THE BRAILLE MONITOR
PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                            CONTENTS

                                                        MAY, 1991


BARBARA BUSH INVITES FEDERATION LEADERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
by Marc Maurer

CRISIS IN BRAILLE LITERACY AND CANE TRAVEL AIRED IN DENVER POST

NAC TAKES BODY BLOWS: WARRANT ISSUED FOR GRANT MACK'S ARREST
by Kenneth Jernigan

THE OVERWHELMING QUESTION

AIRLINES OUTFOXED
by Marc Maurer

RASPBERRIES FOR RASPBERRY
by Peter Grunwald

NO CHRISTMAS SPIRIT AT AMERICAN AIRLINES
by Ted Young

JUST SAY "NO!"
by Bill J. Isaacs

MAKING HIS MARK IN THE KANSAS LEGISLATURE

PARENTING OUR BLIND CHILDREN
by Shirley Baillif

NEW LIBRARY FOR BLIND, PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED OK'D

CHANGING DIAPERS INTO DOLLARS
by Carol Coulter

THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE
by Jerry Whittle

LOW-INTEREST LOANS FOR TECHNOLOGY NOW AVAILABLE

RECIPES

CONVENTION ATTRACTIONS

MONITOR MINIATURES

     Copyright, National Federation of the Blind, Inc., 1991[LEAD PHOTO/CAPTION: On January 8, 1991, President Maurer
presented the First Lady of the United States with a copy of our
history, Walking Alone and Marching Together. Standing in front
of the fireplace in the Diplomat Room at the White House (right
to left) Marc Maurer, Barbara Bush, Peggy Pinder, and Barbara
Pierce chat briefly before turning to the serious business of the
crisis in Braille literacy.]

                 BARBARA BUSH INVITES FEDERATION
                   LEADERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
                         by Marc Maurer

     On January 9, 1991, five Federationists (Second Vice
President Peggy Pinder, Associate Monitor Editor Barbara Pierce,
Federation staff members Mrs. Tormey and Mrs. Miller, and I) went
to the White House to meet with the First Lady of the United
States. We went because Mrs. Bush had asked us to come to talk
about the Federation and its objectives--about the problems,
needs, hopes, and aspirations of the nation's blind. The fact of
the ice storm on the previous night and the foggy dampness of the
morning did nothing to diminish the upbeat nature of the
occasion, which held such possible promise for the blind.
     Our appointment was scheduled for 10:00 a.m., but because of
necessary security procedures, we arrived early. Our Social
Security numbers were checked; we passed through metal scanners;
and our briefcases and purses were examined--all very
courteously, but also very thoroughly. We were then escorted from
the East Gate of the White House to the First Lady's waiting
room, where we were greeted by Mrs. Bush's secretary and another
staff member. This is a most imposing room, with portraits of
former first ladies displayed on the walls.
     In a few minutes we were taken through the corridors of the
White House, past a display of Christmas cards which had been
sent to President and Mrs. Bush, and into the Diplomats Room.
This room has been given its name because it is where diplomats
from foreign countries present their credentials to the
President. It is also the departure point for the First Family
when they go from the White House to the helicopter pad. As is
true with every part of the White House, which in a real sense is
the very symbol and focus of American history and tradition, the
Diplomats Room is rich in memory. It contains the fireplace by
which President Franklin D. Roosevelt sat to broadcast his
fireside chats. We stood by that fireplace as we waited for the
First Lady--and though I do not know what the others thought, I
for one reflected on the continuity of what we are as a nation
and a people. I also thought about how we who are blind are
finally beginning to emerge as full participants in the American
dream, struggling and hoping as other minorities before us have
done.
     The White House, of course, is not just a monument to
America's past. It is also the nerve center of the nation's
present--and it is the home and work environment of President and
Mrs. Bush. It is a mixture of ceremony and informality, activity
and memory. But informality and straightforward business
predominated when Mrs. Bush entered the room. Without preliminary
pomp or circumstance she walked to where we were standing and
began introducing herself to us. Still, the ceremony was there,
for members of the White House press corps were present, their
cameras whirring to record the event on film.
     We gave Mrs. Bush our book, Walking Alone and Marching
Together, and she received it with obvious pleasure. We told her
that it was the story of the struggle of the blind of America to
achieve equal status and first-class membership in society. We
told her of the 50,000-member National Federation of the Blind,
of our dreams to have full lives and a chance to work and do for
ourselves. We told her that we the blind want the right to
succeed or fail like anybody else, the right to make the most of
the talents we possess--and we told her we were proud of the
United States and its leaders and traditions. We said that we
were particularly proud to be meeting and talking with her
because of her work in bringing literacy and education to focus
in the public mind. I reminded her that she had taken a gift of
Braille slates and styluses from the National Federation of the
Blind for presentation to a school for the blind in Poland. She
wanted to know how the slates worked, and I took one from my
pocket and wrote her name for her in Braille.
     Mrs. Bush showed great interest in the Braille writing and
invited members of the press corps and the White House staff to
examine it with her. Along with our book, Walking Alone and
Marching Together, we gave Mrs. Bush a copy of Dr. Jernigan's
1990 national convention banquet address, "The Federation at
Fifty." I said that President Bush was mentioned in the address,
and the First Lady told me she would give it to him and ask him
to read it.
     Our visit with Mrs. Bush lasted for almost half an hour. She
was interested in what we had to say, quick to understand the
subtleties and nuances, and warmly congenial. Even though the
crisis in the Middle East was developing at that very moment to a
full crescendo, she gave us her full attention. She said that she
was aware of the efforts of the National Federation of the Blind
and that she admired our goals and programs. She said she would
try to help us, and I believe she meant it.
     There is no doubt in my mind that America's First Lady is
convinced (especially after our visit) that the dreams of the
blind of this country for a better tomorrow are inseparably
joined to the future of the National Federation of the Blind. We
told her of our fifty-year struggle for equal treatment--of the
longing of the blind to be free, to be treated as equals, and to
have opportunity. These very aspirations are, of course, in a
broader sense the essence of the spirit that has built America.
Mrs. Bush pledged that she would try to help disseminate our
message, promote our spirit of independence, and work for a
climate of acceptance for the blind. She said it--and I believe
she meant it.
     As we emerged from the White House on that morning of
January 9, 1991, the ice of the night before was gone, and the
fog of the early morning was only a memory. The sun was shining
brightly. So may it be for the blind of this country--and,
indeed, for the blind of the world. And so it will be if we make
it happen.


           CRISES IN BRAILLE LITERACY AND CANE TRAVEL
                      AIRED IN DENVER POST

     From the Associate Editor: Late in 1990 Ed Will, a staff
writer for the Denver Post, decided to do a story on the Colorado
School for the Deaf and Blind. In the course of his research he
contacted Diane McGeorge, President of the National Federation of
the Blind of Colorado and Executive Director of the Colorado
Center for the Blind. She explained that she did not have first-
hand information about the school for the blind, but she could
talk about general education issues concerning blind students.
During the lengthy interview that followed she mentioned several
other people who might be helpful to Mr. Will. He contacted them
all and spent long periods of time talking with each. 
     Then there was silence. Suddenly, on February 10, 1991, a
story on the school for the deaf and issues of importance to the
deaf community appeared in the Denver Post. The next day,
February 11, two excellent stories appeared: one on the crisis in
literacy among blind students and one discussing the
unsatisfactory state of cane travel instruction for blind
youngsters. 
     The piece was picked up by the Associated Press, which put
the story on its wire. The New York Times was only one of a
number of newspapers around the nation that ran an abbreviated
version of the Denver Post's story on Braille literacy. All in
all, February was a good month for alerting the public to the
problems that face blind students today. Here are Ed Will's two
stories from the Denver Post:

                   Braille Taking a Back Seat

     Inadequate Braille instruction from public schools has left
most blind students illiterate, say activists in the blind
community.
     "Illiteracy among blind children is a real crisis. I don't
think it's adequate education if you let a student...get through
college without the ability to read a sentence that they have
written themselves," said Barbara Cheadle, President of the
Parents of Blind Children Division of the National Federation of
the Blind in Baltimore. Nearly half of all blind and vision-
impaired students, forty-eight percent, read Braille in 1965. But
by 1989, the number had dropped to twelve percent, the American
Printing House for the Blind reports.
     Of blind students in 1965, about forty-three percent read
large type, four percent used both Braille and large type, and
five percent didn't read. By 1989, ten percent used both and
thirty-two percent didn't read.
     Cheadle traces the genesis of the decline to the 1950s, when
parents began enrolling blind children in local schools rather
than residential schools.
     "It's hard to find a blind twenty-year-old who can read as
well as the average blind person in my generation," said Cheadle,
who is forty. "Some parents think their children don't need
Braille, but they would if they knew blind professionals and saw
them struggle to learn it at midlife."
     The Federation's Colorado president, Diane McGeorge, also is
executive director of the Colorado Center for the Blind, 2232 S.
Broadway. Among the center's services are instruction in Braille,
mobility, and the skills of daily living as a blind person.
     "We get students who have been through high school and can't
write with a slate and stylus," McGeorge said. "These are basic
tools for writing Braille. I carry a slate and stylus around....
With the advent of the tape recorder, the educational system
said, `Kids don't need to know Braille because everything is on
tape.'
     "We now have bright kids who can't take notes in the
classroom."
     Colorado schools routinely provide Braille instruction. "But
if children have even a minimal amount of sight, they make them
use closed-circuit television, which enlarges print for the kids.
These kids aren't taught Braille."

Many Braille substitutes

     Eight-year-old Matthew Chadwick is such a child. Matthew is
legally blind. His clear vision range is two inches--and those
two inches may be his biggest educational handicap, said his
mother, Deborah Chadwick.
      "There are so many blind and legally blind people that are
illiterate that I felt it was very important to start him on
Braille early," she said.
     But Adams County School District 12 balked, saying he should
use magnifying technology instead, she said.
     As early as kindergarten, "I repeatedly asked about the
Braille," she said. But she said the teacher would say, "Why do
you want to do this to your child?...Look at this big machine (a
Brailler) he would have to use. Why do you want your child to be
different?"
     "My whole thing is that I am not trying to make Matthew
different. He was born different. I have tried to get him as
close to other kids as possible."
     When he entered first grade, the district agreed to let him
learn Braille, but only after his mother requested a second
meeting with educators responsible for creating the boy's yearly
education plan, a federal requirement for all handicapped
students.
     "They get you in those meetings," Chadwick said. "You are a
mother by yourself against a social worker, a speech and language
specialist, a learning-disabled teacher, a psychologist, a
vision-impaired teacher, and a homeroom teacher."

Reinforcements

     She brought reinforcements to the second meeting: McGeorge
and Julie Hunter, whose blind teenage daughter Lauren attends
Denver Public Schools.
     Diane came with her seeing-eye dog, Chadwick recalled. "I
think they knew from the start things were different....At the
first (meeting), no one listened to me. It lasted about twenty
minutes. The second lasted about an hour and ten minutes."
     While Chadwick won Braille instruction for her son, an
incident at the meeting foreshadowed more problems.
     McGeorge had brought a report in Braille by Lauren. She
asked the teacher for the vision-impaired to read it. The teacher
couldn't.
     "I thought, `Please read one word,'" Chadwick said. "But he
didn't read even one word. He stumbled around a bit and said, `I
am sorry. I am sorry.' I was actually embarrassed for him."

Change of Attitude

     The other educators in the room also were embarrassed, and
their attitudes changed. That's when they agreed to include
Braille in the plan, she said.
     "I celebrated after I won the Braille for him. I was so
excited. But it was such a joke."
     The man who could not read the report was Matthew's Braille
teacher for the year. "That's who came in to my son's class for
forty-five minutes a day for the rest of the year."
     Said Pamela Edinger, special education administrator for the
district, "Teachers who are trained to educate visually impaired
children learn Braille visually and don't learn to read with
their fingers--that takes several years." A person's inability to
read Braille doesn't mean he or she can't teach it, she said.
     Matthew's Braille teacher did not return to the district
this school year. He has not been replaced, leaving the district
without a certified teacher of the visually impaired. Edinger
said the district is searching for such a teacher, but a shortage
exists in the state. Meanwhile, a certified teacher from Boulder
Valley School District works four hours a week in District 12.
None of the district's eighteen visually impaired students
studies Braille.

No instruction

     In this year's plan for Matthew--drawn up almost two months
late--the district again agreed to teach him Braille. But no such
instruction has taken place.
     In the state's largest school district, Jefferson County,
eleven of seventy-two blind or vision-impaired students receive
Braille instruction. About half of the twenty-seven blind
students in Denver schools take Braille.
     "If a child is totally blind, the need for Braille is
definitely obvious," said Sara Officer, a Jefferson County
teacher for the vision-impaired. "If they have a visual
impairment, it would depend on what their future is predicted to
be, what their interest is in Braille, and whether the need is
seen educationally for the near future."
     "What does an eleven- or eight-year-old really want to
learn?" McGeorge asked. "Do they want to learn spelling or math?
But the teachers see those as important skills.
     "They don't recognize how important Braille is to a student
with some residual vision."
     Officer doesn't disagree.
     "Students can read enlarged print, but if you can teach them
Braille now, it really helps later."
     Karen Cox, a twenty-year-old student at McGeorge's center,
used readers and magnifying systems to get through Pueblo public
schools and two years at the University of Southern Colorado.
     "I always got work from the teacher and went back to the
visually handicapped department or room and had a teacher or an
aide read it to me or used a closed-circuit TV that would enlarge
the print," she said of her early school years.
     She asked to be taught Braille when she was in elementary
school. "They taught me the alphabet, which I forgot in two
weeks. They figured I had some sight, so why not use it?"
     Karen learned to read, but very slowly. The effort strained
her eyes, "so I would put off reading and my GPA suffered because
of that. I always passed, but I never got higher than a 2.0. I
missed out on a lot."
     McGeorge said, "Karen is a very insightful and intelligent
person. It's just that no one ever talked with her about the
fact: `You're not a sighted person, but that is okay. You just
need some different tools to work with.'
     "People in the educational system think they are doing
what's right for the kids, but then I get them (at the center),
and they are trying to catch up."
                      ____________________
     That is what Ed Will of the Denver Post reported on Monday,
February 11, and he accompanied this accurate assessment of
literacy for the blind with an equally hard-hitting piece about
cane travel. Here it is: 

            Activists Say Cane Skills, Too, Neglected

     Cane training--a must for blind and vision-impaired children
to become independent adults--has been neglected by most
educators, says the Colorado chapter President of the National
Federation of the Blind.
     "They don't teach them to have pride in their cane travel.
Pride in using the cane for us as blind people is our key to
independence," Diane McGeorge said.
     "It is a great feeling to be able to take your cane and get
on a bus and take care of your own errands."
     Karen Cox now knows that feeling, but she was nineteen when
she first boarded a bus by herself.
     "It was pretty scary at first, but I got used to it," said
Cox, now twenty and a student at the Colorado Center for the
Blind.
     In Pueblo public schools, she said, her mobility training
lasted once a week for a month. She was taught how to get to
school and to get around at school and in her neighborhood. 
     "That's a common message: you will only be going around
these prescribed areas, so you don't need to know any others,"
said McGeorge, executive director of the blind center.
     Neither Cox nor her parents sought more training.
     That was not the case for Lauren Hunter, a thirteen-year-old
eighth grader at Kunsmiller Middle School in Denver.
     Julie Hunter started trying to get the Denver Public Schools
to teach her daughter cane travel in the second grade. She was
told Lauren was too young.
     "One reason they gave us was that a cane would be dangerous
to other kids," Hunter said. "You can imagine what it would be
like on the playground, having someone take you out and then come
back and get you after recess. You would be unable to explore, to
find the swings or the jungle gym."
     That summer, she took Lauren to an Albuquerque school where
a mobility trainer taught young children cane travel.
     "We came back to Lauren's school and told them, `We really
don't think you can say she is not ready to do this.' They
acquiesced."
     Students in Jefferson County schools must learn several
other things before they are introduced to the cane, said Sara
Officer, a teacher for the vision-impaired.
     "Assuming that they have a good basic concept of direction;
left and right; and position in space (front, back, and sides),
you start out with what's called pre-cane technique, which is
using your arms to protect yourself, trailing the wall with your
hand, and learning how to recognize and familiarize a space. Such
as when you enter a new room, you get a mental picture of what
the room is like. After those are established, then you can
introduce a cane."
     The National Federation of the Blind disagrees.
     "We very much recommend that children be given canes as soon
as they can walk," said Rosemary Lerdahl of the Federation's
headquarters in Baltimore. "They are not going to use it
properly, of course, but they can get used to it and learn what
it can do for them."





[PHOTO/CAPTION: Portrait of Kenneth Jernigan.]

                      NAC TAKES BODY BLOWS:
             WARRANT ISSUED FOR GRANT MACK'S ARREST
                       by Kenneth Jernigan

     In mid-February of this year the courts of Cook County,
Illinois, issued the following document:

                     IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
                      COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS

People of the State of Illinois
vs.
Mack
                                               Case No. 90 122467

                         ARREST WARRANT

     THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS TO ALL PEACE OFFICERS IN
THE STATE--GREETING:
     We command you to Arrest Grant Mack (Defendant) for the
offense of Chapter 38 Section 123, Battery. Stated in a charge
now pending before this court, and that you bring him before The
Circuit Court of Cook County at Branch 134, 155 West 51st Street,
or, if I am absent or unable to act, the nearest or most
accessible court in Cook County or, if this warrant is executed
in a county other than Cook, before the nearest or most
accessible judge in the county where the arrest is made.

Issued in Cook County
February 11, 1991
Bail Fixed at $3,000.00

            Information and Description of Defendant

     Name: Grant Mack; Alias: ---; Residence: 2224 Panorama Way,
Salt Lake City, Utah 84124; Sex: Male; Race: White; Weight: 170;
Height: 5 feet, 7 inches; Age: 58.
                      ____________________
     The events leading up to this unusual document are as
noteworthy as the fact of its issuance.  As readers of this
publication know (see the January, 1991, Braille Monitor), the
group that calls itself the National Committee for the
Advancement of Accreditation met in Chicago on December 8, 1990.
Regardless of what this committee may call itself, it is, of
course, in reality only the administration of the National
Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually
Handicapped (NAC), desperately trying to keep itself alive--an
increasingly difficult task.
     The Chicago meeting was a disgraceful display of NAC at its
worst. The chairman of the meeting, Grant Mack, later admitted in
writing that he grabbed a microphone out of the hands of Steve
Hastalis, who was serving as a reporter for the Braille Monitor,
and threw it to the floor, breaking it to pieces. Mack also
publicly used disgustingly foul language and otherwise behaved in
a manner not calculated to inspire respect either for himself or
for NAC, the organization he was representing. Mack (a current
member of the board of the American Foundation for the Blind,
chairman of the board of National Industries for the Blind, and a
past president of the American Council of the Blind); Dennis
Hartenstine (NAC's executive director); Oral Miller (national
representative of the American Council of the Blind); and the few
other NAC stalwarts who were present made no friends for NAC in
Chicago on December 8, 1990. Instead, they conducted themselves
in such an objectionable manner that a number of those whom they
had invited as guests and presumably hoped to convert were so
embarrassed and humiliated that they came to the Federationists
who were there and apologized for what had occurred. What NAC had
intended to be a triumph became a fiasco.
     But this was not all. The consequences of Grant Mack's
assault upon Steve Hastalis were not to end with the evening's
activities. Hastalis went to the police and swore out a
complaint, and a court date was set for January 3, 1991. When the
date arrived, Steve Hastalis (as the complaining witness)
appeared in the Cook County Circuit Courtroom. Grant Mack did not
appear. Instead, he sent a local lawyer, George Weaver, to speak
on his behalf. When Mack's assault and battery case was called in
the usual morning court call (among the cases of persons who had
spent the night in jail), Mr. Weaver walked to the front and
asked that the case be dismissed. The judge declined and said
that he would take the matter up after he had finished the other
business of the morning.
     After all other cases were disposed of, the judge again
called Mack's case. Attorney Weaver, carrying a big accordion
file with Mack's name on its face in large letters, marched back
up to the judge and renewed his efforts to put an end to the
case. Mr. Weaver said that his client, Mr. Mack, was an elderly
blind man who lived all the way out in Utah, implying that it
would be a hardship for Mack to appear in court. Moreover, said
Weaver, Mack had no intention of doing so.
     In an attempt to show mercy as well as justice, the judge
set a new hearing date for February 11, 1991. When the date
arrived, Hastalis was present, but neither Mack nor his lawyer
was to be seen. At that stage the judge issued the warrant
(printed at the beginning of this article) for Mack's arrest. If
Mack is found anywhere in the state of Illinois (including the
Chicago airport), he will be subject to arrest and will 
presumably either have to post bond or go to jail to await trial.
     Mack's debacle is not all that has been happening to NAC of
late.  Under date of January 16, 1991, Dennis Hartenstine (NAC's
executive director) sent a statement to the National Council on
Disability to try to enlist its help in getting Congress to tie
the receipt of federal money to accreditation when reauthorizing
the federal Rehabilitation Act. Hartenstine said that there were
two objectives which could be achieved by such linking: "(1)
Improving the quality of, and access to, rehabilitation services
for individuals with disabilities; and (2) Ensuring
accountability for program performance in the rehabilitation of
individuals with disabilities and for proper and effective
utilization of Federal funds."
     Later, on the same page, Hartenstine spelled out what he
meant. His exact words were: "As discussed previously, the two
objectives can be realized in part through a requirement that
uniform standards be met by grantees under the Act, and that the
continuous adherence to such standards is to be assured through
accreditation. The linkage of Federal funding to accreditation
will (1) improve the quality of services to individuals with
disabilities; (2) provide a mechanism for monitoring of program
performance; (3) ensure accountability for program performance;
and (4) satisfy the Department of Education and the Congress that
Federal funds are properly and effectively utilized."
     One would not expect such statements to endear Hartenstine
or NAC to Nell Carney, the federal commissioner of
rehabilitation, or to the regional officials of the
Rehabilitation Services Administration or the state directors. It
is doubtful that very many of those in the rehabilitation
establishment feel the need for an outside private group
(especially NAC) to monitor their work and assure Congress and
the public of their accountability. As might have been expected,
the repercussions have been widespread and numerous.
     With the poet, NAC might say that sorrows come not singly
but in battalions. The following excerpt from the minutes of the
February 4, 1991, meeting of Region 1 of the General Council of
Workshops for the Blind (GCWB) is a case in point:

         The General Council of Workshops for the Blind
                        Region 1 Meeting
               Lighthouse Industries for the Blind
                   Long Island City, New York
                        February 4, 1991

     3. NAC Issues. The debate over the funding of NAC continues
to be an issue within the General Council of Workshops for the
Blind (GCWB). We do not have any indication this will come up at
the next National Industries for the Blind (NIB) Board of
Directors meeting, but in case it does, Region 1 wished to
reiterate its position.
     A. Pressure on the issue is being brought by Grant Mack,
Chairman of the NIB Board. Indications are that this is a
personal issue for Grant, who is strongly affiliated with the
American Council of the Blind, who has supported this program in
the past.
     B. NAC has hired a lobbyist to attempt to bring political
pressure to fund NAC through the RSA Appropriations Bill. RSA has
questioned the wisdom of NIB money being used to lobby for RSA
appropriations.
     C. The Committee for Purchase from the Blind and Other
Severely Handicapped (the Committee) has questioned NIB over this
issue as well, having relatively the same concerns as RSA. This
is a potentially embarrassing issue for the Committee.
     D. Both RSA and the Committee question NIB on pressing for
legislation that prohibits a workshop from receiving government
contracts under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day program unless it is
accredited by NAC.
     E. Region 1 maintains its position that NIB funds should not
be used to support NAC. A copy of Charlie Fegan's comments
regarding this issue is attached. Mr. Fegan's position was
adopted without dissent by Region 1 at the GCWB Annual Convention
in New Orleans in 1990.
     F. The Committee also asked that an informal meeting be held
Saturday evening, May 4th, in Orlando with representatives of the
other three regions, to discuss this and other relevant issues.
     G. Region 1 reaffirms its position that because of the
conflict of interest issues involved, our position remains the
same, namely: "NIB funds should not be used to support activities
of any organization outside the GCWB/NIB family." (This position
was adopted by Region 1 in Norfolk on 20 May, 1990.)
     H. We further recommend the GCWB press NIB to discontinue
funding of such activities, specifically, support of NAC,
effective immediately.
                      ____________________
     So said the minutes of region one of the General Council of
Workshops on February 4, 1991, and the sentiment was a harbinger
of what was to come. The Committee for Purchase from the Blind
and Other Severely Handicapped met in Washington on February 14,
1991, and National Industries for the Blind was called to account
for its funding of NAC. RSA commissioner Nell Carney was not
alone in expressing displeasure with NAC's behavior.
Particularly, the chairman of the Committee (Rear Admiral D. W.
McKinnon, Jr.) showed concern. By the end of the meeting it was
clear how the tide was running, as indicated by the following
letter:

                                              Arlington, Virginia
                                                February 15, 1991

Mr. George J. Mertz, President
National Industries for the Blind
Wayne, New Jersey

Dear Mr. Mertz:
     I am writing with respect to concerns that have surfaced
regarding the National Industries for the Blind's (NIB) financial
support for operations of the National Accreditation Council
(NAC).
     The concerns relate to NAC's efforts to persuade Congress to
amend the Rehabilitation Act to require accreditation for State
agencies and other recipients of funds authorized by that Act. As
reported at yesterday's Committee meeting by Nell Carney,
Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
and Committee member representing the Department of Education,
there is widespread perception that NIB is financing this
lobbying effort. During her remarks to the Committee,
Commissioner Carney took strong exception to the NAC effort and
expressed concern that the perceived link between it and NIB
could jeopardize State Voc Rehab agencies' support for the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Program.
     Ms. Carney advised the Committee that the Executive Branch
opposes the approach being advocated by NAC and that
characterizations of RSA policies and procedures contained in a
NAC statement on its proposal were erroneous. With respect to
State agencies' support for facilities participating in JWOD, Ms.
Carney noted that such agencies' extreme opposition to the
mandatory accreditation approach sought by NAC, coupled with
their perception of NIB's support for that approach, could
influence their attitudes toward referring individuals not only
to NIB workshops but possibly to National Industries for the
Severely Handicapped (NISH) facilities as well. The Committee is
cognizant of your directive that NAC not use any NIB resources
for the effort to link Federal funding to accreditation.
     We know that the NIB Board shares the Committee's desire
that this matter not have a detrimental effect upon the JWOD
Program and the individuals it serves. We would appreciate your
consideration of the Committee's concerns as you deliberate on
continued support for NAC and the conditions under which any
support is provided.
     As indicated at yesterday's meeting, we would like to be
kept apprised of NIB's decisions on this matter, especially as
they relate to the perception that NIB is now part of a lobbying
effort that serves to discredit RSA and call into question the
work of the Committee and the central nonprofit agencies.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                              D. W. McKinnon, Jr.
                                            Rear Admiral, SC, USN
                                                            Chair
                            Committee for Purchase from the Blind
                                   and Other Severely Handicapped
                      ____________________
     There is something which is called the bandwagon effect.
This is not what is happening to NAC. More fitting are the
proverbs about sinking ships. When the cause is obviously lost,
very few feel called upon to stand on the deck and hold the flag
high while the waves sweep them under. The following letter is
illustrative:

                                                Wayne, New Jersey
                                                February 21, 1991

Dear Admiral McKinnon:
     This is to advise you that the Board of Directors of
National Industries for the Blind (NIB) at its meeting held on
February 16, 1991, voted to discontinue its budget support to the
National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and
Visually Handicapped (NAC). This decision to discontinue funding
for the third year of NAC's plan to achieve financial
independence was based on the fact that there was minimal
progress reported by NAC in their goal of achieving this
objective. It was also felt that this goal could not be
accomplished during the third year of their plan.
     The Board also reviewed and discussed the Committee's
concerns expressed in your letter of February 15, 1991, regarding
the perceived link of NIB's funding for NAC and the issue of
mandatory accreditation sought by NAC. While the Board remains
unequivocally committed to the concept of accreditation as a
means of insuring quality services to blind individuals, the NIB
Board has not and never will advocate mandatory accreditation as
a means for acquiring federal funds under the Rehabilitation Act.
Also, the Board was very emphatic that NIB has not and will not
be involved in any lobbying effort to promote this concept.
Certainly there was no intention on NIB's part to discredit the
work of the Rehabilitation Services Administration or any other
government entity because of our support of accreditation.
     Admiral McKinnon, although the Board found it necessary to
discontinue providing financial support for NAC for reasons
stated above, NIB firmly believes in proper standards and
voluntary accreditation for workshops and agencies serving blind
and multidisabled blind persons and will continue to promote this
important concept.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                  George J. Mertz

cc: Ms. Beverly L. Milkman
Mr. Grant Mack
                      ____________________
     So regardless of the sugar-coated language, and despite the
vehement protests of the chairman of its board, National
Industries for the Blind left the sinking ship. And concern also
began to be expressed by top officials of the American Foundation
for the Blind, NAC's last remaining major financial supporter.
There is only one more year left of possible AFB funding for NAC,
and there are those who say that the funding will not
materialize.
     Be this as it may, the behavior of NAC and its officials is
now becoming a severe embarrassment to the American Foundation.
This is evidenced by the fact that the Foundation had no
representative at the latest meeting of the National Committee
for the Advancement of Accreditation--or, as one AFB official
dubbed it, "Grant Mack's road show." The road show met in a
suburb of San Francisco on Thursday, March 21, 1991, and Mack and
Hartenstine were much in evidence; but the Foundation was not--
nor was most anybody else. The road show was sparsely attended.
In fact, it may have been closing night.
     As Sharon Gold, the President of the National Federation of
the Blind of California, reported: "There were approximately
twenty-three people in attendance at the dinner. Two of these
were Fred Schroeder and Joyce Scanlan, our representatives, who
were permitted to attend the dinner. Two were Ruth Ann and Bob
Acosta. Three were from the Don Queen family, and four were from
the family of Allen Jenkins. Also present were Grant Mack and
Dennis Hartenstine from NAC, and a staff member from the
California Council of the Blind. This accounts for fourteen
people. The remainder were from a handful of agencies. We
outnumbered the dinner guests more than two to one."
     As Miss Gold said in her later report to the blind of
California: "Thursday, March 21, 1991, will be remembered as yet
another significant day in the history of the Federation and our
determination to be independent blind people. On Wednesday we
learned that the National Committee for the Advancement of
Accreditation planned a dinner meeting for Thursday evening at
the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza in Burlingame. To disguise their
intent, the dinner was scheduled by the California Council of the
Blind, and the letters of invitation were issued to agency heads
by Robert Acosta. Grant Mack was to be the speaker and would
enlighten all who attended on the value of accreditation--in
other words, NAC. We had twenty-four hours to plan our own
meeting, an informational meeting to be held outside the NAC
meeting. Federationists from California and other states put
aside their personal lives and came to San Francisco to join
together to deliver once again our message to the public. More
than forty of us were on hand."
     A final comment from Sharon Gold is worth mentioning.
"Hostility and hatred," she said, "win few friends while good
manners and a genuine concern for others win respect." These
words are especially relevant when considering the appearance of
the road show in California, for although there was some general
talk about the value of accreditation, the principal focus of the
meeting was a violent thirty-minute tirade of hate against the
National Federation of the Blind, expressed by Bob Acosta. As in
Chicago, the agency officials who had been brought to the meeting
to be converted went away embarrassed and humiliated. Fred
Schroeder and Joyce Scanlan, the two Federationists who were
permitted to sit in the room and attend the dinner, were
courteous and polite throughout the long attack, making no
response at all. Later they were approached by some of the
invited guests, who apologized for the boorish behavior to which
the Federationists had been exposed.
     So we draw closer and closer to the demise of NAC, and it is
hard to rejoice--for NAC is dying neither gracefully nor
constructively. In its waning days it is doing what it has always
done--hurting blind people and injuring programs established to
serve the blind. It is damaging quality services and lowering
standards.
     When NAC is gone (which will surely not be long), there
would appear to be few issues left to divide the blindness field.
May it be so--and may it be soon.




[PHOTO/CAPTION: Portrait of Zach Shore.]


                    THE OVERWHELMING QUESTION

     From the Associate Editor: Many of us have learned through
hard experience to be cautious when reporters approach us with
the idea of doing a human interest story about our lives as blind
people or about some particular activity in which we engage. We
know that the easy and obvious story angle is wide-eyed wonder at
our overcoming obstacles and accomplishing our goals despite the
heavy burden of blindness. The dilemma is to decide whether the
advantages of showing the public a blind person living a normal
life and of discussing frankly the profound problems that face us
(unemployment, illiteracy, and discrimination, to name only
three) outweigh the disadvantage of risking the dramatic, even
heroic portrayal of our most ordinary actions and everyday
accomplishments. 
     Still more difficult is the decision about what to do when
we read such stories about other blind people in the local
newspaper.  Should we respond publicly in an attempt to put the
person's accomplishments in true perspective and thereby risk
appearing to be a spoilsport? Alternatively, should we remain
silent and allow one more layer of misconception, extravagant
praise, and inappropriate flattery to settle over blind people,
weighing us down on our slog toward truth and equal treatment? It
takes courage and nerve to decide on action because one is bound
to offend the newspaper, the featured blind person, his friends
and relatives, those readers who know what they think and would
rather not be confronted by the facts, or all of the above. 
     This is precisely the quandary in which Federationist Zach
Shore of Seattle, Washington, found himself on January 1, 1991.
That day the Seattle Times published a story about a young blind
lawyer, who is clearly making a success of his personal life and
career. The piece got emotional mileage from the fact that the
blind lawyer (Peter Dawson) lost his sight in an accident a week
before high school graduation--admittedly a major setback to a
young man planning an athletic career in college. The newspaper
article went on to detail Dawson's skiing and climbing; his
successful debut in a law firm; and his tenacity, patience, and
sense of humor. The reporter, Sherry Stripling, did a fine job of
bringing her subject to life, and the article was clearly viewed
by most of her readers as an inspiring way to usher in the New
Year. 
     Zach Shore works at the Seattle Times in the Customer
Service Department. He read the New Year's Day story and
understood both what an admirable person Peter Dawson must be and
what misconceptions about blindness the piece had reinforced in
the minds of the public. He undertook to set the record straight
if he could. He wrote an opinion piece, which was published on
January 14, 1991, and waited to see what would happen. Here are
the original story and Zach's as they appeared in the Seattle
Times: 


                    Peter Dawson: He's Blind
                  But He's Opened Others' Eyes

     Peter Dawson knew that as a blind man going into law, with
its heavy requirement for reading, he would have frustrating
days. And he does.
     But when the woman who has read aloud to him for thirteen
years suggests he try an easier profession--such as brain
surgery--she's only half kidding. She wouldn't bet money that he
wouldn't or couldn't do it.
     Lillian Lipman has watched Dawson grow from a boy struggling
with his sudden blindness to a man she greatly admires. He
doesn't have wings, she said, but she has seen him soar.
     "He will pursue something until there's nothing left to
pursue," said Lipman, who calls Dawson the most considerate man
she's ever met. "He'll trace down details that other people
didn't bother with. Consequently, he has found answers that have
changed laws for the betterment of people."
     Sighted lawyers have an advantage in that they can skim
through written material until they come to the segment they need
to read in detail. Dawson must hear every word, which takes more
time. He also is uncommonly thorough, which takes even more time.
     When Lane, Powell, Spears, Lubersky (then Lane, Powell,
Moss, & Miller) took a gamble and hired him out of the University
of Washington's law school, it sometimes took Dawson seven days
to do the work a sighted lawyer could do in five.
     He did it, using high-tech scanners, word synthesizers,
computer data bases, and people such as Lipman, who serve as
personal readers.
     And he added a dimension to the firm. He picked up details
about clients that other lawyers missed, said Jim Stoetzer, a
partner, because his senses other than sight are heightened.
     But Dawson needed to become more efficient, and so he became
more specialized, discovering a particular knack for personal
injury liability cases, which gave him more client contact,
another of his strengths.
     Last February he started a solo practice. He still wonders
from month to month whether he'll make it, but few people
associated with him have doubts.
     Dawson, son of a doctor and a nurse, did not follow a
lifelong dream to become a lawyer. A week before his high school
graduation, he lost his sight in a dirt bike accident while
celebrating with other Mercer Island seniors. He had athletic
scholarships waiting for him and had been accepted by the U.S.
Navy flying program.
     "Everything was there for the taking, and the carpet was
pulled out," said Dawson, thirty-one.
     Though that summer he began the first of some twenty eye and
facial operations that are still ongoing, he was determined to
take his place at the UW that fall.
     But he was ashamed of the white cane. He didn't know about
technological aids. He found himself dependent on other people,
and he hated it.
     "The stereotypes of blindness were so negative that I just
didn't want to have anything to do with it," said Dawson. "All I
could picture was people with tin cups selling pencils on the
corner."
     The State Department of Services for the Blind coaxed him
into coming to Olympia for a year to learn how to live
independently.
     "It was the lowest point of my life," he said.
     But while there he met people struggling with other health
issues, and he began to appreciate that he was still a strapping
youth. He made friends. He regained confidence. As he prepared to
re-enter the university, one of his Olympia teachers
painstakingly carved a relief map of the 1,618-acre campus, which
Dawson memorized.
     Dawson did better every quarter and learned to rely on his
intelligence, where formerly he relied on athletic prowess.
     Not that he hasn't continued to enjoy his physical life. One
of his five brothers skis with him, telling him through a headset
what's coming. "Tree on your left." "Great-looking girl on your
right." Still Dawson has fallen into his share of ravines.
     When his former associate, Stoetzer, followed him on the
company climb of Mount Rainier, Stoetzer concluded Dawson had the
will to do almost anything.
     That wasn't the common belief when Dawson decided to enter
law school after graduating from the UW with distinction in
history. He was told he would be eaten alive. He was told he
would never keep up with the book work.
     Lipman, who by that time had been reading to Peter as a
volunteer for four years, almost punched one naysayer in the
nose.
     Lipman is now past retirement age but still takes the ferry
and the bus from Bainbridge Island at least twice a week to read
for Dawson. They are close enough that she feels free to size up
his girlfriends. He appreciates her tenacity. She appreciates his
sense of humor and patience.
     "I've seen him perturbed, but never angry," she said. "He
has obviously accepted whatever has happened to him with good
grace."
     While Dawson recalls undergraduate school fondly, law school
was painful. He sent books to an association in the East that
read them onto tapes. But law books are huge and easily outdated,
and Dawson was limited in how many books he could send and how
often he could get them updated.
     It took him an extra year, but he made it. He passed the bar
examination on the second try, after logistical adjustments were
made to accommodate his disability.
     He worked at the attorney general's office while in school
and could have kept on with the work, which he liked. But he
chose to go into private practice, a more difficult path because
the company can't charge customers more even though it might take
Dawson longer to complete written research.
     Stoetzer remembers that his law firm was impressed that
Dawson didn't promise more than he felt he could deliver. With
technology catching up, one thing Dawson could promise was that
he could do his own research.
     In his office now in the Westin Building, Dawson sits
surrounded by machines. He has two tape players for dictating
letters. He has a scanner that can read legal documents or mail
and download the information onto his personal word processor.
     The information then comes to him by voice synthesizer. Five
years ago, he listened to the same monotone voice for ten and
eleven hours at a sitting until he thought he'd go crazy. Now
there are a variety of livelier voices with handles such as Huge
Harry and Whispering Wendy.
     Dawson can access data bases, like Westlaw, that have every
new case from Hong Kong to London on line within twenty-four
hours of the judgment.
     Lipman is impressed that Dawson goes to plays and films and
comes back to tell about the nuances. There's not much he's
missed in his travels either (he has ventured three times to
Eastern and Western Europe); travel companion Per Danielsson says
his optimism and spirit touched people's lives wherever they
went. That and his sense of humor make him a valuable asset to
the Community Services for the Blind and Partially Sighted.
     Next year Dawson will become the first blind president of
the board in the agency's twenty-five-year history.
     June Mansfield, executive director, says Dawson is so open
about his blindness that he makes people feel comfortable asking
questions and dispels misunderstanding.
     In the beginning blindness was like living in a closet,
Dawson said. His world was only as wide as his arms could reach.
But, as the years went by, his sense of hearing and touch became
more sensitive, and slowly the world expanded.
     "You become more aware of the wind and the sun and the
moisture in the air and the sounds associated with different
birds," said Dawson. "You grab at whatever you can to help you
take in the world in a different way."
                      ____________________
     That is the way the article ended, and Zach Shore felt that
it was too sentimentalized to go unchallenged. He felt that in
and of itself the article was such that something had to be done
to set the record straight. Here is what he wrote: 

         Blind People Saddened, Angered by Times Article
                          by Zach Shore

     I am the editor of "The Blind Washingtonian," the newsletter
of the National Federation of the Blind of Washington. I work as
a customer service representative for The Seattle Times, and I am
also blind.
     It doesn't take a master logician to discover that there is
a direct correlation between the New Year's Day article in The
Times on a blind lawyer and the fact that my phone has been
ringing off the hook ever since.
     What's all the fuss about? The reactions I have heard to
Sherry Stripling's piece entitled, "Peter Dawson: He's blind, but
he's opened others' eyes," fall into two categories.
     Almost every sighted person who has read the article has
remarked how impressed he or she was with this brave blind man's
success. Every blind person I spoke with has had reactions
ranging from outrage to disgust.
     What phenomenon can so impress the sighted and so depress
the blind? I think the answer lies in an incident that occurred
the other day. In fact, an incident just like it occurred the day
before that, and similar incidents occur nearly every day.
     I walked into my bank to deposit my paycheck. When I was
ready to endorse the check, I asked the teller to line up my Visa
card with the line I needed to sign. Once I endorsed it, the
teller remarked, "That's amazing."
     "What is?" I asked.
     "That you sign your name so well. It's just fantastic how
well you do things."
     I told her that it really wasn't so incredible, but she
insisted that it was. I smiled, thanked her, and wished her a
good day. But I had to bite my lip to keep from saying,"If you
think that's impressive, you oughtta see me tie my shoes!"
     If we were to draw up a list of the greatest challenges
facing blind people in America today, we would probably include
unemployment, poverty, and finding good rehabilitation and decent
education. All these conditions afflict us as a minority. Yet,
none is as crippling as the teller's kind words.
     These adverse conditions are not causes but effects. The
reason for the second-class state of the blind is expressed in
the sentiment, "It amazes me how well you sign your name."
     Most sighted people, like the teller, are astounded by such
simple actions because they do not believe the blind are as
capable as they are themselves. This is the real root of our
problems: not blindness, but the public's misconceptions about
us. It is also why blind people are so saddened by Stripling's
piece.
     Throughout the article, numerous facts and quotes about
Dawson's life are cited to stress his courage. Much is made of
his recreation habits: skiing and climbing. His sighted reader
states, "He has obviously accepted what has happened to him with
good grace"--and "He has no wings; yet, I've seen him soar." 
     Yet, all of Dawson's accomplishments are presented as
exceptional because of his blindness. Many blind people find this
demeaning because it suggests that when a blind person lives a
normal life--working, playing, contributing to the community--he
or she is automatically thought of as amazing, heroic, and
unique.   But blindness need not prevent anyone from living a
normal life, and when we do the same things as everyone else, we
are neither wondrous nor brave. 
     Another falsehood in this piece is the notion that Dawson's
loss of eyesight enhanced his other senses. A blind person's
senses are no better than anyone else's. Some people cannot
understand why we object to this age-old myth since it makes the
blind appear more capable.
     We object for the same reason that most Asian Americans
prefer the label Asian to Oriental. While Oriental sounds more
exotic and intriguing, it is that very difference which most
Asians eschew. The blind, like every other minority, want to get
the same treatment as the majority, and the way to get equal
treatment is not with exotic labels or false claims of superior
senses.
     Many blind people took exception to the portrayal of Dawson
as being less capable than his peers: "Sometimes it would take
him seven days to do what other lawyers did in five." In no way
do I wish to diminish Dawson's achievements as a lawyer. However,
I know at least twenty blind lawyers, and I can assure you they
are every bit as efficient as their sighted peers. If they were
not, their employers would not have hired them, or their private
businesses would have failed.
     The Dawson profile, though written with the best intentions,
misled the public and hurt the blind. It left the impression that
because he is blind, we applaud Dawson's courageous struggle to
be almost normal.
     If The Times ran a similar profile on an African American
lawyer and noted how amazing it was for that person to have
managed to live a normal life despite his debilitating
characteristic, the public outcry would be deafening. We in the
National Federation of the Blind are proving daily that blindness
is just a characteristic: nothing more or less.
     Dawson, Stripling, and all of us have, at one time or
another, fallen victim to the fallacy that equates blindness with
helplessness and incompetence. Whenever a blind person disproves
these notions, we are tempted to glorify him as the exception and
profile him as a credit to his kind. When we spotlight a special
person to praise for his achievements, and the fact of his
blindness is mentioned only in passing, then we will truly have
done a deed worth writing about.
                      ____________________
     That is what Zach Shore wrote, and as soon as it was
published, the feathers (as the saying goes) began to fly. There
were letters to the editor, including one published on February
6, 1991, written by Jane Malbon, a woman who had known Dawson for
years and viewed Shore's piece as a personal attack on her friend
rather than as a thoughtful discussion of a systemic problem
facing all blind people. 
     Her argument seems to be that her friend has accomplished
impressive things and is a wonderful human being. He has done all
this while overcoming blindness, and that makes him heroic. The
heart of her argument would appear to be this section of her
letter: "To dismiss the struggles involved in attaining his
considerable success is to diminish in a way his achievements.
The real value of achievement reflects the amount of effort put
into it." This is what Mrs. Malbon says, and I am not sure what
she intends by the word "reflects" in her last sentence; but I
assume she means that the real value of achievement can only be
assessed by measuring the amount of effort that goes into it. 
     This is certainly the case when one deals with young
children or adults with debilitating mental illness or mental
retardation. Out of compassion and in recognition that it is
inappropriate to expect real achievement from such people, we
take into consideration how hard they work and how much they want
to succeed. 
     But in the competitive world of adult achievement, success
has always been measured in accomplishment. The average college
student who works hard for C's does not win admission to Phi Beta
Kappa or medical school. The A student, on the other hand, who
finds time for student government, theater performance, and
tutoring inner city youngsters can write his or her own ticket,
regardless of how little time is spent on studying. In cosmic
terms this may not seem fair, but it is the way things have
always worked. The fact that Ms. Malbon presumes that blind
people should be measured by the amount of their effort rather
than by their actual achievement reinforces Zach Shore's point.
Here is what Ms. Malbon wrote to the editor on February 6, 1991: 

                            No Insult
          Lawyer Who is Blind Also Happens to be Heroic

Editor, The Times:
     In response to Zach Shore's January 14 opinion piece, "Blind
people saddened, angered by Times article," Mr. Shore argues that
the article written about a blind attorney, Peter Dawson, is an
insult to the blind community at large because "all of Dawson's
accomplishments are portrayed as exceptional because of his
blindness."
     The original article was a part of an ongoing series
entitled, "Ordinary People," designed to show the aspects of
interest and heroism that can be found in everyday people. Having
known Peter Dawson for many years, I have seen what he's had to
overcome and what he has achieved, and he is indeed heroic.
     No one who knows Pete applauds his "courageous struggle to
be almost normal." People applaud his ability to be exceptional--
and we're not talking about the ability to sign his name. To
dismiss the struggles involved in attaining his considerable
success is to diminish in a way his achievements. The real value
of achievement reflects the amount of effort put into it.
     Shore was upset by the statement that when Pete first
started working for a law firm, it "sometimes took Dawson seven
days to do the work a sighted lawyer could do in five." He, and
many blind people evidently, translated this one statement into
the perception that the article portrayed Pete as "less capable
than his peers" and thus shed a poor light on all blind
attorneys.
     I don't believe the article implied anything but that Pete
is extraordinarily capable. Acknowledging that blind people may
encounter difficulties is not to fall victim to the fallacy that
equates blindness with helplessness and incompetence, for every
person, blind or not, has his or her own special set of
"limitations" with which they must deal, and certainly all people
encounter difficulties.
     To acknowledge that someone has overcome a terrible
adversity (and literally losing both eyes at age eighteen
certainly qualifies) and has come out so wonderfully is a story
that deserves to be told.
                      ____________________
     That's what Ms. Malbon had to say to the editor of the
Times, and a week later Peter Dawson weighed in with his own
comments. He fastened on an argument made late in Shore's article
as the main point of the piece. Zach pointed out that he had no
intention of undercutting Dawson's abilities as a lawyer, but
that the author made an issue of his requiring seven days when he
began working for the law firm to do what sighted attorneys did
in five. Shore went on to talk about his observation that good
blind lawyers are just as efficient as sighted ones and that it
is demeaning when readers are left to infer that blind people are
necessarily slower than their sighted competition. 
     Dawson, however, assumes that Shore is criticizing him. The
defense he makes of his methods and strengths as an attorney
sound fair and accurate; his only mistake is in assuming that
Shore intended to insult him. 
     Dawson concludes his piece with his version of the old "you
catch more flies with honey than vinegar" argument. He interprets
as bitterness Shore's recognition of the public's misplaced
admiration for everyday competence of the blind. He forgets that
Shore did not snap at the bank teller. He smiled and wished her a
good day. Dawson is right in thinking that bitterness corrodes
the soul and incapacitates the body, but until blind people face
the fact that the public holds us down and keeps us out with
their admiration of the commonplace as surely as they do with
insults and hatred, we cannot move forward into first-class
status. Zach Shore was on target when he identified our response
to stories like the New Year's Day one as sadness and anger, both
healthy emotions, and ones Dawson would do well to look for in
himself. He is obviously too intelligent not to experience them
occasionally, and he would be stronger and more effective if he
could admit them. Here is the article he wrote for publication on
February 13, 1991, in the Seattle Times: 

            Bitterness Doesn't Help Blind or Sighted
                       by Peter G. Dawson

     Zach Shore's January 14 Special to the Times, entitled
"Blind people saddened, angered by Times article," was written in
response to a January 1, Times article about a blind lawyer in
Seattle.
     Shore made some good points about important issues affecting
the blind. However, as the subject of his response, I was also
offended by Shore's inference that I was less efficient than
other blind lawyers and therefore a damaging example for the
blind.
     In my opinion, the primary focus of Shore's response was the
statement in the original article, "Sometimes it would take him
seven days to do what other lawyers did in five." This statement
was made in reference to my last job, at a large private firm in
Seattle.
     Shore indicated that as editor of the newsletter of the
National Federation of the Blind of Washington, his telephone
"rang off the hook" with calls from blind people whose reaction
to the original article ranged from "outrage to disgust."
     He followed by stating, "I know at least twenty blind
attorneys, and I can assure you they are every bit as efficient
as their sighted peers. If they were not, their employers would
not have hired them or their private businesses would have
failed."
     The original article was not about Shore, his twenty
friends, or blind people as a category. It was a story about one
young man who was blinded in an accident at age eighteen and
happened to go on to be a lawyer.
     The transition from sight to blindness was difficult for me.
I worked extremely hard to get where I am today. It hurts me that
these blind people were outraged and disgusted by my best effort.
This effort included the fact that a certain type of work
"sometimes" took me longer.
     I believe blind professionals can be just as good and
efficient as their sighted peers, and two things should be
clarified. First, dictating a letter, meeting with a client,
taking a deposition, or negotiating over the phone generally
takes me no longer than anyone else. I believe I am just as fast
or faster on shorter legal research projects.
     Secondly, as far as I know, I am the first totally blind
attorney ever to have been hired by a large private law firm in
this state. I don't know what kind of work Shore's twenty friends
are in, but I would make a good guess that the majority of them
are solo practitioners or work for the federal, state, county, or
city government. I know of only two other blind attorneys in the
rest of the country who were hired as associates in established
large private law firms. Like them, I tried to break through the
ice into the private sector.
     New associates in these private firms often spend most of
their time on legal research and writing. One of the reasons I
obtained my job at the firm and my previous job in the Washington
state attorney general's office was my ability to independently
do complex legal research through the use of computer legal data
bases in conjunction with a voice synthesizer.
     Most legal materials have large amounts of citations,
numbers and footnotes. Although special software allows me to
skip around the text to a certain degree, I must listen to most
of this extraneous information so I don't miss any important
text.
     Hence, on long research projects in particular, voluminous
amounts of reading "sometimes" took me longer than my sighted
associates. Live readers could somewhat alleviate this problem,
but the ability to anticipate and schedule them is limited, and I
could not count on them to be there late at night or on weekends
so I could meet project deadlines.
     I doubt very much that any of Shore's friends could have
done these particular projects any faster. On the other hand,
future advancements in software and other technology, allowing us
to do things such as skip legal citations, will make it faster.
     I thought obtaining an associate position at a large private
law firm would help other blind people. I am disappointed that
Shore took facts about my life and compared them to "almost
everyday" incidents that "so depressed the blind." The incident
Shore used as an analogy was a bank teller who was amazed that
Shore could sign his name on a check.
     It is wrong for Shore to be depressed about the particular
facts of my life. It's unfortunate that he and the blind people
who called him feel bombarded by depressing incidents on an
almost daily basis.
     And it's unfortunate that he felt he had to bite his tongue
in order to hold back a snide comeback to the bank teller. This
bitterness expressed by Shore doesn't help the blind or the
sighted. It only creates a bigger void between the two groups and
causes the sighted to be hesitant about asking questions or
trying to understand how blind people function in the world.
     I agree that the public needs to be educated about blindness
and blind people's ability to live a "normal" life. The best way
to change any public misconception is to have examples such as
Shore and I leading that life. However, I also believe any public
misconception will change even faster if addressed with a more
positive and understanding attitude.
                      ____________________
     There you have Dawson's response and the end of the public
debate. It is fair to ask what Zach Shore achieved from all of
this. Of course the obvious answer is that every time we get our
story and point of view into print, we accomplish something
positive. Some members of the public will understand and grow as
a result of thinking about the issues we raise--and, indeed, we
ourselves will profit from such discussions. In this case a
television producer called Shore to discuss doing a story that he
would consider to be positive. After a lengthy discussion they
agreed to do a series on the real problems faced by Seattle's
blind population. That will be beneficial to the blind and,
assuming that it is done well--a long step forward in helping the
public to view blind citizens as normal people who cannot see. 
     The exchange of ideas in print may also have opened new
channels of private communication. Zach Shore wrote a letter to
Jane Malbon, whose February 6 letter to the editor we have
already quoted.  Who knows what understanding will come from this
effort? No one can be sure, but it is certainly through such
warm, thoughtful, and respectful communications as Shore's that
we will educate the public. Here is Zach Shore's letter:

                                              Seattle, Washington
                                                 February 9, 1991

Dear Ms. Malbon:
     I have read your February 6 letter to the Editor, and I
commend you for it. I thought it was extremely well written. You
articulated your views in a clear, coherent manner. I also
believe that your views quite accurately reflect those of the
overwhelming majority of Americans.
     My views on blindness differ from yours in some fundamental
ways, and mine are shared by only a tiny minority of Americans--
but it is a steadily growing minority, nonetheless. Since you
have demonstrated an interest in my views (first by your phone
call to me at the Times, and then by your letter), I would like
to elaborate more fully on what I believe about blindness, and
why I believe it.
     I want first to say something about my feelings toward Mr.
Dawson. I have none--primarily because I have never met the man.
Therefore, I bear him no ill will. In fact, if he is half as
interesting and articulate as I have been told, I believe I would
greatly enjoy meeting and getting to know him. I hope I will have
that opportunity.
     When you called me at the Times, you said that my article
was "a cheap shot." You seemed to think that I was making a
personal attack on Mr. Dawson. I was not, and I am sorry that you
read my article that way. The intent of my editorial was not to
attack or criticize Peter Dawson or Sherry Stripling. It was,
rather, to dispel some myths about blindness. Because I did not
expect that many people would understand or accept my view, I was
surprised to receive a great deal of positive response. A number
of readers called me at work to express their support and
agreement, including a Washington State Representative and a news
producer at KOMO-TV. I interpret this positive response as
evidence that slowly but surely the public is coming to have new
attitudes about the blind and the disabled in general.
     I want to discuss the part of your letter which states:
"Shore was upset by a statement that when Peter first came to
work at a law firm, `It sometimes took him seven days to do the
work a sighted lawyer could do in five.' He, and many blind
people, evidently translated this one statement into the
perception that the article portrayed Pete as `less capable than
his sighted peers,' and thus shed a poor light on all blind
attorneys. I don't believe the article implied that Pete is
anything but extraordinarily capable." You say that you don't
believe the article portrayed Pete as anything but
extraordinarily capable. Yet, you cite a statement which clearly
says that Pete is less capable. If the article states that Mr.
Dawson takes two extra days to complete his work, how can that
portray him as extraordinarily capable? Again, I am not trying to
fault or attack Mr. Dawson.
     Why was it important for me to cite this particular
statement? When you called me to discuss my editorial, I
suggested to you that members of minorities are unfortunately
subjected to stereotyping. This is particularly true with the
blind. Since most people do not know and have never even met a
blind person, they tend to classify all members of that group as
sharing certain characteristics, which they may or may not share.
Many people who read Sherry Stripling's profile will believe that
blind people (not just blind lawyers) are slower than the
sighted; blind people's senses are superior to the sighted; the
blind never get angry, only perturbed; they fall into ravines;
they need intricate maps of an area before they can travel
independently in a new environment; they "have to grab at
whatever they can to help them take in the world in a different
way"; and a host of other untruths which I never mentioned in my
editorial. If these things are true, then no harm is done, and no
response from me was called for. But if they are not true, what
should be done about it? We could ignore it, hoping against hope
that it won't really matter what the public thinks about the
blind, or we could respond to it and try to educate the public.
     I, obviously, chose to respond--and in doing so I risked
offending some, diminishing others, and angering still more. I
also jeopardized my job by publicly criticizing my employer for
running the story in the first place. Would it not have been
easier and much more pleasant to have ignored it altogether? It
would have been, if the cost of remaining silent were not
considerably higher.
     Ms. Malbon, have you ever been to the Lighthouse for the
Blind in Seattle or talked with blind people who work there? I
have. Do you know that the Seattle Lighthouse, and workshops like
it across the country, are employing blind people and paying them
sub-minimum wages? The justification for this practice is that
blind people are less efficient than the sighted and, therefore,
should not be paid the minimum wage. The saddest part of this
scenario is that many blind people have been told for so long
that they cannot be expected to work as quickly or efficiently as
the sighted that they have come to believe it and have made it
come true. The United States Department of Labor tells us that
over seventy percent of the nation's working-age blind are
unemployed. Many who are employed are working in sheltered shops
and in some cases being paid as little as fifty cents an hour.
     But what do sub-minimum wages have to do with Sherry
Stripling's piece? Several months ago a few blind people I know
went to a club to dance. After they entered, the owner refused to
admit them unless they agreed to sign waivers of liability and
consent to have one of his sighted staff members lead them to the
bathroom. They did not agree to sign. The owner called the police
and had them handcuffed and removed from the club. More recently,
a close friend, who is blind, and some of her blind friends went
to ValleyFair Amusement Park in Minnesota. After waiting in line
to ride the roller coaster, they attempted to board the ride but
were blocked by park officials. The officials explained that it
was the park's policy to have all blind people accompanied by a
responsible adult while on any ride. A "responsible adult" was
defined to mean any sighted person over four feet tall. This
group of blind persons assured the officials that they were
responsible adults and did not need any supervision. The standoff
lasted for one hour until the park officials decided to shut down
the ride altogether and send the crowd away. A peculiar thing
happened in this instance. Instead of becoming angry, the crowd
supported the blind people--chanting, "Let them ride! Let them
ride!" I conclude from instances such as this that the public is
beginning to see these issues in a new light.
     What do all these things--widespread unemployment, sub-
minimum wages, and barred entrance to clubs and rides--have to do
with calling Peter Dawson heroic? All these things are
inextricably linked to the two-sided coin of discrimination. The
circumstances and events I have recounted to you represent one
side of the discrimination coin: the one which is clearer and
more easily identifiable. The Stripling piece represents the
other side of discrimination: the one which is cloudy and harder
to recognize. Let me try to explain.
     Most people believe that blindness necessarily alters one in
a dramatic way. It makes one less efficient, less safe, less
competent in travel, etc.; and thus the discrimination I have
been describing is a natural result. Therefore, when a blind
person succeeds in earning a good living and leading a full life,
he or she must be extraordinarily capable and heroic. You say
that overcoming the struggle of blindness is an heroic feat. On
the other hand, if one believes that the blind are every bit as
capable as the sighted, then living a full life is not heroic,
but rewarding and pleasant. You contend that Peter Dawson is
amazing because he is blind and successful. I contend that he may
be amazing, but not because he is blind.
     There is no such thing as a free lunch. Whenever we get
something, even when it seems good, we must give up something
else in return. If you marry, you gain a lifetime companion, but
you lose the freedom of single status. If someone offers me a
free piece of blueberry cheesecake (a thing I can rarely refuse),
I risk gaining weight. Since everything on earth has a cost, what
then is the price for calling a blind person heroic--and, more to
the point, who must pay it?
     The benefit of calling a blind person heroic for overcoming
his blindness and succeeding is immediate: It makes him feel
good, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But the
cost is the assumption, even if unadmitted, that blindness brings
inability--so an able blind man cannot be average but must be
uncommon and extraordinarily capable. The moment we portray a
blind person's achievements as exceptional in light of his
blindness, the discrimination coin is tossed. No matter how it
lands, both sides will have their effect. The up side may make
the recipient of the compliment feel good, along with a lot of
bystanders. But the down side is that the public will go on
believing that the profiled individual is the exception and that
most blind people cannot be expected to be equal to the sighted.
As long as the public clings to this notion, it will keep the
vast majority of blind citizens unemployed, underpaid, and
unaccepted. The compliment of heroism is a two-sided coin. In the
short run it benefits a few, but the long-term effect is
negative. The cost is second-class status, and it is all blind
people who must pay.
     Ms. Malbon, I have taken considerable time to respond to
your letter because I believe you are open and willing to
consider a viewpoint which differs from your own. I welcome and
encourage you to come to any of our Federation meetings and to
write to me with your thoughts on what I have said. I would like
to meet you and talk with you in person.
     Again, I thank you for writing your letter and furthering
discussion of these issues which affect us all.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                       Zach Shore
                      ____________________

     From the Editor: There you have the currents and cross
currents of the newspaper articles and correspondence surrounding
the story of Peter Dawson. It almost reminds one of T. S. Eliot's
famous line about a "tedious argument of insidious intent to lead
you to an overwhelming question," for the letters and articles
are often wordy and even, now and then, a bit pompous. This is a
long Monitor article, one not as sprightly as we usually hope to
print. Well, then, why did we print it? Because if the argument
is at times tedious (which, indeed, it is), it does lead to an
overwhelming question--one that is at the center of the problems
faced by blind people in this country today.
     First let me separate the wheat from the chaff. Dawson is
wrong in saying that Shore expresses bitterness. He doesn't. On
the other hand, if I had been writing the Shore response, I might
not have reacted in exactly the way he did concerning the
original newspaper article. Nevertheless, Shore's response is
right on target in identifying the "overwhelming question."
Dawson's irritated counterattack is just that, irritation. It
totally misses Shore's point. This in no way detracts from
Dawson's accomplishments, but the overwhelming question remains
an overwhelming question.
     It has to do with how the members of a minority should
approach the problem of changing their second-class status to
first-class membership in society. By and large, those who make
up the majority are satisfied with things as they are. This is
true even of the liberals who say otherwise. Why shouldn't the
majority feel that way? They take equality for granted and don't
see why anybody need make a fuss about it. It is always that way
with something we have had from the day we were born and have
never had to think about.
     If the members of the underclass (blacks, women, blind
people) push too hard, they encounter backlash; and if they don't
push hard enough, they stay where they are forever. Moreover,
this is not all. There are members of the minority who become
embittered, and there are members of the majority who accuse
members of the minority of bitterness when none exists. There are
members of the majority who claim to have no prejudice when in
reality they are full of it, and there are members of the
minority who accuse members of the majority of prejudice when it
isn't there. There are members of the minority who try to
dissociate themselves from the rest of the group, thinking
thereby to gain status with the majority but succeeding only in
emphasizing their insecurity. There is also the question of how
to minimize the hostility of the majority when those they have
regarded as their inferiors begin to want equality instead of
charity and condescending good-will. Complicated? Of course it is
complicated. How could it be otherwise? The social structure of
ideas and beliefs which constitutes our cultural fabric was not
built in a day or a year or a century, and it won't be changed
overnight. The remarkable thing is that we have made as much
progress as we have, not that we have taken so long to do it.
     This brings me back to Peter Dawson and the controversy
surrounding him. Yes, the argument can be tedious--and if we are
not careful, it can have insidious intent. But only if we fail to
meet the challenge and answer the overwhelming question.
     Be this as it may, it is worthwhile (perhaps even essential)
for us to deal with such matters as those raised by Shore; for he
is absolutely right in his underlying premise--which is that the
principal component of the formula which has made it possible for
the blind to come from second-class status to the threshold of
first-class membership in society in less than a century is the
National Federation of the Blind. This is true regardless of
whether we admit it or not and, for that matter, whether we know
it or not. It is true for Dawson even if he has no idea at all of
what part the Federation has played in his success--and it is
true of Shore and all of the rest of us who are blind in this
country. So let us ponder the overwhelming question and hope that
we have the clarity of judgment to arrive at the correct
conclusion. The argument is only tedious if we fail to understand
it.






[PHOTO: Marc Maurer standing at podium with gavel in hand.
CAPTION: Marc Maurer.]

                        AIRLINES OUTFOXED
                         by Marc Maurer

     As Federationists know, most of he airlines in this country
now uniformly practice discrimination against the blind, and they
are supported in this behavior by the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA). Because of the growing public outcry
against this treatment of the blind and other disabled people,
Congress adopted in 1986 the Air Carrier Access Act, which was
meant to end such discrimination. Regulations to implement the
provisions of the Air Carrier Access Act were to be adopted by
the Department of Transportation within 120 days, but this was
not done.
     In an effort to minimize conflict and ensure the viability
of its proposed regulations, the Department of Transportation
convened a so-called regulatory negotiation (reg-neg) to write
the first draft of the proposed rules. The Federal Aviation
Administration was not invited to participate in the reg-neg, but
its lawyers were present throughout the entire process. In
September of 1987 officials from the FAA Office of the General
Counsel indicated that blind people would be prohibited from
sitting in all emergency exit rows. Other provisions in the rule-
making process might be negotiable--but this one, they said, was
not up for discussion. 
     In October of 1990 the final rules became effective. There
were two sets. The first of these, issued by the Department of
Transportation, declared unequivocally that no discrimination
against the handicapped would be tolerated. The second set
(promulgated by the Federal Aviation Administration, a segment of
the Department of Transportation) did not contradict that
principle. However, the rules did say that any person seated in
an emergency exit row must be able to perform several functions
or tasks. Among those listed was the requirement that the
individual be able visually to assess conditions outside the
plane. This, of course, was not a prohibition directed at the
blind, they said. Apparently, they were taking the position that
any blind person who could see--that is, could assess visually
certain conditions outside the plane--would be permitted to sit
in the exit row. This cute trick of flim-flamming was apparently
an attempt by the federal officials to get themselves out of a
tight corner by having their cake and eating it too--in other
words, to make a rule against discrimination and then continue
the practice through a second rule couched in fancy terminology. 
     So the Department of Transportation and the FAA adopted
their regulations, and since that time there has been very little
official assessment of the legal implications. However, Robert
Spire, the Attorney General of the state of Nebraska, has now
performed that task. Mr. Spire, who completed his term of office
in January of this year and moved to a new job in Washington,
wrote (as one of his final acts as Nebraska Attorney General) to
airport authorities in the state, outlining his assessment of the
legal requirements regarding the air transportation of blind
people. His review of these requirements was made with the
Department of Transportation regulations in hand, provided by
Aloma Bouma, one of our leaders in Nebraska. Attorney General
Spire took the Department of Transportation at its word. It said
the no discrimination is tolerable, and the attorney general
agreed. The Department of Transportation and the FAA wanted it
both ways, but the attorney general was not willing to
participate in the flim-flam. He did not specify his method of
reaching his conclusions. However, the Department of
Transportation is the federal department in which the FAA is
located. It is certainly reasonable to conclude that a
department's regulations control those of a subsidiary agency--
and the Department of Transportation has said that no
discrimination is tolerable. Here is the letter from Attorney
General Spire: 

                                            Department of Justice
                                                State of Nebraska
                                                Lincoln, Nebraska

To:       Commissioner--Airport Authority
From:     Robert M. Spire, Attorney General
Date:     January 7, 1991
Re:       Rights of Visually Impaired Persons on Airplanes and in
               Airport Facilities

     The Nebraska Department of Justice understands that visually
impaired persons are encountering some difficulty in seating
arrangements on commercial airlines in our state. I want to
assist you and others involved in airline operation in being
aware of the rights of the visually impaired, and other persons
with disabilities, in the provision of transportation services.
     Federal law prohibits discrimination against the blind and
other persons with disabilities who use air transportation.
Section 404(c) of the Federal Aviation Act states that "no air
carrier may discriminate against any otherwise qualified
handicapped individual, by reason of such handicap, in the
provision of air transportation."  49 U.S.C.  1374(c)(1).
     In addition, Neb.Rev.Stat.  20-127 (Reissue 1987) states:

          (1)  The blind, the visually handicapped, the
     hearing impaired, and the otherwise physically disabled
     shall have the same right as the able-bodied to the
     full and free use of the streets, highways, sidewalks,
     walkways, public buildings, public facilities, and
     other public places.
          (2)  The blind, the visually handicapped, the
     hearing impaired, and the otherwise physically disabled
     shall be entitled to full and equal accommodations,
     advantages, facilities, and privileges of all common
     carriers, airplanes (emphasis added), motor vehicles,
     railroad trains, motor buses, street cars, boats or any
     other public conveyances or modes of transportation,
     hotels, lodging places, places of public accommodation,
     amusement or resort, and other places to which the
     general public is invited, subject only to the
     conditions and limitations established by law and
     applicable alike to all persons.
          (3)  Every totally or partially blind person shall
     have the right to be accompanied by a dog guide and
     every hearing impaired person shall have the right to
     be accompanied by a hearing aid dog, especially trained
     for the purpose, in any of the places listed in
     subsection (2) of this section without being required
     to pay an extra charge for the dog guide or hearing aid
     dog; Provided, that such person shall be liable for any
     damage done to the premises or facilities by such dog.
          (4)  Every totally or partially blind person shall
     have the right to make use of a white cane in any of
     the places listed in subsection (2) of this section.

     Neb.Rev.Stat.  20-129 (Reissue 1987) states:

          Any person, firm, or corporation, or the agent of
     any person, firm, or corporation who denies or
     interferes with admittance or enjoyment of the public
     facilities enumerated in section 20-127 or otherwise
     interferes with the rights of a totally or partially
     blind, hearing impaired, or otherwise physically
     disabled person under section 20-127 or sections 20-
     131.01 to 29-131.04 shall be guilty of a Class III
     misdemeanor.

     There is no federal law or regulation that requires the
seating of a visually impaired person in any special position on
an airplane, or requires that a visually impaired person cannot
be seated in certain positions. For example, there is no
requirement that a visually impaired person cannot sit by an exit
door on an airplane. There may be airline policies to this
effect, but these policies must be governed by the fact that both
state and federal laws bar discrimination against visually
impaired persons and other persons with disabilities. This means
that a visually impaired person may not be denied an exit door
seat unless a legitimate safety or other reason can be
demonstrated for the denial. I am not aware of any valid evidence
justifying such a denial.
     If you are requested by airline or airport security persons
to arrest a visually impaired person who is asserting his or her
right to equal treatment on board an airline, you should decline
to use your powers of arrest. Visually impaired persons are not
to be given any additional or other extraordinary rights beyond
those given to any other citizen. However, visually impaired
persons, as are all other citizens, are subject to arrest for
disturbing the peace or violating any other laws.
     I believe this information may be useful to you and all
persons and organizations concerned with airline operation.

cc:  Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission
     Rehabilitation Services for the Visually Impaired
                      ____________________
     So says the Attorney General of the state of Nebraska, and
it will be interesting to see whether the attorneys general of
other states will reason likewise. It is also worthwhile to
speculate about the conclusions which might be reached by the
federal courts in a test case. Perhaps the airlines and the
government defenders may have outfoxed themselves.



[PHOTO: Portrait of Peter Grunwald. CAPTION: Peter Grunwald is a
leader in the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois.]

                    RASPBERRIES FOR RASPBERRY
                        by Peter Grunwald

     From the Associate Editor: On October 24, 1990, William
Raspberry, a nationally syndicated columnist, wrote a piece
decrying our national inability to suppress our individual or
interest-group wishes in order to benefit the larger society.
Though his general argument may be sound, one of his
illustrations was most unfortunate and served to display his
ignorance about the underlying issues in the example he chose. It
was our insistence that blind passengers should not, based on
blindness, be refused access to aircraft exit row seating.
Raspberry's attitude is both surprising and disturbing because,
as a member of a racial minority himself, he has undoubtedly
faced discrimination arising from ignorance and misinformation
posing as common sense and self-evident truth that should be
obvious to everyone. 
     Members of minorities have always suffered at the hands of
people making this error, and there is no way to win relief from
this manifestation of discrimination except to call attention to
the mistake whenever and wherever it occurs. Pete Grunwald is one
of the leaders of the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois, and he takes his responsibilities as a Federationist
seriously. He read William Raspberry's column, and he sat down
immediately to write a response. We can only hope that Mr.
Raspberry learned something about this issue and himself from
Pete's letter. All of us can learn from Pete's integrity and
discipline in calling the matter to the columnist's attention.
Here are both the relevant portion of William Raspberry's article
and Pete Grunwald's response:

                         A Painful Sight
                      by William Raspberry

     ...The legislator who puts the national interest above the
interests of his constituents risks being turned out of office.
     But I think it is bigger than that, and not limited to the
federal budget. The whole society seems to be disintegrating into
special interests. Minorities press for affirmative action less
(it seems to me) out of a desire to increase the amount of
justice in the land than to guarantee special consideration for
themselves. College campuses are being ripped apart by the
insistence of one group after another on proving their
victimization at the hands of white males, and therefore their
right to special exemptions and privileges.
     For example, the Federal Aviation Administration recently
adopted a rule that would bar emergency-exit-row seating to
passengers who are blind, deaf, obese, frail or otherwise likely
to inhibit movement during an emergency evacuation. Common sense?
Only if you think of the common interests of all the passengers.
Surely it is reasonable to have those emergency seats occupied by
the people who can hear the instructions of the crew, read the
directions for operating the emergency doors and assist other
passengers in their escape.
     But some organizations representing the deaf, blind and
otherwise disabled reacted to the regulation only as a form of
discrimination against their clients who, they insist, have a
"right" to the emergency seats.
     It is true that the majority must never be allowed to run
roughshod over the rights of minorities. That is one of the
tenets of the American system. But the notion of fairness to
particular groups as an element of fairness to the whole has been
perverted into a wholesale jockeying for group advantage.
     Mutual fairness, with regard to both rights and
responsibilities, can be the glue that bonds this polyglot
society into a nation. Single-minded pursuit of group advantage,
whether on Capitol Hill or elsewhere, threatens to rip us apart
at the seams.
                      ____________________
The Editor
Washington Post 
Washington, D.C.

Dear Editor:
     I am writing in response to William Raspberry's column
entitled "Promote Mutual Fairness, Not Group Advantage," which
appeared October 12, 1990. I concur heartily with his general
premise that our society and our leaders have lost much of the
desire to put the general welfare ahead of individual benefit.
However, the fact that blind persons oppose the newly adopted
regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration which bar them
from exit row seating on airplanes, does not prove his point in
the least.
     Mr. Raspberry states his belief that it is "common sense"
that, since a blind person cannot read the instructions, clearly
such a person poses a liability in an emergency exit row seat. He
does not consider that few, if any, sighted passengers assigned
to exit row seats bother to read the instructions, despite the
fact that they can easily do so. On the other hand, I, who am
blind, have always made sure to have the person in the
neighboring seat read me the instructions on those occasions when
I have been assigned the seat by the emergency exit. Thus I would
be prepared to act in the event of an emergency, whereas a
sighted passenger who has not read the instructions in advance
would not. Mr. Raspberry equates the ability to read print with
the possession of knowledge. Yet the person who fails to read
information does not possess the knowledge, while one who gathers
the information by other means, although being unable to read
print, does possess the knowledge.
     Mr. Raspberry also states that it is "common sense" that a
blind person seated at the emergency exit would be unable to
assist other passengers in the evacuation process. Yet I myself
know of at least one instance in which a blind person vitally
assisted in an emergency evacuation of a darkened aircraft by
directing passengers (all sighted) to the exit. Mr. Raspberry's
"common sense" assumes blindness as a characteristic, isolated
from all other characteristics. Yet would it not be better, for
example, to have a cool and level-headed blind person at the
emergency exit than an irrationally panicked sighted person?
     Other blind persons and I certainly do assert that the new
FAA regulations are discriminatory. They deny us the luck of the
draw, guaranteeing that we are never first off in an emergency.
But we do not do so as an assertion of "group advantage" to the
detriment of the common welfare. Blind persons are no less likely
than sighted persons to have the manual dexterity and strength
necessary to open the door, the ability to understand what needs
to be done, the capacity to remain calm in difficult
circumstances, the leadership to assist others, etc. Furthermore,
the ability to function efficiently in the dark or in a smoke-
filled cabin (not at all an uncommon situation in an airliner
emergency) is certainly an advantage. The FAA regulations
effectively prevent all aircraft passengers from the possibility
of ever benefitting from the capabilities of blind passengers and
are thus themselves contrary to the public welfare. If the FAA,
the airlines, or anyone else could produce any credible evidence
to prove this is not so and to back up the "common sense"
argument that Mr. Raspberry repeats in his column, then  our
position would clearly be unreasonable. But of course there is no
such evidence, and once again we are dealing with damaging
misinformation having no factual basis.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                   Peter Grunwald



[PHOTO/CAPTION: Kathleen Spear (right) converses with a friend,
using finger spelling.]


            NO CHRISTMAS SPIRIT AT AMERICAN AIRLINES
                          by Ted Young

     From the Associate Editor: Ted Young is the energetic
president of the National Federation of the Blind of
Pennsylvania. The following article appeared in the December,
1990, issue of "The Activist," the newsletter of the NFB of
Pennsylvania. Here it is: 
     Meet Mrs. Kathleen C. Spear, a well traveled, well educated,
professional woman. She has traveled so often that she is a
Frequent Flyer on USAir. So why should the story of her Christmas
travel plans be noteworthy enough to appear in print? Here is the
tale as Kathleen tells it in her own words:

                Encounter with American Airlines

     On the evening of December 21, 1989, I learned in a
telephone conversation with my daughter-in-law that the submarine
on which my son, Ensign Paul Dana Spear, is serving was
experiencing problems. For this reason, it seemed doubtful that
he would be home with her and their two young sons for Christmas.
Since the children were upset, she said it would help if I could
be with them. I began calling air carriers to see if I could get
a flight that I could afford. American Airlines was the first air
carrier I was able to reach using my telecommunication device for
the deaf-blind. It was after 9:00 p.m. 
     The person who took my call at American told me her name was
Becky. She said there was a flight at 7:15 a.m. on Saturday,
December 23, and there were seats available. She also explained
that, in order to enable more people to travel for Christmas, the
Airline was offering a special rate, which was $228. Needless to
say, I was delighted and asked her to process my reservation.
According to the schedule, I would take a flight out of
Harrisburg to Raleigh, North Carolina, and transfer to a
different flight for the remainder of the distance to Charleston.
I have never been to Raleigh airport. Consequently, I asked if
Becky could arrange for assistance to make the transfer in
Raleigh. I explained that I am not familiar with Raleigh and also
that I am deaf-blind. At that point she asked me if I read
Braille, and I answered in the affirmative. In hopes of setting
the record straight, I volunteered the information that I travel
extensively, use a dog guide, and have speech as well as several
other means of communicating with people.
     Becky said that there was a problem in that I could not
purchase a ticket without the approval of the Coordinator of
Passenger Acceptance. When asked for an explanation, she told me
that "passenger acceptance" was required for those with a medical
or medically related problem. My response was to point out that
deaf-blindness is not a medically related problem and I am not
ill. Although Becky stated that she understood the point and was
somewhat puzzled by the rule, she had no authority to do anything
about it.
     Unfortunately, it was the afternoon of the last working day
before Christmas that this problem came to my attention. I was
frustrated and angry that a competent, well trained professional
was being refused the right to be with her family on Christmas
because of archaic and backward thinking. However, at that time
we could find no one able to change American's policy, and it was
too late to get another flight.

     There you have what happened to Mrs. Spear, and needless to
say, the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania fought
this case at the first opportunity. We wrote to the Pennsylvania
Attorney General, who agreed with us that this was blatant
discrimination and joined in filing the case with the
Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
     Much time and frustration have passed since that filing.
However, the Human Relations Commission has now rendered its
judgment, and Mrs. Spear has won. American Airlines apologized in
writing to her for the humiliation and inconvenience she
suffered. They have also agreed to allow her to fly to
Charleston, South Carolina, any time during the first six months
of 1991 at the cost of an airline ticket on the date she was
refused service. In addition American has presented Mrs. Spear
with a $500 travel voucher to be used within one year of
issuance. No, the victory will not replace the warmth of a
Christmas spent with her family. No, the victory will not resolve
the many hours of frustration caused a person simply because she
happens to be deaf-blind. However, Kathleen knows what many other
people need to learn--to do nothing when faced with injustice
simply perpetuates second-class citizenship for all of us.
     We in the National Federation of the Blind are pleased to
have done our part to bring about this victory. We will continue
to be there and to assist when people like Kathleen Spear are
willing to demand fair and equal treatment.




                 ******************************
     If you or a friend would like to remember the National
Federation of the Blind in your will, you can do so by employing
the following language:
     "I give, devise, and bequeath unto National Federation of
the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230, a
District of Columbia nonprofit corporation, the sum of $_____ (or
"_____ percent of my net estate" or "The following stocks and
bonds: _____") to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of
blind persons."
                 ******************************

[PHOTO: Portrait of Bill Isaacs. CAPTION: Bill Isaacs is the
President of the Kankakee-Heartland Chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind of Illinois.]

                         JUST SAY "NO!"
                        by Bill J. Isaacs

      From the Associate Editor: Bill Isaacs is President of the
Kankakee Heartland Chapter of the National Federation of the
Blind of Illinois. He is also a leader in both the National
Association of Blind Educators and the National Association of
Dog Guide Users. Wherever Bill is and whatever he is doing, he
recognizes that we may be called upon to stand up for our beliefs
and fight for our principles. Here is his latest report on where
his convictions have led him:

     In late June, 1990, my wife, Ruth, my dog, Cliqo, and i
boarded a plane at Midway Airport in Chicago for a long-
anticipated trip to the national convention of the National
Federation of the Blind in Dallas, Texas. When my wife picked up
the tickets from the local travel agency several weeks in advance
of the trip, she did not mention that I had a guide dog. She did
ask that we not be assigned to a seat in the bulkhead or the exit
row. We pre-boarded the plane, settled ourselves in seats 7A and
C (there was no B) and neatly parked Cliqo under the seat in
front of me next to the window. Had no one seen us pre-board, it
is unlikely that passengers who boarded later would even have
known there was a dog on the plane. Thus far, just fine! 
     As everyone was buckling up, ready for the takeoff, a flight
attendant came walking down the aisle, looking for luggage or
other materials requiring placement in the overhead storage. She
spotted my dog and said, "Sorry, you're going to have to move to
the bulkhead." Ruth, seated on the aisle side and being the
sighted one, was naturally the person addressed. She politely
told her no, that we were comfortable the way we were and had
flown this way before. (We had done so but had been asked several
times if we would not be more comfortable in the bulkhead. After
saying no to these inquiries about three times, the crews in each
case dropped the matter.) The flight attendant this time became
insistent, stating that it was a rule. We both explained that it
was not a regulation. She then trotted back to get her supervisor
and we went through the same rigmarole again.
     After running through the same questions we had answered the
first time around, the two strode off to tattle on us to the
pilot. Needless to say, our adrenalin was running at full
capacity. We were wondering if we were going to be dragged off or
other passengers would be removed, leaving us in our seats on an
empty aircraft. Because the episode had already held up the plane
ten or fifteen minutes, we were bracing ourselves for the angry
howls and hisses arising from our fellow passengers in response
to our stand for our basic civil rights. I began trying to muster
my courage in order to explain our concerns to our fellow
passengers. But, much to our relief, the two somewhat ruffled
attendants never returned, and the pilot began to roll to the
runway.
     We thought perhaps we would not get our dinners, but that
was not the case. We were treated very courteously for the rest
of the flight even though no one apologized for the embarrassment
and humiliation. We did not know at the time that there were six
NFB delegates from New Jersey going to the Dallas convention, and
perhaps there were others that we did not know about. If the
situation had come to a tumultuous conclusion, I am sure we would
have had some much needed support that would indeed have been
greatly appreciated. Thanks to the work of the National
Federation of the Blind, we were able to say "No" and mean it. On
our return trip with the same airline, despite some anxieties, we
experienced no difficulties.
     We have had another reason to say "No" in recent months as
well. In fact, the very agency that sold us the tickets for the
Dallas trip also informed us that the AAA Limousine Service in
Momence, Illinois, which also serves travelers from Kankakee,
would not pick up a person with a guide dog unless private
service ($100) was ordered. A $25 fee for transporting an animal
was also added. If you are willing to let someone else ride with
you in the limo to the airport, the round trip from Kankakee is
$70. Ruth told the agency that such a price structure was
discrimination and was illegal under the White Cane Law of
Illinois. But, since we didn't plan to use that service anyway, I
didn't bother to follow through on the matter.
     However, in November of 1990 a schoolteacher friend of mine,
a member of the local Kankakee Heartland Chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind, phoned me about a matter. She and her
mother planned to fly to Las Vegas during Christmas season. She
has a guide dog, and she was told the same old story about the
policy of the Momence AAA Limousine Service. She was incensed and
thought something ought to be done about it. The time had come to
take stronger steps against the limousine service and the agency
which was transmitting its position. 
     Finally, I called the AAA Limousine Service office but had
to leave a message on the answering service. When my call was
returned, I was not home and my wife answered it. One of the
owners, the wife, related a very sentimental sob story about her
experience with a pet dog that had ridden in one of her cars,
which was taking a passenger to the airport. Allegedly, in order
to forestall a lawsuit, she eventually paid a big hospital bill
as a result of returning from the airport with another passenger
who, she claimed, passed out from a severe allergic reaction. She
didn't want to go through that again. 
     Later, when I called her back, she repeated much of the same
woeful story that she told Ruth, except that the pet dog in a
little cage had become a guide dog. (I understand the allergy
excuse is becoming typical.) She told me that she didn't
discriminate against the blind because she made people with
wheelchairs pay a higher cost as well. (Apparently there are
people wandering around this world with allergies to wheelchairs
as well.) I let her know that those who encounter discrimination
because of disabilities could bring lawsuits as well as those who
have allergies. Furthermore, I suggested that she charge the
higher fee to people with allergies who require a controlled
environment rather than making the innocent dog guide owner pay
the cost.  Oh, she couldn't do that. Her excuse reminded me of
the air carriers who will not refuse exit row seats to boozers.
     I could not get the AAA Limousine Service to put anything in
writing about changing its policies, even after I had written a
long letter including the White Cane Law of Illinois, which
clearly demonstrates the legality of my position on the subject.
I next called the Attorney General's office here in Kankakee. We
discussed the matter at some length. As a result, the Attorney
General's office then called all the limousine services and
travel agencies in the area to set forth the guidelines
concerning dog guides' traveling in public conveyances. 
     Since there are only a few dog guide users in the community,
we were afraid that the company would always find it convenient
to be booked up when we called to make a reservation. The
Attorney General's office made it clear to them also that, if
discrimination of this sort seemed evident, a prosecution could
still take place. Now we have to wait and see if any dog guide
user has a problem in the future. I hope not! I am hoping that
just saying no to discriminating practice will end this unjust
policy.


[PHOTO: Portrait of Richard Edlund. CAPTION: Richard Edlund is a
newly-elected representative to the Kansas Legislature.]

            MAKING HIS MARK IN THE KANSAS LEGISLATURE

     From the Associate Editor: For nearly twenty years, Richard
Edlund served as President of the National Federation of the
Blind of Kansas. During fourteen years of that time he was also
the Treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind. But in
January, 1991, Dick took up a new challenge; he was sworn in as a
member of the Kansas Legislature. (See the February, 1991, issue
of the Braille Monitor.) He has already begun as he intends to go
on. One of his first acts was to introduce our Braille Bill for
consideration by the Kansas legislature. 
     Dick has always been one to get things done without making a
fuss about them. The following article, by Donald Williams, 
appeared in the February 16, 1991, edition of the Wichita Eagle.
Those who know Dick Edlund will recognize him in the portrait
drawn here. Dick continues to serve as a leader and role model
for blind people, and he continues to educate the public about
our abilities. Here is the news story as it appeared in the
Wichita Eagle:


                  Legislator Sees All He needs
                       by Donald Williams

     From where I sat at the press table in the Kansas House of
Representatives, the most striking face at the legislators' desks
was that of a tall man with thick gray hair and a dignified
bearing. He also looked as if he was having trouble staying
awake--nothing unusual in that setting. After a while he leaned
his large head leftward to listen, nodding gravely, while Diane
Gjerstad, a representative from Wichita, talked to him. 
     Later I found out who the man was: Richard J. Edlund, very
likely the only blind legislator Kansas has ever had. He says he
is, and I could find no one who remembered another.
     This is Edlund's first year in the Legislature but not by a
long way his first in the Capitol. For more than twenty years
before his election last fall he had gone all over the building
talking to legislators as a lobbyist for the blind and for
certain labor causes. 
     Navigating those marble whorls without confusion is a fairly
good trick. I get to the Capitol for only a few days each year,
and I keep having to lean over the center rail and read the N-S-
E-W marks on the titles beside the ground-floor visitors' booth
to figure out whether the chamber on my right is the House or the
Senate. (House west, Senate east--that much I can remember.)
     When I visited Edlund in his office, I asked him if he gets
lost too. I thought I knew the answer, because earlier, walking
down the wide hall toward his office with his cane poised
quivering out ahead of him, the point barely off the floor as if
sniffing its way, he had turned at exactly the right spot,
stopped at the door, and put his hand directly onto the knob.
     I was right--he doesn't get lost. "I've always had an
exceptionally good built-in sense of direction," he said. "Just
like a homing pigeon." He was a licensed pilot before he lost his
sight, he said. Maybe that training helped. Then there's the
cane. "That's my radar," he said. He doesn't count steps to get
to his office or wherever he's going. "You do it with hearing,"
he said, "and with feel, or something."
     Also, he said, after so many years without sight, you train
yourself to remember where you've been.
     He told me about attending a convention at the Biltmore
Hotel in Los Angeles in 1956 and, twenty years later, going back
for another convention. "As soon as I walked in that hotel," he
said,"something shifted into place. I knew where everything was."
     Edlund must have been a good lobbyist. He has the strong
voice and the imposing presence, for one thing. I asked him how
tall he was.
     "Six-four," he said, "or, as I told a guy in a New York bar
once, 5-foot-16. He said, `I'd a sweared to Christ he was over 6
feet.'"
     Also he has the background for both his causes; having been
blinded in a construction explosion when he was not quite twenty-
- he has light perception, nothing more--and having grown up
among relatives who were labor union activists. For fifteen
years, he was treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind,
and for longer than that he was president of the Federation's
Kansas branch.
     He was a businessman, too. He owned and ran a hardware store
in the western part of Kansas City for forty years, working
fifteen-hour days and six-day weeks, he told me. He said he ran
for office because his customers and others wanted tax relief.
     I noticed that the desk in his office, like his desk in the
House chamber, was uncluttered, with the few folders and papers
stacked neatly in a corner. How does he learn what's in bills? He
goes to committee meetings, he sometimes gets people to read
legislation to him, and he's familiar with a lot of issues. "What
I do and what I guess any busy legislator does," he said, "is
take advice from older heads."
     To keep informed in general, he reads an average of two
books a week--reads them by hearing the tapes. His favorite
subject is history, and he says he has read fifty books about
Thomas Jefferson. He even gets Playboy on tape. "It doesn't work
out for the centerfold worth a damn," he said.
     Back in the House chamber, I watched Kathleen Sebelius, a
representative from Topeka, as she stood in front of his desk.
She talked with him a moment--he leaned forward with that
courteous, attentive look--and laid a paper down for him to sign.
It was a list of House members joining her in a bill to put
legislators on a standardized pension plan, like other state
employees.
     He held a pen ready and she tried fumblingly to guide his
hand. "Just start the pen right on the line," he told her.
     Edlund likes to know about things he can't see. It delighted
him to learn about the compass points on the Capitol floor. In
the House, Diane Gjerstad told me, he knew that Speaker Marvin
Barkis' voice was coming through the amplification system, and
early in the session he asked her where Barkis was really
standing. Thereafter he faced that way.
     He quickly memorized the positions and functions of the four
square buttons on his desk in the House, though for the first few
votes he would turn to Diane Gjerstad or to Kent Campbell, the
Miltonvale representative on his right, and ask if he had hit the
right one.
     All he had to know was what the buttons were for--the left
one for "Yea," the next for "Nay," the third to declare himself
present in the morning, and the fourth to call a page. But I
guess he had learned something extra about them, too, just to be
in the know. 
     Sure enough, when I mentioned the four buttons to him, he
said: "On the left is green, and then red, and...."






[PHOTO: Shirley Baillif seated in lobby of 1990 NFB convention
hotel. CAPTION: Shirley Baillif.]

                  PARENTING OUR BLIND CHILDREN
                       by Shirley Baillif

     From the Associate Editor: The following remarks were made
by Shirley Baillif during a panel presentation by parents of
blind children at the 1990 National Federation of the Blind of
California Convention. Mrs. Baillif is the mother of Michael
Baillif (past president of the California Association of Blind
Students and current president of the National Association of
Blind Students, the student division of the National Federation
of the Blind). Michael is also a second year student at Yale
University School of Law. This article is reprinted from the
Winter, 1990, issue of "The Blind Citizen," the publication of
the NFB of California. 
     Years ago there was a popular song that said in part:

     You've got to accentuate the positive,
     Eliminate the negative,
     Latch on to the affirmative,
     And don't mess with Mr. In-between.

     If I were asked to give one piece of advice regarding
parenting our blind children, that little ditty would express my
philosophy. 
     When our son became totally blind at age thirteen, one month
before entering high school, we felt we were in an abyss--lost in
a situation we knew little or nothing about. When Michael, who
was an active young teenager, more interested in sports than
academics, turned to me and said, "Mom, what will I do now?" 
the Good Lord gave me the sense not to see a dismal picture of a
young boy growing old, ineffectually striving to eke out a
living. Instead I answered him honestly by saying in effect,
"Michael, I have never known a blind person well enough to know
how the blind accomplish the tasks they do, but I have
encountered a few blind people indirectly, and I know they have
not only graduated from high school, but gone on to graduate from
college, become professionals in various fields, or build their
own businesses. Honey, if they can do it, so can you--you just
have to learn how." And that is exactly what we set out to do. 
     As soon as Michael was released from the hospital, I called
our local high school, explained the situation, and received a
response of absolute dismay. This was a new situation to them.
The few blind students they had had in the past came to the high
school from the elementary program, where they had learned basic
skills--the officials would have to get back to me. Michael was
then fortunate enough to be contacted by two positive-thinking
special ed teachers--one for instructing him in handling his
classroom studies and one for mobility. 
     All through his high school years, Nancy, his classroom
special ed instructor, kept reminding me of the fact that I
should protest if his IEP's (Individual Education Plans) weren't
what I thought they should be. But how could I protest something
I knew little or nothing about?  Michael was progressing in his
skills and doing more than quite well academically. In
retrospect, however, I can see where Michael missed out on some
phases of his special education. His teacher insisted he learn
Braille, which he did, reluctantly. He thought Braille was
old-fashioned, out-dated by tape recorders and talking books. You
see, he was never introduced to the slate and stylus, so he saw
no practical use for Braille. How this opinion has changed, and
how we have learned! 
     Also Michael never ate in the cafeteria during his high
school days, so this phase of mobility was never touched upon. He
missed more than one meal during his first year of college. This
happened whenever he missed contacting a friend who was willing
to help him with his tray, so Michael would not trip someone with
his cane. His friend would guide him through the crowd to find an
empty table. I learned about the technique used to accomplish
this feat independently through a video of elementary school
children shown at an NFB Convention!  They made it look simple. 
      Our family was introduced to the NFB when Michael was
searching for college scholarships. Michael is not a joiner just
for the sake of being part of a group. He has to be interested in
the organization for one reason or another. He made one
exception, though. After receiving a scholarship from the NFB of
California, he felt he was obligated to give back $5.00 of it and
become a member of the Student Division. It turned out to be the
best investment he ever made or ever will. 
     There is no way I can even begin to express how much the NFB
has meant to our family or how much Michael has been influenced
by the positive role models of the NFB leaders, both on the state
and national levels. And I cannot tell you how much his peers
within the Federation have become, not only special friends of
Michael's, but like a close-knit family to his father and me. We
watch their lives unfold as they strive for and accomplish their
individual goals, overcoming the stumbling blocks that have been
thrown in their paths. 
     I have learned so much since those days spent with Michael
at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute, and now I want to share this
knowledge with other parents as they come face to face with the
destinies of their blind offspring. This is why I am so excited
about starting a support group for Parents of Blind Children in
our area. I have a young mother of a newly blinded child, whom I
met through a mutual friend, to thank for showing me this need;
and I have the NFB to thank for giving me the encouragement and
positive attitude to meet it. 
     Mary Willows asked me to read the flyer I have made up to be
passed out through the school system to the parents of blind
children. It reads:  "A Support Group for Parents of Blind
Children is being formed in North County. First meeting [then the
day, date, time, and place will be inserted]. You are invited to
come as we share our concerns, experiences, problems, and
victories. Our goal is to see that our children will lead full,
independent, and productive lives. For further details please
contact [then I have given my name and one other with telephone
numbers]."
     The day before I left to come to the Convention, I received
a phone call verifying permission to use the Fellowship Hall of
our church as the meeting place for this group. When I get home,
I will call the young mother in Oceanside who will be a contact
person in that area, and we will set the date for our first
meeting. Whether there are four or forty in attendance, we will,
in true Federation Spirit, relay to them the message that 

     You've got to accentuate the positive,
     Eliminate the negative,
     Latch on to the affirmative,
     And don't mess with Mr. In-between.



[2 PHOTOS: One photo shows a room at the library with books on
shelves and in carts and a bucket to catch water from the leaky
ceiling, and the other photo shows the ceiling falling due to
water damage. CAPTION: In September of 1987 these pictures first
appeared in the Braille Monitor. The rest is history.]

       NEW LIBRARY FOR BLIND, PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED OK'D

     From the Editor: As readers of this magazine know, the
Braille Monitor engages in investigative reporting. When we find
a situation that is positive and helpful to the blind, we say so
without reservation, but we also speak with equal vigor against
the harmful and destructive. Some people criticize us for this,
calling our exposes negative and counterproductive, but we keep
finding repeated evidence that our hard-hitting presentation of
the facts is a major element in bringing improvement to the lives
of the blind of the nation.
     A recent instance can be found in what has happened to
Maryland's library for the blind during the past several years.
The library was in sorry shape, and we said so in the pages of
the Braille Monitor, underscoring our story with pictures. The
Monitor is widely read--in this case by Maryland's governor--and
our story brought action, positive action. Let those who object
to honest investigative reporting (regardless of how blunt that
reporting may be) read the article by John Frece which appeared
in the December 13, 1990, Baltimore Sun. Here it is:

     ANNAPOLIS--Bad publicity paid off yesterday for Maryland's
Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
     Final state approval to build a new library at the southeast
corner of Park Avenue and Franklin Street, just west of the Enoch
Pratt Free Library, might never have happened if Gov. William
Donald Schaefer hadn't seen pictures of the current facility's
dilapidated condition.
     The project, which could cost as much as $9 million,
originated in 1986, shortly after photographs depicting the
shabby condition of the present facility were printed in the
Braille Monitor, a publication of the National Federation of the
Blind, according to the library director, Lance C. Finney.
     Soon after those pictures were seen in the State House, Mr.
Finney recalled, Governor Schaefer paid a visit to the library in
the 1700 block of North Charles Street. He subsequently ordered
his staff to help the library initiate a new building program.
     Yesterday Mr. Schaefer and the other two members of the
Board of Public Works approved the project, which Mr. Finney said
will vastly expand audio, Braille, and other resources available
to Maryland's blind and physically handicapped.
     About 7,000 people use the library, most of them receiving
and returning resources through the mail. Another 3,000 people
use library materials through collection points in nursing or
retirement homes and other institutions.
     Construction of the new library could begin as early as
spring, with completion tentatively scheduled for December, 1992.
The state has appropriated $6 million toward the estimated $7.5
million construction cost.
     The library will have to return to the General Assembly for
the additional $1.5 million needed to equip the facility, he
said.
     To make way for the new structure, which is designed by the
architectural firm of Ayers Saint Gross, Inc., two town houses
dating from the 1850s and a parking lot will have to be
demolished. The seven-tenths of an acre is owned by the city, but
will be leased to the state for 50 years at $1 a year.
     Once completed, the facility will offer people who are blind
or who have severely impaired vision, or those who are too
incapacitated to hold a book, a broader collection of resources,
including Braille, audio cassette, audio disk, and large print
books.
     An expanded section for blind or physically handicapped
children, and a children's services librarian, also will be
provided.
     Among a number of other improvements will be the
installation of audio recording studios, in-house audio
duplicating equipment, print-to-Braille equipment, a staff
lounge, and a multi-purpose meeting room.
     "The main problem now is there just isn't enough material
[available]," said Sharon Maneki of Columbia, president of
Maryland's chapter of the National Federation of the Blind.
     Although the project received a design award from the
American Institute of Architecture, its design remained
controversial, as did the plan to demolish the two old town
houses. As a result, the proposal ran into some difficulty before
it obtained final approval from the city's Architectural Review
Board and the Commission for Historical and Architectural
Preservation.


[PHOTO/CAPTION: Portrait of Carol Coulter.]

                  CHANGING DIAPERS INTO DOLLARS
                        by Carol Coulter

     From the Associate Editor: The final program item in the
Thursday morning, July 5, general session of the 1990 convention
of the National Federation of the Blind was a talk by Carol
Coulter of Kansas City, Missouri. With help and support from the
NFB, Carol overcame opposition from state officials and now runs
her own child care business. President Maurer concluded his
introduction by saying: "I present to you for her remarks, Carol
Coulter."

     Mrs. Coulter:  Hello, fellow Federationists. First, I would
like to say how honored I am to have been asked to speak to all
of you here at our fiftieth anniversary convention. 
     For as long as I can remember, I've had a love of children
and have wanted to work with them, so when I graduated from the
University of Missouri at Columbia in 1982, it wasn't a surprise
to anyone that my degree was in preschool-elementary education.
The need of a job, however, took us to Kansas City, Missouri,
where I was hired by the Division of Family Services as a social
worker. Six months later my husband Gene was hired as a case
worker by the same agency.
     Shortly after that, I started seeking a job in a day-care
center. I lucked out and was hired by the one my son attended.   
I worked in the mornings with two other adults, and then from
three to six I was in charge of the nine infants and had one
teenage assistant. A short time later I was put in charge of
closing the center each night, which involved such things as
making sure that all the children were picked up and that doors
and windows were locked and the alarm system was turned on. 
     In August of 1985 my husband's transfer came through. So we
moved back to Columbia. Because it was late in the school year to
find a job, I decided I would start a day-care home of my own. At
the time, my sister-in-law Patty and I decided to do this
together. She would be my assistant, and I would let her do all
the cooking. 
     In October I applied for the license, and I could tell from
the interview that things weren't going to go the way I wanted
them to. The licensing representative kept asking me over and
over again if Patty, who by the way is sighted, was going to be
there all the time. Nothing was written on the original forms
about my blindness or about any restrictions. However, I was very
skeptical about what the outcome would be. 
     On March 11, 1986, I received my license, which stated that
an assistant had to be present at all times. I immediately called
our NFB state president and told him what had happened. He
advised me to write a letter to Family Services requesting an
explanation for this decision. So I wrote a letter, playing it
dumb, pretending not to understand the reason for this
restriction. 
     They very promptly wrote back stating that "for the safety
of the children, an assistant needs to be present in the home at
all times." They gave such reasons as these: In case of a fire,
an assistant could help me locate the children so that they could
be evacuated. Also an assistant could provide assurance that the
children receive the proper medications. They raised the
question, if there were two children in the same area, how would
I know which child needed my assistance? 
     After speaking with Federation leaders and several members
who work for the Office of Civil Rights, our state president Gary
Wunder wrote a letter on my behalf to the Office of Civil Rights.
In September we met with an OCR representative and discussed the
case. Then the Division of Family Services requested a meeting to
be held on November 13, 1986, to discuss how I would handle
certain situations. Six days later, on November 19, 1986, I was
granted an unrestricted license. 
     This was a trying twelve and a half months. First of all I
was fighting the very agency for which my husband worked. They
could have made things rough for him or maybe even have fired
him, but I knew, if he had any problems, the NFB would be there. 
     The other major thing that was going on in our lives at this
time was that our baby girl was born on July 17, 1986, and had to
remain in the intensive care unit for nineteen days. Then, after
she was released, it seemed like I was at the doctor's office
every other week. 
     There were days when I could have said just forget it, but I
knew that I wasn't fighting this battle for myself alone, but for
all blind people. Whether we like it or not and whether it is
right or not, what every one of us does, positive or negative,
affects all blind people. 
     Little did I know when I won my battle to run a day-care
home that I would later be asked to file an affidavit for a
fellow Federationist in the state of California so that she too
could receive her license to run a day-care home. We are
celebrating fifty years of Federationism; may we have the
determination and spirit to keep the NFB manning the barricades
for another fifty years if necessary. Thank you.











[PHOTO: Group portrait of "The Cajun Friends" band. CAPTION: The
"Cajun Friends" band will be playing for our enjoyment Sunday
evening, June 30, at the 1991 convention of the NFB.]

[PHOTO: A home on the bank of a Louisiana bayou. CAPTION:
Federationists can enjoy scenes like this one on the "Life of the
Cajun: Swamp Tour."]

[PHOTO: Alligator on the bank of a pond at the zoo. CAPTION: This
alligator is enjoying a nap in the Louisiana sunshine at the
Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.]

                      THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE
                        by Jerry Whittle

     This year's National Convention in New Orleans promises to
be a unique and exciting one. The accommodations are fabulous,
the tours are varied and reflective of the diverse cultures of
old New Orleans, the hospitality is unsurpassed, and the door
prizes will be abundant. Of course, it goes without saying that
the meetings, the speakers, and the banquet will be as
informative and as timely as always.
     Boasting 1,196 spacious rooms comfortably housed in twin
towers, the elegant Hyatt Regency New Orleans Hotel is possibly
the finest convention hotel in the country. The towers, Poydras
and L'Enai, provide ample accommodations for our convention. On
the seventh floor of the L'Enai Tower, a huge swimming pool
surrounded by a splendid lounging area will be a place to relax
and enjoy a refreshing escape from the summer heat. The hotel
also features a twenty-four-story garden atrium, where you can
sip your favorite drink or spend time with old friends. Part of
the Poydras Plaza complex in the Central Business District, the
hotel includes an enclosed mall with dozens of boutiques and
shops, such as Macy's and Lord & Taylors. The Superdome is right
next door, and the French Quarter, Bourbon Street, and
Preservation Hall are all nearby.
     The Hyatt offers an enormous exhibit room and adjacent
general assembly room that can easily accommodate four thousand
conventioneers--both located on the third floor of the
magnificent Poydras Tower. Fast food will again be available just
outside the exhibit room as a convenience and economy for busy
Federationists always on the go.
     The Hyatt restaurants provide an exciting array of foods
that should satisfy the most discerning gourmet. Dine in the
open-air Courtyard Restaurant; feast on seafood and other
delectable specialties in the luxurious underwater world of
Jonah's; or enjoy a dazzling view of the city from the revolving
rooftop restaurant and lounge, the Top of the Dome. The world-
renowned Cafe du Monde also has a coffee shop in the Hyatt, where
one can grab a quick cup of coffee and a beignet. Poydras Plaza
provides numerous fast food restaurants, and a large Wendy's and
a Chinese restaurant are located directly across the street from
the hotel. A shuttle to and from the French Quarter will run
every twenty minutes to take conventioneers to the hundreds of
other restaurants and shopping areas that have made New Orleans
famous the world over for fine food and good times.
     The elegance and grace of this magnificent hotel complex
should amply satisfy all Federationists who attend this year's
convention, but the grandeur and convenience of the Hyatt are
only one facet of the 1991 convention. This year's hospitality
will feature a Cajun band "Cajun Friends," accompanied by a
troupe of Cajun dancers, "La Danceur du Bayou," who will be on
hand to assist and instruct Federationists who would like to
learn to cut the old rug Cajun style during the dance on Sunday
evening. Cajuns are famous for their hospitality and strong
belief in having the time of your life, and Sunday evening should
provide an atmosphere of good music and great fun. As the Cajuns
say, "Laissez le bon temps roulet!" (Let the good times roll!)
     The Regency ballroom will be filled with the finest jazz
music in the world on Wednesday evening as Pete Fountain and his
orchestra lift our spirits New Orleans style. Pete Fountain is
possibly the greatest jazz clarinetist in the world and has
recently appeared on the Johnny Carson Show, as well as at the
finest nightclubs in the country. His great blend of traditional
jazz, ragtime, and Dixieland should put a bounce in all our
steps. His wonderful orchestra will blast the blues away and put
us in a Mardi Gras mood. You don't want to miss this one.
     Nothing puts Federationists in a festive mood like fabulous
door prizes, and this year's door prizes are abundant and
reflective of the great state of Louisiana. They will include a
grand door prize of $1,000 to be given at the banquet and
complimentary dinners for two from such famous restaurants as
Brennan's and Ralph and Kacoo's, among others. Bottles of old
South wine, more cash prizes, Cajun music tapes, Louisiana
cookbooks, special baskets filled with Louisiana spices and food
items, a New Orleans Saints sweater, and a variety of other
unique items will also be given away, including one hundred pages
of Braille transcription work. Also, unique handmade Louisiana
souvenirs, such as Cajun angels and chefs, NFB '91 gumbo paddles,
t-shirts, and Louisiana spices will be offered at special low
prices.
     Some wonderful tours are available for those Federationists
who like to venture out and scout the territory. Let the magic of
the South beckon you as you pick from an exciting line-up of
unique tours:

                The Life of the Cajun: Swamp Tour

     The swamp tour includes a twenty-mile bus ride to Bayou
Lafourche, where you will first hear and see a pictorial history
of the Acadian people who settled the region in 1755 after being
forced out of Nova Scotia by the British. Following the
informative history, which includes hands-on experiences in Cajun
life, the tour proceeds to the bayou, where you will enjoy a
leisurely boat ride into the beauty and serenity of one of
Louisiana's most picturesque regions. You will see much of the
wildlife in the bayou, including alligators, nutria, and hundreds
of species of birds. Following the boat ride and history of the
region, you will be treated to a sumptuous Cajun meal, including
gumbo, jambalaya, and other wonderful taste experiences. A
souvenir shop featuring Cajun crafts is also available. For those
who dare, you can hold a live alligator in your hand and pet the
silky nutria that roam the swamplands. The cost is $46.00 per
person and includes transportation, boat ride, and lunch. Tours
will be offered at 9:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday mornings, June
29 and 30, and 1:00 p.m. Thursday, July 4. Each tour will be
limited to fifty people. 

                       Walking VooDoo Tour

     Dispel all the negative myths you ever heard about the
greatest voodoo queen of all time, Marie Laveau, on this walking
tour. From the French Market, the site of the actual Indian
trading place at the time of Marie Laveau, this tour proceeds
through the French Quarter and explores the fascinating history
of voodoo, the old African religion. The tour includes stories of
haunted houses; a visit to a voodoo museum, the site of the
Queen's cottage; historic Congo Square; and finally Marie's tomb.
The price is $20.00 per person, and the tour will be offered on
both Saturday and Sunday mornings, June 29 and 30, at 9:30 A.M.

                  Historic Plantation Home Tour

     In addition to the mysteries of the occult, New Orleans also
means gracious living in the tradition of the old antebellum
period, when cotton was king and the living was easy. This tour
affords a first-hand glimpse into this elegant period. Along
historic River Road you'll have a first-hand look at what life
was like before the Civil War. Tour San Francisco Plantation,
with its elaborate gardens and original antiques. Returning to
New Orleans over the Bone Carre Spillway, built through one of
the most impressive cypress marshes in Louisiana, one can view
the spillway, which acts as a safety valve for New Orleans,
protecting the city from floods. The time is 9:30 a.m. Saturday
and Sunday, June 29 and 30. The cost is $20.00 for adults and
$11.00 for children six to twelve. The tour is four hours long.

               Nottoway Plantation Tour with Lunch

     No visit to New Orleans would be complete without a visit to
the gracious plantations that line the mighty Mississippi River.
On this tour Federationists can visit both the San Francisco
plantation and the Nottoway, the South's largest plantation home.
Completed after ten years' work, the mansion has been
magnificently restored to its former grandeur, in 1859. Riverboat
passengers used to exclaim as Nottoway came into view that surely
this was "the white castle of Louisiana." It has never been left
vacant, and thus retains its original splendor. Lunch will be
served at the Nottoway. This eight-hour tour is scheduled for
Thursday, July 4th at 12:30 pm, and the cost is $48.00 for adults
and $36.00 for children six to twelve. 

                Aquarium/Zoo and Cruise Adventure

     One of the newest tourist attractions and one of the oldest 
combine to make a fascinating day-long tour. The Aquarium of the
Americas has been opened only a short time, but it is already one
of the finest attractions in New Orleans. Visitors who step
through the doors are greeted by sinister sand tiger sharks,
moray eels, and giant tarpon as they dart within inches of one's
face. Handle live stingless stingrays and primitive horseshoe
crabs in the touching pond, and get a closer look into the
mysteries of black-footed penguins and electric eels. Inside the
aquarium you'll find over a million gallons of water teeming with
some of the most exciting sea life ever seen. The adventure
continues with a seven-mile cruise on the John James Audubon down
the Mississippi River. Docking at one of the top three zoos in
the nation, you'll meet the animals face to face as you wander
through 58 lush acres that combine to form a breathtaking
setting. As the day draws to a close, the adventure ends with a
return cruise on the John James Audubon, from which a motorcoach
will return you to the Hyatt. This unforgettable tour will be
offered on Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30, beginning at 9:30
a.m. Costs are $40.00 for adults and $30.00 for children six to
twelve. 

                  Cookin' Creole Demonstration

     The City that Care Forgot never forgets about its food, and
you'll never forget it either. Learn to cook the distinctive
dishes for which New Orleans is famous. Local chefs will share
the secrets of preparing and seasoning such flavorful Crescent
City favorites as shrimp remoulade, chicken andouille gumbo and
praline parfait. Once the chef has taken you through step-by-step
preparations for these classic Creole/Cajun dishes, a full meal
will be served, so bring your appetite! Recipes will be offered
in both print and Braille. The cost of this two-hour culinary
adventure is $37.00; and it will be offered on Saturday and
Sunday, June 29 and 30, at 9:30 a.m. and again on Thursday, July
4, at 12:30 p.m. Bon appetit.

                New Orleans and All its Splendor:
                     The Complete City Tour

     Begin this tour riding down the world-famous Canal Street--
the widest main street in the world. Turning into the historic
Old French Quarter, you'll get a glimpse of the mighty
Mississippi River to your right and the historic architecture to
your left. Passing Jackson Square (the old Place d'Arms) flanked
by the Pontalba's first apartment houses in the U.S., you will
see St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest continually active Cathedral
in the United States. The tour continues through the French
Market, the Farmer's Market, and the old U.S. Mint before heading
to Esplanade Avenue--The Avenue of the Creoles. Heading away from
the river down tree-lined Esplanade, Federationists can view one
of the above-ground cemeteries--a necessity in New Orleans since
it is below sea level. The tour then proceeds to view Lake
Pontchartrain and then back to St. Charles Avenue, with its many
antebellum homes. The cost is $14.00 for adults and $10.00 for
children six to twelve, and the three-hour tour begins at 9:00
a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30, and at 1:00 p.m. on
Thursday, July 4th. 

                             CRUISES

Plantation Cruise/Cajun Queen

     Hop aboard the Cajun Queen for a leisurely excursion down
the Mississippi. Rolling down that lazy river, you will pass
several beautiful mansions, including the Beauregard House, owned
by General Pierre Gustave Beauregard, and built in 1826; the
stately LeBeau house; and the splendid San Francisco House. The
tour will pass historic Jackson Barracks, and the tourist will be
informed about the Battle of New Orleans, which took place in the
harbor area in 1812. The cost is $10.00 for adults ($5.00 for
children 3-12) and will be offered at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and
Sunday, June 29 and 30, and again on Thursday, July 4, at 3:30
p.m.

Creole Queen/Harbor Cruise

     The second riverboat tour is a three-hour excursion down the
Mississippi and in and around the harbor of New Orleans. This
tour will take the time to stop at one of New Orleans' greatest
landmarks, the stately Beauregard House, for a personal tour of
the gardens and the elegantly furnished home. Following the tour
of Beauregard House, the riverboat will continue past many other
antebellum homes, including the San Francisco House and the
Ormond House. The tour will explore the harbor, where the Battle
of New Orleans was fought. The price is $12.00 for adults, $5.00
for children 3-12, and the tour will be offered on Saturday and
Sunday, June 29 and 30, at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Dinner Jazz Cruise with Fireworks

     Perhaps the most exciting tour offered is the river cruise
on the Creole Queen. This tour will feature a Dixieland jazz
band, performing ragtime and traditional music for your dancing
and listening enjoyment. Dine and dance away the evening as you
cruise down the Mississippi. Wonderful food and your favorite
summertime drinks will also be served as you float past many of
the stately mansions and historic landmarks of old New Orleans. A
spectacular 4th of July fireworks display promises to end the
evening with a bang. The cost is $32.00 for adults and $18.00 for
children three to twelve. The time is Thursday, July 4th, 7:00
p.m.
     A final note:  All tours have limited seating, so please
fill out the reservation form, or call Destination Management
directly, (800) 366-8882, as soon as possible to make your
reservations.
     Now you know why the 1991 convention of the National
Federation of the Blind could be the time of your life: a grand
hotel; a variety of music, including Pete Fountain and his
orchestra; fabulous door prizes and tours; informative and timely
speakers; a lavish banquet; interesting general sessions and 
meetings; and an exhibit room filled with the latest in
technology. The Louisiana host affiliate has planned many
exciting surprises and special events and beckons you to come way
down yonder to New Orleans. Come share the fun, the lure of the
French Quarter, and the spirit and camaraderie of fellow
Federationists.
     Room rates are phenomenally low: singles $28.00; doubles and
twins $35.00; triples $38.00; and quads $40 per night. An
additional occupancy tax of $2.00 per night will be added to the
room rates, plus sales tax of eleven percent. There will be no
charge for children under twelve in a room with their parents.
Room reservations should be made by writing to Hyatt Regency New
Orleans, 500 Poydras Plaza, New Orleans, Louisiana 70140; phone,
(504) 561-1234. Do not call the Hyatt toll-free number. Also be
sure to tell the reservation clerk that you will be attending the
annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind in
order to receive these special rates. Don't delay--this year's
convention should be the largest ever. See you there!


         LOW-INTEREST LOANS FOR TECHNOLOGY NOW AVAILABLE

     From the Editor: Charles Owen is no stranger to Monitor
readers. Each year (acting through the Tarver Memorial Fund) he
awards in memory of his wife Melva T. Owen a scholarship to a
blind student. The Melva T. Owen Scholarship is given at the
annual banquet at the National Federation of the Blind convention
and is much prized.
     Mr. Owen contacted me some months ago to suggest that the
National Federation of the Blind establish a committee on
assistive technology to help blind persons acquire needed
technology, not just for employment purposes but for use in their
daily lives. Mr. Owen gave substance to his words by making an
initial grant to get the fund started. The Federation matched Mr.
Owen's grant, and we are now in business. The chairman of the
Committee on Assistive Technology is Curtis Chong of Minnesota.
Here is the announcement he has asked us to carry:

     It has been said that the age of technology is truly upon
us. Be that as it may, it is certainly true that now, more than
ever, technology has become an integral part of all our lives--no
less so for the blind than for the sighted. The age of technology
being upon us, it is not surprising that a growing number of
blind people find that this or that piece of technology will help
them in their job or in their daily lives. The only problem is
that technology costs money--often a lot of it. Which is why the
Committee on Assistive Technology of the National Federation of
the Blind announces the availability of low interest loans to
blind persons who need to purchase technology. If you need some
assistive technology to help you improve your employment
situation or if a piece of technology will simply be of help to
you as you go about the business of living a normal, everyday
life, you may be able to secure a low interest (three-percent)
loan from the Committee on Assistive Technology.
     Members of the Committee are: Curtis Chong of Minnesota,
Chairman; E. U. Parker of Mississippi; and Jim Willows of
California. If you want to apply for a loan from the Committee,
contact Curtis Chong at: 3530 Dupont Avenue, North; Minneapolis,
Minnesota 55412; telephone: (612) 521-3202.


                             RECIPES

     From the Associate Editor: The warm weather is almost upon
us; in some places it is already here with a vengeance. The time
has come to think about cool and simple meals that will perk
everyone up, including the cook. Salads are the obvious solution.
Try serving chicken for one meal and cooking a piece or two
extra. For summer use I like preparing a marinade of soy sauce,
fresh grated ginger root, fresh lime juice, dry sherry, a little
oil, and salt, pepper, and spices to taste and according to whim.
The longer the chicken soaks in this preparation the better--
within reason. Broil or grill the chicken (you can even cook it
in the microwave) and serve hot. Then use the leftovers, cut into
strips, to crown a chef's salad the following evening. Marinating
whole or sliced mushrooms in bottled or home-made Italian
dressing for several hours will give any salad a special zip.
Canned artichoke hearts respond well to this treatment as well
and persuade diners that they have been offered something very
special indeed. 
     Of course fruit salads are the very heart and soul of
summer. They change as new fruits and berries come into season,
and they are always colorful and appealing. Just remember that a
number of cut fruits turn brown after they have been exposed to
the air for more than a few minutes. Bananas, apples, and peaches
appreciate being sprinkled with lemon juice or a powdered citric
acid product like Fruitfresh if they are going to stand for more
than a few minutes. A handful of mint leaves tossed in does for
fruit salad what fresh basil or oregano does for a green salad. 
     But the question is always what to serve with one of these
wonderful combinations of summer bounty. I think that the ideal
solution is fresh muffins or quick breads. These can be made in
the cool of the morning and held for use at lunch or dinner. They
usually freeze well, and a minute under a damp paper towel in the
microwave brings them to the table warm enough to melt butter.
Here are several bread and salad recipes that should hold you in
good stead across the summer and into the crisp days of autumn: 

                        BANANA-NUT BREAD
                        by Lorraine Rovig

     Lorraine Rovig, the director of Job Opportunities for the
Blind (JOB), has been very busy completing plans for the 1991
National JOB Seminar. It will be held June 30th in the Hyatt
Regency New Orleans from one to four in the afternoon. When she
has time, Miss Rovig likes to bake. Here is a recipe the
associate editor has taste-tested. She and the rest of the staff
of the National Center for the Blind recommend its moist texture.
Other Federationists who juggle complicated schedules will
appreciate the short preparation time as well as the flavor. This
recipe was adapted for speedy cooks by Miss Rovig from the With
Love From Minnesota cookbook.

Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2 eggs (beaten slightly)
1 teaspoon vanilla (cinnamon and nutmeg optional)
2 1/2 cups (4 whole) ripe bananas
1 cup (or less) chopped nuts (Pecans work well)

     Method: Grease and flour two bread pans and preset your oven
to 350 degrees. Sift together all the dry ingredients. Use a fork
to beat in the eggs. Cut thin slices of the stick of butter and
the 4 bananas into the bowl. Use your fork to mash everything
together, working in the flour on the bottom of the bowl and
leaving no banana slice unmashed. Chop your nuts or cut each
whole pecan into pieces and mix into the batter. Pour half the
batter into each loaf pan.  Place 3 or 4 whole pecans along the
center line of each loaf for decoration. Bake for 40 to 45
minutes at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
Cool slightly on racks and remove from pans.

                       EASY YEAST MUFFINS
                        by Carolyn Ranker

     Carolyn Ranker and her husband Dennis are active members of
the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia. 

Ingredients:
1 package dry yeast
2 cups warm water
3/4 cup butter or margarine (1 1/2 sticks)
1 egg, beaten
4 cups self-rising flour, unsifted
1/4 cup sugar

     Method: Dissolve yeast in warm water, and add sugar and 
cooled melted butter. Stir in the beaten egg; then add dry
ingredients. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least two
hours before filling greased muffin tins half full of dough. Bake
at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until brown. Makes at least 18
muffins. Dough can be kept up to a week in the refrigerator
before baking.

                LOUIS PAPPAS' FAMOUS GREEK SALAD
                        by Marilyn Womble

     Marilyn Womble is the past President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Florida. She swears by this salad and
by the restaurant from which she got the recipe.

Ingredients:
6 boiling potatoes
2 medium-sized onions or 4 green onions
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped 
1/2 cup green pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup bottled salad dressing
salt
1 large head of lettuce
3 cups of potato salad made from first 6 ingredients
12 roka leaves (Greek vegetable) or 12 sprigs of watercress
2 tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges each of which is cut in half        
   crosswise (24 pieces in all)
1 peeled cucumber, cut lengthwise into 8 fingers
1 avocado pear peeled and cut into wedges
4 portions of Feta (Greek) cheese
1 green bell pepper, cut into 8 rings
4 slices of canned cooked beets
4 peeled and cooked shrimp
4 anchovy filets
12 black olives (Greek style preferred)
12 bottled medium hot Salonika peppers 
4 artistically cut radishes (roses or other shapes)
4 whole green onions
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup each, virgin olive oil and salad oil blended 
Oregano

     Method for potato salad: Boil the potatoes in their jackets
for about 30 minutes or until tender but not soft when tested.
Drain, cool, and peel the potatoes. When they are cold, slice
into a bowl. Cut onions and peppers into thin slices, and chop
the parsley. Add to the potatoes and sprinkle lightly with salt.
Fold in the salad dressing using more if necessary to hold salad
together lightly.
     Method for constructing Greek salad: Wash lettuce
thoroughly. Line a large platter with the outside lettuce leaves
and place 3 cups of the potato salad in a mound in the center of
the platter. Shred the remaining lettuce and cover the potato
salad with it. Arrange the roka or watercress on top. Anchor the
tomato wedges skin side against the potato salad around the base
of the mound. Some tomatoes may be arranged on top. Tuck cucumber
wedges and avocado slices between the tomatoes, making a solid
base for the salad. Slices of Feta cheese and green pepper rings
should be arranged on the top of the salad mound. On the very
top, arrange the sliced beets with a shrimp on each beet slice
and an anchovy filet on the shrimp. The olives, Salonika peppers,
green onions, and radishes can be arranged as desired. The entire
salad should then be sprinkled with the vinegar (more may be
used) and then with the blended oil. Sprinkle the oregano over
all and serve at once. Garlic toasted Greek bread is delicious
with this salad. It serves four generously.
     
                           LEMON SALAD
                       by Kathleen Nelson

     Kathleen Nelson is an active member of the National
Federation of the Blind of South Dakota.

Ingredients:
2 3-ounce packages lemon jello
2 cups boiling water
1 15-ounce can crushed pineapple with juice
1 can lemon pie filling 

Topping:
1 2/3 cups milk
1 envelope Dream Whip
1 small box instant lemon pudding
1 can mandarin oranges, drained 

     Method: Dissolve jello in boiling water. You may substitute
a little lemon juice for some of the water if you want to
increase the lemon flavor.  Fold in fruit and pie filling. Pour
mixture into a 9x13 pan and allow to set in the refrigerator
until firm. Mix the topping ingredients together according to
label directions and spread over set jello. Decorate with
mandarin orange slices.






[PHOTO: Poker players at card table during NFB Student Division
Monte Carlo Night at NFB convention in Dallas. CAPTION: The
Student Division's Monte Carlo Night attracts fun-loving
Federationists, young and old.]

[PHOTO: Singers and others gathered around a piano during NFB
Music Division's Showcase of Talent at the 1990 NFB convention in
Dallas. CAPTION: Music Division members and other music-loving
Federationists enjoy the music showcase.]

                     CONVENTION ATTRACTIONS

     From the Associate Editor: Every year's National Convention
is an absolutely unique event. The agenda items, the exhibits,
the new friends and business acquaintances: all these give each
convention its own character and significance. Some activities
lend a luster to the convention in part because they do take
place every year and provide helpful fixed points in the whirl of
events. In this category are the meetings of the Resolutions
Committee and the Board of Directors, the annual banquet, and
many seminars and workshops of the various divisions and
committees. Here is a partial list of activities during the
convention that are being planned by various Federation groups.
Presidents of divisions and committee chairs have provided the
information. The pre-convention agenda will list the locations of
all events taking place before convention registration on Monday,
July 1. The convention agenda will contain listings of all events
taking place after that time. 

             Job Opportunities for the Blind Seminar

     Job Opportunities for the Blind (JOB), will hold its
national seminar on June 30, 1991, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in
the convention hotel.
     If you are blind and looking for work, if you want to know
how others got their jobs, or if you are interested in the
methods used by successful blind employees on the job, this
seminar is for you. 

             National Association of Blind Students

     NABS, the Student Division of the National Federation of the
Blind, will hold its annual convention seminar on Monday evening,
July 1. Registration will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the seminar
will begin at 7:00 p.m. sharp. The agenda promises fun and
excitement. We encourage everyone to join us.
     On Thursday evening, July 4, the Student Division will host
its third annual Monte Carlo Night. Festivities will begin at
8:00 p.m. and will continue through midnight. Good company, great
fun, and a cash bar are only a few of the reasons those of a
gaming nature should join us. Poker players will compete for
first-, second-, and third-place cash prizes of $75, $50, and $25
respectively. Additionally, this year we will have an UNO pit for
those who would prefer to indulge in a friendly game of UNO. The
Student Division's Monte Carlo Night promises to be an enriching
experience for all.

             National Association of Blind Educators

     The National Association of Blind Educators will hold its
annual meeting Tuesday, July 2, 1991, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
in New Orleans. There have been so many problems concerning the
blind in education that our meeting will focus on ways to solve
these problems. We will have Sharon Gold, an expert advocate for
blind educators, speak about solving problems pertaining to
violation of the law; the rights of the blind; and much, much
more. We shall have small group discussions on such topics as
education as a career; successful student teaching; blindness,
handling the subject at interviews; the blind teaching and
achieving the same results as other teachers; and more.

                      The Writers Division 

      The NFB Writers Division will sponsor a workshop on grant
writing in New Orleans from  9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. on June
30, 1991. Tuition is $15.00.
     This will be a working workshop, with small group
discussions and development of projects. The first thirty-five
who send in their tuition will attend. This fee will purchase
handouts. The presenter is Suzanne Mitchell of Kansas. Make
tuition checks payable to Writers Division and mail to Tom
Stevens, 1203 Fairview Road, Columbia, Missouri 65203. 

                       Diabetics Division

     The annual meeting of the Diabetics Division will be held on
Tuesday evening, July 2, 1991. As  always, we will meet at 7:00
p.m. We expect our speaker will be Ms. Susan Kirk, RD, from
Tulane University. She will be addressing "New Trends in the
Diabetic's Diet." Announcements regarding the meeting will be
available at the Diabetics Division table as well as at the NFB
information table in the hotel.
     Bill Parker welcomes anyone who wishes to help with our
table to meet in his room on Sunday or Monday evening at 5:30
p.m. to learn what will be available at the table. Also please
get raffle tickets from him. The money raised from this project
helps the Division produce the Voice of the Diabetic and assists
with the other good work of the Division.

                       Merchants Division

     The Merchants Division of the National Federation presents
two important seminars on Sunday, June 30, 1991. There will be a
morning session from 9:00 to 11:45 and an afternoon session from
1:45 to 4:30. The registration fee is $20 for each session, or
you may register for both sessions between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. and
receive a 25% discount--$30 for both sessions if purchased at
registration at 8:30 a.m.
     Ronald A. Yudd, nationally known author, speaker, and
instructor for the National Restaurant Association will present
"Carry Out Ideas." These are practical ideas that you can take
home and actually use in your business, whether you are the boss
or just want to be. You'll want to take notes, so come prepared.
With excellent educational credentials, Ron also has the hands-on
experience to back up these helpful practices. In addition to
lecturing in the U.S. and Canada, Ron operates 14 businesses with
gross sales of more than $5 million.
     Who should attend? Persons working in the vending program as
managers, business counselors, or administrators will want to
attend this session. Seminar I--Learn The How-to's Of: Leadership
in Business, Managing and Motivating for Profit,
Wholeheartedness--the Key to Success.
     Although the second session is tailored to round out Seminar
I, participants will benefit from Seminar II even if they missed
Seminar I. Seminar II--Make Life Happen For you, Not To You. This
session provides a follow-up to the morning session and will show
you how to apply the same principles to get more out of your
life. Others who will benefit from this seminar are those who
wish to have a bigger role in determining their own destiny.
Seminar II is a "stand alone" session, meaning that the morning
session is not a prerequisite to gaining the benefits of this
important topic.
     Ron Yudd is a dynamic speaker, who will move and motivate
you to take charge of your destiny. He will share with you ideas
and attitudes that you can use to enhance your work, social, and
family life.
     Upward mobility training is a must if we are to stay current
with modern and successful business practices. After completing
these two seminars, notify your state director of vending so this
training will be reflected in your resume. For IRS purposes,
these seminars will qualify as business training, the expense for
which is tax-deductible.

                    Public Relations Workshop

     The Public Relations Committee will conduct a workshop for
anyone interested in learning more about how to represent the
Federation effectively in dealing with the media and the general
public. It will take place from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, June
30. Members of the Public Relations Committee and those who have
PR responsibility at any level of the organization are
particularly urged to join us. There will be small group sessions
on all types of public speaking and lecturing, press release
writing, broadcast interviews, and organizing and maintaining
state-wide PR networks. Participants will be able to attend two
of these group sessions and should come prepared to work rather
than observe. 

                Computer Science Division Meeting

     The 1991 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind in
Computer Science will take place  from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the
Hyatt Regency hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Here is a glimpse
of some of the agenda items that we plan to cover:
     1. A discussion of the strategies employed by screen reading
programs to handle so-called non-conventional software--programs
that make extensive use of light bars, dialog boxes, and the
like; programs that park the cursor off the screen; and programs
that use pop-up windows.
     2. What are the latest developments concerning the IBM
Screen Reader and OS/2 Presentation Manager?  Can blind people
run applications under OS/2 using IBM's Screen Reader?
     3. And what about the Apple Macintosh?  What is new and
improved about the outSPOKEN program developed and marketed by
Berkeley Systems?
     These and other technologically provocative items will be
featured and discussed at this year's NFB in Computer Science
meeting.
     Membership dues in the NFB in Computer Science will be due
at the 1991 National Federation of the Blind convention. If you
are interested in becoming a member of the division, we charge a
modest $5 per year. For further information, contact: Curtis
Chong, President, National Federation of the Blind in Computer
Science, 3530 Dupont Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55412;
telephone: (612) 521-3202.

                 Braille 'n Speak Users Seminar

     Are you a Braille 'n Speak user?  Have you been so busy that
you simply haven't had time to plow through the Braille 'n Speak
manual? Can you use the Braille 'n Speak just well enough to get
something out of it? If you could, would you like to learn more
about the advanced features of this wonderfully popular portable
note-taking machine?
     Well, if you answered "YES" to these questions, you may be
interested in attending a seminar for Braille 'n Speak users
sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind in Computer
Science. People who are familiar with the Braille 'n Speak will
be prepared to walk you through many of the fascinating features
of the machine. How do you program and use macros? How can you
transmit data to and from your computer? What about the built-in
clock and calculator? Does the portable disk drive really produce
PC-compatible files? What about moving, copying, and deleting
text? How can files be made larger or smaller? How do you know
where you are within your file? All of these questions and many
others will be answered during the seminar.
     So come one and all, Braille 'n Speak users, to the Braille
'n Speak Users Seminar. It will be held from 9:00 A.M. to 1:00
P.M., Sunday, June 30, 1991, at the Hyatt Regency hotel in New
Orleans.
     You should be prepared to bring your own Braille 'n Speak to
the seminar, but if you can't, Deane Blazie of Blazie Engineering
has agreed to furnish some Braille 'n Speaks to people who might
need them for the seminar. If you will need one to use during the
seminar, contact Curtis Chong at the address in the previous
announcement. 

              National Association of Blind Lawyers

     On Tuesday afternoon, July 2, the National Association of
Blind Lawyers (NABL) will hold its annual meeting and conference
at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans as a part of the annual
convention of the National Federation of the Blind. The agenda
for this conference will include informative presentations and
discussions of interest to the growing practitioner. Last year
the NABL conference was approved by the Oregon State Bar for
credit toward Continuing Education at Bar, and it is expected
that this year's agenda will be approved by other state bar
associations. With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities
Act last summer, the whole question of the extent of legal
protection afforded to blind or disabled people in the future is
of critical importance. If you are currently a member of NABL,
you will want to attend our 1991 conference. If you are not, you
are invited to attend and to join the Association. Through the
support of the National Federation of the Blind, NABL distributes
the American Bar Association Journal on cassette. NABL membership
is open to all blind lawyers, judges, law students, paralegals,
legal assistants, and legal secretaries.
  
               Parents of Blind Children Division

     The theme for the Sunday, June 30, 1991, parents of blind
children seminar is "We Are Changing What It Means to be Blind."
Registration for the seminar (which is free) will begin at 8:30
a.m. The seminar will begin at 9:00 a.m., and after a morning of
speakers and panels, the seminar will break up into small group
workshops for the afternoon. Participants will be able to choose
up to three one-hour workshops from among these topics: Braille,
cane travel, alternative techniques in math/science, the blind
and multiply disabled child, alternative techniques in physical
education, keyboarding/computer skills, and the blind
infant/toddler/preschooler. Parents and older blind youth will
also have the option of attending the Job Opportunities for the
Blind (JOB) seminar, which will begin at 1:00 p.m. that
afternoon. The parents seminar will adjourn at 5:00 p.m.
     While Mom and Dad are busy with these workshops, the kids
will be busy with their own special agenda. Children ages five
through ten may register for a field trip to a nearby children's
museum. The children will go to the museum in the morning; come
back for lunch in the hotel mall; and then play games, make
crafts, and perhaps have a surprise visit from a clown and/or a
mobile petting zoo. The fee for all these activities will be
$8.00 per child. Parents may preregister for this trip by sending
the full fee per child along with name, address, and telephone
number of parent and child (also include the child's age) to Lori
Duffy, 2405 Adams Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43202; (614) 262-9378.
Checks for the full amount should be made payable to Parents of
Blind Children Division. There is a limit on the number of
children who can register for the field trip, so children who
were not preregistered will be accepted on a first come, first
served basis. Parents may check in or register children the day
of the seminar (Sunday, June 30) just outside the parents seminar
room between 8:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. 
     Supervision will be offered for children and youth ages ten
and up who wish to go on the aquarium/boat/zoo group tour
sponsored by the Louisiana affiliate of the National Federation
of the Blind. The Colorado Center for the Blind is coordinating
this supervision. Parents will be responsible for purchasing the
tour ticket and for providing extra cash to the child for lunch
or spending money. For information about tour times, fees, and
ticket-purchase details, please see the article entitled "The
Time of Your Life" elsewhere in this issue. For information about
how to sign up for the youth supervision service, contact Chip
Johnson, Colorado Center for the Blind, 2232 South Broadway,
Denver, Colorado 80210; (303) 778-1130. 

                         Music Division

     Everyone interested in music performance and composition is
welcome to attend this division meeting on Monday evening, July
1. Kaye Kipp will demonstrate her method of music composition
with inkprint output. 
     The annual Music Showcase will take place at 8:00 p.m.,
Wednesday, July 3. This year there will be separate competitions
for children, amateurs, and professional musicians. Prizes will
be awarded in all three categories. The performance entry fee for
Music Division members will be $2, and $5 for everyone else.


                   * * MONITOR MINIATURES * *

**Elected:
     Katrina Standfield reports that the Magic City Chapter of
the National Federation of the Blind of Alabama recently held
elections. The 1991 officers are Mike Jones, President; Margaret
Hutton, First Vice President; Johnny Carrington, Second Vice
President; Katrina Standfield, Secretary; and Sherlyn Carrington,
Treasurer. Brenda Killian and Bernice Curtis were elected to the
Board.

**Toll-Free Hot Line Directory Available:
     Norma Schecter of Huntington Beach, California asks us to
print the following: Guide to Health and Consumer Toll Free Hot
Lines is a useful reference volume (in paper Braille, not
thermoform). It may be ordered for $12.50 from Beach Cities
Braille Guild, P.O. Box 712, Huntington Beach, California 92648.

**Established:
     Kaye Zimpher writes as follows: the National Federation of
the Blind of Georgia is proud to announce the beginning of the
Georgia Association of Blind Students, established February 23,
1991. The officers elected were Kay Zimpher, President; Kelvin
Thomson, Vice President; Aimee Lewis, Secretary; and Mike
Jackson, Treasurer.

**Text Production and Transcription Services:
     PC Design 52 provides word processing and Braille
transcription. We edit and transcribe books, news clips,
religious literature, recipes, manuals, personal or professional
correspondence, and other reading materials into Braille and
large print. Additional services include reading on tape. For
details, simply call (818) 344-4813 or write to PC Design 52,
17950 Burbank Blvd., #21, Encino, California 91316.

**Elected:
     Ned Godfrey, Secretary of the Capital District chapter of
the National Federation of the Blind of New York, reports that on
February 9, 1991, the following members were elected to serve
two-year terms on the chapter's board of directors: Gisela
Distel, President; Patti Arocho, Vice President; Ned Godfrey,
Secretary; and Bill Schultze, Treasurer; and Elen DeNardo, Board
Member at Large.

**National Church Conference of the Blind:
     We have been asked to print the following: The 1991 meeting
of the National Church Conference of the Blind will take place
from Tuesday, July 23 to Saturday, July 27 at the Lincoln Plaza
Hotel in Springfield, Illinois. The conference theme is
"Attention, Please! There's Hope, There's Peace, There's Love"
(Luke 8, verse 18a). In addition to the daily Bible studies with
Dr. Roger Compton and the Saturday evening banquet, this year's
conference will include seminars on "Biblical Self-Esteem" and
"Christian Education."
     For registration information and more details, contact
Reverend Frank Finkenbinder, Membership Secretary, National
Church Conference of the Blind, P.O. Box 163, Denver, Colorado
80201; telephone (303) 455-3430.

**Sell:
     We have been asked to print the following: American Printing
House for the Blind "Pocket Brailler," newest model. Was
purchased for $900, but will sell for $600. All manuals and hook-
ups are included. Interested parties may contact Brad L. Johnson,
1670 W. Ball Road, Apt. B, Anaheim, California 92802; (714) 535-
0940.

**Jericho Hill Reunion:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement:
Students, staff, and parents of students are invited to attend
the Jericho Hill School for the Blind reunion August 2-4, 1991,
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The fee for the weekend
is $50, which must be sent by May 15. Please make checks or money
orders payable to Jericho Hill School Reunion and send to:
Josette Kernaghan, Chairperson, Post Office Box 80473, South
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5H 3X9; or for the U.S.: Post
Office Box 0902, Bellingham, Washington 98227-0902. For further
information call (604) 435-4315.

**Catalog Available:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement: The
1991 Aids Unlimited Catalog is now being distributed. It contains
over 235 items, including Braille and Low Vision Writing
Materials, Kitchen Korner, Cassette Recorders, Kids Korner,
Household Products, Our Unique, Beautiful Touch 'N See
Collection, Personal Care Products, Radios, and Telephones. And
there is more. Print catalogs are free; cassette catalogs for a
lifetime cost of $1.35. For further information please contact:
Aids Unlimited, Inc., 1101 North Calvert Street, Suite 405,
Baltimore, Maryland 21202; phone (301) 659-0232.

**Elected:
     Larry Lorenzo, Secretary of the Las Cruces chapter of the
National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico, reports the
following results of the January 12, 1991, chapter elections:
Allison Romero, President; Yolanda Thompson, Vice President; Dean
Hodgin, Treasurer; and Larry Lorenzo, Secretary.

**Fine for the Dog:
     From the Editor: Don Morris, one of the leaders of the
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland, recently sent me an
item from the National Lampoon. Here it is:

     San Jose, California, judge John Pasco ruled that a seeing
eye dog couldn't be considered a passenger and fined Sherman Hill
$115 for driving alone in a freeway car-pool lane.
     "Hill, of San Francisco, told the judge he was blind in his
left eye and partially blind in the right," reported the San
Francisco Examiner. "He said his dog, Queenie, sits on his lap
and barks when there is a car in front of his. Pasco ruled that
the dog was not a person under California Vehicle Code section
21655.5 as it applies to commuter lanes...."
     Hill reportedly accelerated and changed lanes to avoid the
California Highway Patrol on the Montague Expressway before he
and Queenie were stopped. "He told the officer he was speeding up
to cool off his dog."

**33rd and Growing:
     From Donald Capps, President of the National Federation of
the Blind of South Carolina: The 33rd chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind of South Carolina was organized last
Friday evening, March 1, 1991, in Loris. It is believed that no
affiliate of the NFB has more than 33 chapters. Seventeen persons
proudly attended a dinner meeting at a Loris restaurant and
formed our 33rd chapter. Its president is B. D. Doyle, a resident
of Loris, who has been actively involved in the Conway Chapter
for some years. The town of Loris has a population of less than
2,500. However, Betty and I worked in the Loris community for two
days (Thursday, February 28, and Friday, March 1), and with the
help of B. D. and Alma Lee Doyle were able to identify more than
20 blind persons. Attending the dinner meeting was the mayor of
Loris, Honorable Maxine Dawes, as well as county councilman,
Honorable Paul Prince. Loris Lions Club president,Rex Gause, was
also present. All three pledged their support.


[PHOTO/CAPTION: Portrait of Dick Carpenter.]

**In Memory:
     Lorraine Webb, Federationist from New York, writes to tell
us of the death of Richard Carpenter of Newburgh, New York,
January 27, 1991. Dick is survived by his wife Lucy, an active
Federationist. Dick was also active in the Federation. In her
letter Lorraine Webb says:
     We regret to inform you and all our friends in the
Federation of the death of Dick Carpenter, Eastern Orange County
Chapter, National Federation of the Blind of New York State. Dick
was a loving husband, father, and friend and will be deeply
missed by all who knew him.

**A Letter from Sweden:
     From the Editor: Recently I received a letter from Lilian
Moden of Surahammar, Sweden. She is studying languages, and she
asks whether any of our readers would be interested in helping
her improve her English by corresponding with her in Braille. Her
letter is in Grade One, so I assume that is the form in which she
would need correspondence. One more thing: Her address is unclear
since the outside of the envelope has as her address 73500, and
the inside has 57358. Nevertheless, even with all of the
difficulties I think some of our readers might find the challenge
interesting in view of the sprightly nature of her letter, which
says in part:

     My name is Lilian Moden, and I am 16 years old. As you can
see from this letter, I live in Sweden in a little village about
140 kilometers from Stockholm, which is called Surahammar. I live
here with my parents and my 11-year-old brother. His name is
Ronny. We have a dog, too.
     I am going to a college not far from here. It is a college
for not-handicapped. My education is in languages. I read
English, German, and Spanish. I'm very fond of it, but I think I
need more training. That is why I am writing to you. Can you
please help me to find a pen-friend? I would be very happy if you
do that. My hobbies are sports, to be with friends, listening to
music, play trumpet, sing, writing letters, reading, and many
other things. I play in an orchestra. I play trumpet there. We
don't play any special kind of music. We play different.
     I am going to leave! If somebody wants to correspond with
me, my address is at the bottom of this letter. Thank you so
much. Yours sincerely, Lilian Moden, Bjorsbovagen 24, S-73538,
Surahammar, Sweden.

**Vancouver Reports:
     Under date of March 10, 1991, Nancy Martin of Vancouver,
Washington, writes:
     I would like to tell you that our chapter has three new
members. They joined during our last meeting, which took place on
February 16, 1991. We are proud to have Ada Hoffman, who is a
sighted member; Shanthi Freeman, Barbara and Michael Freeman's
little girl; and Robert Jacquiss. I would also like to report
that we had elections in December, and Doug Trimble is President,
Michael Freeman is First Vice President, Kaye Kipp is Second Vice
President, I am Secretary, and Charlie Rogge is Treasurer. I also
have to add to our chapter report that we had a proclamation
given by the mayor of Vancouver for the fiftieth anniversary of
the National Federation of the Blind on November 16, 1990.

**Elected:
     Laurie Eckery, Secretary of the Omaha Chapter of the
National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska, writes as follows:
I have for you the results of the 1991 election of officers in
the National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska, Omaha Chapter.
The new slate of officers is as follows: President, Larry
Streeter; First Vice President, Lonnie Merritt; Second Vice
President, Gary Thompson; Secretary, Laurie Eckery; Treasurer,
Carol Thompson; and Board Members: Sandy Streeter, Jerry Eckery,
Alan Kopetzky, and Vicki Hodges.

**What the National Federation of the Blind Means to Me:
     We recently received the following statement from Max
Parker, one of the leaders of the National Federation of the
Blind of Georgia. Here is what he says:
     I have spent the last seventeen years of  my  life working
and doing things for the National Federation of the Blind. Prior
to becoming a member in 1974, I sat at home and did nothing and
was content to draw a Social Security check. On September 15,
1974, my life totally changed. It was because of the National
Federation of the Blind that I started doing normal daily
activities such as working, participating in community events,
and holding a full-time job. I was told by the rehabilitation
services of Georgia that I could only work in sheltered
employment or vending stand facilities. It was because of the
National Federation of the Blind that I saw I could do much more.
My life's outlook is a total turn-around. When I first heard
about the National Federation of the Blind, I considered them
just another organization of the blind. After our chapter was
formed in 1974, I started seeing things differently. In 1975 I
attended my first National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. My
life did another change. I could never repay the Federation for
what it has done for me. It is such a vast operation of services
for me as well as every blind person alike.

[PHOTO: Marie Cobb at table during NFB 1990 convention banquet.
CAPTION: Marie Cobb is a professional beauty consultant and an
active member of the Baltimore Chapter of the NFB of Maryland.]

**Dressing for the Nineties: Fashion and Grooming Seminar:
     Get ready for something new, exciting, and packed full of
helpful information! This year in New Orleans we are having a
fashion seminar. Macy's is working with Mary Kay professional
beauty consultant Marie Cobb to present what would be called a
fashion show--if we were using professional models--but since we
are using twenty of our own members as models, it is called a
fashion seminar. The main thrust of this seminar will be to learn
successfully to present a more professional and business-like
appearance. How we look when we visit the halls of Congress,
speak at public meetings, go for job interviews, or simply want
to command people's respect and attention plays a vital role in
the final results of our efforts. Learn about the latest trends
in fashion,how to make the most of your assets, how to minimize
your liabilities, and much more from trained experts.
     When you register for the seminar, here is what you get--
besides the opportunity to attend the seminar--a gift of Mary Kay
cosmetics, an executive goody bag from Macy's, an individual skin
care consultation and complete make-over, and the option to make
an appointment with fashion consultant Julie Collins from Macy's
to go shopping for any additions you might want to make to your
wardrobe.
     What: Dressing for the Nineties Fashion and Grooming
Seminar. Where: National Federation of the Blind convention,
Hyatt Regency New Orleans. Check your pre-convention agenda for
exact location. When: July 1, 1991, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Cost: $15
per person.
     To pre-register send $15 to Marie Cobb, 202 South Augusta
Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21229, or for more information call
(301) 644-6352. Again this year, the NFB treasury will receive
$10 of each seminar registration fee and fifteen percent of all
sales of Mary Kay products at the convention. Be sure to stop by
the Mary Kay display in the exhibit hall.





[PHOTO: Frank Lee at podium microphone. CAPTION: The Reverend Dr.
Frank Lee.]

**Awarded:
     The Reverend Frank Lee, who is a member of the Board of
Directors of the National Federation of the Blind and serves as
the Treasurer of the NFB of Alabama, was awarded his Doctor of
Ministries degree from the Atlanta Theological Association on 
May 11, 1991. Dr. Lee earned his D. Min. from the International
Theological Center, one of several institutions comprising the
Association. He completed his dissertation on death and grief
while serving as the pastor of the Lakeside United Methodist
Church in Huntsville, Alabama, considered by many the strongest
Black United Methodist church in Alabama.

**"Harness Up":
     "Harness Up" is the recently established newsletter for the
National Association of Dog Guide users, the dog guide division
of the National Federation of the Blind. It has been agreed that
two newsletters would be published annually during the months of
June and December. Every effort will be made to include twelve to
fifteen articles in each issue. "Harness Up" will include such
items as a message from the dog guide division president, annual
division meeting roundup, tips from vets, stories by dog guide
users, helpful techniques in dog care, dog guides in the news,
bits of humor, and much else. Every Federationist who is or has
been a dog guide user ought to join! Persons who want to know
more about dog guides or who have dogs as pets are welcome to
sign up also. For $5 you can be a full-fledged member of the dog
guide division, which makes you eligible for the "Harness Up"
issues. Send your check or money order to the treasurer, Jim
Moynihan, 56 North Main Street, Room 202, Fall River,
Massachusetts 02720. Feel free to attend the National Association
of Dog Guide Users meeting at the National Convention. Check your
brochure to make certain, but I believe the division will meet on
Monday evening, July 1, at the New Orleans convention. If you
have any questions, check with Robert Eschbach, 4890 Sharon
Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43214; phone: (614) 431-0495. Or you may
contact the editor, Bill Isaacs, Post Office Box 332,
Bourbonnais, Illinois 60914; phone (815) 939-1839.

**Honored:
     Laurie Eckery, one of the leaders of the National Federation
of the Blind of Nebraska, writes as follows:

Dear Dr. Jernigan:
     I have some good news for you which you might have already
heard through the grapevine. On January 19, 1991, Marriott had
its annual banquet and awards ceremony. I was totally shocked to
receive "Rooky of the Year, 1990" in the department of
reservation sales. I was not top in sales by any means, but I
received the award for overall work performance and contribution
to the company. I received a marble paper weight with a clock and
a gold pen on it with the inscription "Marriott Rooky of the
Year, 1990." I also received a framed certificate bearing the
words: "Certificate of Appreciation, Marriott World-Wide
Reservation Center, takes great pride in presenting this
certificate to Laurie Eckery, Rooky of the Year, 1990, (signed
by) J. W. Marriott, Jr. (President of Marriott Corporation)
January 19, 1991." (The parenthetical remarks are mine.) This is
such an honor to me since I know that it is a Federation honor of
particular value to those who think blind persons cannot compete
in regular employment. I've gotten various academic honors and
the like in my lifetime, but this is the first award of this type
that I have received. I thought you might like to know and share
in this Federation victory.

**Elected:
     Ellen Waechtler, President of the Lincoln Chapter of the
National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska, reports that the
following officers and board members were recently elected: Ellen
Waechtler, President; Evelyn Haines, First Vice President; Della
Johnston, Second Vice President; Hubert Paulson, Secretary; Mary
Doty, Treasurer; and Sheryl Livingston, Brad Loos, and Sheila
Zimmer, Board Members.

**Braille Business Cards:
     We have been asked to carry the following announcement: 
Access USA, Braille Services, 528 Riverside Drive, P.O. Box 116,
Clayton, New York 13624, (613)-969-5148, will Braille your
business cards with your name, your company name, and phone
number at the rate of $59.95 for up to 500 cards. Orders will
usually be returned within two weeks. A special rate of $54.95 is
available to anyone who brings the cards to the Access USA table
in the exhibit hall at the NFB National Convention in New Orleans
this summer.