               THE BLIND CALIFORNIAN



             Quarterly Magazine of the

          CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF THE BLIND


           Winter, 1996 Volume 40 No. 1


Published in Braille, Cassette, Diskette, and Large Print



           Mitchell Pomerantz, President
                 213-851-5148 Res.


                 EXECUTIVE OFFICE:
             3919 West Magnolia Blvd.
             Burbank, California 91505

                   800-221-6359
                   818-557-6372
                Fax:  818-557-6539
              CCBNET/BBS 916-568-6359
       GLOBAL BLIND EXCHANGE telnet gbs.org


 SACRAMENTO AREA OFFICE:  Cid Urena, 916-371-1514
   1399 Sacramento Avenue SP 25, Bryte, CA 95605

   BAY AREA OFFICE:  Cathie Skivers 510-357-1986
       836 Resota Street, Hayward, CA 94545

Please send all address changes to the Executive Office in Burbank.

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


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


Call the "CALIFORNIA CONNECTION"  at 800-221-6359 for an
update on legislation and CCB events Monday through Friday after
5 p.m. and all day on weekends.  At these times it is available also
in Spanish. 

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


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 Burbank office for other suggested forms.
Thank you.

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

                 TABLE OF CONTENTS


FROM THE EDITOR by Winifred Downing . . . . . . .1

PRESIDENT'S REPORT, FALL 1995 by Mitch Pomerantz.3

NEWS FROM THE SAN LUIS OBISPO CHAPTER
   by Don Rhodes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

GENA HARPER HONORED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

PERSONAL FINANCE: THE TOPIC AMERICANS 
   CAN'T WAIT TO AVOID by Kathy M. Kristof. . . 11

FOR ALL THOSE BORN BEFORE 1945. . . . . . . . . 21

REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION of CCB RESOLUTIONS 
   PASSED SPRING, 1995 by Mitch Pomerantz . . . 22

A VISIT TO THE HOME OF LOUIS BRAILLE 
   by Winifred Downing. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

CONVENTION REPORT, FALL, 1995 by Brian Hall . . 31

COMMITTEE REPORTS
   REHABILITATION by Pat La France. . . . . . . 36
   TECHNOLOGY by Kenneth Frasse . . . . . . . . 36
   MEMBERSHIP by Charlene Ornelas . . . . . . . 41
   WOMEN'S CONCERNS by Margie Donovan . . . . . 43

OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE by Lee Morton . . . . . . . 45

RANDOM THOUGHTS by Domenic Martinelli . . . . . 47

PCS LIGHT UP LIVES OF BLIND: TECHNOLOGY OFFERS
   WHOLE NEW LIFE STYLE by Georgianne Dennison. 49


QUALIFYING FOR REHABILITATION SERVICES UNDER
   THE ORDER OF SELECTION SYSTEM
   by Charles D. Nabarrete. . . . . . . . . . . 53

WHY WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT LIBRARIES 
   by Paul Edwards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

STATE LEGISLATION by Cid Urena. . . . . . . . . 60

A POSITION PAPER FROM THE COMMITTEE TO CREATE A 
   USABLE UNIFIED BRAILLE CODE by Chris Gray. . 64

ARE WE FIGHTING THE RIGHT BATTLES by Ron Brooks 70

BULLETIN BOARD by Ruth Dean . . . . . . . . . . 76

ACCESS INFORMATION by Keith Tomlinson . . . . . 78

U.S. STAMPS HONORING THE BLIND by Cathy Bickerdike79

TECHTALK: INTRODUCING THE CCB TECHNOLOGY
   COMMITTEE by Frank Welte . . . . . . . . . . 84

THE STUDENT PERSPECTIVE: THE OUT-OF-SIGHT
   PERSPECTIVE by Rob Cook. . . . . . . . . . . 90

SOMETIMES THE SYSTEM WORKS by Daveed Mandell. . 92

ACQUAINTANCE RAPE: CHARACTERISTICS OF VIOLENT
   MEN by Millicent Collingsworth and Lisa Gaeta95

DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE?
   by Barbara Rhodes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

FEDERAL LEGISLATION by Cathie Skivers . . . . . 97

CCB OFFICERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

CCB PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE. . . . . . . . . . .101

                   ------------
                  FROM THE EDITOR

                by WINIFRED DOWNING

Let's begin by talking shop. 
At the CCB convention on
November 10 the Publications
Committee held a really fruitful
discussion of all aspects of our
magazine.  One of the results
is the formation of an ad hoc
committee chaired, by Bernice
Kandarian, to develop a set of
survey questions regarding our
large print edition.  We want
the format and print to be as
easily readable as possible to
as many people as possible,
even though it is true that
different visual problems often
produce differences in
preferences concerning print. 
You can call Bernice with your
suggestions at 415-969-1688.

The committee also voted
that, to reduce the number of
errors,  we should have a
proofreader.  This is in addition
to the editor and to those who
develop the editions of the
magazine in its various
formats.  After working on the
material for a while, they--we
tend to see what we think is
correct rather than the material
itself.  We have found a
volunteer who will help us in
this matter.  

We reviewed the various
columns and writers who are
presently committed to
furnishing material regularly,
and we voted that this issue
should contain articles
pertaining to braille, since the
anniversary of Louis Braille's
birth and death occur during
the first week of January,
established as Braille Literacy
Week.

Committee members asked
that local chapters contribute
more news about their
meetings, activities they
initiate, interesting chapter
members, and fund raising. 
One member also advanced
the suggestion that each BC
issue contain a column giving
tips for independent living,
kitchen and shopping ideas
and, perhaps, some favorite--
and time-saving--recipes.  I
thought immediately of Margie
Donovan's contributions to the
Silicon Valley News Letter in 8
or 10 issues last year.

Would anyone there take on
the responsibility for this
column?  I'm sure you will
agree that the Publications
Committee meeting was
productive, and that we all do
listen to your concerns and
suggestions.  Don't forget the
deadline for the spring issue--
March 1, 1996.

Since writing to you last
month, I was privileged to
participate in a tour of Israel,
visiting  that country from
October 20 to 31.  I had been
there once before in 1989, but
that time the tour was led by a
Jewish person; this time it
was led by someone
representing more of the
Palestinian approach.  Also,
the tour members were
homogeneous, all having
learned of the event from a
Bible study magazine and
coming from the same faith. 
The experience was advertised
as being a pilgrimage because
it focused on places important
in the life of Christ.  (In saying
that, I don't want to suggest
that we represented the
Christian right, which seems to
me, at least, to be causing
more problems than it is
solving.)  The more we heard
and saw of the inequities
suffered by both the
Palestinians and the Israelis,
the more important it seemed
that peace between them be
established.  It will not be a
peace that will please
everyone or brings complete
justice to all, but it is the only
solution that will permit both
parties to advance in this
world.  If the situation is not
settled for example, there will
be more Arabs in Israel in the
year 2000 than Israelis.  

Though they are established
only by tradition, we visited
the places associated with
Christ's birth, His life in
Nazareth, his preaching around
Capharnaum, the Sermon on
the Mount, the distribution of
the loaves and fishes, and His
passion, death, and
resurrection.  We spent time in
a Palestinian village, had
dinner twice with Palestinian
groups, and celebrated Mass
with them in their parish
church.   

Though many profound
thoughts and conclusions
could come from these
experiences, I shall pass on
just unrelated, but interesting,
tidbits:  The area around
Bethlehem is rocky, dry, and
forbidding.  Given the terrain,
it is more likely that Jesus was
born in a cave than the stable
we imagine.  That desolation
continues down to Jericho,
constituting the wilderness in
which, according to scripture,
Christ spent 40 days.  It was
the area, too, of the
hermitages of the early church
fathers.  Along with all its
hostile features, it is extremely
hot for most of the year.

Jericho itself, having a spring
nearby, has been a city for
many thousands of years. 
One can see the excavation of
a tower that was built 8,000 years ago; that's 4,000 years
before Abraham and 6,000
before the birth of Christ.

The other dissociated fact that
I think will interest you is that
there are lots of camels
around.  Tourists have their
pictures taken beside them,
sitting on them, and actually
riding them.  In answer to the
question of their value in
caravans, we were told that
use no longer exists, but that
they are raised because of
their milk.  It is very nutritious
and low in fat.  How about a
glass of nice cold camels' milk!

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


          PRESIDENT'S REPORT, FALL, 1995

                by Mitch Pomerantz

(This report was delivered to
the CCB convention on
November 10, 1995.)

My report will, of necessity, be
given in two parts: (a summary
of efforts to implement
resolutions adopted last Spring
appears elsewhere in this
issue.)  I want to discuss some
other matters of importance to
us, the 3,400-plus members of
the California Council of the
Blind. Before doing so,
however, I want to thank all of
you for making my first year
as President of the CCB a
most enjoyable one It has been
a wonderful experience
working with our Chapter
Presidents and members, the
Chairpersons and members of
the various CCB Committees,
and the 13 individuals who
serve with me on the Board of
Directors I am proud of the job
everybody has done to bring
this Council together in a spirit
of cooperation and trust I hope
that this spirit will set the tone
for my second year as
President and for all future
CCB Presidents.  Again, a
heart-felt thank you to each
and every member of this
outstanding organization!

I want to publicly announce
that our first Governmental
Intern will be Arthur Singer.  A
five-person application review
committee looked at some
very strong candidates and
made the selection in October.
Cid Urena will certainly
appreciate the help.

The site for the spring, 1996
convention will be the Hyatt
San Jose Hotel.  As I
mentioned in a previous
"Memo to Members," the
convention will take place in
mid-April so as to have more
time between the spring CCB
convention and the National
ACB convention.  My hope is
that this will make it possible
for more of you to attend both
gatherings.  Our Northern
convention Coordinator will be
Margie Donovan; so if you
have program ideas, she is the
one you should see.

By the way, at our August
Board of Directors meeting it
was agreed that we will
disseminate guidelines for
convention site selection to all
chapters and publish them in
the BC.  This will allow local
chapters wishing to host a
State convention to have
specific convention guidelines
to follow when contacting
hotels in your area.

Also at our August Board
meeting, we decided to
consider how we might hold
CCB elections in such a way
that they take place in
Northern and Southern
California alternately.  If you
have specific suggestions,
please let the chair of this ad
hoc committee, Teddie
Remhild, hear from you.  She
and the other members will
review this matter and report
to the board, probably in April. 
I do want to point out,
however, that
currently--subsequent to the
most recent elections--10 of
the 15 members of the Board
of Directors are from the
North; obviously, the fact that
elections occur at Fall
conventions hasn't created a
southward tilt.  While I believe
that we must have balanced
representation, I do not intend
for this to become one of
those issues which divides the
CCB.  To my way of thinking,
where elections take place is
peripheral to what we do as an
organization.

I would like to be able to
announce that we have
concluded matters with our
thrift store manager, Bill Ashe;
unfortunately, the arbitration
hearing has now been twice
postponed; it is now scheduled
for December 14th and 15th. 
Ladies and gentlemen,
whether we are successful in
this matter or not, we must
and will develop additional
sources of revenue. We are
investigating the possibility of
either operating our own store
or doing it in partnership with
another organization.  Also, I
have met with a very
promising fund-raiser from
Northern California who may
be able to generate
considerable income and
positive publicity for CCB.

There is little new to report on
the Acosta litigation.  We will
be back in court on December
12th and the judge has
indicated that he will set a trial
date at that time.

We are considering possible
litigation against the Los
Angeles County Metropolitan
Transit Authority for
noncompliance with Federal
ADA Access Guidelines and
California Title 24 accessibility
requirements.  Specifically,
MTA has not provided either
adequate detectable warnings
at platform edges or proper
signage in stations.  I am
looking for individuals who
have used either the Red- or
Blue-Lines who would be
interested in participating in
such a proposed lawsuit.

I want to express my sincere
thanks to the chapter
presidents and members in and
around the Los Angeles area
who responded so quickly and
positively to my recent call for
volunteers to participate in a
demonstration at Boulder Dam
on behalf of the priority for
blind vendors at Department of
the Interior facilities.  Although
the demonstration was
canceled for a number of
reasons, over 40 of you
responded to my call on
extremely short notice.  While
this particular advocacy effort
did not come off, consider this
a practice run and take pride in
the fact that everyone involved
reacted better than I could
have hoped.  There will be
other opportunities!

I'd like to close by taking a
couple of moments to
elaborate on the theme of our
fall convention: "Preserving
Our Heritage, Preparing For
Our Future."  I thought long
and hard before deciding on
those seven words as the
theme.  Ladies and gentlemen,
blind and visually impaired
people all around this country
are in the fight of our lives to
save categorical services and
specialized programs such as
separate rehabilitation
agencies, the
Randolph-Sheppard Vending
and Javits-Wagner-O'Day
programs, and residential
schools.  The organized blind
movement predated and
presaged the independent
living and generic disability
rights movements by over
three decades.  We were the
ones advocating for the social
welfare and rehabilitation
legislation which became
SSI/SSP, the Rehabilitation
Act, IDEA, and the Americans
with Disabilities Act.  We
should be proud of that
heritage and we must be
prepared to fight to preserve it
against those who contend
that one solution, one
program, one approach will
work for all disabled people. 
The members of the American
Council of the Blind, including
the members of the CCB,
know better!

Beyond this, blind and visually
impaired people will have to
prepare for a very uncertain
future.  This nation's apparent
turning away from those
groups--including the
disabled--which have
traditionally needed some
assistance in order to succeed
means that we must become
better educated, more
computer literate, and more
competitive and independent.
As one example, while our
current unemployment rate is
in excess of 70%, what will it
be in a society where the bulk
of job opportunities are going
to be in smaller businesses;
where larger companies will be
turning increasingly to
temporary contract labor (one
year or less); where futurists,
such as Alvin Toffler, speak of
people going from short-term
job to short-term job in an
even faster-paced, more
competitive world than we live
in today!  Is there a place for
us in such a world?  I sincerely
think so, but not without each
and every one of us accepting
the challenge such a future
holds and working in a unified
manner to ensure that we
obtain the requisite skills. 
Doing so is the key to our
survival and our success in such a world.

Finally, I want to again thank
all of you for your support and
encouragement during a year
which has been personally, as
well as professionally,
challenging.  My friends and
close colleagues in the
California Council of the Blind 
have been wonderful to me,
and I deeply appreciate your
love and friendship.  Take
care!

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


   NEWS FROM THE SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY CHAPTER

                   by Don Rohde 

The Blindness Awareness team
of the San Luis Obispo (SLO)
County Chapter participated in
the Health Fair at the Arroyo
Grande Community Hospital on
September 16.

The hospital puts on the fair
once a year, and upwards of
50 organizations participate. 
Carol Blake and Don and
Reggie Rohde manned a table
and met many people who
stopped by to chat.  Reggie
brailled the alphabet and the
name of each person who
expressed an interest.  During
a four hour period, 78 people
stopped at the table.

A number of questions were
answered and information
provided based on inquiries
such as the following: 

"I have a friend whose 21-
year-old son just became blind. 
What help is there for him?"

"My granddaughter, who is
seven years old, is blind.  She
and her parents may be
moving to the central coast. 
What services are available
there?"

Don and Reggie gave their
cards to people who asked for
information so that they could
call for further assistance.

Talking about our work for the
blind to the general public is
very important and fruitful. 
We are gradually educating the
people of SLO County about
blindness and about the
resources available to those
with visual handicaps.

    ** ** ** ** ** 

On June 15, Carol Blake of the
SLO County Chapter was the
principal speaker at the
graduation ceremonies for the
Pacific Beach Continuation
High School in San Luis
Obispo.

There is a story behind her
being asked to speak.  Several
months before, the chapter's
Blindness Awareness Team
had spoken to the senior class
at Pacific Beach.  The students
were so impressed with
Carol's explanations of how
she copes with her blindness
that they asked their teacher,
Nicholas Canigula, to invite
Carol to speak again, this time
at the high school graduation. 
The occasion was particularly 
significant because the
graduates were all students
who had dropped out of
school because of drugs,
broken homes, etc., and who
had come back to school of
their own accord to finish their
education.

Carol stressed her philosophy
of life--that anything is
possible if you have faith in
yourself and dare to follow
your dreams.  She concluded
her talk by singing "Amazing
Grace" leading to sustained
applause.  At the reception
that followed, many students
and family members came to
Carol to thank her and to
praise her speaking and
singing.

Obviously the chapter is very
proud of Carol and her energy,
her many abilities, and her
participation in community
affairs.           ------------

                GENA HARPER HONORED


Gena Harper is going to be
honored by the Glaucoma
Foundation and following is
the article about Gena and the
article about the Foundation's
work....

Gena Harper is a Vice
President of Investments at
Dean Witter Reynolds in
Berkeley, California.  Born with
glaucoma, Gena is totally blind
in one eye and can see very
little with the other. 
Nevertheless, she became a
stockbroker at 22, and is one
of the few blind people in the
investment industry in the
United States.

The determination not to let
her vision problems prevent
her from succeeding began to
manifest itself even before
Gena found her career.  She
became an award-winning
downhill skier and then an
accomplished rock climber,
wind surfer, backpacker and
rafter.  As a result of her
athletic triumphs, she
developed the attitude that she
could do whatever she set out
to do.

With her business partner,
Carla Koren, and the aid of
talking computers, special
equipment for reading and the
accompaniment of her seeing-
eye dog Brighton, Gena
currently manages more than
$120 million for over 800
clients.

"I particularly like the fact
that, in this job, I initially talk
to clients on the phone.  They
are unaware of my disability
and form no preconceived
notions that I might have
limitations in what I can
accomplish for them based on
my lack of sight,"  Gena Says. 
"By the time I meet them, they
already have a high level of
confidence in me because of
our good service and expertise
in managing their
investments."

She is married, and, in addition
to a busy business and
personal life, she finds time for
the California Governor's
Rehabilitation Advisory
Council, the Glaucoma
Foundation, the Junior League,
Girls, Inc., and the Friends of
Youth Campaign at the YMCA. 
Gena has also served on the
Governor's Committee on the
Employment of Disabled
Persons and raised funds for
the Blind Babies Foundation
and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

"I'm a real advocate for
disabled people working in the
private sector,"  Gena Says. 
"I can be helpful in getting
businesses to be more active
in hiring disabled workers
because I receive a lot of
recognition through my career,
my clients, and my sports
activities.

GLAUCOMA FOUNDATION
ANNOUNCES FIRST ANNUAL
AWARD OF MERIT:

BLIND STOCKBROKER TO BE
INITIAL HONOREE

The Glaucoma Foundation, a
New York-based international
not-for-profit organization
dedicated to fighting
glaucoma, announced today
that it has selected Gena
Harper, one of the few blind
investment consultants in the
nation, to be the first recipient
of its annual Award of Merit.

Ms. Harper, 32, who is Vice
President of Investments at
Dean Witter Reynolds in
Berkeley, California, will
receive the Award of Merit at
the Foundation's principal
annual event, the Black and
White Ball, on November 30,
1995, at the Winter Garden in
New York's World Financial
Center.

The Award has been
established to honor an
individual each year whose life
has been profoundly affected
by glaucoma and who has
responded to the challenge
with courage and distinction.

"Gena Harper has absolutely
refused to let her visual
disabilities stop her from
accomplishing anything she
has set out to do,"  said John
W. Corwin, Executive Director
of the Glaucoma Foundation. 
"She is a wonderfully fitting
recipient of this award, which
we hope will serve as an
annual reminder to those
afflicted with glaucoma that
they need not accept the
notion that the obstacles they
face are insurmountable."

Glaucoma is the world's
leading preventable cause of
blindness.  Worldwide,
approximately 50,000,000
people have glaucoma, 3 to 4
million of them in the United
States.

The Glaucoma Foundation
actively works through a
variety of public education,
research, information and referral efforts to counter the
impact and effects of
glaucoma.  The Foundation
maintains a toll-free hotline
through which information and
access to written materials are
available.  The number is 1-
800-GLAUCOMA.
                   ------------


                 PERSONAL FINANCE
      The Topic Americans Can't Wait to Avoid

                by Kathy M. Kristof

(Kathy Kristof is a staff writer
for the Los Angeles Times. 
This article appeared on
September 18, 1994.  Neither
the disk nor the envelope had
the name of the sender.)

It's inevitable, so here's our
guide to estate planning,
funerals and other life-and-
death concerns.

Nobody likes to talk about
death.  But the Grim Reaper
eventually comes for us all;
and when he does, most
people are unprepared--
financially speaking, if no other
way.

Only about three in ten
Americans have a will.  Less
than one in four have executed
so-called "advance directives"
that limit aggressive health
treatments when the prognosis
is terminal; and a far smaller
number have moved to
alleviate tax, probate or funeral
costs.

"We, as human beings, don't
want to deal with our own
mortality.  So this is one of
those things that people put
off," says Melissa Burkholder,
an attorney with the American
Association of Retired Persons
in Washington.  "The question
is whether you are going to
deal with it, or is somebody
going to do it for you?  And if
somebody else does it, are
they going to make the same
decisions as you would have?"

These are, of course, personal
issues that cut to the heart of
how you feel about your family
and about maintaining control. 
But they are also financial
issues of sweeping
importance.

What few people realize is that
death is shockingly expensive. 
Funeral costs alone easily can
amount to $6,000.  The cost
of probate can wipe out a
modest estate.  Estate taxes
can force the liquidation of a
family-owned business or the
sale of the family home.  And
dying "intestate"--without a
will--can cause your assets to
fall into the wrong hands.

These are not issues solely for
the elderly.  Having a will and
simple estate plan is pivotal for
young parents, too; their heirs,
after all, are more dependent
on them than are the adult
children of elderly couples.

The good news is that many
of these issues can be handled
easily and inexpensively--if you
plan in advance.  Here's a six-
step guide.

STEP 1:
Writing a Will

Preparing a will is the first step
in creating a viable plan that
will allow your heirs to survive
comfortably in your absence.

In California, a plethora of do-
it-yourself wills is completely
acceptable.  The simplest is a
handwritten statement that
spells out who you are, what
you've got and who should get
it.  These so-called
"holographic" wills are simply
signed and dated.  No
witnesses are necessary.

You also can buy fill-in-the-
blanks "statutory" wills at
virtually any stationery store
for $1 to $5.  You complete
the form, get a few witnesses
to sign, and either stick it in
your safe deposit box or give it
to a trusted friend or relative
for safekeeping.

Or you can buy a will kit.  The
kits--either in book form or
computer software--cost $10
to $70.  Their advantage over
statutory wills?  They come
with instructions.

Some attorneys criticize do-it-
yourself wills, noting that an
individual can make important
errors and end up with a will
that is not valid.  Indeed, if
you're elderly, wealthy or have
a complicated family
arrangement--such as children
from different marriages--or
complicated desires, you might
be wise to hire an attorney.

However, if your aims are
simple and your assets are
modest, advocates of do-it-
yourself wills say the mistakes
are easy to avoid.  These are
the errors to watch for:

People forget to have the will
witnessed, or they have their
heirs serve as witnesses. 
Witnesses are supposed to be
able to prove that you were
sane and uncoerced when you
wrote your will.  If a witness is
also an heir, his or her
testimony can be questioned.

Poor writing:  Consider: "I
leave all my assets to Suzie,
unless she marries that jerk,
John, and decides to become
an artist instead of an
accountant."  Does the author
mean to disinherit Suzie if she
becomes an artist, or only if
she both marries John and
becomes an artist?  If your
wishes aren't clear, all or part
of your will can be invalidated.

Not Mentioning a Child:  You
may want to disinherit the
lazy, good-for-nothing
freeloaders currently
occupying the spare
bedrooms.  But if you simply
leave them out of your will, a
judge may be persuaded that
you suffered a memory lapse
and forgot to give the
freeloaders a rightful share.  If
you want to disinherit
someone, say so.  Or leave the
person a dime.

Bequeathing Already Spoken-
for Assets:  Your will does not
control the distribution of all
your assets.  The proceeds of
your life insurance policy go to
the named beneficiary,
regardless of what it says in
your will.  Assets held in joint
ownership--houses, cars and
bank accounts held by
husband and wife, for
example--revert to the joint
owner on your death.  You
cannot change the beneficiary
of these assets in your will. 
Don't try.

Bequeathing for Both of you: 
"We leave all our worldly
assets to our child(ren)..." 
You can't create a joint will. 
"You die alone," says Stephen
Elias, co-author of WillMaker,
a popular piece of will-writing
software.

STEP 2:
Understand Probate

When you die, your assets
generally go into a legal limbo
called probate.

The process boils down to
this:  Your executor hires an
attorney who files your will
with the local probate court. 
The court sends notice to your
creditors stating that you have
died and that your estate is
being settled.  Through legal
hearings, the court pays your
debts and "proves" the validity
of your will.

The benefit of probate is that
once it's through, creditors
can't go after your heirs for
payment of a bill.  It also
settles disputes between heirs.

The disadvantages of probate
are also clear.  It is time-
consuming and expensive.

The best case--a simple,
uncontested will--takes about
nine months to a year to clear
probate.  In cases where there
are disputed creditors' claims
or infighting among heirs,
probate can take years.

Hiring a probate attorney,
meanwhile, can be costly. 
They are paid either by the
hour or according to a formula
set by state law.

In California, the statutory fees
are levied as a percentage of
your gross estate (the value of
your assets before deducting
liabilities, such as mortgage
loans and creditors' claims). 
You pay a maximum of 4% of
the first $15,000 in probated
assets; 3% of the next
$85,000; 2% of the next
$900,000, and 1% of
amounts over $1 million.

If there are disputed claims or
the estate is unusually difficult
to probate, a judge can award
"extraordinary" probate fees;
And if you don't make another
arrangement in advance, these
maximum fees can be applied
to even the simplest case,
says Doron M. Tisser, a
Calabasas-based estate
planning attorney.

The executor is entitled to the
same fees, but executors who
are also heirs often don't
accept fees.  Practically
speaking, it's better to inherit
the money tax free than to
collect taxable executors' fees.

All these fees easily can
consume your assets when
you die.  If your estate
consists of a $100,000 home,
the attorney and executor
could claim a total of $5,700
in fees.  Let's say an $80,000
mortgage has to be paid off. 
In the end, the heirs are left
with just $14,300.  And if the
home is sold, the real estate
agent's fees would come out
of the inheritance.

Probate also opens your estate
to public view.  The curious
can look up your case and
determine just how much
money you had and who got
it.

STEP 3:
Skirting Probate

The time, expense and public
nature of probate have
spawned an industry whose
sole purpose is to help people
avoid probate.  And by far the
most popular product in the
anti-probate arsenal is the
living trust.

Living trusts are three-part
legal documents which,
properly executed, set up a
formula that handles the
financial aspects of death and
possible incapacity without the
time, expense and disclosure
involved in taking these
matters through court.

The first part of the document
deals with the distribution of
your assets while you are
sound of both mind and body. 
This may be as simple as
naming yourself trustee and
giving yourself the right to
distribute your assets as you
see fit.

Part two names a successor
trustee who can handle your
financial affairs if you fall into
a coma or are otherwise
rendered incapable of handling
them yourself.

Part three serves as a will and
provides for the distribution of
your assets and the
appointment of guardians for
minor children after you're
gone.

These documents are
revocable, which means you
can change or cancel them
while you are alive and
competent.  They become
irrevocable at your death.

The disadvantages of living
trusts?  First, they're
expensive.  An attorney will
charge $500 to $2,500 to set
up a fairly simple one--but
that's still often less costly
than probate.

Moreover, property in a living
trust may be a bit more
difficult to sell or refinance,
simply because it's held in the
name of the trust.  While
lenders say that's less true
today than a few years ago,
you still may have problems
finding one willing to make a
home loan on real estate
owned by a trust.

Also, to be effective, the trust
must own all your probatable
assets.  If it doesn't, your
heirs could end up dealing with
both trust administrators and
probate authorities, which is
more time-consuming and
costly than probate alone. 
Since some people don't
remember to deed all their
assets to the trust, many
attorneys advise executing a
so-called "pour-over" will,
which transfers any forgotten
assets into the trust at your
death.

You don't, however,
necessarily need a living trust
to avoid probate.  All those
assets that can't be left in a
will--insurance policies, jointly-
owned property and the like--
automatically skirt probate. 
You also can name
beneficiaries for pension plans,
brokerage accounts and bank
accounts, leaving little--or
nothing--to the probate
process.

Step 4:
Estate Tax Planning

Few people bother with estate
tax planning because it's
widely understood that estate
taxes are assessed only on the
"wealthy"--people with assets
of $600,000 or more.  But, in
California, where a modest
bungalow in a good Zip code
can sell for more than
$500,000, many middle-class
families will find at least part
of their estates falling into the
clutches of Uncle Sam.

For the really rich, estate tax
gambits aimed at trimming
inheritance taxes--which range
from 36% to 70%--are
plentiful and complex.  But for
middle-income families with
just a shade more than
$600,000 in assets, the
strategies are fairly simple:

Annual Gifts.  Before you die,
you can give an unlimited
number of people up to
$10,000 a year without
triggering estate or gift taxes,
notes Gregg Ritchie, partner in
the personal financial planning
group at KPMG Peat Marwick
in Los Angeles.  In addition, he
says, "you can pay for a child
or grandchild's health care or
education expenses."

Bypass Trusts:  If you don't
like the idea of annual gifts
because you're worried about
having enough money to last
you and your spouse's
lifetimes, consider a bypass
trust.  These devices help
married couples leave up to
$1.2 million to their heirs
without triggering estate
taxes.

Sometimes called A-B trusts,
these documents start out as a
revocable trust, then split into
two parts--Part A and Part B--
on the first spouse's death.

The deceased spouse's part--
Part B--spins off up to
$600,000 of the couple's
combined assets and becomes
irrevocable.  Eventually, the
assets in the B trust go to
heirs other than the surviving
spouse.  But while the survivor
is alive, he or she collects the
interest and investment
income on the assets.  When
the second spouse dies, both
the assets in the B trust and
those in the A trust go to the
designated heirs.

Life Insurance:  Agents call
this the "1% solution,"
because it involves paying 1%
of the value of your estate for
a period of years to purchase
an insurance policy.  The
policy is put into an
irrevocable life insurance trust,
and the proceeds pay estate
taxes after you die.

For how long do you have to
ante up 1% of your assets to
buy such a policy?  The
answer varies based on your
age, assets and insurer. 
Generally, the younger you
are, the less you pay, for the
simple reason that the insurer
is able to use your money for a
longer period of time.

Of course, paying your money
today to save your heirs from
future tax obligations makes
sense only in some fairly
unusual circumstances.  This
option may prove desirable, for
instance, if you have a small
business that could be
rendered insolvent or forced
into liquidation if your heirs
had to pay estate taxes on its
value within nine months of
your death.  It also could help
if you are bequeathing
heirlooms or assets that you
wouldn't want your heirs to
have to sell in order to pay
estate taxes.

Step 5:
Executing An Advance
Directive

They may not have had a lot in
common in life.  But in death,
Richard M. Nixon and
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis--
who both refused life-
prolonging medical treatment--
are spurring something of a
renaissance in "advance
directives."

These are legal documents
that spell out for your doctor
the point at which treatment
should stop, either by stating
the specific conditions under
which you refuse treatment or
by designating who can make
that decision for you.

While the most important
purpose of an advance
directive is to maintain control
over your life, there is also a
financial point to signing such
a document.  Simply put,
aggressive, life-prolonging
treatments are among the
most expensive in medicine. 
Partly as a result, roughly one-
quarter of your lifetime medical
costs are rung up in the final
12 months of life--and most of
that in the last month.

Arguably, cost is incidental
when the procedure saves
your life and health.  But what
about when treatment keeps
you alive yet miserable?  If
that concept frightens you,
you may want to draw up an
advance directive.

The best-known is the living
will, which stipulates that
treatment should not be used
simply to prolong life when the
diagnosis is terminal.  Another
form is a health-care power of
attorney, which gives a
spouse, child, relative or friend
the legal right to make life-and-
death medical decisions for
you.

Both documents are commonly
provided to patients at nursing
homes, hospitals, hospices
and senior centers for nominal
charges or for free.  They are
also sold by a variety of
national groups and stationery
stores.

However, you don't need a
form to execute a viable
advance directive, according
to Charles P. Sabatino,
assistant director of the
American Bar Association's
commission on legal problems
of the elderly.  "A letter to
your doctor stating the
conditions under which you'd
like to live--and die--should
suffice", he says.  However,
you should specifically
mention under what
circumstances you would want
the doctor to withdraw
oxygen, food and hydration
devices, as these require
specific consent in many
states.

Step 6:
Funeral Planning

You won't enjoy it as much,
but a funeral can cost as much
as a nice wedding--or a luxury
car.

And, although many people
are reluctant to price-check
while grieving, shopping
around for funeral
arrangements can save
consumers hundreds--even
thousands--of dollars.  "It's
easy, too," says Lee Norrgard,
senior investigative analyst
with the American Association
of Retired Persons' consumer
affairs division.

Federal law requires funeral
directors to provide detailed
price information on request. 
The trick is asking the right
questions.  And that requires
some thought.  Do you want a
traditional burial or cremation? 
A lavish or budget farewell? 
Do religious or personal
considerations dictate a choice
of funeral home or cemetery?

Realize that the total cost of a
funeral includes more than a
dozen elements--many of
which are optional.  Also
realize that burial fees are
separate and include several
components, some of which
also involve choices.

On the funeral side, the
biggest cost item is usually the
casket.  Prices vary from
about $250 for an inexpensive
wood coffin to as much as
$25,000 for a luxury, bronze
coffin with adjustable
mattress.  There are charges
for use of the mortuary,
services of the funeral
director, flowers, music,
transportation, preparation of
the body, embalming, and
obtaining permits and death
certificates.

At the burial, the biggest cost
is the grave, crypt or "niche"
for cremated remains.  With in-
ground burials, there is often
also a charge for an "outer
burial container"--typically a
cement casement that goes
around the casket; fees for
opening and closing the grave;
a charge for the marker and,
possibly, recording fees.  For
cremations, there's often a fee
for the urn and for a container
in which the body is cremated.

Determine your preferences
and call several mortuaries. 
The cost of an identical funeral
can vary by as much as
$2,000 at different funeral
homes in the same city,
according to an AARP survey.

"As with any consumer
purchase, there is a choice," agrees Susan Daniels,
spokeswoman for the National
Funeral Directors Association
in Milwaukee.  "You can
choose something expensive
or something less expensive."

Comparing Funeral Costs 

In shopping for funeral
services, it's smart to make
apples-to-apples comparisons. 
This rundown can help you
compare costs.

Funeral

Casket-Transportation of the
body-Use of facilities-Services
of funeral director-Music-
Flowers-Limousine to transport
relatives to grave site-Death
certificates, permits, and
Others

Total Funeral

Burial

Grave, crypt or niche; Outer
burial container (sometimes
purchased from funeral
director); Opening and closing
of grave; Grave marker; Urn
(for cremated remains);
Recording fees; Other------------
          FOR ALL THOSE BORN BEFORE 1945


(The following article was
taken from the September
issue of The Blind Teacher. 
Teachers and would-be
teachers are invited to join this
ACB affiliate by contacting its
president, Patty Slaby, 440 N.
Fourth Street, River Falls, WI
54022.)

We are survivors.  Consider
the changes we have
witnessed.  

We were born before
television, penicillin, polio
shots, frozen foods, Xerox,
plastic contact lenses, frisbees
and the Pill.

We were born before radar,
credit cards, split atoms, laser
beams and ballpoint pens--
before pantyhose,
dishwashers, clothes dryers,
electric blankets, air
conditioners, drip-dry clothes
and before man walked on the
moon.

We got married first and then
lived together.  How quaint
can
you be?  In our time, closets
were for clothes, not for
coming out of.  Bunnies were
small rabbits, and rabbits were
not Volkswagens. 

Designer jeans were scheming
girls named Jean, and having a
meaningful relationship meant
getting along well with our
cousins.

We thought fast food was
what you ate during Lent and
outer
space was the back of the
Riviera Theater.  We were
before househusbands, gay
rights, computer dating, dual
careers and commuter
marriages.

We were born before day-care
centers, group therapy and
nursing homes.  We never
heard of FM radio, tape decks,
electronic typewriters, artificial
hearts, word processors,
yogurt and guys wearing
earrings.

For us, time sharing meant
togetherness, not computers
or condominiums.  A chip
meant a piece of wood,
hardware meant hammers, and
software wasn't even a word. 
Back then, 'made in Japan'
meant junk, and the term
'making out' referred to how
you did on your exam.  
Pizzas, McDonald's and instant
coffee were unheard of.  

We hit the scene where there
were five-and-ten-cent stores
where you bought things with 
five and ten cents.  Sander's
or Wilson's sold ice cream
cones for a nickel or dime.  For
one  nickel, you could ride a
streetcar, make a phone call,
buy a Pepsi or enough stamps
to mail one letter and two
postcards.  You could buy a 
new Chevy coupe for $600,
but who could afford one? 
Pity, too, because gas was
eleven cents a gallon.
In our day, grass was mowed,
Coke was a cold drink, and pot
was something you cooked in. 
Rock music was a grandma's
lullaby, and aides were helpers
in the principal's office.  We 
were certainly not before the
difference between the sexes
was discovered but we were 
surely before the sex change. 
We made do with what we
had, and we were the last
generation so dumb as to think
we needed a husband to have
a baby.

No wonder we are so
confused and there is such a
generation gap today.  But we
survived.  What better reason
to celebrate?
                   ------------


           REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF 
       CCB RESOLUTIONS, PASSED SPRING, 1995

                by Mitch Pomerantz

95-A3 directed that I take
action to obtain a public
apology for the negative image
of blind and visually impaired
people fostered by television
ads for Pearl Vision.  The
company responded in a letter
from its Director of
Advertising.  She first
indicated that the ad in
question was a radio spot and
was not meant to be insulting
to the blind but, rather, was
intended to be "light-hearted." 
She concludes: "We apologize
for the misunderstanding that
resulted from the radio
campaign, and please be
assured that it has not run
since July 16th and we have
no plans to run it in the
future."  We can only hope
that Pearl Vision will think
twice before trying to be
light-hearted about poor vision.

95-A4 called upon the
Department of Rehabilitation to
reinstitute use of the
rehabilitation counselor trainee
category to recruit both
counselor teachers and
rehabilitation counselors for
the blind.  According to a
letter from Brenda Premo, a
copy of this resolution has
been forwarded to the task
force studying this issue.  By
the way, I found it very
curious that it took the
Department over three months
to respond to my letter and
our resolutions.  This gives
new meaning and perspective
to the term "timely response."

95-A6 concerned inappropriate
editorial comments in The
Vendorscope, the national
publication of the
Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of
America.  My column in the
previous Blind Californian
addresses this subject in
considerable detail.  There is
nothing more I can add except
that this matter was resolved
most satisfactorily.  If you are
not receiving the BC, let this
provide the incentive for you
to get it!

95-A7 urged the California
Chapter of the American
Association of
Ophthalmologists to adopt a
policy requiring
ophthalmologists to refer their
blind and visually impaired
patients to the Department of
Rehabilitation.  Based on
discussions that Teddie
Remhild, chairperson of our
senior blind committee, has
had with the association's
director, it appears that such a
policy will be instituted
voluntarily.  Additionally, this
resolution is suppose to be
published in the association's
statewide newsletter, along
with a short article on the CCB
(including our 800 number). 
An article about the
Department of Rehab has
already been published by the
California ophthalmologists. 
Let me stop here to observe
that, while legislative and legal
action are frequently
necessary to get what we
want, there are times when
good old fashioned dialogue
works just as well--perhaps
even more effectively.  This
seems to be one of those
times!

95-A8 called for a letter to be
sent expressing our gratitude
to Superintendent Delaine
Eastin for her promised
support for better and stronger
educational programs at the
California School for the Blind,
including her commitment to
have a representative of the
organized blind participate in
the selection process for the
new CSB Superintendent.  I
am pleased to inform you that
Al Gil, President of the CSB
Alumni Association, was that
representative; and it is
because of Superintendent
Eastin's commitment to us
that Mr. Gil participated on the
interview panel. Believe me, it
would not have happened
without Delaine Eastin.  In my
letter, I also invited the
Superintendent to speak to us
at our fall convention.  While
she was unable to do so, Dr.
Dyhan Lal, Deputy
Superintendent of Special
Programs, did attend and we
were pleased to hear from
him.

95-A10 placed CCB on record
as supporting the
recommendations of the
Curriculum Study Group
regarding operation of the
Vocational Independence
Program, and further called for
all necessary steps to be taken
to see that the
recommendations be
implemented by the
Foundation for the Junior
Blind, the agency which runs
VIP.  Following the spring
Convention, I met at some
length with FJB's director, Bob
Ralls, to let him know the
CCB's unequivocal support for
the Study Group's
recommendations.  My
remarks during this meeting
were very candid; and I believe
that he finally understood just
how seriously we, and the
Department of Rehabilitation,
consider this matter.  As a
result, I left that meeting with
his commitment to rectify,
almost immediately, the two
most onerous issues, not
allowing students to return to
their rooms during the day
without an escort, and not
permitting students to leave
the VIP campus at night.  My
understanding is that students
now have the freedom to do
both!  I hope that, in some
small way, this resolution led
to the change in policy.  I
believe that it did!  It should
also be noted here that in
Director Premo's
aforementioned letter, she
indicated that a subcommittee
of the Blind Advisory
Committee will monitor
implementation of the
recommendations.

95-A11 instructed me as CCB
president to take all steps
necessary to ensure that the
decision of the federal
arbitration panel in the case of
Jeana Martin vs. Department
of Rehabilitation is sustained. 
In early August, I contacted
the attorney in this case,
Janice Jenkins, and indicated
our willingness to participate in
the appeal process in whatever
manner she deems
appropriate.

Let me add that as part of my
letter to the director, I
communicated our displeasure
concerning her department's
position in the strongest
possible terms.  I quote,
"Resolution 95-A11 states in
writing what I have already
said to you when we last met
in May.  I have been instructed
to take all steps necessary to
ensure that the decision of the
arbitration panel in the matter
of Jeana Martin vs. the
Department of Rehabilitation is
sustained...  If the Department
of Rehabilitation and the state
of California wish to challenge
the very existence of the
Randolph-Sheppard Vending
Program--a program which has
employed literally thousands of
blind men and women
throughout its 60-plus year
history--then you will be taking
on the organized blind
movement as represented by
the American Council of the
Blind.  I can assure you that
CCB will not tolerate this
blatant threat to one of the
most successful employment
programs without a fight." 
That is where matters
currently stand.  You will be
kept informed as
developments unfold.

95-A12 called for action to be
taken to ensure that the
computer teaching position at
OCB be converted to state
employee status as soon as
possible.  According to Ms.
Premo, given DR's current
fiscal situation, it is not likely
that this position will be
converted to state employee
status.  She indicated that
until a more favorable
budgetary climate exists, many
critical positions will remain
unfilled.

95-A13 urged that written and
oral testimony be given
expressing our serious
concerns regarding a proposal
to establish "One-Stop Career
Centers," and the
consequences such centers
would have for blind and
visually impaired people with
respect to specialized services. 
As you know, I presented
written and oral testimony to
the One-Stop Career Center
Task Force on June 8th at its
meeting in Marina Del Rey.  I
have also provided a written
response to the Task Force
Report which recently came
out, although this document is
very long on verbiage and
extremely short on specifics. 
Apparently, an implementation
plan will also be coming out
shortly which should contain
more detailed information
about how DR will interact
with the "One-Stop Career
Centers.

I also want to mention that
CCB members responded to
this resolution admirably by
attending and speaking at six
of the ten scheduled hearings
around the State.  I feel
confident that our message
was heard and that there will
be an identifiable and separate
rehabilitation program.  It also
helps that both the House and
Senate in their individual job
training consolidation bills
finally agreed to maintain Title
I Rehab Act funds as separate
from the block grants which
will be going to the states. 
There will, then, be Federal
money available for
rehabilitation programs and
services.

95-A14 called for a letter to be
sent to the RP Foundation
communicating, in the
strongest manner, our
objection to the
misrepresentation of
"blindness" in the RP
Foundation's new name,
advertising and literature.  In
his response, Robert Gray,
Executive Director of the
Foundation Fighting Blindness,
indicated that the name was
changed in late 1994 to reflect
a broader mission beyond just
RP.  To quote from his letter,
"We understand and agree
with your point about the
realities of the blind and
visually impaired and their
need to lead full and
productive lives.  We are
working to make loss of vision
from retinal degenerative
diseases a thing of the past... 
Thank you again for sharing
your perspectives."

95-A16 called for CCB to take
all appropriate action, including
legal action, to ensure that a
moratorium be placed on the
Federal Highway
Administration's threat to
withhold Federal funds from
California over this State's 1/2
inch beveled lip requirement
for curb ramps.  Eugene
Lozano, chairperson of our
Committee on Access and
Transportation, and I have
discussed this matter at some
length over the past several
months.  Based on
developments which have
transpired since May, Gene
and I are now of the opinion
that no legal action should be
taken at this time.  Among
other things, we have received
an informal legal opinion
suggesting that such a suit
would be extremely difficult to
prosecute; hence, very
expensive.  The members of
the CAT Committee reluctantly
agreed during a conference
call held prior to the fall
convention.

95-A17 requested an
explanation from the American
Printing House for the Blind for
the absence of braille
computer paper in its quota.  I
did speak in September with
Tuck Tinsley of APH who told
me that their decision was
final, but that braille computer
paper is readily available. 
Keep in mind that we referred
this matter to ACB last fall via
a previous resolution.

95-A18 expressed our concern
over the lack of braille and
raised print signage at CSB to
the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, Delaine Eastin, and
Superintendent, Maryann
Nielsen.  She responded and I
quote from the relevant portion
of her letter, "I am pleased to
tell you that several CSB staff
began work earlier this year on
obtaining appropriate signage
for the CSB campus.  They
have located a vendor that
manufactures signs which are
in compliance with the ADA
and are currently working on
the specific design for the
signs."  She also indicated that
funds have been identified
from the budget and, based on
the time-line Ms.  Nielsen
provided, appropriate braille
and raised print signs should
by now have been installed on
the CSB campus.

95-A21 urged the State Board
of Guide Dogs for the Blind to
include in their school licensing
requirements that a minimum
of 20% of the membership of
the Board of Directors of a
guide dog school be blind
persons in accordance with
the spirit of AB550. 
Unfortunately, my letter
transmitting this resolution
reached the board Secretary
too late to be placed on its
September agenda.  It will be
taken up in January.

Additionally, there are
currently three vacancies on the Guide Dog Board; and the
CCB is working to get at least
one of our members
appointed.  Be assured that
this individual will be someone
who completely supports, and
will champion, this resolution.

Three resolutions from the Fall
of 1994--the two dealing with
accessible yellow pages and
utility bills, and the one
concerning insurance
coverage--are still being
pursued by our Sacramento
representative, Ysidro Urena. 
The state insurance
commissioner's office has
been very difficult to work
with (returning phone calls is
not their strong point) and Cid
may need to "camp out" in the
lobby to get the
commissioner's attention.  He
will get it one way or another!
                   ------------


       A VISIT TO THE HOME OF LOUIS BRAILLE

                by Winifred Downing

In the fall of 1993, I went with
my sister and brother-in-law to
Paris.  Just as many travelers
plan to visit shrines of national
or religious significance, I was
determined to go to the home
of Louis Braille.  It has always
struck me as almost
miraculous that an accident
happening to a little boy in a
very ordinary French family
living in a rural area should
have been chosen to change
the lives of blind persons all
over the world.  I wanted to
come as close as I could to
that little boy and his family.  

One of my Hadley
correspondence students in
France had arranged for me to
meet two young women who
would accompany me and
translate appropriately.  My
brother-in-law rented a car,
and we all left for Coupvray in
a light drizzle on a Sunday in
mid-October.  My young
friends had never visited
Braille's  home and were as
curious and excited as I.

Coupvray--about an hour's
drive from Paris--is essentially
as it was during Louis Braille's
life.  It is a rural community
situated in a region of grassy
hills between the area of
France responsible for brie
cheese, and where the grapes
for champagne are grown. 
Farm houses and barns are still
in evidence, and  roofs of
small brown tiles are reminders
of time past.  St. Pierre, the
Catholic church where Braille
was baptized, is still a place of
worship; and the school
connected with it has a record
of Louis Braille's enrollment in
the very early years of his
education.  A tall monument
topped by Braille's bust was
built in Coupvray in 1887.

The Braille family consisted of
two boys and two girls, Louis
being the youngest child.  The
house in which they lived was
built in the last half of the
18th century as a historic
monument since 1952 when it
was purchased to be restored
by a committee in association
with the World Union for the
Blind.  A marble plaque in both
French and English is affixed
to the wall of the house facing
the street.

The room nearest to ground
level, where one first enters,
was the workshop of Louis
Braille's father, Simon Rene
Braille, a saddler by trade.  The
tools employed in that
occupation hang on walls and
rest on the workbench that
Rene used.  A painting shows
what happened to three-year-
old Louis when he climbed up
to reach a pruning knife and
tried to cut a piece of leather
as he had seen his father do. 
The knife slipped and cut his
eye, followed by infections in
both eyes and a complete loss
of sight.

The family's living quarters are
above the shop.  All the tasks
and amusements of the day
occurred in this one room. 
There is a bed of the type in
which Louis was probably
born; and about the room are a
rustic table and benches;
spinning wheel; the pots,
pans, and dishes used in the
preparation of food; and
objects in daily necessity like
lanterns and baskets.  The
fireplace has beside it an oven
for bread-making, and there is
a cheese recess where the
warmth from the fire
encouraged the processing of
brie cheese.  The sink is a
concave stone with a hole in
its middle.  Water poured
away there drained into the
yard from between the walls. 
Over a door to the loft is the
only known photograph of
Braille.  From artifacts found in
the loft  and the cellar, the life
of the period in which Braille
lived can be easily imagined.

Up a tortuous stairway, which
would cause museum keepers
in the United States to suffer
an insurance stroke, is the
beginning of the Louis Braille
museum.  There are early
versions of books, including
the first one known to have
been printed in the braille
system as we know it, The
Imitation of Christ.  There are
also several kinds of slates,
writing devices to enable the
blind to write for the sighted,
and congratulatory plaques
from all over the world sent in
1952 on the 100th
anniversary of Braille's death. 
We looked in vain for some
tribute from the American
Council of the Blind or the 
California Council.  However,
the committee working for the
extension of the museum
continues to seek all kinds of
assistance including monetary
contributions.  Send any help
to Chairman of the Louis
Braille Committee, 58, Avenue
Bosquet, 75007 Paris, France.

Back to Louis Braille's life.  He
was fortunate in having been
preceded by two men whose
work made his
accomplishment possible.  The
first was Valentin Hauy who
founded the school for the
blind in Paris to which Louis
was sent at about the age of
10.  The second was Charles
Barbier, an engineer in the
military who originated a dot
code for contacting his men
during the night.  The students
of the Paris school were
introduced to his system
which was built on a 12-dot
cell and was extremely
complicated.  The seed was
planted, however, and from
that time on Louis worked on
several dot systems and
appropriate equipment for
reading and writing.

The instructors of the period
were not interested, viewing
as important only writing
methods that would enable a
blind person to express himself
to the sighted.  Not until after Braille's death did his 6-dot
cell and the carefully crafted
codes for the alphabet and for
music notation attract
attention and begin to serve
the blind of the world.

Braille did achieve success in
the education of his day, for
there are still in existence
letters that he wrote to his
family during his years in Paris. 
He served as an organist and
also taught at the school for
the blind.  He died in 1852, at
the age of 43, and is now
honored by the blind of the
world and the sighted who are
involved with their lives.
                   ------------


           CONVENTION REPORT, FALL 1995 

                   by Brian Hall

The fall convention of the
California Council of the Blind
showed democracy in action. 
New board directors were
elected and policies
overturned.  Members made
their voices heard on financial
matters but put their money
where their mouths were by
laying down lots of cold hard
cash at an auction.  A
visually-impaired pediatrician
and a blind comedian revealed
that humor can be the best
medicine against
misconception.

Three hundred blind and
visually-impaired people
gathered for the convention
Nov. 9-12 at Los Angeles'
Crowne Plaza Holiday Inn. 
More programs were squeezed
into the schedule, forcing
difficult decisions on which to
attend.

The extended weekend began
busily on Thursday with
overlapping seminars.  Chaired
by Kenneth Frasse, the
Technology Committee
presented overviews of
accessible household
appliances and workplace
computers as well as the
much-feared graphics-driven
and Windows operating
systems.  CCB's onramp to
the information superhighway,
the Global Blind exchange
("GBX") was explained and
demonstrated.

The Governmental Affairs
Committee's Legislative
Seminar, chaired by Ysidro
Urena, had a smaller turnout,
which, members said, reflects
the necessity for more political
involvement by chapters.  The
Board of Directors' meeting
was convened at 7 p.m., an
hour earlier than usual to
accommodate a Candidates'
Forum later that night. 
Directors rescinded a narrow
8-to-6 vote taken in August to
shift Council assets to the
financial management team of
Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. 
Proponents hoped the transfer
would consolidate investments
and achieve higher yields.  As
a follow-up, the convention on
Sunday considered one related
bylaw and a Constitutional
amendment, discussed later in
this article.  Some claimed the
Finance Committee had acted
too quickly and failed to fully
disclose the nature of
investments.

Light attendance at the
second-ever CCB Candidates'
Forum was partly caused by
the length of the board
meeting preceding it.  About
30 of the politically curious
stayed to listen to the
addresses by those vying for
board and officer slots.  The
forum withstood a floor vote,
but the next one probably will
be held at a more convenient
time.

Martin Jones and Dan Kysor
were elected to the board
seats.  Jones is President of
the Golden Gate Chapter in
San Francisco.  Following
upon his experience as a
teacher, he is now employed
to work with prisoners in the
county drug and alcohol
treatment program.  
A former vendor, Kysor has
served as the Council's fund
raising chairman and helped
start the GBX.

Incumbents were elected
without opposition.  Cathie
Skivers will once again serve
as Second Vice President and
Kenneth Frasse as Secretary
with Directors Ken Metz,
Roger Petersen and Teddie
Remhild.

The Public Relations
Committee, led by Ron Brooks,
delivered a lesson in media
savvy.  Consultant Tari Susan
Hartman, owner of Los
Angeles-based Ein Sof of
Communications, gave
pointers on writing effective
press releases and public
service announcements while
taking shrewd advantage of
broadcast appearances
designed to inform.  Audience
members volunteered to press
radio and TV stations to
verbally spell out complete
telephone numbers using digits
in addition to letters.  The PR
seminar also addressed
portrayals of the blind in
cinema and the entertainment
industry.  It was suggested
that advertisers include the
visually impaired in every-day
background roles.

Fast forward from spin doctors
to a children's physician. 
Michelle Healey recounted her
personal case history as a
partially-sighted pediatrician. 
She said she is on call the
same as other doctors who
handle most middle-of-the-
night calls over the phone. 
Many co-workers  maintain the
attitude "The doors are
opened, but you won't be any
trouble, will you?"  Healey
uses equipment as low-tech as
a voice memo pad and
recommends making friends
with everyone from janitor to
department head.  A physical
therapist was concerned that
Healey couldn't read the lips
of ventilator patients unable to
speak.  Healey explained that
even well trained, congenitally
hearing-impaired people can
read with only 50% accuracy
under ideal circumstances.

Orange County comedian Alex
Valdez, the banquet keynote
speaker, lobbed similar
observations.  "Why, he
asked, "do you see so many
blind people wearing
sunglasses?  You don't see
deaf people in ear muffs." 
Valdez owns a production
company and traverses the
country giving motivational
speeches to corporations like
Bank of America.  He is the
first nationally known blind
comic, having appeared on the
"Tonight Show" and cable
specials.

An auction following the
banquet raised nearly $3,000. 
Items were donated by
chapters or individual
members.  Generous bidders
took away everything from
expensive beer to CD players
and four-track tape recorders.

Convention goers were treated
to a free showing of the film
"Scent of a Woman" about a
strong willed blind veteran. 
Madelyn Dovano of the "Visual
Voice" provided live narration
of the on-screen action.

Bob Ralls, the executive
director of the Vocational
Independence Program, logged
progress made by the
residential center administered
through the Foundation for the
Junior Blind.  A task force that
includes CCB representation
has been critical of the
program that teaches living
and basic vocational skills. 
VIP now allows students to
come and go more freely, and
is building apartments so that
students can live
independently of the
dormitory.

Dyhan Lal, deputy
superintendent at the state
Department of Education,
spoke about the future of
education for blind and visually
impaired children.  Most of the
students enrolled at the
California school for the Blind
are multiply disabled. 
Administrators plan to add a
Southern  California campus,
probably in Riverside.

At the President's Forum,
initiated last spring, chapter
presidents and representatives
met with CCB President
Mitchell Pomerantz.  Chapters
will receive forms to estimate
annual income with state sales
tax to be paid only on profit.

In his President's Report,
Mitch underscored the
convention theme "Preserving
Our Heritage: Preparing for Our
Future."  The blind and visually
impaired, he said, are "in the
fight of our lives to keep what
the movement has won over
past decades."  He ran down a
laundry list of threatened
programs and services:
residential schools, Randolph-
Sheppard Vending facilities,
vocational rehabilitation
services and Supplemental
Security Income.

American Council of the Blind
President Paul Edwards
continued the tone by
speaking of the power that is
being transferred from the
federal government to the
states.  A key to survival, he
said, is building coalitions with
other "vulnerable groups." 
Employees must be better
skilled and ready to change
jobs frequently in the future,
Edwards said.

On money matters, more
chapters and special affiliates
worked side by side while
sharing convention tables,
saying the cost of exhibiting
candy, T-shirts and other
goods for sale had risen too
high.  The Council attempted
last January to recoup some
convention losses by
increasing exhibit price for
chapters to $100.  Meanwhile,
to reduce individual financial
outlays, the organization bore
the expense of subsidizing
special interest luncheons at
this convention.  A resolution
passed on Sunday that cut the
cost of tables by three
quarters, to $25.  Commercial
vendors still will be charged
$200.

A bylaw was postponed that
would have let the Board buy
indemnification for past and
present directors, officers,
staff, volunteers and agents. 
The insurance would pay
attorney fees and other
litigation costs, but the insured
would not cover anyone
judged guilty of misconduct or
gross negligence.  The
proposal was referred to the
Constitution and Bylaws
Committee.  It will be
reviewed by CCB's president
and lawyer for consideration at
the April convention.

An amendment would have
allowed CCB to place money
in institutions not bearing the
name "bank" including Dean
Witter or a savings and loan. 
The board and general
membership voted by roll call
to likewise defer the
amendment for future
consideration.

A term limits amendment was
brought to the floor by the
Bayview Chapter without
committee recommendation. 
Passing on a voice vote, the
amendment states that board
members may serve three
instead of four terms in the same position.  The directors
and officers may run again
after two years rather than
four.

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


                 COMMITTEE REPORTS

(There was not time on the
convention agenda for the
presentation of five of CCB's
standing committees.  They
are given here.)

Rehabilitation Services
Pat La France:

The Rehab Committee has
attempted to keep members of
CCB informed about what is
happening with the Dept. of
Rehabilitation.  We had a
seminar at the May convention
in which Brenda Premo and
Jim Kay spoke to the audience
about Order of Selection
(OOS).  Handouts in large print
and braille were made
available.  This Fall, Manual
Urena and Alice Hackney
spoke to us about concerns
expressed by consumers and
rehabilitation counselors
concerning when plans will be
written.  There is also concern
about personal goal cases,
lack of mobility training for
newly blind and about Seniors
being institutionalized because
of lack of training in skills of
daily living.  Mitch is working
on forming a coalition with
other disability groups to
protest Order of Selection.

Technology Committee
Kenneth  Frasse:

Technology Committee
composition: Kenneth Frasse,
Chair; Frank Welte, TechTalk
Editor/Coordinator; Dan Kysor,
GBX System Operator; Jeff
Senge, Transcription
Specialist; Roger Petersen;
Perry Wolf; Greg Fowler; Jay
Yi; John Glass; Rob Turner;
Scott Duncan.

There are three sections to this
report.  the first section is an
acknowledgement of those
who formed the catalyst for
another successful technology
conference at the Fall CCB
convention; the second section
is dedicated to the status of
current committee projects;
and the third section is a list
and explanation of the projects
in which the Technology
Committee would like to
engage.

Section I
Acknowledgments.

Some special thanks are due
to individuals on the
Technology Committee who
have excelled in their ambition
and energy to support the
committee's efforts, and, in
particular, the Technology
Conference.  Though more will
be spoken of the conference in
the second section of this
report, I would like  to
highlight some of these
people's strengths.

The committee expresses its
sincere thanks and
appreciation to Jeffrey Senge
who transcribed all of the
hotel's menus, pamphlets,
notices, and myriad of other
printed items into electronic
text so that these materials
were available to download
into various electronic note-
takers and computers, as well
as obtain in e-text on disk, or
braille out prior to convention. 
We are hopeful that the ACB
will provide the same access
at the national level.

A special thanks to our
TechTalk coordinator, Frank
Welte, who has been
ceaseless in his efforts to
provide material to Blind
Californian, as well as provide
excellent support for the
technology conference by
presenting several key issues
at the conference.

CCB would not have become
known as the source of the
first fully accessible electronic
bulletin board system on the
global Internet without the
unswerving and non-
remunerated efforts of Dan
Kysor.  This system allows
blind and visually impaired
individuals to communicate
with each other and with
agencies serving the blind and
visually impaired via note-
takers and computers at little
or no cost to the user.

Thanks to Perry Wolf who
assisted at the conference and
donated the use of his
computer for the GBX
presentation.  Thanks lastly to
Chris Gray for his graphical
user interface presentation, to
Sensory Access Foundation for
their employment presentation,
and to TeleSensory, Inc. for
donating the GUI voice
synthesis screen reader for the
conference door prize.

Section II.
Current project status.

There are three committee
projects active at this time: the
Technology Conference, the
Global Blind Exchange, and the
TechTalk column in the Blind
Californian.  More will be
presented on future projects in
Section III of this report.

The CCB Technology
Conference: The committee
has presented its second of
two pilot conferences to
investigate the need and/or
desire for a technology
conference by the CCB
membership.  The response to
the pilot programs was greater
than expected; and, therefore,
the committee has determined
that it will continue presenting
these conferences at future
conventions.

Future programs, however, will
emphasize workshops and
demonstrations.  Additionally,
presentations on access
equipment funding will be
presented.  The next
Technology Conference on
April 17 at the San Jose Hyatt
will encompass multiple online
sessions/tutorials of graphical
user interface programs, online
Internet access/orientation
sessions/tutorials, access
technology funding,
reasonable accommodations in
employment, access
technology in employment,
and much more.

The Global Blind Exchange
(GBX): At the time of this
writing, GBX has been
connected and functioning for
approximately 5 months.  In
this time, it has garnered over
600 new subscribers, become
a link for 18 countries, and
enlisted 4 for-profit companies
for GBX support.

GBX has a 28,800 baud slip
connection that allows up to 8
simultaneous users to
communicate with the world
or with each other.  The
teleconference feature allows
simple real-time
communication between
individuals who are using the
system at the same time,
while the various electronic
mail features allow individuals
to communicate via mail to
anyone in the state, nation, or
in the world.  The system also
allows individuals who know
nothing about the Internet to
choose options from a menu
that will allow them to connect
directly to such Internet sites
as the Library of Congress, the
State Legislature, shopping
malls, the American Council of
the Blind home page, and
much more!  Though funding
is still a major issue for GBX,
the GBX team is anxious and
positive about the future
growth and direction of the
system.

The next major phase of GBX
is to designate single
individuals within each chapter
who possess an electronic
note-taker or computer, and
who can connect to GBX.  In
this way, CCB chapters can
relay information to and from
each other, as well as retrieve
or send information to the CCB
executive office.  The
committee is hopeful that this
will become a catalyst for
better support and advocacy
at the chapter level.

TechTalk: The TechTalk
column in the Blind Californian
has been well-supported. 
Frank Welte has kept this
column alive and responsive to
individuals' interests.  This
issue of the BC contains
information about the
composition of the Technology
Committee, and the next issue
of the BC will include a
TechTalk column on funding
technology.

Section III.
Future Considerations.

In addition to the growing
possibilities of the Technology
Conference, the Global Blind
Exchange and TechTalk, the
technology committee is
anxious to engage in several
other activities if it can spare
the resources.  These 
activities include (A) the Mind
Meld; (b) the Technology
Resource Brochure (TTRB); (c)
the Beta-Brats. 

A.  The Mind Meld: The Mind
Meld is meant as a supportive
endeavor of the committee to
assist with technical support
on access technology.  It
occurred to the committee that
there exist many people who
possess access technology but
who have not been able to
take full advantage of that
equipment or software
because there is insufficient
technical support for these
products.  This need may
include installation,
configuration, or operation.

The committee proposes that a
set of lists comprising half a
dozen categories of access
technology be kept in the CCB
executive office.  On these
sheets individuals who have
expertise in one or more of the
designated categories, and
who are willing to volunteer
some of their time at no
expense to them, will be
solicited by the Technology
Committee and can
subsequently sign up on these
sheets with their name,
telephone number, and time
that they are willing to be
reached.  When an individual
calls the CCB office with a
technical question or difficulty,
the staff can simply ask what
category of technology the
difficulty is related to, and
what is the caller's area code. 
The staff can then review the
volunteer sheets and
recommend volunteers in that
caller's area code and category
of technology.  The caller
would then be obligated to call
the volunteer but will have
benefitted greatly from the
referral.  This volunteer list will
be known as the Mind Meld
and is targeted for
implementation in the Spring
of 1996.

B.  The Technology Resource
Brochure (TRB): At one time, it
was suggested that the CCB's
Technology Committee create
a handbook that would list the
vendors of various access
equipment, as well as
blindness related agencies. 
The current committee
recognized this as an
impossibility when considering
the amount of information that
would have to be brokered and
kept current.  In the previous
idea's stead, the committee
decided that it would be
appropriate to create and
publish a brochure that lists
the main resources of
information related to blind
services and access
technology.  In short, the
brochure would point
individuals in the direction of
agencies and vendors who
have already brokered the
information, or who provide
services for the blind and
visually impaired.  Some of the
contacts in this brochure might
be the American Council of the
Blind, Tri-Visual Services 
vendor publications, the New
York LightHouse for the Blind,
etc.  This project is targeted
for late Summer in 1996.

C.  The Beta-Brats: In an effort
to encourage universal design,
the Technology Committee
wishes to engage eventually in
developing a pool of experts
who review and test various
low-tech and high-tech
environments.  The mission
and purpose of this pool would
be to establish access
guidelines for the development
of mainstream products and to
present these guidelines to
major developers so that these
products are accessible to the
blind and visually impaired.  In
this manner, access can be
better instilled at the forefront
of technology, rather than
fighting for expensive and
complex retro-fitting after
products have been developed. 

It has been a very busy and
productive year for the CCB
Technology Committee, and as
chairman of the Technology
Committee, I would like to
thank the CCB President, the
committee members, and all
the CCB members who have
encouraged and guided us in
our efforts to serve the blind
and visually impaired as best
we possibly can.  I have had
the pleasure and honor to have
one of the most productive,
knowledgeable, and pleasant
committees that CCB has ever
formed, and I look forward
with optimism and enthusiasm
to working further with this
fine group of individuals.

Membership Committee
Charlene Ornelas:

I would like first to thank the
members of my committee for
their hard work.  Committee
members are John Lopez, Don
Brown, Ramona Craig, Warren
Cushman, Melvin Kahn, Jane
Kardas, David McElroy, Sylvia
Munoz, Helen Rico, and
Toscanelli Thomas.

As chair, I decided not to
conduct committee meetings
through conference calls. 
Such calls are expensive, and
somewhat retiring individuals
are sometimes left out of
discussions.  More is
accomplished during face-to-
face meetings.  During the
spring convention I discussed
this with the committee
members, and they agreed
with me that, unless there was
an emergency or a topic of
urgent nature, we would hold
committee meetings only
during the conventions.

During the spring convention
the Membership Committee
met to discuss how to
increase membership in the
CCB's chapters.  We
concluded that there are a
number of committees whose
work overlaps ours and that
we need to cooperate with
them.  These committees are:
Public Relations, Publications,
and Fund Raising.

We agreed that the foundation
for increasing membership in
local chapters is to have
interesting meetings, goals,
and a minimum of internal
strife.  If I as a dedicated
member of CCB think of a
chapter meeting as boring and
one of the last ways I want to
spend my time, why will an
individual without my
commitment want to repeat
such an experience?  Another
of the deterrents to increasing
membership is the internal
strife that plagues so many of
our chapters.  There is material
at the state office that would
be of help in strengthening
local chapters.  Perhaps board
members could mentor
chapters in their area to help
presidents improve their
meetings and thus their
membership.

We brainstormed on where
new members might be
contacted.  The list includes:
friends, students at colleges
and universities, clients at
rehab centers for the blind,
clients at general rehab
centers, community street
fairs, county and state fairs,
meeting notices in local
newspapers, October fests,
Other community events with
booths and displays, churches,
recreation centers for the
blind, and news articles about
chapter special activities.

We thought a contest would
be an incentive to challenge
chapters to increase their
membership.  We suggested
splitting the chapters into two
categories, those with over 30
members and those with 29 or
fewer.  We decided that a
good incentive prize would be
a room at one of the
conventions.  CCB would
provide two rooms for the
convention, one for the
winning chapter in each
category.  As chairperson, I
discussed this idea with Mitch
and he was concerned, as
were we, about chapters
"stuffing" their membership in
order to win the contest. 
Based on their byLaws, some
chapters' only requirement for
becoming a member and/or
maintaining chapter
membership is to pay the
yearly dues.  In rural areas and
in areas where transportation
is limited, such an approach
may be necessary; we
therefore chose not to judge
chapter membership
requirements.  We have
devoted much of our effort to
seeking ways to assure
ourselves that chapters will be
honest.  We concluded that
there is no way to achieve
this.  As the Credentials
Committee deals with the
same issue and have not found
a way to verify the truth in
reporting of chapters, we are
recommending that President
Mitch Pomerantz and/or the
board authorize rules for the
contest. We suggested trying
the contest for one year to see
if it makes a difference in our
membership growth.  Here are
our suggested rules for the
contest.

(1) Both inactive and new
members will be counted in
calculating growth.  (2) The
deadline for lists of names for
the contest is the same as the
reporting date for the
Credentials Committee for the
next convention; NO
exceptions.  (3) The winning
chapters will be determined by
percentage of growth.  (4)
Home chapter affiliation will
not be considered.  All
members count regardless of
home chapter.  (5) Winners
will be announced at the fall
convention and rooms
awarded for the spring
convention.

It would be beneficial for the
chairs of the Public Relations,
Publications, Membership, and
Fund Raising committees to
have a meeting to discuss how
we can better work together
for the growth of the CCB as a
whole and what can be done
on the local level to increase
membership and awareness of
the many great benefits of the
CCB for the blind community. 


Women's Concerns Committee
Margie Donovan: 

1.  The Women's Concerns
Committee will hold a meeting
on Saturday afternoon at 4:15
during each CCB Convention
to brainstorm program ideas
for the next convention. 
During these meetings, we
also hope to identify additional
projects to be undertaken by
the Women's Concerns
Committee.  We invite all CCB
women to attend and
participate in these
brainstorming sessions.  

2.  Jeanne-Marie Moore and
Barbara Kron will be
coordinating the program for
our spring.  Meeting at the
convention.  All Women's
Concerns activities will be held
on Friday morning immediately
followed by a luncheon. 
Please note that the spring
meeting will be on April 19. 
Barbara and Jeanne-Marie will
be coordinating a panel made
up of four people, two of
whom have lost their sight
after the age of 40.  The other
two panelists will be partners
of women who lost their sight
in later life.  This panel will
address the challenges and
impact that sight loss later in
life has upon relationships.

The second topic being
coordinated is a panel of
elderly blind and visually
impaired women to discuss the
specific needs and problems of
blindness and aging.  Finally,
for the luncheon, we are
attempting  to get Candice
Linville-Berg, clinical
psychologist, Kaiser
Permanente Medical Center. 
The specific topic of her
presentation has not yet been
determined.  If you have
suggestions of speakers for
the previously mentioned
program ideas, please contact
Jeanne-Marie Moore at 415-
965-7941.

3.   The Women's Concerns
Committee is inviting all
women of the CCB to assist
with activities of the
committee.  The committee
has concluded that, as  a
committee of 8 to 10
members, we are unable to do
all the things we would like to
without the help of other
women.  One project which
we would very much like to
begin is the Women's
Concerns semiannual Round-
Robin Cassette Newsletter. 
However, we are unable to do
this without the assistance of
other CCB women.  We are
looking for individuals who
would be interested in
coordinating the newsletter
and writing a regular column. 
We have had many requests to
receive this newsletter,
however no one has submitted
any articles.  At the present
time, therefore, the committee
has elected to postpone the
newsletter until after the
spring convention so that we
will have a clearer idea as to
the number of women who are
interested in assisting with this
project.  If you are interested,
please contact Margie
Donovan, Committee
Chairperson at 415-493-7776
evenings or 415 221-4810
ext.2813 during the day.  If
you are willing to work on any
future Women's Concerns
Workshops, please contact in
the north Jeanne-Marie Moore
at 415-965-7941, and in the south Joanne Wolfe at 310-
550-8720.

4.  In previous meetings, the
Women's Concerns Committee
decided to expand the
bibliography of accessible
women/feminist materials put
out by the ACB Women's
Concerns Committee.

However, the committee felt
that this is too large an
undertaking to attempt at this
time.  The members hope to
expand the list of accessible
materials and make it available
to Planned Parenthood and the
Gynecological Society.  If
there are any CCB women
who are willing to take on this
project, please feel free to
contact Margie Donovan, at
the above numbers.
                   ------------


                OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE

                   by Lee Morton

Hello again, everyone!  We
have a full article this month. 
Topics include elections for
Guide Dog Users of California
(GDUC), accessibility, and an
account of the luncheon held
in San Diego for puppy raisers. 
Take a break from your post
Christmas shopping, pull up a
chair, and we'll get started.

GDUC held their election
during the fall convention of
the CCB.  The results went like
this: Lee Morton is the new
president; Nellie Glaze, second
vice president; Terry Olmey,
secretary; and Ann Kysor and
Malita Waters, members of the
Board of Directors.  Joanne
Wolfe, our first vice president,
and Doris Fisher, our treasurer,
still had a year to serve out
their terms.  Ken Metz chose
not to run again for president;
however, he will still be on the
GDUC board as immediate
past president.  Ruth  Dean,
editor of Have Guide Dog, Will
Travel, has a seat on our board
in a non-voting capacity.  I
know that all the officers look
forward to working with the
GDUC membership to improve
conditions for guide dog users.

Accessibility is probably going
to be a major area of concern
for GDUC this next year. 
More disabled people are using
dogs, and places of public
accommodation are asking
some tough questions.  Should
we permit only dogs from a
recognized training facility, or
should privately trained dogs
be permitted as well?  Should
the accessibility be granted
only to people with disabilities,
or should people with
psychological disabilities have
the same right of access?  If
there is a problem with a dog
what recourse does the public
have?  Should access also be
given to animals other than
dogs?  If the answer is yes to
all the above questions with
no qualifying conditions, could
someone then use the system
to board a bus with a pet dog
trained to be aggressive and
hostile?  I don't know what
the outcome of this discussion
will be; needless to say, the
results will be of interest to
GDUC.  We will be working in
concert with the three 
California guide dog schools
and the state Board of Guide
Dogs for the Blind on ways to
educate the public about guide
dogs.  Through education,
perhaps, some intelligent
decisions can be made
concerning questions of
accessibility.

On the first Saturday of
September, Guide Dog Users
of  San Diego, the only local
branch of GDUC, holds a
luncheon for the puppy raisers
in the area.  This year about
90 people attended the event. 
We have always had great
participation from Guide Dogs
of the Desert and Guide Dogs
for the Blind.  However, for
the first time we had a good
group from Guide Dogs of
America as well.  The
luncheon speaker was Marla
Merriam, a staff counselor at
Guide Dogs for the Blind. 
Marla gave us practical
suggestions for getting
through the grieving process
after losing a guide dog.  For
both guide dog users and
puppy raisers, Marla's talk
generated a lot of discussion.

As a guide dog user, I look
forward to this annual
luncheon because I get a
chance to tell the puppy raisers how much I appreciate
the work they do with our
dogs before they set foot in
the school for training.  I know
these people like to socialize
with us.  Seeing the finished
product keeps them focused
on the job they are doing.

This is about it.  I hope all of
you have had a wonderful
holiday season and that 1996
will be a terrific year for you. 
See you all in San Jose.  Ken
Metz will have the
responsibility for writing this
column next time, and I'll be
back again in the summer
issue of the BC.
                   ------------


                 RANDOM THOUGHTS 

               by Domenic Martinelli

THE TOUCH OF THE
MASTER'S HAND: It was
tattered and scarred and the
auctioneer thought it was
scarcely worth wasting his
time on this old violin, but he
held it up with a smile.

"What am I bid, good folks?"
he cried.  Who'll start the
bidding for me? A dollar, a
dollar, who'll make it two?
Two dollars, who'll make it
three?  Three dollars once,
three dollars twice, going for
three..."  But no!

From the room far back a gray-
haired man came forward and
picked up the bow; then,
wiping the dust from the old
violin and tightening all the
strings, he played a melody so
pure and sweet, as sweet as
an angel sings.

The music ceased and the
auctioneer, with a voice that
was quiet and low, said,
"What am I bid for this old
violin?" and held it up with the
bow.

"A thousand dollars, who'll
make it two, two thousand,
who'll make it three?  Three
thousand once, three thousand
twice, and going and gone!"
said he.

The people cheered, but some
of them cried, "We do not
quite understand. What
changed its worth?"  The man
replied: "The Touch of the
Master's Hand."

     ** ** ** ** 

God bless, embrace and love
you! Hugs, kisses and love in
God's happiness.

THRIVE! DRIVE! COME ALIVE
IN '95: Why stop in '95? 
Continue for life.  God bless
you.

Please continue being who you
are, in spite of any outside
confusion. Your life has had
previous difficulties and
problems.  You have not
stopped being yourself but
maintained your dignity and
quality.  Please reinforce the
faith in yourself that I have for
you. 

Wise and OTHERWISE With
every rising of the sun, think
of your life as just begun.

What I do, you cannot do. 
What you do, I cannot do.  But
together we are doing
something beautiful for God
and each other.

One of the things that has
helped me as much as any
other is not how long I am
going to live but how much I
can do while living.

Do your duty until it becomes
your joy.

If I could, I would always work
in silence and obscurity and let
my efforts be known by their
results.

There is no pillow so soft as a
clear conscience.

Nothing great was ever done
without much endurance.

Some day, after we have
mastered the winds, the
waves, the tides and gravity,
we shall harness the energies
of love.  Then, for the second
time in the history of the
world, man will have
discovered fire.

Where children are not,
heaven is not.

What lies behind us and what
lies before us are tiny matters
compared to what lies within
us.
The place God calls you to is
the place where your deep
gladness and the world's deep
hunger meet.

Whatever you do, put romance
and enthusiasm into the life of
it.

Open wide the windows of our
spirits, Oh Lord, and fill us full
of light; open wide the door of
our hearts, that we may
receive and entertain You with
all our powers of adoration
and love.
                   ------------


           PCs LIGHT UP LIVES OF BLIND:
      TECHNOLOGY OFFERS WHOLE NEW LIFE STYLE

              by Georgeanne Dennison

(This article was submitted by
Don Queen.  It comes from the
San Francisco Chronicle
Business Extras Section, for
Monday, October 16, 1995.)

For 4.3 million Americans with
severe visual disabilities,
personal computers are
becoming a link to a more
independent life style.

"The personal computer
revolution has transformed the
working lives of blind people;
they can hold jobs they
otherwise couldn't have," says
Margy Kahn, a visiting
professor at Stanford in the
field of blindness and
technology.

"Think of the PC as a Swiss
army knife for the disabled. 
It's a powerful tool that helps
overcome barriers created by
their disability," said Jim
Fruchterman, president of
Arkenstone, a nonprofit
corporation in Sunnyvale that
makes high-tech devices for
the visually impaired.

Arkenstone had a little more
than $5 million in sales last
year in more than forty
countries.  Most of that came
from sales in its reading
system for the blind called
Open Book.  A person scans a
page of a book into a
computer, and a mechanical
voice reads it.  The least
expensive system costs about
$14 hundred. 

Rob Turner, an access
technology specialist at the
Rose Resnick Lighthouse for
the Blind in San Francisco,
sees such systems as Open
Books as examples of high-
tech delivering on its potential. 
"That promise is being fulfilled
right now through gaining
access to information," he
said. 

The technology opens a host
of job opportunities for the
visually impaired, such as
transcribers, customer service
representatives, lawyers, and
programmers.

Computers can also provide
greater mobility.  Mickey
Quenzar is blind and works as
a technical support specialist
at Arkenstone.  He never
found maps useful until one
was developed which did not
require sight.

Called Strider, the talking
portable map developed by
Arkenstone combines a
satellite receiver, laptop
computer, an antenna, an
earphone, and a keypad.

Together these devices tap
into the global satellite
spinning overhead to locate
longitude and latitude.  Then
the system translates and in a
computer voice names the
street and intersection.  Right
now the whole system fits in a
backpack weighing about 9
pounds.

Users don't have to ask
bystanders where they are and
that independence appeals to
Quenzar.  "It doesn't
substitute for eyes or a cane
or a dog," he said, "and won't
tell you what is at the end of
your cane, but it does tell you
that you're approaching an
intersection and it tells you if
you're in the right place."

"Strider will be given to people
to test by December,"
Fruchterman said.  He hopes it
will be ready to ship by next
summer.  Atlas Speaks, the
talking map's software, will be
available next month.

Arkenstone has nine dealers in
California, mostly small
businesses run by people with
visual impairments.

Arkenstone plans to charge
around $4 thousand for the
system  including the PC and
software.  The software also
will be sold separately for $5
hundred and works on talking
PCs.

Arkenstone pulled together
this technology by pitching the
ideas to technology companies
in Silicone Valley.  Such firms
as Intel, Hewlett Packard,
Trimble Navigation, and Etak
have donated chips, scanners,
and a card that picks up
satellite signals and map
information.  As Arkenstone
begins full scale production of
the Strider, it will have to buy
these components, but the
nonprofit organization expects
to get a good deal.

Another device that could
increase mobility for the blind
is a talking sign.  This device
is a small transmitter that is
attached to a wall and
broadcasts a recorded voice
over an infrared signal.  A
receiver  worn around the neck
turns the signal into speech
and tells the location, such as
"5th and Market Street."

Talking signs are being tested
by Muni in San Francisco at
the Powell Street, San
Francisco State University, and
Stonestown stations.  They
are planned for the new main
library, which opens next
spring.

The devices were developed at
Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research
Institute which sells the
receiver for $250.

Another promising product had
its genesis in the mind of a
Mountain View school girl.  

Suppose you are in the kitchen
and many of the cans and jars
feel exactly alike.  You can't
tell the difference between
Alpo dog food and Dennisen's
chili.  That's a problem which
many visually impaired people
face daily.

The answer? A hand-held
scanner linked to a machine
that translates the bar code
into speech.  The idea for the
scanner came to Christina Baer
during a class two years ago
at Bubb School in Mountain
View.  

The teacher challenged
students in a fourth grade
Gifted and Talented class to
invent something to help
disabled people with their daily
lives.  During a visit to the
supermarket with her mom
Barbara, Christina wondered if
the machine that scanned
items could also say the
names out loud.

"I thought about making it for
a supermarket and attaching it
to the cart," says Christina,
now 12, "but I realized it
would be better to have it in
your home," she said.

Christina took the idea to her
father, Tom Baer, a physicist
at Biometric Imaging in
Mountain View.

"I thought it was a great idea,"
Baer said.  "I used to work at
a company that makes laser
scanners. I decided to call
them up and tell them about
it," he said.

The company, Spectra Physics
in Eugene, Oregon, thought it
was a great idea too and sent
Tom Baer one of its scanners. 
He wrote the software and,
with Christina's help,
developed a prototype for the
product, called HandiScan.

The device has been modified
and demonstrated at resource
centers for the blind.  At
Sensory Access Foundation in
Palo Alto, Robert Thompson, a
blind man from Novato, found
the device and volunteered to
test it.

"It's nice to do something
without having to ask
somebody every once in a
while," said Thompson. 
"Sometimes it feels like you
spend half your life asking for
something or what something
is."

Now Baer and Spectra Physics
are looking for a partner to
develop a distribution network. 
Their anticipated price?  $15
to $17 hundred.

"Most visually impaired people
pay for such devices out of
their own pockets," Kahn said. 
"California Department of
Rehab will pay for equipment
for clients on a case-by-case basis, and some employers
also may pitch in if equipment
helps employees do their job.
                   ------------


 QUALIFYING FOR VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION SERVICES
        UNDER THE ORDER OF SELECTION SYSTEM

              by Charles D. Nabarrete

On October 1, 1995 the
Department of Rehabilitation
went into Order of Selection
as required by the 1992
Amendments to the
Rehabilitation Act. 
Fortunately, as the result of
the hard work of several
Rehabilitation counselors,
several thousand disabled and
blind persons were put into
plan before October 1, 1995. 
Now, a blind applicant, in
order to maximize his or her
chances to qualify under Order
of Selection, should be familiar
with the order of Selection
process before applying for
services.

Basically, this process ranks
applicants on a waiting list
according to the number of
points awarded to each
individual in a significance
scale which measures the
impact the applicant's
disability has on ten functional
capacity categories.  The
Rehab staff uses a wide
variety of information to
evaluate the impact which the
applicant's impairment(s) have
on ten specific categories of
functional capacities.

The evaluation process
involves the Rehab staff
person, the applicant, and his
or her family representative or
advocate.  In general the
evaluation process involves a
wide variety of information on
the applicant's major life
activities, including
community, school, home or
work environments in order to
determine the degree of
impairment in the ten
functional capacities
considered under the Order of
Selection procedure.  

The applicant should, first of
all, take a person along who is
not only thoroughly familiar
with blindness but also the
Order of Selection criteria. 
Second, Rehab staff will
consider letters and reports
from persons who have the
credentials to express an
opinion in his/her field of
expertise, this includes not
only physicians' reports but
also reports from mobility
instructors, teachers,
counselors, therapists, and
even family members who
have observed the applicant's
home life.  These letters
should not be character
references but should describe
specifically how blindness or
visual impairment has
impacted the applicant's daily
life activities.  By bringing a
qualified representative and
documentation to the
evaluation process, the
visually impaired applicant will
improve the chances for
receiving the highest possible
score under the Order of
Selection system.

Rehab will use the wide
variety of information gathered
during the application process
to evaluate the impact which
blindness has had on each of
the ten functional capacity
categories, which are: 
cognitive processing, hearing,
interpersonal skills, mobility,
personal care, seeing, self
direction, speaking, work
skills, and work tolerance.  In
general, the applicant and the
advocate should be prepared
to describe how the blindness
or visual impairment affects
his or her daily life activities in
each functional capacity
category.  The evaluation of
the hearing, seeing and
speaking categories is fairly
straightforward, but the
applicant should be prepared
to educate rehab staff on how
blindness impacts him or her in
the other seven functional
capacity categories.

For example, the use of a
white cane or a guide dog is
an indication of the significant
impact of the mobility
functional capacity, as well as
the need for assistance when
going to an unfamiliar location. 
Although the blind person's 
cognitive processing capacity
is not affected in the same
way as is that of a learning
impaired person, the inability
to gather visual information
directly impacts this functional
capacity category.  Cognitive
processing is directly affected
by the blind person's inability
to gather information from
graphs, tables or photographs. 
The more a blind person has to
use alternative sources of
information, the more the
cognitive process is different
and thus impacted.

Third, a blind person's inability
to see facial expressions, body
language or other visual cues
can significantly impact the
category of interpersonal skills.

Similarly, if a blind applicant's
social circle is limited to his or
her family and other blind
persons, it would be important
to stress the severe limitations
of that situation.  With regard
to personal care, the blind
applicant should stress the
adaptive skills necessary for
him or her to cook, maintain a
clean and orderly residence,
and attend to personal
grooming.

Additionally, the necessity for
assistance in shopping,
keeping a checkbook, handling
currency, using the telephone
book yellow pages to locate a
needed product or service, or
even checking one's
temperature during an illness is
relevant to point out with
regard to the personal care
category.

With regard to self direction, it
is relevant to point out if
blindness has lowered the
applicant's self esteem, as low
self esteem makes it more
difficult for a person to move
toward accomplishing a goal. 
A blind person is required to
learn a whole array of adaptive
work skills in order to become
competitive in the labor
market.

Examples of such adaptive
skills include learning to read
Braille, to use adaptive
equipment, and to deal with
printed materials used at the
workplace.  With regard to
work tolerance, it is well
known that it takes a blind
person longer, at least initially,
to accomplish tasks at work
than it may take his or her
coworkers.  If a blind person
has not participated in a
physical conditioning program,
that person's endurance may
not be great as another
worker's.  These examples are
meant to illustrate approaches
to be used in each functional
capacity category.  However,
an applicant's particular
circumstance will dictate the
explanation of functional
impairment given to Rehab
staff.

Finally, the blind applicant
should not hesitate to utilize
the appeal procedure available
if he/she believes that the
significance score or ranking is
too low.In summary, blind or visually
impaired applicants for
rehabilitation services in the
Order of Selection procedures
must be prepared to explain to
rehab staff how their
impairment impacts their daily
activities in each of the
functional capacity categories.
                   ------------


     WHY WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT PUBLIC LIBRARIES

                  By Paul Edwards

(This article appeared first in
the fall, 1995, news letter of
the Library Users of America. 
If you wish to become a
member of this organization,
send $12 to the treasurer, Pat
Price, 5707 Brockton Drive,
No. 302, Indianapolis, IN
46220-5481.

Paul Edwards is coordinator of
Disabled Student Services,
Dayde County Community
College, Miami, Florida, and
President of the American
Council of the Blind.)

People who are blind have
tended, as a group,  to see
local public libraries as only of
marginal relevance to them. 
Some of us have borrowed
tapes and phonograph records
from them and we have often
attended meetings held at
libraries.  But we have not, I
think, recognized how much
libraries have changed and
how many opportunities they
now offer us or, perhaps more
accurately, could offer us.

Regular readers of this news
letter will recall a resolution
passed at last year's ACB
convention that asked libraries
to affirmatively encourage
their use by blind people.  The
resolution made several
suggestions about what
libraries can do.  But these
suggestions will not amount to
a hill of beans unless we who
make these demands actually
begin to use the services we
are asking for.  At the heart of
this issue is the fact that
libraries aren't what they used
to be!

A score of years ago, libraries
were repositories of printed
information bound in books. 
Their primary purpose was to
make the printed pages
between covers available to
their communities.  Most
libraries had minimal record
and, later, tape collections;
but, when it came right down
to it, books were their
business and most of us had
to content ourselves with
standing outside the candy
store and staring in. 

Times have changed!  They
have changed first of all in
terms of the technology that
many blind people now own. 
Scanners are not expensive,
compared to what they used
to cost, and, more important,
they are becoming much more
accurate at recognizing and
converting the printed word
into speech or braille for us. 
The very printed books that
were beyond our reach
decades ago can now be read
by us if we are willing to take
the time to process them
through scanners.  I have
myself scanned over 200
books in the last year and,
while I probably will not ever
scan that many again, it is
terrifically liberating to be able
to read what I want rather
than being forced to choose
from the very limited number
of books that NLS produces. 
Many libraries are acquiring
scanners of their own that
they are making available in
reading rooms for those blind
people who cannot afford such
devices.  $5,000 is not a lot of
money for blind consumers to
ask a local library to spend to
make its collection accessible
to them.

If scanning were the only
option now available to us, we
would have ample reason to
rethink our attitude to public
libraries.  But scanning is just
the beginning!  With the
advent of CD ROM technology
and the widespread availability
of computers in the home,
libraries have had to rethink
their purpose in our society. 
Some librarians now speak of
the "virtual" library.  This
expression refers to a
recognition by at least some
librarians that, if they continue
to do business as usual, it will
not be long before technology
makes their huge buildings and
extensive print collections as
irrelevant as Moon Type is to
most of us now.  People get
information in different ways
now.  Libraries must recognize
this and begin to carve out a
place for themselves in the
information age.  They are
now doing this in at least three
ways that are relevant to us.

The first and easiest to
understand involves how they
store information about their
collections.  In the past, card
catalogs were the norm.  Now,
virtually all libraries are
switching to online catalogs. 
This means that we can search
such catalogs if the software
and equipment are made
accessible.  Many libraries are
going far beyond simply
cataloging the books they
have.  They have listings
available of all the books that
are held in all the libraries in
the County or even the state
where they are located.  They
have listings of periodicals and
their contents.  They have
databases of abstracts of
research that is being done in
a range of fields, and many
public libraries have entered
into agreements with college
and university libraries so that
their listings are available, too. 
The ADA gives us the right to
expect that these listings are
accessible to us.  If we don't
ask, it won't happen.  With
these listings and with the loan
agreements that are springing
up among libraries in each
local area, we can not only
read all the books that are in
our own local library but can
also read those that are
available in many other
libraries as well.

Libraries have long seen
themselves as having a
responsibility to make available
to their patrons what their
patrons cannot afford.  The
whole idea of the public library
in this country rests, to a
degree, on the belief that
everyone ought to be able to
read whether he or she can
afford to buy books or not. 
The information age threatens
to create an underclass that
will be more disadvantaged
than the illiterate masses of
the nineteenth century ever
were.  Libraries have sought to
step into the breach once
more!  They have set up
computer resource rooms
where people from the
community can come and
learn to use computers. 
Making these computers
accessible to blind people is
required by the ADA but only
happens when we go to
libraries and demand that we
not be ignored.  With the
computer has come the CD
ROM!  Imagine a small piece of
plastic that has every science
fiction book and story that has
ever won a Hugo!  Imagine a
piece of plastic the same size
that has a whole encyclopedia! 
Libraries are acquiring these
machines now!  There are still
many titles that are accessible
to blind people.  We can use
them only if we insist that CD
ROM stations be equipped
with speech and/or braille
displays.

The third and last element that
I want to discuss in this article
is the most exciting and has
the most potential to alter the
way libraries function. 
Perhaps the best way for me
to explain how this works is to
talk about what is happening
here in South Florida.  A group
of college, university and
public libraries got together
and formed the Southeast
Florida Library Information
Network (SEFLIN).  Their first
intention was to create a
common format for storing
their catalogs and sharing
information about new
acquisitions.  However, they
went further.  They decided
that if they were going to set
up a link among libraries, they
could just as easily set up an
ability for their patrons to call
in from home and look up the
books they wanted to find. 
From there it was a short step
to the momentous decision to
take a leadership role in setting
up "Free net", a bulletin board
service that will soon be
available from Palm Beach to
South Miami and which
already has information data
bases, journals, message areas
and a host of other services
that boggle the mind!  Libraries
will make terminals available
for those who cannot afford to
purchase their own equipment
and anyone who does own a
computer will be able to
access the system right from
home!

As if that were not enough,
"Free Net" includes limited
access to the INTERNET!  The
Internet is far beyond the
scope of this article, but
suffice it to say that there is
more information available free
on the Internet than any ten
thousand people can access in
a lifetime.

Here libraries have taken the
lead in making the information
age accessible to all.  Can we
persuade libraries in other
areas to follow the example of
South Florida?  If we don't, we
will find that libraries will
choose to create information
systems, but they may well be
inaccessible to people who are
blind unless we insist on the
rights the ADA gives us!

Remember that I said earlier
that libraries are not what they
used to be.  Access is possible
to a range of information that
is almost literally limitless!  If
we care about public libraries,
we can persuade them to care
about us.  They are under the
same microscope as are many
other "non-essential", as some
people see them, services.

If we are to expect libraries to
make their potential available
to us, we must protect them
from those who would cut
their budgets and/or limit the
range of services they provide! 
Let us seize the information
age and make it ours!  We can
do it.  If we don't, the
consequences are just too
appalling to even consider.

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


                 STATE LEGISLATION

                   by Cid Urena

Greetings from Sacramento! 
This is my final report for the
first half of the 1995-96
session.  For information on
Resolutions 94-B-1, 94-B-3,
94-B-5, 94-B-12 (which
became ACR 11, by
Assemblyman Fred Aguiar),
94-B-17, and SB181, I refer
you to my September report in
the Fall issue of The Blind
Californian.

Resolution 94-B-8, pertaining
to the division for the blind,
continues to be one of our
main objectives.  As you may
have heard, we attempted to
have a bill concerning this
division authored by the Health
and Human Services
Committee.  As you also may
know, that did not work. 
Soon after the hearing in
which the division for the blind
proposal was presented, we
were able to interest Senator
Henry Mello in helping us with
this project.  So far the Office
of Senate Research has sought
information from a number of
states that already have
separate agencies for the
blind.  The same office has 
made inquiries into our own
state services for the blind.

We have had several meetings
on this subject and are hopeful
that we will succeed in what
we have tried to do for many
years--to demonstrate that
when the blind are served
within their own agency, the
rehabilitation process improves
immensely and the blind
benefit commensurately.  We
expect Senator Mello to
receive the report from the
Senate Research Office by
December 1.  Should this not
occur, a spot bill will be
introduced.  Such a bill
becomes necessary when the
deadline for introducing new
bills is approaching and those
working on the bill want to
make sure it receives
consideration.  It is a skeleton
of a bill, the details of which
are added later.  

As for the optometrists' bills,
SB510 (Senator Ken Maddy),
and AB1969 (Assemblyman
Phil Isenberg), to all intents
and purposes they are dead. 
However, negotiations
between the ophthalmologists
and optometrists have
continued, and it appears that
they have agreed upon a
watered-down version of the
measure.  The contents of
SB510 and AB1969 have been
substantially altered and will
be amended as SB9 and/or
SB668, both by Senator
Richard Polanco.  There will be
no further hearings on these
two bills, except that they will
be presented to a joint
conference committee.  At
that time a final draft of the
bill will be either approved or
dropped.  We will provide you
with a report on this
agreement as soon as it has
been finalized.  We must be
prepared to take an
appropriate position based on
the recommendation of the
Governmental Affairs
Committee. 

The following two items are
for your information
(condensed in the interest of
brevity):

CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION
OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
605 Market Street, Suite
1109, San Francisco, CA
94105-3213
October 25, 1995

To:  Coalition Members and
Interested Parties
From:  David H. Aizuss M.D.,
President, CAO
Re:  Status of [Optometrist
Legislation]

The California Association of
Ophthalmology has been
engaged in conversations with
Senator Bill Lockyer's office
and the California Optometric
Association about the
legislation authorizing
optometrists to expand their
scope of practice into the
diagnosis and therapy for 
medical eye disease.  The two
bills introduced in 1995 by
optometrists authorizing this
expansion, AB1969 and
SB510, were heard in their
respective committees.  After
many meetings the provisions
of these bills have been
substantially altered and the
bills will be amended to
become SB668 (by Senator
Polanco) in January, 1996. 
They will then be considered
by a Conference Committee.

The members of the California
Association of Ophthalmology
believe that most physicians
remain opposed to the concept
of optometrists practicing
medicine.  Nevertheless, the
political reality of the current
state and national climate (46
states have some form of
enhanced optometric practice)
has motivated the leadership
to attempt to minimize the
risks to patients by limiting the
scope of practice allowed by
such legislation.

The proposed bill would allow
diagnosis and treatment
limited to infectious and
allergic conjunctivitis,
blepharitis, superficial foreign
bodies, trichiasis, and dry
eyes.  All types of surgery, the
use of therapeutic lasers, and
the treatment of children under
one year of age are prohibited.

The education and testing
requirements may be
reasonable for the scope of
practice allowed, although
many would argue that
optometric training remains far
inferior to that of physicians. 
A preceptorship with an
ophthalmologist is required of
all optometry graduates prior
to 1996.

The bill will provide a 4-year
moratorium on further
expansion in practice.  It
requires studies, funded by
optometry, to support any
expansion of the optometric
scope of practice after 2000.

CAO News, September-
October 1995
HELP AVAILABLE FOR THE
BLIND

Though budgetary restrictions
are causing the Department of
Rehabilitation to deny plans for
any new applicants at this
time, it is important for
ophthalmologists to know that,
under ordinary circumstances,
the department provides to
blind and visually impaired
persons training in living and
vocational skills.  Counselor-
teachers furnish training in
skills of independent living and
travel,  and rehabilitation
counselors supply vocational
services.

Blind and low-vision college
students are eligible to receive
reader service from the
department when it is
unavailable from the public
education sector.  The
Department of Rehabilitation
also has a Business Enterprise
Program that trains and
licenses legally blind persons
to operate vending stands and
food services.  A training
center is located in
Sacramento.

In addition, the department
operates a live-in school in
Albany that provides adults
with personal and vocational
counseling and instruction in
adjusting to blindness.  The
average stay is six months.  In
larger cities, phone numbers
for the local Rehabilitation
Department office are found in
the white pages of the
telephone directory toward the
front under the heading "State
Government Offices."

Although we spent a great
deal of time at the capitol and
did not accomplish much in
terms of number of bills
initiated, and while we haven't
much to brag about, we were
100% successful with
(SB181).  As usual our
success can be attributed to
the combined efforts of your
capitol representative and all those who have participated
with him.  Both Jannis and I
wish you the merriest of
Christmases and the most
prosperous of New Years.  
                   ------------


             A POSITION STATEMENT FROM
THE COMMITTEE TO CREATE A USABLE UNIFIED BRAILLE CODE

                   by Chris Gray

INTRODUCTION

The following is a
comprehensive statement by a
newly established grassroots
committee that has been
formed as a counterbalance to
work in progress on a unified
braille code.  The action that
we, the Committee, are now
undertaking will profoundly
impact the process of creating
a unified braille code that has
been underway for the past
several years.  A sense of
openness and courtesy,
therefore, impels us to make
our intentions known early to
the Braille Authority of North
America (BANA) and to the
International Council on
English Braille (ICEB), of which
BANA is a member.  For the
same reasons, we also take
upon ourselves the obligation
to declare and explain the
reasons for proceeding with
the course of action as
amplified in the following
pages.  In addition, it is
intended that this document be
an explanation and a call to
action of this grassroots
committee composed of those
who believe that a unified
braille code is both desirable
and necessary but who also
recognize that the code
currently under consideration
is not well-suited for braille
readers, teachers, transcribers
or producers in any country
following BANA codes.

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

At the inception of the Unified
Braille Code project, many
people, including core
members of this committee,
were enthusiastic at both the
prospect and the promise
about to be fulfilled and eager
to see it succeed.  This
prospect was for a series of
changes that would unify our
many disparate braille codes
while causing as little
disruption as possible to the
base literary Grade Two code
used throughout the English-
speaking world.  The promise
was a more easily taught,
learned, and used unified
braille code that would
encompass literary braille and
the sciences within a single
logical framework.

However, as time has passed,
we have become more and
more disillusioned about the
benefits of the proposed UBC,
particularly since it is to be
based on the use of upper
numbers and does not take
into account in many other
ways the needs of present and
future technically-oriented
braille users.  We have seen
example after example of
realistic mathematics using
upper numbers, and we are
appalled at the hostile
environment created in the
UBC for braille readers at the
most elementary levels.  We
have not seen examples in a
variety of other disciplines that
are fundamental to the
concept of a unified braille
code that can cross all of our
major academic disciplines as
envisioned in the original
project.  Such disciplines
include, but are not limited to,
chemistry, linguistics and
electronics.  We do not believe
that blind children, adults, and
professionals should have to
tolerate the inconvenience, the
awkwardness, and the lack of
agility in dealing with
scientific, mathematical, and
other situations which upper
numbers and other faults
within the UBC impose upon
them.

Many problems are also at
issue for the new,
inexperienced reader and the
general reader.  As things
stand today, no answers or
guidance exist regarding a
potential proliferation of
symbols in general texts. 
While type forms and other
indicators capable of extension
within the new code proposal
represent considerable merit,
the potential for excessive
braille clutter remains
unaddressed and is poorly
understood.  This could make
braille far less accessible to
new readers and less
straightforward for
experienced ones.

Recently, we have discovered
that upper numbers are to be
only the primary numbering
system of UBC (see
Committee II proceedings and
handouts).  Alignment mode,
computer notation, and, most
likely, chemistry will use one
or more different numbering
systems.  This is hardly a
unified braille code.  We have
that varying number situation
now between the literary code
and the technical codes, and
that is one of the principal
reasons for an effort toward
producing a unified braille code
was undertaken in the first
place.  A dual or multiple
number system hardly
constitutes progress or
improvement with respect to
the current braille reality within
BANA codes.

We have expended every
effort to make our concerns
known to BANA and to ICEB. 
The National Braille
Association (NBA) has
expressed its concern about
the timeliness and the
proposed procedure for
evaluation.  The American
Council of the Blind (ACB) has
adopted and circulated a
resolution opposing the use of
upper numbers unless a
thorough evaluation is first
conducted regarding their
acceptance by the braille-using
community.  The Braille
Revival League of California
(BRLC) has adopted and
circulated an even more
strongly worded resolution in
opposition to the UBC. 
Neither BANA nor ICEB has, to
our knowledge, taken a single
step toward entering into a
dialogue with any of the
concerned organizations or
responded to issues raised by
them or other interested
parties.  
In answer to his February
paper, "Assessment of the
Unified Braille Code," Dr.
Nemeth has received more
than 15 letters in opposition to
the UBC, and not one letter in
support.  BANA/ICEB has not
addressed any of the points
raised in that paper or in
letters supporting it though
these documents are known to
be in their hands.

Finally, there was a meeting of
the ICEB general assembly in
London during October, 1995. 
In response to a call for
papers, Dr. Nemeth submitted
a well-reasoned professional
paper in which he opposed the
UBC.  His paper was
suppressed.  The decision to
take this action came first, and
the reasoning for doing so
came second.  This censorship
was spearheaded by the
Chairman of BANA and joined
directly by a member of
Committee II (the committee
with the responsibility of
developing the base braille
code) who is also the head of
the current UBC evaluation
process.

The conclusion that we must
regretfully accept is
unmistakable; the message is
clear.  The unified braille code
in its present form is
considered to be a faite
accompli by its creators. 
Without a serious grassroots
movement and an
understanding that alternatives
can bring to the discussion,
the rest will be window
dressing and posturing to gain
credibility before the world. 
Though BANA and ICEB have
been asked to work in
harmony with those concerned
to create such alternatives
they have consistently
refused.

With all avenues of meaningful
communication now closed,
we have, with reluctance but
by necessity, resolved to
undertake the following action:
We will, as quickly as we can,
issue a report parallel to the
UBC report as proposed by
Committee II.  It will present a
code based on lower numbers
and will therefore be similar to
the Nemeth Code in that
sense.  We will promulgate
this code as a vehicle for
alternative evaluation.  The
transcribers among us will
transcribe in it; the teachers
among us will teach it; and the
readers among us will read it.

STATEMENT OF OVERALL
DIRECTION

Mission: The mission of the
committee is to make the
world of literature and the
treasures of Western culture in
the English language
accessible to the blind through
the medium of a unified braille
code.

Scope:  The unified braille
code is intended to encompass
literary prose and poetry,
mathematics, computer
notation, physics, chemistry,
the other natural sciences,
foreign languages embedded in
English text, phonetics,
diacritics, and related signs.

Committee Goals:

1.  To convey an accurate
picture of the printed text. 
This broadens the area of
communication between a
braille user and other
colleagues, teachers, and the
world at large.  A test of the
accuracy of the transcription is
to perform a reverse
translation and compare the
result with the original.

2.  To formulate rules so that
exceptions are minimal.

3.  To make the notation as
context-independent as
possible.

4.  To alter the system of
Grade 2 contractions as little
as possible.

5.  To make the Code
extendable by using the
prefix-root mechanism for
constructing symbols.

6.  To establish a format by
which the braille user can
easily discern the relationship
between displayed and spatial
items from each other and to
the surrounding text.

Committee Structure and
Procedure: This committee is a
grassroots effort and as such
will be composed of whatever
constituency chooses to join
and maintain membership
within it.  Core members are
identified here and that set of
members will represent a base
or core group of experts who
will carry on through the
duration of committee activity. 
The moderator accepts the
responsibility of identifying the
core group and attempting,
insofar as possible, to ensure a
representational base of
educators, teachers,
transcribers, and readers. 
Both generalists and
specialists in all these groups
will be sought and welcomed
within the group.

More broadly, any individual,
regardless of his/her endeavor
or knowledge, will be welcome
as a reader of our work and a
full participant in committee
business.  Basic rules of
communication and courtesy
will be maintained to
guarantee an atmosphere in
which work may be carried on
as a balance to this democratic
and inclusive atmosphere.

Overall structure is as follows:

   Moderator,
   Mentor,
   Core group,
   General members.

Procedure: Committee
business is scheduled to
commence on or about
December 1995.  Business will
be conducted over the Internet
by means of a mailing list
server similar to that employed
by Committee II.

Committee business will be
carried out on the basis of
consensus.  As appropriate,
motions will be entertained
and/or accepted by the 
moderator.  A discussion will
then take place as long as
such discussion is deemed
productive by the group.  After
some discussion, a "straw
vote" will be taken in order to
assess consensus.  Any
member may leave the
committee at any time if
he/she disagrees with the
consensus-based direction of
overall committee work.  While
a free exchange of views will
be encouraged and sought,
obstructionism of the
committee's overall mission
and goals will not be tolerated
after a suitable period has
been provided for the
expression of views.

How to Join: In order to be a
full participant in committee
business, it is necessary to
have access to Internet mail. 
Anyone may join by sending a
request for inclusion to the
Moderator, Chris Gray.  The
internet address at which
requests will be accepted is
chrisg@rahul.net.  State your
desire to join the mailing list
entitled brl_zylx.  When your
request is accepted, full
instructions will be provided
regarding how to use the list.

Enumeration of Committee: As
it is known at the time that
this call to order is issued, the
committee consists of the
following:

                              Moderator, Chris Gray
                              (can choose to vote)

                              Mentor, Dr. Abraham
                              Nemeth (does not
                              exercise a vote but has
                              full speaking privileges) 

   Core group (full
   voting and speaking
   privileges)
General members, (full voting
and speaking rights though
some discretion is suggested.------------


        ARE WE FIGHTING THE RIGHT BATTLES? 

                   by Ron Brooks

Upon reading the excellent
article by Cathy Schmitt,
which asked the question, "Is
the CCB a friend or foe when
it comes to employment for
people who are blind or
visually impaired," I felt
compelled to write and add my
voice to the cry for a re-
examination of the CCB's
priorities.  My hope in writing
this article is that such a re-
examination will result in a
more focussed and successful
organization.

Based on my five years of
intensive involvement with the
CCB, which includes
participation in two local Bay
Area chapters, Chairmanship
of two different CCB
Committees and membership
on a third, as well as my prior
involvement with the National
Alliance of Blind Students and
the Blind Students of
California, I believe that the
issues upon which we've been
working as an organization are
not necessarily as critical as
the ones we've been
overlooking.

More specifically, there are at
least four issues upon which
the CCB has spent a great deal
of valuable time and energy. 
They include: rehabilitative
services, entitlement
programs, accessible
transportation and internal
organizational politics.  While I
support most of the positions
which the organization has
taken on these major issues,
I'm concerned that we're
missing the mark to a certain
extent.

First, I'm concerned that,
while the CCB has been
advocating for a separate state
rehabilitation agency for the
blind, we should be directing
our efforts into revamping the
rehabilitation system until it
really works--a system that
prepares us for living
independently and with
dignity.  Second, I'm
concerned that, in addition to
advocating for the
maintenance and expansion of
SSI, SSDI and other
entitlement programs, the CCB
should be working to help
create real opportunities to
enjoy financial security, which
can only come through equal
access to education and
employment.  Third, I'm
concerned that, in addition to
raising objections to
inadequate and relatively
inaccessible transportation
services, the CCB should be
implementing programs which
help to empower our
membership to live and move
about in safety and with
confidence.  Finally, I'm
concerned that, while the CCB
board continues to work on
the legal settlements with
Robert Acosta and Bill Ashe,
the CCB membership should
be spending more energy to
develop the unity, character
and resolve of our state
organization and local
chapters.

My objectives in writing this
article are to provide an
explanation for why I think the
CCB's efforts need to be
redirected and to provide some
suggestions as to where I
think the CCB's efforts should
be focussed.

Society's Reality Versus CCB's
Dream: We currently live in an
era of shrinking federal, state
and local resources.  At all
levels, the government is
downsizing, and programs are
being streamlined and "re-
invented."  The private sector
is also trying to lose weight. 
Banks are merging and
reducing overhead.  Airlines
are consolidating and cutting
non-productive services.  The
trend in the employment arena
is to purchase less expensive,
short-term contract labor, and
the ideas of open competition
and total quality management
are concepts which are
redefining how this country
does business.  At the same
time, society is becoming
much more critical of
entitlement programs.  Not
only the "mean-spirited"
republicans in the U.S.
Congress are calling for the
revamping of virtually every
social program, but liberal
democrats and most of the
moderates are doing so as
well.  Even the non-politicians
are calling for change and a
return to common sense
politics and reality-based
government spending.

Conversely, in these times of
downsizing, streamlining and
revamping, the CCB's dream
world has three unshakable
elements:  First, we're calling
for a new bureaucracy to meet
our needs.  Second, we're
asking for the maintenance
and/or increase of the
entitlement programs upon
which a large portion of our
predominantly unemployed
membership lives; and Third,
we're asking for new public
transportation services which
are expensive and perhaps
unfundable.  On the face of it,
we're fighting uphill battles on
every one of these fronts. 
Worse yet, is the fact that
while we pursue these illusive
goals, we're arguing about
who should invest our money
and who should watch, while
the primary concern for a
significant percentage of our
members attending the semi-
annual state conventions
seems to be the hope of
winning door prizes.

While we're fighting these
almost hopeless battles
against reality and ourselves,
we're losing things which we
can't afford to do without. 
For instance:

1)  As Cathy Schmitt pointed
out in her article, our
employment rate is dropping.

2)  Because of cut-backs in
education and increases in the
costs associated with this
education, and because of
cuts in rehabilitative services,
our access to quality education
at an affordable price is
deteriorating.

3)  Despite the ADA, the
Rehabilitation Act, the Air
Carriers Access Act  and
"Disability Awareness Days"
until we're blue in the face,
we're still the targets of
benign, and not so benign,
discrimination from our
neighbors, co-workers, friends
and families.

What Battles Should the CCB
Be Fighting?  If one accepts
that the real issues facing
people who are blind go
beyond those positions being
advanced by the CCB, then
upon what issues should the
CCB focus?  Here are some
suggestions:

1)  The CCB should direct its
energies into the support and
strengthening of its
membership.  If the CCB and
those of us who are CCB
members were to focus our
energy on encouraging each
other, helping each other and
working cooperatively for the
common good of each other,
and if we were, at the same
time, to focus less of our
energy on who's suing who,
we'd not only be happier, but
we'd be more productive as
well.  At the last board
meeting, three of the most
prodigious discussions were on
the CCB's litigations with Bob
Acosta and Bill Ashe and
whether or not certain board
members consulted certain
other board members before
investing money.  Conversely,
there was little, if any,
discussion of how the
organization is working to
transform the conditions of life
for the state's 100,000 blind
people.  Clearly, the
organization must conduct its
business in a professional and
accountable manner, and
sometimes, legal proceedings
are unavoidable.  On the other
hand, the organization has a
board and committees to
address many of these issues,
while the energy and
enthusiasm of the general
membership could, and should,
be better utilized elsewhere.

Notwithstanding, there are
some shining examples of
positive change, which should
be emphasized and emulated. 
For example, the Women's
Concerns Committee is
focussing a great deal of its
energy on inter-personal
communications and
cooperation.  At the same
time, the Technology
Committee is surging ahead
with the implementation and
almost daily enhancements to
the CCB's InterNet bulletin
board service called the Global
Blind Exchange.  Additionally,
several of last year's
resolutions, which focussed on
the need to have accessible
bank statements and utility
bills, are beginning to make
themselves felt with the utility
companies and the California
Public Utilities Commission.

The CCB needs to make every
effort to encourage its
members and affiliates to take
positive steps toward real
change, and successes need
to be celebrated.  Furthermore,
intensive efforts need to be
made to strengthen the resolve
and abilities of every member. 
These efforts could take the
form of a "leadership
development workshop" or of
a "group discussion on
effective fund-raising
strategies for local chapters." 
In short, this organization must
invest in its members and in its
future.

2)  The CCB should work
toward the development and
implementation of programs
which promote independence
and dignity.

The CCB has always promoted
programs which increase the
independence of blind people. 
Such programs include
rehabilitation services, the
Business Enterprises Program
(BEP), the implementation of
laws requiring equal access to
facilities and programs such as
the ADA, and the maintenance
of entitlements at levels
necessary for independent
living.  On the other hand, the
issue of dignity hasn't gotten
the same level of emphasis. 
For example, even though a
person can live independently
on an SSI check (although
even this fact is becoming
more questionable), there is
more dignity associated with a
good paying job.  Additionally,
while arguing for detectable
warning strips, improved
signage and more paratransit,
the CCB needs to recognize
the limitations of mandated
access and focus increasingly
on the capabilities and
responsibilities of blind people. 
For some, a higher level of
assistance and/or paratransit
services are necessary; but for
many CCB members, the real
barriers to independent
mobility are motivation and the
willingness to learn and take
risks.

Accordingly, the CCB should
continue to work for the
societal improvements
associated with an adequate
level of income and improved
physical accessibility, but it
should supplement these
positions by calling on
members to get whatever
training and support they need
in order to be independent and
capable contributors to
society.

One approach to assisting CCB
members with the
development of motivation and
the requisite skills for being
more independent while
increasing self-confidence is
through workshops at every
convention on topics like
"good posture," "appropriate
hygiene," and "overcoming
discrimination."  While these
topics may seem inappropriate
for those of us who have jobs
and/or consider ourselves to
be adequately informed on
these issues, there are
probably lots of CCB members
who would relish the
opportunities to talk openly
about everything from personal
hygiene, to the frustrations of
being blind.  Moreover, I
suspect that several of us who
are employed and consider
ourselves successful would
jump at the chance to drop our
guard and have our
internalized feelings of
frustration validated by
someone else.

3.  The CCB should stop
reacting to change and start
strategizing on the best ways
to meet it.

Within this era of redefinition,
many of the current programs
which are important to the
CCB are going to change; and
trying to argue against these
changes is, in my opinion, a
waste of energy as well as a
miscarriage of our power.  The
CCB should try to assess the
direction being taken, accept
whatever is inevitable and
work within these parameters
to affect the best outcomes. 
For example, arguing for a
separate state agency for the
blind in these times of the one-
stop shop seems foolish.  It
would make more sense to
analyze the one-stop shop
approach in order to determine
how such a model needs to be
configured so as to meet the
needs of our members.

Additionally, rather than trying
to fight competition within the
BEP, especially given that
increased competition and
non-enforcement of the
Randolph-Sheppard Act seem
to be the trends of the future,
perhaps the CCB and RSVA
should begin exploring other
industries and/or services
where BEP might have a new,
and as yet untapped, potential.

Conclusion: The CCB is a
powerful organization with
virtually unlimited potential for
positively impacting the lives
of California's 100,000
visually impaired citizens. 
Nevertheless, unless the
organization begins
recognizing its potential and
equipping its members to fulfill
it, and unless, the CCB begins strategizing for the future
rather than fighting it, this
potential will be missed, and
the blind residents of this state
and country will lose out as a
result.
                   ------------


                  BULLETIN BOARD

                   by Ruth Dean

Financial Aid for Students. 
The 1995 Financial Aid for
Students with Disabilities
describes the process and
roles played by agencies with
a major part in providing aid to
students with disabilities, and
lists resources for those who
are seeking financial aid. 
Single copies are available free
of charge from:  HEATH, One
Dupont Circle, Suite 800,
Washington, D.C. 20036-
1193; 202-939-9320, or 1-
800-544-3284.  (Dialogue, Fall
1995).

Infomercial Accessibility. 
Have you ever been frustrated
because you could not access
information on infomercials? 
Mr. Chris Ourand, Newsletter
Editor, National Infomercial
Marketing Association, 1201
New York Avenue, N.W.,
Suite 1260, Washington, D.C. 
20005, handles complaints
concerning the lack of
accessible information in
infomercials.  (The Matilda
Ziegler Magazine, September
1995).

National Information Sources
on Disabilities.  The National
Rehabilitation Information
Center recently released the
sixth edition of National
Information Sources on
Disabilities, a two-volume
directory that includes
descriptions of more than 700
organizations, more than 300
resource directories, and 42
databases.  Copies are
available for $15 from:  


NARIC, 8455 Colesville Road,
Suite 935, Silver Spring, MD 
20910; 
301-588-9284, or fax, 301-
587-1967, or 1-800-346-
2742. (Dialogue, Fall 1995).

AFB Library Reopens.  The
American Foundation for the
Blind has reopened the M.C.
Migel Memorial Library and
AFB Information Center.  The
library features online database
searches via DIALOG, updated
bibliographies, and state-of-
the-art assistive technology for
print-handicapped patrons. 
(The Matilda Ziegler Magazine,
October 1995).

Lifeprints and Dialogue
Merger.  Blindskills Inc.
announces the merger of
Lifeprints and Dialogue.  The
new periodical is called
Dialogue:  A World of Ideas for
Visually Impaired People of All
Ages.  It includes career
interviews, hands-on and how-
to articles, "Spotlight on
Families", lists of resources,
prose and poetry by
experienced and novice
writers, and other practical
columns of all types.  The
magazine is published
quarterly in braille, in large
print, and on 4-track cassette. 
A subscription costs $25. 
Write to:  Blindskills Inc., P.O.
Box 5181, Salem, OR 97304-
0181; 503-581-4224, fax
503-581-0178.

Audio Book Club.  The Audio
Book Club offers thousands of
audio book titles on cassette
and in CD format.  Contact: 
Audio Book Club, 2295
Corporate Boulevard NW,
Suite 222, Boca Raton, FL
33431-0810; 407-241-1426. 
(Dialogue, Fall 1995).

Ann Morris Enterprises.  The
toll free number for Ann Morris
Enterprises is: 1-800-454-
3175.

Premium Movie Listings. 
Premium Movie Listings is a
monthly cable television guide
in braille.  Originally the guide
included only premium
channels, but it now lists
additional cable networks. 
Customers may purchase
specific channels, or the entire
publication, which contains
about 84 pages.  Contact: 
Jerry Price, 107 Cloverwood
Court, Baltimore, MD  21221;
410-391-5845.  (Dialogue, Fall
1995).

Speak To Me Catalog.  Speak
To Me is a cassette catalogue
that describes interesting, and
sometimes amusing, products
that speak or sing.  Talking
products include a bread-
making machine, medicine
measuring spoon, and Star Trek alarm clock.  For a free
cassette or print catalogue
call:  1-800-248-9965, or
write to:  Speak To Me, 17913
108th Avenue S.E., Suite 155,
Renton, WA  98055.  (Our
Special, Nov.-Dec. 1995).
                   ------------


                ACCESS INFORMATION 

                by Keith Tomlinson

(Keith Tomlinson is southern
California representative of
Guide Dogs for the Blind.)

At the November '95 CCB
convention in Los Angeles, the
topic of access was discussed
by guide dog users.  The
following information is
available for the benefit of all
guide dog users who
encounter access problems. 

AFB's ADA Consulting Group
is a resource for ADA
information--212-502-7658
ADA Information Center--800-
949-4232

American Hotel and Motel
Association--301-705-7455

California Hotel and Motel
Association--916-444-5780

California Restaurant
Association--213-384-1200 

Your local health department
can also help clarify guide dog
accessibility to restaurants. 

The mayor's office can be
helpful assisting with Taxi
access issues since they
regulate the permits for taxi
service within their cities.

Several bus companies have
developed training programs
for bus drivers.  Information is
being collected now and will
be shared in another article in
the future.

As we move into the future,
access will include broader
issues like crossing streets
that have high volumes of
vehicle traffic and minimal
consideration for pedestrian
traffic.  New technology will
assist travelers who are
visually impaired locate the
phone, restroom, or departure
gates in a bus depot, train
station, or airport.  Talking
signs will provide more
information for people
traveling with a cane or a
guide dog.  The city of San
Francisco has already placed
talking signs in the Powell St.
BART station and in several
areas of downtown San
Francisco.  Mr. Ward Bond is the President of Talking Signs
and can provide more
information to anyone
interested.  Mr. Bond's phone
number is 504-344-2812.

Several people mentioned the
importance of having a well
groomed and well-behaved
dog when accessing public
transportation, restaurants or
hotels.  A positive experience
with a guide dog user is one of
the best methods of educating
the public and promoting
access.

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


          U.S. STAMPS HONORING THE BLIND

                by Cathy Bickerdike

(Editor's note) This article
appeared in the Fall, 1994,
issue of Dialogue magazine
Subscriptions to Dialogue can
be ordered for $25.00 from
Blindskills, Inc., Box 5181,
Salem, OR 97304.

Did you know that, since
1900, more than 440 stamps
devoted or related to blind or
visually impaired persons have
been issued worldwide by
some 156 countries?  It's true. 
Next time you lick and stick
that stamp, perhaps you will
have a little more appreciation
for those small pieces of paper
after you embark upon this
philatelic history of Blindiana.

The United States'
contribution to the collection
consists of seven stamps and
an item of stationery, all
issued since 1947 by the
United States Postal Service
(formerly the United States
Post Office).

Stamp #1:  Joseph Pulitzer. 
On April 10, 1947, a purple
and red commemorative stamp
was issued honoring  Joseph
Pulitzer (1847-1911).  The
horizontal stamp pictures Mr.
Pulitzer's likeness on the right,
in an oval frame, with his
name and dates of birth and
death below.  Superimposed
over a multi-rayed Statue of
Liberty are the words "Our
Republic and Its Press Will
Rise or Fall Together."  The
postage is three cents, and
across the bottom of the
pictorial are the words "United
States Postage."  This is
required wording, although
nowadays, to save space,
usually only the letters "USA"
are used.

Joseph Pulitzer was born April
10, 1847, in Hungary.  He
came to Boston in his late
teens, fought briefly in the
Civil War, and then, as a
young man, dabbled in politics. 
Pulitzer was elected in 1869 to
the Missouri legislature and
was later active in the
presidential campaign of
Horace Greeley.

Although he enjoyed the
political arena, Pulitzer's true
passion proved to be
journalism.  He began in St.
Louis, Missouri, combining two
competing newspapers, The
St. Louis Dispatch, and The
Post into one powerful
publication which eventually
became one of the most
successful papers in the West. 
He then went to New York
where he purchased The New
York World.  Under his
direction, its circulation
increased ten-fold in less than
seven years.

Pulitzer became blind at the
age of forty and shortly
thereafter retired from active
life.  He left $2,000,000 to
Columbia University to fund a
school of journalism.  That
institution in turn was
designated to confer Pulitzer
Prizes from a $500,000 fund
in the areas of journalism,
letters, and music.

Pulitzer died in Charleston,
South Carolina, on October
29, 1911.  Thirty-six years
later his commemorative
stamp was issued in New York
City, exactly one hundred
years after his birth.

Stamp #2: Amelia Earhart. 
Next in the chronological list
of American issues is an eight-
cent Airmail stamp featuring
the well-known aviatrix,
Amelia Earhart.  She
performed volunteer work at
the Perkins School for the
Blind and is therefore included
here.

This vertical commemorative
stamp was issued on July 24,
1963, in her home town of
Atchison, Kansas, sixty-five
years to the day after her
birth.  The words "U.S.
Airmail" run across the very
top of this predominantly red
stamp.  Amelia's full figure
portrait in her flight uniform is
superimposed over her
Lockheed Electra plane.  This
stamp was issued to honor her
as the first woman to fly
across the Atlantic.  She was
lost in the Pacific on July 2,
1937.

Stamp #3: Francis Parkman. 
The Francis Parkman definitive 
stamp was issued on
September 16, 1967.  One of
a series of twenty "Prominent
American" stamps released
between 1965 and 1978, this
violet "three-center" is only
slightly larger than today's
coiled stamps.  It was released
in Boston, where Parkman was
born in 1823.

Parkman's profile appears on
the right half, with the left side
taken up by block letters of his
name on the first two lines and
the words "American" and
"historian" on the next two. 
"U.S. Postage" appears at the
bottom.                            

The stamp commemorates
Parkman's role as one of the
great historians in the Golden
Age of American
Histiographics.  He wrote,
among other things, a concise
and detailed history of the
French and Indian conflicts. 
Oregonians know of him as
the author of The Oregon Trail
(1849), which was based on
his first-hand experiences on
the Oregon and Santa Fe trails. 


After several exhausting trips
across the country, Parkman
returned to Boston and turned
his attention to the field of
horticulture.  Harvard
University eventually conferred
a professorship on him in this
field in 1871.

Despite failing sight later in
life, Mr. Parkman devoted
much time to researching and
documenting the English and
Indian conflicts.  He died
November 8, 1893, in Jamaica
Plain, Massachusetts.

Stamp #4:  W. C. Handy. 
Fourth on the list is the six-
cent commemorative stamp
issued May 17, 1969,
honoring W. C. (William
Christopher) Handy.  Mr.
Handy is pictured in red,
playing his horn.  The
background is dark purple with
the denomination and "W. C.
Handy" printed in blue.  At the
bottom left, in white lettering,
are the words "Father of the
Blues."

Mr. Handy lost his sight after
World War I, regained it
partially, and then became
totally blind in 1943.

Music was the prevailing
theme throughout W. C.'s life. 
He was born November 16,
1873, in Florence, Alabama,
and, at a young age, walked
barefoot 125 miles to study
music in Birmingham.  Of his
many compositions, perhaps
the best known are "Memphis
Blues" (1911) and "St. Louis
Blues" (1914).  His
autobiography, Father of the
Blues, was published in 1941. 
In his later years, Handy
directed his own music
publishing company in New
York City.

He died on March 28, 1958 at
the age of eighty-four.

Stamp #5: The Seeing Eye
Stamp.  On June 15, 1979, in
Morristown, New Jersey, on
the fiftieth anniversary of the
commencement of the first
guide dog program in the
United States, one of the two
best-known stamps in the
Blindiana U.S. listing was
issued.

The stamp, a commemorative
of the Seeing Eye Dog, is just
under one inch wide and
slightly under 1.5 inches tall. 
(This is the standard size of a
vertical commemorative
stamp.)  It pictures a close-up
of a working guide dog, a
German Shepherd, to the left
of a man's leg, with the man's
hand on the harness.  The
background color is white,
with yellow, black, blue and
pink colors comprising the rest
of the picture.  "USA fifteen
cents" in dark blue is at the
top left and "Seeing for Me" in
the same color is centered at
the bottom of the stamp.

The Postal Service first-day
ceremony included dignitaries,
Morris Frank and Walter A.
Wood, son of Mrs. Dorothy
Harrison Eustis, founder of 
The Seeing Eye.

Stamp #6: Helen Keller.  Helen
Keller and Anne Sullivan are
portrayed on the second of the
two best-known United States
stamps honoring blind persons. 
Known as "The Helen Keller
Issue," it was released June
27, 1980 in Tuscumbia,
Alabama, on the 100th
Anniversary of Helen Keller's
birth.

The colorful stamp pictures a
close-up of young Helen
reading her teacher's finger
spelling.  The two subjects are
enclosed in a semi-rectangular
frame.  In the top left area are
found the letters USA with the
denomination "fifteen cents"
immediately below.  Dark
letters of the names are below
the portrait, forming two lines.

At least six other countries
issued similar stamps in the
early 1980s devoted to the
same persons.

An Envelope Honoring Blinded
Veterans.  On August 13,
1981, an envelope honoring
blinded veterans was issued in
Arlington, Virginia, in
conjunction with the 36th
Blinded Veterans Association
National Convention.

Blinded Veterans are
commemorated on the
envelope with braille
embossing where the stamp is
usually placed.  The words
"Remember  the Blinded
Veteran," are pre-printed at
the top of the space in blue
ink.  Below these words is an
embossed right hand, with the
index finger extended and the
remaining fingers tucked under
the palm.  The letters "USA"
and denomination of eighteen
cents are below the hand in
red letters.  Embossed over
this line is the braille
equivalent of the print.  

To date, this is the only
stationery item of its kind
released through the USPS;
however, at least four other
countries have issued similar
pieces in the past decade.

Stamp #7: Julia Ward Howe. 
Last in the chronological list of
stamps honoring persons who
were, or are, blind is a
fourteen-cent item featuring
Julia Ward Howe.  Issued on
February 12, 1987, the stamp
is one of a series of twenty
"Great Americans" released
between 1986 and 1988.

The stamps in this series are
definitives, printed in two
basic colors.  White and a
reddish-brown are the colors
of the Howe stamp.

Julia Ward Howe was born
May 27, 1819, in New York
City.  She is best known as
the writer of the words to the
"Battle Hymn of the Republic." 
The words were written near
Washington D.C. in 1861
while she was visiting Union
troops under the command of
General George B. McClellan. 
Due to the song's popularity
and its great support for the
Union Cause, Mrs. Howe was
the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts
and Letters.  A lesser-known
fact was her marriage to Dr.
Samuel Gridley Howe (1801-
1876), the first director of
what we now know as Perkins
School for the Blind located in
Watertown, Massachusetts. 
Because of  her association
with Dr. Howe, this stamp
was first-day issued in Boston.

Mrs. Howe, died October 17,
1910, in Newport, Rhode
Island.

The philatelic history of
Blindiana in the United States
contains a rich tradition of
stamps honoring persons who
were blind and also those who
assisted blind persons in some
way.  If you are interested in
further descriptions of stamps
portraying blind individuals,
please contact the Blindskills,
Inc. office.

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

                     TECHTALK:
     INTRODUCING THE CCB TECHNOLOGY Committee

                  by Frank Welte

The accelerating advance of
technology profoundly affects
our society.  This statement is
especially applicable for the
disabled community.  It has
been said that while
technology makes things
easier for most people it
makes things possible for the
disabled.  This has certainly
been the case for the blind
community where the use of a
variety of adaptive devices has
played a crucial role in the
personal, educational and
economic advancement of
many of us.  However, many
other blind people have not yet
seen the benefits of this
equipment.  If we as a
community wish to take full
advantage of technology, we
must understand it; and we
must be prepared to deal with
the changes it will make on
our lives.

The California Council of the
Blind has established the
Technology Committee to
meet this challenge.  We will
respond by educating the blind
community about technology
and its potential benefits to
each of us, by helping more
blind people to obtain and use
adaptive equipment, by
encouraging industry to
develop and market more
accessible products, and by
serving as a technological
resource for the CCB.  To this
end the committee has
embarked on a number of
projects on behalf of the
Council.

We have begun holding
technology mini-conferences in
conjunction with the CCB
semi-annual conventions.  The
first of these conferences were
held during the Spring, 1995,
and Fall, 1995, conventions at
San Francisco and Los Angeles
respectively, and they were
well attended.  The programs
included sessions on
telecommunications, Microsoft
Windows and the process of
selecting adaptive technology. 
We plan to continue holding
these conferences at future
conventions.  Your
suggestions for program topics
will be greatly appreciated.

The Global Blind Exchange,
GBX, is the new and improved
computer bulletin board
sponsored by the CCB.  It can
now be accessed from the
Internet, so CCB members and
friends from around the world
can now access this service
through their local Internet
providers without incurring
long-distance charges.  This
bulletin board, formerly known
as CCB Net, is operated by the
Technology Committee.  You
can read more about GBX in
the Fall, 1995 issue of The
Blind Californian. 

In the future the committee
also plans to produce a
brochure listing the names of
organizations that provide
information and assistance for
people interested in adaptive
equipment.  We also look
forward to establishing a
network of mentors who can
provide technical assistance to
others in their local areas.

The members of the
committee bring a wealth of
experience and technological
understanding to bear on these
tasks.

Kenneth Frasse, the committee
chairman, is a technology
specialist with the Sensory
Access Foundation in Palo
Alto.  In this position he has
the opportunity to evaluate the
latest adaptive computer
hardware and software and to
help other blind people use
adaptive technology on the
job.  Kenneth is no newcomer
to this kind of work.  After
losing his sight six years ago,
he began using a talking
computer to help him complete
his bachelor's degree in French
and Physics at the California
State University at
Sacramento.  While at the
university he worked as an
adaptive technology
consultant.  His technical
strength is complemented by
his intelligence, creativity, and
leadership ability, which he
has demonstrated as CCB
Secretary and in many other
positions in the Council.

Scott Duncan has worked in a
number of ways to get
adaptive technology into the
hands of blind people.  He has
been employed as an Adaptive
Technology Specialist at the
Sensory Access Foundation
and also at the Rose Resnick
Lighthouse for the Blind in San
Francisco where he was
instrumental in initiating the
technology center.  Scott is
now a sales representative
with TeleSensory in Palo Alto.

Greg Fowler grew up in the
Grand Rapids, Michigan, area. 
He graduated from Michigan
State University with a BS
degree in electrical
engineering.  After working for
a year and a half developing
automated test software, he
moved to California to attend
graduate school at Stanford
University.  He graduated from
Stanford in electrical
engineering with an emphasis
on digital design and computer
engineering.  Greg believes the
Technology Committee should
be working to inform and
educate CCB members about
the potential for using adaptive
technology, what can be
gained by the use of
computers, and what types of
information will be available in
the future.

John Glass has been a
Technical Support Specialist at
Arkenstone, Inc. since May,
1994.  He worked in customer
support for a Silicon Valley
firm for eight years prior to
that time.  He has been using
computers and adaptive
equipment since 1987 and has
a bachelor's degree in
business from St. Mary's
College in Moraga, CA.

Dan Kysor, proprietor of Dots
Unlimited, a Sacramento Braille
transcription service, is also
the founder and System
Operator of the Global Blind
Exchange.

Roger Petersen, President of
the Silicon Valley Council of
the Blind and a CCB board
member, comes to the
committee after many years of
dedicated service to the blind
community.  After studying
experimental psychology at
the University of Oregon and
Columbia University, Roger
worked in a variety of
administrative positions for
many years.  Like most people,
he got involved with adaptive
technology to meet specific
needs; but, as is also the case
for many of us, the need for
the benefits of adaptive
equipment led Roger to a
career change.  He is now a
Technical Support Engineer
with TeleSensory.

Jeff Senge received his BA in
art and psychology from
California Western University
in 1971.  He then went on to
earn an MS degree in special
education from California State
University, Fullerton, in 1993,
where he works as the
Information and Computer
Access Program Coordinator.  
Jeff dove into adaptive
technology in 1984 and still
hasn't come up for air.  He is a
self-taught expert, having read
everything he could get his
hands on about adaptive
technology and spent
countless hours "messing
around with the stuff."  He
sees computer technology as a
tool, no more, no less.  It is
this compensatory tool,
however, that folks like Jeff,
who are print disabled, need to
advance and survive in our
information-rich world.  That's
why Jeff is doing what he
does.  He spends his time
bringing the technical tools to
those who need them in higher
education.  Access to
information is what it is all
about for Jeff.

Rob Turner has dealt with
technology from a variety of
perspectives.  For many years
he was a computer
programmer for Fireman's
Fund Insurance Company.  He
has sold adaptive computers,
and served as the Adaptive
Technology Specialist at
Sensory Access Foundation. 
He now trains others how to
use adaptive computer
equipment at the Rose Resnick
Lighthouse for the Blind in San
Francisco.

Frank Welte is the president of
the Visually Impaired Data
Processors International, an
organization of blind computer
professionals which is a
special interest affiliate of the
American Council of the Blind. 
He took his first Computer
Programming class in 1981 at
California State University,
Stanislaus, where he received
his bachelor's degree in
business computer information
systems in 1985.  He works
as a computer programmer/
analyst for McKesson
Corporation in San Francisco.

When Perry Wolf isn't busy at
his job doing network support
for Arga Controls, he is active
in his role as an independent
computer consultant, repairing
computers for the state of
California.  Perry has an
associates degree from
Pasadena City College.

Jay Yi, who immigrated to this
country from Korea as a child,
earned degrees in mathematics
and computer science at the
University of California at
Berkeley.  He is used to being
at the cutting edge of both
adaptive and mainstream
computer technology.  He
assisted in the development of
the Flipper screen review
program in the 1980's, and
worked in a graphical
computer environment before
most other blind computer
users even considered tackling
the graphical user interface. 
He is now a computer
programmer at IBM.

Tech Review:  Join us again in
this space next time when we
discuss ways for people with
limited financial resources to
obtain the adaptive technology
they need.

Tech notes: So you've finally
decided to take the plunge and
learn Microsoft Windows. 
Good for you!  The problem is
that most Windows instruction
manuals are meant for sighted
computer users.  "Point your
mouse here, click there, and
look at the pretty picture that
just appeared on your screen!" 
If that's the kind of instruction
you want to avoid, you're in
luck.  There are now several
Windows tutorials geared
specifically for the blind.

"Opening Windows" is a
cassette tutorial produced by
Doug Wakefield.  It is now
being sold by the American
Printing House for the Blind. 
Call the Printing House at 800-
223-1839 for further
information.

The National Braille Press now
has the book Windows from
the Keyboard available in
Braille.  This book explains
how you can use Windows
and several popular Windows
programs without using a
mouse.  For further
information contact National
Braille Press at 88 Saint
Stephen Street, Boston, MA
02115 or call at 
617-266-6160.

Windows Demystifier is an
interactive taped tutorial for
beginning users of Windows
3.1.  This and other taped
tutorials are available from Top
Dot Enterprises.  The price for
Windows Demystifier is
$19.50.  Add $2 for shipping
and handling.  This recording
comes with a supplemental
disk.  To order, or to receive a
disk, print or cassette catalog,
write to Top Dot Enterprises,
8930 11th Pl. SE, Everett, WA
98205; 206 335-4894; e-mail,
deamar@eskimo.com.fs 

Several of the screen review
software products for
Windows include Windows
tutorials.  You may find these
very helpful.

Finally, don't forget to consult
Recordings for the Blind and
Dyslexic and the National
Library Service for other useful
books about Windows.
                   ------------

             THE STUDENT PERSPECTIVE:
            AN OUT-OF-SIGHT PERSPECTIVE

                    by Rob Cook

Anyone who has spent time
laboring through post-
secondary studies knows
about the trials, terrors, rigors
and possible rewards of being
a student.  Unfortunately,
many students end up, by way
of scholastic necessity, being
consumed by their studies and
stresses of the term and
forgetting the future end of the
game.  There is, after all, a
conclusion of all the work and
many of us will make--and
have made--it to a successful
graduation and into the work
force.  Keeping a goal in mind,
though, is what may just carry
you through to the end of that
one dreaded class or this
dragging term to your actual
graduation.

One way to keep a clear and
pleasant end in sight might be
to sample the opportunities
that one expects to find at the
termination of his/her
education.  What do you want
to do when you finish your
studies?  Do you have any
goals in mind or a particular
vocation that you are
interested in?  A possible
break during your academic
sentence might be to explore,
during the upcoming holidays,
some jobs or the area of the
country in which you want to
live and work.

One of my student friends,
who is visually impaired and
has always been  desirous of
working in the outdoors after
her graduation, has decided to
go to rural Northern California
and work as the care-taker of
a private campground that is
closed for the Winter.  She is
just going to live there and do
very little work while watching
the premises.  Taking care that
no one vandalizes the
buildings, any of the  docks at
the lake or any of the
abundant natural treasures on
the property will be a real treat
after studying about it all in
her recreation and business
classes back at the University
in Southern California.  She did
find her job through that
oppressive institution, though.

When I was on campus last
Spring, the University's Career
Development Center had a list
of short term positions posted
that covered an incredible
variety of employment
opportunities for the upcoming
Spring, Summer and Winter
breaks.  There were Summer-
long community service
positions in Alaska and
Montana, Spring employment
opportunities at Yosemite
National Park and even work in
computer science in the
Ticketing offices of the
California Department of State
Parks.

I am sure that, somewhere on
your campus, there are listed 
a number of opportunities to
get the heck off campus by
relocating in an area that
interests you or with a job that
you might enjoy.  So, maybe
go check out the campus
offices first.

Just before the Thanksgiving
Holiday, another friend of
mine, who goes to a
community college and is
majoring in Marketing, asked
her Departmental Office
Secretary if she knew where
she might find a job for the
upcoming Christmas Holidays. 
The Secretary referred her to a
faculty member from another
department who needed a
student to work at his
Christmas tree farm in the
Napa Valley.  The Professor
interviewed the student on the
spot and she was hired to run
the whole operation until
Christmas Eve.  It is being
counted as units for credit and
an internship within her major. 

You can see that it definitely
can pay to ask around and let
everyone know that you are
out there looking for a career
oriented employment 
opportunity.  No matter what
you want to do after you finish
your studies, take a chance
now by going out and looking
for any opportunity that might
exist, even if it is just a short
term job or even if you
volunteer your time.  The next
job you might get because of
the effort that you put out
now might just give you an out
of sight glimpse of the end of
the academic road.  For sure it
will get you the heck off campus and away from those
dang books for a while.  Good
luck!
                   ------------

            SOMETIMES THE SYSTEM WORKS

                 By Daveed Mandell

(This article appeared first in
The New York Times,
November 12, 1995, and was
reprinted in Syndicated
Columnist Weekly, issue of
November 20, 1995. 
Congratulations to Daveed
Mandell!  Syndicated
Columnist Weekly is published
in braille.  To purchase a
subscription, write to the
National Braille Press, 88 St.
Stephen Street, Boston, MA
02115.

When a blind person speaks,
the people at Charles Schwab
and Company really do listen.

At least, they did to me.

It all began a few months ago
when I had some money to
invest and for the first time
wanted to work with a broker,
but at a company that charges
low commissions. I called
Charles Schwab's "800"
number, and the customer
service agent was courteous
and knowledgeable.

Then the mail started coming,
a veritable deluge of printed
matter that went well beyond
providing details on the few
funds I had asked about.  I
employ readers, but not to sort
through endless mail from
Schwab.  Besides, I wanted
more privacy in my financial
matters.

I phoned Schwab again and
this time told them I was blind. 
Could I obtain their material in
Braille, or perhaps on
computer disks since my
computer has a speech
synthesizer?  Silence.  And
then a surprising answer:
"Well, no one has ever asked
me that before.  But I'll find
out and get back to you."  I
was hopeful.

Still, two days went by and I
was getting impatient, so I
called again.  This time, the
person I spoke with had
everyone calling me back--
marketing agents, salespeople,
even traders, throughout
Schwab's local, regional and
corporate offices.

The investor specialist at my
local Schwab branch in
Oakland, Calif., became quite
interested in my effort to
obtain accessible material, and
after a few weeks she
discovered that the corporate
counsel's office had been
planning to comply with Title 3
of the Americans with
Disabilities Act for quite some
time but had not yet informed
the customer service or sales
departments of their
intentions.  Title 3 is the
section of the law that
requires equal access to goods
and services in both private
and public accommodations. 
My trusty Oakland ally, Thelma
Alane, dashed off several
notes on the topic to
marketing and other personnel
within the company.

Finally I got a call from Scott
Hunt, a case manager in the
counsel's office at Schwab,
wanting to talk with me about
how to provide accessible
material to blind and visually
impaired customers.  Mr. Hunt
had done his homework.  He
had contacted the California
affiliate of the Baltimore-based
National Federation of the
Blind, and he had called the
Rose Resnick Lighthouse in
San Francisco, which had
referred him to MSMT Braille
Center in Santa Rosa, Calif.  I
suggested other places,
including the American
Foundation for the Blind in
New York and the California
affiliate of the Washington-
based American Council of the
Blind.

During our pleasant
conversation, Mr. Hunt said
that it was just a coincidence
that my queries reached his
desk when they did and that
his office was already working
on A. D. A. compliance, but I
like to think my prodding
helped to move things along.

A few days later, Mr. Hunt left
a message on my phone
saying he had two particular
fund prospectuses I had
wanted to read and he was
going to put them in the mail. 
And guess what?  They were
on disk in a format compatible
with my computer.  Mr. Hunt
also promised to send me a
booklet on investing in mutual
funds, also on disk.  And then
he sent me an additional
brochure on an audio cassette,
which he had recorded
himself.  The man was
learning fast.

Happy enough with Schwab's
response, I invested there. 
But curious now, I called the
nation's biggest broker, Merrill
Lynch, and another big retail
company, Dean Witter.

Merrill's blind customers are
currently served case-by-case,
largely by financial consultants
at local branches.  Although it
has not provided material on
computer disk, its financial
advisers have produced large-
print and recorded documents
for some customers.  And
Merrill is planning to start a
pilot accessibility program for
its blind customers next year,
said Christopher D. Sullivan, a
Merrill vice president who
manages the company's five-
year-old program serving deaf
and hard-of-hearing customers.
At Dean Witter, an official,
who asked not to be identified,
said the company will make
monthly statements available
in Braille and large print.  But
there appear to be no other
access provisions at this time.

When working with these and
other businesses, blind people
themselves need to be
accommodating because there
are numerous creative access
possibilities.  Schwab, for
instance, recently assigned a
trader in the company's
Denver office to work with any
blind person who needs to
have a fund prospectus read
and explained over the phone
or to deal with any other
matter that involves a lot of
written material.  Additional
staff will be assigned, Mr.
Hunt said, depending on
demand.
So we shall see what happens. 
There will doubtless be some
stumbling blocks ahead for all
these firms, but I am happy to
have found an ear at Charles
Schwab.

Daveed Mandell is a freelance
radio and print journalist in the
San Francisco area.
                   ------------

        ACQUAINTANCE RAPE: DOMESTIC ABUSE:
          CHARACTERISTICS OF VIOLENT MEN

     by Millicent Collinsworth and Lisa Gaeta

Violent men, or men who have
the potential for violence
generally demonstrate several
of the following
characteristics: low self-
esteem; frequent failures or
rejections; extreme jealousy;
the need to be with you or
know where you are at all
times; immaturity and a
childish need for attention;
characteristics of the macho
man; frequent emotional
outbursts with an inability to
be rational or logical; inability
to admit mistakes or
acknowledge feelings; the
propensity for psychological
abuse; forced isolation;
threatening behavior; history
of violence; compulsive
behavior; chronic alcohol or
drug abuse; and the propensity
for physical abuse.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: NOT
LISTENING:  Many of us have
experienced someone like this. 
This type of person is either
not listening to what you have
to say, or doesn't care about
your feelings.  He may say
things like:  "You don't mean
it"; "You know what you want
is too"; etc.  His attitude is
something like:  "Your words
say no, but your body says
yes."

ANGER:  Anger can be used as
a dominance display to
intimidate potential victims.  If
you try to set boundaries with
this type of person, you will
often be met with an outburst
of anger.  If he cools down
right after the outburst, it may
be a defensive reaction.  If he
hangs on to the anger,
however, he could become
violent and dangerous.

POWER:  This type of person
is often referred to as a bully. 
He enjoys making others
squirm and feel uncomfortable,
and he uses his position to put
others in situations in which
they are unable or unwilling to
defend themselves.

If you or someone you love is
in a relationship that
demonstrates a combination of
these signs, if you begin to
see personality changes in the
direction of these behaviors,
please get help.  Tell someone;
talk to a friend, a counselor, or
call a hotline.  Be aware that
violent behavior always
escalates without the help of
outside professionals.  If the
man you love is breaking
things, punching holes in walls, etc. when he is angry, it
is likely that he will be hitting
you or other family members
soon.  If he is threatening you,
take him seriously.  Leave the
situation--go to the home of a
friend or family member, a
shelter, anywhere, but PLEASE
GET OUT.
                   ------------


         DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE?

                 by Barbara Rhodes

The California Council of the
Blind will be holding its Spring
Convention in San Jose, April
18-21, 1996.

If you are planning to attend
and are eligible for paratransit,
this would be a good time to
contact Santa Clara County's
paratransit broker, Outreach,
to establish your status as a
"visitor".  This can be
accomplished by writing or
faxing a letter stating that you
are visually impaired and that
you qualify for paratransit in
your area.  The fax number is
408-437-9499.  Letters should
be addressed to OUTREACH,
97 East Brokaw Road, Suite
140, San Jose, CA 95112. 
Whether you fax or mail your
request, you will need to
decide on the number of one-
way rides you will need and
send a check for that amount
($2.20 a ride.)

If you advise Outreach you will
be attending the California
Council of the Blind
Convention,  the organization
will provide an identification
card for your use.

Remember, ALL reservations
MUST be made  at least one
day in advance (except from
San Jose Airport where you
advise the dispatcher that you
are an Outreach client and you
can show your Outreach card
or provide your Outreach
number).
I look forward to seeing you at
the Spring Convention.
                   ------------


                FEDERAL LEGISLATION

                 by Cathie Skivers

Many bills containing matters
of vital importance to the blind
and visually impaired persons
in this country, were
introduced in Congress in its
1995 session.

Both the house and Senate
began with bills which would
include vocational
rehabilitation services in a job
consolidation.  A tremendous
grassroots effort is credited
with having changed the
direction Congress was taking. 
As a result, two pieces of
legislation passed in both the
House and Senate excluding
vocational rehabilitation from
the job consolidation plan. 
ACB was mentioned on the
floor of the House during the
debate on an Amendment
introduced by Representative
Gene Green, Democrat from
Texas.  He amended the
House bill which ultimately
deleted Rehab from the House
measure.  All of us were
pleased at the results but now
we will need to be mindful of
what happens to Rehabilitation
services in California.

Another piece of good news
from Washington was the
assurance of key Senators and
Representatives, that they will
protect the Randolph Sheppard
Program in legislation dealing
with concession reform. 
Needless to say, we will keep
watching concession reform to
make certain that these
promises are kept.

Several measures were
introduced to raise the
earnings limitation of seniors
before their Social Security
benefits would be jeopardized. 
Regrettably, the bills did not
continue the linkage between
seniors' income and that of the
blind.  HR2684 was passed
about December 1st by a vote
of 411 to 4.  The blind were
not included in this measure. 
S1432, the same kind of
legislation is pending as this
column is being written.  If
you listen to the California
Connection and the
Washington Connection, you
know that ACB Members are
being urged to ask their
Senators to vote against this
measure unless the linkage
between SSDI Income for the
blind is included in the bill.  In
spite of all of the telephone
calls and letters sent to
Representatives and Senators,
they apparently have not
understood that the expenses
of blind and visually impaired
persons are high because of
having to pay readers, drivers,
to buy special equipment, and
the extra cost of housing that
many of us have to pay in
order to live in close proximity
to public transportation.  We
agree that Senators need a
higher earnings limit, but
certainly the blind need that
too.  You already know what
expenses we incur and they
are listed here only to give you
an idea of the kind of things
you should be doing, e.g.,
calling, writing or telling your
Congressman in person.  This
issue is sure to come up again,
and we need to be prepared to
make an all out effort to have
the blind included in any effort
to raise earnings limitations in
Social Security.

Idea Authorization, brought
with it, serious cuts in
educational programs and
services for blind and visually
impaired school children.  A
new measure has been
introduced which supposedly
helps some of those programs. 
No information is available at
this writing, but we will keep
you informed as time goes by. 
All of us need to continue to
contact our Congressmen
about special needs of our
school children such as braille,
orientation and mobility
services, special computer
equipment, etc.  Share your
experiences as a blind or
visually impaired child and
what these things meant to
you.  Representatives and
Senators seem to appreciate
hearing from parents of blind
and visually impaired children
so urge any of your friends to
write for their children and be
sure to write for your own.

Hopefully, many of us wrote
to the House and Senate
urging them to insure that
Telecommunications legislation
include strong disability access
requirements.  We do not have
the outcome of conference
committee meetings on this
subject at this time.

Many of the issues listed here
are sure to come up again in
1996.  CCB needs to get
together a plan which will
enable us to get information
quickly to keep persons in
your area who will take
responsibility for passing on
news to you which requires
immediate action.  If you are
interested in becoming part of
a network of people who will
make contact with California
Legislators and Federal
Legislators, please send your
name to: Cathie Skivers, 836
Resota Street, Hayward, CA
94545-2120 or call 510-357-1986.  Specify what
chapters you are representing
or if you are to work
independently.  Names will of
course be shared immediately
with our capitol representative
but I am taking the
responsibility for
communications on the Federal
level.  In the mean time, the
telephone number for the
House of Representatives
switchboard is 202-225-3121
and the number for the
U.S.Senate is 202-224-3121. 
Keep in touch with the
California and Washington
Connections.  Join in the
"Communications Network." 
Things move through the
Legislature so quickly that it is
difficult to get information to
you in a timely manner.  We
are counting on Californians to
make a difference.  We always
have and we still can do it!
                   ------------











                   CCB OFFICERS


President:
Mitchell Pomerantz
1344 North Martel Ave. #102
Los Angeles, CA 90046

First Vice-President:
Chris Gray
549 Giuffrida Ave.
San Jose, CA 95123

Second Vice-President
Cathie Skivers
836 Resota Street
Hayward, CA 94545Secretary:
Kenneth Frasse
141 Del Medio Ave., #223
Mountain View, CA 94040

Treasurer:
David Parker
1600 Florida Street
Vallejo, CA 94590 


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

            CCB PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

Ruth Dean, Chair
1535 Westgate Ave. 4
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Dona Cook
15545 Blackfoot Road
Apple Valley, CA 92307

Brian Hall
5722 Abraham Ave.
Westminster, CA 92683

Bernice Kandarian
2211 Latham St. #120;
Mountain View, CA 94040


Maria Lopez
3925 E. 6th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90023 

Daveed Mandell
2720 Del Monte Ave.
El Cerrito, CA  94530

Lee Morton
4229 Loma Rivera
San Diego, CA 92110

Cathy Schmitt
2840 S. Diamond Bar Bl. #91
Diamond Bar, CA 91765


Connie Skeen
3250 Maple Avenue
Oakland, CA 94602

Winifred Downing; Editor
1587 38th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
