THE BRAILLE MONITOR
PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                            CONTENTS

                                                       JUNE, 1991

NATION'S BLIND SPEAK OUT ON ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES
by Barbara Pierce

CIVIC ACTIVIST: BOULDER COUNTY COMMISSIONER HOMER PAGE

REHABILITATION DEFINED
by Nell Carney

DIVIDE AND CONQUER
by Melissa Lagroue

AMERICAN PRINTING HOUSE FOR THE BLIND REVERSES DECISION TO
DISCONTINUE PUBLISHING MY WEEKLY READER

THE COMBINATION MACHINE: A HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT
by The Technical Staff, National Library Service

FURTHER THOUGHTS ON REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
by Michael Freeman

GENETIC CLUE FOUND TO DIABETES
by Rebecca Kolberg

THE FOURTH GENERATION ON THE MOVE

A LETTER FROM CANADA

PUBLIC RELATIONS: A TOOL FOR CHAPTER-BUILDING
by David Milner

MEET A FELLOW FEDERATIONIST--BILL REIF
by Deborah Kent Stein

BLIND FROM BIRTH, REPORTER IS UNDAUNTED

TEACHING GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP
by David Ticchi

COMMENTS ON HOT DOTS AND THE ARKENSTONE READER
by David Andrews

PURPOSE, OR HAPPENSTANCE?

BACHELOR RECIPES

MONITOR MINIATURES

     Copyright National Federation of the Blind, Inc., 1991NATION'S BLIND SPEAK OUT 
                   ON ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES
                        by Barbara Pierce

     During late February and early March of this year the
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
(ATBCB) conducted hearings around the country to give interested
parties an opportunity to respond to its proposed accessibility
guidelines for the Americans with Disabilities Act, which were
published in the Federal Register of January 22, 1991. Fourteen
of these meetings took place, and people representing all sorts
of interests came forward to testify. Theater owners who felt
that proposed requirements to accommodate hearing-impaired
patrons and those using wheelchairs imposed an unfair financial
burden on them, builders with a wide range of concerns about the
impact of access standards on their costs, and deaf and
orthopedically impaired consumers worried that economic
considerations might erode strong guidelines and concerned about
the inadequacy of some provisions: all these and more were
present and eager to be heard. 
     The blind of the nation were also represented. At virtually
every hearing members of the National Federation of the Blind
stood up to present testimony with a difference. We were not
asking that proposed guidelines be strengthened. We did not even
plead that the line be held on requirements which business
interests might wish to see eroded. Instead, we were arguing that
several portions of the Accessibility Guidelines, chiefly the
detectible warnings section, be removed.  
     The ATBCB had proposed that textured strips be installed at
intersections and that similar surfaces announce the tops of
staircases and the edges of reflecting pools. Knurled knobs, they
said, should be installed on doors leading to furnace rooms,
loading docks, and other dangerous areas, where the blind had no
business to venture. 
     Though appreciative of the concern that prompted such
proposed guidelines, we pointed out that the purpose of the
Americans with Disabilities Act was to provide civil rights
protection for a group of people--the disabled community. If
physical barriers to providing those rights exist, it is
appropriate to establish guidelines for removing them. But in the
case of the blind, intersections, staircases, loading docks, and
reflecting pools do not constitute barriers to our civil rights.
The white cane and the dog guide provide excellent methods of
negotiating all of these architectural and traffic phenomena.
Moreover, society should be about the business of encouraging
blind people to use these excellent aids to independent travel
rather than tempting them to manage without a safe method of
mobility. We pointed out the problems associated with suggesting
to the public that blind people cannot travel safely unless these
textured surfaces are present to warn us of danger. Blind people
without much travel experience will begin to believe that they
are not safe without the warnings, and sighted people will draw
the same conclusion. This can only limit further our
opportunities to compete for jobs and live normal lives as
contributing members of our communities. 
     Over and over in cities across the nation we made these
arguments, and when the hearings ended, hundreds more of us sent
our written comments to the ATBCB before the March 25 deadline. 
     As this article is being written in early April, the Board
is studying all the comments received and the testimony taken at
the hearings. The final guidelines are supposed to be published
on April 26, though rumor has it that they will be late. It is
not clear what impact our efforts will have on the revisions
being made in the proposed guidelines, but at the very least, we
can be proud of having been heard. We can also take pride that we
went on record as advocating fiscal restraint and urging that the
public be asked to make only those modifications that really will
remove barriers to full participation in society for blind
people. Here is a sample of the testimony presented by
Federationists across the country: 

           Before the Architectural and Transportation
                    Barriers Compliance Board
                        Cincinnati, Ohio
                    Remarks of Barbara Pierce
       President, National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
                        February 28, 1991

     My name is Barbara Pierce, and my address is 237 Oak Street,
Oberlin, Ohio  44074. I am the President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Ohio, and I come today to comment on
Detectible Warnings, Section 4.29 of the proposed accessibility
guidelines for the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
     We in the blind community applaud the nation's effort to
make our society more accessible to all those who face physical
barriers to their full participation. We are sympathetic to their
problems because, although physical barricades do not impede our
movement through the world, we do constantly encounter
attitudinal barriers to our full participation, which we, too,
are working to overcome. 
     The Americans with Disabilities Act is an important piece of 
civil rights legislation, which is intended to prohibit
discrimination against those who are disabled. When physical
barriers stand between people with disabilities and the
activities they wish to engage in or the places they need to go,
justice requires that the barriers be removed. But in the case of
the blind, there are no physical barriers standing between us and
the places we wish to go, so detectible warnings cannot remove
barriers. Very effective methods have been developed for
identifying stairs, intersections, machinery, drop-offs, and
pools of water. So even if detectible warnings were an efficient,
foolproof means of identifying hazards in travel for the blind--
which they are not--they would still have no place in the ADA
guidelines since they do not serve to remove barriers to our
participation in society. 
     But the situation that faces the blind is worse than this.
It is not enough that detectible warnings are beyond the scope of
the Americans with Disabilities Act; their inclusion in the
guidelines is positively harmful to the blind because they are
actually counterproductive in a number of ways. 
     One of the problems that plague the blind is that, in an
effort to assist us, those who are familiar with physical
barriers try to solve our problems by modifying physical objects
rather than by attacking the true problems. This results in
finding the wrong solutions or even solving nonexistent problems.
     Detectible Warnings are a case in point. Perhaps an
illustration will make my meaning clear. If federal law were to
mandate that access to all public buildings for people who use
wheelchairs must be provided by having two burly men available to
carry the person and the chair up the stairs and open all doors
whenever access is required, the solution would certainly achieve
the goal of making public buildings accessible to people using
wheelchairs. But most Americans would howl in protest. The
proposed solution would be undignified, expensive, melodramatic,
and silly. 
     We in the National Federation of the Blind believe that this
is precisely the problem with Section 4.29. The only effective
way of providing access to the world for blind people is teaching
the proper use of the white cane or the dog guide, not
encouraging us to scuff our feet along the pavement or floor in
search of danger-indicators. Both money and energy are needed to
increase our access to the world, but they should be spent on
improving the quality, amount, and availability of travel
training provided to blind people and to breaking down the
attitudinal barriers that too many of us with some residual sight
have to using a mobility aid. 
     To the argument that, if there are some visually impaired
people who would find textured tiles at intersections, stair
warnings, and knurled door knobs convenient, we should provide
them whether or not active blind citizens object, I answer that
at some point the social and economic cost of the proposed
solution (Detectible Warnings) must enter the equation. Some
people using wheelchairs undoubtedly prefer or even require
personal physical assistance regardless of ramps and wide
entrances, but as a society we have decided that there is a point
beyond which the individual must take personal responsibility for
providing his or her own assistance or for recruiting it along
the way. 
     We in the Federation believe that, in the case of people
with visual impairment, this line must be drawn before installing
special surfaces as warnings. The social and economic cost of
these modifications will be tremendous. Owners and managers of
buildings and city planners will resent the cost, as they should,
since the modifications are not necessary. We must insist that
the general public make architectural modifications only when
there are physical barriers that prohibit people with
disabilities from full access to our communities. 
     The social cost to the blind of installing detectible
warnings will be extremely high. The public will come to assume
that the blind need these special surfaces in order to travel
safely, and they will quite naturally go on to draw the
conclusion that we cannot function safely in any area where such
surfaces do not exist. What do you suppose the chances are for a
blind maintenance work applicant who seeks a job in a building
which has been equipped with all the latest knurled door knobs on
furnace rooms and doors to loading docks?  The building manager
knows only that the special knobs warn blind people that they
have no business behind those doors, so the maintenance worker
will never even get the chance to educate the manager about the
competence of blind people or the silliness of knurled door
knobs. After all, the manager has made an investment in the
modifications because they are required by law and because he has
been led to believe that they are necessary. His financial
investment will quite naturally reinforce his adherence to all
his pre-existing prejudices.
     Employers who walk across textured tiles may be pardoned for
concluding that blind people are helpless outside their homes
unless they have such aids to warn them of hazards. Even without
the installation of these warnings we are turned down for jobs
with the misguided excuse that the building layout is too complex
and there isn't enough staff to provide a blind employee with a
guide for every trip to the bathroom or water cooler. Our
employment problems will only be compounded if stairs and
intersections are commonly introduced by textured materials. 
     One must also consider what impact such textured surfaces
will have on newly blinded travelers. If they learn to depend on
such indicators of steps or traffic, their confidence in the cane
and on their own capacity to assess the information they receive
through it will be diminished. Guidelines that work against the
independence of the group allegedly being assisted are no help at
all, and those that encourage poor technique or abandonment of
the cane are positively detrimental. 
     I will make one comment about curb cuts. I am completely
sympathetic to the use of these cuts, but it is true that the
old-fashioned curb was immensely helpful to blind travelers in
stopping at the correct point and lining up accurately for the
street-crossing. Those communities that have eliminated all curbs
have certainly required blind travelers to walk more carefully
near intersections, though textured paving is not a constructive
solution. My community constructed curb cuts at the point of each
corner so that one cut could easily be used by people crossing
either street at the intersection. The curb has been left on the
two perpendicular sides. This has proven to be a good solution to
conflicting needs. The one caution I would give is that the
painted cross walks should be wide enough to protect both
pedestrians using the curb cut and those stepping off the curb.
As it stands now in Oberlin, blind pedestrians must either
venture very close to parallel traffic or forfeit the nominal
protection of the crosswalk. In the future, however, this kind of
curb cut construction would be a relatively inexpensive and safe
way of accommodating two antithetical sets of needs without
resorting to solutions (textured surfaces) that proclaim
incorrectly and misleadingly to the world that without such
assistance the blind necessarily wander into traffic. 
     Finally I turn to the question of reflecting pools.
Architects have told me that they have learned to their cost that
all unexpected steps, unprotected drop-offs, and hard-to-see
glass doors are hazardous to everyone. That is, absent-minded or
inattentive pedestrians are likely to be hurt and make insurance
claims. This being the case, there is good reason to surround
reflecting pools with low parapets, railings, or even textured
surfaces around the edge, not because the blind are more likely
to fall in, but because everyone will be safer and happier,
including the insurance companies. Blind people might get a cane
wet walking around an unprotected pool, but nothing worse. That
is what the cane is for--to come in contact with things that the
user would prefer to avoid. 
     In July of 1988 the National Federation of the Blind held
its annual convention at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown
Chicago, a facility with a pool, called the lagoon, in the middle
of the lobby. Nearly 3,000 blind people attended that event. They
included people with every level of independent travel skill. I
confess with shame that the thought passed through my mind that
we would have a few unplanned dips in the lagoon that week,
particularly since the pool was very close to the bar, but, as
far as I know, not a single person, blind or sighted, stepped in.
     In summary I repeat that by and large the barriers keeping
the blind from full access to society are attitudinal rather than
physical. Our travel problems can and should be solved by
training in the proper use of the white cane or dog guide rather
than in efforts to remake the world. At best this latter approach
is expensive and doomed to only partial success. It should be
reserved for those instances in which it is the sole possible
approach, e.g., to assist those who must use ramps, curb cuts,
and wide doorways in order to move about freely. No physical
barriers confront the blind in travel. For this reason it is
inappropriate for the ADA guidelines to address the question of
Detectible Warnings at all. 
     The blind will pay a terrible price if the Detectible
Warning guidelines are enacted. Many of us with a little sight
will refuse to demand and get the travel training that will
always be absolutely necessary for safety and independence in
travel. (A person who depends on textured surfaces to warn of
stairs and oncoming traffic will fall over single steps and walk
into the path of cars in alleys and filling station ramps.)  The
world will never be completely safe for any of us. The best we
can do is to equip ourselves with the capacity to deal with the
unexpected. 
     The social cost for detectible warnings will be, if
anything, even higher than the personal and individual price I
have outlined because it will be paid by every blind person in
the country. The general public will come to assume that the
blind cannot move about safely unless the unusual is heralded by
textured surfaces. In their minds the differences and limitations
that constrict the lives of the blind will increase in size and
appalling restrictiveness. The gulf we have to cross to find
employment or persuade the newly blinded that independence and
competence have not vanished with their vision will have widened
even further. 
     With some difficulty the National Federation of the Blind
succeeded in having the Americans with Disabilities Act amended
to protect an individual from being forced to use a given
accommodation just because it was available. This is an important
protection for us and will certainly help us when we are
instructed to take handicapped seating on buses or modified hotel
rooms. But in the case of detectible warnings, we will have no
choice but to put up with them and be damaged by their
psychological and economic impact on the general public. I urge
you not to increase the attitudinal barriers we already face in
the name of assisting us.
                      ____________________
     There you have a sample of the testimony presented at
hearings around the country. Many more Federationists submitted
written comments directly to the Board before the March 25
deadline. Of course James Gashel, Director of Governmental
Affairs for the National Federation of the Blind, prepared and
submitted the NFB's official comment. Mr. Gashel addressed all of
the proposed guideline sections that had any bearing on blind
people rather than limiting himself to the Detectible Warnings
section, on which most other people concentrated. Here are Mr.
Gashel's comments on behalf of all of us: 

                                              Baltimore, Maryland
                                                   March 25, 1991

Mr. James Raggio
Office of the General Counsel
Washington, D.C. 

Dear Mr. Raggio:
     This letter responds to the Board's notice published at 56
FR 2296, Tuesday, January 22, 1991. The notice sets forth the
proposed guidelines for accessible facilities, called for by the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
     This comment is the official position of the National
Federation of the Blind. The Federation has a national membership
of over 50,000 individuals, most of whom are blind. There are
statewide affiliates of the Federation in all states and the
District of Columbia, and local chapters can be found in most
sizable population areas. All of our elected leaders are blind.
The positions taken in comments such as this are based on
policies adopted by the Federation through official resolutions
and otherwise.

           Focus and General Premises of this Comment       

     The Federation has reviewed the proposed accessibility
guidelines with respect to their impact on blind people. This
consideration will also determine the scope of our comment. It
should be understood that we apply the term "blind" or
"blindness" to any degree of vision loss which remains after
correction, even though the individual may not be totally blind.
This is done in part for simplicity. However, it is also done
because the problems associated with various degrees of vision
loss are more social than physical. In this respect someone with
a mild to moderate vision loss faces essentially the same
discriminatory barriers as someone who is totally blind.
     As with many other forms of disability, blindness is often
more of a social handicap than a physical disability. In fact,
with proper training and opportunity, we have found that
blindness can be reduced to the level of a mere nuisance.
Physical barriers which may affect some blind persons in some
circumstances are far less severe a problem than the social
barriers which do exist in most forms of interaction between
blind and sighted people.
     Modifications made to the physical environment have an
inevitable effect upon social attitudes and public understanding
about disabilities. The Board's responsibility includes
addressing attitudinal as well as physical barriers. Certainly
the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "Act") anticipates that
social as well as physical barriers must be removed. Also care
must be taken to insure that guidelines for the removal of
physical barriers are not premised on incorrect information about
disabilities. If they are, the guidelines themselves could lead
to unintended forms of discrimination and thereby defeat the
purposes of the Act. Therefore, the Board must assess the social
as well as the physical impact of its guidelines. With respect to
disabilities such as blindness, this type of assessment is a
particularly critical undertaking.
     As a threshold matter, we propose that the Board apply
"discriminatory impact" standards in deciding whether to include
or exclude particular guidelines. The Act requires that
discriminatory barriers be removed. It does not require that
actions be taken which are unrelated to the removal of
discriminatory barriers. Also actions taken in the name of
removing barriers would be prohibited by the Act if those actions
perpetuate discrimination on grounds of disability.
     Some of the proposed guidelines appear to be driven by
safety or convenience considerations rather than by any analysis
of discriminatory impact. In fact, the Board does not offer a
justification for any of the guidelines in the form of a
relationship between the guideline and the presumed
discriminatory barrier being addressed. The Board also does not
appear to be sensitive to the possibility that some actions which
would be required by its guidelines could lead to practices that
perpetuate discrimination on grounds of disability. Failure to
provide the kind of analysis suggested here has led to the
inappropriate inclusion of several provisions.
     A discriminatory impact analysis should be made with respect
to each of the proposed guidelines. This analysis should include
at least two essential tests. First, guidelines which are
essentially unrelated to discrimination should be excluded. This
includes provisions aimed primarily at improving safety or
convenience. The test should be: "Has a form of discrimination
been identified for which the guideline is a necessary remedy?"
     Also the discriminatory impact analysis should determine
whether the guideline may lead to unintended discriminatory
effects. For example, a guideline which calls for protective
safety measures would have a discriminatory impact on persons
with disabilities if there were no factual basis for a safety
concern. The guideline itself would be overprotective and would
almost certainly lead to a more general climate of
overprotection. So the second essential test should be: "Does the
guideline promote an accurate understanding of the abilities and
limitations of those for whose benefit it is intended?"

                 Comments on Specific Guidelines  

     Most of the guidelines appear to have very little (if any)
relationship to blind people. The topics which do have an impact
are: Protruding Objects, Section 4.4; Elevators, Section 4.10;
Detectible Warnings, Section 4.29; Signage, Section 4.30; and
Automated Teller Machines, Section 4.39. Specific comments will
be made with respect to each of these guidelines in the order
indicated.

                 Section 4.4, Protruding Objects

     This section proposes to restrict both the height and extent
of protruding objects. Our comments focus on the propriety of
such requirements, rather than on the technical aspects. The
Board should review this section under the discriminatory impact
standards just presented.
     First Test: Has a form of discrimination been identified for
which the guideline is a necessary remedy? This test, applied to
this guideline, raises the safety versus discrimination issue. It
is clear that some objects are so constructed and mounted as to
protrude into areas where people may sometimes travel. It is also
true that some of the people who travel in these areas may not
see very well, but people with completely normal vision may not
see protruding objects either. Blind people do not have exclusive
title to colliding with things. It is conceivable that a study
could be done to assess whether blind or sighted people have more
accidents with protruding objects. However, such a study would be
ill-advised under the circumstances. The point is that the
guideline does not address a discrimination concern.
     The presence of blind people and protruding objects in the
same space does not result in the existence of a discriminatory
barrier. Neither does the presence of sighted people and
protruding objects in the same space,even though sighted people
sometimes hit them. Protruding objects do not prevent or impede
blind persons from using such spaces, although they will take
extra care. So it is with sighted people. It might be safer for
both if protruding objects were restricted as proposed, but
safety is not really the question.
     The guideline must be justified on grounds that it calls for
removing a discriminatory barrier. This guideline appears to call
for removing a discriminatory barrier and for improving safety,
using blind people as a convenient reason. Inclusion of the
guideline expresses the unsupported assumption that the blind
suffer discrimination because they collide with protruding
objects. This is categorically untrue. Blind people suffer
discrimination because of attitudes such as those expressed by
this guideline. People assume that blind persons will run into
protruding objects and therefore seek to restrict either the
objects or the blind. There is no discrimination toward blind
people in the fact that some objects protrude into spaces where
they may be struck.
     Second Test: Does the guideline promote an accurate
understanding of the abilities and limitations of those for whose
benefit it is intended? This test calls for an analysis of how
the guideline will contribute to an accurate public understanding
of our abilities and limitations. It has already been suggested
that the guideline is based on a false premise--that blind people
are discriminated against by the presence of protruding objects.
In this sense the guideline will inevitably be a detriment to
accurate public understanding of blindness. However, it is
difficult to argue that the observance of the guideline itself
will communicate any information (accurate or otherwise) about
blindness. The overall effect of the guideline would probably be
inconsequential. Most people are unlikely to conclude that
protruding objects are restricted because of blind people. The
action does not carry any symbolic attachment to the blind.

                         Recommendation

     We recommend that Section 4.4 be removed on the basis that
it does not deal primarily with the question of discrimination,
but with safety.

                     Section 4.10, Elevators

     This section contains a variety of requirements for
elevators to make them accessible. Guidelines concerning raised
characters, audible signals, and verbal enunciators relate
directly to use of elevators by blind persons. These provisions
will be assessed with respect to the discriminatory impact
standards.
     First Test: Has a form of discrimination been identified for
which the guideline is a necessary remedy? The guideline presumes
that elevators are less usable by blind persons if they do not
have raised characters on control panels and hoistway entrances
and audible signals to indicate car arrival and floor locations.
It may be argued that problems encountered in using elevators
without such indicators do not rise to the level of
discrimination. An elevator without such indicators is more of an
inconvenience than a barrier. However, there are perhaps some
discriminatory aspects in that sighted people are at a distinct
advantage over the blind in using an elevator equipped only with
visible print characters and no audible signals.
     Second Test: Does the guideline promote an accurate
understanding of the abilities and limitations of those for whose
benefit it is intended? Public understanding of blindness is
probably advanced by having Braille and/or raised print
characters which are usable by some blind people and visible to
sighted people. It is certainly not harmful to blind people to
have a guideline which promotes the understanding that blind
people may be present, that they may be using elevators, and that
they are capable of doing so with the same degree of facility and
ease as sighted people.

                         Recommendation 

     The guidelines concerning raised characters and audible
elevator signals should be retained as proposed. Elevators
without the indicators specified pose a discriminatory barrier
for the blind to some degree. The guideline would not lead to a
detrimental public understanding of the abilities and limitations
of blindness.

                Section 4.29, Detectible Warnings

     This section proposes that floor surfaces along a
circulation path should contain warning strips which could be
felt by the feet, detected by the touch of a cane, or seen by
persons with low vision. Warnings would be required at locations
such as the tops of ramps and stairs, along street edges level
with sidewalks, on platform edges where vehicles are loaded, and
around reflecting pools. There is also a requirement that certain
door knobs be knurled to indicate hazards behind those doors.
Among the hazards identified are loading areas, boiler rooms, and
stages. The general idea is to place a detectable warning strip
on the walking path to any area that is presumed to be hazardous
to blind persons. We apply the discriminatory impact standards as
indicated earlier.
     First Test: Has a form of discrimination been identified for
which the guideline is a necessary remedy? Again, this test
raises the discrimination versus safety issue. With respect to
stairs, is the presence of a stairway without detectable warning
strips a discriminatory barrier for blind persons? Does the
absence of a detectable warning cause discrimination on grounds
of blindness under any circumstance? The answers to these
questions can best be found in the daily experience of blind
people. Do they fail to use stairs because they are not equipped
with detectable warnings? The answer is that they do not. Are
blind people unsafe in using stairs that are not equipped with
detectable warnings? The answer is that they are not. Are blind
people unsafe near reflecting pools or on streets that are not
marked with detectable warnings? The answer is that they are not.
     There is absolutely no discriminatory barrier that would be
addressed by detectable warnings. Blind people do cross streets
and use stairs safely. They use subways in safety, and they avoid
falling into reflecting pools. The fact is that blind people can
go virtually anywhere unaided by others. The limitations for
those who cannot travel by themselves are best resolved by
effective training. These techniques and opportunities exist. It
is a proven and undisputed fact that blind people can be trained
to move safely throughout the constructed environment without
special modifications. There is no barrier whatsoever because of
the absence of detectable warnings. This guideline has been
proposed without a factual basis.
     Second Test: Does the guideline promote an accurate
understanding of the abilities and limitations of those for whose
benefit it is intended? In the case of detectable warnings, we
find a clear and obvious linkage between the placement of the
warning and the expected presence of blind people. Among other
things, the warning says that blind people are likely to fall
down the stairs if protective measures are not taken. This is a
wholly inaccurate statement about blindness and blind people. If
an official guideline of the government promotes such thinking,
it will undo all of the public education efforts underway to
change the generally accepted image of the helpless blind.
     Detectible warnings convey exactly the wrong image of blind
people and for no good reason. The warnings announce that blind
people need special measures to preserve their safety. Without
these measures the blind cannot move with confidence and safety.
Even worse, the impact of the warnings will not be limited to the
strips required by the guidelines. Employers will conclude, for
example, that machines with sharp blades are not safe for blind
people to operate. This outcome is exactly opposite to the intent
and mandate of the Act.

                         Recommendation

     Remove Section 4.29 and all other references to detectable
warnings. Provisions for detectable warnings do not call for
removing a discriminatory barrier. They primarily address safety
concerns unrelated to the Act. Detectible warnings would foster
an inaccurate public image of blindness and would lead to
unlawful forms of social discrimination against the blind.

                      Section 4.30, Signage

     This section proposes various guidelines to make signage
more readable by blind people. Applying the discriminatory impact
analysis, we conclude that the guideline should be retained as
proposed.
     Doors without signs of the type described in the guidelines
can pose barriers to efficient use by blind persons. Essentially
we would apply the same analysis to the signage questions as to
the elevator indicators. Audible signs should not be required for
reasons of expense and technology. Information on such signs can
normally be obtained from others.

             Section 4.34, Automated Teller Machines

     This section proposes that automated teller machines (ATMs)
be made accessible to persons with disabilities. Again we would
apply essentially the same discriminatory impact analysis as in
the case of elevators and signage. It is not appropriate at this
point to specify the means of accessibility for blind persons.
Technology must develop further in this area. The guideline
appropriately sets the standard.
                                          Respectfully submitted,
                                                     James Gashel
                                 Director of Governmental Affairs
                                 National Federation of the Blind


[PHOTO: Dr. Homer Page converses with a member of the Boulder
County Board of Commissioners. CAPTION: Dr. Homer Page.]

                         CIVIC ACTIVIST:
             BOULDER COUNTY COMMISSIONER HOMER PAGE

     From the Associate Editor: Homer Page is First Vice
President of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado. He
also coordinates the work of those who make things run so
smoothly at national conventions. He is everywhere, spotting
traffic jams, sending the nurse to those who need her
consultation, calming restless teenagers, and dispersing
youngsters who are playing on the escalators. He is unflappable,
amusing, gentle, patient, and kind. On February 3, 1991, the
Rocky Mountain News published a story about Homer Page written by
reporter Kevin McCullin. It captures the essence of the man in
his public life, and it tallies with what we know of him in his
private life. Here is the story as it appeared:

     Homer Page's heart ached when war erupted in the Persian
Gulf, and he made a vow to himself.
     Boulder County, he said, would not become a battleground of
bitterness about the war.
     So Page, chairman of the Boulder County Board of
Commissioners, assumed his familiar role of peacemaker. 
     The night war broke out, Page hurried over to the Boulder
courthouse, bullhorn in hand, to try to keep peace between anti-
and pro-war factions.
     He then summoned civic, community, business, law
enforcement, and religious leaders together. Collectively, they
formed a community support network that aims to comfort anyone--
regardless of political perspective--affected by the war.
     "I don't want anger and hatred to dominate my community, to
take over the hearts of my people. I don't want to see people
choosing up sides like a high school football game, my side
against yours," Page says. "It's why I'm willing, and why I have
to do this."
     In nearly a decade of holding political office--and in
earlier years as an educator, theologian, and civil rights
activist--Page often has succeeded in resolving disputes. A deep-
rooted sense of social justice, instilled while growing up in a
farming family that insisted he become self-sufficient, prompts
Page to strive for a consensus.
     Yet Page, a lifelong advocate for the disabled, realizes he
cannot solve all conflicts.
     Blind since his birth forty-nine years ago, Page has felt
from others the ignorance of emotional and intellectual
blindness.
     But the drive that helped him earn three varsity letters as
a wrestler at the University of Missouri and unwavering faith in
the American political process push Page to find a common will--
even in a war.
     "Good people with good faith can have different interests
and opinions," Page says. "It's my job to be fair, treat each
with dignity and try to generate some respect for people on each
side."
     Page was elected to the Boulder County Commission in 1988
after serving six years on the Boulder City Council, where he
became deputy mayor. His election to the Commission also forced
Page to resign his job of fourteen years as director of the
University of Colorado's Office of Services to Disabled Students,
which he helped establish.
     He remains active in community service. Page serves as chair
of the Colorado Center for the Blind, which he formed three years
ago to serve as a "boot camp for the blind" by teaching survival
skills and promoting self-confidence.
     Page and his wife Marci also publish a newsletter for the
blind. They are active in a Boulder Baptist church. And, when
each has the time, they indulge themselves in cross-country
skiing, hikes, rock climbing, or Denver Broncos games.
     Seldom is Page bored. "Homer does not spend time sitting
around," says Marci, who married him three and a half years ago.
     Nor, say those who know him, is Page ever boring.
     "Homer is a true philosopher," says Linda Jourgensen, who
served with Page on the City Council and County Commission. "He's
a great thinker, and he always thinks issues through."
     Page's thoughtfulness stems in part from a rich educational
background. He received an undergraduate degree in sociology from
Missouri, graduated from divinity school, and later received his
masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago in
social ethics.
     In the early 1960's, Page joined civil rights activists in
working to repeal Missouri's segregation laws. He worked another
summer in a public housing project in St. Louis.
     His intellectual experience, he says, has been in "dialogue
with the world. Knowledge and thought are interactive."
     Were it not for his parents, however, Page never might have
developed an intellect or self-confidence.
     Page grew up with a brother and a sister on a 184-acre farm
outside Troy, Missouri. His father, Homer Sr., served as town
marshal and expected his blind son to milk cows or water and feed
the cattle.
     The elder Page completed the eighth grade, and Page's
mother, D'Arline, finished the 10th grade. But they insisted that
their blind son study and be treated like sighted classmates.
     In first grade Page's teacher tried to place him in a slow-
reading group. His father would not hear of it.
     "I hesitate to think of what my life would have been like if
the expectations of me had been low, that I needed attention,"
Page recalls. "Instead, their expectation was that I was to
produce, to perform, and to do quality work--no excuses."
     His father defended his son again. In the summer between
third and fourth grade Page and his father were putting a roof
over a chicken house when representatives of the Missouri School
for the Blind drove to the farm.
     Homer, they said, should come with us to St. Louis for
schooling with other children like him. His father thought for a
moment and said no.
     "He said, `A boy's place is in the home, with his family.
Besides, if he left, who would help me with all this work?' They
left," Page says. "That told me my family cared for me, that I
was an economically viable part of that family, and what more
could you tell a nine-year-old kid? It allowed me to develop a
strong sense of myself."
     Because Page's rural school lacked special instructional
materials, Page was forced to learn mathematics without benefit
of Braille. He learned to perform equations in his head, a skill
he uses daily as a county commissioner.
     During budget hearings last fall, commissioners were doling
a block of money to non-profit agencies. Jourgensen said to no
one in particular, "Well, how much money do we have left?"
     Page instantly blurted the five-figure amount, to the penny.
     A county staff member, using a calculator, confirmed the
figure moments later.
     "Homer does all of our finances," Marci laughs.
     As a teenager, Page also refined a skill that enables him
today to resolve disputes or comprehend issues. He learned to
listen, to hear voice inflections and tones, to interpret the
speaker's thinking.
     "My listening, I think, is more of a philosophy. It's my way
of being able to understand," he says. "Some people listen with
their eyes. Most of us act in our unique way, with a structure of
meaning. You listen not so much to the words, but to the
structure of what is being said."
     To Marci, Page's special trait "is a way of living. It's
part of what I love about him."
     Colorado University hired Page in 1974 to develop and
oversee its programs for the disabled. Few disabled students were
on campus at the time, and even fewer services. Over the years,
Page added programs and services.
     He aimed to help disabled students have control and
management of their lives and succeeded with many. By 1988, 325
students were in the program.
     One of Page's students became a Fulbright Scholar. Another
earned a fellowship in Washington. Another now teaches law. 
     Marci now serves as assistant director of the program, but
Homer was forced to resign after becoming a commissioner. He
still teaches a graduate education class.
     Page's devotion to education continues today. He and Marci
helped form the Colorado Center for the Blind in 1988, a school
where rock climbing is part of a curriculum designed to help the
blind student become independent.
     "I want to create high expectations. I want them to become
self-sufficient," Page says. "We talk about the Colorado Center
as boot camp for the blind. People need to understand there is an
expectation of them, that they do not have to be dependent on
society.
     "There is a presumption that blind people should not be
expected to clean their rooms, to mop the kitchen, to take care
of themselves. So they get into a life where they are told being
mediocre is wonderful. To me, that is not acceptable."
     The Center has produced success stories. Page speaks of a
man who "sat on a couch for three years" after losing his sight
but now works again as a mechanic. Another student, who lost his
vision after an accident, was not allowed to walk alone across a
room.  Now he works for a restaurant and is raising a child.
     Page performs his job without much assistance. Instead of
reading background memorandums, Page listens to the memos on
tapes. When required to travel, he catches a bus, hitches a ride,
takes a taxi, or walks the two miles from his home to the
courthouse.
     Page expects no special favors. Yet, to his disgust, he
occasionally finds unintentional or deliberate slights in a
sighted world.
     "I was walking to work one morning and a woman said, `God
bless you. It's wonderful what you're doing.' It was amazing
because I could walk down the street?" Page says, and shakes his
head. "We have to break through that phony expectation so that
blind people realize they can compete with sighted people in the
job market, the marriage market, all these places where our lives
are carried out."
     Airlines, Marci says, particularly are annoying to her
husband. So was a letter to the editor that appeared shortly
after Page's election as County Commissioner. The writer
castigated voters for electing a blind man "who couldn't do the
reading," Page recalls.
     "It was so ignorant and so unfair. It's one thing to say you
don't agree with me in a political sense because I'm a Democrat,"
he says. "But to have them think the most damning thing they
could say about me is that I'm blind and can't read was so
unfair."
     Public service beckoned to Page early in life. To a boy who
grew up in the Midwest of the 1940s and 1950s, citizenship and
democracy became "one of the most important things we have, and I
still believe it is. I've found the political process to be
challenging and a place where my skills can be used well."
     Page ran for the Boulder City Council in 1982 and won. He
sought along with other council members to balance human service
needs with the city's pro-environmental stance.
     His capacity to listen to all sides of an issue and to find
a compromise acceptable to the conflicting parties was
appreciated by then-Mayor Ruth Correll and Jourgensen.
     "Homer has this ability to find the middle ground and tie
together opposing forces to solve a problem and bring opposite
ends to a consensus," Correll says. "On Council he was able to
pour oil on troubled waters and bring a reasonable approach to a
problem."
     Page sees politics as "listening to the public and leading
and expressing in policy the common will of the community. You
try to take a situation and find a way to harmonize it, to take
the risk and make a decision."
     Anxious for new challenges, Page ran for County Commissioner
in 1988 against incumbent Republican Buz Smith and won. His
mediation soon helped resolve a smoldering dispute between the
Commissioners and former sheriff Brad Leach over his budget.
     Former Commissioner Josie Heath and Leach sparred at a
budget hearing just before Page's election. The exchange
culminated in Leach's telling Heath, "I won't take a public
whipping over this, Josie."
     Page soothed the hard feelings soon after his election.
     "I thought it was a conflict situation where no one was
going to win," Page says. "I tried to help facilitate a
discussion about what was real. It allowed both sides to come
together and go forward."
     Leach, who served as sheriff for twenty years, left
impressed with Page.
     "I think Homer's one of the most knowledgeable Commissioners
on any issue because he researches it and he listens," Leach
says. "He's an excellent Commissioner."
     Indeed Page relishes his work. On an average day he may
leave his north Boulder home at 8:30 a.m. and not return for
twelve hours. On weekends he often brings home tapes of
background material for the upcoming week.
     He knows not everyone agrees with his decisions, and some
Boulder County residents may not like him. Page accepts the
criticism but rejects cynicism and hopes the electorate
recognizes that he truly cares.
     "People have tried to put me in a lot of pigeonholes over
the years and pin me down," he says. "But those pigeonholes can
be expanded, and I'll keep expanding them."


[PHOTO: Commissioner Carney sitting in her office at her desk.
CAPTION: Nell Carney.]

                     REHABILITATION DEFINED
                 by Nell C. Carney, Commissioner
             Rehabilitation Services Administration

     From the Editor: This article appeared in the March, 1991,
Newsletter of the National Rehabilitation Association. Nell
Carney, to the best of our belief and knowledge, has the highest
appointive office in the federal government which has ever been
held by a blind person and also the highest appointive office in
the federal government which has ever been held by a woman with a
disability.

     With reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act on the
horizon, a few individuals and groups representative of single-
focused interests have suggested rehabilitation needs to be
reorganized, revamped, restructured, or redefined to provide
lifelong services and care for individuals with disabilities.
This is so, they say, because present rehabilitation programs are
not meeting the total needs of disabled people, most of whom need
lifelong care.
     Of the approximately 43 million Americans with physical and
mental disabilities, the majority do not need lifelong care.
Indeed, those of us who have received appropriate rehabilitation
services participate fully in society and need only the
opportunities and conveniences afforded to all citizens.
     People with disabilities now participate in every vocation
known to our civilization. We run for public office, hold public
office, participate in political activities, and influence
election outcomes. Vocational Rehabilitation, Independent Living,
and Supported Employment have all played a major role in gains
made in independence and integration into the work place and
community by disabled people. By no means, however, are these the
only services that may be needed by people with disabilities in
order to live full, productive, meaningful lives.
     The word rehabilitation suggests a process that is finite.
Rehabilitation services authorized in the Rehabilitation Act are
designed to be of relatively short duration because
rehabilitation service is an intervention process that moves in,
provides the necessary service, and moves out of the way to allow
the disabled person to integrate physically, socially,
psychologically, and economically into the environment. There are
provisions for extended services in cases where needed, but no
service is infinite nor should it be. The basic underlying
philosophy of rehabilitation is to increase independence, not
create dependence.
     Traditionally, rehabilitation has been defined as
individualized, structured, and a short-term human service
process that utilizes the case management method to provide
diagnostic, training, and referral and placement services to
people with disabilities.
     Rehabilitation services is a process that allows a human
interaction to take place between a person with a physical or
mental disability and a service provider. In the process, need
for adjustment to the disability, training needs, and other needs
including technological, social, and economic are identified. The
person with the disability and the service provider then jointly
agree on a plan to meet the identified needs, and the plan is
implemented, leading to competitive employment and/or
independence and increased quality of life for the person with
the disability. Throughout the process, the person with a
disability has input and choices and the service provider
provides guidance, resources, advocacy, and coordination of
services with other service providers. All rehabilitation
services are goal-oriented and are designed to create
independence.
     Irrespective of definitions, the programs authorized in the
Rehabilitation Act and administered by RSA have proven to be of
value to disabled people. The largest of these, the state/federal
Vocational Rehabilitation Program, has placed 15 million disabled
people in employment since it began as a small program 70 years
ago. Last year alone (1989), just under 1 million disabled people
were placed in employment. Two hundred twenty-six thousand of
these were placed in competitive employment. The program has
always had the support of the Congress and the various
administrations and has repeatedly proven to be cost-effective.
     Similarly, the Supported Employment program and the
Independent Living programs, although much newer authorities,
have established value to disabled people and to the community.
In 1989 the Supported Employment Program placed 51,000 severely
disabled individuals in employment. Many of these will go on to
natural support systems and to integration into the community.
     The preparation for and attainment of independence and
integration by disabled people is dependent on more than one
service delivery system. While rehabilitation is a key service
system because it offers the potential for economic and social
independence, other services, including health care, insurance,
affordable housing, recreation, accessible transportation, civil
rights, and advocacy are crucial to the goals of independence and
integration and ultimately choices and empowerment. To suggest
replacing rehabilitation services with other crucial programs
does not seem like a reasonable solution to the dilemma created
by services deficits. Rehabilitation services are critical to the
empowerment of disabled individuals, and to suggest that all of
the needs of the disabled population can be met by continuing to
expand the Rehabilitation Act is to suggest legislation so
diverse that major focus could not be directed to any single
program and effective and efficient administration would be
difficult if not impossible.
     Coordination among the various agencies providing services
for people with disabilities has become a routine function of
federal government for the current administration. We are already
seeing the positive effects. Rehabilitation and the President's
Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities are working
together to create additional opportunities for competitive
placement. RSA and EEOC are working together to provide technical
assistance to employers for compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Rehabilitation and Special Education are
joining efforts to create transition programs from school to work
for disabled people, and RSA and the Social Security
Administration are sitting down together to plan for future
endeavors that will bring the two agencies together to increase
opportunities for disabled people.
     The services provided through the present authorities in the
Rehabilitation Act are essential to the empowerment of people
with disabilities. Vocational Rehabilitation, Independent Living,
and Supported Employment create opportunities for economic and
social independence for millions of people with disabilities each
year. Maintaining and promoting these programs are
responsibilities in which we all share if we are sincere in our
commitment to choices and empowerment for people with
disabilities.


[PHOTO/CAPTION: Portrait of Melissa Lagroue.]

                       DIVIDE AND CONQUER
                       by Melissa Lagroue

     From the Associate Editor: One of the program items during
the morning session of the student seminar that took place
February 2, 1991, immediately preceding this year's Washington
Seminar, was a panel discussion comprised of three students who
have experienced discrimination of various kinds. Each spoke
eloquently of the experience and the emotional strain associated
with the event. Melissa Lagroue, one of the leaders of the
National Association of Blind Students and a 1988 National
Federation of the Blind scholarship winner, was the concluding
panelist. Here is her story as she told it to the audience that
morning: 
     As a lot of you know, I am an elementary education major.  
I don't think until this past September and October I really
experienced any sort of powerful emotion, exclusive of sympathy,
in regard to discrimination. This past summer I was accepted into
the Teacher Education Program at Birmingham Southern College,
where I attended. I didn't realize that there would be any
problems associated with the little piece of trivia I am about to
give you. 
     One of the professors was on sabbatical leave when the
decision to admit me was made. She returned a couple of days
before classes started this past September, and I was to take the
course Teaching Math to Children from her. After the first
meeting in each of my classes, I go to the professor to discuss
test-taking with him or her. So I did that on the first night of
class. I said, "Dr. Moore, how would you like me to take tests in
your class? Here are the options I have used before." And I gave
them to her. 
     She said, "I don't know how you are going to handle testing;
I don't know how you are going to handle doing papers; I don't
know how you are going to watch children; I don't know how you
are going to be able to make the games for this class; and I
don't understand why you are in teacher education at all." 
     I said, "Well apparently we are having some problems here,
and you clearly have some questions concerning my blindness. I'll
make an appointment with you. When would be the best time?" I
made the appointment with her for the following day. I walked
out, turned the corner, and burst into tears. I really felt that
she had undermined my confidence, and that wasn't the end of it.
I went to see her the next day and sat down. She asked me a few
questions about how I would grade papers and how I would write on
the chalkboard and that sort of thing. Then she said, "You know,
Melissa, the real problem I have is this: having a blind person
teach sighted children is quite like having a person who doesn't
know math trying to teach it." 
     I thought for a second, and it occurred to me that this
analogy breaks down. I said (trying not to be obnoxious, but the
temptation was really strong), "I'm not trying to teach them how
to see; I am trying to teach them how to read and write and do
math." 
     She sat there for a few minutes. Then she said, "Well,
Melissa, apparently we're just not going to agree on this, so I
am going to bring your Teacher Education Program application up
for review and see if we can get you out of the program." 
     I said, "Well, clearly I am not satisfied with that, and I
am going to do everything I can to make sure that it doesn't
happen. I am going to give the head of the department some names
and telephone numbers of blind teachers in the National
Federation of the Blind." And that's what I did. I went home,
called another professor in the department, and said, "Look, I
have to be kept up to date about what is going on in the
department and what everyone is saying." I really needed to know
that since I wouldn't be allowed to attend the meeting in which
my application would be reviewed. I wanted to make sure that,
whatever happened and whatever was said, I would have somebody
who would tell me about it. She said that she would. Then I
called Pat Munson [President of the National Association of Blind
Educators] and left a message on her answering machine requesting
some phone numbers. She called back, leaving a message on my
machine, and gave me several. 
     The following day I went to the head of the department (this
was a Wednesday, I guess) and said, "Here are these names and
numbers. I understand that we have a little problem with Dr.
Moore, and I think we ought to talk about it." 
     He said, "Yes, we have a large problem with Dr. Moore, and
I'm not very thrilled, as you might imagine, so I am going to
call some of these people before this meeting takes place and see
what I can learn." 
     I thought, "Hallelujah! somebody with some sense." I said,
"Look, in any case, I am going to write a letter to the dean
because if this reconsideration doesn't work out in my favor, I
want to have this event reported. I want to make sure that people
in the right places know what has happened." He said that was
fine. I told him that I would be glad to send him and Dr. Moore
copies. I was nice in my letter; I was very nice. I just
recounted what had happened, including the lovely math teacher
comment that Dr. Moore made. I also told the dean that I didn't
want any action immediately. I wanted the situation to be handled
calmly and tactfully. After all, she was still going to grade my
performance in the course. I sent the letter, and a couple of
days later I was walking across campus when the Dean yelled to
me. I stopped, then went over. He said, "Well, I had a discussion
with Dr. Moore." 
     I said, "Oh, that's nice. How did it go?" 
     He said, "I don't think you'll be having any more problems.
Has she apologized yet?" 
     The Department had a meeting in which my Teacher Education
Program application was reviewed, and apparently there was a
large shouting match among some of the professors. I'm still in
the Teacher Education Program, and I got an A-minus. I learned a
lot about discrimination firsthand. Before this experience, I
really hadn't felt strong emotion about it. But I took advantage
of a lot of Federation shoulders over the telephone. I cried a
lot because I had never had an experience in which not only my
confidence, but my future was threatened. I thought, if I can't
teach, what am I going to do? Teaching was all I ever wanted to
do. Then I decided, I will teach; there is no way I won't teach.
There are 50,000 people standing behind me saying you will teach,
and there is no way that this one professor is going to stop that
from happening. I realized that it was true. 
     Something else that has occurred to me is that
discrimination is not just an event. It's not just something that
happens to you. People who discriminate see the world--my place
in it and yours--in a completely warped fashion. I remember once
a science teacher brought in prism glasses that had been used in
a psychology experiment, and when we looked through them
everything appeared reversed.  It was very strange. That is what
this experience reminded me of. 
     We are not just fighting a bunch of ideas; we are fighting a
total world view. It is hard, and we have a long, long, long way
to go. But we have no choice. We cannot sit back and let people
go on seeing things this way. We cannot for our own sakes; we
cannot for our parents'; and we cannot for our kids'. There is
too much left to do, and it's going to be hard, but in all
honesty, what choice do we have? I hope that this weekend and the
week to come will be productive. I'm sure that they will. 
     We can't just stop at the conclusion of this seminar. We
have to go home and walk down the street and deal with the people
who grab us by the arm as if we were small children running out
in front of cars. We have to cope with the people that question
our judgment when we go to amusement parks and those who try to
keep us out of exit rows and put us into those obnoxious beeping
carts at airports. Then there are the special discounts on all
sorts of things that give the impression that blind people are
appropriate objects of pity. 
     We have all this to deal with every day when we go home. We
can't just say, as I have said, "I'm sick of educating the
public." Have you ever said that? "I'm tired of dealing with
these ignorant people. I'm sick of it." But we can't do that. We
have to educate; that's our job as members of the Federation,
every single one of us. When I think about the pain that
discrimination caused me on a very personal level, it only brings
home more forcefully the pain that it causes every single one of
us. That's the pain we have to get rid of. Thank you.


[PHOTO: Front view of American Printing House for the Blind
building. CAPTION: The American Printing House for the Blind is
located in Louisville, Kentucky.]

     AMERICAN PRINTING HOUSE FOR THE BLIND REVERSES DECISION
           TO DISCONTINUE PUBLISHING MY WEEKLY READER

     Children who cannot read normal print easily and comfortably
must use text materials that are available in Braille or large
print even though they are not the ones being used by the rest of
the class. For a number of years the American Printing House for
the Blind (APH) has produced several scholastic publications in
Braille and large print so that blind children can have access to
some of the same interesting stories and articles as their
sighted peers. Teachers and parents have come to count on these
materials because they provide a link between the blind child and
sighted classmates. 
     All this changed on February 1, 1991, when APH discontinued
production of the Braille and large print editions of several
publications, the most widely known of which was My Weekly
Reader. The Printing House said that they would continue to
provide audio tape recordings of the periodicals, but these did
not play the same valuable educational role for blind children as
the Braille had done. One parent reported that her daughter was
now being removed to a separate room to read her taped version of
My Weekly Reader even though she was using earphones. Further
segregation, not the desired integration, was the obvious result
of the APH decision. 
     Parents, teachers, and concerned blind adults began calling
and writing Federation leaders to see if there was anything the
Federation  could do to persuade APH to reverse its decision.
     On March 7, 1991, Betty Niceley, President of the National
Association to Promote the Use of Braille (NAPUB), called Dr.
Tuck Tinsley, President of the American Printing House for the
Blind, to discuss the issue. Mrs. Niceley reports that their
discussion was both friendly and direct. She pointed out that
many organizations can provide recorded versions of scholastic
materials, but only the Printing House can provide Braille and
large print. At one point she actually asked Dr. Tinsley what
justification there could be for the five-million-dollar federal
grant to APH if it couldn't even provide Braille and large print
materials that were of such fundamental importance to young
readers who are only beginning to master the Braille code. 
     To Dr. Tinsley's credit, he told Mrs. Niceley that he saw
real merit in her arguments and wished to take her comments back
to the committee that had made the decision to discontinue. On
March 14, he called her to say that the decision had been
reversed. Here are several representative pieces of the
correspondence that has been exchanged this spring. Once again
they tell the tale. People turn to the National Federation of the
Blind when there are problems in this field, and we do our best
to solve them. Our job is made considerably easier when we find
reason and good will in the minds and hearts of those with whom
we have to deal. Here are four letters that tell the story:

                                                    Gary, Indiana
                                                    March 6, 1991

Dear Dr. Jernigan:
     Starting on February 1, 1991, the American Printing House
for the Blind has decided to stop publication of My Weekly
Reader, Senior Weekly Reader, Current Events, Know Your World,
and other magazines and periodicals in Braille and large print.
These publications are used by many schools throughout the United
States with students in grades two through eight. The Braille and
large print editions of these publications enabled blind and
visually impaired children and youth to participate on equal
terms with their seeing peers in mainstream settings. They also
provided leisure time reading materials in Braille.
     With the elimination of Braille and large print editions of
these magazines, blind and visually impaired school age children
will not have access to many magazines available to their sighted
classmates.
     Since learning Braille at this age is very important for a
blind child, many educators use these magazines as supplementary
materials to encourage reading. Audio cassette format does not
adapt itself to all the purposes for which the Braille format was
used. May I request you please to use your resources and good
offices with the Printing House and the U.S. Congress to restore
publication of these and other magazines and periodicals in
Braille.
     Thank you for your consideration.
                                                  Very sincerely,
                                                Bashir A. Masoodi
                        Coordinator for Visually Impaired Program
                                     Gary, Indiana Public Schools
                      ____________________
     There you have Mr. Masoodi's letter of concern, only one of
many received at the national office. Here is Dr. Jernigan's
response: 

                                              Baltimore, Maryland
                                                   March 28, 1991

Dear Mr. Masoodi:
     Thank you for your letter of March 6, 1991, concerning My
Weekly Reader and other publications which the American Printing
House for the Blind contemplated cutting. We have taken strong
action on this matter, and I believe most of the decisions
(particularly, the cutting of My Weekly Reader) have been
reversed. We will continue to exert the strongest possible
persuasion to set this matter right. I hope you will also write
letters to the Printing House and do what you can.

                                                       Cordially,
                                                 Kenneth Jernigan
                                               Executive Director
                                 National Federation of the Blind
                      ____________________
     Under date of April 19 Betty Niceley, President of both the
National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky and the National
Association to Promote the Use of Braille, wrote to Dr. Tinsley
to thank him for APH's reversal of its earlier decision to cease
Braille and large print production of its scholastic periodicals.
Here is her letter: 

                                             Louisville, Kentucky
                                                   April 19, 1991

Dear Dr. Tinsley:
     Recently I called you to express concern about the APH
decision to discontinue the Braille edition of Weekly Reader
magazines in favor of a taped edition. As I explained to you at
that time, Braille literacy is one of the major initiatives of
the National Federation of the Blind. Such a decision on the part
of APH was, therefore, sufficient cause for action from our
Parents of Blind Children Division and the National Association
to Promote the Use of Braille. Also, we recognize that the
American Printing House for the Blind is in a position to have
far-reaching effects on the future of Braille literacy as it
relates to the education of blind children.
     I must say that you listened to me with patience and
understanding while I described to you the various NFB strategies
designed to insure a working knowledge of Braille for blind
people of all ages. Then, you contacted me the next week to
report that the decision to discontinue Braille Weekly Readers
had been reversed. Your understanding of the negative
consequences which this decision would have generated and your
prompt attention to the matter deserve commendation. Please know
that Federation members everywhere appreciate your quick and
positive response to this important matter.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                         Betty Niceley, President
               National Association to Promote the Use of Braille
                      ____________________
     Dr. Tinsley responded to Mrs. Niceley's letter on April 25
with a diplomatically general reprise of the events of the
spring. But we know who protested the APH decision, and we are
pleased to receive Dr. Tinsley's assurance of the American
Printing House's reaffirmation of its commitment to Braille and
large print production of useful school materials. Here is Dr.
Tinsley's letter:

                                             Louisville, Kentucky
                                                   April 25, 1991

Dear Mrs. Niceley:
     Thank you for your letter of April 19 regarding APH's
production of Weekly Reader. I appreciate your kind comments.
     As you know, we have been concerned for some time about the
cost and timeliness of delivery of the Braille and large type
editions of the Weekly Reader. In an effort to address both of
these concerns, we reviewed the situation with our Publications
Committee last fall and decided, on an experimental basis, to
provide only a recorded edition during the spring, 1991,
semester.
     In response to concerns raised by visually impaired
students, their parents, teachers, and others it became clear
that the written editions are preferred to the recorded edition.
Therefore, our Publications Committee authorized us to
discontinue the recorded edition and return to Braille and large
type formats at the beginning of the 1991-92 school year.
     Your concern and comments regarding this issue are certainly
appreciated and, as always, we continue to respond to consumer
needs.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                Tuck Tinsley, III
                                                        President
                            American Printing House for the Blind




[PHOTO/CAPTION: The Combination Machine.]

                    THE COMBINATION MACHINE: 
                    A HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT
        by The Technical Staff, National Library Service

     From the Associate Editor: Those who are lucky enough to
have used the new combination cassette and record player now
beginning to be available from the National Library Service (NLS)
report that it is a wonderful innovation--one that may well
change the reading habits of NLS patrons. President Maurer, who
has been using one for several weeks, says that the quality of
the tape deck is much better than that of the current playback
machines. He also points out that the needle-protection feature
in the record player portion is ideal for families with young
children. When the machine lid closes, the needle automatically
retracts into the tonearm. When it is opened again, the needle
returns to the place where it was when the reader turned off the
machine. To my mind, this feature verges on  witchcraft, but
there is apparently more. Records as well as tapes can be
rewound, and cassettes can be directed to play the other side or
second track with the flip of a switch. All this will soon be
available to borrowers across the country. Here is the story of
how this amazing machine came into being as recounted by the
technical staff of the National Library Service: 
     Since the inception of the Project, Books for the Blind, in
1931 and indeed since the establishment of a special reading room
for blind people in 1897, the Library of Congress has been
committed to providing the highest quality service for blind, and
later physically handicapped persons. Over the years specialized
playback machines and accessories have been developed to give
patrons access to the program. In the development of these
products consumers have always been intimately involved, since
all the machines and accessories are developed and produced
exclusively for their use.
     It was with this high level of consumer involvement in mind
that NLS identified the need for a combination record and
cassette machine in the early 1970s. As early as 1973 NLS began
studying the feasibility of producing a machine in which a single
set of controls would operate both a record player and a tape
deck. It was hoped that such a combination machine would offer
the advantages of smaller size, less weight, greater ease of
operation, and lower unit cost. In 1975 NLS conducted a broad-
based user study that concluded that it should pursue developing
such a machine.
     In fiscal year 1977 the research and development for
producing a combination machine began with the issuance of a
Request for Proposals "for design, fabrication, and delivery of
combination talking book machines." Because no such machine had
ever been designed for mass production, the contract included
specifications that listed only the minimum functional
requirements of the finished product. Requirements for existing
record and cassette machines were combined to produce the
specification. The features that would be unique to a combination
machine were listed as ten "optional innovative features,"
including single motor drive, overall size reduction, and
automatic reverse and track switching. No drawings or schematic
designs were included. It was the contractor's job to develop a
specific design for the machine. Because this was a developmental
project, the functional specifications served as a starting point
from which a combination of research, consumer evaluation, and
field testing would yield a final design.
     As with all NLS machines, consumer input through field
testing was anticipated and provided for at the outset of the
contract. Two engineering design models (EDMs) were to be
provided. The contract stated that "the performance and
appearance of the EDM will be evaluated." The next requirement
was fifty-five reproduction units for user evaluation with a
production run to follow.
     The Request for Proposal was issued by the Library's
Procurement and Supply Division, and two companies, Telex
Communications and Video Research Corporation, submitted
competitive bids. After a technical evaluation by NLS, the
contracting officer awarded the contract to Video Research
Corporation (VRC) of Riviera Beach, Florida. (The company later
became Deltronics, Inc.) The contract was awarded September 13,
1977.
     During the course of the contract, there were reviews of the
design and technical issues in the engineering phase. These were
conducted by NLS engineers and quality assurance specialists
meeting with the contractor's representatives. Ironing out design
difficulties was expected to be a part of the natural course of a
design and development contract.
     The changes in the performance schedule during the life of
the contract reflected the results of the design development. New
enhancements to the design naturally necessitated additional time
in the contract schedule. The first of these readjustments came
in January, 1978, after a meeting between NLS engineers and VRC
representatives. Specific machine elements such as case design,
switch design, batteries, and other technical matters were
discussed. These were all specific engineering problems and
concerns that arose as a part of the development of the
specifications and technical designs by the contractor. A revised
schedule showed production, delivery, and consumer evaluation
would take place during late 1979 and 1980.
     On September 11, 1978, a change order was issued to allow
for development of a cassette deck that could be used for both
the combination machine project and future cassette machine
contracts. The E-1 (easy machine) was later produced using the
same cassette deck and many of the same advanced features as the
combination machine. Further, the arrangement made would give
control of tooling and design to the Library, provide technically
superior performance, and reduce dependence on foreign suppliers.
The deck would have a three-motor design and an anti-jam feature.
     Tests of prototype designs took place in October and
November, 1979. The two demonstration units underwent thorough
testing, not only by NLS staff, but also by a consumer evaluation
panel. Provided for in the contract, the evaluation by consumers
was vital to the development of the machine. Consumers who took
part in the evaluation were encouraged to test the units
vigorously. Their task was not only to give input on the ease of
use and the efficiency of the machine's operation, but also to
subject the units to normal treatment for a machine. Their
suggestions were to be incorporated into final design plans.
These were not changes to any existing specifications; rather
they were to become part of the specifications that were still
evolving. This prototype testing was considered a success because
it pointed out specific areas for further development. The second
change order spelled out the changes in engineering
(reproduction) tooling and unit (production) costs needed to
achieve these specification refinements. At the same time VRC was
awarded a contract under competitive bidding procedures for
production of the E-1 (easy cassette machine). This was a spinoff
of the combination machine since it used the same cassette deck.
     As work continued there was constant refinement of the
performance specifications by the contractor in conjunction with
NLS engineers. In March, 1981, VRC produced forty-five
reproduction units. NLS technicians tested them and identified
several design problems. The defects included free-wheeling
supply hubs, oscillations, and speed maladjustments. These
problems were corrected by the contractor, and the forty-five
units were produced for user field evaluation in April, 1981.
     This rigorous testing by NLS and refinements to the
specifications further modified the design of the machine as new
features, such as direction sensing, side selection control,
voice-over indexing, and seven other features were incorporated.
To accommodate these enhancements, the production phase was
rescheduled to 1982, and the contract amount increased.
     The consumer field test was completed in the summer of 1981,
and as expected many improvements were suggested. Thirty-three
specific changes were recommended by consumers. By December, ten
of the changes were in the process of being incorporated in the
prototype design.
     On July 6, 1981, the Procurement and Supply Division issued
a Request for Proposal to solicit bids on production of
combination machines. The RFP was issued using the revised
specifications as developed by VRC (Deltronics) in conjunction
with the changes proposed by the consumer evaluation test. Three
companies (Telex Communications, Deltronics, and Interstate
Industries) submitted responsive and responsible bids. Bidders
were rated by NLS staff on their production capability responses
to the statement of work and proposed innovative features to be
added to the machine specifications. As with the previous
contract, this RFP had built-in prototype testing by consumers
and encouraged the contractor to develop new features for the
machine. Emphasis was on designing a mass-producible machine that
would incorporate emerging technology such as the microprocessor.
     The contracting officer awarded the combination machine
development and production contract to Telex Communications,
Inc., on September 21, 1981. They promised a design more
realistically meeting production capability. Telex would use the
functional design developed by VRC but incorporate microprocessor
technology into some elements of the machine's functions. This
would result in both a superior product and a machine that could
be more easily mass produced. Telex was also awarded a contract
for production of the E-1 (easy machine) under competitive
bidding. It was to use the same cassette deck and microprocessor
technology as that developed for the combination machine.
     The contract called for prototype machines to be delivered
by March, 1982; a reproduction machine to be delivered six months
after prototype approval; and complete delivery six months later.
     In February and March, 1982, NLS engineers and Telex
representatives held discussions on the design of the turntable
and tonearm. Telex provided a prototype that was tested and
accepted by NLS in April, 1982.
     Design modifications continued through 1982, and in October
a prototype machine was reviewed by NLS. The evaluation report
suggested further changes in the design. These included
rectifying problems with tape spillage, battery location, fast
forward and rewind functions, and automatic/manual switch
labeling. The process of refining the specifications continued to
accommodate changing technology and the needs of the consumers.
The first change order increased the unit cost and quantity,
based on the design changes.
     During 1983 and 1984 urgent consumer need gave high priority
to development of the spinoff easy machine which was a direct
response to a user study that showed that patrons needed a
machine easier to operate than the standard cassette machine. The
development of the easy machine went hand-in-hand with that of
the combination machine. The cassette deck and automatic side-
changing feature were a direct result of combination machine
development. Prototype testing of the E-1 machine provided
another opportunity for testing features which would also be an
integral part of the combination machine.
     By January, 1984, Telex provided machine prototypes that
were tested by NLS and found to be very close to the
requirements. Two advanced prototypes for consumer evaluation
were delivered in April of 1986. At the same time field testing
of the easy machine continued, giving further feedback on
features common to both machines. By November of 1988 the last of
the production run of E-1's was delivered. The cassette deck
proved itself reliable and efficient. NLS now could give the go-
ahead for use of the same deck, as well as the other advanced
features, in the combination machine.
     Developing technology and further input through consumer
testing resulted in additional changes to the machine's
specifications, particularly to the microprocessor program. Two
hundred production control samples were tested by NLS, and
modifications were made to the design during 1988 and 1989. In
September of 1989, 200 units were sent to regional libraries for
testing by consumers working in the libraries. In December of
1990 Telex produced for final testing by consumers 1,000
combination machines incorporating microprocessors with
changeable programs. Currently the microprocessor is being
reworked for a problem with a diode. It is expected that the
1,000 units will be ready for field evaluation shortly.


[PHOTO: Portrait of Michael Freeman. CAPTION: Michael Freeman is
the First Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind
of Washington.]

          FURTHER THOUGHTS ON REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION
                       by Michael Freeman

     From the Editor: I recently received the following letter:

Vancouver, Washington
March 19, 1991

Dear Dr. Jernigan:
     I recently received the March, 1991, issue of the Braille
Monitor, and it is first rate. Every issue of the Monitor is
informative, but this one in particular seems to be packed with
articles giving food for thought. In this connection, I am
enclosing an article written in response to Ted Young's article
on reasonable accommodation. I'm sure it will be controversial,
should you decide to publish it. (My wife, Barbara, doesn't agree
with all of it--a fact which has led to some interesting fireside
discussions.) Anyone who thinks that there is no give and take
and free exchange of ideas in the Federation doesn't know us very
well! In any case, I herewith submit the article and, now that
I've gotten it off my chest, my household will return to such
domestic tranquility as a growing, rambunctious, sixteen-month-
old girl will permit.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                  Michael Freeman
                                             First Vice President
                   National Federation of the Blind of Washington

     Accompanying this letter was the following article:

     The March, 1991 issue of the Braille Monitor contains a
thought-provoking article by Ted Young, President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, on the subject of
"reasonable accommodations" for the blind. This is a subject of
prime importance for Federationists for, as the article states, a
discussion of the meaning and implications of "reasonable
accommodations" is fundamentally a discussion of the meaning of
equality. At first glance, Mr. Young's analysis seems plausible.
Upon closer examination, however, I believe it to have
implications for Federation philosophy and action which could
jeopardize some of the rights which the blind have gained over
the past half-century.
     The discussion begins with an admirable summary of the
standards blind people use to judge whether or not they have been
equally treated. Two of these standards are pertinent to the
following analysis. Some blind people hold that in demanding
equal treatment, they have the right to participate in activities
on the same basis and under the same conditions as do the
sighted. This may be called the "equal participation" standard.
Other blind people maintain that asking for equal treatment means
that they have the right to receive equivalent or similar
benefits from activities as do the sighted. This may be called
the "similar benefits" standard. These two standards of equality
have had a venerable history of advocacy in the Federation. Dr.
Jacobus tenBroek's 1944, 1948 and 1952 banquet speeches, for
example, state that one of the major goals of the NFB is
Equality, which I take to mean equality of opportunity to
participate in the activities of society. This notion of equality
is also evident in the oft-repeated Federation tenet that with
training and opportunity, the average blind person can do the
average job in the average place of business on an equal basis
with the sighted. Dr. Jernigan's 1990 banquet speech states this
most succinctly. Legislatively, the "equal participation"
standard is exemplified by the white cane laws in the fifty
states and by the NFB-sponsored amendment (which did not pass
Congress) to include the handicapped under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. It also is evident in the NFB-sponsored
amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act which provides
that a handicapped person does not have to accept special
accommodations. Yet the notion of equality as meaning equivalence
of benefit also is prominent in Federation thinking. Dr.
tenBroek's "The Pros and Cons of Preferential Treatment" is
illustrative. I contend that it is far easier to apply the "equal
participation" standard than it is to apply the "similar
benefits" standard when trying to ascertain what (if any)
reasonable accommodations are needed for a blind person to
participate on a basis of equality with the sighted in a given
event. Mr. Young's first example illustrates the problem.
     In 1972 or 1973, Mr. Young states, a blind woman visited her
husband in prison. The visit consisted of talking to her husband
over the telephone while being separated from him by a glass
partition. The visit took place under the same conditions as did
visits by others to incarcerated individuals at that institution.
Thus, under the "equal participation" standard, the blind woman
received equal treatment and no accommodation was due her. Mr.
Young argues, however, that the "similar benefits" standard
should apply. He maintains that thousands of nonverbal messages
were exchanged between sighted visitors and the prisoners they
visited; that because the blind woman was deprived of these
exchanges, she did not receive equal treatment and that she
was therefore due some accommodation such as being allowed to sit
across a table from her husband (with appropriate security
arrangements). Mr. Young says that the blind woman could just as
well have stayed home and have spoken with her incarcerated
husband over the telephone. This ignores the benefit she gained
from the fact that her husband could see her (unless he, too, was
blind). This view will seem reasonable to many. Yet consider what
is being implied. If the woman was not being equally treated
because she could not see her husband, those "thousands of
nonverbal messages' must have been an essential part of the
communication. If visual messages are an essential part of
communication, how can we maintain, as we rightly do, that blind
judges and jurors can competently participate in trials involving
physical evidence?  How can we maintain that the blind are
competent (as they certainly are) to handle most situations in
which visual communication is considered essential?  What becomes
of our stand on the ADA in favor of the equal participation
standard rather than the accommodation standard in determining
whether or not discrimination has taken place?  In a lighter
vein, what becomes of the point of view espoused by many
Federationists that they would like to pay for earphones to
listen to in-flight movies just like everybody else and that no
compensation (as, for example, getting the use of these earphones
for free) is due them because they cannot see the movies?  What
becomes of our stand that the blind neither need nor want special
treatment in amusement parks because they cannot visually
anticipate the chills and thrills of the rides? (See "ValleyFair:
An Amusement Park Not So Amusing for the Blind" by Curtis Chong,
the Braille Monitor, March, 1991.) In other words, trying to
evaluate equality in terms of similar or equivalent benefits is a
tricky business and we should think long and hard before we adopt
this standard as a matter of routine in judging when special
accommodations are appropriate. Some people may reasonably ask if
my stand on this matter does not imply that, for example, the
blind should not advocate making historical sites, museums, etc.
accessible by touch whenever possible. It does not, since it
applies only to those situations in which vision is not essential
to the communication in question. In the case of museums,
historical sites, etc., the prime purpose of their existence is
to display things of interest to the public. Since these displays
are predominantly visual in nature, application of the "equal
participation" standard does not provide the blind person with
equal access to such facilities. It is therefore reasonable to
apply the "similar benefit" standard and to advocate making these
facilities accessible by touch.
     Next, Mr. Young discusses situations in which accommodations
are not reasonable. His analysis here is right on-target. He
concludes that accommodations by an employer to allow a blind
person to perform a given job are not reasonable unless the
employer thereby gains significant benefits from the blind
worker's labor or unless the blind worker, by virtue of the
accommodation, can perform the job to the same standards as would
be expected of a sighted person.
     Finally, Mr. Young discusses what he calls "equivalent
accommodations"--accommodations that don't cost the employer a
significant amount of money but which make life for the blind
employee a bit easier. For example, few would quarrel with the
proposition that if a sighted secretary is offered a computer to
make her word-processing easier, it is reasonable for the
employer to provide a blind secretary with a computer adapted for
access by the blind. Yet the first example cited by Mr. Young in
order to illustrate this concept is based upon a false analogy
and therefore leads to a false and, I believe harmful, conclusion
as to what constitutes equivalent accommodation. In the example,
Mr. Young assumes that a blind employee uses a dog guide as his
sole travel aid and that the dog becomes incapacitated. Mr. Young
asks if it might not be reasonable to let the blind employee take
sick leave instead of vacation time while the dog recovers. Mr.
Young, in propounding this notion, notes that many employers
allow their employees to take sick leave when family members are
ill. I most emphatically disagree with this analysis. It seems to
be based upon the false premise that the dog guide is primarily a
family member and not a mobility tool. I use a white cane. If my
cane breaks and I have not had the foresight to purchase extra
canes, my employer does not (and should not) make allowances for
my lack of sense. I am still expected to report to work, and it
is my job to find a way to get there--obtain a temporary ride,
take a cab, travel without a cane, etc. If I can't wangle any of
these alternatives, then I have to take annual leave just like
everybody else whose transportation breaks down. If I am to
expect equal treatment with my sighted colleagues, I should not
expect special treatment or allowances because of my blindness.
To say otherwise would be to say that I couldn't cut it on terms
of equality with my fellow employees. This logic holds true for
all blind individuals, including those who use dog guides. If
their dogs become ill (that is, their mobility tool becomes
unusable), it is up to them to find an alternate means of travel
if they are to remain competitive. We, the blind, whether we use
a cane or dog, can compete on terms of equality with the
sighted--but only if we are prepared to do so.
     Mr. Young's final example of "equivalent accommodation" is a
good one. He posits a situation in which an entry-level job can
be done by a blind person while the next level in the promotion
ladder is a job that cannot be done by a blind person (e.g.,
operating a fork-lift). The third-level job can be performed by a
blind person. How can the blind person obtain a promotion to the
third-level job in a way that is both fair to the blind employee
and to his/her fellow workers?  Mr. Young suggests a scheme
whereby the blind entry-level person be kept in that level a
somewhat longer time than is customary to compensate for the
inability of the blind employee to perform the second-level job.
I would prefer some sort of job-restructuring of the second-level
job to keeping the blind person in the entry-level position
longer than normal. Nevertheless, the situation Mr. Young
describes often occurs, and his solution is a plausible one.
Those who encounter such situations would do well to keep it in
mind.
     The concept of "reasonable accommodation" is controversial.
I suspect that neither Mr. Young nor I will have the last word on
the subject. It merits careful consideration by all of us for, as
was previously noted, it is fundamentally a question of equality.
We cannot ask for integration of the blind into society on a
basis of equality until we decide for ourselves what equality
means.


                 GENETIC CLUE FOUND TO DIABETES
                       by Rebecca Kolberg

     From the Associate Editor: On February 15, 1991, newspapers
across the country carried a story written by UPI Science Writer,
Rebecca Kolberg. It reported on a breakthrough in the ongoing
struggle to conquer diabetes. Researchers have now identified the
gene that seems to cause one form of adult-onset diabetes. This
is only the beginning of a long battle to correct the gene in
question, but it is a beginning. Here is the story as it appeared
on February 15:

     After more than three years of searching, scientists
reported that for the first time they have closed in on a genetic
defect that appears to cause a common form of diabetes.
     Researchers said Thursday that they have traced a gene
responsible for non-insulin-dependent diabetes to chromosome
twenty, although they have not yet pinpointed the genetic
culprit's precise location. Every human has twenty-three pairs of
chromosomes, which carry the genetic blueprints for traits
ranging from hair color to risk of cancer.
     About thirteen million Americans suffer from non-insulin-
dependent diabetes and another one million have insulin-dependent
diabetes, the American Diabetes Association said.
     It has long been known that inheritance plays a major role
in diabetes, but until the latest work scientists have not been
able to find a specific genetic clue to the most common type of
diabetes.
     "This finding confirms, first of all, that genetics play a
role in the development of diabetes," said Graeme Bell of the
University of Chicago, who led the study published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
     Diabetes refers to disorders related to abnormal levels of
sugar in the blood. In healthy individuals chemical messengers
such as insulin help control blood sugar levels to prevent damage
to organs and other tissues.
     The two major forms are called Type 1, or insulin-dependent,
and Type 2, adult-onset or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Type 1
diabetics do not have enough insulin; Type 2 diabetics often have
insulin, but their bodies do not respond properly to this
messenger.
     Diabetics are two to six times as likely to have strokes.
One in five develops cataracts or glaucoma. About five percent go
blind.
     In the study University of Chicago, University of Michigan,
and University of Pennsylvania researchers examined the genetic
makeup of members of a large white family from Michigan with a
high rate of non-insulin-dependent diabetes. About forty of the
two-hundred-seventy-five family members, who spanned five
generations, had a subtype of diabetes usually detectable before
the patient reaches the age of twenty-five.
     Family members with diabetes shared a pattern in the genetic
material on the long arm of chromosome 20 that was different from
the pattern seen in their healthy relatives, the researchers
said.
     Bell's team now is trying to find the exact site of the gene
and determine its function in the hope of gaining insights into
the underlying cause of the disease and perhaps better ways to
treat the illness.
     "A lot depends on how lucky we get. A couple years (until
the gene is found) would not be unreasonable," said Bell, who is
a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.
     Richard Kahn, chief scientific officer for the American
Diabetes Association, called the latest finding "a major
advance." "For the first time, this begins to address the issue
of what gene or genes are responsible for Type 2 diabetes," Kahn
said. "This opens the way towards better understanding of the
disease and how to prevent or cure it."
     However, Kahn cautioned that it is uncertain what proportion
of people with non-insulin-dependent diabetes would be affected
by the new discovery. It is not known exactly how many of the
people with non-insulin-dependent diabetes suffer from the
subtype of the disease that troubled the Michigan family.
Estimates of the frequency of the subtype, which is called
mature-onset diabetes of the young, range from one percent to
eighteen percent in various ethnic groups.
     Researchers are now testing other families with a high rate
of non-insulin-dependent diabetes to see if they have a genetic
pattern similar to that found in the Michigan family.
     Bell said it is unlikely the gene will be the only one
responsible for insulin-dependent diabetes, and other genes also
probably will be found to play a role in the disease.
     "If we can identify these genes, it might be possible for
doctors to develop more specific therapies to treat the
disorder," Bell said.
     In the meantime Bell said the new genetic patterns can be
used in the Michigan family to tell which individuals are likely
to develop diabetes and which do not have to worry about getting
the disease.


[PHOTO/CAPTION: Merri-beth Sabin (left) and her sister Christie
(right) are pictured here with Bob Bennett, one of their high
school teachers.]

                THE FOURTH GENERATION ON THE MOVE

     From the Editor: Today's young Federationists (those in
their teens and even younger) know where they want to go and how
they intend to get there. They have read Federation literature,
attended Federation meetings, and thought about their future. A
good example comes from Pocatello, Idaho, where four young blind
women are enrolled in the local high school.
     Betty Sabin, who is President of the Gate City Chapter of
the Federation in Pocatello, sends the following newspaper
article. If one reads between the lines, not only Federation
philosophy but also the study and thought which undergird it are
apparent. Here is the article as it appeared in the March 12,
1991, Chieftain, the newspaper of the Pocatello High School:

          Blind Students Looking for Acceptance at Poky
                        by Christie Dille

     What would you do if your P.E. teacher did not allow you to
participate in class activities? I think that I, and most
everybody, would rejoice at not having to exercise.
     But what if you weren't allowed because of who you were, or
the instructor thought you weren't athletic or smart enough, or
because they believed you just could not do it?
     What if you weren't allowed because you were blind?
     Believe it or not, this type of discrimination occurred at
Pocatello High School (PHS). Three or four blind students here
could verify the story.
     The teacher, however, wasn't being mean or spiteful to the
students; most people that discriminate have good intentions. But
it was believed that the girls could not handle the activity.
     This is an example of the type of thinking these four wish
to dispel.
     Merri-beth Sabin, senior; Roxanne Homestead, junior; Jennie
Honeycutt, sophomore; and Christie Sabin, sophomore; are four
blind students here at PHS. They are all involved in school
activities.
     Roxanne is a member of the Soundsations and Sergeant at Arms
of Junior Civitan, Merri-beth is Junior Civitan treasurer, Jennie
is a member of the band (flute and choir) and Junior Civitan, and
Chris would like to be involved in Junior Civitan and drama.
     These students feel they are just like everyone else, and
they don't like being treated as if their blindness is a disease.
     "Blindness is not a handicap. It's a nuisance," says
Roxanne, who is very friendly and outspoken.
     However, they believe that most kids don't understand that.
     "Some people are afraid of your blindness, like they could
catch it," says Merri-beth, who was the first blind student at
PHS.
     "People don't know how to accept a cane," says Jennie, "or
they think you bump into them on purpose."
     From the students' point of view most people are scared of
or just don't understand blindness.
     Jennie and Chris agree that some people are amazed at
everything they do; things that sighted people do everyday. These
are misconceptions made by people who think they may understand
the handicap.
     Roxanne and Merri-beth agree that students get more open
minded as they become older. However, they state that people
still react negatively to their blindness. When asked if negative
reactions made them angry, the two replied that it makes them
angry because people should know better. On the other hand, it
makes them sad when they realize the person has probably been
raised in an environment that fosters misconceptions and negative
thinking and because of that they don't know better.
     Despite this, Chris believes that the majority of the time
reactions and responses are, and have been, positive. Merri-beth
says that it's "the best feeling in the world" to change
someone's thoughts and stop prejudices from beginning.
     As for the future, each of the girls has a career she would
like to pursue. Merri-beth plans on going to ISU Vocational
Technical school to study office occupations and become a
secretary or medical transcriptionist. Roxanne wants to become a
special education teacher and would also like to have a choir
composed of children with handicaps. Chris would like to pursue
the performing arts, and Jennie would like to continue working
with the flute, i.e., teaching, performing, and composing.
     As you can see, they have ambitions just like any sighted
person.
     "Don't try to ignore us. We want to be normal and not taken
out and put aside," says Merri-beth.
     "Don't be afraid to walk up to us and say `Hi,'" is how
Chris sums up the general feeling toward being a blind person, if
there can be a general feeling about having any type of handicap.
     Most of us are quick to make prejudgments; just remember
that people with handicaps are really no different than anyone
else.

                 ******************************
     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/CAPTION: Portrait of James Sanders.]

                      A LETTER FROM CANADA

     From the Editor: James W. Sanders is National Director of
Government Relations and International Services for the Canadian
National Institute for the Blind. He is also an interesting and
witty dinner companion and a competent participant in regional
meetings of the World Blind Union. As will be obvious from the
following letter, he is blind. Here is his reaction to the
article on "Laughter About Blindness" by Jim Burns, which we
carried last fall.

                                                  Ottawa, Ontario
                                                 December 6, 1990

Dear Dr. Jernigan:
     As a regular reader of the Braille Monitor, I have followed
with interest the commentaries on humor and laughter as they
relate to blindness. The October-November issue's article
"Laughter About Blindness" by Jim Burns prompts me to take the
discussion one step further. The medicinal qualities of humor and
laughter are well known. Both can be used to solve practical
problems and preserve one's dignity in the process.
     What do you do when you have just filled up your wife's
brand new extra large purse with your dinner guests' leftover
lasagna, salad, and garlic bread with those same dinner guests
all crowded in the kitchen looking down at the mess in amazement?
What do you do when you realize that you have probably checked
into the wrong hotel but are not quite sure what hotel you are
actually in?
     It is human nature to look for someone or something to
blame. You could get mad at yourself, the purse for being in the
wrong spot, the taxi driver for letting you off at the wrong
hotel... or you could solve the problem and get on with it. Blind
people face an additional potential pitfall. It is easy to blame
blindness when, in fact, blindness has nothing to do with it.
     I was the ringleader of these incidents. A friend of mine,
who happens to be sighted, also checked into the wrong hotel not
so long ago. I was flying from the west coast to Ontario last
year when a somewhat rowdy and disruptive threesome two rows in
front discovered half way through the flight that they were on
the wrong airplane. It did not occur to them to blame their
"sightedness."
     We all face uncomfortable situations, usually due to our own
miscalculations. Once the problem has been solved, you end up
with another great story with which to regale your friends.

                                                       Sincerely,
                                                 James W. Sanders



[PHOTO/CAPTION: Portrait of David Milner.]

                        PUBLIC RELATIONS:
                   A TOOL FOR CHAPTER-BUILDING
                         by David Milner

     From the Associate Editor: David Milner is an energetic
member of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas. He
recently had occasion to talk with several Federationists about
the importance of public relations. They asked him to put his
ideas on paper so that they could refer to them again. Here is
the letter he wrote; its advice is useful for  us all:

Austin, Texas
January 12, 1991

Dear Friends: 
     You have told me that you want to increase your chapter
membership and that you could use some ideas on public relations.
     Three things are necessary for the successful waging of a
public relations campaign. They are dedicated people, time, and
money. You should begin by finding people to work with you who
are dedicated to the principles of our movement. Time is
sometimes even more precious than money. And like money, the more
time you are willing to put into your PR project, the more
benefit your chapter will receive from it. Now all you need is
funding. It does not require a huge investment of money to run a
successful public relations campaign. However, if you limit your
PR budget, you will limit the number of techniques that will be
at your disposal. Public relations, as a means of attracting new
members, raising funds, or simply informing the public about the
organized blind movement, is well worth any reasonable
expenditure, and you should have little difficulty justifying
chapter support. 
     Once you have your funding, you will have all of your
basics. Begin by assembling press kits. These can be given to
radio and television station news directors, station managers,
newspapers, etc. In fact, they should be given to all contact
persons with whom you plan to deal on a regular basis. A
reasonably good one can be made by including the following
material in a plain file folder or an NFB document folder,
available from the national office for one dollar: (a) a chapter
business card, if you have one (the NFB folder has slits on one
pocket designed to hold a card); (b) our pamphlet, "What is the
National Federation of the Blind"; (c) "Do You Know a Blind
Person"; (d) your chapter or state affiliate's public outreach
pamphlet, if there is one or you can prepare one; (e) copies of
the latest state and national legislative agendas; (f) copies of
the most recent state and national convention presidential
reports; (g) copies of the latest state and national NFB
resolutions and (h) the most recent copy of The Braille Monitor.
This is a lot of material to read, but it will answer almost any
question that a contact person may have about the Federation. A
well-compiled press kit will provide a thought-provoking overview
of the movement, available more or less at a glance. The material
in these kits should be updated at least once a year. They can be
quite helpful in establishing and maintaining contact between the
public relations person and the media representative.
     Other material will be needed from time to time. Get a
literature order form and place an order to the Materials Center.
Order and read our public relations handbook, The Media and the
Message. This public relations primer will advise you in general
terms and in specific situations better than I can in one letter.
Also get a good supply of materials for handouts. Besides the
items mentioned for use in the kit, you can also distribute such
literature as "Why I am a Federationist" by Dr. Jernigan, "Why
the National Federation of the Blind," Future Reflections, Voice
of the Diabetic, and "The Student Slate." These are only a few of
our publications suitable for distribution. Your most difficult
task could be deciding what to order because there is so much to
choose from. You should not order more material than you believe
will be used, but certainly order a reasonable amount. In my
opinion NFB chapters and members should always have materials on
hand to distribute when the occasion demands. Bear in mind that
there may not always be time to order PR materials before an
event. (It takes at least two weeks to get material you have
ordered unless you want to pay the cost of overnight shipping.)
Be prepared for the unexpected.
     You will need a current press list. In Austin we have an
organization called American Women in Radio and Television. They
have put together a package called "Public Service: An Inside
View." This is a complete listing of all radio and television
stations, newspapers, and periodicals in the Austin area. This
list also details community affairs programs through which a
given organization can inform the general public about itself. It
might be productive to inquire about a branch of that
organization in your area. Other sources for prepared press lists
are the convention bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, the local
Republican or Democratic party offices, or the League of Women
Voters. I draw your attention to these possible sources of
prepared press lists, because compiling one yourself can involve
much time and drudgery. But if you must do it yourself, I would
suggest starting with your local Yellow Pages directory. If you
are going to wage a successful campaign, you must know the
territory you wish to conquer.
     You now have everything you need to begin. A good start
would be to find out what public service announcement formats are
used by your local radio and television stations and order the
right ones from the Materials Center. When they arrive,
distribute them in person to your local stations. This is a good
opportunity to get to know your contact people. Depending on the
size and management style of the station, the person you will
deal with may be called the program director, the news director,
the manager, or the public affairs or public services director.
Whatever the title, almost every station has a person whose job
includes dealing with community groups, and an acquaintance with
these folks is invaluable. See that they are informed about the
National Federation of the Blind. They have the power to keep our
PSAs on the air, which is important. If they come to know us and
believe in what we stand for, they can do other helpful things as
well. Contact people are good friends to have.
     Do not forget that your local radio and television stations
will run short announcements as a public service. These are
useful for advertising chapter meetings, membership drive get-
togethers, fund-raisers, etc.
     Your local cable television operator may offer public access
television service. If this is available, it may be possible for
you to produce or appear on local-access television programs. 
      Once you begin making contacts, you will find that more
opportunities reveal themselves. In large measure this is due to
the organization's increased visibility. If people have heard of
us, they will think to contact us when matters concerning
blindness come up. But it is also true that the more you think in
terms of public relations, the more opportunities you will spot
for yourself. Like so much else in life, successful public
relations is a matter of forming good habits. 
     Be willing and ready to give interviews at any time and
appear on all types of community affairs programs whenever
possible. Remember that a good media representative for the NFB
should be one who is knowledgeable about the movement, its goals,
its programs, and its philosophy. He or she should also be
reasonably attractive, intelligent, and articulate. In a perfect
world the message would have more appeal than the messenger, but
the mass media audience has been conditioned to the point where
it places more importance on the package than the contents. As a
result, the person who appears for the Federation on radio or
television must have enough personal appeal to make an audience
stay tuned and the ability to deliver our message at the same
time. Actually, I make this individual's job sound more difficult
than it really is. It is important, but far from unmanageable.   
     If you are short of time, personnel, or money (and who
isn't?), you might want to narrow your field somewhat and
concentrate on a few specific markets. This frugal technique is
used by advertising agencies to sell everything from insurance to
the latest miracle wrinkle treatment. Let us say, for example,
that you wish to attract new members between the ages of eighteen
and twenty-five. You would concentrate your efforts on the radio
and television stations and print media that appeal to that age
group, such as your local FM top forty station. Believe me, this
technique works well.
     Local newspapers and magazines might be persuaded to donate
space for local chapter promotion. Also you might consider
purchasing advertising in these for the promotion of chapter
activities such as fundraisers. One should hesitate before taking
this step because it is very difficult to persuade the media to
donate time or space once they have been paid for it. But there
are times when immediate need overrides the luxury of waiting
until donated space is available. 
     A very effective means of informing the public about the
Federation is the handout method. Get whatever permits are
needed, and pass out NFB information along with our Braille
alphabet cards, or tuck pamphlets in with things that your
chapter may be selling to raise funds. Doris Henderson, the
President of our Dallas Chapter, once told a group of us that
Dallas chapter members pass out our pamphlets when they sell
candy. In her words, "We wrap each bar up in a `What is the
National Federation of the Blind' pamphlet to keep the candy nice
and warm." Discount stores and malls are usually good places for
this technique.
     Speaking of malls, check with your local ones. Many of them
host public events that are sponsored by their stores. When they
do, it might be a good idea to staff a booth at these activities.
This is a good way to interact personally with large numbers of
the general public. I have participated in these efforts, and
they can be a great opportunity and lots of fun besides.
     Consider posting NFB information on bulletin boards, such as
those found in grocery stores, churches, shopping centers,
laundromats, and public buildings. These bulletin boards are
usually free for the use of the community, and you might as well
take advantage of them. Doing this takes a certain amount of time
and footwork, but it is well worth it. You never know how far our
information will travel before it reaches a blind person. On the
way it will educate people about blindness and the National
Federation of the Blind.
     Finally, be ready to capitalize on any and every chance to
promote the Movement. Opportunities may present themselves at any
time, and visibility is one of the keys to public relations.
     Above all, have fun. Yes, ours is serious business, and we
have much important work to do on our path to first-class
citizenship. But remember to have fun. Public relations can be
dull, boring, and tedious if you approach your PR activities with
the attitude that they will be dull, boring, and tedious. But if
you think about the good that you are about to do, if you think
about the people whose lives you are about to enrich through the
Federation, you will view all your public relations activities as
the fulfilling events that they are. Whether you are promoting
your chapter, recruiting new members, or raising funds to finance
the organization, you can turn these activities into times of
joy. Make a day of it, if you can. Recruit as many of your
chapter members, family, and friends as possible. You have the
ability to transform a mundane task into a productive team effort
which will not only get the current job done, but will also
create a sense of unity, pride, and purpose in chapter members.
Doing PR for the National Federation of the Blind should not be
considered a chore, but a chance to help change the meaning of
blindness. I find this exciting, and I am sure you do too.



             MEET A FELLOW FEDERATIONIST--BILL REIF
                      by Deborah Kent Stein

     From the Associate Editor: "The Braille Examiner," the
publication of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois,
carries a periodic feature called "Meet a Fellow Federationist,"
which is a series of sketches of affiliate members written by the
distinguished author and active Federationist, Deborah Kent
Stein. This is not the first time we have reprinted one of these
profiles. They are lively without being melodramatic and
sensitive without being sentimental. This time the subject is
Bill Reif, President of the Sangamon Valley Chapter. It first
appeared in the December, 1990, edition of "The Braille
Examiner." Here it is: 

     To this day, Bill Reif has vivid memories of the National
Federation of the Blind student seminar he attended during his
senior year in high school. "What they kept saying was that we
had to take responsibility for ourselves," he explains. "People
there were telling me I shouldn't just accept what the so-called
experts said I should be doing--I should push to learn whatever
skills I needed and figure out the techniques that would work
best for me."
     Bill's parents would not hear of sending him to the Illinois
State School for the Blind in Jacksonville. In retrospect, he
feels that their decision to have him attend public school in his
hometown, Glen Ellyn, both helped and hindered his education. He
was able to take most of his classes with his sighted peers while
spending part of each day in a resource room for blind students.
He became a proficient Braille reader and usually had a resource
teacher available to translate his test answers into print for
the regular teachers to grade. Unfortunately, however, the
resource teachers never felt that he needed to learn to write
with a slate and stylus, or even to touch-type.
     During the summer after he graduated from high school, Bill
put the advice he heard at the NFB seminar into action. He knew
he would have to hand in assignments in print when he started
college in the fall. So he taught himself typing, a skill which
the experts had somehow considered unnecessary for a blind
student.
     Even in high school, Bill knew that he wanted to become a
lawyer. He attended the College of Du Page for two years and then
transferred to Illinois Benedictine College in Lisle, where he
had the chance to live away from home for the first time. After
receiving his B.A., he entered law school at the University of
Illinois in Champaign.
     Law school was more challenging than anything he had tackled
before. In college lectures he had relied heavily on his memory,
but now he realized that he needed an effective way of taking
notes in class. So he taught himself to use the slate and stylus.
Since he didn't have anyone to show him the standard method, he
invented his own. "I start at the bottom of the page and go from
left to right," he confesses. "Instead of reversing the letters
right to left, I reverse them top to bottom. My dot 1 is most
people's Dot 3, my Dot 3 is the usual Dot 1. To read it, I flip
the page over, bottom to top." It's a little different, but it
works.
     After graduation from law school, Bill decided to look for a
job in Champaign, where he had made many friends. For a while he
did legal research, but he found full-time jobs were hard to come
by. After two years he moved to Springfield, taking a job with
the Illinois Department of Insurance, a state agency which
regulates the insurance industry. The position lasted only ten
months; then he was sending out resumes again.
     Over the next two years Bill flooded the job market with
applications and went on dozens of interviews. But employers were
highly skeptical of hiring a blind lawyer. "Who brought you
here?" they would ask him during interviews. "Is your mother
waiting for you out there?" They questioned how he could handle
travel on the job and what he would do about the heavy reading
load. While Bill tried to focus attention on his professional
skills and interests, the employers all too often couldn't find
their way past blindness-related concerns. "You know, this
building is awfully big and complicated, and the washrooms are up
on the second floor...."
     When a job finally came his way, it was through a fluke he
could never have foreseen. A friend was taking a journalism class
and wrote an article about Bill, which was published in the
Springfield paper. The article was straightforward and
unsentimental. It described how Bill had taught himself to cook,
how he enjoyed roller skating, and how he was searching
diligently for a job. A few days after the article appeared, the
telephone rang. The caller was Illinois Attorney General Neil
Hartigan.
     "I was utterly amazed," Bill recalls. "He not only invited
me to come in for an interview, he offered me a choice of working
in practically any division I wanted within his office. I
couldn't believe it was really happening!"
     In April, 1983, Bill went to work in the Department of
Consumer Protection within the Attorney General's office. "I
selected that particular area because it's very deeply concerned
with justice," he explains. "It's really a matter of seeing that
people get their rights."
     Bill had been reading The Braille Monitor and other
Federation literature for a long time. When a new chapter was
founded in Springfield, he quickly became involved. Today he is
President of the Sangamon Valley Chapter and also serves on the
Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind of
Illinois and the State Scholarship Committee.
     Federation philosophy has proved an asset as Bill resolves
blindness-related problems on the job. Each time he has had a
change of supervisor, he has had to prove his abilities over
again. Some, for example, have reassigned cases which they feared
would require more research than they thought he could handle.
Others have been reluctant to give him direct courtroom
experience. He has learned to be assertive, to explain his
techniques for getting the job done, and to insist on gaining
experience which will enhance his professional development. "If
you're not careful," he warns, "the job will get structured
according to what others think you can do."
     Bill got married in 1985. He met his wife, Roberta, through
the Lutheran church, where he is an active member. Their son
Bruce is two years old.
     During law school Bill taught himself to play the guitar. He
has perfect pitch and finds music a wonderful source of
relaxation. He also enjoys swimming but doesn't have much time
these days to get to a pool. "At this point in my life, my main
hobby is Bruce," he says. "I love playing with him and watching
him discover the world."
     Even when he planned to marry and raise a family, Bill
encountered some people who told him he would never be able to
manage such responsibilities. Again his personal philosophy,
supported by his involvement in the Federation, strengthened his
belief in himself. "You can't let anybody else tell you what you
can do and can't do," he advises. "Be honest with yourself about
your abilities and limitations but never be afraid to take
chances."


[PHOTO: Liz Campbell walks across Fort Worth, Texas,
intersection. CAPTION: Like any reporter, Liz Campbell is
comfortable walking the streets of the city she writes about.]

             BLIND FROM BIRTH, REPORTER IS UNDAUNTED

     From the Associate Editor: Liz Campbell is the president of
the Fort Worth Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Texas and a general assignment reporter for the Fort Worth Star-
Telegram. She had had some contact with the Federation before our
1990 annual convention, held in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She
wangled an assignment to cover the convention and wrote several
good stories before and during the convention about the
organization and its work. When the members of the Texas
affiliate recovered from the excitement of hosting the fiftieth
anniversary celebration, they decided that the time had come to
organize a chapter in Fort Worth, and Liz Campbell pitched in to
help and was elected president. 
     On December 24, 1990, the Publishers' Auxiliary printed a
story about Liz Campbell and her work at the Star-Telegram. It is
clear that Campbell's colleagues respect and admire her as an
equal and that without fanfare she carries her share of the load.
Here is the story as Jennifer Wright wrote it: 

     Like any other good journalist, Elizabeth Campbell of the
Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram approaches her stories as an
observer of events.
     "Good journalists have to listen carefully to people," says
the general assignment reporter, blind since birth. "And most
important, whether they have sight or not, [journalists] must
have curiosity."
     Campbell, twenty-eight, has been on staff at the Star-
Telegram since her graduation from Baylor University's school of
journalism in Waco, Texas. She covered religion for four years,
then moved to the features department, where she enjoys the
diversity of assignments and writing styles involved. Campbell
said she feels the wide variety of stories she covers in features
will help prepare her for situations she may face later in her
career as a journalist.
     She does interviews for stories over the telephone about 75-
80 percent of the time, which she said is typical of her co-
workers as well, considering the time-saving aspect of the
telephone. When she does go out into the field, she is aided
solely by a white cane.
     "If you think hard enough about ways to do something, you
can always overcome obstacles," said Campbell, who takes taxis or
buses or gets rides from photographers to her stories.
     Campbell was born in Fort Belvore, Virginia, three months
premature. Weighing just 1 1/2 pounds, she was administered so
much oxygen by doctors that although it helped her to survive, it
left thick scar tissue over the lenses of her eyes. Only a small
amount of light can get through. She can tell the difference
between light and dark, but she cannot distinguish separate
images.
     "Some journalists may rely too much upon vision or other
individual senses when covering stories," she said. Campbell
emphasized the need for journalists to use all of their senses as
best they can when covering stories. She said that in her
articles, she would probably be more apt to describe sound and
the tone of people's voices, giving her stories a different feel
than the other writers. 
     Features Editor Michelle Hancock said she was pleased with
Campbell's work. 
     "Liz has done a very good job for us," she said. "She's
fearless."
     Hancock said Campbell's performance had been "wonderful."
She works independently, needing little assistance. She referred
to Campbell as an asset, even volunteering to work while on
vacation. During a ski trip, Campbell did a story on blind skiers
for the paper.
     Hancock said, "Liz is not only a fine and courageous person,
but a fine journalist as well."
     Chris Evans, a staff reporter for the Star-Telegram,
described Campbell in a positive light. "Liz is part of the
fabric here," he said. "She is a good and trusted friend and an
incredible person who would be an asset to any business."
     Evans said Campbell is involved in the community through the
Junior League of Fort Worth and has started a chapter of the
National Federation of the Blind. 
     "She is very impatient with disabled people who don't use
their knowledge and qualifications," he said.
     Campbell said she appreciates the chances her colleagues and
editors have taken with her, and she would like all employers to
have the same attitude she's encountered at the Star-Telegram.



[PHOTO/CAPTION: Portrait of Dr. David Ticchi.]

                   TEACHING GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP
                         by David Ticchi

     From the Associate Editor: David Ticchi is the president of
the Cambridge Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Massachusetts. He sets the record straight about blindness
whenever and wherever it becomes necessary. He does not merely
hope that someone else in the Federation will deal with the
problem or even notify his state president so that she can write
a letter or register a protest. Last November he heard a sports
commentator casually insult the capacities of blind people. Here
is the letter Dr. Ticchi wrote in an effort courteously to
provide the information that was obviously lacking: 

                                         Cambridge, Massachusetts
                                                December 14, 1990

Mr. Ron Barr
"Sports Byline"
San Francisco, California

Dear Mr. Barr:
     I'm a regular listener to "Sports Byline," and I'm writing
you regarding a recent program segment. The show I refer to
originally aired on WEEI in Boston on November 21, 1990, and was
re-broadcast on November 25. Your guest was Fred Hickman of the
Cable News Network. 
     I found your interview and conversation enjoyable and
informative. It was obvious the two of you enjoyed it as well.
You were both jocular, and it was clear that there was mutual
admiration. The conversation moved to the sometimes unusual
lifestyles and habits of sportscasters. You commented in passing
that some looked like they were dressed by a blind man. The
conversation continued, and subsequently Mr. Hickman made
reference to Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles trying to find their
way down a highway. These two remarks were inappropriate,
damaging, and devoid of humor. I don't mean to imply that they
were intended to be so or that blind people are humorless.
     Still, these two statements imply that blind people are
unable to dress appropriately and attractively or to travel
alone. These statements reinforce the common but mistaken notion
that blind people cannot and do not live full, productive, and
independent lives. Statements and implications like these help to
deny blind people opportunities for education, social
integration, and employment. In fact, seventy percent of the
blind are unemployed, and half of the thirty percent who are
gainfully employed make less than the minimum wage.
     Mr. Barr, the blind as a group are truly a cross-section of
the population with all that that implies. There are blind people
in the professions, in business, and in public service. Many
others are self-employed. Some blind people are quite talented,
highly motivated, and intelligent; others less so.
The  National Federation of the Blind, the nation's largest
advocacy group of blind people, believes that with proper
training and opportunity blind people can compete on terms of
equality in our society. Assuming that an individual has mastered
the necessary skills of blindness--Braille, mobility, and
orientation--blindness becomes no more than a physical
characteristic. For your information I have enclosed some
literature about the National Federation of the Blind and a
public service announcement. I hope you will read this material
and that station KSFO will play the spot.
     My purpose in writing this letter is to be of assistance to
you and to make you aware of some issues. If you would like more
information about the National Federation of the Blind, please
contact President Marc Maurer, NFB, 1800 Johnson St., Baltimore,
MD 21230.
     Thank you for your attention. 

                                                       Sincerely,
                                              Dr. David A. Ticchi
                                    President, Cambridge Chapter 
                National Federation of the Blind of Massachusetts



         COMMENTS ON HOT DOTS AND THE ARKENSTONE READER
                        by David Andrews

     David Andrews is the Director of the National Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind. As a regular part of his daily
activities, he will be making analyses of technology for the
production of Braille, voice output, and related matters. The aim
is to help consumers decide whether the product would be of value
to them. 

                      Arkenstone Reader II

     The reading machine market was created by Kurzweil Computer
Products in the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s, but it has
been made competitive by the arrival of Arkenstone, Inc. in the
late 1980s. Arkenstone markets a line of PC-based reading systems
to blind people. 
     In January of 1991 it introduced new software for its
Arkenstone Reader line. Primarily the software upgrade offers new
and improved interfaces, but it has at least one superb feature--
the ability to determine if a page is on the scanner sideways or
upside down. Further, even if the page is improperly oriented,
the system will still read it.
     The Arkenstone Reader II features three user interfaces:
EasyScan, ArkScan, and Scanall. EasyScan, originally written by
Noel Runyan of Personal Data Systems, has been bundled with all
Arkenstone Readers for about a year. The latest version has a
number of new commands, including ones to control the orientation
identification process and the new Quick Speech feature. This
generates speech while the machine is still scanning. Though it
means that you start reading sooner (as little as fifteen 
seconds after scanning commences), the speech is a little choppy.
Some users report liking the new feature; others do not. Finally,
the Quick Speech may not read all columns in a multi-column
document although the data are present and can be read with
EasyScan's normal browser program.
     The EasyScan software is an interactive command-driven
program. You generally type in one-, two-, or three-letter
mnemonic commands, such as "CN" for "Contrast Normal."  Once you
learn them, they are fast; but with the new software, there are a
lot to master. The list of commands in the help facility is four
screens long. Other new features include improved document
structure analysis, expanded prompting and messages, the ability
to save to devices such as VersaBraille as well as to files,
support for additional word processor formats, user-definable
dictionaries to improve scanning accuracy, and more. 
     The second interface is Arkscan, a modified version of the
standard Calera TrueScan software. Calera makes the optical-
character-recognition software/hardware that Arkenstone uses. The
Arkscan software works well with screen review programs and is
easy to use. The menu-driven program allows you to control all
features of the system and to set up configuration files that all
three interface programs use. If you like to experiment, this is
the software for you.
     There is also a command line program Scanall, which can be
used by itself or in conjunction with batch files. This program
allows you to perform routine scanning chores easily and quickly
from the DOS command line.
     I am asked, almost daily, which is better, the Arkenstone or
the PCKPR from Kurzweil (now Xerox Imaging Systems). The quick
answer is that they are pretty close. The PCKPR, will run on an
XT-class computer, has a very easy and straightforward user
interface, and starts reading quickly. The Arkenstone is slightly
less expensive, offers a choice of interfaces, gives the fiddler
more to fiddle with, and offers the automatic orientation
identification option, which alone may be enough reason for some
people to choose the Arkenstone. Its value to a blind person
can't be overestimated. Further, although we have not conducted
exhaustive, scientific comparisons yet, the Arkenstone Reader
seems to be slightly more accurate in day-to-day use, although
the differences are minimal. The PCKPR does have a Learn feature,
which probably improves its accuracy as it scans a multi-page
document. We plan on doing more thorough tests of all scanning
systems later this year. Finally, the Calera/Arkenstone system
offers an applications program interface that others are starting
to exploit. In a future issue we will review Personal Data
Systems' money identifier and Braille graphics programs for the
Arkenstone called BUCKSCAN and PICTAC, respectively. 
     For further information or an opportunity to see different
reading systems, contact the National Braille and Technology
Center for the Blind at (301) 659-9314. For information from the
two companies, call (800) 444-4443 for Arkenstone, Inc., at 1185-
D Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale, California 94089; or call (800) 343-
0311 for Xerox Imaging Systems, Kurzweil Reading Machine
Division, 185 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.

                      Hot Dots Version 3.0

     Hot Dots Version 3.0 is a Braille translation/formatting
program for IBM and compatible computers. Though the program has
been around for a number of years, it has not been a major force
in the translation field, which is ironic because its maker,
Raised Dot Computing, has the lion's share of the market in the
Apple II world with its BEX and TRANSCRIBEX products. 
     Most of the components in Hot Dots have been rewritten with
version 3.0, and the program works much more smoothly and
accurately than previous versions. Rewritten components include
both the back and forward translators and the manual.
     One of the program's most notable new features is its
ability to import files DIRECTLY from some thirty word
processors. It accomplishes this feat by incorporating a
commercially available conversion utility into its innards. I was
only able to test WordPerfect, WordStar, and ASCII files. The
program worked well with all except WordStar files. I had a
WordStar Version 5.0 file, but Hot Dots only handles files
through Version 4.0. It also did not seem to handle WordStar 4
files quite as well as the other tested types, but most well-
known word processing programs are supported.
     Hot Dots can be run from a menu, directly from the DOS
command line, or by using batch files. Translation and formatting
a file is a multi-step process, so some assistance, a menu or
batch file for example, is helpful. The program first imports a
file and inserts its formatting commands. These are the dollar
sign commands which will be familiar to all old BEX users. This
file is then converted into an unformatted Braille file and
finally into a formatted Braille one. If you need precise control
of translation or formatting, the first file (called the HD$
file) can be edited.
     Most of today's Braille translators provide some level of
automatic formatting assistance. Hot Dots Version 3.0 does this
by producing its HD$ files. In general translators tend either to
underformat by throwing out too much of the information from the
original file or overformat the Braille output. Hot Dots leans
towards overformatting, but not badly so, and you can always edit
the HD$ file. It also handles hanging indentations well,
something that several other programs have problems with.
Further, there is a pre-processing batch file to handle files
with tables of contents, sometimes a problem.
     The program can also back-translate Braille files into print
files, and the dollar sign commands are designed to facilitate
the production of print and Braille files from the same master
file. Hot Dots also supports Dipner Dots, a method pioneered by
Raised Dot Computing, of producing draft quality Braille on a
daisywheel printer. Dipner Dots can also be printed on regular
paper by an ink-print printer to facilitate viewing by a sighted
person. Hot Dots Version 3.0 also features a new view function
which allows anyone, sighted or blind, to direct the ASCII
Braille output of a translation to the computer's screen. With a
little practice a person could learn to read this output to check
formatting without wasting paper.
     The manual for the program is clear and well written  and
features a tutorial to take you through all basic procedures and
interface instructions for all commonly used printers. 
     Raised Dot Computing is a major player in the Apple world,
and Hot Dots Version 3.0 is definitely a competitive product. The
company offers some of the best customer support in the business
and has an ongoing commitment to Braille. Anyone interested in
Braille translation should seriously consider Hot Dots.
     For further information contact the National Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind at (301) 659-9314 or Raised Dot
Computing at (608) 257-9595 or write the company at 408 South
Baldwin Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703.



[PHOTO: Portrait of Cindy Handel. CAPTION: Cindy Handel is the
Treasurer of the National Federation of the Blind of
Pennsylvania.]

                    PURPOSE, OR HAPPENSTANCE?

     Recently President Maurer received the following letter from
Cindy Handel:

Willow Street, Pennsylvania
March 8, 1991

Dear Mr. Maurer:
     I recently bought a copy of Walking Alone and Marching
Together on cassette. I'm about a third of the way through the
book and enjoying it very much. But I have a question: I noticed
that the book contains 1,116 pages. NFB was founded on November
16, 1940--11/16. Is this coincidence or done intentionally? I
mentioned it to Ted Young, and he thought it would make a good
trivia question: What do Walking Alone and Marching Together and
the founding of NFB have in common?
     By the way, I purchased a print copy of the book in
November. Then, I took it to the Lancaster County Association for
the Blind to ask if Steven Patterson, Executive Director, would
consider buying it. I left my book with him to look at, and he
bought that one. I believe he was going to order a cassette copy
also for the library there and for some staff members who wanted
to read it.

Sincerely,
Cynthia E. Handel

     In response to the letter, President Maurer said:

Baltimore, Maryland
March 14, 1991

Dear Cindy:
     Frank Richard Stockton wrote a famous story. He told of a
man who was being sent into the Roman amphitheater. There were
two doors in the arena. Behind one of the doors was a ferocious
tiger which would kill him instantly. Behind the other was a most
beautiful lady.
     If the man opened the door with the tiger, he would die. If
he opened the one with the lady, he would be married to her
immediately with all ceremony.
     The man being sent into the arena had become deeply in love
with the emperor's daughter, who had learned which door led to
the tiger and which to the lady. In Stockton's story the man
enters the arena and searches the stands for a sight of the
emperor's daughter. She makes an almost imperceptible movement
indicating a door. If the lady emerges, the marriage will end
forever the possibility of an alliance between the emperor's
daughter and the man in the arena. The tiger, of course, will end
any possibility just as surely. The last scene in the story shows
the man walking firmly to one of the doors and opening it.

Cordially,
Marc Maurer, President
National Federation of the Blind



[PHOTO/CAPTION: Zach Shore (left), Chris Kuczynski, and Michael
Gosse (right) stand hopefully around the microwave oven at the
National Center for the Blind.]





                        BACHELOR RECIPES

     From the Associate Editor: When I first met my husband, he
was one of the few eligible bachelors on the faculty at Oberlin
College, and I was an undergraduate. He had already survived
graduate school and several years of teaching on his own and
considered himself a competent, but not ambitious, cook. I was
somewhat less impressed with his prowess: drained tuna from a can
crumbled on lettuce was tuna salad, a fried ground beef patty (no
spices, salt, or pepper added) was a hamburger; and Stouffers,
Inc. provided the entree whenever he was intent on impressing
anyone at dinner. But he could and did wash dishes. He could peel
potatoes, and he appreciated good food prepared especially for
him. Since I enjoy cooking and he is happy to help clean up, it
has been easy for us to work out mealtime duties through the
years.
     I was reminded of those early days in my acquaintance with
my favorite member of the genus Bachelor Cook, when I read
several recipes sent to me by some of the Federation's most
delightful bachelors. They pointed out that there are rules
determining whether or not a given offering qualifies as a
bachelor recipe.  They should employ a heating element,
preferably a toaster oven or microwave, but not necessarily. The
entire preparation and cooking time should not exceed ten minutes
(the shorter the better). The number of ingredients should not
exceed five or six, the fewer the better. The true bachelor
recipe will involve some originality. Consequently, warming a
frozen dinner and adding salt would not satisfy this requirement.
The recipe should include words such as "sizzling" or "oozing" or
those with similar descriptive power. Follow these simple rules
and you, too, can create bachelor recipes of your own. I may
petition for inclusion of my husband's old tuna salad recipe on
the grounds that no cooking at all is surely a procedure that
falls within the spirit of the bachelors' requirements, but
perhaps it lacks someting in the creativity line. Here are the
recipes contributed by three Federation bachelors: 

              UNCLE ZACH'S CHEDDAR TRISCUIT SQUARES
                          by Zach Shore

     For several years Zach Shore has been one of the leaders of
the National Association of Blind Students, the student division
of the National Federation of the Blind. Since moving to Seattle
last fall, he has become the editor of The Blind Washingtonian,
the newsletter of the NFB of Washington. 

Ingredients:
1 box low salt Triscuits
1 block sharp cheddar

     Method: Arrange nine Triscuits on a plate in three rows of
three. Cut cheddar into nine Triscuit-sized squares and place on
top of crackers. Insert squares in microwave for fifteen to
twenty seconds, or until cheese is sizzling. For an added touch
garnish with sour cream. Serves one.
     Note: If bachelor does not own a microwave, use toaster oven
at 400 degrees for 3 to 4 minutes. Every bachelor must have a
toaster oven.

                    KUCZYNSKI'S GARLIC ROLLS 
                    by Christopher Kuczynski

     Chris Kuczynski is First Vice President of the National
Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania and an attorney with a
prestigious Philadelphia law firm. 

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread
1 stick butter or margarine
1 jar garlic powder

     Method: Remove French bread from freezer. Defrost and spread
liberally with butter. Shake on garlic powder. Place in toaster
oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or until you can't stand it any longer.
     Note: For a crispier crust, place bread directly on the rack
of the obligatory toaster oven.

                 DR. GOSSE'S EGG-CHEESE ASSEMBLY
                        by Michael Gosse

     Michael Gosse is the President of the National Federation of
the Blind of Connecticut. He is completing his doctoral
dissertation and is teaching courses in electrical engineering at
Lehigh University. 

     Note: This is an advanced bachelor recipe and should not be
attempted by the amateur bachelor.

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 slices of oat bread
1 slice individually wrapped processed American cheese
butter

     Method: Melt butter in Teflon-coated frying pan. Crack egg
into pan when butter is sizzling. Isolate egg in a bread-sized
area of pan and break yoke with spatula. After roughly two
minutes flip egg and begin toasting bread in toaster oven. Next,
unwrap cheese and place on egg still in pan. Cover pan for 30
seconds, or until cheese is oozing over egg. Carefully lift egg-
cheese assembly from pan and delicately place between slices of
toast. Serves one. Repeat if still hungry. Optimum serving time
between midnight and two a.m., or after rising at 1:30 p.m.



                   * * MONITOR MINIATURES * *


**Braille FONCARD Available:
     We have been asked to print the following: 
     US Sprint has a Braille FONCARD available for making long
distance calls when you are away from home. The Braille FONCARD
can be used to make both domestic and international calls and can
also be used to call back to the United States from seventeen
countries. US Sprint is the only long distance company to offer a
Braille travel card. If you are interested in obtaining a Braille
FONCARD, please call US Sprint's toll free number at 1-800-473-
0899. Remember that you can use telephone credit cards from any
carrier regardless of which one provides your personal long
distance phone service.

**Elected:
     At the 1991 convention of the National Federation of the
Blind of Oklahoma, March 8 to 10, the following officers were
elected: Eva Chaney, President; Donna Jackson, First Vice
President; Joe Triplett, Second Vice President; Sue Lee,
Secretary; and Steve Shelton, Treasurer. Billy Mills and Lisa
Bozworth were elected to serve on the Board of Directors.

**Summer Fun:
     Pam Jordan, camp director of Oral Hull Park, has asked us to
print the following:
     Visually impaired adults, eighteen years and older, may
enjoy a week-long camp in the lovely country-woodland setting of
Oral Hull Park near Sandy, Oregon. Activities abound from
fishing, hiking, and swimming to handcrafts and woodworking.
Three delicious, well-balanced meals are served daily.
Comfortable accommodations, transportation, and live
entertainment are all available for $150 per week. Camp dates are
July 21-27, and August 17-24, 1991. Space is limited, so please
make your reservation soon by calling (503) 668-6195, or writing
Summer Camp Committee, Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind, Inc.,
P.O. Box 157, Sandy, Oregon 97055.

**Blindness Studies 101:
     Jonathan Ice, Treasurer of the Metro Chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind of Minnesota, has asked us to print the
following:
     You are invited to explore the shaping of blind culture from
Wednesday, August 21 through Sunday, August 25, 1991. Dig for our
past, share our present, and shape our future. Come join us at
Wilder Forest, a rustic but classy conference center of over one
thousand acres near the Twin Cities. Enjoy the lush hiking
trails, the sparkling lakes, and our famous Minnesota blue skies.
For more information call Lolly Lijewski at (612) 561-9243.

**Braille and Large Print Material Available:
     John Dragona, one of the leaders of the National Federation
of the Blind of New Jersey, has asked us to print the following:
     TFB Publications still sells Brailled desk calendars, $1;
pocket calendars, $.50; and appointment calendars, $4 (two bound
together, $7). We also have a catalog of crocheting and knitting
patterns ($1) and a catalog of Brailled young people's stories
and books, from pre-school to high school levels (free). Our free
General Publications catalog contains appliance manuals,
cookbooks, safety information, pamphlets for blind homemakers,
women, parents, and more. 
     For more information on our low-cost Brailling or large-
print reproduction services, or about any of the catalogs
mentioned here, which are available in Braille or large print,
call us at (201) 662-0956 or write TFB Publications, 238 75th
Street, North Bergen, New Jersey 07047.

**Elected:
     Nancy Martin, Secretary of the Clark County Chapter of the
National Federation of the Blind of Washington, reports the
following election results:
     In December of 1990 the chapter elected Doug Trimble,
President; Michael Freeman, First Vice President; Kaye Kipp,
Second Vice President; Nancy Martin, Secretary; and Charles
Rogge, Treasurer. Among the three new members welcomed into the
chapter was Shanthi, Michael and Barbara Freeman's new little
daughter.

**Sell:
     We have been asked to print the following: I have for sale a
Telesensory VersaBraille model P2C, which includes charger/power
supply, overlay tapes, and Braille contract. It has had moderate
use and is in good working order. I am asking $2,000 or best
offer. Contact Kevin Utter at 2034 W. Plum, Apt. A3, Fort
Collins, Colorado 80521; telephone (303) 221-4809.

**Two Points:
     Lori Duffy is president of the Parents Division of the
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio. She and her husband
Eric are both leaders of the Ohio affiliate. As an elementary
education major, she was required last quarter to participate in
a field experience in the local school system. Right to Read Week
occurred during the time of her classroom work, and as any
Federationist would, she took advantage of the opportunity. Her
cooperating teacher had put together a display including a poster
of a famous basketball player sitting on a stack of books. The
poster's slogan read, "Reading takes one to great heights." Each
student wrote a special message on a cut-out basketball, which
was then placed on the display. Lori took a cut-out too and had
her husband Eric write "Braille Readers Are Leaders" in Braille
on it. Then she placed it on the display along with a Braille
alphabet card. The cooperating teacher posted a message asking,
"What does Mr. Duffy's basketball message say?" The students had
a wonderful time figuring out the message. They also learned that
Braille wasn't such a mystery.

**New Baby:
     Fred Schroeder reports that Karen Arellano Edwards and her
husband Randy are the proud parents of Savanna Lee Edwards, born
January 20, 1991. She weighed four pounds, two ounces and was 17
inches  in length on arrival. She attended her first state NFB
convention the weekend of April 5-7, 1991, in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. Despite arriving eight weeks early, Savanna Lee, big
sister Krista, and their parents Karen and Randy are all doing
well.

**Wedding Bells:
     We recently received the following announcement in the
National Office: "Mr. and Mrs. David T. Bills announce the
marriage of their daughter Laura Silas to Christopher Mark
Hathaway, son of Mrs. Marilyn Day, Saturday, the thirtieth day of
March, Nineteen hundred and ninety-one, and cordially invite you
to attend a wedding reception in their honor from four until five
thirty that afternoon. The Seville Reception Center, 4897 South
Redwood Road, Salt Lake City, Utah."

**Show Unto Us a Sign:
     Paul Van Dyck, who is a medical transcriptionist and who is
also a member of the Clark County Chapter of the NFB of
Washington State, writes as follows:
     The Clark County, Washington, Chapter of the NFB has had
pretty good success with selling candy for fund raising. Several
of the grocery store managers in Vancouver have permitted us to
sell on store property, just the same as other nonprofit groups.
     One weekend, however, due to poor scheduling or lack of
communication, we were treated to some stiff competition from the
Lions Club, also seeking donations for the blind, at the same
time, same store, within just a few feet of us. How ironic!
     The Lions Club, with their brightly colored Lion logo
plastered everywhere and their high visibility, overshadowed the
two "plain clothes" NFB members standing there, outnumbered, with
only a white cane and box of chocolate bars. A few people bought
from us because they felt sorry. This, I thought, is nowhere!
     The scheduling difficulty was later dealt with and resolved.
I have a friend in the sign-making business whom I also contacted
about our visibility problem. I sent him our pamphlet, "What is
the National Federation of the Blind," which he read, and from
which he imaged the NFB logo on his computer. A few days later we
had the donation of a beautiful laminated plastic free-standing
sign with the NFB logo in blue on white, and the words, "Clark
County Chapter, National Federation of the Blind." People now
really see us and look, read the sign, and stop long enough for
us to give our pitch, hand them literature, and sell our candy.
By making this reasonable accommodation to the sighted public, we
increased our sales significantly, and I'm not Lion!



[PHOTO: Cheryl McCaslin dances with Arthur Murray instructor.
CAPTION: Cheryl McCaslin and her instructor Michael Hamilton trip
the light fantastic.]

**Doing the Fox Trot:
     February 24, 1991, at 12:20 p.m. was an exciting time for
Cheryl McCaslin in Dallas, Texas, at the DFW Sheraton hotel. Why
was this an exciting day for Cheryl McCaslin? She is the only
blind person in Dallas, Texas, enrolled in Arthur Murray ballroom
dance lessons. February 24 marked the showcase day for Cheryl.
She and her instructor, Michael Hamilton, had worked up a Fox
Trot routine. Cheryl won a trophy, and on February 26 Sam, the
judge, gave her an evaluation, and she earned a score of 91.
Cheryl enjoyed herself tremendously and plans on continuing the
fun and excitement of the dance lessons and meeting new people.
Two things have made this venture successful. It has provided a
good chance for exercise and, second, it has shown once again
that the blind can compete on equal terms with the sighted.

**RFB Offerings:
     RFB will begin making its own publications available on
computer disk, beginning with the Winter, 1991, issue of its 
newsletter, RFB News. Anyone who would like to receive this or
future issues of RFB News on either 3.5" or 5.25" IBM compatible
floppy disks may call or write Lorraine Gresty, Department of
Public Affairs, RFB, 20 Roszel Road, Princeton, New Jersey 
08540, (609) 452-0606.
     A revised Guide to Using Recording for the Blind's Services
is now available in both print and recorded formats. The guide, 
an RFB consumer handbook, begins with general information and
continues with sections on RFB's lending library, recording
service, recording procedures, and award programs. A list of all
thirty-two recording studios is provided, along with a sample
form for book orders. For single or multiple copies of the guide,
call RFB's Borrower Services Department toll free at (800)
221-4792.

**Sell:
     R. B. Gomez has asked us to print the following: I have for
sale a Braille 'n Speak recently updated by Blazie Engineering.
It contains a separate module for cassette storage, patch cords,
printer cable, AC adapter and battery charger, and carrying case.
It stores up to 200 pages of Braille and is six months old. I am
asking $550 or best offer. Contact Ms. R.B. Gomez, 2017 55th
Street, Sacramento, California 95817 or phone (916) 456-2735.