

                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR

                     August/September, 1997

                     Barbara Pierce, Editor


      Published in inkprint, in Braille, and on cassette by

              THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                     MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT


                         National Office
                       1800 Johnson Street
                   Baltimore, Maryland  21230
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              Web Page address: http://www.nfb.org


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THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION
SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND--IT IS THE BLIND SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES


ISSN 0006-8829


                       THE BRAILLE MONITOR
       PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

                            CONTENTS
                                           August/September, 1997


1997 Convention Roundup
     by Barbara Pierce

Presidential Report
     by Marc Maurer

The Scholarship Class of 1997

Awards for 1997

The Day After Civil Rights
     by Kenneth Jernigan

Services for the Consumers:
     The Challenge of Rehabilitation Today
     and in the Decades to Come
     by Fredric K. Schroeder, Ph.D.

Partnership: Working in Cooperation with Consumers
     by Mae Nelson

Resolutions Adopted by the Annual Convention of the
     National Federation of the Blind, July, 1997

The Constitution of the National Federation of the Blind

         Copyright 1997 National Federation of the Blind


[LEAD PHOTO descriptions: Stretching across the top half of both
pages is a picture of the entire banquet room. It is jammed with
tables and crowded with Federationists enjoying the evening. The
bottom half of the two-page spread consists of three pictures,
two on the left page and one on the right. The left-most picture
is of a young child exploring a stuffed wolf. The next pictures
two children wearing masks and dancing. The picture on the right
page is a shot of the student division registration area. The
crowd is huge.
CAPTION: The largest convention in Federation history brought
thousands together for the July 4 banquet. To show the entire
ballroom, the photographer took three wide-angle pictures. We
have put them together here in an effort to capture a bit of the
excitement of the evening. Not shown are the overflow tables in
the lobby outside the doors.
PHOTO/CAPTION: Katey Wintz of Louisiana explores the wolf exhibit
at Sensory Safari.
PHOTO/CAPTION: Two young dancers enjoy the Mardi Gras Ball
Wednesday evening.
PHOTO/CAPTION: The National Association of Blind Students always
attracts a crowd to its seminar. This is the registration area
shortly before the meeting actually began.]
                           **********
                           **********
                     1997 Convention Roundup
                        by Barbara Pierce
                           **********
     Like so much else in life, conventions of the National
Federation of the Blind have established a distinct rhythm. Over
several years attendance grows to a high point and then slides
back a bit to gather again and reach an even more significant
mark. The 1997 convention at the Hyatt Regency, New Orleans,
established an attendance record that will probably stand for a
number of years. Sixteen people gathered to bring the National
Federation of the Blind into being in 1940. The 1,000 barrier was
not broken until 1971 at the Houston convention. The 2,000 mark
was passed in Chicago in 1988, and the 3,000 mark was passed this
year for the first time. Our previous attendance record of 2760
was set at the 1991 convention. But this year we broke every
record, closing with a registration figure of 3,346.
     New Orleans is a marvelous city in which to hold a
convention. We had 1,100 rooms at the Hyatt and another 500 at
the Radisson. The overflow crowd was divided among a half dozen
other hotels. A shuttle circled between the main hotels all day
and most of the night, and people using white canes or guide dogs
could be seen all over the city during the last several days of
June and the first week of July.

[PHOTO description: Three women stand in the hotel lobby. Two are
holding canes, and all three have dozens of strands of Mardi Gras
beads looped around their arms and hands. CAPTION: Linda Dubois
(left), Karlene Dubois (middle), and Julie Russell (right) greet
arriving Federationists with Mardi Gras beads.]

     New Orleans is ready for a party no matter the time of day
or year, and the Louisiana affiliate underscored this theme by
greeting Federationists with strands of Mardi Gras beads whose
jingle provided a festive undercurrent to all activity. Despite
the heat and humidity, the streets of the French Quarter were
filled with tap-dancers, street bands, and solo musicians. And
conversations between Federationists all week long were likely to
begin or end with restaurant recommendations and descriptions of
adventures in the French Quarter.
     There was plenty of good food to be found right in the
Hyatt. The food court offered everything from beignets at Cafe du
Monde to Chinese and Italian fare. On the thirty-second floor of
the Hyatt was a revolving restaurant with excellent food and a
chocoholic bar that proved the downfall of many a chocolate-
loving Federationist. On the closing day of the convention a
waitress told a group of us that the pastry chef had worked
harder during this convention than she could ever remember.
     By Friday, June 27, lines were beginning to form at the
Hyatt check-in desk, and the liveliest area of the lobby was the
Louisiana information desk. Several tours took place on Saturday,
and Federationists began pouring into New Orleans in earnest. By
Sunday it was clear that attendance records were going to be set
this year. Child-care registration was jammed, and more than 200
educators and family members registered for the parents seminar.
     Each year the activities for Federation families become more
exciting and creative. The parents seminar, titled "An Education
for a Full Life," began at 9:00 a.m. Sunday and kept its audience
riveted until shortly after noon. The afternoon was filled with
seven different workshops for parents and educators. Though the
adults clearly enjoyed their activities, the real exuberance was
reserved for the young people. The children first went to lunch
in the food court and then toured the Children's Museum a few
blocks from the hotel. Sixty children with their blind and
sighted chaperons made the most of opportunities to examine the
displays while a television news crew recorded the adventure and
interviewed the leader about what was going on.

[PHOTO description: A teen-ager sits cross-legged on the floor
with a Red Cross infant doll held in a standing position in front
of her. CAPTION: Ellen Nichols of Maryland works with a Red Cross
doll.]

     Meantime, twenty-three teens had enrolled in a daylong Red
Cross babysitting course, which provided a handy reservoir of
trained sitters for parents planning an evening out during the
convention, and twenty of the teens volunteered enough time in
NFB Camp the rest of the week to receive certificates and to
allow Carla McQuillan, Camp director, to let go two workers hired
locally. The course did a great deal to build self-confidence in
the fifteen blind teens who took part, and it helped to forge
friendships among all the kids who shared the experience. Equally
exciting, Carla reports that the Red Cross staff began with the
usual peculiar notions about what they would have to do to cover
the course material for this group of students, but as the day
progressed, they quickly recognized that, with the Brailled
information (provided by the NFB) and a willingness to use words
instead of gestures, this group of teens was pretty much like any
other they have trained.

[PHOTO: An elementary-school-age girl sprawls in a huge
collection of balls. CAPTION: While convention delegates
deliberate NFB policy in the Hyatt Regency ballroom, the children
in NFB Camp can enjoy their own ball room. Alicia White of
Maryland makes maximum use of the balls in NFB Camp.]

     More than a hundred children registered at NFB Camp during
the week. The American Printing House for the Blind field-tested
its Braille and print version of BrainQuest in Camp for the week,
and it proved to be very popular. Blind adults dropped in to
perform for the kids--one of the most popular was Daniel Lamonds,
President of the Darlington Chapter of the NFB of South Carolina.
In short, Carla McQuillan and her staff deserve grateful
recognition from us all. During busy times each day NFB Camp
averaged seventy-five to eighty children, and fifteen infants
were registered. Many families can come to convention because we
conduct this wonderful program, and convention sessions are far
less chaotic with our children happily making new friends and
playing with new toys in a safe and well supervised area.
     Sunday evening was filled with activities for families.
Chyvonne Blanchard, a graduate of the Louisiana Center for the
Blind, conducted a boisterous dance workshop for teens in which
the group learned to do line dancing and the Macarena. Later
families gathered for informal hospitality with food and fun for
everyone, topped off with a talent show by the children. Mildred
Rivera organized an evening of teen activities, including a
treasure hunt designed to help kids learn about the hotel and get
to know other teens in New Orleans for the week. Judging from the
laughter and general noise emanating from the room, the event was
a great success.
     As always, the Job Opportunities for the Blind (JOB) annual
seminar was filled with interesting and useful information about
job-hunting and successful work strategies. Employers came with
job announcements, and would-be employees brought their resumes.
Already several happy employment matches have been made. But the
seminar was only the first round in the week's JOB activities.
Twenty-two special-interest breakfasts took place throughout the
week. One interesting new employment program was the seminar, "A
New Job in a New Place." It was conducted by the travel
instructors at BLIND, Inc., who led a group discussion of useful
techniques for gathering necessary information about getting
started in a new city. Those who attended the seminar reported
that it was very useful.
     An increasing number of groups are choosing to conduct
meetings the day preceding convention registration. Besides the
activities already mentioned, meetings included ham radio
operators, merchants, guide dog users, secretaries and
transcribers, professional journalists, deaf-blind people,
Canadians, and several committees. In addition, seminars on NFB
Net, using the Internet, raising funds for Newsline(TM) for the
Blind, the Braille 'n Speak, and the Myna computer took place
during the relative calm of pre-convention activity. The crowning
activity of this day full of bustle and business was a delightful
evening of Cajun dancing with the Louisiana Fourchen Cajun Band
and the Cajun French Music Association Dancers, who taught people
the steps.
     Monday dawned to the excitement of the opening of the
largest NFB convention in history. Convention registration was
scheduled to open at 10:00 a.m., but lines began forming by 9:00
in expectation that the crew would be ready early. As usual, they
were, and the crowds in carnival mood began streaming through the
registration area and on to the French Market Exhibit Hall just
around the corner shortly after 9:00 a.m.

[PHOTO description: A man dressed in full beekeeper's regalia
sits behind an exhibit table filled with bottles and bags of
products. CAPTION: Ehab Yamini offers bee pollen, honey, and
other products for sale in the convention exhibit area.]

     The exhibit area was filled with displays by sixty-six
outside exhibitors and twenty-three NFB affiliates, divisions,
and chapters, as well as the NFB store, where literature, canes,
and aids and appliances could be examined and ordered. Throughout
the week crowds surged through the hall whenever it was open.

[PHOTO: Bruce Gardner kneels on one knee in the foreground. He
holds his cane in his right hand and listens to the three
children in front of him. Two of the youngsters hold white canes,
and one of them is speaking earnestly to Bruce. CAPTION: Bruce
Gardner (left) gives a cane travel lesson to Robby and Lindsey
McHugh (middle) from Arizona and Nicolas Stockton (right) from
West Virginia.]

     Monday morning two hour-long cane walks for blind children
and youth and their parents took place in the hotel. During these
sessions experienced instructors and blind adults helped kids and
parents through their first introduction to cane travel. Anyone
walking down the hall where the tiny travelers were working was
fair game for exploration, and when canes got crossed, a blind
adult could find herself a temporary member of the teaching crew.
It was stirring to observe thirty children--the number in the
group I met--beginning their personal venture into independence
in such a positive and determined company.

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Cheryl Pickering, secretary of the Resolutions
Committee, confers with Director of Governmental Affairs James
Gashel during the Resolutions Committee meeting.]

     By the time the Resolutions Committee met Monday afternoon,
the previous first-day registration record of 2,133 had been
broken, and, by the time the committee adjourned, 2,363 people
had registered. The Resolutions committee considered eighteen
resolutions this year. The texts of the ones adopted by the
convention appear elsewhere in this issue.

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Hailee Linhart of Washington state meets a bear
at the Sensory Safari exhibit.]

     In addition to the Resolutions Committee meeting, at least
ten other seminars and meetings, not to mention demonstrations,
displays, and receptions, took place Monday afternoon and
evening, and another twenty occurred Tuesday afternoon and
evening.

[PHOTO description: A woman wearing a long dress and bib apron
sits reading the Bible to a child. CAPTION: In the play, Growing
Up In Tennessee, the young Kenneth Jernigan, played by Allen
Sale, sits listening to Cousin Juanita, played by Angela Sasser,
reading the Bible aloud.]

     One of the highlights was Growing up in Tennessee, an
original play by Jerry Whittle, presented by the Louisiana Center
for the Blind Players. As its title suggests, it was the story of
Dr. Jernigan's formative years, and several children were part of
the blind cast.

[PHOTO: In the foreground of this photograph is the audience at
the Board meeting. They face away from the camera, looking at the
U-shaped board table on the platform, where the members of the
Board of Directors are seated. CAPTION: Each year the Board of
Directors conducts a public meeting on the day following the
opening of convention registration. Hundreds of Federationists
gather to observe.]

     As always, the first general session of the actual
convention was the public meeting of the Board of Directors
beginning at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, July 1. President Maurer
presided, and though over a thousand Federationists were in the
audience, microphones were limited to members of the Board, who
were seated at a table on the dais. The meeting began with a
moment of silence in memory of those members of the Federation
family who were no longer with us. This included David Walker,
who had died the night before in Jefferson City, Missouri. David
and Betty Walker were married immediately following the noon
recess of the convention session on Wednesday, July 7, 1982.
     Following a number of announcements, President Maurer
saluted the United Parcel Service for its financial support of
Federation programs and for its ongoing relationship with the
organized blind movement. A number of affiliates then made
presentations and received the thanks of the organization.
President Maurer acknowledged the NFB of California, which
presented a gift resulting from a bequest earlier this year. The
amount of the contribution was $259,234.20. Jim Willows,
President of the California affiliate, was prepared to make this
announcement, but a few moments before he was scheduled to do so,
he fell and damaged his knee, requiring his use of a wheelchair
for the remainder of the convention. Nani Fife, President of the
NFB of Hawaii, then announced that Hawaii was delighted to
present $159,985.70 from a bequest. Peggy Elliott, President of
the NFB of Iowa, announced that before his death Ron Johnson
bought an insurance policy with the National Federation of the
Blind as beneficiary. A check for more than $60,000 has now been
contributed to the organization through the efforts and
dedication of Ron Johnson. Checks representing half of bequests
to the Wisconsin affiliate ($8,338) and from the Oregon affiliate
($2,000) have also recently been sent to the National Office.
Carla McQuillan, NFB of Oregon President, then presented another
check for $8,760 to President Maurer. Carla announced that this
gift came from a trust from which the affiliate regularly
receives funds and that the Oregon board has decided to pass the
funds on to the national organization quarterly so that they can
be used immediately rather than comprising sizeable annual gifts.
     Steve Benson, who chairs the Blind Educator of the Year
Selection Committee, then presented that award to Dr. Adrienne
Asch, a member of the faculty of Wellesley College. Sharon
Maneki, Chairwoman of the Distinguished Educator of Blind
Children Committee, presented that award to Deborah Prost, an
active member of the Tidewater Chapter of the NFB of Virginia.
The complete text of both these presentations appears elsewhere
in this issue.
     Next Peggy Elliott, Chairman of the Scholarship Committee,
presented the twenty-six members of the scholarship class of
1997. The full report of this year's scholarship program appears
elsewhere in this issue. The Board voted to conduct a similar
scholarship program in the coming year. The Board also voted to
establish a new division of the National Federation of the Blind.
It is the National Association of the Blind in Communities of
Faith, and the President is the Rev. Robert Parrish.
     The Board meeting concluded with various reports about
funding the movement. Bonnie Peterson, Chairwoman of the Shares
Unlimited in the National Federation of the Blind (SUN) Program,
invited people and groups to make contributions in multiples of
$10 to be set aside and used only when necessary to assist in
carrying out Federation activities. Michael Baillif, who chairs
the Planned Giving Committee, urged people to find creative ways
to benefit the NFB with bequests and other such gifts. Noel
Nightingale, Chairperson of the Pre-Authorized Check (PAC) Plan
Committee, reviewed the current state rankings and urged states
to move up during the convention. President Maurer then announced
the standings in the Associates Program. Those recruited to
become Members-at-large (Associates) not only make contributions
to the NFB but also become full-fledged members of the
organization. The top ten recruiters this year by number of
Associates and by dollar amount are as follows:
                           **********
                        Top Ten in Number
                     of Associates Recruited
                           **********
10. John Blake (New Mexico), 53
 9. Janet Caron (Florida), 54
 8. Cindy Handel (Pennsylvania), 55
 7. John Stroot (Indiana), 67
 6. Laura Biro (Michigan), 75
 5. Vanessa Gleese (Mississippi), 75
 4. Karen Mayry (South Dakota), 84
 3. Carlos Servan (New Mexico), 120
 2. Arthur Schreiber (New Mexico), 129
 1. Tom Stevens (Missouri), 173
                           **********
                 Top Ten in Dollar Amount Raised
                           **********
10. Arthur Schreiber (New Mexico), $1,300
 9. John Blake (New Mexico), $1,321
 8. Joe Ruffalo (New Jersey), $1,325
 7. Carlos Servan (New Mexico), $1,697
 6. Jim Salas (New Mexico), $1,775
 5. Tom Stevens (Missouri), $1,956
 4. Karen Mayry (South Dakota), $2,583
 3. Duane Gerstenberger (Washington), $3,195
 2. Mary Ellen Jernigan (Maryland), $4,670
 1. Kenneth Jernigan (Maryland), $17,370     
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: (left to right) Joyce Scanlan, First Vice
President; Julie Bieselin, President Maurer's Secretary; Marc
Maurer; and Kenneth Jernigan sit at the table during the meeting
of the Board of Directors.]

     After some discussion of the importance of the Associates
Program and a vote by the Board of Directors to conduct an
Associates contest in the coming year, President Maurer adjourned
the meeting.
     By the time delegates began gathering in the third floor
ballroom for the opening session of the convention on Wednesday
morning, hotel staff had crammed just about every chair into the
space that the fire marshal would allow. The state banners were
in place, and the NFB flag and the flags of the United States,
Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Italy, and the United
Kingdom were displayed on the platform. By 9:00 a.m. the crowds
began to gather. Chapters selling various items peddled their
wares enthusiastically; marshals directed traffic to the best
doors for finding particular state delegations; and people fought
their way through the mob to exchange banquet tickets, register
for the convention, and check registration figures. As the crowd
inside the hall grew, state chants began to echo back from the
walls. By the time the gavel fell at 9:45, there was standing
room only in many parts of the room, and the crowd was wild with
excitement. [Sound bite 1, gavel and cheer]

[PHOTO/CAPTION: The Preservation Hall Band marched into the
opening day convention session and took the Federation by storm.]
[PHOTO: Dr. Jernigan and Priscilla Hudson dance in the classic
ballroom position on the platform. The flags are visible behind
them. CAPTION: Dr. Jernigan and Priscilla Hudson get into the
Mardi Gras spirit when the Dixieland band starts to play.]

     Following the invocation, President Maurer introduced Joanne
Wilson, President of the National Federation of the Blind of
Louisiana, to greet the delegates. Her welcome was pure New
Orleans--a Dixieland band playing a medley including "When the
Saints Go Marchin' in." Members of the Louisiana delegation
followed the band throwing beads and urging folks to dance. Dr.
Jernigan was among those who joined in. [Sound bite 2]
     When order was more or less restored, Dr. Jernigan, who
makes convention arrangements, announced that at 1:45 p.m. on
Tuesday, July 1, person number 3,000 had registered for the
convention. By Wednesday morning the count was pushing 3,200.
State presidents were invited to sign a telegram to Mrs.
tenBroek, who at eighty-five had not felt equal to facing the
heat and humidity of New Orleans in July and was not present at
the convention. It was not quite the first one she has missed,
but everyone was deeply sorry that she was absent and joined in
the hope that she would be with us again in 1998.
     The remainder of the morning was devoted to the roll call of
states. Several interesting announcements were made in addition
to the information required from each delegate. Diane McGeorge
announced that Homer Page, director of the Colorado Center for
the Blind and First Vice President of the NFB of Colorado, had
decided the week before to stand as a candidate for Congress from
Colorado's Second District. Massachusetts and New Hampshire both
announced that Braille bills were now law in their states. A
number of states boasted their state agency director as part of
the delegation. And Kristen Jocums, President of the NFB of Utah,
told the convention that she had just learned Ron Gardner and Jan
Hunsaker were to be married July 10 in Manti, Utah.
     Following a short address by Isabelle Ewell, representing
the National Federation of the Blind of the United Kingdom, the
morning ended with adoption of Resolution 97-03, urging the Walt
Disney Company not to resurrect Mr. Magoo in a live-action film
to be released at Christmas. Delegate support for the resolution
was overwhelming, and a media frenzy, set off by news of the NFB
action, exploded at the moment of passage and took weeks to
subside. Wire services, CNN and CBS television, radio stations
across the country, and news organizations around the world
wanted comments and often interviews. Those whose lives had been
made miserable as children by taunts of "Magoo" spoke
passionately of their hope that today's blind children might
avoid such misunderstanding and ignorance about the abilities of
those who do not see clearly what is around them. At every
opportunity they articulated their conviction that entrenched
employment and literacy problems for blind people today have
their origin partly in the familiar stereotypes embodied in Mr.
Magoo.
     The afternoon session began as usual with Mr. Maurer's
Presidential Report, which appears in full elsewhere in this
issue. At the close of the report President Maurer restated the
covenant that binds the National Federation of the Blind
together. [Sound bite 3]
                           **********
     You have elected me to serve as President of this
     organization, and I believe that I understand the
     responsibility you have given me. I do the best I can
     to meet that responsibility. But we in the Federation
     have something else--something that makes us more than
     an organization, more than a gathering of individuals--
     something that makes us a movement. It is the bond of
     understanding, of commitment, and of mutual support
     from me as President to you the members, and from you
     to me. As long as I am President, I will do the best I
     can to lead this movement with firmness and
     determination. I will be prepared to give whatever time
     is necessary, whatever effort is demanded, whatever
     resources are at my command. I will stand in the front
     lines and take the criticism, and I will not count the
     cost, or hedge, or equivocate. This is what you have
     asked of me, and this is what you have a right to
     expect.
          And what will be expected of you? You must be
     prepared to give all that you can in support of our
     Federation, our leaders, and each other--not only with
     your minds but also with your hearts. I will ask you to
     contribute your time, your money, your imagination, and
     your effort. The National Federation of the Blind
     demands of all of us the very best that we have to
     offer, and it is too important to be incidental or
     part-time. The spirit of the Federation is as strong
     today as it has ever been, and our bond of mutual
     commitment is the unbreakable element that makes us the
     unstoppable movement that we are.
          When the problems come, as surely they will, you
     must be prepared to remain steadfast and not waver; and
     you must give of your resources, of your willingness to
     work, and of the spirit that is in you. I must and will
     do no less than I ask of you. And because of this bond
     which holds us together, this mutual understanding that
     makes our movement what it is and us what we are, there
     can be no doubt of our continuing success. We have done
     much, but there is still much that urgently needs to be
     done. Can you doubt that we are equal to the task? The
     spirit here present in this room gives answer to the
     question. These are the commitments we make to each
     other, and this is my report.
                           **********
     When the ovation that followed the Presidential Report had
died down, Kenneth Rosenthal, President of the Seeing Eye, came
to the platform to speak briefly to convention delegates. He
indicated his pleasure in the increasing warmth of the
relationship between our two organizations. He, President Maurer,
and Dr. Jernigan all agreed that our shared commitment is to
enable blind people to become more independent.
     The Honorable David Tatel, Judge, United States Court of
Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, delivered an address
titled: "The Blind in the Judicial System." After thanking the
National Federation of the Blind for having developed
Newsline(TM), which he uses to read the New York Times every day,
he went on to recommend the federal government as an excellent
employer for blind people because it provides accommodations
without questioning the need or its obligation to do so. He then
described some of the work he has done as a judge in the court
which many consider to be just one step below the Supreme Court.
     Next Joseph Schneider, Vice President of Human Resources for
United Parcel Service, spoke on "Partnership between Business and
the Blind." Mr. Schneider celebrated the growing relationship
between the NFB and UPS. The two organizations share attitudes
about getting things done and empowering individuals to do their
best.
     "The Voice of the Blind Is Heard in Congress," was the title
of remarks by Dr. John Cooksey, Member of Congress from the Fifth
District of Louisiana. Dr. Cooksey is an ophthalmologist who was
elected to Congress last November. He is a co-sponsor of H.R.
612, the bill to reestablish linkage between Social Security
stipends of retirees under the age of seventy and blind Social
Security Disability Insurance recipients. He urged Federationists
to make our case to Congress whenever we have issues of concern,
and he promised to listen.
     The final agenda item of the afternoon was a panel
discussion titled "Blind Vendors in Postal Facilities." The
participants were Jim Gashel, NFB Director of Governmental
Affairs, and Stephen Leavey, Manager, Corporate Personnel
Operations, United States Postal Service. Jim Gashel reviewed the
history of the Randolph-Sheppard Program and urged that the
Postal Service set a goal of increasing its share of vending
locations in the program from 27 percent--a 1 percent rise over
the past twenty-five years--to 45 percent by a date to be
negotiated. Stephen Leavey said that the Postal Service
recognizes the value of this program and is dedicated to
increasing the Postal Service's participation. He pointed out
that personnel able to deal effectively with Randolph-Sheppard
issues have been lost through downsizing, but he intends to
change the picture. Early evidence is that Mr. Leavey was sincere
in what he said. Already his staff has removed a roadblock
brought to his attention after his remarks, and a large post
office vending operation in Michigan is now set to open under the
Randolph-Sheppard program. In addition, two representatives from
the NFB have been invited to attend an important postal
conference in September and discuss our concerns with postal
officials.
     Wednesday evening was filled with activities. The Music
Division's Showcase of Talent drew a large and enthusiastic
audience. The IEP workshop for parents of blind children was well
attended and valuable as usual. The Louisiana affiliate hosted a
party and dance featuring the singer, Harry Connick, Sr., and his
twelve-piece orchestra. Irresistible music filled the entire
third floor of the Hyatt till midnight, and Deane Blazie provided
soft drinks and beer for everyone at this Mardi Gras Ball.

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Jim Willows, President of the NFB of California,
displays the attendance banner as he passes it on to Louisiana
for the coming year.]

     Thursday morning the convention session began at 9:00 sharp.
One of the first items on the agenda was Jim Willows's
presentation of the attendance banner to Joanne Wilson to display
proudly for the coming year. Next Ed McDonald thanked the
organization for the experience he has had for three years as a
member of the Board of Directors, but he announced that he would
not be a candidate for election to the board this year. Ramona
Walhof, Chairwoman of the Nominating Committee, then made that
committee's report. Not scheduled to stand for election this year
are President, Marc Maurer (Maryland); First Vice President,
Joyce Scanlan (Minnesota); Second Vice President, Peggy Elliott
(Iowa); Secretary, Ramona Walhof (Idaho); Treasurer, Allen Harris
(Michigan); Steve Benson (Illinois); Charles Brown (Virginia);
Richard Edlund (Kansas); Sam Gleese (Mississippi); Diane McGeorge
(Colorado); and Gary Wunder (Missouri). Those presented to the
Convention as candidates for election to the Board of Directors
this year were Donald Capps (South Carolina), Wayne Davis
(Florida), Priscilla Ferris (Massachusetts), Bruce Gardner
(Arizona), Betty Niceley (Kentucky), and Joanne Wilson
(Louisiana).

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Bruce Gardner]

     Each newly elected member of the board spoke briefly. The
love and dedication to this movement that all of them expressed
is embodied in the remarks of Bruce Gardner: [Sound bite 4]
                           **********
     Mr. President, fellow Federationists, the scriptures
     teach "For of him unto whom much is given, much is
     required." The NFB has given me much, and I am grateful
     for the opportunity to give back to this organization.
     It is particularly humbling to contemplate working more
     closely with three of my personal heroes: Dr. Jernigan,
     President Maurer, and Peggy Elliott. I would also like
     to thank two individuals, Jim Omvig and my brother
     Norman Gardner. Each has been a mentor, a friend, and a
     true hero. Their lives have exemplified dedication and
     selfless service to our fellow blind, and I know that I
     will be doing well if I can become half the
     Federationist that they are. I am grateful for the
     opportunity to serve. Thank you.
                           **********
     Following the election, Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden, Director of
the Trace Research and Development Center and a professor at the
University of Wisconsin at Madison, addressed the topic: "How the
Changes in Telecommunication and Computers Will Affect the Daily
Lives of the Blind." He reviewed the technological problems we
face and the solutions being developed to solve them.
     "The Hands of the Blind That Do the Healing" was the title
of a presentation by Dr. Paul Peterson, a highly successful
chiropractor. He described the alternative techniques he has
developed to teach and practice chiropractic medicine.
     Dr. Fred Schroeder, Commissioner of the Rehabilitation
Services Administration, then addressed the Convention on the
subject, "Services for the Consumer: The Challenge of
Rehabilitation Today and in the Decades to Come." Before his
appointment to lead RSA, Dr. Schroeder was a longtime leader of
the National Federation of the Blind. His remarks are reprinted
elsewhere in this issue.
     Charles Crawford, President of the National Council of State
Agencies for the Blind, then spoke about "Forming Partnerships:
Designing Tomorrow." He pointed out the hope available to blind
people because of the strength and passion of the National
Federation of the Blind, and he then spoke warmly of the growing
recognition among professionals of the importance of the services
available to blind people through the Federation. Real
partnership is now growing among agencies and consumers. But the
threat posed by the pan-disability movement to bypass the blind
in the name of the larger disabled community is a profound and
growing problem facing us all. With a growing population of blind
people, we must find ways of working together to protect the
rights and opportunities for all blind people.
     The concluding agenda item of the morning was an address by
Dr. Dean Stenehjem, superintendent of the Washington State School
for the Blind, titled "The Role of Education at Residential
Schools for the Blind: Present Perspective and Future Prospects."
Dr. Stenehjem reviewed the history of his own institution and
urged that the blind community and education professionals work
together to improve future possibilities for today's blind
students.
     Following the noon recess, a number of tours carried
Federationists to activities across the Greater New Orleans area.
But that did not mean that the Hyatt was quiet. At least eight
committees, divisions, and other groups conducted meetings and
workshops. One of the most exciting was "Kids and Canes," a drop-
in discussion with video illustrations led by Joe Cutter,
nationally recognized pediatric orientation and mobility
specialist. The day closed with the now traditional Monte Carlo
night party hosted by the National Association of Blind Students.

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Federationists enjoy themselves at Monte Carlo
night.]

     The Friday morning convention session began promptly at 9:15
and was filled with interesting items. The first topic for
consideration was the international picture. Dr. Jernigan
moderated the panel of presenters and began with a review of the
NFB's participation through the years in international
organizations of and for the blind. He then introduced Dr.
Rodolfo Cattani, Director of the Italian National Library for the
Blind and Vice President of the Italian Blind Union, who
described organizations and programs serving blind people in
Italy. He ended his remarks with a summation that brought cheers
from his audience: [Sound bite 5]
                           **********
     You see, dear Federationists, every day is the first
     day of our fight. Every good result which we obtain is
     a new starting point. Every dream which we change into
     reality gives us new strength. Yes, we are ready to go
     on fighting, and we shall overcome one day. During this
     convention I have learned a lot. I have felt around me
     the spirit, the power of your organization, the genuine
     solidarity, the strong optimism, and the overwhelming
     humanity of you all. I thank you for this experience; I
     thank you for your warm and generous hospitality; but I
     thank you first of all for having infected me with your
     optimism of winners. I love you all. Blind is
     respectable!
                           **********
     Next Geoffrey Gibbs, Chief Executive of the Royal New
Zealand Foundation for the Blind, described the history of
services for the blind in New Zealand and the growing insistence
of blind people on equality and a voice in determining the
programs available to them. Then Norbert Mueller, Education
Director for the German Education Service for the Blind,
Secretary General of the European Blind Union, and a member of
the board of the German Federation of the Blind, described the
complex political and social problems facing the blind of
Germany. Mr. Mueller has attended five NFB conventions in the
last seven years. He concluded his remarks by saying: [Sound bite
6]
                           **********
     Dr. Jernigan, when you speak about the role of the
     National Federation of the Blind, what it should do
     within the World Blind Union or in the world, I think
     you must hold the torch high to show to organizations
     of the blind all over the world how much strength is in
     an organization which has pride in itself, whose
     members are not ashamed of being blind, and which has
     the energy and will to go about and do the business
     that needs to be done. I promise you that I will
     continue to work in Germany so that our organizations--
     I hope one day that it will be only one--will go in
     that direction.
                           **********
     The final panel presentation was a "Report from the World
Blind Union" by Dr. Euclid Herie, President of the World Blind
Union and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian
National Institute for the Blind. He told the audience of the
acute need and deprivation faced by the world's millions of blind
citizens in the developing world, but he went on to say that
often the most effective help that blind people in developed
countries can give is knowledge and resources.
     President Maurer then introduced Susan Spungin. Dr. Spungin
is Vice President for National Programs and Initiatives of the
American Foundation for the Blind. Her title was "Living by the
Numbers." She lucidly described some of the inconsistencies in
statistics and demographic problems facing those trying to
collect accurate and meaningful data about blindness in this
country. She then briefly outlined efforts being made to solve
the problems.
     The final speaker of the morning was Susan Daniels,
Associate Commissioner for Disability, Social Security
Administration. Her title was "Social Security: A Report on
Disability Insurance, Work Incentives, and Return to Employment
Initiatives." It was clear that she is eager to work with
consumers to find ways of helping disabled people return to
meaningful work and of removing current disincentives that
prevent them from doing so.
     The afternoon session began with a presentation by Geoffrey
Bull, President of Braille International, Inc. His title was
"Technology, the Cost of Braille, and Prospects for the Future."
He reviewed the remarkable improvement in Braille production over
the past twenty years and the simultaneous and astonishing drop
in costs during that time, but he pointed out that the number of
publications available in Braille is not growing. He urged
members of the NFB to work to increase the funding allocation for
Braille and to continue to work to see that the demand for
Braille rises.
     "What's New at Blazie Engineering" was the title of the
address made by Deane Blazie, President of Blazie Engineering. He
briefly described the wide range of improvements available this
year in the various Blazie products. He also announced that his
company is trying to find grant funding to assist in carrying on
with production of the Optacon.
     Dr. Raymond Kurzweil, inventor of the Kurzweil Reading
Machine and founder of at least four companies, reminisced about
his more than twenty-year-long relationship with the National
Federation of the Blind and gave the audience intriguing glimpses
into access technology in the twenty-first century.
     Frank Kurt Cylke, Director of the National Library Service
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of
Congress, next spoke on the subject, "Building a Solid Base for
the Future: A Report of Current NLS Activity." Mr. Cylke
summarized progress and plans for establishing digital playback
equipment and publications in the future and announced decisions
about magazine conversions to cassette tape in coming years.

[PHOTO: Larry Posont sits in a convention session with a baby
standing on his lap holding onto his cane. CAPTION: Larry Posont
of Michigan listens to a convention presentation while he
entertains his youngest daughter Betsy.]

     The next five agenda items were presented by Federationists
talking about their jobs and outlook on life. Carla McQuillan,
owner and operator of Children's Choice Montessori School and
Child Care Center and President of the NFB of Oregon, began with
a moving description of the way in which her Federation
experience has strengthened and enhanced the curriculum provided
at her facility for seventy children. Charles Brown, Assistant
General Council, National Science Foundation, spoke about
"Advancing Science Through the Legal Profession." Next Dr.
William Reynolds of South Carolina discussed "The Blind Doctor:
Building Business in the Medical Profession. The next presentor
was Bruce Gardner, President of the National Federation of the
Blind of Arizona, the newest member of the NFB Board of Directors
and a senior attorney with the Arizona Public Service Company.
His title was "The Blind Lawyer: Shaping Policy for the Nation's
Power Companies." The final member of this group was Lynn
Mattioli, a registered dietician at Harbor Hospital in Baltimore.
Her topic was "Food for Thought: Experience of a Blind
Dietician." All of these presentations were inspiring and
reassuring, for Federation philosophy has enabled all these
people to succeed and make a profound difference in their
communities.
     Following this inspiring group of presentations was one that
in its own way was every bit as filled with promise for the
future. Mae Nelson, director of Louisiana Rehabilitation
Services, described the relationship she has forged with blind
consumers during the past ten years. Her title was "Partnership:
Working in Cooperation with Consumers." Her remarks appear
elsewhere in this issue.
     The final presentation of the afternoon was a brief report
by Ritchie Geisel, President of Recording for the Blind and
Dyslexic. He described briefly RFB&D's new digitized book format
and announced that the group representing RFB&D at this year's
convention was the largest ever.
     When Mr. Geisel ended his remarks, the convention recessed,
and the room cleared in record time. By 7:00 p.m. the ballroom
had been transformed for the banquet. In order to conserve space,
the platform had been considerably narrowed. It was almost
impossible to pass behind the chairs of those seated at the head
table. At floor-level, tables were fitted as closely together as
possible, and still an overflow crowd had to be seated in the
ballroom foyer with the audio piped to them. It was a memorable
evening in many ways.

[PHOTO: This graphic is the artwork for the 1997 NFB mug. It
includes a saxophone, a New Orleans trolley, a drawing of the
Cafe du Monde, a mule wearing a headdress of flowers, and the NFB
logo with the words "New Orleans, 1997." The words "National
Federation of the Blind" printed vertically separate the logo
from the rest of the artwork.
CAPTION: Marilyn Whittle of Louisiana designed this year's NFB
mug. Each person who attended the banquet received this maroon
mug with the artwork and lettering in silver.]

     President Maurer served as master of ceremonies. Two award
presentations were made. Betty Niceley, President of the National
Association to Promote the Use of Braille, honored National
Braille Press with the Golden Keys Award for the organization's
innovative contributions in providing useful publications in
Braille. Then President Maurer presented Betty herself with the
Jacobus tenBroek Award for outstanding and continuing service to
the blind. The text of both presentations appear elsewhere in
this issue.
     The banquet address was delivered by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan,
President Emeritus of the National Federation of the Blind; and
for the first time in Federation history the speech was broadcast
live using real audio. That evening people around the world with
access to computer systems equipped with soundcards, real audio
software, and Windows could (and for a limited time still can)
listen to the actual live broadcast of the banquet address. The
URL (think of it as the Internet address for finding this wonder
of the computer age) is grit.net/~nfb.html
     The title of Dr. Jernigan's address was "The Day after Civil
Rights." The entire text of this address appears elsewhere in
this issue, but a short excerpt will suggest the flavor and the
argument: [Sound bite 7]
                           **********
          But there comes a day after civil rights. There
     must. Otherwise the first three stages (satisfying
     hunger, finding jobs, and getting civil rights) have
     been in vain. The laws, the court cases, the
     confrontations, the jobs, and even the satisfying of
     hunger can never be our prime focus. They are
     preliminary. It is not that they disappear. Rather it
     is that they become a foundation on which to build.
          Legislation cannot create understanding.
     Confrontation cannot create good will, mutual
     acceptance, and respect. For that matter, legislation
     and confrontation cannot create self-esteem. The search
     for self-esteem begins in the period of civil rights,
     but the realization of self-esteem must wait for the
     day after civil rights.
                           **********
     Following this moving address, which has already been chosen
for publication in the August issue of Vital Speeches of the Day,
Peggy Elliott came to the microphone to present the 1997
scholarships. The platform was too constricted to allow the
winners to receive their awards at the podium, so they stood in
front of the platform and stepped forward as their
accomplishments were read and their scholarships presented. The
winner of the American Action Fund $10,000 scholarship was Stacy
Hayworth of Nebraska.
     At the conclusion of this wonderful event, the Louisiana
affiliate hosted yet another memorable party. This time the music
was supplied by Henry Butler, a noted singer and pianist, whose
band provided music for the revelers until the small hours of the
morning.
     The Saturday morning convention session began with the
annual financial report and a discussion of the various fund-
raising efforts of the organization. At the conclusion of that
discussion Dr. Jernigan put the matter into perspective. He said:
[Sound bite 8]
                           **********
     We have spent a good part of this morning talking about
     money, and we're still talking about money even when we
     are talking about hotels. There is no reason why I
     should urge you any more than you should urge me.
     Please find a way to help finance this movement. If we
     don't, the movement won't die, but it will be anemic
     and weak. We are a powerhouse in the blindness field,
     and we want to stay that way and get more that way. To
     do it takes money. We have got to. Every way we can we
     ought to work to finance this movement. It's worth
     everything we can put into it, and we ought to do it.
     The money is spent wisely and well. It gets results.
     Look about you, and you can see what they are.
                           **********
     The afternoon session began with the Washington report by
James Gashel, Director of Governmental Affairs. He reviewed what
we have accomplished legislatively during the past year and
looked ahead at the issues facing us in coming months.
     During the remainder of the afternoon seventeen resolutions
were read and voted on. Various announcements of interest were
also made. For example, President Maurer announced that 143
foreign guests had registered at this year's convention. They
came from Bermuda, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, Togo, the United Arab Emirates,
and the United Kingdom.
     The summary of PAC activity during the convention looked
like this. At the beginning of the convention Federationists were
contributing $343,965 annually. By convention adjournment new and
continuing PAC members had pledged to make annualized
contributions of $362,461.80. By the end of Saturday afternoon,
nine States (Maryland, California, Minnesota, Colorado, Michigan,
Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, and Louisiana) were giving more than $1,000
a month. As always, the challenge is now to continue to give at
this level through the coming year.
     Bonnie Peterson, Chairwoman of the Shares Unlimited in NFB
Committee, reported on the SUN activity during the week. States,
divisions, chapters, and individuals contributed $11,150 toward
the NFB's rainy-day fund. Bonnie concluded her report by inviting
the SUN choir to join her in teaching a new song to the
Convention. The words, sung to the tune of "You are my Sunshine,"
are:
                           **********
                    I have some SUN shares;
                    Have you bought your shares?
                    Protect our future,
                    And help us grow.
                    They'll always be there;
                    We want to prepare
                    For NFB tomorrow.
                           **********
     By the time the final gavel fell, bringing the afternoon
convention session to a close, delegates were in a happy blur of
excitement, fatigue, wonderful memories, and anticipation of the
challenges in the coming year. The Writers Division conducted a
workshop Sunday morning. Everyone else streamed out of the
convention hall to jump on busses or finish packing or perhaps
enjoy one more delicious meal in the Big Easy.

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Jody Lee]

     But no one could forget what we had just shared. Jody Lee,
one of this year's scholarship winners, captured both the joy and
the dedication of this movement of ours on the closing afternoon.
President Maurer invited her to tell the group of an experience
she had Thursday when her cousin and a friend had come to the
hotel to spend some free time with Jody. Neither woman knew
anything about the convention, so walking into a crowd of
thousands of blind people was quite a surprise to them. Jody was
a few minutes late for their meeting, and the two women watched
the bustle and excitement of tour loading and people rushing to
meet the demands of their personal schedules. When Jody appeared,
the friend told her with evident wonder in her voice that she had
just been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa. Since learning
this news, she had been depressed. But she said, "I have been
watching the crowd for twenty minutes, and I can hardly believe
the confidence and ability of the people around here. They give
me hope for the first time." Jody said that this experience
taught her in a flash of illumination what this organization is
all about.
     Jody was right: spreading this message is exactly the work
everyone went home to take up again. Our batteries have been
charged for another year. We have battles to fight, encouragement
to give, and hope to kindle. The work will keep us busy through
the months between now and the Dallas convention.
                           **********
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Marc Maurer makes the 1997 Presidential Report]

                       Presidential Report
                National Federation of the Blind
                     New Orleans, Louisiana
                          July 2, 1997

     From the time of the beginning of the National Federation of
the Blind in 1940, there have been a spirit of cooperation, a
joint commitment, and a mutual understanding that comprise the
fundamental essence of the organized blind movement. This essence
is as much a part of the National Federation of the Blind today
as it has ever been. Although the functioning and diversity of
our organization have expanded so greatly that our founder, Dr.
Jacobus tenBroek, would be astonished, he would still know us for
what we are--the blind, organized for collective action, working
together for greater opportunity, helping each other achieve the
dreams of independence. We are the blind from all parts of the
nation and all segments of society. Regardless of ethnic
background, economic circumstance, educational achievement, or
position in business or government, we come together as an
indivisible, united body. We come as the organized blind
movement.
     During the past twelve months growing recognition has been
given to the vital work of the National Federation of the Blind,
and some of this recognition has been reported in unusual places.
Consider, for example, the Harlequin Romance. Never regarded as
great literature, but read by millions--these little books are
distributed through drug stores, grocery stores, newsstands, and
elsewhere. One of them, entitled For Your Eyes Only, includes a
blind heroine, who (during the course of the action) visits the
National Center for the Blind, consults with the National
Federation of the Blind, espouses Federation ideas and
philosophy, and demonstrates that a blind person with proper
training and opportunity can compete on terms of equality, can
outwit the villain, and can acquit herself not only in a
satisfactory manner, but with sparkle, dash, and mystery in the
romantic episodes as well. The writers of this novel visited the
National Center for the Blind and studied extensively our
literature about blindness. Their conclusion is clear. Blindness
is only a characteristic. Blind people and blind characters in
books are interesting because of what they are and what they do--
not because they are blind.
     One of our most exciting new programs, the Newsline(TM) for
the Blind Network, has continued to expand. With thirty-two local
service centers already operational and a number promised for the
immediate future, this service is providing a larger volume of
information to blind people than has ever before been available
in the history of the world. Using nothing more complex than a
touch-tone telephone, any blind person within the local calling
area of a local service center can read the New York Times, USA
Today, the Chicago Tribune, and (in many instances) the local
newspaper. There are local service centers in many cities, both
within the United States and now in Canada. Those in operation
have been established in Baton Rouge; Minneapolis; Denver;
Baltimore; Boise; Sacramento; Des Moines; Davenport; Cedar
Rapids; Sioux City; Houston; Austin; San Antonio; Camden, New
Jersey; Chattanooga; Jackson, Mississippi; Oklahoma City; Tulsa;
Salt Lake City; Toronto, Canada; and the following cities in
Illinois: Bloomington, Champaign, Coal Valley, Edwardsville,
Naperville, Peoria, Quincy, Rockford, Springfield, Carterville,
and two in Chicago.
     The idea of transmitting information by telephone is not
new. However, the computerized handling of a large volume of data
so that it can be presented in manageable units is revolutionary.
What this technology suggests is an alteration of patterns on at
least two levels. The blind have always been at a disadvantage in
obtaining information. With the advent of this national network
much of that disadvantage is erased, and for some purposes the
balance shifts. How many sighted people can, before seven a.m.,
have access to at least three of the nation's major newspapers?
     The Newsline(TM) for the Blind Network offers other
opportunities. One of the most innovative programs currently
being tested by the National Federation of the Blind is
Jobline(TM). Jobline(TM) is a telephone access system that
enables each user to search for employment within a specified
geographic area. Those looking for work can indicate the kinds of
jobs they seek, the compensation level, and other
characteristics. Jobline(TM) has the potential for managing
substantial databases such as America's Job Bank and statewide
job information services. Our goal is to have this job access
information system established throughout the United States. One
state has already indicated that it wishes to install the
Jobline(TM) service, and a number of others are considering doing
so.
     This service will be of great benefit to the blind, but it
can also be used by the sighted. Those who are seeking work but
cannot get to a state employment office during the day, those who
wish to search the Internet for job listings but don't have a
computer, and those who (for whatever reason) want to hunt work
at four in the morning will all be able to use Jobline(TM)--a
product designed, developed, and implemented by us, by you and
me, by the National Federation of the Blind.
     Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, who is President Emeritus of the
National Federation of the Blind, continues to serve as our
representative in international programs dealing with blindness.
In his capacity as president of the North America/Caribbean
Region of the World Blind Union, Dr. Jernigan led the North
America delegation to the fourth General Assembly of the World
Blind Union in Toronto, Canada, last August. Dr. Jernigan was
asked to deliver the keynote address at the opening assembly of
the convention. Dr. Euclid Herie, who was at that convention
elected president of the World Blind Union and who is president
of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, presented Dr.
Jernigan to the assembled delegates. Among other dignitaries on
the platform was the governor general of Canada, Rom^o LeBlanc,
who stayed to hear Dr. Jernigan's powerful message to the blind
of the world.
     At the General Assembly the constitution of the World Blind
Union was amended to permit additional delegates to represent
countries with large populations. The representation from the
United States increased from six delegates to ten. Dr. Fred
Schroeder, Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services
Administration, and I were two of the additional delegates
elected to represent the blind of this country.
     Shortly after the close of the World Blind Union convention,
Dr. Jernigan was invited to be the keynote speaker at the
upcoming convention of the International Conference on the
Education of the Visually Handicapped, the world body concerned
with the education of the blind. Dr. Jernigan will be traveling
to So Paulo, Brazil, to deliver this keynote address later this
month. This will be the first time that one individual has ever
been asked in the same quadrennium to give the keynote addresses
to both world organizations concerned with blindness.
     Within the World Blind Union Dr. Jernigan now chairs the
committee which has the responsibility of overseeing the
restoration and refurbishment of the Louis Braille birthplace at
Coupvray, France. The Louis Braille birthplace had deteriorated
so that its roof and other structural elements needed substantial
repair. Dr. Jernigan traveled to Coupvray in 1994 to meet with
the mayor, Monsieur Benz, and with Marcel Herb, the president of
the French Federation of the Blind, to offer assistance from the
blind of the United States and to plan for the restoration.
     In February, 1997, the work of restoration had been
completed, and it was time for the opening of the Louis Braille
birthplace. I traveled to France and stood in the yard where
Louis Braille played. I examined the workbench where the accident
happened that blinded him at the age of three. I sat on the bench
that was part of the living quarters of the Braille family, and I
participated in the opening ceremonies with television cameras
rolling and representatives of the blind from throughout the
world present. During that ceremony the National Federation of
the Blind presented a contribution of $10,000 to complete the
payment for the restoration of the Louis Braille home and
memorial.
     As I stood in the chilly February sunshine in the yard of
that humble home which symbolizes so much to the blind of the
world, I experienced not only gratitude for the work which Louis
Braille did but also a sense of pride that I could bring from the
blind of the United States a tangible expression of our feelings.
More than that I felt honored that I could be there representing
you, that I could say to the world at that historic moment that
the National Federation of the Blind knows the role it must play
and is prepared to meet the responsibility. We pay our debts; we
live our philosophy; and we hold our heads high.
     Last fall Dr. Jernigan was invited to make a presentation to
the annual training conference sponsored by the General Council
of Industries for the Blind and National Industries for the Blind
in Kansas City. It is of utmost importance to the future of
programs for the blind that the officials who direct those
programs cooperate with the organized blind consumers and that we
cooperate with them to enhance the services provided. Disharmony
and gratuitous belligerence create instability and a climate in
which separate programs for the blind are in danger. That is the
message Dr. Jernigan carried to the General Council of Industries
for the Blind and National Industries for the Blind.
     This past May the work that Dr. Jernigan has done within the
organized blind movement was given tangible recognition by
MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. Dr. Jernigan was
granted an honorary doctoral degree by the college. Dr. Jernigan,
who has served as a leader of the National Federation of the
Blind for almost half a century, has brought to the blind, both
within our country and abroad, inspiration and hope. What exists
today could not have been built without him. This honorary
doctorate confirms once more the recognition of our progress by
those in the broader community. We in the Federation are always
pleased when a blind person receives recognition for outstanding
accomplishment. But in this case we are especially pleased, for
Dr. Jernigan is one of us--inseparable from the National
Federation of the Blind.
     In 1991 the National Federation of the Blind brought
together, for the first time, at the National Center for the
Blind, chief executives of the major manufacturers of technology
for the blind, leaders of consumer groups in the field of
blindness, and the heads of the principal agencies serving the
blind in the United States and Canada. This gathering, known as
the US/Canada Conference on Technology for the Blind, changed the
direction and emphasis in programming for the blind on this
continent. Communication and joint planning among entities
dealing with blindness became much more likely because of the
interaction that occurred in that conference.
     A second US/Canada Conference on Technology for the Blind
was called in 1993, and last fall the third US/Canada Conference
on Technology for the Blind was hosted by the National Federation
of the Blind. The difficult problems of creating usable access
technology for the blind were explored by the participants. The
discussions which followed formal presentations stimulated
imagination and encouraged development. Technology for the blind,
as is true of technology for the sighted, is evolving at such a
rate that new applications may be overlooked unless there is a
meaningful forum to permit the free exchange of ideas. A full
report of the proceedings is contained in the January, 1997,
issue of the Braille Monitor.
     Through our Diabetes Action Network, the Division of the
National Federation of the Blind concerned with the problems of
blind diabetics, we have for over a decade been publishing the
magazine, Voice of the Diabetic. This is the most widely
circulated magazine dealing with blindness in the United States,
with a distribution of approximately 200,000 copies per quarter.
The information contained in the Voice of the Diabetic is not
readily available anywhere else. Interwoven with the positive
philosophy of the Federation are articles offering advice and
suggestions regarding how a blind person can best manage the
problems of diabetes. Much of the information contained in the
magazine is of continuing use. Selected articles, including
reference material of ongoing worth, are now being collected in a
volume entitled Serving Individuals with Diabetes Who Are Blind
or Visually Impaired: A Resource Guide for Vocational
Rehabilitation Counselors. This publication is being produced in
cooperation with the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center
on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University under
the sponsorship of the National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research.
     The International Braille and Technology Center for the
Blind was opened on November 16, 1990, as part of the
commemoration of our fiftieth birthday. It houses the most
extensive collection of technology for the blind in the world,
including at least one of every device of which we are aware that
produces information from computers in either speech or Braille.
The commitment we made at the opening of the Center was to
maintain this collection of technology and to acquire all
additional useful machines for the blind that become available.
During the past year we have added three new Braille embossers
and obtained or upgraded three Braille-translation software
packages, one DOS-based screen-reading program, seven screen-
review programs for Windows, one screen-review program for the
Windows NT operating system, four refreshable Braille displays,
two laptop computers with built-in refreshable Braille displays,
two stand-alone reading machines, two PC-based reading systems,
and six note-takers. We have also acquired a computer program
which produces tactile drawings through a Braille embosser. In
addition, we have upgraded a number of our computers and
purchased eight new ones in the Pentium class.
     Much of the information provided by computer is gathered
through the Internet. In the International Braille and Technology
Center for the Blind we have created seven Internet work
stations, which can be used to demonstrate methods for obtaining
information from across the world in speech, in Braille, or in
refreshable Braille.
     Two years ago we inaugurated the Information Access
Technology Training program. We have begun teaching week-long
seminars in the operation of all this diversified equipment.
Sponsored by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, this
program offers personnel from state vocational rehabilitation
agencies background and information about access technology for
the blind and the opportunity for hands-on experience in its use.
     In early 1997 still another training program was initiated,
the Comprehensive Braille Access Technology Training program.
This program combines training sessions at the National Center
for the Blind in the operation of Braille access technology with
instruction at rehabilitation centers in Braille advocacy and the
use of the Braille code.
     Nowhere else in the world is there an array of equipment
collected in one place adequate to make such classes possible.
These training programs could not occur without the National
Federation of the Blind.
     Last summer, only a few weeks after the close of our 1996
National Convention, Congress took decisive action to amend the
Copyright Act. The new provisions relating to blindness, which
became effective in September, were drafted jointly by the
National Federation of the Blind and the Association of American
Publishers. At our request Senator John Chafee of Rhode Island
sponsored the legislation.
     The new law authorizes nonprofit organizations or government
agencies to reproduce books and other material in special formats
that can be used by the blind. No permission is required from the
copyright holder. Braille, voice recording, or electronic formats
may be used. The role of the National Federation of the Blind in
negotiating the agreement with the Association of American
Publishers and in taking the result to Congress will make a
lasting positive difference in the lives of the blind of our
nation, and similar legislation has been adopted in Canada and is
currently being considered in Italy and elsewhere.
     We in the National Federation of the Blind are aware that a
crisis exists in Braille literacy. Several years ago we drafted
model Braille bills and initiated the effort to get them adopted
in the states. These bills say that blind children should be
taught Braille and that the school districts should make Braille
materials available to their students who are blind. Although
there have been a number of problems in getting these statutes
enforced, they are presently on the books in twenty-eight states.
     Although in many states the law says that blind children
should have the opportunity to learn Braille in school, certain
educators have argued that this provision of state law cannot be
implemented because it is inconsistent with the federal
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We responded
to this argument by asking Congress to amend the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act to include provisions favoring the use
of Braille. On June 4, 1997, less than a month ago, the amended
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act became law. The
statute includes the most sweeping declaration ever made in favor
of Braille by any legislative body in the world. Braille services
and instruction are to become a part of the education plan for
every blind child, unless all of the planning team (including the
parents) agree that Braille should be excluded. The preference
for Braille is now a part of the law, and the reason is the
National Federation of the Blind.
     In most instances officials in agencies for the blind are
thoroughly aware that blind individuals (clients, employees, or
otherwise) are guaranteed the right to freedom of speech, freedom
of association, and freedom of thought. Most agencies for the
blind have a high degree of respect for the blind people with
whom they come in contact. And in most cases we of the National
Federation of the Blind are able to work in harmony and
partnership with them.
     But this is not always the case. As I reported last year,
rehabilitation officials in Missouri have declared that
counselors and others at the agency may not provide any
information to blind clients about the National Federation of the
Blind, may not indicate to clients whether they (that is, the
agency employees) are members of the National Federation of the
Blind, and may not encourage blind clients to participate in any
activity of the National Federation of the Blind--no matter how
valuable it might be. Can blind clients be encouraged to seek
business or technology loans from the National Federation of the
Blind? Can blind students be encouraged to participate in the
Braille Readers Are Leaders contest? Can blind clients be
informed of the convention of the National Federation of the
Blind--this meeting, where so much information and inspiration
are to be found? The answer from the Missouri agency is a
resounding no. As I said to you on our opening day last year, we
are not prepared to take this without a fight. In fact, we are
not prepared to take it at all. Our fundamental constitutional
and human rights and our dignity as human beings are at stake. We
who are blind have a right to freedom of association, freedom of
speech, and freedom of thought--and we intend to exercise our
rights--all of them.
     Our training center in Colorado, the Colorado Center for the
Blind, has been providing orientation and adjustment services to
blind clients from Missouri, and the Missouri rehabilitation
agency has been paying the fees. At the very same time that the
Missouri agency for the blind has been asking us to provide
orientation and adjustment services through our Colorado center,
it has also been criticizing our program because it is part of
the Federation. The Missouri agency officials say that in our own
program we may not favor NFB canes because they are NFB canes.
This spring the head of the Missouri agency informed our Colorado
Center for the Blind that the contract to provide services is
canceled because in April of this year one of the clients being
trained in Colorado voluntarily participated in a bingo game
operated by the Denver chapter of the National Federation of the
Blind. Three years ago, in 1994, the Missouri agency personnel
agreed that this kind of participation would help to build the
confidence and business skills of a blind client from Missouri,
and they encouraged participation in that same identical bingo
game. Today, because Missouri rehabilitation officials do not
like the National Federation of the Blind, they have canceled the
contract and said that they are refusing to pay for training
services for the blind of Missouri.
     The lawsuit that we promised last year has commenced. The
trial is scheduled to occur early in 1998. In the meantime I have
this to say to the officials of the Missouri rehabilitation
agency: We are not prepared to cringe or fawn or crawl for your
favor. There are some things your money will buy, but one thing
it can never buy is our acquiescence in your misuse of power. We
will not give up our freedom; we will not abandon our philosophy;
we will not disband the Federation in Missouri; and we are not
prepared to desert the blind of Missouri who are not yet part of
the Federation simply because they are now, or might become,
clients of the Missouri rehabilitation program. You have
positions of influence, and you have on your side tax dollars to
spend, and some of those tax dollars have been collected from
those very blind persons you would deny the right to use them;
but we are not helpless, and we will not let you get away with
it. We will meet you in the courts.
     Each year tens of thousands of Americans take the Law School
Admissions Test (LSAT) in order to enter law school. Ross Kaplan,
Latonya Phipps, and Shannon Dillon are blind applicants who
sought to take the Law School Admissions Test during the fall and
winter of 1996. They wanted an opportunity to compete on terms of
equality with other test applicants. However, the Law School
Admissions Council, the entity that administers the test, denied
them this basic right.
     Ross Kaplan and Latonya Phipps asked to be allowed to use
their own readers. They wanted, they told the Law School
Admissions Council, to concentrate on taking this difficult
examination rather than teaching a total stranger to read
effectively. But the Council administrators said no and insisted
that Latonya Phipps and Ross Kaplan use readers provided by the
administrators. One of the assigned readers could barely read
English, and the other wasn't much better. As you might imagine,
the test scores were low. The artificial conditions that were
imposed upon these applicants prevented them from demonstrating
their real abilities and hurt their chances to be admitted to the
best schools.
     Shannon Dillon took her examination in Braille. She asked
for permission to use her Braille writer to take notes--not an
unusual request for a blind person. How else would a literate
blind person take her notes? However, permission was denied.
     By refusing to allow blind students to use Braille writers
and readers of their own choosing, the Law School Admissions
Council has violated the law. We tried to talk with them, but
they would not listen. Consequently, we have no choice but to
act. All blind students taking tests anywhere in this country
must be able to do so on terms of equality with their sighted
peers. A lawsuit has been filed in federal court, and we intend
to win.
     Several years ago we assisted Carol Ducote, of Brunswick,
Georgia, when her employer, the Glenn County School District,
tried to force her to resign from a position as assistant
principal because she is blind. With our help Carol Ducote kept
her job; but the school district tried again, this time with a
different approach. District officials decided to remove Carol
Ducote from her employment by saying they were eliminating her
position.
     We didn't let them throw her out the first time, and we were
not prepared for them to do it the second time. We brought suit
against the Glenn County School District, and a settlement has
been reached. Carol Ducote is still employed as an assistant
principal, and the school district paid her attorneys' fees--
$40,000 in all. I believe Carol Ducote is in this room today.
     Mary Shandrow, one of our blind members living in Colorado,
wants to become a teacher. To gain experience working with
children, she applied for a job as a day-care worker at
Adventures in Learning in Denver. When officials at the day-care
center learned that Mary Shandrow is blind, they said that there
was no job. However, in their letters of explanation, they
admitted that there was employment but that they would not
consider Mary Shandrow for it because they thought blindness made
her a safety risk. How often have we heard that safety is the
reason to deny us jobs, entrance to public places, and sometimes
even the right to care for our own children. It is a lie!
Blindness does not denote hazardous behavior or a safety risk. We
filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities
Commission, and a settlement has been reached. Adventures in
Learning must take training to understand the real abilities of
the blind and must pay Mary Shandrow the salary she would have
earned on the job.
     Eugene Schwerdtfeger is a blind warehouse worker living in
Northern New Jersey. Although he had worked for an auto parts
company for a number of years, when the company was sold to a new
owner, he was dismissed from employment because he is blind. With
the help of the National Federation of the Blind, he brought suit
in the federal district court. Company officials argued that he
could not claim discrimination on the basis of blindness because
he had applied for Social Security disability benefits. If he
were disabled enough to receive Social Security benefits, they
said, he could not say that he was able to work. The decision of
the court agreed with Eugene Schwerdtfeger. The judge said that,
although he had applied for Social Security disability benefits,
he had written on the application that he intended to continue to
work. The case has now been settled; a check has been written to
Eugene Schwerdtfeger for $57,500.
     For more than a decade the Department of Veterans Affairs
has been trying to get rid of a blind vendor, Dennis Groshel, at
the St. Cloud, Minnesota, Medical Center. First the Department
argued that the Randolph-Sheppard Act, which authorizes the
establishment of the blind vending program on all federal
property, does not apply to veterans facilities. But the federal
judges disagreed. Then the Department of Veterans Affairs
established a competing vending facility to drive Dennis Groshel
out of business. With our help he fought back. Once again the
federal judges heard our position and spoke with force to the
Department of Veterans Affairs. The United States Court of
Appeals for the Eighth Circuit directed the Department to cease
(as the court said) the scorched-earth policy against full
compliance with federal law. Dennis Groshel will continue to
operate the vending facility at the St. Cloud Medical Center free
from unlawful competition. This case has national implications
for vending facilities operated on property of the Department of
Veterans Affairs. And make no mistake, the National Federation of
the Blind has, from the very beginning and until this day, done
the major part of the work and paid the major part of the costs.
     In another case the Department of Veterans Affairs built a
facility in Maryland without including space for a licensed blind
vendor. The Department wanted to run its own vending operation
with no blind vendors involved. This decision, of course, is a
violation of the Randolph-Sheppard Act, and we assisted with a
federal arbitration. The arbitration decision said that the
Randolph-Sheppard Act applied and that a facility for a blind
vendor must be established. The Department of Veterans Affairs
appealed. In a decision that tortures the plain meaning of the
law, a federal judge said that the Randolph-Sheppard Act applies
to veterans facilities, but that when federal arbitration panels
find a violation of the Act, they have no authority to tell a
federal agency what it must do to correct the violation. Instead,
the Department of Veterans Affairs could make up its own mind
about how it would respond to the decision that the Randolph-
Sheppard Act had been violated. The Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals concurred.
     We are asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn
the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. If
the Fourth Circuit's ruling is not reversed, any federal agency
found in violation of the Randolph-Sheppard Act would be allowed
to decide for itself how it will behave regarding the Randolph-
Sheppard program.
     It is worth noting that our petition to the Supreme Court is
being supported by more than a dozen state agencies for the blind
and a number of other groups. If the Supreme Court takes the
case, it will be the first time it will have reviewed the
Randolph-Sheppard Act. The stakes are high, but the cause for all
blind people is worth it. This is why the National Federation of
the Blind is taking the matter to the chambers of the highest
court in the land.
     The National Center for the Blind, the headquarters of the
National Federation of the Blind, continues to be a first-quality
facility, which is both elegant and functional. We have installed
in the dining room a hardwood floor of red oak trimmed with
walnut that has been finished with five coats of high-gloss
polyurethane. The tables in the dining room have been finished to
match the decor, and additional lighting has been added. A first-
class sound system has been installed, and we are currently in
the final stages of upgrading the heat and ventilation system
with roof-mounted air conditioning units.
     We have installed a new telephone system at the National
Center for the Blind. The volume of telephone traffic, like much
of the rest of our operation, has dramatically increased. It is
not uncommon to have as many as seven or eight calls coming into
the Center at one time. Consequently, part of the new telephone
system is an automatic telephone-answering machine that asks
callers to hold for the receptionist.
     With the increased activity at the National Center for the
Blind, we find ourselves with fewer bedrooms than is sometimes
desirable. Consequently, on the second floor of the central
courtyard building, we are constructing six new bedrooms. On the
fourth floor of the main building, we are expanding the lunchroom
area so that it may accommodate larger numbers. In addition, we
are revamping the heating system in the Records Center and
building an enclosed masonry fire stair to replace the exterior
steel fire escapes. The increased demand at the National Center
for the Blind has also placed a burden on our freezer space. We
are contemplating the installation of a walk-in freezer in the
kitchen to meet the need.
     As I have indicated to you in previous years, the National
Federation of the Blind is present on the Internet. The library
of material on our Web site continues to expand, and we have
added a substantial number of links to make it easier to find the
information. Since our last convention 31,625 people have
requested information from our web site, and more than 106,000
pages have been downloaded to individuals from throughout the
United States and from seventy-one other countries. Our
information displayed on the Web about blindness and technology
is so extensive that we have been asked to provide a computer
link to the Web site of U.S. News and World Report.
     The National Center for the Blind continues to be the focal
point of programming for the blind in the United States and
provides information to individuals from many other lands as
well. During the past year visitors have come to our Center from
forty-nine of the fifty states and the following foreign
countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Egypt,
England, Ethiopia, France, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Latvia,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand.
     In the last year we have helped place more than 160 people
in competitive employment through the Job Opportunities for the
Blind (JOB) program. The kinds of work range from a Colorado ski
lift operator to a bagger in a supermarket, from sales manager to
veterinary technician, and from attorney to sandwich maker in a
Subway shop. JOB bulletins about employing the blind have been
distributed to more than 6,000 employers this year.
     Through the Aids, Appliances, and Materials Center of the
National Federation of the Blind more than 4,600 telephone orders
have been filled, and hundreds more have come by mail. We have
shipped more than 2,000,000 items to fill these orders to
individuals in the United States and twenty-seven other
countries. Our order forms for materials and aids and appliances
are now available on two-track cassette, as well as in large
print and in Braille.
     The Braille Monitor, the most influential publication in the
blindness field, is being distributed in record numbers with more
than 35,000 copies a month being produced. And there are our
other publications: Future Reflections, the magazine for parents
and educators of blind children, now being sent to over 12,000
people per quarter; Job Opportunities for the Blind bulletins;
presidential releases; and a number of state and division
newsletters.
     At the convention last year we spoke extensively about the
Kernel Books. These volumes carry firsthand accounts of the
experiences of the blind. The stories are presented in readable
form that will attract attention. We who are blind are not
essentially different from others, not mysterious or peculiar or
strange. A major part of our educational program is to spread the
word to the public at large about the normality and capacity of
blind people; and through the dissemination of the Kernel Books,
we are doing just that. There are eleven such books today. The
most recent volume is entitled Beginnings and Blueprints, which
was released last fall. The twelfth book, already published and
in the process of being distributed, is Like Cats and Dogs. Well
over 3,000,000 of the Kernel Books have been placed in the hands
of the public, and they are having an impact far beyond our
expectations. They inspire; they amuse; they stimulate. Perhaps
of most importance, they offer a measure of hope where there had
been nothing but despair. Consider this letter, from the father
of a blind fourteen-year-old living in Washington:
                           **********
     Thank you very much for your recent mailing. I tape-recorded
the National Federation of the Blind book, Making Hay, for my
fourteen-year-old son Nathan, who is blind.
     I enjoyed reading the book and found it very hopeful and
inspiring--a very upbeat, yet realistic book. You mentioned that
Making Hay is the fourth book in the Kernel series. I am most
interested in getting the first three Kernel books. These true-
life stories can make the difference between a person's
developing confidence and goals, rather than just settling for
some "blind job." So, I have two requests for you:
     Please send me the first three books, or others like them,
from the Kernel series--books about blind people who are creating
a life for themselves.
     Could you make a recommendation regarding a good beginning
Braille instruction manual? I would like to work with my son to
help him learn Braille. I had previously believed that it was
very slow and cumbersome. Your books have convinced me that it is
useful and needed. I can see that now, and I have been able to
more persuasively talk to my son about learning Braille. He has
been very resistant to doing anything which might characterize
him as blind and take him out of the mainstream. Your book has
been so helpful in giving us hope and accurate information from
those with the experience to know.
     Thank you for your good work. God bless us all.
Sincerely,
                           **********
     Sometimes the letters come from the parents of a blind
fourteen-year-old; sometimes they are from senior citizens; and
sometimes they are written by schoolchildren. One individual, one
family, and one school group or community meeting at a time, we
are providing information about the reality of blindness, and we
are building for a better and a brighter future. One of the most
effective ways to do it is with our Kernel Books.
     What does this report, this compilation of facts and
statistics that I'm giving you, mean? What does it suggest for us
as a movement? The National Federation of the Blind is more
active in a wider range of programs today than it has ever before
been, and our progress is accelerating. At the national, the
state, and the local levels, we face challenges of complexity and
diversity that demand a high level of comprehension and
substantial energy. Nevertheless, I feel certain that our future
is bright. We have the will, the energy, the motivation, the
commitment to each other, and the understanding to meet the
challenges as they come.
     You have elected me to serve as President of this
organization, and I believe that I understand the responsibility
you have given me. I do the best I can to meet that
responsibility. But we in the Federation have something else--
something that makes us more than an organization, more than a
gathering of individuals--something that makes us a movement. It
is the bond of understanding, of commitment, and of mutual
support from me as President to you the members, and from you to
me. As long as I am president, I will do the best I can to lead
this movement with firmness and determination. I will be prepared
to give whatever time is necessary, whatever effort is demanded,
whatever resources are at my command. I will stand in the front
lines and take the criticism, and I will not count the cost, or
hedge, or equivocate. This is what you have asked of me, and this
is what you have a right to expect.
     And what will be expected of you? You must be prepared to
give all that you can in support of our Federation, our leaders,
and each other--not only with your minds but also with your
hearts. I will ask you to contribute your time, your money, your
imagination, and your effort. The National Federation of the
Blind demands of all of us the very best that we have to offer,
and it is too important to be incidental or part-time. The spirit
of the Federation is as strong today as it has ever been, and our
bond of mutual commitment is the unbreakable element that makes
us the unstoppable movement that we are.
     When the problems come, as surely they will, you must be
prepared to remain steadfast and not waver; and you must give of
your resources, of your willingness to work, and of the spirit
that is in you. I must and will do no less than I ask of you. And
because of this bond which holds us together, this mutual
understanding that makes our movement what it is and us what we
are, there can be no doubt of our continuing success. We have
done much, but there is still much that urgently needs to be
done. Can you doubt that we are equal to the task? The spirit
here present in this room gives answer to the question. These are
the commitments we make to each other, and this is my report.
                           **********
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: 1997 Scholarship winners (left to right, back
row: Jason Ewell, Nathanael Wales, Eugene Skonicki, Darrin
Pagnac, Steven Hagemoser, Bill Petrino, Stewart Jenkins, Rachel
Ragland, and Kenneth Silberman. Middle row: Keri Stewart, Stacy
Hayworth, Sumara Shakeel, Latawnya Muhammad, Michelle Lauer,
Ameenah Ghoston, Rebecca Hart, and Jody Lee. Front row: Tonia
Valetta, Laura Biro, Diana Knox, Marina Eastham, Samantha
Shlakman, Ivette Valdes, Mariyam Cementwala, Angela Sasser, and
Katharine Chavez.)]

                  The Scholarship Class of 1997
                           **********
     From the Editor: Twenty-six men and women from Maine to
California arrived at the Hyatt Regency, New Orleans, as members
of the National Federation of the Blind scholarship class of
1997. Not counting their expense-paid trips to the convention,
this year the class divided $88,000 in scholarship awards, which
were made at the close of the Friday, July 4, banquet. This
year's class is a remarkable group of students--bright,
energetic, and eager to change the world. They met the full
convention during the meeting of the Board of Directors on
Tuesday morning. Peggy Elliott, Chairman of the Scholarship
Committee, introduced each of them by saying the student's name,
home state, and school state. This is what first she and then
each of them had to say:
                           **********
     Peggy Elliott: My friends and fellow Federationists, I once
again have the pleasure of introducing to you a new scholarship
class. As I read to you the names of the Scholarship committee,
think with me about how many of these people came to us through
the scholarship program. I am going to read to you now the names
of the people who are serving on the National Federation of the
Blind Scholarship Committee, and the list is headed by Dr.
Adrienne Asch, Massachusetts; Michael Baillif, District of
Columbia; Bryan Bashin, California; Rich Bennett, Delaware; Steve
Benson, Illinois; Charlie Brown, Virginia; Carol Castellano, New
Jersey; Pam Dubel (a former scholarship winner), Louisiana;
Priscilla Ferris, Massachusetts; Michael Gosse, Maryland (won a
scholarship); Ever Lee Hairston, New Jersey; John Halverson,
Missouri; Allen Harris, Michigan; David Hyde, Colorado; Carl
Jacobsen, New York; Judy Jobes, Pennsylvania; Kristen Jocums
(former scholarship winner from Utah); Reggie Lindsey, Tennessee;
Sharon Maneki, Maryland; Jim Marks, Montana; Lynn Mattioli (won a
scholarship), Maryland; Carla McQuillan, Oregon; Homer Page,
Colorado; Barbara Pierce, Ohio; Joyce Scanlan, Minnesota; Steve
Shelton, Oklahoma; Debbie Stein, Illinois; Mark Stracks (tenBroek
Fellow, won two), Connecticut; Larry Streeter, Idaho; Ramona
Walhof, Idaho; Melissa Williamson (former scholarship winner from
Alabama); Jim Willows, California; Joanne Wilson, Louisiana; and
Gary Wunder, Missouri. Those are the people who serve on the
Scholarship Committee.
     As you know, we give twenty-six scholarships ranging in
value from the lowest, $3,000, to the highest, which is ten
thousand dollars. One of these people you are about to meet will
leave this convention with ten thousand more dollars than he or
she had at the beginning of the convention. This is a wonderful
scholarship program that helps with the financial need of going
to college or graduate school, but it also helps us to meet these
wonderful men and women and for them to meet us.
     I have told them all, and I'll tell them again that there
are 3,000 people who want to meet you, so please wear your purple
ribbons so you can be found. My friends in the audience, I would
ask you to hold your applause until we are done. You will have
plenty of time to applaud these people both here and in other
places.
                           **********
     Laura Biro: Michigan, Michigan. Good morning, fellow
Federationists. I'm currently a graduate student at Sienna
Heights College. In addition, I'm doing the certification in
orientation and mobility at Louisiana Tech University in the
summers. I hope some day to combine those two careers somehow and
work with the adult population. I also hope to become a
streetwalker, in that I mean to walk the streets and spread the
word about the NFB. Thank you.
     Meriyam Cementwala: California, California. Ladies and
gentlemen, hello. I could bore you with the fact that I'm going
to be a Regents' Scholar at UC Berkeley and tell you all about
that, but rather than that, I'll try a new strategy. I'm going to
be bluntly honest with you (a strategy that never worked with my
parents). What I would like to say is that I'm so impressed and
overwhelmed with the scholarship committee that selected me and
the people that are my fellow competitors and my fellow
scholarship winners that in the words of Willy Wonka--and those
who know me know this best about me; I love chocolate and I'm a
chocolate fiend. So in the words of Willy Wonka, "NFB, the
tension's killing me, and I hope it lasts."
     Catherine Chavez: New Mexico, New Mexico. It has been quite
an honor to represent the National Federation of the Blind for
four years. I am a former Vice President and President of the New
Mexico Association of Blind Students, and as of last night I am a
newly elected board member of the National Association of Blind
Students. I am currently attending New Mexico Highlands
University and am studying social work. In the fall I will be
completing my junior year and want to continue my education.
Thank you very much.
     Marina Eastham: New Mexico, Connecticut, and this summer
D.C. Good morning, fellow Federationists. I am from New Mexico. I
attend Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. I'm studying
political science and also getting my certification in education.
I would like to pursue a career in education as well as become a
federal legislator. I would like to lead the Federation in
federal legislation. I have gained so much from the Federation,
and I would like to share my knowledge with all of the future
Federationists of this nation.
     Jason Ewell: Ohio, Ohio. Good morning everyone. Earlier this
month I graduated as the valedictorian of my class at Norwalk
High School, and I will be attending John Carroll University in
the fall. My first experience with the National Federation of the
Blind occurred while I was in attendance at the Ohio State School
for the Blind when one of my friends and I wrote a letter
concerning a matter of advocacy with which we were involved to
Dr. Jernigan and Mrs. Pierce. That letter was in the Braille
Monitor in August of 1989. Dr. Matson found it worthy of
inclusion in the Epilogue of Walking Alone and Marching Together.
So I hope that I may continue in the future to help to work for
all the goals and policies of the Federation, and also I hope to
develop some policies that could serve us all through our lives.
Thank you.
     Ameenah Ghoston: Illinois, Illinois. Hello. My name is
Ameenah Ghoston. I'm in Chicago at Roosevelt University. I
believe in making dreams possible. I'm a very big dreamer. I push
myself to the extreme (sometimes killing myself in the process).
My lifelong dream is to receive a Nobel prize in computer
science. I am dedicated to do that. Thank you very much.
     Steve Hagamoser: Originally from Iowa, now from Kentucky.
Thank you. I'd like to thank the Scholarship Committee for this
wonderful opportunity. I'm going to be pursuing my doctorate for
my fourth year this fall at the University of Kentucky in a
pretty competitive clinical psychology program. Right now the
model number of publications for psychologists, blind or sighted,
is zero. Right now I have two, while still in graduate school,
and I'm working on a third. I think I can safely say by objective
standards that I'm doing okay. I'm what you would call an Iowa
Department of the Blind Adult Orientation Center success story. I
came in insecure, self- and life-loathing, and since then I've
been able to do what I've been able to do. Thank you very much.
     Rebecca Hart: Virginia, Virginia. Good morning. This fall I
will be attending Radford University in the southern part of
Virginia. For those of you who know where Virginia Tech is, it's
close. I can date the guys there, but I don't have to do any of
the work. I do not know what my major is yet. My university has a
pre-major program that I'm in. I have a lot of interests, but I
don't know where that's going to take me. I would like to work
with the space program. My ultimate goal is to become an
astronaut.
     Stacy Hayworth: Iowa and Nebraska. Good morning, one and
all. I am a graduate student at the University of Nebraska at
Omaha (not New Orleans). I plan on getting my Ph.D. in business
health administration and follow in the footsteps of Dr. Asch. My
concentration is in pediatric medicine. Unlike this morning's
rendition, I cannot carry a tune, but fortunately, every day of
my life, I carry three extra organs. Thank you.
     Stewart Jenkins: Georgia, Georgia. Good morning. This fall I
will be continuing my undergraduate years at Georgia Tech. I will
be majoring in physics and computer engineering. I plan to go
into graduate school studying physics. After all those years of
listening to college professors lecture, I plan to do it myself.
Let me say that I've only been with the Federation a short time,
but during that time my experience has been a positive one that I
hope will continue to be that way. Thank you all.
     Diana Knox: Maine, Maine. Good morning. I'm a junior at the
University of Southern Maine. I'm majoring in psychology. I must
confess I came here because I had a very good incentive--
scholarship money. Well, I've been with you for four days, and a
lot has changed. I don't intend to take the money and run
anymore. You Federationists are just wonderful people. I intend
to be active in my local chapter and spread the NFB philosophy.
Our philosophy now is just wonderful. I'd like to thank you for
your hospitality and generosity. Thank you.
     Michelle Lauer: Kentucky, Indiana. I recently graduated from
the University of Kentucky in May. This fall I'm going to start
law school at the University of Notre Dame. When I was three
years old, I was scared about my brother riding the bus to
school. After months of confusion, I rode the bus myself and
realized that you did not sit on the roof of the bus, but you
climbed into the bus. However, everyone had said, "Look at Brian
get on the bus." Since I couldn't see it clearly, I assumed you
climbed onto the roof. The perspective is different for a blind
person and a sighted person, and I appreciate the multitude of
perspectives that I have learned from all of my friends in the
Federation this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful time. Thank
you.
     Jody Lee: Florida, Florida. Hi, everybody. I'm happy to be
here today. I'm about to make a big career change in my life. I
am presently employed by the State of Florida, and in the fall am
about to begin to work in the orientation and mobility, rehab
teaching master's degree program at Florida State. I'm legally
blind, and it wasn't until after I had already made all these
plans to make these changes, had been admitted to school--
everything--that I learned that apparently there is controversy
in this field. I know this is going to be one of the things that
people expect me not to be able to do, but I'll prove them wrong.
I am looking forward later this week to getting my first cane
travel lesson from a BLIND, Inc., teacher.
     Latawnya Muhammad: Illinois, Illinois. Good morning. I have
something very special to share with you all today. First I
should tell you that I go to Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale. Second, I wanted to share with you that I was born
into a Muslim family, and when babies are born into the family,
they give them names that reflect attributes that they would like
them to have. I was the first blind child in my family, so they
really didn't know what I would be capable of. Upon telling my
father that I received a scholarship from the NFB, sending him
literature and explaining how important the NFB was, he decided
to give me my name. So next convention I will be officially Alea
Miriam Muhammad. Alea means a star that is rising, Maria means
Mary from the Bible, because my father says that I'm an
exceptional mother.
     Darrin Pagnac: South Dakota, South Dakota. Hello. I'm a
master's student at the South Dakota School of Mines, studying
vertebrate paleontology. My work involves the meticulous
reconstruction of fossil remains in a laboratory setting as well
as the search for new fossil remains in the field, which involves
such great activities as spending weeks on end living out of a
tent; working long hours in the hot, searing sun; and
experiencing such wonderful things as poison ivy, falling rocks,
barbed wire, stinging scorpions, and biting rattlesnakes. It's an
interesting life. This is my first NFB convention, and it's been
a very positive experience. Above all else, I am extremely
impressed with the incredible spirit demonstrated by the
Federation and all of its members. Thank you all very much.
     Billy Petrino: Louisiana, Louisiana. Good morning. I'm an
entering junior at Louisiana State University in Shreveport,
majoring in mathematics education. Louisiana is the forty-ninth
state I've been in more than two months. People often ask me why
I moved so much. It has taken me until this last year to realize
I was looking for a home and a family, and I found both at the
NFB. Thank you.
     Rachel Ragland: Missouri, Missouri. Hello, everyone. First I
would like to start by saying the Federation is very new to me--
this is actually my first convention. So far I've learned so much
exciting stuff and met so many of you. Thank you very much. I am
attending the University of Missouri at Rolla. I am majoring in
nuclear engineering with a strong emphasis in environmental
engineering. After I graduate from college, I hope to work with
nuclear propulsion and to work with radiation waste management,
and if I'm really lucky and if I spend a lot of hard hours at the
nuclear reactor, I might be my very own light bulb.
     Angela Sasser: Louisiana, Louisiana. Good morning. In the
fall I'll be a freshman at Centenary College in Shreveport,
Louisiana, and I'll be studying art history. I hope one day to
get a job either as a professor or in a museum. I am currently a
student at the Louisiana Center for the Blind, and I'm teaching
art to the Buddy kids in the kids' program. I'm also a newly
elected board member of the National Association of Blind
Students.
     Ken Silberman: Maryland, District of Columbia. Hello,
everybody. I'm sort of making a career change or augmenting it.
I'm combining my engineering background with a law degree in
attending the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University this
fall. I currently work at NASA's outerspace flight center and
hold a master's degree in aerospace engineering and a bachelor's
degree in astronomy. I serve as President of the Southern
Maryland Chapter--Hi, Maryland, and I serve on the Board of
Directors of Volunteers for the Handicapped, an agency in Silver
Spring, Maryland. I would just like to get personal for a second
and thank everyone here for the last twelve years in helping me
to change my life. When I applied for a scholarship the first
time, I was really heading for a life of dependency and great
difficulty. I met people who believed in me and inspired me and
helped me; and it turns out that you were very proud of me. I
just want to say that I love you all very much and thank you.
     Gene Skonicki: Illinois, New York. Good morning, my friends.
I am a recent graduate of the Illinois Math and Science Academy
and will be attending the University of Rochester, New York. More
than that, though, this is my first convention experience. I am
reminded of a story that, I think, embodies the spirit of the
National Federation of the Blind. Once Winston Churchill was at a
party late at night and found himself a bit intoxicated. A noble
woman in the room commented to him, "Mr. Churchill, you are quite
drunk."
     He responded in kind, "Madam, I may be drunk, but you are
ugly. In the morning I will be sober." Thank you.
     Sumara Shakeel: New Jersey, New Jersey, Delaware. Hello,
NFB. I am currently nearing the completion of my undergraduate
work in music therapy at Montclair state University and would
like to pursue a master's degree in occupational therapy and
combine the two disciplines in my work someday. If there is one
piece of advice I can give to you newcomers, it's network,
network, network. Because I have learned from personal experience
that that is the way to education and empowerment. Thank you.
     Samantha Shlakman: New York, District of Columbia. When Dr.
Jernigan spoke to the Scholarship Class of 1997 on Sunday, he
stated that blind people should never be handed anything on a
silver platter. We should and have to work just as hard to
accomplish comparable goals with all other people. I have never
been handed anything on a silver platter--not to mention any
other type of platter--and I know from first-hand experience the
type of hard work that Dr. Jernigan is referring to. This coming
fall I will become a freshman at George Washington University,
but that's not the special part. The memorable part of my story
comes when I tell you that at George Washington I am enrolled in
a seven-year BA/MD program, and next year will be my first year.
This program enables me to do three years of undergraduate work
and then automatically enter medical school. There were only
eight people out of six hundred and thirty applicants who enjoyed
being selected this year. I can tell you as well that I will
become the first blind person ever to attend George Washington
Medical School. I would like to thank the Board, the people that
selected me as a scholarship recipient, and I would like to
commend all of these hard-working blind people out there who are
continuously not asking for things on platters but earning them
through hard work and determination. Thank you.
     Keri Stewart: Missouri, Missouri. Good morning, fellow
Federationists. Thank you, I would like to say that I am very
proud to be a member of the Federation. I am attending the
University of Missouri, Columbia. I'm getting my master's in
social work and planning and administration with an emphasis on
disabilities. I started my leadership skills back in high school
when I was a drum major for our high school band. Some of you out
there heard me yesterday yelling down the hall where the student
seminar was. I didn't need a microphone yesterday, and I didn't
need one back then. I would like to say, though, that I was a
leader then; I'm a leader now; I will be a leader in the future;
and I'm thrilled to be a part of this wonderful organization,
changing what it means to be blind. I want to be a part of it.
     Ivette Valdes: Wisconsin, Wisconsin. Good morning. I am very
happy to be here. This is my first NFB convention. It's very
exciting. I am a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin,
Madison. I am in the French Department, working on a dissertation
which focuses on women writers from the French-speaking Caribbean
Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. I chose my geographical
area very carefully since I know I will be having to do research
there in the future. I hope to be finishing within the next year,
and I hope to follow the example of Professor Asch and go on to
teach and do research at the university level. Thank you very
much.
     Tonia Valletta: Virginia, North Carolina, New Mexico. I feel
deeply indebted to the members, especially to the leaders of the
National Federation of the Blind, for stretching my thinking by
challenging me to answer the question, "What does it mean to be a
truly independent blind person?" I have now often asked myself
that question. It has many answers, and I have learned some of
them, but I hope to learn many more with your help. Thank you
very much.
     Nathanael Wales: California, California. Good morning. I'm a
student at the University of California at Davis. I am majoring
in civil engineering, and after I finish my undergraduate work, I
would like to go on to law school and enter a career combining
both engineering and law. I started my studies at the University
of California at Davis this past April. I did that shortly after
graduating from the Louisiana Center for the Blind in Ruston. At
the Louisiana Center I not only gained confidence in myself as a
blind person, but I also received very valuable training in many
skills including Braille, cane travel, computers, independent
living, and the proper technique for eating Scottish bonnet in
the jambalaya at the House of Blues at the French Quarter and
learning to live to tell about it. Thank you.
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Stacy Hayworth, the 1997 $10,000 American Action
Fund scholarship winner.]

     Peggy Elliott: And there, fellow Federationists, is the
class of 1997. [applause]
                           **********
     As you can see, we have an impressive group of scholarship
winners this year. Here are the awards they received:
                           **********
$3,000 NFB Scholarship: Katharine Chavez, Marina Eastham, Ameenah
     Ghoston, Steven Hagemoser, Rebecca Hart, Stewart Jenkins,
     Michelle Lauer, Latawnya Muhammad, Rachel Ragland, Sumara
     Shakeel, Samantha Shlakman, Keri Stewart, and Tonia
     Valletta.
$3,000 Frank Walton Horn Memorial Scholarship: Eugene Skonicki
$3,000 Hermione Grant Calhoun Scholarship: Ivette Valdes
$3,000 Kuchler-Killian Memorial Scholarship: Kenneth Silberman
$3,000 Humanities Scholarship: Diana Knox
$3,000 Mozelle and Willard Gold Memorial Scholarship: Mariyam
     Cementwala
$3,000 Educator of Tomorrow Scholarship: Bill Petrino
$3,000 Howard Brown Rickard Scholarship: Darrin Pagnac
$3,000 E. U. Parker Memorial Scholarship: Laura Biro
$3,000 Computer Science Scholarship: Nathanael Wales
$4,000 NFB Scholarship: Jason Ewell and Jody Lee
$4,000 Melva T. Owen Memorial Scholarship: Angela Sasser
$10,000 American Action Fund Scholarship: Stacy Hayworth
                           **********
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Steve Benson and Dr. Adrienne Asch]
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Debbie Prost (left) listens as Sharon Maneki
(right) presents the Distinguished Educator of the Year Award.]
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Betty Niceley (left) presents the Golden Keys
Award to Diane Croft of National Braille Press.]
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Betty Niceley holds the Jacobus tenBroek Award
plaque while President Maurer looks on.]

                           **********
                         Awards for 1997
                           **********
     From the Editor: National Federation of the Blind awards are
not bestowed lightly. If an appropriate recipient does not emerge
from the pool of candidates for a particular award, it is simply
not presented. At this year's convention four presentations were
made. Here is the way it happened:
                           **********
                Blind Educator of the Year Award
                           **********
     At the Tuesday morning meeting of the Board of Directors,
President Maurer called Steve Benson to the microphone to make an
award presentation. Steve is a member of the NFB Board of
Directors, President of the NFB of Illinois, and Chairman of the
Blind Educator of the Year Award Committee. This is what he said:
                           **********
     Thank you, President Maurer, and thank you, also to the
selection committee: Homer Page, Judy Sanders, Adelmo Vigil, and
Ramona Walhof. I recently visited DePaul University's new library
and found four titles by Jacobus tenBroek. Three are listed in
the law library and one in the general collection. We know him as
the founder and principal first mover of our organization, but
his consummate teaching skills, commitment to scholarship,
expertise in the law and the Constitution, and influence in and
writings about the welfare system still stand as authoritative
sources. Dr. tenBroek was always in demand as a speaker and
lecturer. He strongly advocated for the right of the blind to
achieve excellence and compete on equal terms with our sighted
neighbors.
     The recipient of this year's Blind Educator of the Year
Award emulates Dr. tenBroek's scholarship and commitment to
academics. This winner advocates vigorously for the rights of
blind children and adults. Her curriculum vitae extends to more
than a dozen pages. She has lectured at universities all over the
United States and is in demand as a speaker in her field here and
abroad. She has authored many scholarly articles published in
professional journals. She has earned genuine distinction in her
field. Her name is Adrienne Asch. [applause]
     While Adrienne is making her way to the platform, let me
tell you she holds a Ph.D. in social work from Columbia
University. She has a position at the Hastings Center, a think-
tank that shapes policy for the law and medicine. She is the
first blind person to occupy such a position. Adrienne
demonstrates that blind people can compete on the basis of
equality in an area that demands staggering amounts of reading.
She has taken a leadership role in the attempt to educate those
supporting full inclusion about the rights of blind children for
cane and Braille and other things.
     Among her long list of writing credits is an article on
blindness in the Encyclopedia of Social Work. She serves as a
council member of the Society for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues, Division Nine of the American Psychological
Association. She served on the President's task force to
reorganize the health care system. She is currently serving a
five-year appointment to the Henry R. Luce Chair of Biology,
Ethics, and the Politics of Human Reproduction at Wellesley
College, chosen, by the way, from a highly competitive
international field of candidates. It is a most prestigious
position--a position of real honor.
     So, Adrienne, here is a check for $500 and a plaque, which
reads:
                           **********
                Blind Educator of the Year Award
                National Federation of the Blind
                          presented to
                          Adrienne Asch
                  in recognition of outstanding
           accomplishments in the teaching profession
                     You enhance the present
                   You inspire your colleagues
                      You build the future
                          July 1, 1997
                           **********
     Adrienne Asch: I'm overwhelmed. This means more to me than I
can possibly say. I care about this organization; I have for a
long time. I love the work that I do in it. I love the work that
I do in my scholarship and teaching. I can't believe what a joy
this is to me--to have the work I've tried to do recognized by
this organization. Thank you very much. [applause]
                           **********
         Distinguished Educator of Blind Children Award
                           **********
     A little later in the Board meeting, President Maurer called
upon Sharon Maneki, President of the NFB of Maryland and
Chairwoman of the Distinguished Educator of Blind Children
Selection Committee, to make a presentation. This is what she
said:
                           **********
     The committee of Allen Harris, Jacquilyn Billey, Joyce
Scanlan, and myself are pleased to present a truly distinguished
educator of blind children. The National Federation of the Blind
started this award, I believe, about ten years ago to recognize
teachers because the children are our most important investment
in the future. Education is the most important vehicle to true
equality and opportunity. Sometimes it can be very lonely for a
vision teacher in the school system, not because of being the
only vision teacher in the system, but sometimes because of very
real differences in philosophy.
     This morning's recipient is someone who has been teaching
for seventeen years. She is an itinerant teacher. She has a
certificate in Literary Braille Competency from the Library of
Congress, as well as a master's from the University of Virginia.
We are recognizing her, not only because of her ability in
teaching academic subjects, but because she is an advocate for
her students. When there was a debate about whether a student
could carry a cane and use it in the classroom, she stood for the
student. When there was a debate about a need for Braille or a
need for technology, she stood for her students and was able to
get them what they needed.
     She is truly a role model for her students. She lives her
Federationism, not just in the classroom, but every day of the
year. She not only teaches, but she expresses her philosophy, and
many times students catch it as she lives her life. Join me in
congratulating Deborah Prost, a teacher in the Portsmouth,
Virginia, School District. [applause]
     As Debbie is coming over to the microphone, I want everyone
to know that we have a $500 check for Deborah, and I will be
giving her the plaque. It reads:
                           **********
              The National Federation of the Blind
                             honors
                          Deborah Prost
            Distinguished Educator of Blind Children
                   for your skill in teaching
              Braille and the use of the white cane
               for generously devoting extra time
               to meet the needs of your students
                 and for inspiring your students
              to perform beyond their expectations
                    You champion our movement
         You strengthen our hopes, you share our dreams
                          July 1, 1997
                           **********
     Deborah Prost: I want to thank the Federation for this
award. It really means a lot to me to get this because I know the
Federation is the only organization that really expects the best
of students, and I want to continue working and doing everything
I can to work with the Federation to help students be the best
that they can be. I also thank God for helping me receive this
award. I really thank the Federation again.
                           **********
                        Golden Keys Award
                           ***********
     During the banquet on Friday, July 4, President Maurer
called Betty Niceley, President of the National Association to
Promote the Use of Braille, to make a presentation. Here is what
she said:
                           **********
     It was the growing concern about the steady decline in the
use of Braille that led to the establishment in 1984 of the
National Association to Promote the Use of Braille, fondly
referred to as NAPUB. This division of the National Federation of
the Blind is a vehicle for addressing Braille-related issues. The
mission of NAPUB is to promote and encourage the production,
teaching, and use of Braille. An integral part of this process is
to recognize excellence whenever and wherever it occurs.
     The most prestigious award which NAPUB has to offer is the
Golden Keys Award, and it is not given lightly. In the
organization's thirteen-year history, only two have been given to
individuals for unusual dedication to Braille and its
availability to the blind. This year NAPUB is presenting the
third Golden Keys Award to the National Braille Press. [applause]
This is done for its ongoing commitment to Braille and its
creativity, which result in unique and innovative ideas for
making things happen.
     The National Braille Press is well known for the children's
book-of-the-month club, which made it possible to purchase
Braille books at the same price as the print edition. Not only
the Book-of-the-Month Club, but Just Enough to Know Better, the
book designed by NBP to help parents learn Braille along with
their children, enjoys a continued popularity. Braille copies of
the Constitution provided by the National Braille Press probably
gave many blind citizens their first chance to look at this
historic document. Because of the National Braille Press, cooks
all over the country are able to read their own package
directions from Kraft Foods and General Mills products.
     When computers made the scene, it was the National Braille
Press which provided Braille instructional manuals and put in a
lot of effort to keep them updated. NBP was there when surfing
the Net became the number one hobby of sighted Americans, and the
people at NBP dreamed that the same pleasure could be given to
blind computer users. The publication by the National Braille
Press of the Internet Complete Reference has made it possible for
computer users who are blind to reap the rewards of traveling the
information superhighway. As a means of addressing the problem of
continuing graphics on the Internet, NBP published the Links
Reference Guide for blind users, a textbook-based browser which
allows a blind person to navigate around the system with Braille
or speech access.
     In presenting this award, special recognition is given to
Diane Croft, Marketing Director for the National Braille Press.
[applause] William Rader, the Director, and other employees at
NBP contend that Miss Croft is the moving force behind the stream
of innovative ideas which make it possible for Braille readers
everywhere to enjoy an amazing variety of both educational and
fund materials. Mr. Rader suggested that Miss Croft should accept
this award for NBP.
     The plaque reads in part:
                           **********
                  To the National Braille Press
           We present these golden keys in recognition
                of ongoing commitment to Braille
              and to the readers who depend on it.
                Through creativity and innovation
                 NBP has given to these readers
                   the keys that unlock doors
                   to the temple of knowledge.
                           **********
     Miss Croft, on behalf of the National Association to Promote
the Use of Braille, it gives me great pleasure to present our
Golden Keys Award to the National Braille Press. [applause]
                           **********
     Diane Croft: Thank you very much. There are thirty hard-
working people at the National Braille Press. A lot of people are
surprised that there are only thirty. I very much appreciate your
recognition of the hard work that they do every day. I'm so
pleased to bring this back to them. Thank you very much.
                           **********
                   The Jacobus tenBroek Award
                           **********
     Immediately following the presentation to National Braille
Press, President Maurer began speaking. This is what he said:
                           **********
     The Jacobus tenBroek Award is given from time to time to one
of our own members, but only as often as circumstances warrant.
It exemplifies the spirit of our founder and recognizes the
reflection of that spirit in the person who receives it. Dr.
Jacobus tenBroek had the imagination to believe that blind people
working together for the advancement of the blind could
accomplish more than anybody else to bring independence and
success to the lives of the blind. He had the determination to
form the vehicle which would make it possible, the National
Federation of the Blind. It is his courage which said, "No matter
what the obstacles, we can meet them. No matter what the trials,
we will surmount them." And this was not done only for himself,
but for all of us--for the blind of the nation.
     This year we have identified a worthy recipient of the
Jacobus tenBroek Award. The selection committee, whose members
are Ramona Walhof, Allen Harris, James Omvig, and Joyce Scanlan,
has given to us the name of a leader in the Federation--a blind
person who has shared the aspirations of Dr. tenBroek and worked
within the Federation for a generation to bring those aspirations
to reality. I invite to join me on the podium Betty Niceley.
[applause]
     Born in 1934, Betty Niceley grew up with her grandparents,
who managed a series of country stores in southeastern Kentucky.
The family lived beside the stores, doing whatever needed to be
done--stocking shelves, filling orders, cashiering. It was good
experience for a blind child. At the age of eight Betty Niceley
left home to attend the Kentucky School for the Blind in
Louisville, where she got a good education. Later she transferred
to Bell County High School, where she received her diploma. Her
senior class selected her as queen and voted her the "Person Most
Likely to Succeed." Betty Niceley attended Georgetown College in
central Kentucky, receiving a bachelor's degree in English and a
secondary teaching certificate, but about the same time she was
married to Charles. The Niceleys have two daughters and two
grandsons.
     After leaving college, Betty Niceley found a job at the
American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville. Thirteen
years later she left the printing house to accept a job teaching
Braille at the rehabilitation center opened by the Kentucky
Department for the Blind. When the Kentucky Independent Living
Center opened in the fall of 1980, Betty Niceley began teaching
Braille, other blindness skills, and travel to the blind of all
ages. She also became responsible for public relations and
educational programs there.
     Betty Niceley first joined the National Federation of the
Blind in 1967. Within a short time she became Secretary of the
state affiliate and President of the Louisville chapter. In 1979
she was elected President of the National Federation of the Blind
of Kentucky. She was a principal force in the formation of the
National Association to Promote the Use of Braille, a division of
the National Federation of the Blind. She became its first
President and serves in that office today. Betty Niceley has
served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National
Federation of the Blind since 1985.
     These are facts about Betty Niceley, and they describe a
woman who possesses poise, a record of accomplishment, and a
willingness to share her talents. As impressive as this
recitation is, it cannot convey the spirit of the person we honor
tonight. When a job needs doing, Betty Niceley is there to help.
When a plan must be made, Betty Niceley's imagination will be
employed to create the understanding we seek to achieve. When a
blind person needs consolation or support, Betty Niceley is ready
with a loving heart. This is the person who receives our highest
honor. This is the 1997 recipient of the Jacobus tenBroek Award.
The award reads:
                           **********
                     Jacobus tenBroek Award
                National Federation of the Blind
                          presented to
                          Betty Niceley
                 for your dedication, sacrifice
              and commitment on behalf of the blind
                         of this nation
                  Your contribution is measured
                   not in steps, but in miles
                  not by individual experiences
                 but by your impact on the lives
                   of the blind of the nation
                       When we have asked
                       you have answered.
             We call you our colleague with respect
                We call you our friend with love
                          July 4, 1997
                           **********
     Betty Niceley: Now you all know that I do get emotional. . .
. Been there, done that, this week. Thank you so very much. I
don't know what you can say about being given so much honor for
things that come so naturally. For those I love (and that
certainly is this group), for those I appreciate (those are my
leaders and those who follow me), thank you very much. I assure
you that I accept it with love. [applause]
                           **********
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan]

                   The Day After Civil Rights
                     An Address Delivered by
                        Kenneth Jernigan
             At the Banquet of the Annual Convention
             Of the National Federation of the Blind
              New Orleans, Louisiana, July 4, 1997
                           **********
     It has been said that all knowledge consists of definition
and classification, and even definition may be just another way
of classifying. History, for example, can be classified (or
divided) into ancient, medieval, and modern; secular and
ecclesiastical; American, English, European, African, Asian, and
Latin American; political, economic, and social. And there are
hundreds of other ways of doing it.
     As to our history, the history of the organized blind
movement, I classify or divide it into four stages. Of course, I
could add a fifth--the centuries and eons before our founding in
1940. But I prefer to think of that time as the dark ages, the
pre-history before hope and enlightenment.
     When the National Federation of the Blind came into being
almost six decades ago, our problem was simple. It was to find
enough food to keep body and soul together--not for all of us, of
course, but for many. If you are hungry, it is hard to think
about anything else. And the blind were hungry.
     And then we moved to a second stage, the attempt to find
jobs. Call it rehabilitation. It wasn't that poverty had been
eliminated, but it had been so reduced that we could now begin to
think about something else, about jobs, about how to earn and not
just be given. Naturally the desire for jobs was there from the
beginning, but it now moved to the center of the stage. This was
in the late '50's, the '60's, and the '70's. We wanted jobs--and
we found them. Not always according to our capacity and not
always with equal pay--but jobs.
     And then we moved to a third stage. Call it civil rights.
After a person has satisfied hunger and found a job, there is
still something else--the search for self-esteem and equal
treatment--the yearning to belong and participate--to be part of
the family and the broader community. And for us, as for other
minorities, there was only one way to get there--confrontation.
The status quo always fights change.
     Many people think that civil rights and integration are the
same thing. They aren't. The concept of civil rights precedes
integration and is a necessary precursor to it. As used in the
late twentieth century, the term civil rights (although some will
deny it) always means force--an in-your-face attitude by the
minority, laws that make somebody do this or that, picketing,
marches in the street, court cases, and much else. And we have
done those things, all of them. We had to.
     But there comes a day after civil rights. There must.
Otherwise, the first three stages (satisfying hunger, finding
jobs, and getting civil rights) have been in vain. The laws, the
court cases, the confrontations, the jobs, and even the
satisfying of hunger can never be our prime focus. They are
preliminary. It is not that they disappear. Rather it is that
they become a foundation on which to build.
     Legislation cannot create understanding. Confrontation
cannot create good will, mutual acceptance, and respect. For that
matter, legislation and confrontation cannot create self-esteem.
The search for self-esteem begins in the period of civil rights,
but the realization of self-esteem must wait for the day after
civil rights.
     It will be easy for me to be misunderstood, so I want to
make something very clear. We have not forgotten how to fight,
and we will do it when we have to. We must not become slack or
cease to be vigilant, and we won't. But we have now made enough
progress to move to the next stage on the road to freedom. I call
it the day after civil rights.
     If a minority lives too long in an armed camp atmosphere,
that minority becomes poisoned and corroded. We must move beyond
minority mentality and victim thinking. This will be difficult--
especially in today's society, where hate and suspicion are a
rising tide and where members of minorities are encouraged and
expected to feel bitterness and alienation and members of the
majority are encouraged and expected to feel guilt and
preoccupation with the past. Yes, it will be hard to do what I am
suggesting, but we must do it. We must be willing to give to
others as much as we want others to give to us, and we must do it
with good will and civility. We must make the hard choices and
take the long view.
     Let me be specific. If a blind person tries to exploit
blindness to get an advantage, or tries to use blindness as an
excuse for failure or bad behavior, we must not defend that blind
person but must stand with the sighted person that the blind
person is trying to victimize. This will not be easy; it will not
always be politically correct; and it will frequently bring
criticism, not only from those blind persons who claim to want
equality but are not willing to earn it, but also from some of
the sighted as well. But we must do it anyway. If we want equal
treatment and true integration, we must act like equals and not
hide behind minority status. Yes, blind people are our brothers
and sisters, but so are the sighted. Unless we are willing to
have it that way, we neither deserve nor truly want what we have
always claimed as a birthright.
     That birthright, equal responsibility as well as equal
rights, is the very essence of the NFB's philosophy. It is what
we set out to get in 1940; it is what we have fought for every
step of the way; it is what we are now close to achieving; and it
is what we are absolutely determined to have. Equal rights--equal
responsibility.
     We are capable of working with the sighted, playing with the
sighted, and living with the sighted; and we are capable of doing
it on terms of complete equality. Likewise, the sighted are
capable of doing the same with us--and for the most part I think
they want to. What we need is not confrontation but
understanding, an understanding that runs both ways. This means
an ongoing process of communication and public education.
     It is for that reason that in 1991 we introduced the Kernel
Books. As I said at last year's convention, what we have done in
writing, publishing, and distributing these books is nothing
short of revolutionary. More than three million of them are now
in circulation, and the difference they have made in public
attitudes about blindness would be hard to exaggerate.
     This year, following our usual pattern, we are issuing two
more Kernel Books. Book twelve, Like Cats and Dogs, is available
now; and book thirteen, Wall-to-Wall Thanksgiving, will come this
fall. There are, of course, many other elements in our
educational program, but the Kernel Books are the centerpiece of
it. As you hear the introductions to the two 1997 books and
excerpts from the articles I wrote for them, keep in mind the
context and the reason for publishing them. They must carry a
message without being so preachy that nobody will read them, and
they must be entertaining without blurring the purpose:
                           **********
                       Like Cats and Dogs
                      Editor's Introduction
                           **********
     In the early and mid 1930's, when I was a boy in grade
school, I dearly loved to read poetry--or, more properly
speaking, have poetry read to me. And my teachers often obliged.
One of my favorites was a poem by Eugene Field called the
"Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat." Although it will never be a
classic, I liked it. It begins like this:
          The gingham dog and the calico cat
          Side by side on the table sat;
          'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
          Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink!
     The poem goes on to tell how the cat and dog had an awful
fight and concludes by giving the outcome:
          "But the truth about the cat and pup
          Is this: they ate each other up!
     Thus we come to the title of this book, Like Cats and Dogs.
Maybe I chose it because I once had a dog that I dearly loved, or
because I currently have some adorable kittens--or maybe because
of the well-known saying about people fighting like cats and
dogs. Regardless of the reason, the title is chosen, and we come
to a question: Exactly how do cats and dogs behave toward each
other?
     If they don't understand each other, they fight "like cats
and dogs." But if they have the opportunity to get acquainted,
they can live in harmony and become good friends.
     As it is with cats and dogs, so it is with the blind and
their sighted neighbors. There can either be harmony and
friendship or misunderstanding and frustration. This little
volume (the twelfth in the Kernel Book series) is meant to
promote understanding, the ultimate framework of all true
friendship and mutual respect.
     As with past Kernel Books, the stories here are real-life
experiences, told by the blind persons who lived them. The one
exception is the article by Theresa House, who is the sighted
wife of a blind man. Her parents feared that a blind person could
never be an adequate husband for their daughter, and certainly
not a suitable father for her children. You will see how it is
turning out as they live their lives and raise their family.
     As a matter of fact, marriage and children are major themes
of this book. Bruce Gardner, blind and preparing to be a lawyer,
dates and falls in love with a young sighted woman. She has
questions, and so do her father and mother.
     And there is the matter of blind parents and sighted
children. As the boy and girl grow up, how do they feel? Do they
think their parents can take care of them--and how do the parents
feel? What ambitions do the parents have for their children?
     There is another theme relative to children (blind
children). Many are not given the chance to learn Braille. What
does that do to them, and how do they feel about it as they come
to adulthood?
     There is more--the article I wrote about the difference
between the sounds and smells of today and sixty years ago; and
there is the story about a blind kitten (told by the owner, of
course, not the kitten); an account of a blind woman's experience
with pouring coffee; and much else. But I think I have told you
enough to give you an inkling of what to expect.
     At the core all of the people represented here are talking
about the same thing. What they are saying is this: In everything
that counts we who are blind are just like you. As you read, you
will recognize yourself in the story of our experiences. We laugh
and cry, work and play, hope and dream, just like you. And
although we don't forget that we are blind, we don't constantly
think about it either. We are concerned with the routine business
of daily living--what we plan to have for dinner, the latest
gossip, and the current shenanigans in Washington.
     Around fifty thousand people become blind in this country
each year. That means that it may happen to you, a member of your
family, a neighbor, or a friend. So we want you to know what
blindness is like--and, more to the point, what it isn't like.
That is why we are producing the Kernel Books. We hope you will
find this volume both informative and interesting. If you do, we
will have accomplished our purpose. We want to live in harmony
with our neighbors--not the way most people think cats and dogs
live.
                           **********
Kenneth Jernigan
Baltimore, Maryland
1997
                           **********
     That is the introduction. Now here are excerpts from my
article called "The Sounds and Smells of Sixty Years":
                           **********
     Everybody knows that change is probably the only constant in
life, but I think we don't fully understand what that means until
after we are fifty. At least that is how it has been with me.
     As readers of the Kernel Books know, I grew up on a farm in
Tennessee in the 1920's and '30's, and it seems to me that almost
nothing today is the way it was then. Since I have been blind all
of my life, I am not talking about how things look but how they
smell, taste, sound, and feel.
     Start with smell. The world smells different today from what
it did then. Nowadays I spend much of my time indoors, breathing
conditioned air, whether heated or cooled. But that wasn't how it
was when I was a boy.
     Since we didn't have electricity, we couldn't have had air
conditioning even if we could have afforded it. So in the summer
the windows were open, and usually so were the doors. The air was
rich with odors--the smells of growing things, of the barnyard,
of the dust and gasoline from an occasional passing car, and of
creeks. These were the smells of summer, but there were also the
smells of winter--wood, burning in a fireplace, the smell of the
unheated portions of the house, and the smell of the country in
winter.
     And it was not just the smells of that time but also the
sounds--the mixture of stillness, bird songs, distant cattle, and
the aliveness of the land. Today, whether indoors or out, one
thing is always present--the sound of motors. There are
automobiles, office machines, fluorescent lights, power tools,
lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, kitchen appliances, air
conditioners, and heating units. When I was a boy, I might go a
whole week without hearing a motor--but not today. In the world
of the '90's there is never a minute without a motor. Sometimes
it is an avalanche of noise, and sometimes only a vibration in
the background--but it is always there--always a motor.
     And I mustn't omit taste and touch. At first thought it
might seem that there would be no difference between then and
now, but there is. It isn't necessarily that I can't touch most
of the things today that I touched in the 1930's. It is just that
I don't. And as to taste, it may simply be my imagination or my
aging taste buds, but it certainly doesn't seem that way. Food is
prepared differently, and the ingredients take a different path
from origin to table.
     But what does all of that have to do with blindness? After
all, that is what this book is about. Certainly blindness and
blind people are not treated today the way they were sixty years
ago. The blind of that generation had almost no chance to get a
job and very little chance to get an education.
     In my case (many of you know this story as well as I do, so
you can judge for yourselves whether it fits our purpose in the
Kernel Books), I was allowed to go to college, but I wasn't
permitted to take the course of study I wanted. I attended
elementary and high school at the Tennessee School for the Blind
in Nashville, graduating in 1945. One day in the spring of my
senior year, a state rehabilitation counselor came to talk to me
about what I wanted to do and be.
     I remember it well. We sat in what was called the parlor--a
room, incidentally, which deserved the name. The School was
housed in an old southern mansion, and the parlor, which was used
as a general reception area, was the very essence of elegance.
     The counselor and I sat on the elaborately carved sofa, and
he asked me to tell him two or three areas of study that I might
like to pursue when I went to college. I told him that I didn't
need to pick two or three, that I wanted to be a lawyer.
     He said that he wouldn't say that a blind person couldn't be
a lawyer but that he thought it wasn't realistic. I would not be
able to see the faces of the jury, he said, and would not be able
to do the paperwork and the travelling. I argued, but I was only
a teenager--and I didn't have any money.
     Ultimately he told me (with big words and gently, but with
absolute finality) that either I could go to college and study
law and pay for it myself, or I could go and prepare to be
something else and be assisted by the rehabilitation agency.
Since I was a teenager and didn't have any money, I went and was
something else.
     Of course I now know that he was wrong. I am personally
acquainted with hundreds of successfully practicing blind
lawyers, and most of them are not noticeably more competent than
I am. But I would not want to create the wrong impression. This
man was not trying to do me harm. Quite the contrary. He truly
believed that what he was doing was in my best interest. He was
trying to help me. He was acting in the spirit of the times and
doing the best he knew.
     Today it wouldn't happen that way. Many things have made the
difference, but principal among them is the National Federation
of the Blind. Established in 1940 by a handful of blind men and
women from seven states, the Federation has conducted a never-
ending campaign to educate the public and stimulate the blind. I
joined the organization in 1949, and it changed my life.
     Today the Federation is the strongest and most constructive
force in the affairs of the blind of this country, but its work
is by no means finished. The job that still has to be done is not
so much a matter of legislation or government assistance as of
handling the interactions of daily life. We have come a long way
in public acceptance, but sometimes the attitudes of sixty years
ago are still with us.
     Let me illustrate by what at first may seem to be trivial
examples. (Again, some of you are familiar with the details
surrounding the story I am about to tell, so you can judge
whether it meets our test of suitability for the Kernel Books.)
Over fifty years ago, when I was a boy on the farm in Tennessee,
I often found time heavy on my hands during the summer months
when I was not in school. To relieve the tedium, I would
sometimes ride with a truck driver, who collected milk from the
local farmers to take to a nearby cheese factory.
     The days were hot, and when we could afford it, we sometimes
bought a bottle of Coca-Cola. (Incidentally, it cost five cents.)
I didn't have much money, but now and again I had a little, and I
wanted to pay my share. One day I said to the driver (a young
fellow about twenty), "I'll buy a Coke for each of us."
     "Okay," he said, "stay here. I'll go in and get it."
     "No," I said. "I'll go with you."
     He was obviously uncomfortable and didn't want me to do it.
Finally he said, "I can't do that. How would it look if people
saw a blind person buying me a Coke?"
     I was a teenager, not yet accustomed to the ways of
diplomacy. So I told him in blunt terms that either I would buy
the Coke publicly or I wouldn't buy it at all. After greed and
pride had fought their battle, he decided not to have it, and we
drove on--after which I was not welcome in the truck.
     But that was more than fifty years ago. It couldn't happen
today. Or could it? Well, let me tell you about an incident that
occurred less than six months ago. My wife and I were entering a
restaurant--an upscale, classy place with plenty of glitter and
lots of manners.
     It so fell out that another couple and we reached the door
almost simultaneously. I happened to be positioned so that it was
natural for me to open the door and hold it while the other
couple entered, but the man was obviously ill at ease. He
insisted that he hold the door and that my wife and I go first.
Since I already had my hand on the door and was holding it open
and since I was not in the mood to be treated like a child or an
inferior, I dug in my mental heels and stayed put. It was all
done on both sides with great politeness and courtly manners, but
it was done. As I continued to hold the door, the other couple
preceded us into the restaurant. But the man was obviously
uncomfortable, showing by his comments and demeanor that he felt
it was inappropriate for a blind person to hold a door for him
and behave like an equal.
     Trivial? Not related to the daily lives and economic
problems of the blind? Not a factor in determining whether blind
people can hold jobs or make money? Don't you believe it! These
incidents (the one fifty years ago and the one this year) typify
and symbolize everything that we are working to achieve.
     But again I must emphasize that we are not talking about
people who are trying to cause us harm. We are talking about
people who, almost without exception, wish us well and want to be
of help. Our job is not one of force but of giving people facts.
     And key to it all is the National Federation of the Blind--
blind persons coming together in local, state, and national
meetings to encourage each other and inform the public. Sometimes
we are tempted to believe that our progress is slow, but in
reality it has been amazingly rapid. We have made more advances
during the past sixty years than in all previously recorded
history. And there are better days ahead.
     It is true that the smells, sounds, touch, and taste of
today are not what they were sixty years ago--but it is equally
true that, despite occasional nostalgia, we wouldn't want them to
be. We wouldn't because today is better--and not just in physical
things but also in the patterns of opportunity and possibility. I
say this despite all of the problems that face our country and
our society. We who are blind look to the future with hope, and
those who are sighted are helping us make that hope a reality.
                           **********
     That is my article for the first of this year's Kernel
Books. Here are the introduction and the article for the second:
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Kenneth Jernigan delivers the banquet address as
the audience listens attentively.]

                    Wall-To-Wall Thanksgiving
                      Editor's Introduction
                           **********
     Most American holidays have a double significance--what they
are and what they imply. New Year's Day, for instance, means just
that, the beginning of another year. But it also means reviewing
the past, planning for the future, and hoping to do better.
     The Fourth of July commemorates the establishment of the
nation. But over the years it has picked up a whole host of other
meanings--everything from summer picnics and fireworks to how we
should live and the current state of American values.
     And then there is Thanksgiving--and also the present Kernel
Book, the thirteenth in the series. When we started publishing
the Kernel Books almost seven years ago, we didn't know how
successful they would be, but our goal was to reach as many
people as possible with true-life first-person stories told by
blind persons themselves--how we raise children, hunt jobs,
engage in courtship, get an education, go to church, cook a meal,
meet friends, and do all of the other things that make up daily
living.
     And we wanted to do it in such a way that the average member
of the sighted public would read and be interested. The results
have been better than we could possibly have hoped. More than
three million of the Kernel Books are now in circulation, and I
rarely travel anywhere in the country without being approached by
somebody who has read them and wants to talk about them or ask
questions.
     As to the present volume, Wall-to-Wall Thanksgiving, it is
much like what has gone before. It tells about blind people as
they live and work.
     What does a blind boy do to earn summer spending money, and
what do his sighted parents expect of him? What of the Viet Nam
veteran who loses his sight in the war and comes home to build a
new life? And what about the self-conscious youngster and young
man with a little sight, who is ashamed of blindness and yet has
to live with it?
     What of the small details that come together to make the
days that form the years--learning to ride a bicycle, cook a
steak, read a book, get a job? This is what Wall-to-Wall
Thanksgiving is about. I know the people who appear in its pages.
They are friends of mine. Some have been my students. All of them
are fellow participants in the work of the National Federation of
the Blind.
     If you wonder why so many of us give our time and effort to
the Federation, it is because the Federation has played such an
important part in making life better for us. In fact, the
National Federation of the Blind has done more than any other
single thing to improve the quality of life for blind persons in
the twentieth century. It is blind persons coming together to
help each other and do for themselves. That doesn't mean that we
don't want or need help from our sighted friends and associates,
for we do. But it does mean that we think we should try to help
ourselves before we ask others for assistance. And we should also
give as well as take. All of this is what the National Federation
of the Blind stands for and means.
     I have edited the Kernel Books from the beginning, and I
have contributed a story to each of them. My present offering
deals with help I have received from sighted people. Sometimes my
reactions have been appropriate and mature; sometimes not. As you
read, you will see that my views have changed as I have grown
older. Perhaps my article, "Don't Throw the Nickel," sums it up.
     As to the title of this thirteenth volume in the Kernel Book
series, Wall-to-Wall Thanksgiving, it is taken from the story of
the same name by Barbara Pierce. But like the various holidays,
it has more than a single meaning. With all of the difficulties
we have had and with all of the problems we still face, we who
are blind have more reason for thanksgiving now than ever before
in history.
     Unlike many in today's society, we do not think of ourselves
as victims. We feel that our future is bright with promise. That
is so because we intend to work to make it that way, and because
more and more sighted people are joining our cause and helping
us.
     I hope you will enjoy this book and that it will give you
worthwhile information.
                           **********
Kenneth Jernigan
Baltimore, Maryland
1997
                           **********
     That is the introduction. Now for the article. As I have
already said, it is called "Don't Throw the Nickel."
                           ***********
     When is it appropriate for a blind person to accept help
from a sighted person, and when is it not? If the offer is
rejected, how can it be done without causing embarrassment or
hurt feelings? Since most sighted people are well-disposed toward
the blind, these are very real questions--questions that I as a
blind person have faced all of my life. As you might imagine, my
answers have changed as I have grown older and gained experience.
     When I was a teenager, filled with the typical self-
consciousness of adolescence, I frequently rode city buses. This
was in Nashville. The school for the blind, where I was a
student, was located on the edge of the city, and I liked to go
downtown. Incidentally, in those days a bus ride cost a nickel,
as did a lot of other things--a hamburger, a Coca-Cola, an order
of French fries, a full-size candy bar, a double-dip of ice
cream, and much else.
     One day I was standing on the corner waiting for a bus when
an elderly woman approached me and said, "Here, son, I'll help
you." She then put a nickel into my hand.
     I could tell that she was elderly because of her voice.
There was quite a crowd at the bus stop, and I felt acute
embarrassment. I tried to give the nickel back, but she moved out
of my way and kept saying, "No, that's all right."
     Everybody stopped talking, and my frustration mounted. Each
time I stepped toward her to try to give back the nickel, she
moved out of the way. It must have been quite a spectacle, me
with my hand extended holding the nickel, and the woman weaving
and dodging to avoid me. Finally, in absolute exasperation, I
threw the nickel as far as I could down the street.
     That was over fifty years ago, but the memory is still
clear. Once the woman had placed the nickel in my hand, there was
really no way I could have given it back. If I had simply and
quietly accepted it and thanked her, very little notice would
have been taken. As it was, I created quite a show. The elderly
woman, who was only trying to help me, was undoubtedly
embarrassed, and I did little to improve the image of blindness.
Instead I did the exact opposite.
     Ten years later, when I was in my twenties, I was teaching
at the California training center for the blind in the San
Francisco Bay area. One of my principal duties was to help newly
blind persons learn how to deal maturely with loss of sight and
the attitudes of the public about blindness.
     Late one afternoon, after a particularly hard day, I was
leaving the Center to go home. When I came to the corner to cross
the street, an elderly man (he sounded as if he might be in his
eighties) approached me and said, "I'll help you across the
street."  "No, thanks," I said. "I can make it just fine." I was
polite but firm.
     "I'll help you," he repeated, and took my arm. As I have
already said, it had been a hard day. I made no discourteous
response, but I speeded up my pace as we crossed the street.
     Clearly the man could not keep up, and if I am to be honest,
I knew that he couldn't. He released my arm and said with a hurt
tone, "I was only trying to help."
     When I got to the other side of the street, I came to a
complete stop and said to myself, "Are you really so insecure
about your blindness that, even if it has been a hard day, you
can't afford to be kind to somebody who was only trying to help
you?"
     As with the nickel-throwing incident, there was a lesson to
be learned. I should have accepted the man's offer of help and
should have done it graciously. We would both have profited, each
feeling that he had done the other a kindness. As it was, both of
us experienced pain, even if only a little and even if only
temporarily.
     By the time another ten years had passed, I was in my
thirties and directing programs for the blind in the state of
Iowa. My job required me to do a great deal of traveling, and one
day when I was checking into a hotel, a bellman carried my bag to
my room. As he was leaving, I gave him a tip.
     "Oh, no," he said, "I couldn't take a tip from you. I'm a
Christian."
     Unlike what I did in the other situations I have described,
I did not refuse or resist. I simply thanked him and let it go at
that. Of course I might have tried to get him to change his mind,
but I didn't think it would be productive. And besides I didn't
feel so insecure or unsure of myself that I needed to prove
either to him or me that I was equal.
     So far I have talked about help that has been courteously
offered and probably should have been accepted. But what about
the other kind? Blind people don't have a monopoly on rudeness or
bad manners. Sighted people are human, too.
     I think of a time when I was standing on a street corner in
Des Moines, minding my own business and waiting for a friend. A
big husky fellow with the momentum of a freight train came along
and scooped me up without ever even pausing. "Come on, buddy," he
said, as he grabbed my arm, "I'll help you across the street."
     As it so happened, I didn't want to cross that street. I was
going in another direction. But he didn't ask. And he wouldn't
listen when I tried to tell him. He just kept walking and
dragging me with him.
     In the circumstances I planted my feet and resisted--and I
should have. All of us, whether blind or sighted, owe courtesy
and consideration to each other, but in this case I was being
treated like a none too intelligent child. No, worse than that--
for children are rarely manhandled in public.
     Not long ago I entered an elevator, and a man standing next
to me reached out and placed his hand on my arm, between me and
the elevator door, in a protective manner. He probably felt that
I might lean into the door as it was closing or that I might have
difficulty when the door opened. It was a sheltering gesture,
totally inappropriate but meant to be helpful. He would have been
shocked at the thought of behaving that way toward a sighted
adult passenger, but in my case he saw no impropriety.
     When the door opened, he restrained me with his hand and
said, "Wait. You can't go yet." Since I was standing immediately
next to the door and since there was no traffic outside, it is
hard to know why he felt I should wait. Maybe he thought I should
take a moment to get my bearings, or maybe it was simply more of
the protectiveness. Who knows?
     He treated me very much as he would have treated a small
child. How should I have reacted? It all depends on how insistent
and how obtrusive he was. There is something to be said for
restraint and not hurting other people's feelings, but there is
also something to be said for recognizing when enough is enough.
     In what I am about to say next, I am not just talking about
persons who are totally blind but also about those who now see so
poorly that they cannot function the way a sighted person
normally does--persons who may be losing sight and who may be
having trouble accepting it. I am also speaking to relatives.
     As I have indicated, most blind people appreciate help when
it is offered. When a blind person is walking through a crowd or
down the street with somebody else and trying to carry on a
conversation, it is easier to take the other person's arm. This
is true even if the blind person is quite capable of traveling
alone.
     All of us like to do things for ourselves, but there are
times when refusing to take an arm that is offered constitutes
the very opposite of independence for a blind person. If, for
instance, a blind person is walking with a sighted person through
a crowded restaurant, the sensible thing to do is to take the
sighted person's arm and go to the table without fuss or bother.
     As you can tell, my views about independence and help from
others have changed over the years. Probably the single most
important factor in helping me come to my present notions has
been the National Federation of the Blind. Having chapters in
every state and almost every community of any size, the
Federation is the nation's oldest and largest organization of
blind persons.
     As it is with me, so it is with thousands of other blind
people throughout the country. We work together to help each
other and ourselves. We give assistance to parents of blind
children, to blind college students, to the newly blind, to the
senior blind, and to blind persons who are trying to find
employment. Above all, the Federation teaches a new way of
thought about blindness. We want to take the mystery out of
blindness. Mostly we who are blind are very much like you.  
     This is the message of the National Federation of the Blind,
and it has made a great difference in my life. If I had to sum up
my personal philosophy in a single sentence, it would probably be
this: Do all you can to help yourself before you call on somebody
else; try to make life better for those around you; and don't
throw nickels.
                           **********
     There you have excerpts from the two Kernel Books for 1997.
I believe our efforts at self-improvement and public education
will be advanced by these books and that we will go the rest of
the way to full participation and first-class status in
society.  While I am talking about the future, let me say
something else. I never come into one of our convention sessions
without feeling a lift of spirit and a surge of joy, for I know
to the depths of my being that our shared bond of love and trust
will never change, and that because of it we will be unswervable
in our determination and unstoppable in our progress.
     Through our public service announcements on radio and
television, through newspaper articles and personal contacts,
through gatherings like this, through our mail programs, through
our publications, through public speaking engagements, through
meetings with government officials and corporate leaders, and
especially through our Kernel Books, we are telling our story--
and we are doing it in our own way and with our own voice. The
day after civil rights is fast approaching, and we will meet it
as we have met every other challenge we have ever faced--
joyously, actively, and triumphantly. My brothers and my sisters,
we are truly changing what it means to be blind--and the Kernel
Books are helping us do it.
                           **********
************************************************************
                       Pooled Income Gifts

     In this plan money donated to the National Federation of the
Blind by a number of individuals is invested by the NFB. Each
donor and the NFB sign an agreement that income from the funds
will be paid to the donor quarterly or annually. Each donor
receives a tax deduction for the gift; the NFB receives a useful
donation; and the donor receives income of a specified amount for
the rest of his or her life. For more information about the NFB
pooled income fund, contact the National Federation of the Blind,
Special Gifts, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21230-
4998, phone (410) 659-9314, fax (410) 685-5653.
************************************************************
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Dr. Fredric Schroeder, Commissioner,
Rehabilitation Services Administration]

                   Services for the Consumers:
              The Challenge of Rehabilitation Today
                   and in the Decades to Come
                  by Fredric K. Schroeder, Ph.D
                          Commissioner
             Rehabilitation Services Administration
                  U.S. Department of Education
                           **********
     From the Editor: Fred Schroeder is more than the
Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration; he is
loved and respected by thousands of blind people across the
country. Before assuming his current position with the U.S.
Department of Education, Dr. Schroeder was Director of the New
Mexico Commission for the Blind and a member of the Board of
Directors of the National Federation of the Blind. He addressed
the 1997 NFB convention on Thursday morning, July 3. This is what
he said:
                           **********
     During the elections this morning a number of those elected
and reelected to the Board of Directors talked about the
mentoring they had received in this organization. This is a
powerful concept and very much a part of this organization. More
than twenty years ago I remember spending an entire Christmas
break listening to speeches that Dr. Jernigan had given and
having those speeches change my life. Dr. Jernigan's words gave
me hope at a time in my life when I had very little hope. I know
that that has been the experience of many of you as well.
Yesterday, in listening to the Presidential Report, I thought to
myself: that flame of hope is burning very brightly.
     I feel a solemn responsibility whenever I speak to the
national body of the Federation. In preparing my presentation, I
was talking with my children--I have a daughter (fifteen) and a
son (thirteen), who is for sale if anyone's looking for a
thirteen-year-old boy. I was explaining how precious time on the
podium is and how important it is to do right by the membership.
I said that very often people create a theme by picking a
quotation from literature and using that to focus their thoughts.
I asked my children whether they could help me think of an
appropriate quotation. My daughter, who is not for sale, was
studying Romeo and Juliet in school, and she said that she had a
quote that she thought would be just right.
     I thought: this will be terrific--a quote from Shakespeare!
People will think I am learned and very intellectual. It will be
very dignified and will set just the right tone. So she got the
book and read me the quote. Here is what she came up with: "O
single-soled jest, solely singular for the singleness." I said,
"I don't know what that means." Now I did think about using it
anyway on the assumption that no one else would know either, and
you might all think that I had some very deep philosophical
insight, but I was afraid that the President might allow
questions at the end. . . so I come with no great quote from
literature but some information about the Rehabilitation Services
Administration that I can share with you.
     Perhaps the reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act is the
most significant issue facing the public rehabilitation program
today. Later this summer the Administration will submit its
proposal for reauthorization. In our proposal we intend to build
on the principle that the rehabilitation system should not simply
assist blind people in securing just any job, but instead, should
assist blind people in securing the very best job possible. In
our proposal we are committed to streamlining administrative
requirements and keeping the focus of the program squarely
centered on high-quality employment.
     In May the House of Representatives adopted H.R. 1385, the
"Employment, Training, and Literacy Enhancement Act of 1997."
This proposal reauthorizes the rehabilitation program for a
three-year period, rather than for five years as has been
customary in prior reauthorizations. Very few substantive changes
to the Rehabilitation Act were included in the House bill.
However, the changes that were included are quite significant.
Specifically, H.R. 1385 contains a new section on informed choice
that draws together provisions that were previously scattered
throughout the Act and strengthens the concept of client choice.
The new section makes clear that clients must be active and full
partners in the vocational rehabilitation process, making
meaningful and informed choices in the selection of their own
employment goal, and having the opportunity to participate in the
identification of needed services and in the selection of service
providers. This new section also provides for clients to be
actively involved in determining how services will be purchased,
thereby explicitly authorizing the appropriate use of vouchers.
Additionally, H.R. 1385 renames the Individualized Written
Rehabilitation Program (IWRP) to an Individualized Plan for
Employment (IPE) and simplifies process requirements in ways
intended to expedite the delivery of rehabilitation services.
     The Senate is now beginning to take up reauthorization. The
Senate will hold a hearing on reauthorization of the
Rehabilitation Act on Thursday, July 10, 1997, in Washington,
D.C., and will hold a second hearing on July 21 in Columbus,
Ohio. It is our understanding that the Senate will likely
introduce bill language shortly after Labor Day. We are told that
the Senate intends a bipartisan effort on reauthorization, and we
are hopeful that the reauthorization process will be completed
sometime this Fall.
     On March 13, 1997, final regulations implementing Title I of
the Rehabilitation Act became effective. These regulations
contain a number of provisions of particular interest to blind
people. In 1992, when the Rehabilitation Act was last
reauthorized, additional emphasis was placed on the importance of
state rehabilitation agencies' using professionally trained
rehabilitation personnel. In developing regulations, RSA was
concerned that the emphasis on professional training not unfairly
discriminate against blind people in the field of Orientation and
Mobility. Historically blind people have been excluded from
university training in Orientation and Mobility and,
consequently, were not eligible for professional certification.
While in recent years the Orientation and Mobility profession has
made important strides in opening university training programs to
blind people, the fact remains that most blind Orientation and
Mobility professionals do not possess university training or
professional licensure. Accordingly, the preamble to the new
Title I regulations sets forth RSA policy that state agencies and
other service providers may continue to employ blind Orientation
and Mobility instructors who do not meet current certification
standards. Specifically, the preamble reads in part,
                           **********
     The Secretary [of Education] is cognizant of the
     particular difficulty experienced by blind individuals
     who, historically, have been excluded on the basis of
     their disability from becoming certified as orientation
     and mobility instructors. The Secretary emphasizes that
     these regulations do not inhibit DSUs [state
     rehabilitation agencies] or other VR service providers
     from hiring blind individuals as orientation and
     mobility teachers even though those individuals may not
     meet current certification requirements.
                           **********
This means that state agencies may continue to employ blind
people to work as Orientation and Mobility instructors and may
continue to purchase services from private agencies that employ
blind Orientation and Mobility instructors.
     Another important provision of the new Title I regulations
concerns the definition of competitive employment. Essentially,
RSA defines competitive employment as employment at or above the
minimum wage in an integrated setting. We believe that, when
describing different types of placements, the term competitive
employment should be used in a manner that is straightforward and
readily understood by policy makers and the public at-large. To
say that an individual is competitively employed should mean that
the individual obtained employment in an ordinary place of
business and is earning a competitive wage.
     It is our belief that the degree to which we, as a federal
agency, are successful is the degree to which state
rehabilitation agencies are successful. And the degree to which
state rehabilitation agencies are successful is the degree to
which blind people and others with disabilities receive training
and encouragement, resulting in high-quality employment.
     Measuring the number of people who go to work is easily
done. Last year, the public rehabilitation program successfully
placed in employment 213,334 clients, of whom 18,478 were blind
people. If we chart the number of closures since the 1992
Amendments, we find an increase of 11.3 percent in closures
overall from 191,890 in 1992, to the current level of 213,334.
Accordingly, there is strong evidence that in President Clinton's
first term in office the public rehabilitation program in America
made significant strides in increasing the number of people
placed in competitive work.
     Yet the number of people placed in employment each year is
not sufficient, in and of itself, to measure the effectiveness of
the public rehabilitation program. We must also ask, is the
program working with the right people, that is, those individuals
who without assistance would have the least prospect of going to
work--people who need orientation-center training as well as
assistance in learning a particular job skill and who will likely
battle discrimination in their job search? In 1992 the percentage
of successfully rehabilitated clients who had severe
disabilities, which includes blind people, was 69.7 percent. As
of fiscal year 1996, 77.6 percent constituted the proportion of
clients with severe disabilities successfully served by the
program. Yet these two measures--the number of people placed in
employment and the percentage of individuals with severe
disabilities served by the system--are inadequate to measure the
true health of the rehabilitation program.
     The rehabilitation system must find ways to place more and
more people in employment each year. It must find ways of
targeting services to those individuals most in need of help.
Yet, if the rehabilitation system is to be truly successful, if
it is to be faithful to the policy established by Congress, then
the system must ensure that blind people and others receive the
services and encouragement necessary, not simply to find any job,
but to prepare for, and enter high quality employment.
Accordingly, RSA will soon issue a policy directive formally
rescinding the concept of "suitable employment" which focused on
entry-level work for rehabilitation clients and will replace this
concept with a policy that emphasizes that blind people and other
clients must have access to a broad range of employment
opportunities consistent with the individual's abilities,
capabilities, and informed choice.
     In short, the rehabilitation system has a responsibility to
work with blind people in elevating our expectations for the
future. The system must encourage blind people to pursue the very
best quality employment possible. By elevating our collective
expectations, we create a circumstance wherein blind people
continually demand more of the rehabilitation system. Inevitably
this challenges our resources and imagination, yet this is the
process by which genuine progress is realized. The process of
elevating expectations, with its accompanying new demands on the
system, stimulates innovation and with it expanded employment
opportunities for blind people throughout the nation. Hence, the
measure of success for the rehabilitation system is the degree to
which the system places more and more people in employment each
year, the degree to which it increasingly targets resources to
those most in need of help, and the degree to which the system
works together with the blind to elevate our collective
expectations for blind people. This is the principle which must
guide our work and the principle by which we must measure our
success.
     If we are true to this principle, the public rehabilitation
system, in partnership with blind people, will work better
tomorrow than it does today and will work better the day after
tomorrow than it does tomorrow. The need is too great and the
stakes too high to settle for anything less. We must reduce the
unemployment rate of blind people in this nation and yet, if the
rehabilitation system does nothing more than place blind people
in the quickest, easiest, cheapest placements--in dead-end,
unskilled jobs, then the program will have failed to meet its
most fundamental responsibility. Society today assumes that the
blind are capable only of marginal, low-end employment. If the
rehabilitation system merely fulfills this limited expectation by
placing blind people in low-end jobs, it will have failed the
blind and it will have failed society. We must reduce the
unemployment of blind people in this nation, but we must do it by
working collectively to elevate our expectations--the
expectations of rehabilitation professionals, the expectations of
rehabilitation clients, and the expectations of society at-large.
     Recently Mr. Joe Cordova was hired as the Director of the
Division for the Blind within RSA. Mr. Cordova's qualifications
are impressive, both as a rehabilitation professional and as an
advocate. He brings to the position experience and expertise,
but, perhaps most important, he brings with him commitment and
integrity. Mr. Cordova is a man who believes in blind people. He
knows personally what it is to face discrimination, and he knows
personally what it is to confront it successfully. I am very
proud to welcome Mr. Joe Cordova as a colleague and as the senior
federal official responsible for programs for the blind in
America. Under his leadership I am confident that programs for
the blind will meet the challenge of increasing the number of
blind people who go to work in high-quality jobs each year and
will do it by working collaboratively with the blind themselves
to elevate our collective expectations and by so doing, expand
employment opportunities for blind people throughout the nation.
                           **********
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: Mae Nelson, Director, Louisiana Rehabilitation
Services]

       Partnership: Working in Cooperation with Consumers
                          by Mae Nelson
                           **********
     Joanne Wilson: I've been asked to introduce our next
speaker, Miss Mae Nelson. When I was asked to introduce her, I
thought of this saying, "It takes knowledge to build bridges, but
it takes wisdom to know where to put them." As the director of
the Department of Social Services under Governor Roemer for four
years and then for the past ten years the director of Louisiana
Rehabilitation Services, Mae Nelson has worked tirelessly to get
rid of the dead wood and to build a strong agency with strong and
just policy procedures and a wonderful staff, many of whom are
here at this convention. Mae has learned and has had the wisdom
to know that, if she was going to build a strong agency, she
needed to bridge the gap of suspicion, distrust, and frustration
that had been held by blind people for many years in this state.
She developed a relationship with the National Federation of the
Blind that has built a strong agency. We in Louisiana have
learned that, if we're going to have a strong agency, we need a
strong National Federation of the Blind. If we're going to have a
strong National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana, we need a
strong agency. I would like now to present the Director of the
Louisiana Rehabilitation Services, Miss Mae Nelson. [applause]
                           **********
     First I want to add my welcome to the National Federation of
the Blind and thank you for selecting Louisiana as the site for
your 1997 convention. I'm very pleased to have this opportunity
to be introduced to you as the director of Louisiana
Rehabilitation Services (LRS) and as the public official
responsible for blind services in Louisiana. More important, I'm
an individual who believes in the ability of blind people.
[applause]
     One has only to review participating organizations at this
convention to have one's commitment to the abilities of blind
people renewed. What abilities do blind people have? The ability
to be students, secretaries, merchants, lawyers, doctors, and
many other professions when preparation and opportunity present
themselves.
     The theme of my comments this afternoon is "Partnership:
Working in Cooperation with Consumers." I realize that, in order
for blind people to achieve certain goals, individuals may need
temporary assistance from Louisiana Rehabilitation Services. I
believe that we at Louisiana Rehabilitation Services have
demonstrated that we are willing to work with the National
Federation of the Blind to change what it means to be blind.
Louisiana's shining example of cooperation and partnership toward
providing blind people with preparation to take advantage of
opportunities is the Louisiana Center for the Blind at Ruston. We
are very proud of the Center, their accomplishments, and the
alumni who are well represented at this conference and throughout
the nation. They provide excellent opportunities to blind people
so that they may be prepared for independence and employment.
     Since we believe in the Louisiana Center for the Blind and,
more important, the Director Joanne Wilson, we have consistently
provided resources for the expansion of services at the Center.
Louisiana Rehabilitation Services' most recent cooperative
project with the Center has been a total of one million dollars
in grant funds to expand the Center's programs at Ruston
[applause]--not to fund the projects and services that I as
director felt were needed by the blind, but to carry out the
values and ideas that were presented to me by the Director Joanne
Wilson.
     LRS has provided funding for the Center's STEP Program,
which is a summer training and employment program. This is a new
pilot this year that we are implementing with the Center. This
pilot is a transition program for students. Joanne and I have
been talking for years about the inability of vocational
rehabilitation--because we are an employment program--to begin
early enough in the process with students to help them with their
self-esteem and to lift their expectations about what they can do
as blind persons. This year we will start a pilot program where
we will take students in the lower grades and track them through
graduation and through their training and college programs to
demonstrate in Louisiana and to provide additional funding and
projects to show that, if students are received early enough in
the Center for the Blind program and provided with opportunities,
those students can achieve whatever goals they set. [applause]
     We have utilized the Center as a site for Louisiana
Rehabilitation Services staff training. We feel that our staff,
if they are to believe in the services that can be and should be
provided to people who are blind, need to be exposed to the
philosophy and programs at the Center.
     Our cooperation and a cooperative endeavor with the Center
enabled Louisiana to be the first state to come online with the
Newsline(TM) service, pioneered by the National Federation of the
Blind. LRS funded this project with federal grants for the older
blind secured through the grant-writing skills of Suzanne
Mitchell, who is a Federationist. I had the forethought and
common sense to hire Suzanne Mitchell as my assistant and
executive director of Blind Services almost three years ago. LRS
has also provided additional financial support to add a pilot job
information line to the news service.
     Last year Suzanne came to my office to discuss with me the
shortage of orientation and mobility instructors in the state and
wanted to know from me if I would commit to and if we could write
a grant to try to bring this training to Louisiana. I don't think
Suzanne is quite used yet to coming to my office, proposing an
idea, and sitting down together and coming up with strategies to
make it happen. Suzanne wrote the grant, and, through this
cooperative project with Louisiana Tech University for O & M
specialist training, it is now coming online, and the project has
come to fruition. Also last year Suzanne came into my office to
say that the need was overwhelming. We needed additional
resources; could she write another grant? I said, "Sure." So we
wrote another grant, and we have secured additional funding to
provide an additional instructor so that we may enroll additional
students in that program through the Center for the Blind and
Louisiana Tech.
     In terms of partnership, we must thank our grant partners
for those grant funds. If this sounds like bragging, it is not. I
wish to convey to you that Louisiana Rehabilitation Services has
made an investment in changing what it means to be blind in
Louisiana. [applause]
     We are also a participant in the National Federation of the
Blind's Comprehensive Braille Training Project. Counselors have
received their first in a series of Braille-training activities
sponsored by this project. Three counselors and Louisiana
Rehabilitation Services Assistive Technologies Program
specialists have attended Braille technology training at the
National Center for the Blind.
     Louisiana Rehabilitation Services regards the National
Federation of the Blind as an excellent resource for consumers
and staff and encourages the distribution of information and
publications routinely to benefit consumers. The Braille Monitor
is included in our library in a prominent place. Our counselors
and staff participate in local and statewide meetings of the
National Federation of the Blind. All of our counselors and
others of our staff have been in attendance at this conference,
not by mandate, but by choice. They are true partners in changing
what it means to be blind.
     I have a lot of other issues here that I could go on and on
with that would demonstrate our commitment in philosophy and
resources, but due to time I will leave some of it out. However,
I do want to say that at our first meeting Joanne and I had a
very tenuous kind of meeting, and not understanding the
relationship between the Federation and some commissioners, I did
not understand why it took almost eight years for me to receive
from NFB the Administrator of the Year Award, but it is one of my
most prized possessions. It is because I know through the
Federation that, if I received the Administrator of the Year
Award, I got it the old fashioned way--I earned it. [applause]
                           **********
                           **********

[PHOTO/CAPTION: President Maurer and Ramona Walhof at the 1997
meeting of the Resolutions Committee.]

                   Resolutions Adopted by the
                    Annual Convention of the
                National Federation of the Blind
                           July, 1997
                        by Ramona Walhof
                           **********
     From the Editor: Ramona Walhof is the Secretary of the
National Federation of the Blind and President of the NFB of
Idaho. She also serves as the Chairperson of the Resolutions
Committee. Each year she presides over the receipt and handling
of all resolutions until they are acted upon by the convention.
This is what she has to say about the resolutions considered at
the 1997 convention of the National Federation of the Blind:
                           **********
     For me in recent years it has been a thrill to pound the
gavel and call the Resolutions Committee Meeting to order. The
response is a mighty yell from the committee and the audience,
friends and colleagues in the Federation. This occurred at 1:30
p.m., Monday, June 30, 1997. A committee of nearly fifty
representatives considered resolutions brought by NFB members
from across the country. We require that those who present
resolutions attend the committee meeting.
     As usual, there was an audience of several hundred people.
Why do so many come? Because NFB resolutions are policy
statements of the National Federation of the Blind, and NFB
members take our policies seriously. After discussion by the
committee, resolutions which receive affirmative action are
brought to the floor of the convention for a final decision.
There may or may not be much discussion on the floor, but
conventioneers will have been thinking and talking about them all
week long, especially if a particular resolution is at all
controversial.
     This year nineteen resolutions were sent to the chairman as
required before the convention. Seventeen were passed by the
committee and the convention. One resolution had no sponsor at
the committee meeting and therefore was not considered. The
Committee resoundingly voted not to recommend a second one to the
Convention. Short descriptions of the resolutions that were
adopted as well as their complete texts follow:
                           **********
     Resolution 97-01 thanks Senator John Chafee and other
members of Congress for their affirmative action on the Copyright
Act passed in September, 1996.
     Resolution 97-02 expresses gratitude to Representative
Barbara Kennelly, Senators John McCain and Christopher Dodd, and
other co-sponsors of the legislation to restore the policy of
work-incentive equity for blind people receiving Social Security
Disability Insurance.
     Resolution 97-03 calls upon the Walt Disney Company to
abandon its plans to produce a movie featuring Mr. Magoo and
calls upon Leslie Nielsen and other actors not to associate
themselves with such a project.
     Resolution 97-04 urges the Department of Veterans Affairs
not to attempt to serve blind persons who are not veterans and
not to seek payment for such service from other federal agencies.
     Resolution 97-05 calls upon the Veterans Administration to
abide by the decision of the Eighth Circuit Court stating that
the Randolph-Sheppard Act applies to VA medical centers.
     Resolution 97-06 urges Tektronix, Inc., to continue to
improve its newly demonstrated system of tactile graphic images
produced by its Phaser 600 printer and calls upon agencies of the
federal government to assist in improving the accessibility to
the blind of graphic images commonly used on computer screens and
print-outs.
     Resolution 97-07 calls upon the electronics industry to
ensure that the needs of the blind are considered in the design
of electronic devices intended for the general public.
     Resolution 97-08 urges equal access for the blind when
information is provided to the public through kiosks and other
public-access sources of electronic information and calls upon
those purchasing such equipment to keep this accessibility need
in mind.
     Resolution 97-09 calls for better Braille music instruction
for blind children and their instructors and requests the
National Library Service to develop a Braille music competency
test for these instructors.
     Resolution 97-10 deplores the proposed use of a means test
by vocational rehabilitation programs and calls upon Congress to
reject any proposal for a means test as a condition of receiving
services.
     Resolution 97-11 calls upon the Social Security
Administration to establish within its teleservice system one or
more positions to provide technical information about its work
incentives.
     Resolution 97-12 calls upon blood-glucose-meter
manufacturers to make all of these devices accessible to the
blind by providing voice output.
     Resolution 97-13 praises Congress and the President for
supporting Braille instruction to blind children and calls for
parents, educators, and policymakers everywhere to see that the
law is implemented.
     Resolution 97-14 strongly urges the Social Security
Administration to adopt revised standards and procedures for
approving PASS applications based on encouraging rather than
restricting recipients' efforts to achieve self-support and
insists upon clear and objective standards in evaluating PASS
applications which do not include governmental prejudgment on the
recipients' chosen goals.
     Resolution 97-15 was not passed by the committee.
     Resolution 97-16 opposes the position of the Department of
Defense which excludes Randolph-Sheppard vending facilities from
most Department locations and calls upon the Department to open
Defense food service sales facilities broadly to blind vendors.
     Resolution 97-17 urges schools to provide access and
instruction in the use of computers and the Internet for their
blind students.
     Resolution 97-18 supports the bill in Congress already
passed by the House of Representatives to consolidate job
training and employment programs, especially provisions to amend
and extend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-01
                           **********
     WHEREAS, amendments to the Copyright Act of major and
historic consequence for blind people were enacted and became law
in September, 1996; and
     WHEREAS, the amendments resulted from an agreement reached
between the National Federation of the Blind and the Association
of American Publishers with consultation and involvement by the
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
of the Library of Congress in the discussions leading to the
agreement; and
     WHEREAS, an enthusiastic and positive response by United
States Senator John H. Chafee of Rhode Island to a request from
the National Federation of the Blind brought about prompt
enactment of the copyright amendments; and
     WHEREAS, this legislation has had the immediate beneficial
effect of providing blind persons the chance to obtain a greater
degree of access to published works without the delay formerly
caused by the necessity to secure permission from publishers, but
the long-range benefits of the copyright amendments are likely to
be of even greater consequence with the inevitable growth in
creation and mass distribution of information by electronic
means: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization convey its
official thanks and commendation to Senator John H. Chafee for
the understanding and commitment he has shown by providing the
leadership necessary for enactment of the Copyright Act
amendments during the first session of Congress in which this
legislation was proposed.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-02
                           **********
     WHEREAS, the Social Security Act contains provisions for
determining the amount of exempt earnings used as a factor in
eligibility for blind people in the disability insurance program;
and
     WHEREAS, the statutory exempt earnings guideline which
applies to blind persons was established as a matter of law to
reflect the fact that blindness, like retirement age, is a
definable condition; and
     WHEREAS, an identical, annually-adjusted, exempt amount was
applicable to earnings of blind persons and age-sixty-five
retirees from 1978 until the law for retirees was changed in
1996; and
     WHEREAS, the 1996 changes made for retirees will result in
an earnings exemption of $30,000 beginning in 2002, but the limit
on earnings of the blind in that year will be less than half the
amount allowed for seniors; and
     WHEREAS, Representative Barbara Kennelly and Senators John
McCain and Christopher Dodd are leading an effort in Congress to
correct this inequity with a bill to provide the same annual
changes in the exempt amount for blind people as those now
approved for retirees: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this second day of July, 1997, in the City
of New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization express its
gratitude and appreciation to the members of Congress--
Representative Kennelly and Senators McCain and Dodd--as well as
to the cosponsors of the legislation in the House of
Representatives and the Senate who are leading the effort to
restore the policy of work incentive equity for blind Americans;
and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge all members of Congress
to join with the sponsors of this most significant work incentive
legislation for the blind so that action to secure its prompt
enactment will occur.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-03
                           **********
     WHEREAS, for fifty-eight years the cartoon character Mr.
Magoo has perpetuated the old myth that blind people are
bumbling, unaware, helpless, and often crotchety; and
     WHEREAS, two generations of blind children have already
endured taunts in school and elsewhere with the belittling label
"Mr. Magoo"; and
     WHEREAS, the Magoo character has fortunately become such an
anachronism that no studio has filmed any new Magoo movies or TV
shows for thirty-two years; and
     WHEREAS, until now the Walt Disney Company has never
offended blind Americans by producing entertainment which
included the inept and unaware Magoo character; and
     WHEREAS, recent press reports indicate that the Walt Disney
Company has bought the rights to Mr. Magoo in order to capitalize
on Magoo's supposed nostalgia by filming a new feature-length,
live-action Magoo movie expected to be released during the
Christmas holiday of 1997; and
     WHEREAS, the inescapable nature of Magoo is as offensive and
stereotypical to us today as Little Black Sambo and Amos and Andy
are to Americans of every race; and
     WHEREAS, the Los Angeles Times has quoted the late Jim
Backus, voice of Mr. Magoo, as saying of Magoo in 1976 that he'd
"like to bury the old creep and get some good dramatic roles";
and
     WHEREAS, a central element to the Magoo character is his so-
called funny ineptness in activities of ordinary life because he
can't see--an artless prejudice against the blind that the
National Federation of the Blind has fought to change since 1940;
and
     WHEREAS, we believe that the multi-million dollar budget for
Magoo--which exceeds the entire annual operating budget of the
National Federation of the Blind--represents a colossal waste of
resources toward an end unworthy of the Disney name; and
     WHEREAS, the nation's largest organization of blind people
finds it objectionable that the multi-billion-dollar Walt Disney
Company has apparently chosen to make new profits at the expense
of blind people; and
     WHEREAS, we believe that the values of this year's holiday
season (when this movie is projected to open) would be better
served by portraying blind competence, not incompetence, blind
alternative techniques rather than helplessness, blind fellowship
rather than isolation, and blind inclusive humor rather than
ridicule of us; and
     WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind stands ready
immediately to assist the Walt Disney Company in developing
movies and cartoons that show this positive, modern understanding
of the normal abilities of blind people without resorting to
ancient stereotypes: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this second day of July, 1997, in the City
of New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization condemn and
deplore Disney's attempt to raise Mr. Magoo from his deathbed;
and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the Walt Disney
Company to abandon production of this offensive project; to
return to Disney's tradition of making films which celebrate
people and their capacity to learn, adapt, and grow; and to let
Quincy Magoo die a natural death; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon Leslie Nielsen and
other actors and Disney staff associated with the Magoo project
to stop working on this ill-conceived movie which will be an
embarrassment to their careers and an insult to the millions of
blind or visually-impaired Americans; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we take whatever action
appropriate to protest the revival of the Mr. Magoo character.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-04
                           **********
     WHEREAS, the Department of Veterans Affairs is pursuing an
effort to obtain support from other agencies, including the
federal/state vocational rehabilitation program, to underwrite
the costs of its blind rehabilitation program; and
     WHEREAS, this effort to expand its base of financial support
includes recruitment of trainees who are not veterans and are
actually not eligible to receive services from the Department of
Veterans Affairs except under special agreements made to serve
them; and
     WHEREAS, the approach followed by the Department of Veterans
Affairs in conducting its rehabilitation program for the blind
has been designed as a medical model, with the emphasis placed on
skill development and the provision of prosthetic aids and
devices, rather than on teaching constructive views about
blindness and building the confidence needed by each blind person
to achieve full participation in society on terms of equality;
and
     WHEREAS, references to blind students as "patients" and the
description of the training facility's capacity itself by report-
ing the number of "beds," rather than the number of training
slots available, completely misstate the mission and purpose of
rehabilitation services for blind people but typify the medical-
model approach of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and
     WHEREAS, in training facilities outside of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, use of the medical model for rehabilitation of
the blind has been rejected as a failed approach because it tends
to perpetuate the myth that blindness is a physical affliction;
and
     WHEREAS, the Department of Veterans Affairs' announced
policy against the employment or training of blind persons as
orientation and mobility instructors is a further reason for
rejecting the efforts of that agency to position itself as a
service provider for the blind population in general: Now,
therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization oppose the effort
of the Department of Veterans Affairs to double-dip from the
federal treasury by financing its tax-supported, hospital-based
program for veterans with funds received by serving clients of
other federally funded programs.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-05
                           **********
     WHEREAS, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth
Circuit has issued a final and binding judgment in which the
priority granted to blind people by the federal Randolph-Sheppard
Act has been upheld as fully in effect in a medical center of the
Department of Veterans Affairs; and
     WHEREAS, the court's decision in this particular instance
has brought to a final and satisfactory end more than a decade of
legal proceedings in which the Department of Veterans Affairs has
used every argument and legal strategy imaginable to no avail to
obtain a court-approved exemption from the Randolph-Sheppard Act;
and
     WHEREAS, in the spirit of the oath of office taken by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs and other top officials of that
Department faithfully to "execute the Constitution and laws of
the United States," the Department should now accept the federal
court's decision and take affirmative steps to abide by it at all
of the Department's 172 medical centers; and
     WHEREAS, rather than honoring the blind-vendor priority
consistent with the Court's decision in the Eighth Circuit, the
Department of Veterans Affairs appears to be embarked on a policy
of attempting to defeat the priority by simply ignoring it and
hoping that officials in the blind-vendor program will simply not
notice their failure to comply with the law: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization condemn and
deplore the take-no-prisoners posture of the Department of
Veterans Affairs in its efforts to undermine the priority now
confirmed by the courts in favor of the Randolph-Sheppard Act;
and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization seek the
assistance of those responsible in the Department of Education
and the Department of Justice in order that the Court's decision
in the Eighth Circuit may be honored as a matter of policy and
law throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center
system.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-06
                           **********
     WHEREAS, graphic images such as pictures, diagrams, maps,
and graphs are becoming more prevalent in educational materials;
and
     WHEREAS, graphic images such as spreadsheets, diagrams, and
graphs are being more widely used as a means of conveying
information in the workplace; and
     WHEREAS, there has until recently not been a system for
rapidly producing tactile images on an as-needed basis; and
     WHEREAS, Tektronix, Inc., the world's leading manufacturer
of workgroup color printers, has recently demonstrated a usable
system for producing tactile line drawings and graphs using the
Phaser 600 printer: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization commend Tektronix,
Inc., for its efforts in creating this outstanding contribution
to the blindness community; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge Tektro-
nix, Inc., to continue the development of this technology by
working in cooperation with interested companies and the National
Federation of the Blind; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the
appropriate agencies of the federal government such as the
Rehabilitation Services Administration, the National Institute of
Health, the Department of Education, the Veterans Administration,
and the National Science Foundation to cooperate in funding
further research and developments in this area.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-07
                           **********
     WHEREAS, the use of digital controls and computer technology
in today's consumer electronic appliances has resulted in devices
which are difficult if not impossible for blind persons to use
independently; and
     WHEREAS, examples of some features that cause problems for
blind consumers include but are by no means limited to:
     1. Buttons that cannot be located by touch but which all too
often require only a light touch to be pressed,
     2. Buttons which can be located by touch but which provide
no indication, either by touch or by sound, that they have been
pressed,
     3. Continuously rotating knobs whose settings cannot be
determined by touch but which are displayed on a screen, and
     4. On-screen menus--particularly the more complex menus used
on more sophisticated devices--which tend to change with no
warning after a pre-determined amount of inactive time has
passed; and
     WHEREAS, these features can be found not only in the home,
where a blind person has a certain amount of choice about which
appliance to purchase, but in the office--on telephones, fax
machines, copiers, and other devices--which often are essential
for an employed blind person to use in order to keep his or her
job; and
     WHEREAS, the difficulties imposed on the blind by the
increased digitization of electronic devices can be attributed to
the lack of understanding and good information on the part of
designers and developers, who often do not even imagine that
their products are likely to be used by the blind: Now,
therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization work with the
Consumer Electronics Manufacturers' Association, CEMA, and other
major organizations within the electronics industry to ensure
that the needs of the blind are considered in the design of
electronic devices intended for the general public.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-08
                           **********
     WHEREAS, communication by electronic means is becoming a
widespread method for conducting business with government agen-
cies and obtaining essential public services; and
     WHEREAS, employment opportunities are also becoming
dependent upon the ability to acquire and manipulate data
presented by electronic means and stored in electronic files; and
     WHEREAS, the benefits of information technology (including
the use of public-kiosk systems and other methods to access
information presented in electronic form) are readily apparent
for employees and members of the general public who can see, but
for blind people the same benefits are being denied because of
lack of accessible equipment and features and lack of planning to
obtain such features at the time of procurement of information
technology; and
     WHEREAS, adoption of model legislation for information
technology access prepared by the National Federation of the
Blind is essential to remove the barriers resulting from the lack
of specific non-visual access standards for use as procurement
specifications: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization insist upon a
policy of equal access to information technology in those
instances when such technology is purchased and deployed for
public or employee use; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization vigorously
promote the passage of laws with specific requirements for non-
visual use so that the growing reliance upon information
technology throughout the United States becomes a means of access
rather than a source of discrimination against the blind.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-09
                           **********
     WHEREAS, goal 5 of the National Education Goals declares
that by the year 2000 every adult American will be literate; and
     WHEREAS, the National Literacy Act of 1991 states in part
that literacy is "an individual's ability to read and write . . .
and to develop one's knowledge and potential"; and
     WHEREAS, when a blind person decides to become literate in
music, one of the tools for acquiring this knowledge is the
Braille Music Code; and
     WHEREAS, the second purpose of the National Federation of
the Blind Music Division is to develop and improve methods for
transcribing music into large print and Braille: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization strongly urge the
use and teaching of the Braille Music Code whenever appropriate;
and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge all entities preparing
instructors of blind students to offer courses in the Braille
Music Code; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Federation of the
Blind call upon the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped (NLS) to create an additional test for the
Braille Music Code to assure parents of blind children and music
students that these instructors are competent in Braille music.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-10
                           **********
     WHEREAS, a federally mandated means test was eliminated from
the vocational rehabilitation program more than thirty years ago,
providing each state with the discretion to establish a
financial-need policy, including the policy of not applying a
financial-need standard for any vocational rehabilitation service
at all; and
     WHEREAS, amid the consideration of amendments to the
Rehabilitation Act now occurring in the United States Senate, a
proposal to restore "means testing" as a federal mandate is under
review with the concept that many services, other than
eligibility and plan development, could be subject to some form
of means testing under certain, as-yet-to-be-determined
circumstances; and
     WHEREAS, a means test by its very nature creates a signifi-
cant disincentive to the use of vocational rehabilitation
services, since individuals who need such services are often
forced to live on public benefits and exhaust family resources
(including savings belonging to themselves and others) just to
survive financially, let alone taking on the burden of paying the
costs of rehabilitation; and
     WHEREAS, a policy of means testing would be particularly
onerous for blind people, since service costs--such as the costs
of personal adjustment and training--are high enough that payment
by individuals is an unrealistic expectation, even though the
services are necessary for lifelong success following
rehabilitation: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization deplore the notion
that a means test required by the federal government should
become a part of the vocational rehabilitation program; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the members of
Congress and the President to reject any proposal for a federally
mandated means test as a condition for an eligible person to
receive services under the Rehabilitation Act.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-11
                           **********
     WHEREAS, attempts to work while receiving cash benefits
under the Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental
Security Income programs will eventually result in overpayment
allegations being made against beneficiaries by the Social
Security Administration in virtually every case; and
     WHEREAS, although the work-incentive provisions that may
apply to any particular claim and the unique circumstances of
that claim may be complex and difficult for employees of the
Social Security Administration to understand, this is not an
acceptable excuse for failing to implement the law and certainly
not an acceptable excuse for threatening beneficiaries with
allegations of overpayment without developing a complete record
of the facts; and
     WHEREAS, beneficiaries, who cannot obtain correct
information about the status of their claims and the effect of
using particular work incentive provisions, will often choose not
to attempt working at all, since this is still their safest, most
secure option; and
     WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration has invested
substantial resources in creating and maintaining a toll-free,
telephone-access network for use in scheduling appointments,
responding to personal inquiries, or providing general
information about Social Security programs, but competent and
personalized help or counseling in the use of work incentives is
not provided through this network: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization call upon the
Social Security Administration to establish within its nationwide
teleservice system one or more positions with the exclusive
responsibility of providing work incentive technical assistance
for the purpose of responding to questions about the use of work
incentives and for giving beneficiaries a prompt and convenient
means of access to their work-activity information on file; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the particular, number one,
responsibility of each work incentive technical assistant should
be to help beneficiaries overcome the uncertainties caused by
working by accurately informing them on matters such as the
record of their trial work months used, if any, and the method
used to decide whether a particular month should count against
the trial work period; the length of time remaining for extended
eligibility and the importance of knowing when this period will
expire; the expected expiration date for the individual's
Medicare eligibility; and the facts on file concerning work
expense and impairment-related work expense deductions presently
being allowed.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-12
                           **********
     WHEREAS, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in
working age adults; and
     WHEREAS, the Center for Disease Control estimates that up to
39,000 Americans become blind from diabetes each year; and
     WHEREAS, each year thousands of diabetic senior citizens
become blind due to other causes; and
     WHEREAS, all diabetics need to monitor blood glucose levels
accurately in order to maintain their health and reduce their
risk of further complications; and
     WHEREAS, vision loss from diabetes is often gradual and
fluctuates dramatically, making it difficult for diabetics to
read accurately the results from conventional blood glucose
meters; and
     WHEREAS, the experience of the National Federation of the
Blind proves that blind diabetics can successfully manage their
blood glucose levels if given the appropriate training and voice
technology; and
     WHEREAS, adding voice feedback to electronic devices is now
simple and cost-effective, especially when voice access is added
during product design and development phases: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
Convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization call upon all
blood glucose meter developers and manufacturers to make all
future blood glucose meters directly accessible via voice for
diabetics who are blind or losing vision; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization work directly
with developers and manufacturers to find cost-effective and
workable solutions for making new meters accessible.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-13
                           **********
     WHEREAS, early acquisition of literacy skills to the extent
of each individual's ability is essential for lifelong success in
our information age; and
     WHEREAS, amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) recently enacted can provide the impetus
necessary to secure literacy instruction in Braille for every
blind child in America; and
     WHEREAS, with the enactment of the IDEA amendments, the
focus of responsibility now shifts to nationwide implementation
so that the individualized education program of each blind child
actually includes Braille instruction and services of sufficient
scope and quality necessary for each child to learn and achieve
at the highest level possible; and
     WHEREAS, the new law provides an opportunity for educators,
parents, and blind students themselves to join with the National
Federation of the Blind in efforts to achieve excellence in the
design and implementation of Braille literacy programs for blind
youth: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization acknowledge with
praise and thanks the efforts of those in Congress and the
Clinton administration who have demonstrated a strong commitment
to Braille literacy services for blind children as a matter of
national policy and law; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon
educators, parents, and policy makers at all levels to cooperate
in assuring that the clear intent of the law--that each blind
child receive high quality instruction in Braille reading and
writing--is fulfilled in schools throughout our land.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-14
                           **********
     WHEREAS, provisions in title XVI of the Social Security Act
permit the exemption of income and resources in the Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) program if the SSI recipient's use of the
funds is restricted to approved expenses under a plan for
achieving self-support (PASS); and
     WHEREAS, the reported failure of the Social Security
Administration to monitor the use of the PASS provisions, coupled
with allegations of program abuse, have led to long delays in the
approval of PASS applications and to an actual curtailment in the
type of applications approved; and
     WHEREAS, the procedures now in use have vested in employees
of the Social Security Administration the power to determine the
feasibility of each applicant's vocational goal, even though the
persons responsible for making such judgments are not acquainted
with and, in fact, have never met the individuals being judged;
and
     WHEREAS, the Social Security Administration's reported
practice of disapproving any application for a PASS that calls
for education or training beyond that necessary to obtain
employment at the entry level is in itself an abuse of
administrative discretion; and
     WHEREAS, without clear policies and objective standards for
the evaluation of PASS applications, the Social Security
Administration is itself creating a disincentive to fulfillment
of self-support goals that recipients would otherwise pursue if
given the opportunity to do so: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization strongly urge the
Social Security Administration to adopt revised standards and
procedures for the approval of PASS applications that are based
on encouraging rather than restricting the efforts of recipients
to achieve self-support; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization insist upon
clear and objective standards to be used in evaluating pass
applications which do not include the power of governmental
prejudgment of the goals chosen by recipients.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-16
                           **********
     WHEREAS, amendments to the federal Randolph-Sheppard Act,
passed more than twenty years ago, were specifically designed to
expand the quality and scope of business opportunities made
possible for blind persons on federal property; and
     WHEREAS, the Department of Defense has recently requested
support by the Clinton administration for an exemption from the
Randolph-Sheppard Act to apply in the case of military food
service facilities which, according to the Department of Defense,
should not be considered as vending facilities under the
Randolph-Sheppard Act since meals are paid for from appropriated
funds and are not purchased individually by the troops; and
     WHEREAS, regardless of the manner of payment, the food
service provided to members of the armed forces can lead to
business opportunities of significant size, thus providing a
means of expanding the blind-vendor program while fulfilling an
important government need: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization strongly oppose
the position of the Department of Defense that food services
which are paid for by the taxpayers rather than the troops should
be excluded from the priority for the blind granted by the
Randolph-Sheppard Act; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization call upon the
Department of Defense to do its duty as required by law and
assure that opportunities for vending facilities of all kinds are
provided on a consistent and widespread basis under the auspices
of the blind vendor program.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-17
                           **********
     WHEREAS, efforts by federal, state, and local agencies are
now being made to fulfill the commitment by President Clinton,
that each child by the age of twelve should be able to log on to
and use the Internet in school; and
     WHEREAS, the capacity for children at an early age to have
access to the Internet is unquestionably just as important for
blind children as it is for sighted children; and
     WHEREAS, regardless of this undisputed fact, the investment
in equipment and software needed for schools to go online has, in
almost every instance, not included access by speech or Braille
output for children who cannot see the computer screen; and
     WHEREAS, matters of access, such as speech and Braille
output in the use of computers, tend to be viewed as the
exclusive responsibility of special education when in fact the
general education program is required by law to provide the same
opportunities for participation and learning by disabled and non-
disabled students alike, including instruction in the use of
computers and access to the Internet; and
     WHEREAS, the failure to provide for securing the appropriate
technology for Internet access by non-visual means in all but a
few exceptional situations has shown a shocking disregard for the
educational needs of blind students, not to mention that this
disregard is a flagrant violation of the laws which prohibit
discrimination against such students: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization insist upon a
policy of strict observance of the rights of blind students to
instruction in the use of computer technology and access to the
Internet as part of the general education program to the same
extent that such instruction and access are provided to students
who are not blind; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the position expressed in this
resolution shall be communicated to responsible officials,
teachers, and parents involved at all levels of the education
system so that corrective action will be made.
                           **********
                        RESOLUTION 97-18
                           **********
     WHEREAS, legislation to consolidate federally assisted
employment and training programs is being considered once again
in Congress; and
     WHEREAS, the measure, presently in the form of H.R. 1385,
proposes to extend existing programs for blind persons and others
with disabilities which are authorized in title I of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and would not result in the
consolidation of these programs with generic job training and
employment services intended for use by the general population;
and
     WHEREAS, amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which
have been included in H.R. 1385 as passed by the House of
Representatives, would significantly strengthen and improve upon
the language now in the law pertaining to informed choice of
employment goals, services, and service providers by individuals
eligible for vocational rehabilitation services; and
     WHEREAS, the amendments as passed by the House would also
acknowledge the right of each eligible individual to develop and
submit for approval by the state agency an individually prepared
employment plan, rather than relying solely upon evaluation and
planning activities directed by the rehabilitation counselor; and
     WHEREAS, these features of the amendments to the
Rehabilitation Act would continue the constructive policy
redirection of the vocational rehabilitation program toward a
more client-centered approach long advocated by the National
Federation of the Blind: Now, therefore,
     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in
convention assembled this fifth day of July, 1997, in the City of
New Orleans, Louisiana, that this organization express strong
support for the present proposal to consolidate job training and
employment programs, especially in regard to the provisions of
that bill as passed by the House of Representatives to amend and
extend programs now authorized by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the Senate of the United
States and the leaders responsible for employment and training
legislation to place the consolidation bill as passed by the
House on a fast track for consideration so that final passage of
amendments to title I of the Rehabilitation Act may be achieved
before the expiration of the current authority for this important
program.
                           **********
                           **********
                          Constitution
                             of the
                National Federation of the Blind
                         as Amended 1986
                           **********
ARTICLE I. NAME
     The name of this organization is the National Federation of
the Blind.
                           **********
ARTICLE II. PURPOSE
     The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is to
serve as a vehicle for collective action by the blind of the
nation; to function as a mechanism through which the blind and
interested sighted persons can come together in local, state, and
national meetings to plan and carry out programs to improve the
quality of life for the blind; to provide a means of collective
action for parents of blind children; to promote the vocational,
cultural, and social advancement of the blind; to achieve the
integration of the blind into society on a basis of equality with
the sighted; and to take any other action which will improve the
overall condition and standard of living of the blind.
                           **********
ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP
     Section A. The membership of the National Federation of the
Blind shall consist of the members of the state affiliates, the
members of divisions, and members-at-large. Members of divisions
and members-at-large shall have the same rights, privileges, and
responsibilities in the National Federation of the Blind as
members of state affiliates.
     The Board of Directors shall establish procedures for
admission of divisions and shall determine the structure of
divisions. The divisions shall, with the approval of the Board,
adopt constitutions and determine their membership policies.
Membership in divisions shall not be conditioned upon membership
in state affiliates.
     The Board of Directors shall establish procedures for
admission of members-at-large, determine how many classes of such
members shall be established, and determine the annual dues to be
paid by members of each class.
     Section B. Each state or territorial possession of the
United States, including the District of Columbia, having an
affiliate shall have one vote at the National Convention. These
organizations shall be referred to as state affiliates.
     Section C. State affiliates shall be organizations of the
blind controlled by the blind. No organization shall be
recognized as an "organization of the blind controlled by the
blind" unless at least a majority of its voting members and a
majority of the voting members of each of its local chapters are
blind.
     Section D. The Board of Directors shall establish procedures
for the admission of state affiliates. There shall be only one
state affiliate in each state.
     Section E. Any member, local chapter, state affiliate, or
division of this organization may be suspended, expelled, or
otherwise disciplined for misconduct or for activity unbecoming
to a member or affiliate of this organization by a two-thirds
vote of the Board of Directors or by a simple majority of the
states present and voting at a National Convention. If the action
is to be taken by the Board, there must be good cause, and a good
faith effort must have been made to try to resolve the problem by
discussion and negotiation. If the action is to be taken by the
Convention, notice must be given on the preceding day at an open
Board meeting or a session of the Convention. If a dispute arises
as to whether there was "good cause," or whether the Board made a
"good faith effort," the National Convention (acting in its
capacity as the supreme authority of the Federation) shall have
the power to make final disposition of the matter; but until or
unless the Board's action is reversed by the National Convention,
the ruling of the Board shall continue in effect.
                           **********
            ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
                   AND NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD
     Section A. The officers of The National Federation of the
Blind shall be: (1) President, (2) First Vice President, (3)
Second Vice President, (4) Secretary, and (5) Treasurer. They
shall be elected biennially.
     Section B. The officers shall be elected by majority vote of
the state affiliates present and voting at a National Convention.
     Section C. The National Federation of the Blind shall have a
Board of Directors, which shall be composed of the five officers
and twelve additional members, six of whom shall be elected at
the Annual Convention during even numbered years and six of whom
shall be elected at the Annual Convention during odd numbered
years. The members of the Board of Directors shall serve for two-
year terms.
     Section D. The Board of Directors may, in its discretion,
create a National Advisory Board and determine the duties and
qualifications of the members of the National Advisory Board.
                           **********
         ARTICLE V. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE CONVENTION,
            THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND THE PRESIDENT
     Section A. Powers and Duties of the Convention. The
Convention is the supreme authority of the Federation. It is the
legislature of the Federation. As such, it has final authority
with respect to all issues of policy. Its decisions shall be made
after opportunity has been afforded for full and fair discussion.
Delegates and members in attendance may participate in all
Convention discussions as a matter of right. Any member of the
Federation may make or second motions, propose nominations, and
serve on committees; and is eligible for election to office,
except that only blind members may be elected to the National
Board. Voting and making motions by proxy are prohibited.
Consistent with the democratic character of the Federation,
Convention meetings shall be so conducted as to prevent
parliamentary maneuvers which would have the effect of
interfering with the expression of the will of the majority on
any question, or with the rights of the minority to full and fair
presentation of their views. The Convention is not merely a
gathering of representatives of separate state organizations. It
is a meeting of the Federation at the national level in its
character as a national organization. Committees of the
Federation are committees of the national organization. The
nominating committee shall consist of one member from each state
affiliate represented at the Convention, and each state affiliate
shall appoint its member to the committee. From among the members
of the committee, the President shall appoint a chairperson.
                           **********
     Section B. Powers and Duties of the Board of Directors. The
function of the Board of Directors as the governing body of the
Federation between Conventions is to make policies when necessary
and not in conflict with the policies adopted by the Convention.
Policy decisions which can reasonably be postponed until the next
meeting of the National Convention shall not be made by the Board
of Directors. The Board of Directors shall serve as a credentials
committee. It shall have the power to deal with organizational
problems presented to it by any member, local chapter, state
affiliate, or division; shall decide appeals regarding the
validity of elections in local chapters, state affiliates, or
divisions; and shall certify the credentials of delegates when
questions regarding the validity of such credentials arise. By a
two-thirds vote the Board may suspend one of its members for
violation of a policy of the organization or for other action
unbecoming to a member of the Federation. By a two-thirds vote
the Board may reorganize any local chapter, state affiliate, or
division. The Board may not suspend one of its own members or
reorganize a local chapter, state affiliate, or division except
for good cause and after a good faith effort has been made to try
to resolve the problem by discussion and negotiation. If a
dispute arises as to whether there was "good cause" or whether
the Board made a "good faith effort," the National Convention
(acting in its capacity as the supreme authority of the
Federation) shall have the power to make final disposition of the
matter; but until or unless the Board's action is reversed by the
National Convention, the ruling of the Board shall continue in
effect. There shall be a standing subcommittee of the Board of
Directors which shall consist of three members. The committee
shall be known as the Subcommittee on Budget and Finance. It
shall, whenever it deems necessary, recommend to the Board of
Directors principles of budgeting, accounting procedures, and
methods of financing the Federation program; and shall consult
with the President on major expenditures.
     The Board of Directors shall meet at the time of each
National Convention. It shall hold other meetings on the call of
the President or on the written request of any five members.
     Section C. Powers and Duties of the President. The President
is the principal administrative officer of the Federation. In
this capacity his or her duties consist of: carrying out the
policies adopted by the Convention; conducting the day-to-day
management of the affairs of the Federation; authorizing
expenditures from the Federation treasury in accordance with and
in implementation of the policies established by the Convention;
appointing all committees of the Federation except the Nominating
Committee; coordinating all activities of the Federation,
including the work of other officers and of committees; hiring,
supervising, and dismissing staff members and other employees of
the Federation, and determining their numbers and compensation;
taking all administrative actions necessary and proper to put
into effect the programs and accomplish the purposes of the
Federation. The implementation and administration of the interim
policies adopted by the Board of Directors are the responsibility
of the President as principal administrative officer of the
Federation.
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                  ARTICLE VI. STATE AFFILIATES
     Any organized group desiring to become a state affiliate of
The National Federation of the Blind shall apply for affiliation
by submitting to the President of the National Federation of the
Blind a copy of its constitution and a list of the names and
addresses of its elected officers. Under procedures to be
established by the Board of Directors, action shall be taken on
the application. If the action is affirmative, the National
Federation of the Blind shall issue to the organization a charter
of affiliation. Upon request of the National President the state
affiliate shall provide to the National President the names and
addresses of its members. Copies of all amendments to the
constitution and/or bylaws of an affiliate shall be sent without
delay to the National President. No organization shall be
accepted as an affiliate and no organization shall remain an
affiliate unless at least a majority of its voting members are
blind. The president, vice president (or vice presidents), and at
least a majority of the executive committee or board of directors
of the state affiliate and of all of its local chapters must be
blind. Affiliates must not merely be social organizations but
must formulate programs and actively work to promote the economic
and social betterment of the blind. Affiliates and their local
chapters must comply with the provisions of the Constitution of
the Federation.
     Policy decisions of the Federation are binding upon all
affiliates and local chapters, and the affiliate and its local
chapters must participate affirmatively in carrying out such
policy decisions. The name National Federation of the Blind,
Federation of the Blind, or any variant thereof is the property
of the National Federation of the Blind; and any affiliate, or
local chapter of an affiliate, which ceases to be part of the
National Federation of the Blind (for whatever reason) shall
forthwith forfeit the right to use the name National Federation
of the Blind, Federation of the Blind, or any variant thereof.
     A general convention of the membership of an affiliate or of
the elected delegates of the membership must be held and its
principal executive officers must be elected at least once every
two years. There can be no closed membership. Proxy voting is
prohibited in state affiliates and local chapters. Each affiliate
must have a written constitution or bylaws setting forth its
structure, the authority of its officers, and the basic
procedures which it will follow. No publicly contributed funds
may be divided among the membership of an affiliate or local
chapter on the basis of membership, and (upon request from the
National Office) an affiliate or local chapter must present an
accounting of all of its receipts and expenditures. An affiliate
or local chapter must not indulge in attacks upon the officers,
Board members, leaders, or members of the Federation or upon the
organization itself outside of the organization, and must not
allow its officers or members to indulge in such attacks. This
requirement shall not be interpreted to interfere with the right
of an affiliate or local chapter, or its officers or members, to
carry on a political campaign inside the Federation for election
to office or to achieve policy changes. However, the organization
will not sanction or permit deliberate, sustained campaigns of
internal organizational destruction by state affiliates, local
chapters, or members. No affiliate or local chapter may join or
support, or allow its officers or members to join or support, any
temporary or permanent organization inside the Federation which
has not received the sanction and approval of the Federation.
                           **********
                    ARTICLE VII. DISSOLUTION
     In the event of dissolution, all assets of the organization
shall be given to an organization with similar purposes which has
received a 501(c)(3) certification by the Internal Revenue
Service.
                           **********
                    ARTICLE VIII. AMENDMENTS
     This Constitution may be amended at any regular Annual
Convention of the Federation by an affirmative vote of two-thirds
of the state affiliates registered, present, and voting; provided
that the proposed amendment shall have been signed by five state
affiliates in good standing and that it shall have been presented
to the President the day before final action by the Convention.^
