in engineering in 1912, and his master's in the same field some years later. He went on to do great things for the good of mankind by his many inventions. One of his inventions used today by a countless number of motorists on the highways is the mechanism known as "Cruise Control." It was invented in or about 1957 by Bro. Teetor who called it the "Speed-O-Stat." This invention was but one of many for the 86-year-old gentleman. In recognition of Bro Teetor's many accomplishments, the Masonic Brethren of the Grand Lodge of Indiana presented him with the Caleb B. Smith Medal in November 1975 as a "Distinguished Masonic Brother of the Hoosier State." This blind Brother has used his God-given talents to bring pleasure and comfort to many as they cruise down the road of life. There is proof of this fact in that at the age of 12 he designed and built a gasoline-powered automobile. We may liken his life to one of the soldiers carrying the regimental banner in a Napoleonic war. When he received the order "Bring the Standard back to the line," the soldier, out front, pushing forward for victory, said "Bring the line up to the Standard." The accident that blinded Bro. Teetor was saying in effect, "Bring the Standard back to the line." But Bro. Teetor, like the soldier, has been saying throughout his work for mankind, "Bring the line up to the Standard." .... Bro. Teetor is a 52-year member of Hagertown, Indiana, Lodge No. 49, F. & A. M., and donor of the land on which the Temple of the Lodge was built in 1965. The Scottish Rite, Valley of Indianapolis, conferred the Inspector General Honorary of the Thirty-third Degree on Bro. Teetor on May 12, 1976. By his many years in the Lodge, you can see that he was attracted in early manhood by the philosophy of Freemasonry. He finds hope and confidence in the future by being associated with men of high ideals and principles, and by knowing they are united in common purpose throughout the world. .... ***** ** Notice of Dismissal of Class Action (NOTE: The American Council of the Blind has agreed to publish the notice printed below, to make it possible for a lawsuit which would otherwise be dismissed to be continued if appropriate plaintiffs can be found. Please contact Barbara Nelson at the ACB National Office, 1-800- 424-8666, for further information.) On January 14, 1983, Mr. Phil A. Goldman, who is legally blind, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the United States Postal Service on behalf of himself and all other persons similarly situated. Mr. Goldman has determined that he will no longer pursue this lawsuit. On his application, the complaint has been dismissed, without payment of any kind. The dismissal is without prejudice to the rights of any other potential class members. In his complaint, Mr. Goldman alleged that he was denied employment by the Postal Service in violation of Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 because the Postal Service refused to provide a job application test which would reasonably accommodate his physical handicap when he took an examination for clerk/stenographer in 1977. Potential class members included visually handicapped individuals who were denied employment with the Postal Service from November 10, 1977 to January 14, 1983, by virtue of the Postal Service's alleged failure to make reasonable accommodation for them in its job application procedures. For a more detailed statement of the matters involved in the lawsuit, reference is made to the papers in the case of Phil A. Goldman v. USPS et al., 83 Civ. 0485, on file at the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Foley Square, New York, NY 10007. ***** ** High Tech Swap Shop * For Sale: Two read-write closed-circuit systems by Visualtek. One is a Miniviewer, and the other is an RS-19. Camera, Monitor, and typewriter accessory included. Please contact Barbara Lewis, 18 Hawthorne Drive, N., Apt. 3, New London, CT 06320, or call evenings and weekends, (203) 442-7319. * Wanted: TSI Game Center. Contact Bob, P.O. Box 443, Cambridge, MA 02139; phone (617) 666-8255. * For Sale: Visualtek Miniviewer (12-inch screen). Excellent working condition. $1,000.00 or best offer. Contact Occupant, P.O. Box 33052, Washington, DC 20033. ***** ** Calendar of Events Attention, ACB Affiliate Presidents and Convention Chairpersons: This calendar of events is compiled by the ACB Public Affairs Director in the National Office to assist you in publicizing your events. We need your meeting dates, however, to maintain this popular service. Contact Laura Oftedahl at 1-800-424-8666 as soon as your conventions are set. September 17 - Annual State Convention, Maine Fraternal Association of the Blind September 30-October 1 - ACB of Indiana State Convention -Indianapolis September 30-October 1 - ACB of Maryland State Convention - Baltimore September 30-October 2 - Pennsylvania Council of the Blind Annual Convention - Harrisburg October 14-16 - Annual State Convention of the Oregon Council of the Blind - Corvallis October 14-16 - ACB of California Annual Convention - Hollywood November 5 - ACB of New York State Convention - Uniondale ***** ** Here and There By Elizabeth M. Lennon From Focus on ACB of Indiana: About 2700 people got a chilly reception during a New Year's Day celebration in Vancouver, British Columbia. The crowd, led by a blind grandmother, plunged into the 41-degree English Bay for the 63rd annual Polar Bear Swim. Ivy Granstrom, the grandmother, said the experience was "totally exhilarating." Dennis Polselli, a student at North Adams State College in Massachusetts, recently filed a discrimination complaint against his college with the Office for Civil Rights of the U. S. Department of Education because the college would not hire him to be an assistant residence director. The Office for Civil Rights investigated his complaint and found that discrimination had occurred. As a result, the college agreed to hire Dennis for the next school year and to provide a part-time reading assistant. The college has also agreed to develop a policy about reasonable accommodations for handicapped employees and to complete a self-evaluation of all of its activities to ensure that it is providing equal treatment to all of its disabled students and employees. Donald Morrow, active member of the ACB of Metropolitan Chicago (chapter of the Illinois Council of the Blind), received the Roger Manges Award for Outstanding Participant during the eighth annual Colorado Lions Blind Cross-Country Ski Clinic. The program was held at Snowmass during the second week in April and had over 35 participants. Don has also participated in several Ski for Light weeks. The '' Alliance of the Blind Association,'' an institution run by blind members in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, would like to correspond with members of organizations in the United States who will share information about American customs, life styles, and services and programs for the blind in this country. This independent Brazilian organization offers work, instruction, and clothing to its 100 members. Correspondence may be in English or Portuguese. Write Associacao Alianca dos Cegos, Rua 24 de Maio, 47, Sao Francisco Xavier, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. From IAB News (Iowa Association of the Blind): The Iowa Commission for the Blind recently began a unique new service for the print handicapped. Twice a week, materials requested by clients are read over the telephone by volunteers at the Commission. Materials range from job openings in the classified ads, to births, weddings and deaths, to sports news. The program will remain flexible, according to the Commission, in order to adapt to clients' needs. From Focus on ACB of Indiana: When you're new in town, a city map can help you navigate. When you're new in town and are blind, most city maps won't do much for you. That situation has changed in Washington, D. C. A relief map complete with miniature replicas of famous landmarks, government buildings, and major streets and parks, each labeled in braille, is available to visitors to the nation's capital. The map was constructed by Patricia McKinney, a teacher at the South Carolina School for the Blind, for use by high school students attending educational programs at Washington's Close Up Foundation. Close Up is a non-profit organization, created in 1971 to educate high-school students and teachers in the workings of the Federal Government. A project of the Department of Psychology at the University of Marburg, West Germany, has researched the use of tactual impression maps by the blind. Blind persons using such maps made faster progress around mapped areas of the city than did two comparison groups -- one using taped instructions, the other using sighted guides. Even blind persons who had previously known their way in familiar areas showed improvement and fewer errors after twelve weeks with the tactual maps. Three organizations were recently welcomed as supporting members of the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped: the American Council of the Blind of New Jersey, Department of Blind Rehabilitation of Western Michigan University, and the Florida Council of the Blind. A new cassette catalog has been announced by ACB affiliate, Guide Dog Users, Inc. The catalog is carefully prepared so as to describe and categorize items ranging from dog bones to purses. To receive a copy of the catalog, send $1 to Mrs. Catherine Gleitz, 2150 Maple Street, Baldwin, NY 11510. Checks should be made payable to GDUI. Syndicated Columnists Weekly is a weekly collection of articles by America's favorite columnists -- in braille. The articles offer not just the news: they offer a perspective on the news. SCW will premiere with an August issue of 25 pages. Subscription for 52 weeks is $13. Contact National Braille Press, Inc., 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115. From Sharing (Handicapped of New Jersey): Applied Microsystems, Inc., has announced a new telephone communication system for the deaf and hearing impaired. TEL-AIDE operates on an Apple II Plus microcomputer. Deaf TEL-AIDE users speak into the phone in the conventional manner, and the person listening responds by pressing the touch-tone buttons on his/her telephone in a simple, coded fashion, causing letters and words to be printed on TEL-AIDE's computer screen. The responses can thus be read by the person with the hearing impairment. Sequences of two touch-tones correspond to the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and some frequently used words and phrases. The TEL-AIDE system also mimics standard TTY-TTD devices so that communication with teletype users is possible, and it allows normal communication with other computers and computer networks. For further information, contact George A. Olive, Applied Microsystems, Inc., Box 832, Roswell, GA 30077; phone (404) 475-0832. From TSI Newsletter: VersaBraille users, please respond. If the following materials become available on VersaBraille cassette, which would you like to have first? (1) Magazines -- news, sports, computing, electronics, science, health, nutrition, food, travel, religion, politics, women's issues, home gardening, consumerism, financial, wildlife, fiction, literary, other. (2) NLS magazines now available. Please rank your preference. (3) Books -- dictionary, thesaurus, Bible, other. Please respond to VersaBraille Users Reader Survey, TSI Marketing Department, 455 North Bernardo Ave., P.O. Box 7455, Mountain View, CA 94043. Poetry magazine has been selected for production in the National Library Service braille magazine program. This print monthly with an international audience has been published since 1912. Poetry carries verse from established as well as up-and-coming poets. For a free subscription, contact your cooperating library. ... The UNESCO Braille Courier is a quarterly braille magazine containing articles on education, science, culture, and mass communication. It is sent free of charge to all people throughout the world in English, French, and Spanish. Requests for a subscription should be directed to UNESCO, 7 Place de Fontenoy, 57000, Paris, France. An Addendum to the 1974 edition to bring the Transcribers Guide into conformity with the 1980 rules changes by the Braille Authority of North America has been prepared under the auspices of the California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped. This Addendum is available in print or braille for $1 from Braille Institute, Attention: Store, 741 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029. ... A new, amended, and enlarged revision of the list of "Typical and Problem Words" from the Transcribers Guide to English Braille, by Bernard M. Krebs, is beginning to be compiled toward the next edition of that reference work. Do you have any such Problem Words which you have added to your "Green Krebs" over the years, which are not currently listed in it? Please send them, in print or braille, to the CTEVH Krebs Publications Committee, Mrs. Norma L. Schecter, Chair, 8432 Northport Drive, Huntington Beach, CA 92646. From RP Messenger: Medicare will cover the cost of ultraviolet absorbing or reflecting prosthetic lenses when such lenses are determined to be reasonable and necessary for the patient. The cost of these prosthetic lenses can be covered by Medicare even though surgical removal of the natural lens occurred before insurance entitlement. -- A new hotline is available for reporting fraud, waste, or abuse in Medicare. Call 1-800-368-5779. In Washington, D.C., call 472-2222. From The Vendorscope: Chemical Bank of New York, Industrial Bank of Rhode Island, and Virginia National Bank all offer braille checking accounts which use a braille checkwriter and provide a braille account statement. The Chemical Bank of New York, Consumer Services Department, 20 Pine Street, New York, NY 10003, has offered to assist any bank that wishes to adopt this program. Individuals might ask their local banks to investigate the service. ***** ** Notice to Subscribers The Braille Forum is available in braille, large-type, and two recorded editions -- flexible disc (8 1/3 rpm) and cassette (15/16 ips). As a bimonthly supplement, the recorded editions also include ALL-O-GRAMS, newsletter of the Affiliated Leadership League of and for the Blind of America. Send subscription requests and address changes, as well as items intended for publication, to The Braille Forum, 190 Lattimore Road, Rochester, NY 14620. Those much-needed and appreciated cash contributions may be sent to James R. Olsen, Treasurer, c/o ACB National Office, 1211 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 506, Washington, DC 20036. You may wish to remember a relative or friend by sharing in the continuing work of the American Council of the Blind. The ACB National Office has available special printed cards to acknowledge to loved ones contributions made in memory of deceased persons. Anyone wishing to remember the American Council of the Blind in his or her Last Will and Testament may do so by including a special paragraph for that purpose. If your wishes are complex, you or your attorney may wish to contact the ACB National Office. ###