                      THE BLIND CALIFORNIAN



                    Quarterly Magazine of the

                 CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF THE BLIND


Spring 1993               Volume XXXVII        Number 2

         Published in Braille, Cassette, and Large Print




                       EXECUTIVE OFFICES:

           John V. Lopez, President, Res. 213-268-4526
                8700 Reseda Boulevard, Suite 208
                      Northridge, CA 91324
                        FAX 818-349-1573
                          818-349-2636
                          800-221-6359

               SACRAMENTO AREA OFFICE:  Cid Urena 
          1399 Sacramento Avenue Sp 25, Bryte, CA 95605
 
                 BAY AREA OFFICE:  Donald Queen
            648 Kearney Street, El Cerrito, CA 94530


                     EDITOR:  Maria E. Lopez
                     3925 East Sixth Street 
                      Los Angeles, CA 90023
                          213-268-4526
  
               Editor Assistant:  Norma Schecter 

Please send all address changes to the Executive Offices in Northridge. 
                   CCB PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE


     Sue Staley, Chairperson, 14144 Burbank Blvd. 4, Van Nuys, CA 91401 818-
989-2137 

     Winifred Downing, 1587 38th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94122

     Cherrie Handy Pomerantz, 1344 North Martel Avenue, 102, Los Angeles, CA
90046

     Cathy Schmitt, 167 Rockwood Street, Irvine, CA 92714

     Connie Skeen, 3250 Maple Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602

     Ruth Dean Zulli, 8516 Alcott Street 2, Los Angeles, CA 90032

     David Keith, 8150 Broadway #233, Lemon Grove, CA 91945-2671


                        ----------------



Nonmembers are requested and members are invited to pay a yearly subscription
fee of $10 toward the printing of The Blind Californian.  

If you or a friend would like to remember the California Council of the Blind in
your will, you can do so by employing the following language:

"I give, devise, and bequeath unto the California Council of the Blind, a nonprofit
charitable organization in California, the sum of $---- (or
----) to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons."

If your wishes are more complex, you may have your attorney  communicate with
the Northridge office for other suggested forms.  Thank you.  

                        TABLE OF CONTENTS


FROM THE EDITOR'S DISK, by Maria E. Lopez  . . . . . . . . . . .1

HEADQUARTERS UPDATE, by John V. Lopez  . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

REPORT ON TEACHER CREDENTIALING
     by Winifred Downing   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

THE CCB WRITES TO BANA   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON THE BLINDAND INDEPENDENT
     LIVING by Robert J. Acosta  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

NORMA L. SCHECTER - CTEVH DISTINGUISHED MEMBER
     by Elizabeth Schriefer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

BLIND SCIENTIST "LISTENS" FOR LIFE IN OUTER SPACE 
     by Tom Abate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

THE STUDENT PERSPECTIVE by Ron Brooks    . . . . . . . . . . . 20

A RESOLUTION HONORING ROBERT ACOSTA    . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

FIRST LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 1993-94 by Cid Urena  . . . . . . . . 23

YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
     ACCESSIBLE TRANSIT ROUTE IDENTIFICATION
     SIGNS by Gene Lozano    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COMMUNITY 
     by Al Biegler   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

DOOR PRIZES NEEDED FOR ACB NATIONAL CONVENTION 
     by Robert J. Acosta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

BRAILLE EXHIBITS MARK BRAILLE LITERACY WEEK
     by Carlos Hamann  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE by Robert Acosta, Guest Writer   . . . . . 34


BULLETIN BOARD by Winifred Downing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

AROUND THE STATE AND NATION  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
                     FROM THE EDITOR'S DISK 

                        by Maria E. Lopez


Just after returning from the February 2, 1993, successful Legislative Reception
in Sacramento, hosted by the California Council of the Blind, John and I flew to
San Francisco to attend the mid-year meeting of the Board of Directors of the
American Council of the Blind held on the first weekend in February.  At this
meeting the Host Committee of the ACB convention also met to discuss each
committee's assignment and to review final arrangements.  

On our return home from an interesting and busy weekend in San Francisco,
John and I, along with Teddie Remhild, had a scary landing experience that I
want to share with you.  

Our plans to land at Burbank's Airport were detoured at the last minute to Los
Angeles International Airport, because after flying in circles around Burbank's
Airport for a while, the pilot informed all of us that he was having problems with
the flaps which slow down the airplane for landing. Sometime after waiting in
agonizing suspense for what seemed to be a long time, the airline attendant came
to assure us that everything was going to be OK, although at the same time we
were instructed how to protect ourselves in case of an emergency landing. 
Shortly after, the pilot announced through the intercom that we needed a longer
runway in order to land safely because we had to land at high speed, so we
went to LA-X.  All this time it was pouring rain, but we finally landed safely.  

At LA-X an attendant met us and escorted us to his supervisor, who greeted us
in a rather macabre tone of voice as if we were in a science fiction or horror
movie, saying, "Don't worry, I will take care of you."  We were then transferred
by bus back to Burbank Airport which took us about two hours through the
heavy rain and jammed freeways.  We eventually arrived home three long hours
later than scheduled. 

Now, for a change the pace, this issue of The Blind Californian contains articles
about some special people who have been involved in the blindness movement for
many years and have immensely enhanced the reputation of the California Council
of the Blind with their dedicated work:  "A Resolution Honoring Robert Acosta,"
"Norma Schecter," and others.  In addition, there are articles of interest to
everyone, such as "Blind Scientist Listens to Life in Outer Space," "A Different
Perspective on the Blind and Independent Living," "Report on Teachers
Credentialing," and our regular columns filled with interesting topics and
information.   

As a reminder, the next deadline for the Summer edition is June 1.  Please make
an extra effort to send your articles to me before the deadline so that I can in
turn complete editing the materials on time and have the BC printed, brailled,
recorded, and in your hands on schedule.  

I look forward to seeing all of you at the CCB Spring Convention and also will
appreciate receiving your input regarding the BC.  

Here is my final thought for this issue:  "One of the great pleasures of the world
is to do good by stealth, and have it discovered by accident."  

                        ----------------


                       HEADQUARTERS UPDATE

                        by John V. Lopez


1993 began with rather exciting assignments on my calendar at the California
Council of the Blind headquarters, and it continues to get even more so.  Barbara
and Marni are kept busy answering the CCB's telephone.  Thank you for sharing
all your valuable information, your on all kinds of subjects of concern to
CCB'ers, and much-needed constructive criticism which helps me to be a better
and more responsive President. 

At present I work in the office two days a week, usually on Mondays and
Wednesdays, but in the near future I'll be there Friday as well.  My driver,
Richard Garcia, gets me to the office in about an hour's drive if the freeways are
fairly clear.  

In early January, it was a pleasure to find myself in New Mexico, accompanied by
my wife, Maria; we were there and the invitation of Durward McDaniel, the ACB
Membership Chairman,.  It was a privilege for me to be involved in the
reorganization of the New Mexico Council affiliate of the American Council of the
Blind.  We will be visiting my home state again in the near future to pursue our
worthwhile endeavor.    

On January 16, Don Brown and Kathy Martinez, both CCB members, conducted an
ADA training session at the Orientation Center for the Blind's (OCB) auditorium. 
This was surely a learning experience for me, and I commend them for their
worthwhile and successful endeavor.  The attendance was good and so were the
refreshments.  The CCB is grateful to Manuel Urena for his assistance in
coordinating this event, and especially our appreciation for the use of the facility
of the OCB goes to Allen Jenkins, Director of the OCB.  

Several meetings with the Department of Rehabilitation were also part of
January's activities.  The agendas of these interesting meetings consisted of
issues we're vitally concerned with; you will learn about them in future
legislative releases sent by Cid Urena, our hard-working legislative consultant. 
Of course, we are still pursuing the establishment of a Division for the Blind, an
issue of great significance in our blind community.  

Additional vital concerns include appointments with fund-raising agents.  Obbie
Schoeman, Chairman of the Fund-raising Committee, is always busy analyzing
these important and necessary items, and skillfully helping me decide which ideas
will be better for our cause.  

Visiting CCB chapters, along with other activities, not only is an interesting and
rewarding experience for me but it also offers a learning opportunity and
training ground as well.  Here is where I hear your problems and successes. 
Here is where I discover your talents and potentials.  Most of all, here is where
I receive your advice and friendship.  These visits to your chapters will continue
being one of the major projects of my presidency to create a better
understanding and to maintain a personal touch between our membership and the
administration.  

Of course, our CCB committees are diligently at work.  These dedicated members
carry out their tasks wisely and quietly; without them, many of our issues would
be lost and our goals unreachable.  My thanks to these fine committee people for
accepting assignments and for supporting my efforts.  They are helping to make
the CCB a successful consumer organization of blind people in California.  

On March 6, the CCB Board of Directors met and made some productive decisions
and wise recommendations; among them:  (1) that I form a personnel committee
which will set up guidelines to assist the President in personnel matters; (2) that
I appoint a committee to draft a brochure containing resource information telling
us where to get materials in braille, large print, or on tape; (3) that we have one
live Board meeting between each convention, if the price is right.  

In addition to discussion of important issues, the Board members felt that they
became better acquainted with each other, and more confident in making
decisions, as a result of working together as a team in a face-to-face meeting,
instead of meeting via telephone conference.  

One of the most important items on that day's agenda was also the report from
the Budget and Finance Committee, which the Board approved for our CCB 1993
budget.  At the Spring Convention, the CCB Board of Directors will receive a
quarterly financial report; it was voted to have a financial report every three
months, to give us a closer on-going view of what is happening, as reflected in
the treasurer's reports by Denise Weddle.  

On February 2, the CCB led a delegation of blind Californians to the Capitol in
Sacramento to meet with freshmen Legislators to make them aware of the many
issues concerning our blind community and, of course, to ask them for their
support on these vital matters.  Thanks to Pat Urena, our legislative reception
was a positive and well planned event; we surely did our PR successfully.  

Four days later in San Francisco, our CCB Host Committee to the American Council
of the Blind (ACB) Convention chaired by Bob Acosta met to review and insure
that all committees and their assignments were on target and ready to assist in
making this summer's ACB Convention the best in the West.  

Briefly, two legislative issues:  First, "A Failed Federal Promise," this paper
documents 1.4 billion dollars owed to California by the Federal Government for
services and programs provided to immigrants and refugees as a result of the
national immigration policy.  Consequently, our letters must be sent to President
Clinton and to our Congress people in Washington DC, telling them to please get
on the ball and see that this is paid.  Otherwise, all of us in California receiving
SSI and welfare are liable to be affected seriously if this amount is not
reimbursed to California immediately.  

Second, and on a happier note, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing voted
affirmatively   to retain all the teacher standards for low incidence, as they are-
-a real victory for our blind children.  More detailed information on legislation
will be coming from Kathy Skivers, Governmental Affairs Committee Chairperson,
and from Cid Urena. 

In March, many of us Californians traveled to Washington, DC, to participate in
the Affiliated Leadership League (ALL) Legislative Seminar successfully led by
ALL's President, Robert Acosta, to bring our legislative issues to our
Congressmen.  Some of us were lucky and met directly with our Congressmen,
others met with congressional representatives.  Nevertheless, we made certain
that our messages got across clearly.  A report on the ALL Legislative Seminar
will appear in a future issue of The Blind Californian.  

At the CCB Spring Convention, it will be an honor for me to award charters to
three new chapters:  San Mateo, Contra Costa, and El Dorado.  Besides these
three new chapters, the Cerritos Valley Chapter has been reorganized by our CCB
Board member Marion Fisher.  It is encouraging and a pleasure to see our fine
organization grow steadily.  

This CCB Spring Convention will prove, again, to be another outstanding,
informative, and interesting event.  Because of your exciting ideas and
contributions, this convention agenda will be composed of significant subjects for
everyone's interest.  It will be a privilege and a lot of fun for me to be with all
of you CCB members and friends in San Francisco, the city by the Bay.  

Remember to call to make your reservations at the San Francisco Airport Marriott
Hotel, phone 415-692-9100.  Please review your Spring convention announcement
for May 27-30, 1993, or call our CCB office at 800-221-6359.  

                        ----------------


                REPORT ON TEACHER CREDENTIALING 

                       by Winifred Downing


To review a bit of history from a previous issue of the B.C., credentialing of
California teachers used to be a responsibility of the state legislature.  Some
years ago, however,  Senator Marian Bergeson introduced a bill, passed by the
legislature, which established a Commission on Teacher Credentialing to care for
this matter.  Over the years since then, the Commission has been approached by
those who requested a reduction in the number of credentials required and a
more generalized structure of these credentials so that district administrators
would have an easier time filling vacancies.  

Three years ago studies were initiated to determine how the credentials should
be managed, and subsequently a task force was established which issued its
recommendations in  September of 1992.  The community interested in the
education of children with what are classified as Low Incidence Disabilities (the
blind, deaf, deaf-blind, and orthopedically impaired) were shocked to learn that
the special credentials to prepare teachers to work with these populations (which
require very specific skills to address their needs) were eliminated in the
proposed restructuring plan.  
For students having severe visual problems, there are at present two separate
teacher credentials--one for the VH (teacher of the visually handicapped) and one
for O&M (Orientation and Mobility.)  Qualifying for these credentials added a year
in the case of the VH credential and a year and a half to two years for the O&M. 
The proposed requirement abolished the two credentials and substituted for the
more than 40 course units presently required only 9 to 12 possible units.  

Such a plan would mean that a teacher simply couldn't learn all that is necessary
to teach blind children--knowledge of eye diseases, reading and writing of braille
both literary and mathematical, low vision aids, the specific devices and
equipment now being used in the education of the blind and visually impaired,
and on and on.  So little mobility training would be provided that the teacher
would be qualified only to help students learn their way around the school
building.  Young people would, therefore, be out of high school before they
would learn to cross streets, take public transportation, and the like.  

Members of the Low Incidence Disability Advisory Committee were informed about
this issue at the September meeting, and everyone went home with a resolve to
fight the proposed restructuring.  The Joint Action Committee (JAC), representing
all the agencies and services for the blind in California, joined in the effort. 
Lots of material was distributed to let everyone interested know what was going
on; and Bob Acosta and John Lopez convened two telephone conference calls of
specialists around the state to coordinate a response plan.  Someone on the first
call told the group that the Advisory Commission on Special Education was to
discuss the matter at their meeting the next week, and that information gave us
time to get lots of people there to testify at the public input session--parents,
teachers, and adults who could testify about the value of the specialized
education they had received from well trained teachers.  Again, CCB participated
strongly in this effort, sending me to Los Angeles to testify.  

This activity occurred in late November and December, and all the time from
September to Christmas, letters kept arriving at the Commission--some 3,000 of
them.  The January meeting of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing was
scheduled for January 7.  We all realized that the meeting room would not be
large enough for all who wished to attend, but reminders to the CTC on this
issue brought no change of plans.  When we learned that the public input
session was scheduled for 2:30, we knew we had to get there while everyone else
was at lunch so that we would be sure of our seats.  Two carloads and a van
went from San Francisco, and several more contingents went from the East Bay. 
When the secretary of the CTC saw us all settling down to have our bag lunches
in the meeting room, he was truly astonished.  He even sent out for cookies for
us!  

But the fun part came at the actual meeting.  Some 40 persons asked to speak;
and though we were each limited to three minutes, it still took a long time to
hear everything that everyone had to say.  A deaf student signed a response
with an interpreter speaking for her and keeping her aware of what was going
on.  A blind student read her testimony from braille copy, and the commissioners
were stretching out of their seats to watch her read.  The rest of us spoke in
more conventional manner; but just as I was leaving my seat for my turn,
someone suggested to me that I invite those to stand who agreed that the
present credentials should remain in place for teachers of blind and visually
impaired students.  At the end of my presentation, I did that and almost the
whole room stood.  That gave an opportunity to everyone who had made the
sacrifice of a whole day off from work and a lot of travel time to express his or
her views, and there was loud applause.  

No one could doubt the impact of the meeting, and several commissioners
expressed to various participants their conviction that the low incidence
credentials would not be changed in any substantive way.  

Final discussion occurred at the March 4 meeting and the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing voted to retain all the low incidence credentials, as they are.  A
real victory for our children! 

The whole experience should make us all proud of the California  Council and
should strengthen our faith in the importance of grassroots reaction.  
                        ----------------


                     THE CCB WRITES TO BANA

[Editor's Note:  The CCB sent the following letter to BANA in early January.]

Ms. Hilda Caton, Chairperson
Braille Authority of North America
American Printing House for the Blind 

Dear Ms. Caton:

At the request of Christopher Gray, the representative of the American Council
of the Blind to BANA, the Board of Directors of the California Council of the Blind
voted at its fall meeting in Sacramento  to send $1,000 to assist with the effort
to determine if a single braille code can be devised which would encompass
literary braille, computer braille, and the mathematics code.  

Keenly aware of the importance of braille as the single most valuable
communication tool for blind persons, the CCB is always interested in
participating in every possible way in the promotion of braille.  Having seen the
initial report of the Objective II Committee of the Unified English Braille Code,
however, we are troubled.  We were assured that whatever revisions are finally
adopted will affect literary braille only minimally; but the report (and we realize
it is only a draft report) which we have seen from the Objective II Committee of
the Braille Code Research contains extensive changes proposed for literary
braille.  

We would have a hard time accepting alterations like dropping the sign  for com;
the final signs beginning with dots 5-6--ence, ong, ful, tion, ness, ment, and ity;
and the lower signs for to, into, and by.  Losing the practice of omitting spaces
between the words and, for, of, the, with, and a would, we think, make braille
reading a lot slower and would also result, combined with the previously 
mentioned changes, in having documents much more bulky than they now are.  

The projected changes in the punctuation signs would be extremely difficult for
readers to get used to.  Seeing the present sign for which as the question mark,
the of and with signs as the parentheses when they immediately precede and
follow text (when we have been seeing them close-up to other words with a
different meaning all our lives), having the square bracket used for opening and
closing quotation marks and inches; and the present period function also as the
decimal point would present braille readers with material which they would find
very confusing.  

We cannot help wondering who would teach such an extensively revised code to
all present readers of braille and to those throughout the country who are
charged with the responsibility of teaching it to blind children and newly blinded
adults.  Those who learn this revised code as their first acquaintance with braille
would be unable to read the literary braille produced by all the libraries and
printing houses in the last 70 years.  That deprivation would represent an
extreme disadvantage in the education of blind children and would surely result
in much less braille being read for several generations of blind persons.  

While the CCB, therefore, sends a donation to help investigate the possibility of
developing a unified code, we do so with great skepticism.  The only encouraging
aspect of the report of the Objective II Committee is that it made its proposed
changes readily available to anyone interested in braille.  This practice is a
welcome departure from BANA's habit of deciding upon alterations in the code,
as in October 1991, without any input from braille readers and even without
insisting that producers of braille include notes from BANA about what changes
were being made and why.  We trust that even though CCB's reaction to the
Report is negative, the committee will continue to have the courage of widely
publishing its ideas and will not succumb to the temptation to keep discussion
behind closed doors to avoid controversy.  

We also have some concerns with the composition of the committee, for it is
dominated by people who are interested in codes and computers.  Not represented
there are those who have taught braille and who might want to suggest changes
which would make braille easier to learn both by children and by adults.  The
chairman of the committee, though  extremely well respected in the field, is not
a braille user himself and has a monetary interest in computer translation
programs, which would in any other study situation represent a conflict of
interest which would not be acceptable.  Once again, his willingness to make
available the files of the committee report speaks well for his openness.  We do
not mean to suggest suspicion of him but just feel he may view the project
narrowly.  
This matter is of immense importance to blind persons so we shall be watching
developments closely and commenting as we do.  Future financial contributions
will be voted upon in each year of the committee's work.  

Sincerely,
John V. Lopez, President 

                        ----------------


              A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON THE BLIND 
                     AND INDEPENDENT LIVING

                       by Robert J. Acosta


In the Fall, 1992 issue of the Blind Californian, Stan Greenberg made a response
to my speech at the Spring Convention in which I discussed, among other things,
the future of this Council, with some attention to the nature of rehabilitation
services which blind people need.  

I was, of course, flattered to see that Stan felt the speech " . . . stirred our
emotions and fueled our spirit . . ."  but Stan himself put me back on track as
he continued, "For this writer, the most exciting part of the address was the
admonition to us to be open to new ideas and differing perspectives."  Then he
proceeded to ". . . put some differing perspectives into our consciousness and
to propose some new ideas from the independent living point of view."  

One must ask, where does Stan believe the organized blind movement -- and, of
course, the California Council of the Blind -- has been for the past two decades? 
After all, the organized blind came to life in Berkeley long ago; and now the
independent living center concept was founded there as well.  Some blind people
have found employment in independent living centers, among them Stan
Greenberg; many blind people have attempted to stimulate the centers to provide
the kinds of services blind people need, with  little or no success.  

Stan goes on to state:  "Let's be honest:  for the most part, the independent
living movement in general and many independent living centers in particular
have not been responsive to the specialized needs  of blind and visually impaired
people."  He then inquires if the blind have ever wondered why this might be? -
- and then proceeds to tell us that we must bear major blame for this state of
affairs.  

For my part, I categorically deny that the blind are the bad guys in this sad
tale.  I gather that among the reasons why Stan considers the blind chiefly to
blame is that we have not been open-minded to the independent living center
concept.  But bear in mind that this isn't just a matter of being open to new
ideas -- different ideas -- or even old ones.  This is a struggle to maintain
services for the blind in the face of a national movement which would see the
end of all specialized services.  It looks to some of us as if the "open mind"
concept operates only one way, and the blind must concede that the independent
living center has the only valid point of view.  

Later, Stan remarks that ". . . the acrimony of the Ed Roberts era, the inertia
of the Cecie Fontanoza years, and the turmoil of the early Bill Tainter
administration need not be chronicled here."  But if not here, where?  We surely
must understand that in the past two decades the surging growth of independent
living services, directed at the admirable goal of reducing dependency and
freeing up living for those in need of substantial specialized medical and related
care, has been a disaster in work for the blind.  

The fate of specialized services is today in serious jeopardy because of those
who would impose upon all blind and visually impaired persons the same
standards, the same services, as those required or requested by the
orthopedically impaired, the developmentally disabled, and the like.  And while
the proponents of independent living have fine goals, and admirable motives,
what of the blind?  

Last year, during the campaign to achieve reauthorization of the Rehabilitation
Act, the National Council on Disability (NCD) urged that funding under Title VII-C
of the Rehabilitation Act be limited only to independent living centers, rather
than to organizations which, among other things, provided services only to
persons with specific disabilities.  In plain English, what this means is that if the
NCD has its way, present services to the senior blind would be taken over by
the independent living centers.  During the Reauthorization negotiations, some
even wanted to change the title of the Rehabilitation Act to the Independent
Living Act.  This comes hard for those of us who still believe rehabilitation
should center on employment, though let it be said that we also believe that
independent living services are critical for those who need them; but these
services should not take the place of employment services.  

As for the record of some California independent living center proponents, the
Ed Roberts administration destroyed with the stroke of a pen what the Council
had required 60 years to build:  a comprehensive, workable system providing
reader services to blind college students.  It has taken us years to recover from
that adventure -- and we're not all the way back yet.  

Can anyone forget Bill Tainter's first appearance at a California Council
Convention?  When he called categorical services -- the specialized services the
newly blind need -- segregated and challenged us to protect the Orientation
Center for the Blind?  

Now let me be the first to report that neither Ed Roberts nor Bill Tainter is evil. 
Both are admirable characters who have achieved much.  But we do  have
differences.  For blind people like myself, the struggle is always to achieve
freedom from the very services so important to, for instance, the paraplegic. 
After all, learning to cope with blindness more often than not means learning to
cope with the tyranny of the sighted, no matter how well intended.  The tyranny
of kindness -- remember the bird in the gilded cage? -- in which so many well-
intended family and friends want to be our caretakers because they perceive the
absence of sight to be the absence of ability.  

These differences are real, and must be addressed.  We blind people know that
we need to have the specialized services of professionals who are specially
trained to get us up and running after the onset of blindness.  This is a deep
and true difference from the independent living center concept in which
everyone goes to the same place for substantially similar services.  We blind are
at present locked in a long struggle to see to it that meaningful rehabilitation,
education, and social services are provided to the blind of California.  By our
very presence we contribute to an inflammatory environment, since our position
is so drastically different from independent living concepts.  Some concepts are
inflammatory but there is often a very true, and deep, meaning.  There are some
who say that we should avoid unpleasantness and differences.  But how can we
do less than to stand up for what we know to be true?  Some black persons in
South Africa have always supported apartheid.  Some blind people embrace
generic services despite the fact that blind people will suffer.  

Jacobus tenBroek led the way to sharing our vision of future hope and
achievement with the disabled, the poor, and the disenfranchised. The organized
blind movement has long stood for enhancing and improving the lot of all
disabled persons, with such initiatives as our drive to see enacted assistance for
disabled persons (originally called Aid to the Totally Disabled), inclusion of all
disabled persons in the White Cane Law, inclusion of all affected persons in the
abolition of residency requirements, and our work on behalf of the Americans
with Disabilities Act.  

We have greeted the emergence of the independent living center as a positive
benefit to many disabled persons in our society.  At the same time, however, we
must look with concern on the development of a movement called independent
living which centers upon those basic support services needed for the disabled
to lead a self-directed life.  For blind people, the struggle has long been to
obtain the services we need to get going, and then to free ourselves to lead
lives unhampered by any kind of special, outside support.  For generations blind
people have been able to achieve the kind of independence gained by all our
fellow citizens.  This is not to say that we are not as interdependent as all
persons are; we simply strive to become a part of our communities as all other
citizens.  

Our struggle will continue.  There are forces at work which must be overcome,
such as the independent living assertion that one of the flaws in our
rehabilitation system is that it gives the blind preferential treatment.  My
friends, if the way the blind are treated in rehabilitation is preferential, the sun
surely must rise in the West.  

                        ----------------


         NORMA L. SCHECTER - CTEVH DISTINGUISHED MEMBER

                     by Elizabeth Schriefer


Over the past three decades and some years, CTEVH (California Transcribers and
Educators for the Visually Handicapped) has been blessed with bright, concern,
industrious, responsible, and interesting members.  Through the years, we have
devised several ways to honor our representative few of the many who have
made notable contributions to CTEVH and to its mission of providing enabling
services to the blind and visually impaired.  And, as the years roll on, the list
of those so honored grows as CTEVH grows.  

We remind ourselves of our history of accomplishments with each issue of the
CTEVH Journal (until recently known as the California Transcriber, or TCT.)  We
find there, besides lists of 17 past Presidents (dating back to 1957) and six past
editors (dating back to 1959) lists of Certificates of Appreciation, special
recognition, Fred L. Sinclair awards, and a very short list of three distinguished
members.  

These distinguished members have contributed such exemplary services over
many years that they transcend representing the best of CTEVH:  They are the
best of CTEVH.  Their lives have left ineradicable traces we may follow and try
to emulate but which will ever be theirs, alone.  Tonight we are adding a fourth
name to that pre-eminent and elite group.  

Many of us have come to California from other places; tonight's award recipient
was brought from New York at age two by her parents, who found paradise in
a citrus grove in Ontario.  Yes, quite literary, Paradise.  They not only found
paradise, they founded it and developed their paradise into a resort where
weddings, receptions, Bar Mitzvahs, and other celebrations could be shared.  

As a child in Paradise, our honoree blossomed in the balmy Southern California
pre-smog climate.  During her college days at UCLA, she became a member of a
modern dance group which performed at the famous Biltmore theater in what was
then the downtown cultural center of Los Angeles.  However, she was much too
interested in other things to pursue a dance career.  

She worked for a time with the New York Cotton Exchange (where she had to
learn to "U-All" for the Southern trade!) and dancing became a well-loved past 
time.  A stimulating opportunity arose after she went to work for the engineering
division of Lear Aircraft in Santa Monica, and in her typical fashion, she made
the most of it, becoming private secretary for the company's brilliant founder--
Bill Lear.  

But marriage and family beckoned.  On August 17, 1952, she married her beloved
Bernie and in 1954 their first son, David, was born.  In 1956, the family moved
to West Covina, where their second son, Jonathan, was born.  

We would not be honoring this lady tonight if she had stuck to dancing and
raising children.  Fortunately, her exuberance and brain power combined with
her heritage and her personal need to contribute.  Having been a reader during
her college days for a blind student (Jimmy Burns, who later became a
psychology instructor at L.A. City College) she realized that braille was the key
to literacy for the blind.  So, in 1957, she started with Frances Park at Braille
Institute (how much we owe that Agency!) and quickly became a proficient braille
transcriber.  

In 1959, substituting as a teacher for Margaret Valencia's braille class in West
Covina, our honoree realized that her gifts could be multiplied by sharing with
others as a braille teacher--as she has continued to do to this day.  For some
12 years she taught braille at Orange Coast College, after moving to Huntington
Beach.  She has helped to found at least two braille groups and has been a
factor in keeping others afloat.  

Having discovered her "true vocation", she also discovered CTEVH and NBA.  She
has served on NBA and BANA literary braille committees, has been a liaison with
BAUK (the Braille Authority of the United Kingdom), and prepared a detailed
comparative study of British and North American literary codes for a BANA-BAUK
conference.  

Travel has been a feature of this lady's life, and with her boon companion,
Bernie, she has visited societies and institutes for the blind in Hong Kong, Paris,
Sweden, Holland, Rome, Hawaii, Budapest, and, of course, RNIB (Royal National
Institute for the Blind) in London.  And this probably is not a complete list!  

As a consequence of her travels, her dedication to her braille craft, and her
interested and caring nature, our honoree has made friends by correspondence,
by telephone, and in person with blind people and other braillists throughout the
English-speaking world.  She is personally responsible for many of the
international members of CTEVH, including students from Africa, transcribers and
blind readers from New zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and, closer
to home, some of our Canadian members, as well!  

Her missionary zeal, fortunately, is coupled with a penetrating intelligence,
encyclopedic knowledge of braille (as well as many other things), a sense of
humor, and wonderfully good nature.  (I won't embarrass myself by sharing some
of the faux pas and failings for which she has forgiven me over the years!)  

As I write these words, trying to recall the many, many contributions this
Distinguished member has made, I find that the list is too long for me to complete
and that I like making a dearly loved friend sound like a one-woman institution. 
Nevertheless, here are a few things to know:  Editor of the California
Transcriber--6 years.  
CTEVH Literary Braille Specialist--16 years and counting.  
CTEVH Conference Program Chair--Several times.  
Chair, Krebs Revision Committee--Going into a second revision.  She was largely
responsible for arranging for Bernard Krebs to donate his "Transcribers Bible"--
the Green Krebs--as well as the companion lesson book, the Orange Krebs, to
CTEVH so that his foundation work could be continued in perpetuity by CTEVH. 

Official Liaison, CTEVH--BAUK.
Author of hundreds of articles for TCT and other such publications.  
The prime mover and developer of jumbo Dot braille.  
Transcriber of thousands upon thousands of pages of braille for students,
professionals, and others around the world.  
Teacher, one-woman support group, advisor, and consultant to an army of braille
transcribers.  
Several-term member of CTEVH Board of Directors.  

I'm sure you get the idea.  I suspect even the honoree, herself, has forgotten
some of her own accomplishments!  So, in recognition of 35 years of dedicated
leadership, accomplishment, contribution, creative energy, innovation, insight, and
ingenuity, we are most pleased and honored tonight to recognize one of the true
"Braille-brains" of the world as a DISTINGUISHED MEMBER OF CTEVH--Norma L.
Schecter.  

                        ----------------


        BLIND SCIENTIST "LISTENS" FOR LIFE IN OUTER SPACE

              by Tom Abate, Examiner Science Writer


On Monday the world's largest radio telescope will face the stars to begin sifting
through the electromagnetic noise of the universe for a clear, resounding signal
that could have been made only by other intelligent beings.  

Once the huge antenna in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, is activated, signals from space
will hit the big dish like the pit-pat of rain, creating electronic impulses that will
be stored in a NASA supercomputer.  

Within the computer data, one unique Bay area scientist hopes to "hear" any
intelligent transmission that might be out there, lost in the background noise.  

In order for NASA scientist Kent Cullers to "listen," however, he had to spend
13 years creating a software program capable of analyzing the 30 million signals
that will hit the Arecibo dish each second.  

But listening is an art Cullers has cultivated, because the physicist and
mathematician is blind.  

"I've been that way since birth," said Cullers, who works at the NASA Ames
Research Center, headquarters of the $100 million Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence project.  "I wouldn't say blindness was a direct help," said Cullers. 
"But I did develop the facility for visualizing what mathematics meant. I could
see all the pieces of a problem in my head in a way my co-workers could not." 


                      IMAGINING THE IMAGES

When Cullers first joined the SETI project in 1979, he typed lines of program
code and proofread the results using a device called an Optacon.  It took text
off the screen and capped it on his finger, forcing him to check his work one
character at a time.  

As the computer industry matured in the 1980's, programs came on the market
that translated computer data into braille.  Voice synthesizers also emerged to
turn text files into the sort of speech used in automated voice-mail systems.  

"Then I could proof my work in braille or listen to it," said Cullers, whose
colleagues say blindness never slowed him down.  

"He's an amazing guy," said UC-Santa Cruz astronomer Frank Drake, a SETI
pioneer.  "He constructs the images that appear on computer screens but he has
never seen an image."  

Cullers, 43, was born premature and was put in an oxygen tent and left there
too long, permanently damaging his retina.  

"Many people about my age are blind from the same cause," he said.

His parents, determined not to segregate him in a program for the blind, enrolled
him in public schools in Temple City, Los Angeles County.  He graduated high
school as a national merit scholar and attended Pomona College on a scholarship
before coming to UC-Berkeley in 1971 to do graduate work in physics.  

At Berkeley, his doctoral research involved bouncing radar waves off the
atmosphere and analyzing the returned signal.  

"It was a graduate student thesis with no direct application," Cullers said --until
one day in 1975, when he got hold of a thick document called the Cyclops report. 


Written by Bernard Oliver, a researcher at Hewlett-Packard Corp., the report laid
out a plan for detecting extraterrestrial life.  It involved using a huge radio
telescope to scan the heavens for electromagnetic signals--radars and television
broadcasts--which would be like beacon lights thrown off by civilizations
possessing advanced technology.  

"My wife and I got so excited that she read it to me from cover to cover in 24
hours," said Cullers, who by then had married his childhood sweetheart.  

Cullers knew the Cyclops project would need someone expert in processing
electromagnetic signals--exactly what he had done for his dissertation at
Berkeley.  

                      PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF

But it took him four years to land a job at the NASA Ames Research Center,
where scientists such as Drake, Oliver and others were slowly turning the
Cyclops concept into the SETI project.  Cullers said his break came at a wedding
reception in Oakland.  

"I started talking to a charming lady across the table and found out she worked
at Ames on the Cyclops project," he said.  

His companion turned out to be Jill Tarter, a Berkeley-trained astronomer and
chief scientist on the SETI project.  With her blessing, Cullers went to work
writing software to distinguish purposeful transmissions from cosmic noise.  

"At that time, not a lot of people understood the mathematical tools that could
analyze these signals," said Cullers, who invented several algorithms, or
simplifying formulas, to sift through the millions of signals that would hit the
dish each second.  

"It was just a big computational problem," he said.  

Although he supervised a team of four programmers who wrote most of the 10,000
lines of code in language C, Cullers still had to conceptualize the steps.  

"I am very good at visualizing large chunks of code or numbers or anything in
my head," he said.  

The proof will start emerging Monday, when the program he helped create begins
sifting through the cosmic hubbub to find the electromagnetic evidence of an
alien technology.  

"We look for concentrations in frequency or in time, continuous signals, like a
television carrier wave, or a beam scanning the sky like a pulsing radar," he
said clinically, before waxing poetic.  

"We're listening for the call of a distant sea gull against the roar of the cosmic
surf."  

                           ----------


                     The Student Perspective

                   CRASHING THE COMPUTER LABS

                          by Ron Brooks


Last year, the Blind Students of California authored a resolution, which was
supported by the general membership of the CCB, calling on all campuses within
the California State University (CSU) system to make at least one computer in
each student computer laboratory accessible to disabled students.  This article
details the problems which prompted the resolution, the CSU response, and the
current status of computer access on college and university campuses in
California.

                           Background

With the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Section 202
of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, all publicly funded colleges and
universities became legally responsible for the provision of equal access to all
programs and services offered to the general student population.  This
requirement, of course, includes computer access as virtually every student is
required to do at least some part of his/her college work on the computer. 
Moreover, students, through the use of on-campus computer labs, are able to
compose papers, spread-sheets and other assignments, conduct library research,
as well as send and receive electronic mail.

Recognizing their legal responsibility, colleges and universities began to establish
computer labs for students with disabilities.  However, these labs tended to be
very different from those in existence for the rest of the student body.  In
contrast to the large, easily accessed computer labs with dozens of IBM and
Macintosh computers, dot matrix and laser printers, a variety of available
software packages for every conceivable task, and a lab assistant on-call to
answer questions, the accessible labs tended to be located away from the general
labs, in areas not easily accessed.  Additionally, these labs were not staffed, and
their equipment consisted of the "junk" which was no longer of value to the rest
of the students.

These realities prompted the BSC to write the afore-mentioned resolution, a
resolution which was supported in word but not in deed by the California State
University administration.  This administration pointed out that because of the
extreme budgetary crisis, no improvements could be made at this time. 
Nevertheless, many campuses are undergoing ambitious building programs, and
one campus, Sacramento State, just opened a new 400 computer facility, not one
of which will be accessible.

                        The BSC Response

These purchases, combined with the denial by CSU to make improvements, has
prompted the BSC to pass an emergency resolution calling on the CCB to seek the
introduction of legislation which would require that every campus within the CSU
and UC systems make at least one computer in each open laboratory accessible
to its disabled student population.  Moreover, the legislation would require that
large laboratories make accessible the percentage of computers which equals the
percentage of disabled students within the student population.  

While this type of legislation has tended not to do well in California of late, the
BSC believes that this bill is worth the effort required to get it introduced and
passed.  The state would help the schools to understand and comply with federal
legislation requiring program access.  Furthermore, this type of accessibility
represents some potential revenue savings for the state because disabled
students will be able to use computers, rather than paid readers, for a great
deal of work for which they currently have no other alternatives.

In conclusion, the BSC urges the readers of the BC to stay tuned for more
information about this issue, and we further encourage you to support our
efforts with your local legislators and with the Governor.  We want to see true
access replace current access, which is not really access at all.

                        ----------------


               A RESOLUTION HONORING ROBERT ACOSTA


WHEREAS Robert Acosta has been a member of the California Council of the Blind
since 1957, and has provided distinguished service to this Council, serving in
many ways in diverse posts; and 

WHEREAS, Robert Acosta became President of the Council in 1977 when this
organization was in the brink of disaster as the NFB attempted to destroy a
meaningful organization of blind people in California.  Robert Acosta more than
rose to the occasion, tirelessly exerting himself to protect the best interests of
the California Council of the Blind, leading us by example and persuasion in so
excellent a manner that this Council was not only spared but has thrived; and 

WHEREAS, Robert's accomplishments as President of this Council are so richly
varied that only a modest few can be named here, including:  

Making this Council an important force for positive change in services for the
blind, where our collective voice is heard and respected not only in California
but across the nation.  

Continuing the expansion of this Council through a broad range of activities
including chapter organization, membership development, and attention to special
concerns;  

Leading this Council in spectacularly successful campaigns to meet the needs of
blind people, including the remarkable and monumental effort of 1991 which saved
our wonderful Orientation Center for the Blind; and

WHEREAS, the energy, devotion, sagacity and virtuosity of Robert Acosta have
been a key to the success which this Council has enjoyed, continuing our long
tradition of organizational excellence, and clearly demonstrating that Robert
Acosta has a rightful place as a successor to such giants as Newel Perry,
Anthony Mannino, and Perry Sundquist; and 

WHEREAS, the membership of this Council wishes to express its appreciation to
Robert Acosta for his leadership, and his demonstration that responsible, creative
leadership can be vital and assertive without exerting dominance and control; and
that leadership can be compassionate and concerned without being vague and
unfocused; Now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the California Council of the Blind in convention assembled in the
city of Los Angeles on this 7th day of November, 1992, that this organization
recognizes the accomplishments of Robert Acosta who has served so ably as
President of this Council in a period by some travail and much triumph; and this
Council also expresses its affection for and best wishes to our friend Bob, and
our thanks for his continued labors on behalf of all blind men and women, and
all blind boys and girls.

                           ----------


                FIRST LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 1993-94
                      Session - March 1993

            by Cid Urena, Legislative Representative


Greetings from Sacramento!  Four of the resolutions passed at the Fall Convention
were forwarded to your capitol representative.

Resolution 92-B-3 directed that our CCB representatives on the Advisory
Committee for Services for the Blind and Partially Sighted be instructed to do
all in their power to insure the presence of the Director or his Chief Deputy at
future meetings of the Committee, as well as to communicate the concerns of the
CCB and the blind community in general.  This resolution will be dealt with at
the same time the division bill is discussed with the Department of Rehabilitation.

Resolution 92-B-9 has become AB 1660, by Assemblywoman Grace Napolitano, as
follows:  Existing law requires transit operators, in certain circumstances, to
offer fare discounts to handicapped and disabled passengers.  Existing law also
requires transit operators to honor an identification card that is valid for the
discount requested and that has been issued by another transit operator to an
individual with a handicap or disability.  This bill would clarify the application
of that latter requirement.

Resolution 92-B-14 calls upon the CCB to urge the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing to take all steps necessary to retain separate credentials for
teaching the visually handicapped and for orientation and mobility training.  This
resolution has been circulated among the CTC commissioners and many members
of the state legislature.  We believe at this time that the resolution has been
most effective.  All indications appear to be that the credentials will be retained
as they now exist.

Resolution 92-B-19 directs that the CCB urge the California Department of
Rehabilitation to have all new potential office sites reviewed by a blind person
and an instructor in orientation and mobility as to its accessibility before the
site is chosen.  Also, that the Department be urged to survey its visually
impaired staff as to the accessibility of existing offices, make public their
findings, and take such actions as necessary to make these locations safe and
accessible.  This resolution is scheduled to be taken up at the same time as the
division bill (see above).

In addition to AB 1660, as mentioned above, the CCB is sponsoring three other
bills:

AB 1267 authored by Assemblywoman Diane Martinez of Los Angeles which will
delete the word "may" from the current Welfare & Institutions Code, thereby
causing the statute to read:  "there shall be an Orientation Center for the blind
...."

AB 1419 by Assemblyman Joe Baca of San Bernardino reads as follows:

1)  Existing law authorizes the State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind to
authorize guide dog schools or instructors employed by those schools to provide
home training in the use of guide dogs.  Existing law also provides that the
guide dog user, as a condition of receiving home training, shall have completed
a formal in-residence training program within the previous 2 years from a school
licensed to provide guide dog training.  Instead, this bill would require, as a
condition of receiving home training, that the guide dog user have completed a
formal in-residence training program from a school licensed by the board or from
a school recognized by another state to provide guide dog training.

2)  Existing law sets forth requirements for licensing instructors in giving
training to blind persons, as specified.  This bill would require an instructor to
provide proof of completion of not less than 20 hours of specified continuing
education, as a condition of renewal of an instructor's license.

3)  Existing law prohibits any person from selling, giving, or furnishing any
guide dog or seeing-eye dog to a blind person unless specified requirements are
met, including the requirement that the dog has been spayed, when appropriate. 
This bill, instead, would require that the dog has been neutered.

4)  Existing law provides that it is an unlawful denial of equal access to housing
accommodations to refuse to rent or lease to individuals with disabilities and
defines guide dog for that purpose.  This bill would revise the definition of
guide dog.

5)  Existing law makes it an infraction for any person to deny admittance to
certain facilities to a blind person on the basis that the person is accompanied
by a guide dog.  This bill would revise the definition of guide dog.

6)  Existing law generally regulates cruelty to animals, but does not expressly
regulate harmful conduct directed toward guide dogs.  This bill would make it
a misdemeanor for any person to intentionally interfere with the use of a guide
dog by harassing, obstructing, or intimidating the guide dog user or his or her
guide dog.  By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.

7)  Existing law provides that a totally or partially blind person who is carrying
a predominantly white cane or using a guide dog shall have the right-of-way and
that the driver of any vehicle who fails to yield the right-of-way is guilty of a
misdemeanor.  This bill would alternatively provide for a fine of not less than
$500 nor more than $1,000, or both fine and imprisonment for that offense.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and
school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.  Statutory provisions
establish procedures for making that reimbursement.  This bill would provide that
no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

AB 1973, authored by John Burton, would establish a pilot program which
provides arbitration between guide dog schools and users relating to the
continued physical custody and use of a guide dog.

At the request of the Blind Students of California, the  CCB drafted and
sponsored the following resolution and asked Senator Teresa Hughes to carry it:

Whereas many courses within the California State University and University of
California systems require the extensive use of computers in completing necessary
course work, and this requirement is growing throughout all major disciplines,
and

Whereas numerous "open labs" have been established on each campus to provide
the general student population with the necessary equipment to address this
requirement, and 

Whereas none of these "open labs" have been furnished with adaptive equipment
for use by the disabled students on these campuses, and

Whereas the cost of adapting an appropriate number of computers in each of
these "open labs" is nominal when compared to the cost of furnishing the
computers initially, and

Whereas the Chancellor's office and the administration of these campuses is not
well informed of the cost of equipping the said labs, and is under the impression,
inaccurately, that the cost is prohibitive, and

Whereas inaccessibility to the said labs constitutes a violation of the Americans
with Disabilities Act of 1991, title 202, as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, and

Whereas the California State University and University of California systems
should be more concerned with providing equal access to all their students
rather than spending valuable monies on inevitable lawsuits as a result of their
non-compliance of the law, and 

Whereas proper access and training for disabled individuals leads to employment
and a tax-paying status rather than remaining on entitlements, Therefore: 

BE IT RESOLVED that the California State Legislature support a bill mandating
adapted and accessible computers within each of the California State University
and University of California systems' computer labs which serve the general
student population, including the libraries,

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the procedure of determining how many
adapted computers shall exist in each lab be determined by the following,
whichever is greater:  1. a minimum of one computer fully adapted for all
disabilities per lab, or 2. multiplying the number of computers in each lab by the
ratio of disabled students on the campus to able-bodied students on that campus.

Finally, we have just begun to review the many bills that have been introduced
at the beginning of this session which may concern us.  As we learn about them
and study them we will do our best to keep you informed of their status.

                        ----------------


           YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF
          ACCESSIBLE TRANSIT ROUTE IDENTIFICATION SIGNS

                         by Gene Lozano


In 1991, the U.S. Architectural Transportation Barriers Compliance Board created
the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines for Transit Facilities
and Vehicles to establish accessibility standards for transportation for individuals
with disabilities.  When the U.S. Department of Transportation published its Final
Rule on Transportation for Individuals With Disabilities, Friday, September 6,
1991, it had requirements for finish and contrast, character proportion, character
height for bus route identification signs, and destination and route information
signs for vehicles.

It was felt by members of the California Council of the Blind (CCB) that the
accessibility signage standards for transit facilities and vehicles were very
deficient and needed further development.  Therefore, the California Council of
the Blind in convention assembled in Sacramento, on May 31, 1992, passed
Resolution 92-A-3 resolving that its council direct its Committee on Access and
Transportation (CAT) to develop model guidelines, for submission to the CCB for
adoption, regarding issues such as the identification of bus stop locations and
the size, contrast and placement of vehicle identification numbers; and further,
that the approved guidelines be disseminated to the local chapters to permit them
to work for adoption in their local communities.  

CAT temporarily delayed action on this resolution in hopes that research that was
sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation would be available prior to
the Fall 1992 Convention.  However, the research has not been completed.
Therefore, in order to comply with Resolution 92-A-3, CAT began work on
creating guidelines for route identification signs during the Fall 1992 convention. 
The Committee is urging individuals to provide input that can be used in the
development of these guidelines.  To assist individuals in providing input the
CAT has drafted the following guidelines for your comment.

          PROPOSED GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFICATION SIGNS

     1.0  Character Proportion:  Letters and numbers on signs shall have a
width-to-height ratio between 3:5 and 1:1 and a stroke-width-to height ratio
between 1:5 and 1:10, utilizing an upper-case "X" for measurement.  Lower case
characters are not permitted.

     2.0  Character Height:  Letter and number heights for signs of various
sizes shall be as follows:

(A) Route number/letter shall be a minimum of 1 inch.  (B) Route destination, if
provided, shall be a minimum of 5/8 inch.  (C) The international bus pictogram
and its verbal description shall be a minimum of 1 inch.  

     3.0  Raised and Brailled Characters and Pictorial Symbol Signs (Pictograms): 
Letters and numerals shall be raised 1/32" upper case, sans serif type and shall
be accompanied with Grade 2 Braille.  Braille shall be separated 1/2" minimum
directly beneath the corresponding raised characters or symbols.  Braille dots
shall have a rounded profile.  Braille provided shall be in accordance with the
standard dimensions for literary Braille:

     Dot diameter .059" Dot height .025" (minimum)
Inter-dot spacing .090" Horizontal separation between cells .241"  Vertical
separation between cells .395" 

The international bus pictogram shall be used and shall be raised 1/32". The
pictogram shall have a minimum height of 3 inches.  The pictogram shall be
accompanied by the equivalent verbal description placed directly below the
pictogram in raised print and braille.  There shall be a minimum 1/2 "separation
between surrounding raised borders and the braille, raised characters, and/or
pictograms.

     4.0  Finish and Contrast:  The characters, symbols and background of
signs shall be eggshell, matte, or other non-glare finish.  Characters and symbols
shall contrast with their background, with either light characters on a dark
background or dark characters on a light background.  Color choices for either
the character or its background should be white with black, dark brown, dark
blue, dark green, or dark red.  Characters and symbols shall contrast with their
backgrounds by at least 70 percent. 

     5.0  Mounting Location and Height:  Where route identification signs are
provided, signs shall be installed on a standardized 4" by 4" square pole. 
(NOTE:  The 4" x 4" is becoming a standardized pole within the transit industry) 
The pole shall be located a minimum 12 inches from the curb.  Mounting height
shall be 60 inches above the ground to the centerline of the sign.  If the width
of the sign exceeds the width of the pole, the sign shall be enclosed within a
display frame with beveled corners and edges.

     6.0  Specifications for a Route Identification Sign Display Frame:  NOTE: 
These are the specifications of the display frames containing printed route
information used by several transit districts within the United States.  These
display frames could be modified to accommodate raised print characters and
braille route identification signs.

The route identification sign shall be affixed to a backing plate which is inserted
into a one piece, continuous glass fiber reinforced, thermosetting polymer
composite, or its equivalent, with color incorporated throughout its entire cross-
section.  The color of the frame shall contrast with the sign by at least 70
percent.  The frame and end caps shall be molded, one piece thermoplastic parts,
or its equivalent, that resists shattering and have color incorporated throughout
their cross-sections.  The frame hardware shall be tamper resistant, stainless
steel.  

     6.1  Dimensions:  The frame shall be a minimum 7.125" wide and maximum
of 12" wide.  The frame shall also have a minimum 1" deep and a maximum 1 1/8". 
The width of display area shall be a minimum of 6" and a maximum of 11".  The
standard height shall be 28.0", (28.25" with end caps installed) or as specified
by the purchaser.  The frame shall have molded end caps which extend down into
the message area to encapsulate and protect the tactile signage.  The molded end
caps are 1" long (eg. a 24" frame will have approximately 22" of display space). 


     7.0  Bus Stop Locators:  NOTE:  What is to follow are two suggestions for
using tactile aids for locating a route identification sign and its pole.  

     7.1  Option One:  Bus stops shall be made recognizable to the blind and
visually impaired through the use of detectable warning and directional surfaces
which are yellow and have a color value contrast of at least 70 percent with the
adjoining walking surface.  A directional surface shall be placed on the sidewalk
a minimum of 24 inches in depth across the width of the walk with the bars
running perpendicular to the direction of the walk, leading from the inside of the
sidewalk to the curb.  The detectable directional texture shall be 0.1 inch in
height that tapers off to .04 inch with bars raised .2 inch from the surface.  The
raised bars shall be 1.3 inches wide, 11.5 inches in length, and 3.0 inches from
center-to-center of each bar.  The directional surface shall transition to a
rectangular detectable warning surface complying with ADAAG 4.29.2 at the curb,
which will warn the blind and visually impaired that they are approaching the
street.  Where the bus stop pole is located at the curb, this rectangle of
detectable warning surface around its base will indicate its position.  

     7.2  Option Two:  This option would use a heavily textured surface made
of epoxy and pea gravel that would be 24 in. wide and run perpendicular to the
direction of the walk, leading from the inside of the sidewalk to and around the
pole at the curb.  

All individuals interested in providing input about the content and format of the
guidelines can send their comments in care of:

     Gene Lozano, 3701 Whitney Ave., Sacramento, CA 95821.  

Please submit comments in print or on computer disk.  The deadline is May 15,
1993.  

                        ----------------


               WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COMMUNITY?

                    by Al Biegler, President 
                Butte County Council of the Blind


In late 1990, I proposed to the Butte County Council of the Blind (BCCB) to set
up a reading center so blind persons could have access to print media.  As we
all know, communications is our most important asset.  

We decided to raise funds in our community so we could purchase a Kurzweil
Personal Reader, a braille printer and whatever else we needed to make this
project a success.  At that time, we figured we would have to raise $17,000, but
due to changes and competition, our project was completed for around $12,000. 


Our first fund raiser was put on by the Chico Rotary Club and the Afternoon
and Evening Pilot Clubs.  I sent several articles to the local newspaper
announcing our project and got many donations from the community.  

The organizations we approached for donations wondered why the blind of the
community could not use the equipment at the California State University, Chico
and Butte College since they both have the Kurzweil Personal Reader and other
adaptive technology.  We pointed out with the help of Rob Cook, who is working
for disabled students at CSUC, that you must be a student of either institution
and register with Disabled Students before you can get access to the equipment. 
In fact, Rob was the one who convinced the City Council of Chico to give us a
grant of $8,500.  His three-minute presentation was great.  

Location was our next obstacle.  At first we wanted to have our own place, but
the problems of managing, renting, when to have it open, and other
considerations existed so we decided to locate the equipment at the Butte County
Library in Chico.  

By the time this article appears in The Blind Californian we should be set up. 
We will have the Reading Edge by Kurzweil, the Ramsley interface, a braille
embosser, a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and Perkins brailler for those who
only want to take notes.  Of course, the BCCB sincerely thanks Arthur Wittgren
for donating the CCTV.  

I am told that there are four libraries in Northern California which already have
the equipment to help the sight impaired.  As you know, in every area there are
blind and visually impaired persons who for some reason--age, lack of skills, not
involved in a training program--would like to have access to some adaptive
equipment.  There may be people who just want their bills, brochures, etc. to be
read.  They don't have computer expertise or knowledge but would benefit.  This
is the reason we decided to take on this project.  

Currently, we are in the process of ordering the equipment and should be ready
by the middle of February, 1993.  We had a very good committee headed up by
Peggy Roberts and we are proud of what we have accomplished.  For more
information and for making appointments to use the equipment, call the BCCB
phone number at 916-891-8574.  

In closing, the BCCB would like to thank Chico and Butte counties for helping us
make our reading center a reality.  

                        ----------------


         DOOR PRIZES NEEDED FOR ACB NATIONAL CONVENTION

          by Robert J. Acosta, Host Committee Chairman


The time has arrive for all of us to begin thinking about collecting suitable door
prizes to be handed out to the thousands of delegates who will be attending the
32nd annual convention of the American Council of the Blind to be held at the
San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel from July 
3-10.  

The door prizes which you collect should have a value of at least $25.  Please
feel free to bring them by the state suite at the ACB Convention.  
As you probably remember, we gave away some wonderful door prizes at the
National Convention in Los Angeles; I am confident that we will do even better
at this up-coming convention.

                        ----------------


           BRAILLE EXHIBITS MARK BRAILLE LITERACY WEEK

         Libraries Display Books, Maps, and Typewriters 
                 That Can Use Raised-dots System

                 by Carlos Hamann, Staff Writer
                           San Leandro

[Reprinted by permission from Hayward Daily Review.]


Local libraries are celebrating Braille Literacy Week January 3 through 9, by
opening exhibits of equipment.  

"We want people to get a feel for what braille is like," said Dorothy Vallerga,
program chairperson of the Bayview Chapter of the California Council of the
Blind.  

Braille is a writing system for the blind invented by Louis Braille, a blind 19th
century Frenchman.  It is based on groups of six raised dots arranged in 63
patterns.  Each pattern represents a different letter, number or word.  

The exhibits will be held through the first week of January at the main branches
of the San Leandro, Hayward, San Lorenzo and Castro Valley Libraries.  

Items will include a braille typewriter, braille alphabet cards for children, braille
BART schedules, and even a tactile map of Oakland.  

And of course, there will be plenty of books in braille--everything from classic
titles to recipe and knitting books.  

"Braille books are bulky, so we might be limited on what can be on display," said
Vallerga, noting that the pages are made of a thin cardboard.  

Vallerga, a long-time Castro resident who now lives in San Leandro, has been
blind since the age of six.  Now in her 60s and a mother of three adults, she has
been active in the California Council of the Blind for the past 12 years.  In the
past, Vallerga has taught braille reading classes in the Castro Valley adult school,
and works as a braille proofreader.  

For years, Vallerga has operated a company that produces watches for the blind. 
The watches have hinged crystals and raised points on the hands to touch.  

Braille Literacy Week is being observed with special exhibits at the libraries in
Hayward, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and Castro Valley.  They were arranged by
the Bayview Chapter of the California Council of the Blind, and will remain on
display till January 9.  

Dorothy Vallerga of San Leandro said the exhibits as well as very special events
were planned to inform the general public of the importance of providing reading
materials and documents in braille.  She and other chapter members are also
celebrating the birthday of Louis Braille, who created this form of writing for the
blind.   

Chapter members John di Francesco and Connie Skeen are participating in the
week's activities along with Dorothy.  

                        ----------------


                       OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE

                   by Cherrie Handy Pomerantz

[Author's note:  I have asked Robert Acosta to serve as guest writer for this
column.  Bob has had a recent experience with the home training of his guide
dog and I believe that our readers will find his remarks most interesting.]  


              A GRATEFUL GRADUATE SAYS "THANK YOU"
                     TO HIS GUIDE DOG SCHOOL

                       by Robert J. Acosta


On December 5, 1992, I completed my two-week course of training at International
Guiding Eyes (IGE) and left school with my wonderful guide dog, Gypsy, a female
yellow labrador retriever.  She had passed the course with flying colors.  Within
the next month and a half, Gypsy and I had traveled to Washington, DC, and to
Sacramento on my work on behalf of the blind.  

On Wednesday afternoon February 17, I was preparing to leave school for home
when I noticed that Gypsy was limping very badly.  We managed to walk home
albeit very slowly.  I immediately took her to the vet where I learned that she
had elbow dysplasia.  It seems that the bones in Gypsy's right elbow had not
joined properly, which caused this  abnormality.  Upon learning of this dreadful
news, I contacted IGE where the opinion of Gypsy's doctor was confirmed by the
school's vet.  

Friday afternoon, February 19 was one of the worst days in my life.  I learned
from Jane Brackman, Executive Director of IGE, that Gypsy could never guide
again.  

Many memories flashed through my mind, encompassing my brief time with Gypsy. 
I remembered February 2, when she greeted those legislators who attended a
reception hosted by the CCB and specially when one of the legislators,
Assemblyman Fred Aguire, wished that he could have a retired guide dog.  At
this time, I spoke to the staff at my school about his request, but the waiting
list for retired guide dogs is two ears long.  Little did I know that Gypsy would
be retiring just a few short days later.  

Jane Brackman was very kind to me and promised that the school would soon
find a dog for me in order that my guide dog and i could engage in their first
home training project.  On the following Wednesday, Nick Terrones, IGE Training
Director, called to inform me that the school indeed had a dog for me.  On
Thursday, instructor Steve Berkman called to say that he was bringing my dog
Friday afternoon.  The dog's name is Bauer, a male yellow labrador retriever.  

As our readers can imagine, there was much excitement at our house that
evening.  This excitement was tempered by the wish that a suitable home could
be found for Gypsy.  

On Friday afternoon, Steve brought my dog, and our home training project
began.  The first evening was spent in getting to know Bauer and gaining his
trust.  Steve asked my wife and me to introduce her guide dog, Beamer, to my
guide dog Bauer on a neutral territory.  Our dogs met just outside our front
door.  

Early Saturday morning, Steve began instructing me and Bauer in various routes
around my neighborhood.  The first few days were spent in fine-tuning both
Bauer and me to each other's idiosyncrasies.  With each day, Steve expanded our
routes and raised our goals.  Home training allowed me to continue in my
profession as a Social Studies teacher at Chatsworth High School.  I rose at 5
a.m. and prepared for school.  Steve arrived at about 6:20 a.m.  We began with
the obedience exercises which are necessary to a successful guide dog unit. 
These exercises show the dog that the master is in complete control.  Throughout
the day, our dogs may have to disobey our instructions in order to save our
lives as we engage in our travels.  Obedience exercises demonstrate to the dog
that the ultimate control must come from the master.  

Although Bauer is my seventh dog, Steve taught me some invaluable techniques
each day as we perfected the obedience exercise.  Of particular importance to me
was the food distractions devised by Steve.  I had been working Bauer for just
a little over a week and frankly was feeling pretty good about the whole
situation.  But on Saturday morning March 7, Bauer put me to the extreme test. 
Steve introduced severe food distractions to the obedience exercise.  Bauer went
completely bonkers.  He didn't want to do the obedience exercise, and he also
didn't want to guide me.  Fortunately, Steve was close at hand, and he taught
me those necessary techniques which brought my dog back to the job of guiding
a blind person.  During that morning, we attended the meeting of the CCB Board
of Directors.  We left at noon in order to work at the Los Angeles International
Airport.  While there, we walked through security and up to the gates.  As a
frequent traveler, I found this experience to be invaluable.  Bauer was truly
outstanding.  Steve told me that there is one day in the training regimen when
the dogs really try to test us.  He was certainly correct about that.  

The two weeks of training went by very quickly and I found the home training
experience to be a wonderful thing.  This program was virtually stress free as
everything seemed to fall into place so easily as if Bauer had been with me for
many years.  

Bauer is now 19 months old, and I hope to have him for a very long time.  One
of the most rewarding experiences in my home training was meeting Bauer's
puppy-raiser, Judy.  I learned that Bauer was raised in the Disabled Students'
Office at Cal State University in Northridge, and that he had participated in
many protest marches for various causes.  This will certainly prepare him for my
continued work on behalf of the blind. 

The program also allowed me to be home with my family, and to introduce my new
dog to my life style.  Steve Berkman is truly an outstanding instructor.  I shall
never forget how quickly the school came forth with a new dog for me.  

As I complete the writing of this article, I received a call from Assemblyman Fred
Aguire, who gave me the good news that he is taking Gypsy for his pet.  Now,
I am making plans to go with Bauer, my wife Ruth Ann, and Beamer to the ALL
Conference in Washington, DC.  Thanks to International Guiding Eyes, I am again
on cruise control and truly once again the "captain of my ship."

                        ----------------


                         BULLETIN BOARD

                      by Winifred Downing 


Correction: In our last column, we made an error in giving the SSA toll-free
number for any questions you may have concerning the social security program. 
The correct number is 800-772-1213.  Thanks to the CCB reader who brought this
to our attention.

From Lifeprints, Winter, 1992:  Ambu-Tech's new mobility cane folds and unfolds
with exceptional ease and provides outstanding tactile transmission.  All Ambu-
Tech canes are repaired promptly at a nominal charge.  For product list and
description, contact Ambu-Tech, 670 Gollspie St., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R2K
2V1; Continental U.S. only: 800-561-3340. 

AT&T announces the availability of newly designed AT&T calling cards.
Promotional materials are provided in braille and in print.   The cards contain
the AT&T label along with the user's permanent number.  To order or to obtain
further information, call AT&T at 800-942-6021. 

As a public service National Braille Press has compiled a listing of braille
transcription services across the United  States.  This information was collected
in May of 1992.  For a free braille copy contact National Braille Press, 88 St.
Stephen St., Boston, MA  02115; 617-266-6160.  

From The Matilda Ziegler Magazine, December, 1992: Each issue of the new bi-
monthly magazine Rozek's contains just one non-fiction article about 7,000 words
long that focuses on a single unusual person in his or her work.  For a cassette
or large-print subscription, which costs $20 for one year, contact Rozek's, 3424
10th Ave., West, Seattle, WA  98119; 206-285-1515.

From The Matilda Ziegler Magazine, January, 1993: The National Association of
Visually Handicapped offers a free large-print catalog of aids for visually
impaired people.  Contact NAVH, 201 Balboa St., San Francisco, CA  94121; 415-
221-3201.

The Chocolate Experience sells chocolate bars with braille messages including
"Love you," "Happy Birthday," and messages appropriate to the holidays.  The
7 by 4-inch bars are available in semisweet, milk, and white chocolate and in
sugar-free milk and white chocolate.  Wholesale price is $2.25 per regular
chocolate bar and $3.35 per sugar-free bar.  Shipping costs are additional; there
is no minimum order.  Contact Chocolate Experience, 150-57 Bayside  Ave.,
Flushing, NY  11354; 
718-461-1873.

From The Matilda Ziegler Magazine, February, 1993: The Disability Rights
Education and Defense Fund has established a toll-free telephone  service to
provide technical assistance with the Americans with  Disabilities Act.  Call 800-
466-4232 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pacific time.

From Dialogue, Winter, 1992: "Pipeline" is an informative newsletter on
relationships.  It is being offered on cassette for those who have been perplexed
or amazed at the vagaries of human relationships or for those who have had
experiences or who have solved relationship problems in ways that might help
others.  For a free introductory cassette, send your name, address, and phone
number (if you wish) in braille or on cassette.  Print can be managed but your
request will be delayed by a few days.  Your views (in your own voice) are
encouraged for the first issue.  Contact "Pipeline," c/o Janiece Betker, 1886 29th
Ave., NW, New Brighton, MN  55112; 612-631-2909.  

"Tasty, Tempting, Tantalizing Recipes" from the kitchen of Equal with NutraSweet
brand sweetener includes recipes for appetizers, beverages, salads, entrees, and
desserts.  For a free copy in large print or braille, contact Equal, Consumer
Affairs, Box 830, Deerfield, IL  60015; 
800-323-5316 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Central time. 

The Impressor, a portable device that embosses business cards in braille, is
available from the American Printing House for the Blind.   The device is ordered
with preset customized information pressed into two metal plates.  Business cards
are inserted between the two plates and the plates are squeezed together to
make a braille imprint.  The Impressor sells for $70 and takes about three weeks
for custom manufacture.  To order, write to the American Printing House for the
Blind, P.O. Box 6085, Louisville, KY 40206-0085; 502-895-2405.  

Please send contributions for this column to Winifred Downing, 1587 38th Avenue,
San Francisco, CA  94122.

                        ----------------


                   AROUND THE STATE AND NATION


PEACE CORPS IS LOOKING FOR 12 SPECIAL PEOPLE, trained and experienced in
education of the blind.  The selected persons will serve for two years as Peace
Corps Volunteers in Morocco and work in a long standing Moroccan government
program teaching blind mobility, as well as grooming, self help and recreation in
schools for the blind.  

Applications are being received now.  The Volunteer candidates will leave in June
or July to begin language training in Arabic and French, as well as cultural
acclimatization in Morocco.  

In addition to goodwill and determination, you'll need either:  a BA/BS in Special
Education with an emphasis on the visually impaired; or, a BA/BS in Education
with at least three months' work experience with the visually impaired; or, a
BA/BS in any discipline with at least three months' work experience with the
visually impaired.  

There is no upper age limit.  Experience and maturity is highly priced.  All
medical and dental care is provided as is air transportation to and from Morocco
at the beginning and end of service.  A monthly living allowance for food, rent
and transportation is also provided and volunteers accrue $200 U.S. for each
month of training and service satisfactorily completed.  Repayment of most
student loans is deferred during the period of training and service.  "Perkins"
loans are partially forgiven--15% of principal and accrued interest for each year
of service.  For all details call the San Francisco Recruiting Office toll free at
800-292-2461.  Southern California calls should go to 800-832-0681 (or call Peace
Corps headquarters in Washington DC at 800-424-8580.  

                              * * *

A SCHOLARSHIP IS AVAILABLE to California students who are legally or totally
blind.  

The Mildred and Charles Wolverton Scholarship Program, established by the will
of Mildred Lee Woverton of Morro Bay, provides funds for students in any major
enrolled at California PolyTechnique State University, San Louis Obispo.  

To be eligible, the student must be verified as totally or legally blind and have
been a California resident for two years.  Students, of course, must be eligible
for California State University admission.  

The number of scholarships and the amount of each will vary, and depend on the
specific needs of applicants.  Selection will be based on "promise for doing
worthwhile work for others, good character, and promise in the academic field." 
Renewal will be possible through five years of study.  Undergraduate and
graduate-level students are invited to apply.  

Information and applications are available from the coordinator of Disabled
Students Services, Cal Poly, San Louis Obispo, CA 93407, 
805-756-1395, or the Scholarship Program Manager, Cal Poly, San Louis Obispo,
CA 93407, 805-756-2927.

                              * * *

THE AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND (AFB) is pleased to announce
establishment of three scholarships for college and university students who are
blind or visually impaired.  Administered through AFB's Western Regional Center,
this financial assistance program is funded by the Tripodes Foundation of San
Francisco.  Three $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to full-time undergraduate
level students enrolled at universities or colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area. 
To be eligible, applicants must be blind or have a significant visual impairment
and evidence of financial need.  For an application or additional information,
write to AFB, Western Regional Center, 111 Pine Street, Suite 725, San Francisco,
CA  94111, or contact Gil Johnson at 415-392-4845.  To be considered for the Fall
1993 semester, completed applications must be received no later than 5:00 PM, May
24, 1993.

                              * * *

BANK OF AMERICA:  offers a toll-free number for California customers with
disabilities, 800-362-2538, which also offers account information services.  "Our
ATM machines are currently being retrofited with braille key caps and signage
to assist our visually impaired customers.  In addition, we have produced a
braille guide to assist customers with their transactions.  We are looking closely,
with our primary vendor Interbold, to develop voice-synthesis capabilities for our
ATM machines.  I am told by our Versatel manager that we are about 18 months
away from being able to pilot this program.  We would use the standard ear
phone jack to provide access to the speech output."  

                              * * *

SAF HOSTS READING MACHINE EVALUATION:  From mid-April to mid-May of this
year Sensory Access Foundation will have on loan three portable reading
machines:  The Schamex ReadMan, the Xerox Reading Edge, and the Arkenstone
Open Book. "Our plan is to conduct a side-by-side evaluation and we invite
potential users to come and help us out. Anyone who is interested in trying out
these three machines and submitting an evaluation should call SAF at 415/329-
0430 and make an appointment to stop by. If you've ever thought of purchasing
a reading machine, this is a good opportunity to see three of them together and
to try them out at your leisure." 

                              * * *

EYECYCLE IS PLANNING A TRIP ACROSS AMERICA On May 1, 1994.  The journey
will begin in Santa Monica, California and take a southern route to Georgia, up
through the Blue Ridge Mountains, on to Virginia and to Washington DC where we
will receive a reception at the White House.  
"Eyecycle is a nonprofit organization committed to providing the visually impaired
with the opportunity to ride on the back of a tandem bicycle with a sighted
guide on the front.  In our effort to expand Eyecycle into a national
organization, we invite you and any other visually impaired person who may be
interested to ride across America with us and celebrate Physical Fitness Month,
on the way to Washington D.C.  

"Eyecycle is currently accepting applications for people who would like to
participate in this historic event.  It is also sponsoring the entire event by
providing the necessary equipment and man-power to ensure the safety and
comfort of all participants.  For additional information, please contact Claudia
Folska, President, at 310-207-4154, 1714 Armacost Avenue, Suite 2, Los Angeles,
CA 90025."  

                              * * *

SENIOR BLIND COMMITTEE WORKSHOP:  The CCB Committee on Senior Blind and
Visually Impaired will be holding its second workshop at the CCB Spring
Convention on Saturday morning May 29, 1993.  Panelists will be Jane Merrill,
Director, Peninsula Center for the Blind; Anita Baldwin, Director, San Francisco
Light House; Doris Strong, Director, Oakland Lions Center for the Blind; Tom
Ryan, Executive Director, Sacramento Society for the Blind; and Gloria Young,
Executive Director, Rose Resnick Center for the Blind.  This panel will focus on
options and opportunities for older adults facing loss of vision.  

Chairperson, Teddie Remhild, will also discussed the committee's program, hand
out its new brochure, and introduce its resource representatives.  For
information call Teddie at 818-842-7295.  

Logo Contest:  The Committee on Senior Blind and Visually Impaired also needs
a logo for its brochure and we want your ideas!  We are having a contest with
a very nice prize to be awarded to the designer of the logo selected to appear
on the next printing of its brochure.  Send your ideas, sketches, or designs to
Teddie Remhild, 4221 Kling Street, #7, Burbank, CA 91505.  The winner will be
announced and awarded at the San Francisco CCB Spring Convention.  

                              * * *

THE SOUTH BAY AND THE LONG BEACH CHAPTERS of the CCB are combining
resources and sponsoring a raffle for hotel accomodations for the ACB
Convention, July 3-10, 1993.  First prize winner will receive a certificate for 5
nights' lodging (single or double accupancy only)  at the Airport Marriott Hotel
in Burlingame, California (or any weekend stay in the hotel with a dinner for
two, good until New Years' weekend); this does not include transportation, meals,
or tours.  Second and third prize winners will receive $100 and $50 respectively. 
Winners not need be present for the drawing which will be held at the CCB
Spring Convention.  Donation $1 a ticket.  For additional information, please call
Lillian Scaife at 310- 494-4306 or Ramona Craig at 213-775-8084.  

                              * * *

COMPTON CHAPTER CCB NEW Board of Directors:  President, Holly Johnson; Vice
President, Pearl French; Secretary, Barbara Oliver; Treasurer, Gussie Morgan;
Reporter, Berniece Williams.  The chapter is also having a raffle at the Spring
CCB Convention.  For more information, please call 310-604-1092.  

                              * * *

HONORED:  DON AND REGINA ROHDE of the San Louis Obispo County Chapter CCB
were recently awarded Valuable Service Awards by the San Louis Obispo County
Board of Education, "in recognition of devoted and valuable service to the
visually handicapped."  Don and Reggie have been volunteers of the Vision
Services Office of the County for six years, taping and brailling all kinds of
materials for the visually impaired children of the county's schools.  

                              * * *

VALIANT WOMAN NATIONAL AWARD WAS given to Melva Rhodes by Church Women
United for her ten years of service to the First Baptist Church and her
community involvement.  Melva is a member of the San Louis Obispo Chapter CCB;
she is an excellent example that losing one's sight does not mean that worthwhile
community activities cannot be continued.  The Chapter is justly proud of Melva. 


                              * * *

TEN YEARS OF BOWLING FOR THE BLIND:  The San Louis Obispo Chapter CCB is
proud of two of its members, Gilbert and Marie Alice Peart, who, for ten
uninterrupted years, have coordinated a program with the cooperation of Pete
Columbo, owner/manager of Laurel Bowl, whereby adults with varying degrees of
visual impairment enjoy bowling for two hours each Monday morning.  Pete
provides four lanes, with bowling balls and shoes for those who need them, all
free of any charge.  Everyone agrees that this is a great way to start off the
week and really enjoy the camaraderie among them.  The San Louis Obispo
Chapter CCB is trulyproud of these members for their stellar recreation program
for a group of blind and visually impaired persons and their unique volunteer
assistance.  

                              * * *

EDITOR'S REQUEST:  Please send me information of meeting dates or special
events of your chapters, special-interest affiliates, or committees to be included
in the BC.  My address appears on the cover page.  

                        ----------------