

	THE BLIND CALIFORNIAN



	Quarterly Magazine of the 

	CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF THE BLIND



Spring, 1999	Volume 43, No. 2



	Published in Braille, Cassette, Diskette, and Large Print 




	Catherine Skivers, President 
	836 Resota Street 
	Hayward, CA 94545
	510-357-1986 Res.


	Executive Office:
	578 B Street
	Hayward, CA 94541
	800-221-6359
	510-537-7877
	Fax: 510-537-7830




	Los Angeles Area Office, John Lopez 
	3925 East 6th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90023 



	Sacramento Area Office, Dan Kysor, 916-648-2147
	1601 West El Camino Avenue, #112, Sacramento, CA 95833



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




	Editor: Winifred Downing
	1587 38th Avenue
	San Francisco, CA 94122
	415-564-5798
	E-mail wdowning@concentric.net

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


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 Hayward office for other suggested forms. Thank you.

	------------
	TABLE OF CONTENTS

From the Editor, by Winifred Downing 	1

President's Corner, by Catherine Skivers 	1

A Rationale for the Use of Braille in the 
	Information Age, by Stuart Wittenstein, Ed.D 	3

In Memoriam: Irene McConnell 	5

Web Site Offers New Vistas for Blind 
	Students, submitted by Connie Skeen 	5

You Can Make a Difference, by Charles Nabarrete 	6

Technology, Braille and Higher Education, Part 1
	by Jeffrey C. Senge 	7

Flying High, by Larry Seiber 	11

A New National Affiliate Is Approved: the Alliance on Aging
	and Vision Loss, by Teddie Remhild 	13

Out of the Doghousek, by Melita Waters 	15

Bulletin Board, by Keith Black 	15

Spring Legislative Report for the 1999-2000 Session,
	by Dan Kysor 	17

Position Paper on Paratransit Services, submitted 
	by Eugene Lozano 	19

Federal Legislation, by Ahmad Rahman 	27

Career Connections, by Catherine Schmitt 	29

The Old Ball Game, by Joan Black 	30

In Memoriam: Regina M. Rhode 	33

A Sense-Able Look at Braille and Speech, Part 2, by 
	Jim Halliday 	34

The Stranger, submitted by Pam Rau 	40

IBM Reaches Out to Blind with Talking Web Browser 	41

CCB Officers 	42

CCB Board of Directors 	42

CCB Publications Committee 	42

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


	FROM THE EDITOR

	by Winifred Downing 

	I have had a lifelong love affair with libraries which was justified recently when I had an opportunity to spend a week in London.  When I had been there in 1984 and had visited the Royal National Institute for the Blind, I had been delighted to find  that I could borrow some braille books to read at the hotel where I was staying; but when I approached RNIB this time by e-mail, I learned that the braille library had been moved to Peterborough, and my effort to get books from that source was not successful.
	But I had had in my file for many years the address of another library in England, the National Library for the Blind.  Knowing that London was 8 hours ahead of San Francisco, I called the library at 6 a.m. one morning, slightly apprehensive since I expected some delay, poor sound quality, or other inconvenience.  Well, the call went through as quickly as any local transaction, and the voice answering was friendly and welcoming.  Certainly the library would send books to my hotel; and indeed, they were there when I arrived.  No required doctors' examination, proof of blindness, or any other qualifying procedure.  I was assured, in fact, that the library would send material anywhere in the world.  Here is that address which I would think would be of particular value to braille readers seeking the classics: National Library for the Blind, Bredbury, Cromwell Road, Stockport Chesire, SK6 2SG ENGLAND. 
	Museums, art galleries,and cathedrals in London charge blind persons no entrance fee, and at the cathedral in Canterbury, I was supplied with a wonderful model of the cathedral and its grounds with a tape and earphones so that I could sit at a table and examine the model as long as I liked with a foot pedal to rewind the tape if I chose to.  Pleasant as were these experiences, I wouldn't want to contend with London traffic, for even at a time of year well known for attracting few tourists, the streets were crowded at all hours of the day and evening--crowded like State and Madison in Chicago at Christmas! 
	Back to reality and the BC.  There were a couple of articles in the Winter issue that I thought might generate some reaction from readers, but none came.  It would be great if we could have an exchange of ideas and opinions going back and forth in the various issues of the magazine.  
	The next deadline for items for the Blind Californian is June 1.  



                       PRESIDENT'S CORNER

                      by Catherine Skivers

	1999 looks like it will be one of the busiest years in CCB history.  We are celebrating our 65th birthday which we will be talking about at our spring convention with a big celebration planned for the ACB convention in Los Angeles, July 3-9.  Though we are 65, we are not eligible for Social Security.  So we must continue with our fund raisers.
	This year CCB will be working on four conventions: our spring convention in Sacramento, April 8-11; the ACB convention in July; our fall CCB convention in Fresno, October 28-31;
and one in November in San Francisco in which we shall take a major part.  (More details on that matter in the next issue of the BC.)  I hope to see many of you at these events and am counting on your assistance to make them successful.  Because of the heavy work schedule from all this activity, our convention announcement is being mailed out later than usual.  
	The CCB chapters with their own Federal Identification numbers need to do their annual reporting by May 15.  Those chapters and affiliates which do their fund-raising under
the CCB Federal ID number must forward to our office the amount of money they have taken in on fund-raisers, their expenses, and the profit realized.  As always, the money will remain in local chapter treasuries, but the Attorney General's Office has reminded us that we must include income from our entire organization in the CCB annual report.  Presidents,
please give your immediate attention to this urgent issue.
	During this last year, the Lilly Perry Foundation has contributed $8,000 to the CCB scholarship fund.  We are grateful to the fund for this generosity, enabling us to carry out this most important program.  Last year we gave $21,000 in scholarships to blind Californians.  We have already heard from a number of students who are asking for help with their education expenses this year.  I urge you all to do what you can to contribute to this fund.  Students are currently involved in a variety of interesting programs with great grade point averages.  We want to do what we can to help them.
	On December 31 of 1996, a building located in San Fernando was donated to the CCB.  At that time it was leased out; but for some time now it has been vacant, and the city has, therefore, determined that it is no longer commercial property.  It has also been determined, however, that it is not eligible for residential use.  We now have a purchase offer contingent on designating the property as commercial.  We find ourselves between the well-known rock and a hard place.  I have asked the city to buy the property, and an appraisal has begun which I hope is going to result in our being able to sell the building soon.
	If you listen to the California Connection, you know that we have lost several of our members in the past few months.  We regret having to present these announcements; we always make sure to send condolence messages to the families and to the chapters that have lost faithful members.  
	The Connection has become very popular and, as a result, the messages are becoming quite lengthy.  So that everyone has an opportunity to be heard, we will henceforth carry an announcement only twice.  Please check your schedule to determine when your announcement will be most timely.  We appreciate the support you give this project, and we are especially proud to be able to provide our announcements in both English and Spanish.  We believe that we are the only organization of our kind which offers this accommodation.  
	At the ACB legislative seminar in Washington DC, March 5-8, our representatives were Ahmad Rahman, Mitch Pomerantz, Peggy Martinez and Margie Donovan.  We also assisted Peter Ince, President of the Blind Students of California, to be present.   Coletta Davis and Teddie Remhild were also in Washington to attend the Josephine P. Taylor Leadership Conference.  All these Californians have my confidence.  At the ACB convention, we hope to give souvenirs.  If your area of the state has a specialty, such as raisins, wine, nuts, etc., we would appreciate your assistance obtaining some of these items as donations for the convention.  We also need prizes, to be given to attendees throughout the convention.  We want everyone who attends the convention to learn what's going on in California and why we are so proud of our 65th year as a state affiliate.  
	A very successful legislative seminar was held on February 27 in San Diego.  We will be doing more such seminars in other parts of the state in coming months.  This is your organization and it will be as good as you can help us make it.
	Dan Kysor is doing an excellent job for us in Sacramento as the Director of Governmental Affairs.  In his report, you will learn about the bills we are promoting and the actions you can take to assist.  
	The organizations of and for the blind in California have come together to bring about much needed changes in the Department of Rehabilitation.  More information on this subject will be forthcoming at the convention.
	The spring convention is going to be dedicated to Cid Urena, who is expecting to be present and is looking forward to seeing many of his friends.  I also anticipate seeing you soon.   Keep  up the good work.  


	A RATIONALE FOR THE USE OF BRAILLE IN THE 
	INFORMATION AGE

	by Stuart Wittenstein, Ed.D, 1997

	(reprinted with permission from Dots for Braille Literacy, American Foundation for the blind, Volume 4, Number 3 Winter/Spring, 1999.)
	Braille is the natural literacy medium for blind persons and is an essential component of any educational programs serving blind children.  Braille is the foremost tactile reading and writing system and is considered by the vast majority of professionals, blind individuals, and parents of blind children to be the primary means by which blind people can become literate.
	In the writings of blind persons, the braille code has been called "the key to opportunity," "the means of emancipation, the greatest gift to the blind," "viable equivalent of the print media . . . highly flexible and adaptable," and "this marvelous vehicle . . . [that] holds the key to genuine literacy and independence."  In fact, statistics regarding employment among blind individuals reveals that braille use has an extremely high correlation with employment.  This is of particular importance since it is estimated that 70% of blind persons are unemployed or underemployed.  
	Writings by professionals on the braille code make it clear that "as long as print is the primary literacy medium of sighted people, braille will be the primary medium of literacy for blind people."  In additional, there has been much recent emphasis on enhancing teacher training in braille (for example, the American Foundation for the Blind's National Braille Literacy Mentor Project).  In the recent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the U.S. Congress accepted the input of blind persons and blindness education professionals and added language to the law that presumes the use of braille for blind children.  In other words, if the Individual Education Plan (IEP) for a blind youngster does not include braille reading and writing, the law requires assessment data to justify this decision (e.g., the child can successfully read print, or is too cognitively impaired or physically impaired to be able to read braille).  Legally, braille is considered the literacy medium for blind children.
	In this modern "information age", new questions have arisen about the continued importance of the braille code even as technology has increased accessibility to information for blind individuals.  It should be noted that much of the best assistive technology (e.g., the Braille 'n Speak) combines speech and braille and requires knowledge of the braille code by the consumer.  Even as speech output technology has improved, blind computer users throughout the world have found that the ability to use braille input and output devices, to refer to hard copy and refreshable braille products and to be able to read and write in a tactile medium has enhanced their professional and personal lives.  Technology has actually improved and increased the use of the braille code, not made it obsolete.  As long as sighted computer users access information in print on the screen or in hard copy format, blind computer users must have a tactile equivalent.
	Finally, as seen in a wonderful video Personal Touch, available through the Hadley School for the Blind, braille is not only a literacy medium but much much more.  In this video blind persons are shown using braille to label their clothing, to cook using a recipe, to measure wood and cutting with a power tool, and to read aloud to their sighted children.  For persons who are blind, braille represents independence and quality, as well as literacy--in the workplace, in the home, in the community.  Far from being obsolete, braille's importance is more recognized today than at any time in its history. 


                  IN MEMORIAM: IRENE MCCONNELL
     Irene McConnell was born Irene Franklin in Oakland,
California.  She suffered severely impaired vision from birth.  She had One sibling, an older sister, who passed away at the age of 40.  Her mother raised both girls by herself on a shoestring, instilling in Irene the conviction that she could do and be anything she wanted to.  After personally pleading her case in front of the dean of admissions, she was among the first handicapped persons to attend the University of California at Berkeley where she obtained her Masters Degree in social work--in a time long ago before the Americans with Disabilities Act and female equality!  She worked for 38-years as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the State of California, though she had to fight for that position.  She retired in 1965.
	In 1956 she was assigned to counsel Margaret Wong who had lost her eyesight when her second child, Patrick, was born.  (Her first child, Robert, was only  four years old.)  The initial professional relationship grew into a close personal one with Irene eventually adoptingD Robert and Patrick as her own sons. 
	In 1948 Irene married Loren F. McConnell, and in 1973, after his death, she married Arthur M. Smith who died in 1988.
	She was an eager volunteer in numerous organizations including the California Council of the Blind, Over 60 Health Clinic, Kings Daughters, Gray Panthers and the Oakland First Presbyterian Church.  She served on many boards including BART and the Over 60 Clinic.  Her distinguished and tireless efforts in helping people of all walks of life earned her the J.C. Penney Woman of The Year Award.  On January 15, in her 80's, she passed on to her next life. 
	She is survived by her loving sons, Robert and Patrick Wong;
daughters-in-law, Judy and Ellen' and granddaughters, Alyssa and Stephanie.


	WEB SITE OFFERS NEW VISTAS FOR BLIND STUDENTS

	(Reprinted with permission, from Purdue News, February, 1999). 
	Blind students throughout the country now have access to inexpensive instructional tactile materials, thanks to a new Purdue University Web site.  TAEVIS Online is an electronic library containing more than 2,500 tactile diagrams used by students at Purdue.  The diagrams, redrawn to tactile and low-vision specifications, are created from college-level course material such as graphs, chemical structures and biological drawings.  
	"For the first time, individual schools can afford to provide their own learning materials for blind students," says Sue Wilder, Purdue's director of Tactile Access to Education for Visually Impaired Students.  "The drawings already on the Web site are among the first instructional materials using a new technology that is less expensive and easier to use than older tactile diagrams."  
	Within the past year, a new medium, capsule paper, has made it possible to create tactile graphics from a computer file.  The images are stored as Adobe Acrobat documents that can be transmitted over computer networks and printed on laser printers.  	After an image is copied onto it, the capsule paper is heated.  That makes the areas covered with copier toner expand and rise.  The special paper costs a little less than $1 per sheet.  The heating unit costs less than $1,500.  Subscriptions to the Purdue files start at less than $100, and computer files can cost as little as $2 per download.  The Web site has three sample illustrations: a chicken egg, a mathematical line graph and the chemical structure of a carbon compound.  The sample illustrations are copyrighted by the university but are distributed free.  The service evolved from a project initially funded three years ago to help two blind students take chemistry classes.  Wilder worked in the chemistry department when the tactile project began.  "Fred Lytle, a professor of chemistry, worked out a way to automate the transcription of mathematical and scientific formulas during his spare time," Wilder says.  "Someone told him that because of the complexity of braille code in math and science, it couldn't be automated.  He took that
as a personal challenge."  About the same time, Dave Schleppenbach, a chemistry student, was trying to find out if braille texts for math and science could be produced in-house for a lower cost than the $5,000 to $10,000 per book that major publishers said they would charge.  "They were successful in using personal computers to automate a lot of the transcription.  The work we do here is the applied result of that research."  Last January, the Office of the Dean of Students created TAEVIS as a new division to provide alternatives to the traditional print formats for students with visual impairments.  The staff takes illustrations, graphs and charts from textbooks or instructor materials and reduces the information to the essential elements.  Staff members use computer programs to create new graphics and translate text to braille.  These new learning materials eventually are shared over the Web.  The technology allows visually impaired students to have most of the same written materials their sighted peers have.  Purdue staff members from TAEVIS and other departments built the on-line library of more than 2,500 tactile diagrams and models for the sciences over the past four years.  

Source: Sue Wilder, 765-496-2856; e-mail, sawilder@purdue.edu


	YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

	by Charles D. Nabarrete

	There will be some openings on the Blind Advisory Committee (BAC) this year.  These openings will give some CCB members an opportunity to serve on a committee which impacts the lives of many blind and visually impaired persons.  
	The BAC has from 10 to 12 members appointed to the committee by the director of the Department of Rehabilitation (DR).  The committee meets about four times each year, usually in Sacramento, to consider issues and Department of Rehabilitation  programs which affect the blind and visually impaired.  The director and other DR administrators regularly attend the meetings to discuss the status of the programs which provide services to the clients in the blindness community.  
	In the past few years the BAC has been involved in several
important issues affecting blind persons.  When DR adopted the first Order of Selection regulations, the BAC input was important in ensuring that blind and visually impaired applicants would be fairly rated; and when DR recently proposed changes to the Order of Selection guidelines, the BAC was vociferous in protesting the unfair aspects of these changes.  When the Department 
danced the idea of having clients be required to contribute to the costs of the DR services (client financial participation), the BAC wrote a position paper in opposition to the plan--a paper which the director considered significant.  The BAC has also made recommendations to DR regarding the residential programs, including the Orientation Center for the Blind.  In
addition, the committee has evaluated the caseloads of RCB's and CT's and made recommendations to the Director to assure that these caseloads would be limited to blind clients in order to improve the services provided, ensuring that they would be rendered by workers with specific knowledge of the disability.  With a new administration and director, there will certainly be several new proposals and reforms which will require BAC evaluation to protect the rights of the blind and visually impaired.
	I have found that my six years on the BAC have been stimulating and enlightening.  If you are interested in applying
for committee membership, contact Manuel Urena, Program
Manager, Services for the Blind, at the Department of Rehabilitation, 916-263-8951.  His office will have applications and information on the BAC.  Please join in this activity to make sure that blind and visually impaired people derive as much help as possible from the Department of Rehabilitation.  

							
	TECHNOLOGY, BRAILLE, AND HIGHER EDUCATION, Part 1 

	by Jeffrey C. Senge

	Because of the length of this article, it has been divided into two parts, the second to be presented in the next issue of The Blind Californian. This, the first part, includes the introduction, background, and description of
the Braille Transcription Center (BTC) project.  The second part presents the project results as well as a discussion of the current status of the BTC.
	Introduction: This is the story of a few dedicated individuals and their struggle to improve access to instructional materials in braille in the California State University System.  For those readers who may be unaware of the organized effort put forth to improve this situation over the past five years using state-of-the-art technology, please read on.  It is my hope that you will develop a clearer understanding not only of the importance of the availability of instructional materials in braille in post-secondary education but also of an awareness of how today's technology can be used to dramatically improve the delivery of such materials to students in higher education throughout California and the nation.
	Background: This story began about 15 years ago when I got my first talking computer.  As a person who has been legally blind since birth and functionally blind all my life when it comes to reading standard or even large print, I quickly realized the potential of this new technology to give me independent and immediate access to a world of information.  That was all it took to get me off and running.  I spent the next several years learning all I could about adaptive technology by attending structured training programs like the one at my local community college's high tech center and independently training myself with any training materials I could get my hands on.  I began also regularly attended professional gatherings like the CSUN international conference, Technology and Persons with Disabilities, held each spring in Los Angeles.
	Those who know me well will tell you I was seriously bitten by the technology bug back then and my interest, passion, and commitment to empowering others with disabilities through technology has only gotten more intense.  I know what technology can accomplish, what a difference it can make and how it can radically improve one's life-long opportunities.  It has profoundly changed my own life, for 15 years ago, though  I was the same person with the same talents and abilities I have today, I was trapped by what I refer to as the information barrier.  That barrier can hold you back and dramatically limit your opportunities in the areas of education and employment.  I believe that limited access to information, particularly printed information, seriously impedes a person's ability to advance in school and in the workplace.  Without equal access to  information, equal opportunity cannot truly exist.
	I tell you all this to help you understand who I am, where I am coming from, and why I believe the BTC project was so vitally important to the success of blind and visually impaired students in California's State universities.  The project resulted from the belief that braille readers in the California State University (CSU) System were being under-served and that technology could be utilized to ensure timely access to instructional information in braille.  
	Initiation of the Project: During the spring of 1993, Dr. Jamie Dote-Kwan and I conducted a statewide survey to determine how print-disabled students of the CSU accessed the printed materials required by their classes.  We found that there were 54 students using braille enrolled in the statewide system, and results of the study clearly indicated these students were being under-served in terms of receiving their instructional materials in braille.  Fewer than one third of the 20 campuses (since increased to 22) of the CSU had the capability of providing such service; and of the few campuses that did, only four reported the ability to produce limited braille materials in three days or less with the remainder requiring seven or more days to provide this accommodation.
	While this situation is probably not shocking to knowledgeable blind persons, everyone familiar with it recognizes that it represents a significant problem that continues to limit opportunities for blind and visually impaired students who are involved in higher education.  The connection between education and employment--and ultimately economic independence--is well known.  If we know that higher education tends to lead to better jobs and if we believe that blind and visually impaired people are capable of advancing in the employment arena, it is logical that they deserve an opportunity to succeed in their academic pursuits.  
	The BTC project was designed to develop a system-wide mechanism to address the need for rapid braille transcription of instructional materials for college students.  The concept was to develop a method and implement a process for providing this access at the same time the materials were made available to sighted students.  The information barrier for braille readers would thus be almost eliminated.  It was my belief that technology held the key to fulfilling this objective.  I knew that such technology existed, for I had seen it myself and had spoken to those who had developed and manufactured it.  I knew that great improvements could be made in braille service delivery simply by effectively implementing existing technologies.
	The Project:  With the problem clearly documented and a proposed solution identified, Dr. Dote-Kwan and I sought funding for the BTC project.  After two years of writing and submitting grant proposals, we were successful in receiving a U.S. Department of Education award of a three-year Model Demonstration Project Grant to study the feasibility of regionalizing braille transcription services for students in post-secondary education.  We set out to establish the BTC to show how technology could be used to link 22 university campuses to a single braille transcription center where prompt and accurate service would be rendered.  On August 1, 1995, the project began; but before the BTC could produce a single braille character, the center had to be created--in two small rooms badly in need of renovation, no furniture, no staff, and none of the equipment we would need.  In addition, both Dr. Dote-Kwan and I had other full-time jobs.  After Dr. Dote-Kwan negotiated two units of release time from her teaching duties at Cal State Los Angeles and I persuaded Cal State Fullerton to allow me to work a 25% overload, we began work on the project.  We divided the work between us, each assuming the role of co-director.  Dr. Dote-Kwan worked more with the administrative side of things and I was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the center.  Over the next several months, renovations were completed, technical equipment purchased and installed, and staff hired and trained.
	On January 1, 1996, the BTC officially opened its doors to the 11 campuses of the CSU in the southern half of the state.  Information had been sent to each of these campuses introducing them to the BTC project and how to use it.  They had received forms to register student who used braille and forms for requesting service from the BTC.  Packets were also sent to students who used braille, informing them of the BTC and how to use it.  A second packet--one specifically designed for faculty--was developed and made available to students to distribute to their professors telling them about the importance of braille and how to use the
services of the BTC.  From the start, faculty involvement was recognized as critical to complete the transcription of such things as course syllabi, class handouts, or examinations sufficiently quickly to have them available to the blind student when the print versions were distributed.  For this reason, a great deal of effort was expended throughout the project to engage faculty members in the process.
	This outreach program was repeated one year later to extend the services of the BTC to the remaining 11 campuses of the CSU in the northern half of the state; and on January 1, 1997, the BTC officially opened its doors for service to all 22 CSU campuses.  Throughout the duration of the project, monthly newsletters and bulletins were distributed to all students, faculty, and staff, utilizing the services while Dr. Dote-Kwan and I also made numerous formal and informal presentations at regional, state, national, and international conferences on the BTC project.  We spoke both to professionals in the field of visual impairment and blindness and to the well known consumer organizations of the blind.
	The center was equipped with state-of-the-art telecommunication and computer-based braille transcription technologies.  We used four personal computers, two fax machines, one scanner, one laser printer, one tactile image enhancer, and two braille embossers to produce the final product.  Both the
technology and the environment were designed to provide accessibility for staff members who were either blind or used wheelchairs.  
	The way the BTC worked was as follows:  Students, faculty, or staff from the participating CSU campuses sent the information they wanted transcribed to the center via conventional mail, express courier, fax, or e-mail and the center transcribed it and returned the finished braille.  The service request form accompanying each job specified such details as who the material was from, who the braille was to be sent to, what the material was, and when it was needed. 
	There was nothing really new about any of the technology we employed.  The innovative aspects of this project had more to do with the way we were leveraging the capability of the technology to support the objectives of developing and demonstrating a cost-effective way to deliver accurate braille transcription in a timely manner.  The first innovative thing we did was to use telecommunications technology in the form of fax machines and e-mail to nearly instantaneously move documents to the center from sites throughout the state.  This capability supported the second innovative aspect of the project--to enable several individuals with a need for high quality braille spread over a wide geographic area to utilize the talents of a team of transcription specialists in a single location.  
	In addition to Dr. Dote-Kwan and me, the team of specialists included a center coordinator, two student assistants, a usability analyst, a certified braille transcriber, and a project secretary.  The center was open between noon and 5:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; but employing voice mail, e-mail, and fax messages, the center was really able to receive documents to be transcribed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Since several of us were on somewhat flexible schedules, we often relied on e-mail to keep things running smoothly.
	The basic transcription process worked as follows:  When a document was received, the center coordinator assigned it a job number; evaluated the type, quality, and quantity of the material; and noted the date by which it was needed.  Based on these findings, the coordinator determined the most efficient transcription path as well as the scheduling priority.  The transcription method was primarily computer-based with documents being either scanned into a computer and edited for accuracy or keyed into the computer.  The computer files were then run through a braille translation program, inspected and edited for format, and sent to a braille embosser.  After being embossed, every document was completely tactually proofread by the braille literate usability analyst for accuracy and usability.  Any errors or areas of concern related to usability were corrected, and the material was re-embossed prior to final inspection and shipping.  Documents received by the BTC determined not to be suitable for the computer-based transcription path were assigned to the certified braille transcriber for special treatment.
	This concludes the first half of this article.  Please see Technology, Braille, and Higher Education (Part 2) in the next issue of the Blind Californian. 


	FLYING HIGH 

	by Larry Seiber

	I recently noticed an article in the paper titled "Blind Pilot Puts Air-Drama Passengers in a Tailspin." The pilot cut short his engine-troubled commuter flight and then sparked panic while exiting the plane--wearing dark sunglasses and gripping the leash of a guide dog!  
	"It was all a silly mix-up," says rookie Captain Darryl Pemberton.  "I was merely doing one of my regular passengers a favor by taking his guide dog for a walk."  After loss of oil pressure in one engine forced him to touch down for a perfect landing at a small airstrip near Sacramento, Pemberton expected a nice welcome from his 23 passengers.  Calm was restored, however, when he hooked into the terminal public address system and invited his passengers to return to the plane.  "I have 20-20 vision," the 29-year-old captain assured those gathered around the plane.  
	When I read this article, my mind wandered back to my first grade impressions.  I was fascinated with airplanes.  I remember the old single engine airplanes taking off at a rural airport, barely clearing an apple orchard, then soaring over the schoolhouse.  I stopped whatever I was doing to stare up at them and their whirling propellers as the planes struggled to gain altitude; and I dreamed about what it would be like to be in one of them.  
	My daydream didn't fade away; and when I grew older, I started flying lessons, doing odd jobs to pay for them.  The old fabric covered plane I flew in the beginning had just the very basic instruments.  On the left by the armrest was a "push-forward, pull-back" throttle.  Between the pilot's legs was a stick which was pushed forward for DOWN, pulled back for UP and pushed LEFT or RIGHT for turning.  On the dash panel was an altimeter, an airspeed indicator, an engine rpm indicator, a gas gauge, an oil pressure gauge, and a compass.  It was a two-seater where the student usually sat in front and the instructor in behind.  
	I was just 15 and I had had only 12 hours of flight instruction when one morning the instructor told me to stop the plane on the edge of the runway.  He opened the door, stepped out  and told me to take the plane around the field and make three landings.  Finding it hard to believe that I would be taking the plane up alone, I taxied back to the runway.  I knew I could take off by myself but I really wondered if I could bring it in alone.  	I remember lining the plane up with the white line down the middle of the landing strip and slowly pushing the throttle forward, feeling the plane start to shudder as it rolled down the runway and began to pick up speed.  As the plane lifted off the runway and gained altitude, I thought to myself, "I will worry about the landing when I get to it.  I don't remember ever again having quite the feeling of commitment I did that morning as I banked to the left and started a routine pattern for landing.  	All those childhood dreams became a reality as I turned once again to the left and paralleled the runway.  I pulled back on the throttle, pulled out the carburetor heat knob which kept the carburetor from icing up, and started the gentle turning glide towards the runway.  I remember looking down and seeing the green grass of the fields, the trees, and the roads all flying past.  I noticed the fence at the end of the runway coming very quickly  and I realized I was a little low to clear it, so I immediately pushed the throttle forward and picked up flying speed, and watched as the fence passed by beneath me.  At the end of the runway, I pulled back on the throttle and lined the  nose of the plane with the white line.  I held my breath as the plane slowed to a glide and touched down.  I could hear the wheels rolling and I knew I had done it.  The flight instructor told me I bounced slightly on my first landing, but to this day I do not remember bouncing.  I often wonder if he was teasing now as I think back about it.  That was a lot of years back and I was too young to get a driver's license or a pilot's license.  I remember how scared I was to fly, but I wanted so much to learn.  


	A NEW NATIONAL AFFILIATE IS APPROVED: 
	ALLIANCE ON AGING AND VISION LOSS 

	by Teddie Remhild

	For the first time in over ten years, the American Council of the Blind, at its mid-year conference, held in Los Angeles, February 13-14, approved a new affiliate the Alliance on Aging and Vision Loss.  The presentation to the ACB Board of Directors included the constitution and by-laws, the names of 65 charter members and an elected 10-member board.  The ACB Board discussed all pertinent issues relating to the acceptance of a new affiliate and many questions were asked of the Alliance's new president, Teddie Remhild.  When a motion to approve was made, the voice vote was unanimous and applause filled the room.
	It was pointed out in the request presentation that the advantage of an affiliate over a committee would be that the affiliate could more effectively reach out to the new population of older visually impaired individuals and empower the Alliance membership to speak for itself regarding the needs of aging persons.  The Alliance will be inclusive of all vision loss experiences with emphasis on issues of aging.
	Officers presented to the board at the ACB Mid-Year Conference were: President, Teddie Remhild; Vice President, Freddie Peaco; Recording Secretary, Roy Ward; Corresponding Secretary, Al Gayzagian; Treasurer, Gerald R. Konsler, Ph.D; board members, Etta Burge, Jean Sanders, Millie Lillibridge, and Flora Beck Weintraub, Ph.D; William Lewis will be the newsletter editor and an ex officio board member.
	The Alliance on Aging and Vision Loss (AAVL) is planning three days of activities during the national convention--activities that will be both intellectually stimulating and recreational. 
	For more information contact Teddie Remhild at 714-533-6051 or Al Gayzagian at 617-926-7641; e mail: algayz@world.std.com


	OUT OF THE DOGHOUSE
                   An Update and some Thoughts

	by Melita Waters

     In last issue I told you about a gentleman who was given a
citation for having his guide dog in a park, or some such nonsense.  I thought you might like to hear the outcome of that incident.  
     My guide dog and I went with that gentleman and his guide to court in mid-December.  It turned out that what he had been cited
for was "riding an animal in an undesignated area."  When the Judge actually chuckled when he was reading the case file just before calling my friend forward.  When he finished, he asked my friend to answer some questions.  The very first one was, "Is your guide dog the animal you were riding in an undesignated area?"  My friend answered him by saying that he hadn't been riding his dog but was grooming her.
     Still chuckling, the Judge dismissed all counts and wished my friend a Merry Christmas.
     After it was all over, the city attorney explained that an antiquated code section had been used and that the city council had it on the agenda to be brought up to date or dropped entirely.  I guess we'll have to wait to see what the city  fathers do about it.      
	This--and other incidents like it--seem to happen frequently.  The only thing I can think of to do about it is to  double and then re-double our efforts to educate the public.  It seems to be our lot in life to be torch-bearers.  Getting and keeping the general public informed and sensitive to the needs of blind people in general--and guide dog handlers in particular--has to take a central position in our lives.       
	Just such a program is being worked on and will be taken on the road as soon as it is ready. 
     Meanwhile, good luck in all your travels and don't let up on educating the world out there.  


	BULLETIN BOARD

	by Keith Black 

	The Active Blind/Low Vision group camp session in Yosemite National Park will be held for the sixth time at Camp Wawona.  We shall have accommodations for up to 55 adults and young people, including sighted family and friends.
	This 4-day session begins Friday, May 21, 1999.  The $80 fee includes three nights' lodging in heated cabins with bath and eight meals in the dining hall.  
	Free transportation will be available from Madera, California, to and from the camp.  Priority consideration will be given to reservations and campership requests received by April 1.  Others will be accepted on a space-available basis, so bring your canes, guide dogs and sleeping bags and join us in a variety of activities and the fabulous environment of Yosemite.
	For more information call Joseph Ring, 559-439-4457 between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. week days, please.  

*****         *****          *****          *****          *****
	Vito Proschia's IRTI has relocated.  The new address is 13467 Colfax Highway, Grass Valley, CA 95945; 530-274-2090.

*****          *****           *****          *****          *****


	Schwan is a producer of frozen foods.  The company offers just about any food item to be found in a large supermarket--dinner entrees, complete frozen dinners, pizza, snacks, sandwiches, ice cream, frozen yogurt, vegetables of all kinds, soups, and stews.  The prices are comparable to mid-priced to upscale products in the supermarket.  The difference is that Schwan's price includes delivery right to the door.  The catalog can be secured in plain ASCII text as an E-mail message or mailed in print or braille or on cassette tape.  Schwan's Home Service Web Site: http://galent.com; Toll-Free in U.S.: 
800-544-8708 or 800-342-6862; Postal address: Schwan's Home Service, 600 Michigan Road, Marshall, MN 56258; e-mail contact information for catalogs: kim.birch@schwans.com.  Service is not available in Los Angeles or the Bay Area, but it can be had in Sacramento, Fresno, Salinas, and other areas.  Call for specific information.  

*****          *****          *****          *****          *****
	The Campanian Society, Inc. conducts travel programs for blind and visually impaired persons.  Write to Robert M. Wilhelm, Executive Director: Box 167, Oxford, OH 45056; 513-524-4846; E-mail: campania@one.net 

*****          *****          *****          *****           *****
	From The Matilda Ziegler Magazine, November, 1998  The Bartimaeus Group's NavigAide training CD teaches individuals
how to use the Windows 95 operating system with a screen reader.  The company also sells adaptive hardware and software and is a
direct dealer for many of the major adaptive equipment manufacturers.  Contact Bartimaeus Group, 1481 Chain Bridge Road #100, McLean, Va 22101; 703-442-5023 or adaptc@bartsite.com; www.bartsite.com
	Top Dot Enterprises publishes "Sound Computing", a bi-monthly magazine on adaptive technology, computers and the Internet for blind users.  Each issue features information about Web sites, software, new products, tutorials and reviews.  Subscriptions are $24 per year for the cassette edition and $19 for the Real/Audio version.  Back issues and sample copies are $4 each.  Top Dot also sells a variety of recorded computer tutorials for $19.50 each, plus a per-order charge of $5.  Contact Top Dot Enterprises at 11th Place S. E., Everett, Wa 98205; deamar@Eskimo.com; http://www.eskimo.com/lbdeamar.
	From The Matilda Ziegler Magazine, December, 1998: Internet Phone Book.  Phil Scovell compiles the free Internet Phone Book of blind users and services.  The archive contains ASCII files of blind computer users on the Internet, organizations of and for blind people, blind ham operators on the Net, FTP, gopher and speech-friendly Web sites, bulletin boards run by blind system operators, related businesses, electronic mailing lists, news items, and a for-sale file.  Visit the Phone Book at www.redwhiteandblue.org.  To add your name or organization to the lists, send E-mail to phil@redwhiteandblue.org.   
	Text Reader.  The Road Runner is a text reading device that can store up to 3000 pages of text for easy reading on the go.  The unit, which is smaller than a cassette and has telephone-style keypad controls, produces clear synthetic speech through a pair of supplied earphones, or it can be attached to amplified computer speakers.  Road Runner users must have a PC-compatible computer from which to transfer text files.  The unit costs $349 plus shipping and comes with two AA batteries, a nine-pin serial cable, and taped instructions.  Contact Shrinkwrap Computer Products at 800-377-0774 or 703-620-4642.  
	Keyboards.  Keyboards of Texas sells Carswell, Roland, Casio, Kwai, and Technics (music) keyboards, which they will braille on request.  Technical support is free of charge, as is shipping anywhere in the continental United States.  Contact Clint Ditto, 229 Topeka St., Waco, Tx 76710; 254-776-9466.   
	From The Matilda Ziegler Magazine, January, 1999: Money Reader.  The Note Teller is a compact optical reader that announces the denomination of U.S. paper currency in either English or Spanish.  It will read all U.S. currency in circulation, with the ability to upgrade for new bank notes as they are issued.  The suggested retail price is $395.  For information on availability and distributors, call Brytech, Inc. at 800-263-4095 or send E-mail to inquiries@brytech.com.  
	Oldtime radio.
	Metro Golden Memories, a "showbiz" nostalgia shop in Chicago, now has available on cassette its latest catalog, which contains a variety of oldtime radio shows and videos available in the store or by mail.  To order the catalog, send $5 (refundable with the first order) to Metro Golden Memories, 5425 W. Adison St., Chicago, Il 60641; 800-538-6675 for credit card orders.  

 

	SPRING LEGISLATIVE REPORT FOR THE 
	1999-2000 SESSION

	by Dan Kysor, Director, Governmental Affairs

	Greetings from Sacramento!  The CCB foresees a very active session this year.  We are sponsoring three bills, as well as following several pieces of legislation of interest to the blind.
	The first CCB bill is SB 858 (the SSDI guide dog bill) which proposes that, in addition to the current statutory requirement for SSP/SSI recipients to receive the assistive dog food allowance, the allowance be extended to those on SSDI.  The bill is authored by Senator Teresa Hughes; telephone 916-445-2104.
	The second bill is AB 685, introduced by Assemblywoman Helen Thomson.  It would require the California State Architect to approve all detectable warning surface products before they are purchased for installation in public facilities.  Telephone: 
916-319-2008.
	The last bill this year is SB 1242, introduced by Senator Deborah Ortiz.  This bill would require local building inspectors to enforce the installation of tactile signage in all public housing in accordance with existing law.  Telephone: 916-445-7807.
	Other bills of interest: AB 16, by Assemblyman Mike Honda, seeks to increase the wages of In-Home Support Service (IHS) workers, thus potentially improving the quality of workers and stabilizing this workforce.  Many IHSS recipients would thus be able to stay in their own homes rather than going to long-term care facilities.
	AB 368, by Assemblywoman Sheila James Kuehl, would require HMO's and the Medi-Cal program to include bioptic and other optical aids in their coverage for low vision beneficiaries.
	AB 422, sponsored by Californians for Disability Rights and authored by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, calls upon publishers in post-secondary education for community colleges and the California University system to provide any materials for access by blind and print-disabled students in ASCII format.
	AB 609, the NFBC Braille bill, conforms to the Federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and adds to the IEP (individual education plan) language to strengthen Braille instruction for students K-12.  The bill increases Braille assessment standards and requires publishers to make textbooks available in ASCII format.  The author is Assemblyman Scott Wildman.
	SB 158, by Senator Patrick Johnston, would require licensing of fundraisers selling cars.  That practice would increase the cost of such sales, thereby decreasing revenues to the nonprofit organizations being served.
	SB 335, by Senator Tom Hayden, proposes to prohibit the use of bioptic aids for driving by anyone with low vision.  
	SB 404, by Senator Dede Alpert, is identical to AB 2020 which was introduced several years ago, giving optometrists the right to dispense medications now restricted to ophthomologists. 
	Be sure to let your legislators know how you feel on these bills, and do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have: 916-648-3936 with phone calls or faxes.  If you need help in contacting your legislators, I will be happy to assist you.  


	POSITION PAPER ON PARATRANSIT SERVICES

	Submitted by Eugene Lozano 

	(Resulting from a request made in the presidency of Mitch Pomerantz, the Committee on Access has been developing this paper which was approved by the CCB Board of Directors on February 4, 1999.  Jeff Thom deserves major credit in its composition.) 
I.  Introduction
	The extent to which Americans participate in the array of daily activities outside their own homes--including education, employment, shopping, medical visits, and recreational pursuits--is dependent upon the availability of transportation.   Since most blind and visually impaired persons are not legally permitted to drive, they are dependent upon public transportation to meet this need.  For a variety of reasons, paratransit services are an essential element in the provision of adequate transportation for blind and visually impaired persons.  Reasons for this necessity include the frequent lack of a path of travel to or from a bus or other fixed-route stop.  
	The California Council of the Blind (CCB), with a membership of approximately 4,000 persons, is the largest organization of blind and visually impaired individuals in this state.  The CCB, both before and after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has been active in attempting to ensure that public transit providers in general--and paratransit services providers in particular--meet the needs of blind and visually impaired consumers.  Because of the importance of paratransit services in the daily lives of the blind and visually impaired, the CCB believes that an extensive examination must be made of the short and long-term changes in laws and regulations governing the provision of paratransit services as well as of the practices of paratransit providers.  Issues to be discussed in this analysis encompass eligibility criteria and the application process; the trip request procedure, including scheduling; the provision of services; training of paratransit provider personnel; and paratransit services funding.  

II.  Eligibility  
	The ADA provides that disabled persons, including the blind and visually impaired, are eligible for complementary paratransit services on the basis of a combination of an impairment-related condition and environmental barriers.  However, the existence of an environmental barrier does not, in and of itself, confer eligibility.  Only when the interaction of the barrier and the impairment-related condition prevents an individual from travelling to, or disembarking from, a stop on a fixed-route system would an individual be eligible for paratransit services.  Thus, a paratransit provider may lawfully limit the specific trips that it will provide to a blind or visually impaired person, with the functional limitations depending upon environmental barriers and the capabilities of the individual. 
	However, the CCB believes that it is unlawful to impose a blanket eligibility denial on any blind or visually impaired traveler, since a paratransit provider cannot predict whether certain trips may be requested which cannot be made by that blind or visually impaired person through fixed-route means because of  unforeseen environmental barriers.  The blind and visually impaired community has expressed concern over a number of eligibility-related issues, some of which would require modifications in law or regulations and others which involve
unlawful paratransit provider practices.   
	In many areas of the state, paratransit providers are designing the eligibility process in such a manner as to routinely exclude large numbers of blind and visually impaired persons from eligibility.  Applicants are asked a series of  questions whose answers may indicate that they are competent travelers on fixed-route vehicles and that they can effectively travel with a cane or guide dog.  However, even competent travelers may be thwarted in their efforts to make certain trips from a myriad of factors, such as noise levels at difficult street crossings or the shape of a particular intersection.  Nevertheless, some paratransit providers completely deny paratransit eligibility to a competent blind or visually impaired traveler without giving proper scrutiny to the issue of whether an impairment-related condition and environmental barriers affect that individual.  
	In October, 1997, the CCB informed transit districts of its concern on this issue.  It is our hope that all transit districts will eliminate the unlawful practice of complete eligibility denials.  
	The manner in which many paratransit providers administer the application process also engenders other inequities.  Frequently, applications do not contain questions that enable eligibility decision-makers to ascertain the nature of an applicant's travel capabilities and limitations.  For example, many visually impaired persons are susceptible to extreme eye fatigue or night blindness under certain circumstances.  The travel limitations presented under these conditions will not be ascertained during the eligibility process unless either the application contains questions that will ferret out this information or the individual is allowed to provide information that goes beyond the scope of the application.  It is important that these often overlooked disabilities and their consequences be mentioned in an individual's application.  In addition, travel capabilities vary widely among blind and visually impaired persons.   	
	Every paratransit provider should include blind and visually
impaired consumers among those to be consulted in designing its paratransit eligibility application and should also use its
best efforts to ensure that the designers of the paratransit
eligibility application do not have a bias against the use of
paratransit by the blind or visually impaired.  Such participation will help to ensure that the information necessary to make correct eligibility decisions will be obtained.  However, a far more adequate long-term solution to this problem would be to design a model application for use by all paratransit providers in the state or throughout the nation.  
	Since the United States Department of Transportation has jurisdiction over transit districts, this agency might be asked to spearhead such an effort.  The department could either require the model application to be used by all providers or merely adopt the model as a guideline for their voluntary usage.  It is conceivable that differences between districts, such as those serving a heavily rural population as compared to those serving a heavily urban population, may create the need for slight variations in the contents of the application.  The basic information that must be elicited in the eligibility process would, however, be similar for all transit districts.   
	Likewise, uniform minimum eligibility criteria and appeals procedures must be adopted for use by all paratransit providers.  As these criteria would be essentially the means of implementing federal ADA requirements, it would be preferable that federal regulations be adopted for this purpose.
	The CCB believes that several other policies must become a part of the method of administering the eligibility process.  Paratransit  providers could utilize all these practices without any change in federal law or regulations.  However, unless these practices are adopted by the vast majority of districts, both in the state and throughout the nation, changes in federal law should be sought to require their implementation.
	Medical information is usually unnecessary in determining the functional limitations of a blind or visually impaired person, and it should only be used when its inclusion would assist in determining the individual's functional ability to travel.  In order to maintain the privacy of applicants, whenever medical information is deemed necessary to determine the individual's eligibility, the provider should be permitted to obtain only the information that pertains to the medical condition in question.  Moreover, the time period covered by the information to which a provider is entitled must be limited to that which is necessary to make the eligibility determination.  In addition, information obtained pursuant to the application process must remain confidential, with access limited to only those persons who need to view the information for purposes of administering the paratransit program.  Furthermore, the applicant should have sole discretion to choose the medical provider to be used in supplying medical information to the eligibility decision-maker.

	In determining whether a blind or visually impaired person is eligible for a specific trip, federal law should be modified to permit safety hazards to be a basis for trip eligibility.  If
safety is not taken into consideration, it is likely that, as more and more districts impose restrictions on which trips a specific individual will be permitted to obtain, the use of paratransit services by the blind and visually impaired will greatly diminish.  Moreover, certain hazards, such as construction, are temporary in nature, and thus may create a situation in which certain riders will be eligible for a trip only until the hazard no longer exists.  In these cases, a doubt may exist on the part of the scheduler as to whether the hazard still exists.  The burden should be placed upon the paratransit provider to obtain information concerning whether a safety hazard no longer exists; and until such information can be obtained, a rider should not be denied a trip to request on that basis.
 	Also, the members of an eligibility appeal board considering the appeal of a blind or visually impaired person must not be biased against the use of paratransit services by a blind or visually impaired person.  This policy is necessary in order to attempt to ensure that objective and well-reasoned decisions will be rendered.  Moreover, eligibility decision-makers must have sufficient professional training in assessing the functional limitations of the primary and secondary disabilities of the applicants to enable them to make informed decisions.  Thus, an eligibility panel with adequate expertise for judging an individual whose primary or secondary limitations are caused by certain cognitive or developmental disabilities may not be fully competent to make a decision in complex determinations involving those with visual impairments.
	Also, if testing is used to determine an applicant's functional limitations, that assessment shall not be used as the sole critereon for making eligibility determinations.  Both the composition of the assessments that are used, and the circumstances under which they are given, prevents their results from indicating the totality of the applicant's functional limitations.  Moreover, in most instances no one is better acquainted with a person's functional ability than the applicant.  	Functional testing must be conducted by a person licensed or certified in the field to which the test pertains.  For example, an instructor certified in orientation and mobility by the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) must be utilized in determining the functional impairments of a visually impaired traveler.  In addition, if it is determined that a blind or visually impaired person could use fixed-route service once he or she is provided with travel training, That training, if it is to be used to limit the individual's paratransit eligibility, must be provided by an AER-certified instructor.  Either state law or federal regulations should be amended to specifically require the use of qualified personnel in conducting functional testing and in the provision of training.    
	Some transit districts have employed personnel to surreptitiously follow applicants in order to obtain information pertaining to their functional abilities.  While the CCB applauds the use of reasonable means to uncover fraudulent eligibility claims in cases where a reasonable suspicion exists concerning the applicant's conduct, we abhor the use of harassment.  There are numerous ways to obtain information pertaining to an individual's functional ability to travel, and it is the view of this organization that few, if any, instances would arise under which these tactics would be justified.  
	Paratransit providers have been administering visitor eligibility requirements in an inconsistent manner, so that the rules used by paratransit providers vary widely.  The resulting confusion creates a situation in which unsuspecting travelers fail to comply with the rules necessary to obtain visitor eligibility.  Thus, the CCB urges that paratransit providers be precluded from imposing unreasonable restrictions upon the ability of an individual to gain visitor eligibility.  Providers should be permitted to require not more than one week's notice prior to a visitor's arrival as a condition of obtaining visitor eligibility.  Documentation of an individual's eligibility in his or her home area should be sufficient to determine visitor eligibility.
	Finally, written materials relating not only to the eligibility process, but also to other aspects of the provision of paratransit services, must be available in accessible formats.  These formats should include large print, braille, cassette tape, and computer disc.   Materials should be made accessible not only because access is required under the ADA and other laws, but also because these materials will enable blind and visually impaired consumers to obtain the level of paratransit services to which we are entitled.  

III.  Trip request process and Scheduling
	Federal regulations permit trip requests to be taken from a minimum of one day in advance up to a maximum of 2 to 14 days in advance.  Many transit districts have opted to permit trip requests to be made a maximum of 2 days in advance.  Various reasons for the imposition of this limitation have been given,  including both the need to reduce cancellation rates among paratransit riders, and the difficulty in approaching the legally-mandated goal of providing next day service if individuals are allowed to schedule trips 14 days in advance.  
	First, we are aware of no objective evidence that the two-day scheduling limitation substantially reduces cancellation rates.  However, there are reasons why this limitation is overly restrictive.  Paratransit consumers in those geographical areas in which this limitation has been imposed must frequently endure extreme delays in accessing reservation request lines.  An individual seeking to make a ride request may obtain a busy signal for a period of anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours or more and then be required to remain on hold for an inordinate amount of time.  Not only does this limitation result in riders frequently being unable to make a ride request or to obtain a ride time that meets their needs, but it precludes them from utilizing valuable time in the productive activities of their daily lives.  Moreover, the use of this limitation is costly to paratransit providers.  Implementation of this limitation requires paratransit providers to employ additional call-takers and pay for additional telephone lines.
	The CCB would strongly support a change in federal regulations to require that providers permit reservations to be made a maximum of at least 7 days in advance.  In the absence of such a change, we urge all paratransit providers to voluntarily adopt this policy.  This compromise limitation will be less burdensome on providers than would a 14-day requirement and would also create far fewer problems for consumers.
	Paratransit providers must do a better job in scheduling rides.  The goal is to use the available resources to fulfill the maximum number of possible trips.  Consumers throughout the state complain about the use of multiple vehicles to pick up riders from nearby departure points and then deliver them to the same or nearby destinations at approximately the same time.  Obviously, such scheduling practices preclude a paratransit provider from reaching its optimal potential trip capacity.  Moreover, better utilization of vehicles may enable passengers to avoid the situation, which occurs far too frequently, in which riders must either refuse a ride or accept a time that is extremely inconvenient.

IV.  Provision of Services
	The ultimate legally-mandated goal for paratransit providers is to render next day, on-time, and high quality service.  It is our hope that the eventual goal of all paratransit providers will be to provide same-day service.  The ability to achieve these goals will be enhanced by, among other things, better scheduling procedures, as outlined above.  However, there are other policy recommendations whose implementation the CCB believes to be necessary to help achieve this goal.
	The ADA complementary paratransit provision that requires the limit to be within a 3/4-mile of a fixed-route stop is extraordinarily burdensome to the blind and disabled.  This limitation, especially in rural areas, not only precludes many persons from getting to many destinations, but excludes large numbers of persons from all access to paratransit services.  In order to more fully integrate the blind and disabled into American life, it is the view of the CCB that this limitation should be modified to permit greater access to paratransit services.  Federal regulations do permit districts, based upon local circumstances, to extend the 3/4 mile limitation to 1.5 miles.  The CCB applauds those districts that have chosen not to restrict services to areas covered by the 3/4-mile limitation.  However, in this era of increased demands on the limited resources available to public transit, we can expect the number of providers who do not impose this federal limitation to diminish without a change in federal law or an increase in the funds made available to paratransit providers.
	The CCB believes that, perhaps through the California Transportation Commission, a study should be conducted in order to determine whether the transit needs of aged, blind, and disabled persons are being met in rural areas.  If the study were to find, as we fear, that the transit needs of persons in these areas are not being met, the study would support our conclusion that the 3/4-mile restriction should be modified.  At a minimum, federal regulations or state law could be amended to impose the 1.5 mile requirement in all rural and suburban areas.  
	Another problem faced by paratransit consumers in some areas is that of ride zoning.  Frequently, when a ride involves more than one zone, the charges are raised to a level substantially higher than that paid by fixed-route users.  Moreover, zone changes are often accompanied by the need to transfer to a different vehicle.  This not only creates inconvenience for the consumer, but also creates an even greater likelihood that the rider will be late for his or her appointment.  The practice also creates possible safety hazards, especially when the individual is required to wait at the transfer point for a lengthy period of time and the area is unsafe for pedestrians.  Thus, the CCB believes that zoning should not be used as a means of charging exorbitant fares, especially as a substantial portion of paratransit users are on fixed incomes.  
 	Moreover, districts should work cooperatively to ensure that
consumers are not required to make unnecessary transfers.  When a
trip involves crossing into another paratransit jurisdiction, a
policy should be implemented under which a paratransit provider
would be permitted to enter a contiguous jurisdiction for  purposes of dropping off a paratransit rider.  It would appear to be reasonable to establish a distance of 1.5 miles as the maximum amount a paratransit provider would be required to travel outside its jurisdiction.  It is assumed that most, if not all, riders
seeking interjurisdictional trips would request round-trip rides, and that the return trip would be provided by the district into
which the rider disembarked on the initial trip.   
 	In the event that a transit district is unable to implement this policy because of legal restrictions not based upon fiscal considerations, thus necessitating the use of two providers, a policy should be established that would require the first provider to wait at a transfer point for a limited period of time (e.g. one-half hour) or until the second provider arrives.  In the event that the second provider does not show up, the provider would be authorized to transport the rider to his or her destination, even if that destination is on a fixed-route line or in another paratransit provider's service area. 

V.  Training
	Many paratransit service problems arise primarily caused by a lack of adequate training of paratransit drivers and other provider personnel.  Although most paratransit providers require that their personnel undergo some level of training, we think that the level of training needed by personnel, especially drivers, must be increased.  An important element of driver training is an awareness of, and a sensitivity to, the different types of disabilities which they encounter among their patrons and the differing needs those disabilities will present.  Some blind and visually impaired patrons will require more assistance than others.  Drivers should be trained in methods of ascertaining how much help will be required in a given situation, while still inquiring if and how the patrons would like to receive assistance.  
	It would also be helpful to train drivers to be courteous toward their patrons.  Whether the service being provided is door-to-door or curb-to-curb, drivers must be trained to identify themselves as paratransit drivers and provide information concerning the company for which they drive.  The need to provide identifying information has become especially important in light of reports that the CCB has received concerning cab drivers falsely identifying themselves to blind persons as paratransit drivers.  It would be extremely beneficial to consumers and drivers if the trip manifest for each driver contains the disability or disabilities of the rider.  Moreover, paratransit drivers have reportedly discriminated against persons with dog guides and service animals.  With proper training, there is no reason why this problem need occur.  Often a paratransit provider will give reasonably adequate training to its own employees, but the training provided to drivers, including cab drivers, with which the provider contracts, is woefully inadequate.  Thus, it is the responsibility of paratransit providers to ensure that those non-employee drivers and other personnel working for contractors of paratransit providers receive the same level of training given to paratransit provider employees.
 
VI.  Funding
	Paratransit providers throughout California and the nation are struggling to comply with ADA requirements and to meet the needs of paratransit consumers.  Even the most well-intentioned providers are burdened with budgetary constraints brought about by often inadequate funding levels.  The alleviation of budgetary problems would almost certainly create a climate in which most providers would be far more responsive to many of the concerns expressed in this analysis.
	All levels of government, federal, state, and local, must allocate increased funding for paratransit services.  It is the
responsibility of organizations that represents paratransit consumers, such as the CCB, to help ensure that this will happen.  Local governments could raise funds through such avenues as developer fees, local assessment districts, gas tax revenue, and use of traffic fine revenues.  Since local circumstances may make a difference in which of these or other options might be preferable in a particular case, this analysis will not attempt to reach any conclusion as to which option should be implemented.  Likewise, it is important that states and the federal government increase the resources available for paratransit services.   

VII.  Conclusion
 	The foregoing analysis should not be viewed as an exhaustive list of the concerns which the CCB believes must be addressed in order to increase the quality of paratransit services.  In our opinion, however, these issues present the most serious problems facing the paratransit system that are of concern to the blind and visually impaired community.  The CCB is eager to work with paratransit providers, government entities, advocacy organizations, and other interested parties. in order to address these issues.  It is our view that working together in a spirit of cooperation will provide the best opportunity for the establishment of a high-quality system of paratransit services in California and throughout the nation.  


	FEDERAL LEGISLATION

	by Ahmad Rahman

	Work Incentives: The Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 has been introduced in the Senate.  The new bill, (S331), is being sponsored by Senators James Jeffords of Vermont, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, William Roth of Delaware and Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, among others.  
	The bill has several provisions aimed at making it easier for people with disabilities who receive SSI or SSDI benefits to go to work for the first time or to return to work after being off on disability.  In an effort to ensure that these people do not lose their health insurance, the bill allows states to offer people with disabilities who work and have earnings that exceed the earnings limit for SSI or SSDI the option of buying Medicare coverage.  The bill also provides for a ten-year trial program that would permit SSDI beneficiaries to continue to receive Medicare coverage when they return to work, even beyond the current 39-month extended eligibility period.  Some provisions are also included intended to eliminate other problems with the SSI and SSDI programs--problems that discourage people with disabilities from seeking employment.  Specifically, the Social Security Administration would be prohibited from using employment as the sole basis for scheduling a continuing disability review.  Further, eligibility determination would be expedited for those individuals who need to reinstate their SSDI benefits after losing such benefits because of work.  The sponsors of this legislation indicate that these provisions are meant to assure people that cash benefits will be available to them if employment proves unsuccessful.
	Another section of this bill contains provisions known as the "Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency" provisions.  The "Ticket" involves a payment system whereby service providers who assist beneficiaries in finding employment would be reimbursed for the services they rendered based on a portion of the money the government saves in no longer having to pay out benefits to that beneficiary.  This section also calls for creation of a community-based outreach program to provide accurate information to persons with disabilities about work incentive programs as well as a state grant program to help people with the red tape that often interferes with access to work incentives.  This section also provides for another demonstration project to assess the impact of gradually reducing the cash benefits available to  beneficiaries instead of cutting them off completely as current law does.
	Linkage: The issue of linkage is back on the congressional agenda with most of the activity in the Senate.  Senator John McCann from Arizona introduced the Blind Persons Earnings Equity Act, (S285).  It would amend the Social Security Act to restore the link between the maximum amount of earnings by blind individuals permitted without demonstrating ability to engage in substantial gainful activity and the exempt amount permitted in demonstrating excess earnings under the earnings test for persons 65-69 before their benefits are reduced.  A similar bill is being prepared by Congressman Robert Ehrlich of Maryland for introduction in the House.  The bill is still in draft form but is tentatively known as the Blind Persons Empowerment Act.  


	CAREER CONNECTIONS

	by Catherine Schmitt

	When reading a job position announcement, there is often a request for references in addition to a resume.  What is the
purpose of references and who you should select as a reference are important questions to consider.
	Employers ask for references with job applications for several reasons.  First, the requirement ensures that the applicant pool will consist of applicants who are really interested in the position, not just applying for the sake of applying.  References can also add credibility to your past experiences, and the prospective employer gain a better understanding of how others view you and the work you have done previously.  The process allows employers the opportunity to test out intuitive reactions to you.  
	While reference checking can provide prospective employers with additional information about you, there is often a process that has evolved over the years.  Many companies now have policies governing the type and amount of information that will be provided.  The fear of a law suit may limit the information furnished to the dates and length of employment by previous employees.  Understanding how your previous employer will respond to a prospective employer's reference check will assist you greatly.  
	The question of who you should choose as your reference is critical.  The obvious answer is to select individuals who understand your character, talents and abilities and who can evaluate your previous experience.  There are, however, some additional considerations to keep in mind.  First of all, there are two types of references: professional and personal.  Are the individuals you are intending to suggest people you associated with in the work setting or in a community organization?  For example, the chairperson of a CCB committee on which you have served could, in appropriate circumstances, be considered a professional reference.  Such persons can attest to your work ethic and commitment to the task at hand along with more personal attributes like your ability to work well with others.  The fact that these references may also be friends makes it easier to request their assistance.  Course instructors can also be used as professional references.  Even if you do not have work experience, therefore, you can still have individuals to serve as professional references. 
	Personal references are individuals who can speak to your personal charcteristics.  For example, a friend or relative may serve as a personal reference.  If, though,  the job announcement does not specify the type of reference required, it is best to use professional references.  When selecting references, also keep in mind the position you are applying for and the company philosophy.  If, for example, you want to work for a company that values diversity, you would select references who would be able to speak to your ability to work with individuals from various gender and cultural backgrounds.  
	Now that you have chosen your references, be sure to ask each person if he /she can provide you with a POSITIVE reference.  The question is important, for sometimes a person will agree to be a reference only because the individual does not know how to say no, resulting in a negative reference.  It is also a good idea to provide your reference with a copy of your resume, the name of the company, the title of the position desired, the job responsibilities and three to five key points that you would like your reference to mention.  It does not make a good impression on the employer to learn that a reference is not aware that the prospective employee is applying for a new job.  
	Also, if on the application you must list previous employers and their phone numbers, it is recommended that you provide them with the same information as your references.  Previous employers will sometimes be contacted in addition to your references.  It is valuable to have at least one of your previous employers on your reference list.  
	Positive references will strengthen and add credibility to your candidacy.


	THE OLD BALL GAME

                          by Joan Black

	Spring and fall are the best seasons of the year for baseball fans.  In the fall the playoffs take place and the World Championship of baseball is decided in the World Series.  But spring is even better because this is a time of anticipation and renewed hope for all the fans whose teams were not big winners the year before.  Baseball is said to be America's pastime, and over the last hundred years the game's growth and evolution reflect much of what has happened in our country.  Sometimes it shows us at our best and sometimes at less than our best.    
	Baseball is an ideal sport for visually impaired people to enjoy.  Games are regularly broadcast on radio or television; and since the pace is not frenetic and the rules simple, it is easy to follow the action.  I spend many summer afternoons listening to the ball game and pulling weeds in my rose garden.  
 	When attending games at Dodger Stadium, we always take a radio and of course, my assortment of monoculars.   Many people use radios because they like to hear what the announcers have to say about the game.  Los Angeles Dodger fans are very fortunate because we have one of the great baseball play-by-play announcers of all time in Vince Scully.   
	Last year there was a great home run race.  Mark McGwire, the son of an Orange County dentist, hit 70 home runs.   Sammy Sosa, who as a boy in the Dominican Republic helped support his family by shining shoes, hit sixty-six homers.  Both players broke the record of 61 home runs held by Roger Maris, who had, in turn, broken Babe Ruth's record of 60 which was set way back in 1927.  
	Baseball has a kinship to the English games of cricket, but cricket is a very slow affair with games sometimes lasting for days.  In colonial days a game called "rounders"  was popular and is probably the ancestor of American baseball.   Although Abner Doubleday is traditionally given credit for inventing baseball, another man, Alexander Cartwright, a New York engineer, first developed formal rules and the layout of the field.  He also organized a team called the "New York Knickerbocker's Baseball Club."  The first game on record took place in 1846 at the Elysian Field cricket grounds in Hoboken, New Jersey and was played on a diamond laid out according to the specifications Cartwright had provided.  Abner Doubleday was a professional soldier stationed at West Point and was a Civil War hero.  The Baseball Hall of Fame is located near his hometown at Cooperstown, New York.  Players, managers, and sports writers and broadcasters can be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
	In its earliest years, baseball was a game played by gentlemen like Cartwright and his friends simply for pleasure and was strictly an amateur pastime.   
	But as time went on and more clubs were formed, problems arose with gambling and paying of players who were still supposed to be amateurs.  So, in 1869 the "Cincinnati Red Stockings" was formed as the first professional team and a new era dawned in baseball.    
	An early baseball league was started in 1875, but the modern National League was established the following year.  The second of the two current major leagues, the American League, was founded in 1900.  By that time, the game was essentially the same as it is today.  The first World Series was played in 1903 between the Boston club of the American League and the Philadelphia team of the National. 
	Until 1948 baseball was limited to the eastern and middle-western sections of the country.  There were eight teams in each league, so teams had to travel to play games on the home fields of their opponents.  Because trains were the main form of travel in those days, there was a practical limit to where franchises were located; but with the advent of transcontinental air travel, baseball could expand to more distant cities.  Two men were the pioneers in this development.  Walter O'Malley, a wealthy banker, owned the Brooklyn Dodgers who played in storied Ebbets field where a legion of loyal fans stuck with their
team through many scenes of defeat and a few of triumph.  After the 1957 season, O'Malley stunned Brooklyn--and, in fact, the world of baseball--by announcing  that the Dodgers would move to Los Angeles.  Across town in the Bronx, the Giants' owner, Horace Stoneham, also decided to leave New York, joining  O'Malley in California.  Like the forty-niners, they struck it rich.  For the site of his new stadium, O'Malley was given land in Chaves Ravine, an area overlooking downtown Los Angeles.  In spite of the fact that the location available to him was not as attractive, Stoneham went ahead to build Candlestick Park on a chilly, windswept spot in San Francisco.  Both teams were wildly popular, carrying their New York rivalry with them.  	Once the ice was broken, more teams moved west and south, and new franchises were awarded to places like Kansas City, Atlanta, and Houston so that now there are 15 teams in each league.  In the past most owners, like O'Malley and Stoneham, were men of great personal wealth.  The Busch family owned--and still owns--the St. Louis Cardinals and Gene Autry brought an American League team,  the Angels, to Orange County.  These men, though prominent in business, loved the game.    
	Location and ownership, however, were not the only elements that changed over the years.  The names and faces in the game began to reflect a wider spectrum of American life.  The first professional players were mostly working class people from the cities of the East and Midwest.  They were men with Irish names like Joe Cronin and John McGraw.  Later, many players from the South, including Ty Cobb and the Dean brothers, made it to the big leagues.  Then, in the late '30s, players of Italian descent began to emerge as great stars, the most famous being Joe DiMaggio from San Francisco.  Joe was called the "Yankee Clipper" because of his incredible grace on the field.  His record
of hitting in 56 consecutive games, set in 1941, has not been broken.  Besides Joe and his two brothers, Vince and
Dominic, there were Phil Risutto, Yogi Berra, and Frank Crosetti.  	Even with this diversity of nationality, Major League baseball was still a white man's sport.  There had
been a Negro League for years, but no black player had ever been
signed by a big league team.  In 1947, though, Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Branch Rickey, the Dodgers' owner, had become committed to integrating major league baseball and had chosen Robinson carefully for this momentous task, knowing that the first black player had to have much more than talent.  He had to have the patience and courage to endure the abuse that was bound to come.  Having come from Pasadena and being a student at  UCLA, Jackie and his wife Rachel Robinson found spring training in Florida very difficult, since housing and restaurants were still completely segregated.  Some of the Dodgers from the South did not want a Negro teammate and there was even talk of a protest to Rickey to get him to change his mind.  Pee Wee Reese from Kentucky, however, was the team captain and he refused to join in the effort, thus helping to gain acceptance for Robinson.   
	In the 1980's a young Mexican pitcher named Fernando Valenzuela became a folk hero in Los Angeles.  Fernandomania was an amazing spectacle, bringing great crowds to the stadium and pride to the large Latino population of the area.  That enthusiasm increased last year when Jaime Jarim, who is a Spanish language broadcaster for the Dodgers, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  
	Changes in the composition of the teams have continued as Japanese and Korean players have been coming to the Major Leagues and Asian people are showing up at the ball parks with banners, balloons, and thousands of flash cameras.  In spite of the encouraging developments, there are disquieting events.  Last year the O'Malley family sold the Dodgers to Rupert Murdoch, an Australian tycoon who owns the Fox media empire; and the Disney Corporation now owns the California Angels.  Replacing the individual owners of the past with their passion for baseball with corporations motivated primarily by considerations of profit threatens the game as we know it.  Parks are now named after products, not people or cities.  Signs for shoes, beer, and office supply stores adorn the fences in stadiums.  
	To be fair, the move to corporate ownership is tied, at least in part, to the escalation in players' salaries.  For many years the owners had taken gross advantage of players because the players had no leverage.  There was a reserve clause which stipulated that they had to remain with the same team until that team no longer wanted them.  The players had no right to arbitration in salary disputes and no pension plan.  This changed in the last couple of decades with the formation of a players' union so that now the best players can demand, and often receive, tremendous amounts of money.  There is much more movement of players from one team to another and a consequent lessening of team loyalty and fan support for individual stars. 
	At this point, it is impossible to tell what lies ahead for "The Old Ball Game"; but come what may, I can indulge in my favorite baseball memories.  They achieved reality in 1965 when I attended my first big league game.  We had recently moved to San Bernardino from Colorado; and on a hot Sunday in August, Keith and I, with our two older children, took the so-called Rapid Transit District bus into Los Angeles to attend the game.  We had fine seats in the orange level behind home plate, and the great Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax was on the mound.  He was, as usual, almost unhittable and won his 20th game of the year that day.  In 1974 we got three World Series tickets.   Eileen was old enough to drive by this time, so Ralph, Eileen and I set out from Long
Beach in our Pinto station wagon, which we called "Little Red".  We got lost but arrived just as the game was about to start.  Though the Dodgers lost, it was still a wonderful day.
	In 1980, my youngest son Andy and I attended the last game of the season when the Dodgers won the game and were tied for the league championship.  We got tickets for the playoff game for the following day.  The game went very badly until an unknown
rookie pitcher was brought in.  Though the Dodgers still lost the game, Fernandomania was about to begin.           


                    IN MEMORIAM: REGINA M. RHODE

	On Ash Wednesday, 17 February, 1999, Reggie (as her braille friends knew her) died at home, a victim of cancer.  Thus ended 30 years of constant endeavor as a braille Transcriber.  
	She began her brailling career when she joined a class in braille, given by the Adult Education Program of the Mountain View, California, schools, in 1968.  After a 9-month course, in which she excelled from the first, she joined the Sixth District of the California Transcribers and Educators for the Visually Handicapped, (CTEVH), and soon after was certified as a Literary braille Transcriber by the Library of Congress. 
	For three decades, she spent most of her leisure hours, sometimes seven days a week, brailling.  Moving to Oregon in 1972, she began brailling for the Volunteer braille Services in Portland, continuing there until moving back to California in 1985.  Living in Los Osos, a small town 10 miles from San Luis Obispo, she brailled for the California Polytechnic State University and the Vision Services office of the County Schools.  During this time, she also brailled for blind individuals as far away as Kansas City, Missouri.  In her last three years of life, she suffered the beginning of macular degeneration in both eyes but was able to continue brailling. 
	Reggie was a member of the National Braille Association, CTEVH (as mentioned above), the California and the Oregon Councils of the Blind, and many other organizations.  With her husband, Don, who is a Tapist, she worked with and for the blind both in organizations and in their own homes.  Her husband reports that she was a remarkable lady, both in her caring attitude for the handicapped and in her assiduous pursuit of her braille work. 
	Reggie is survived by her husband, Don, two sons and their wives, two granddaughters, and two great-granddaughters. 
She is sorely missed by her family and a myriad of friends all over the United States and in three foreign countries. 


	A SENSE-ABLE LOOK AT BRAILLE AND SPEECH, Part 2

	by Jim Halliday

	(This article is taken from the Summer, 1998, news letter of HumanWare.  Part 1 ended with the following paragraph):
	Let's review some different types of text information and determine whether speech, braille, tactile graphics, or all of the above are most appropriate.
	Accessing Text  Note: As we review the following applications, it is important to clearly understand that computerized data is accessible in both speech (through a synthesizer) and braille (through a mechanical braille display).  This kind of data is volatile or changeable, which has tremendous search, edit, and retrieval advantages over non-computerized media.  Electronic media should not be compared to hardcopy braille and cassette tapes because these are examples of fixed media, which are unchangeable.
	Writing is a fundamental part of literacy.  Writing may involve the generation of simple text such as in E-mails or memos, or it may require complex formatting such as term papers or business reports.  Although there are numerous exceptions to the following generalization, most people who use braille and speech equally find that speech is a more efficient form of reading and writing.  For basic word processing, I would not hesitate to recommend a speech solution.  However, the more complex the formatting becomes, the more spatial and "visual" the results need to be.  If the ultimate document is aimed at sighted people, which most documents are, the writer must be cognizant of how the final printout appears.  Although format can be verified auditorily, this process may be slow and tedious because of the excess verbiage required to convey the information.  Braille requires no additional commands beyond reviewing the text to confirm layout or format because braille is already spatial in nature.  For example, if the writer wants to confirm that a list of names is tabbed properly, he or she merely monitors the location of the tab as the display moves down the page.  Any variation is instantly apparent.  The same is true with double spacing or centering.  Additional braille dots can also provide instant verification about other attributes like bold or underline.  All of this is accessible in speech as well, but not instantly.  The user must either enter additional commands to verify the information or listen to extraneous verbiage while reviewing the actual text.
	Fiction is usually created for pleasure reading.  Some stories are more thought-provoking and may require more concentration.  But for the most part fiction can be read quickly and efficiently.  For most blind people, speech is a faster form of reading than braille.  On the other hand, pleasure reading means that a person can choose whatever medium is most enjoyable.
	Poetry and drama flow from oral tradition and are best appreciated auditorily.  The speaker's interpretation plays an important role in enhancing the reader's understanding.  The consistent drone of a speech synthesizer can be far less effective or enjoyable than a human voice that captures the lilt of a poem or the emotion of a play.  Some poetry is ambiguous, forcing the reader to listen repeatedly just to ensure comprehension.  In such cases, just as a sighted reader may choose to contemplate the poem visually, a blind reader may want to dwell on the poem in braille.  Braille allows the reader to set his or her own reading pace and to indulge in the emotions evoked by the author or playwright.
	Technical manuals do not possess the flow or beauty of a poem, nor do they require emotional interpretation (although they often evoke emotional outbursts on the part of the reader).  However, technical manuals do require thought and concentration.  Depending on the reader, certain technical data may be readily understandable and read efficiently using speech.   Other data may require repeated readings.  Although speech is usually thought to be more efficient than braille, constantly going back to repeat key phrases becomes too burdensome and ultimately inefficient.  In such cases people who use both speech and braille equally generally prefer braille.

Reference books are not read from cover to cover, but rather in spurts.  References can be read easily in either speech or braille, but the real issue is how to find the reference in the first place.  A single complete copy of Webster's Dictionary in press braille may fill a bookcase seven feet tall by six feet wide.  If a dictionary takes that kind of space, you can imagine the kind of wall space required to handle an Encyclopedia Britannica in press braille.  Braille is extremely bulky and expensive to produce and to store.  Few blind people own copies of these publications, so they are forced to go to an agency or library for the blind.  Tapes consume far less space, but since the data is stored linearly, searching for a particular reference may take just as long as locating a library for the blind and then traveling by bus to check out the braille version.  The answer to the reference challenge rests with a computer.  CD ROMs offer massive storage capability and instant retrieval.  Here again, speech synthesizers and braille displays both function very effectively for reading a reference once it's found, but the problem may come in sorting through multiple windows of lists that ultimately lead the reader to the desired reference.  I discuss this problem later when I talk about magazine ads and about web pages.
	Journal articles may require more concentration than magazine or newspaper articles.  More often than not, speech will be the preferred medium for speed, but blind people who use both braille and speech equally may choose to use braille when reading more thought-provoking articles.  Reading braille is a similar process to reading visually because speed is controlled by the reader's degree of comprehension.  An experienced speech user might listen at 400 words per minute or more, depending on the reading material.  The speech continues vocalizing until the user shuts it up.  This requires a conscious effort to enter a control command and then go back to re-listen to the thought-provoking sentence or phrase.  When reading visually or with braille, our brains automatically slow us down until the meaning registers and then automatically increases the speed again.  In other words, reading speed and comprehension automatically stay in sync.  Because the speed of speech is a function of mechanical settings and controls, comprehension and the current speed setting can get out-of-sync, causing the reader to stop and go back to review at a slower, more thoughtful pace.  Because each reader has varying degrees of knowledge, one reader may need to slow down at one point where another may race right through the same sentence.  Although the user can control the speed of synthesizers, those controls are not instantaneous as with vision or braille.  The brain may register the lack of comprehension just as quickly with the ear as with the eye or the finger.   However, the brain must then command the user to perform a mechanical function in order to alter the speech speed.  This may seem like a minor point to auditory-only readers, but it is major to those who use braille and speech equally.
	Notes taken in braille represent concrete references that are easily organized for efficient review.   Notes taken on tape are trapped in a linear continuum that is nearly impossible to organize and efficiently retrieve.  Computers or computerized notetakers are ideal for storing, retrieving and organizing notes and work equally well with speech or braille output.   Keep in mind that reviewing notes taken at a lecture is a different process from using notes to give a lecture.   It is generally easier to refer to something visually or in braille while simultaneously speaking than to hear and speak at the same time.  This gets back to our earlier discussion on the benefits of using multiple pathways to the brain.  Labels help organize our lives.  They aid in finding specific items quickly.  Tapes, CDs, connectors, control panels, print manuals, etc. all benefit from braille labels.  Even poor braille users benefit from these easily accessible markings.  Signs are essentially labels for larger entities, like buildings, rooms, streets, etc.  They are not easily accessible.  Little braille labels on or near such signs are virtually impossible to find and of little or no use.  Talking signs, on the other hand, announce what a sign says by sending the message to a hand-held receiver many feet away.  Talking signs also resolve the orientation issue of finding a sign because the receivers use line-of-sight infrared technology that only activates a spoken message when receiver is pointing in the general direction of the sign.  The clearer the reception, the more precise the line-of-sign.  Talking signs can even be programmed to provide more extensive explanations, such as the name of a store and its hours or the name of the BART station and which way to turn to find the stairway leading to the San Francisco track or the Berkeley track.
	Magazine ads and web pages have their own formats and visual peculiarities, fonts, colors, and juxtapositions, all adding subtle meaning or subliminal messages beyond the obvious textual message.  At times the text itself may seem deficient or confusing because so much of the message is linked to the overall visual layout.  Neither speech nor braille may be adequate for this purpose unless the text fonts can be interpreted in ASCII code.  Assuming the code includes information about screen attributes, such as colors and font size, the user can detect those attributes through pitch changes in speech or additional braille dots in braille.  Even then, other informational elements may be lost without a means to feel the spatial dimensions and characteristics of the screen.  Raised-line graphics can easily be produced using capsule paper, which is heat-sensitive.  By drawing, copying, or printing onto this paper, the black lines of the image swell when passed through a Tactile Image Enhancer (heater).  As with speech and braille, raised-line graphics alone may not enable full comprehension of a multi-faceted visual message, but the combination of all three media can dramatically improve a blind person's understanding.
	Charts, tables, graphs and maps also benefit from capsule paper technology.  Braille labels are very helpful additions when interpreting tactile graphics.  If the graphic is programmed into a touch-sensitive-talking-graphic-device, extensive amounts of audio information can be retrieved directly from the graphic by applying pressure to the areas of the graph requiring explanation.
	Spreadsheets are computer-based applications involving a complex matrix of relational data where the text or numbers in a given box are only meaningful if the reader knows both the line and the column in which the data resides.  For example, being off just one line or column might be the difference between arrival or departure times, or months of the year, or accounts 
payable or receivable.  The ability to know the headings of the lines and columns in which specific data appears is fundamental to using a spreadsheet.  Braille displays, especially 80 cell displays with additional status cells to monitor vertical positioning, are quite effective for this purpose because of the inherent spatial characteristics of braille.  Although not interactive, as is a braille display, hardcopy braille is even  better at providing vertical orientation.  The major problem here is that hardcopy braille is effective only if the spreadsheet fits onto a single page or a landscaped double or triple page.  Unfortunately, most spreadsheets are larger than this.  Although speech can be used to read spreadsheets, the constant review of coordinates as they relate to specific data is cumbersome and tedious.   
	 Ultimately, combining speech with braille is the most efficient and effective way of dealing with spreadsheets. Numbers, computer code, mathematics, and equations are generally easier to deal with in braille because the numbers and/or characters are fixed until the user chooses to proceed.  Speech, whether human or synthetic, can be ambiguous especially where there is no context on which to hang individual letters or numbers.  Successfully recognizing 3, T, E, P, B, D, C, Z, G, V, is completely dependent on the listener's ability to decipher the beginning consonant(s) when spoken.  Clearly, even minute errors in a phone number, software code, or a math calculation ultimately spell failure.  Braille is not ambiguous nor does it rely on memory to recall the string of numbers and/or letters.  Using speech with these applications is very dependent on the capacity of the reader's memory.  
	According to Alan Baddeley in his discussions on the brain in Grolier's Multimedia Encyclopedia "Short-term memory is the system used to remember information "in use," such as a telephone number while one is dialing it.  Whether or not short-term memory represents a separate system, it does have certain clearly defined characteristics.  It is limited in storage capacity: most people can repeat a 7-or-8-digit telephone number, but not 10 or 11 digits.  Short-term memory appears to be related to speech: a  string of similar-sounding consonants such as B G C V T P is less likely to be remembered correctly than a string of dissimilar consonants such as K G R W F L."
	Memory  There are several different types of memory that  presumably physically change in the brain.  The sensory pathways discussed earlier provide the input for these memories.  	 Looking at some of these forms of memory may help us to better understand why multiple sensory inputs can be better than just one.
	Long-term memory recalls information over hours, days, weeks, and years.  Short-term memory recalls information over seconds or minutes.  Verbal memory recalls language-related material.  Spatial memory recalls places or locations.  Declarative memory recalls facts accessible to conscious recollection.  Procedural memory recalls skills automatically, i.e., the movements required to type.  The belief that all of these forms of memory reside in different parts of the brain is verified by people who have suffered localized brain damage and lose one type of memory but not others.  Feeding as many pathways to the brain as possible creates a deeper and broader understanding of the information we access and aids retention.  Consciousness is the sum total result of all cortical areas of the brain and their connections.  Literacy is a means of expanding our consciousness.  We must take advantage of every option available to us to ensure that all forms of memory are working on our behalf.
	I strongly recommend reading the research report written by Ruby Ryles entitled "The Impact of Braille Reading Skills on Employment, Incomes, Education, and Reading Habits" published in the May-June 1996 issue of the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness and Blindness.  In addition to an enlightening bevy of employment and income statistics regarding braille readers versus non-braille readers, Dr.  Ryles makes it vitally clear that learning braille early in life has a profound impact on the availability of choices in a blind person's life.  
	Summary  Braille is not fundamentally better than speech or visa versa.  Even where learning styles and physical limitations affect a person's ability to use one medium or another, being open to combining any and all media to ensure deeper and broader comprehension is simply common sense.  Regardless of whether braille or speech is one's primary medium, using multiple sensory modes can keep a person refreshed and reduce the amount of fatigue associated with the constant use of only one sense.  Any blind person who has the tactile ability to learn braille must learn braille if he or she wants to benefit from the brain's breadth of capacity.  One does not need to be a fast braille user in order to benefit from its spatial advantages or its unambiguous presentation.  Verifying the spelling of a word, the accuracy of a number, the format of a document, or the label on a CD requires minimal braille skills and can save vast amounts of time and frustration.  By the same token, braille users must avail themselves of the advantages of speech.  Dr. Dean W. Tuttle, Professor Emeritus at the University of Northern Colorado wrote, "It is important to remind ourselves that what matters is not how a task is performed, but whether the goal is accomplished."  He goes on to note that, "To achieve the greatest access to materials, it is important for blind persons to have more than one literacy medium."  May we all heed Dr. Tuttle's message and embrace a senseable approach to enhancing our level of literacy and expanding our depth of consciousness.


	THE STRANGER

	submitted by Pam Rau from the Internet

    A very weird thing has happened.  A strange old lady has moved into my house.  I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in.  I certainly did not invite her.  All I know is that one day she wasn't there and the next day she was.
    She is a very clever old lady.  She manages to keep out of
sight for the most part but whenever I pass a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her.  And whenever I look in the mirror directly to check my appearance, there she is, hogging the whole thing and completely obliterating my gorgeous face and body.  This is very rude.  I have tried screaming at her to stop it, but she just screams back, grimacing horribly.  She is really quite frightening!
    If she insists on hanging around, the least she could do is offer to pay a little rent.  But, no!  Every once in a while I do find a dollar bill stuck into a coat pocket, or some loose change under a sofa cushion but that is not nearly enough.
    In fact, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think she
is stealing money from me.  I go to the ATM and withdraw $100 and a few days later it is all gone.  I certainly don't spend money that fast so I can only conclude that the old lady is pilfering from me.
    You would think she would use some of that money to buy some
wrinkle cream.  God knows she needs it! And money isn't the only thing I think she is taking.  Food seems to disappear at an alarming rate, too.  Especially the good stuff like ice cream, cookies, and candy.  I just can't seem to keep that stuff in the house any more.  She must really have a sweet tooth, but she better watch it because she is really packing on the pounds!  I think she realizes that and to make herself feel better, she is tampering with my scale to make me think that I am putting on weight, too.
    For an old lady, she really is quite childish, though.  She
likes to play these really nasty games like going into my closets when I'm not home and altering my clothes so that they don't fit.  Or messing with my files and papers so that I can't find them.  This is particularly annoying since I am an extremely neat and organized person.  She fiddles with my VCR to make it not record what I have carefully and correctly programmed it to record.  
	She has found other imaginative ways to annoy me.  She gets to my mail, newspapers, and magazines before I do and somehow blurs the print so badly that I can't see it.  And she has done something really sinister to the volume controls on my TV, radio, and telephone so that all I hear are mumbles and whispers. 
    She has done other things like make my stairs steeper, my vacuum cleaner heavier, and all my knobs and faucets hard to turn.  She even made my bed higher so that getting into and out of it is a real challenge.  Furthermore, she gets to my groceries before I get them put away and applies super glue to the
lids, making it almost impossible for me to open them.
    Is this any way to repay my hospitality?  I don't even get
any respite at night because more than once her snoring has awakened me.  It is very unattractive!  And as if that weren't bad enough, she is no longer confining her tactics to the house.  She has found a way to sneak into my car and follow me everywhere I go.  She has completely taken the fun out of shopping for clothes.  When I try something on, she tries on the same exact outfit and stands in front of the dressing room mirror and monopolizes it.  She looks totally ridiculous in the outfit and she keeps me from seeing how great it looks on me.
    Just when I thought she couldn't get any meaner, she proved
me wrong.  She came with me to get my drivers license picture taken; and just as the camera shutter clicked, she jumped right in front of me!  Who is going to believe that the picture of that old lady is me?
    She is walking on very thin ice now; and if she keeps this up, I swear I will have her put away!  But then, on second thought, maybe I shouldn't be too hasty.  I think I will check with the IRS and see if I can claim her as a dependent.  Oh, oh, I wonder if she has beat me to that first because she is always on my computer, too.


	IBM REACHES OUT TO BLIND WITH TALKING WEB BROWSER

	Somers, NY (Reuters)

	(Editor's note: This was sent to me anonymously, and I do not know where or when it originally appeared.)
	IBM Wednesday unveiled a talking web browser, opening the windows of the World Wide Web for blind and visually impaired computer users.  
	The world's largest computer maker said the new software, Home Page Reader for Windows, provides Internet access by speaking aloud the information found on a Web site.  
	The software retails for $149 and is available in English, along with the product's original Japanese version. 
	The software was developed with the help of a blind researcher from IBM's Tokyo Research Laboratory.
	Versions in other languages will be released this year.
	More than 850,000 individuals in the U.S. are blind, according to the National Federation of the Blind.
	Home Page Reader uses IBM's Via Voice Out Loud text-to-speech technology and Netscape Communications Corporation's Navigator to speak Web-based information.  A simple keypad allows blind users to interact with their computer and easily navigate the Internet, IBM said.


	CCB OFFICERS

President:  Catherine Skivers, 836 Resota Street, Hayward, CA 94545

First Vice President: Charles Nabarrete, 239 N. Walnut Haven Drive, West Covina 91790 

Second Vice President: Jeff Thom, 7414 Mooncrest Drive, Sacramento, CA 95831 

Secretary:  Kenneth Frasse, 141 Del Medio Ave., Apt. 223, Mountain View, CA 94040

Treasurer:  David Parker, 1600 Florida Street, Vallejo, CA 94590 

	CCB BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

Dr. Martin Jones, San Francisco
Jane Kardas, Ukiah 
Rhonda King, San Bernardino 
Patricia LaFrance, Temple City
Peter Pardini, Mill Valley
Roger Petersen, Mountain View
Mitch Pomerantz, Los Angeles 
Ahmad Rahman, Carson
Teddie Remhild, Anaheim
Eugene Lozano, Sacramento  

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

	CCB PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE



Joan Black, Chair: 4925 Coke Ave., Lakewood, CA 90712; 	562-630-2304

Bernice Kandarian, Vice Chair: 	2211 Latham St. #120	, Mountain 	       View, CA 94040; 415-969-1688

Ruth Dean: 1535 Westgate Ave., #4, Los Angeles, CA 90025; 		
310-826-8106

Winifred Downing: 1587 38th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94122; 		
415-564-5798

Brian Hall: 5722 Abraham Ave., Westminster, CA 92683; 714-894-3497 

Maria Lopez: 3925 E. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90023; 213-268-4526

Daveed Mandell: 2720 Del Monte ave., El Cerrito, CA 94530;   
510-236-8715

Teddie Remhild: 200 N. Gilbert, #3, Anaheim, CA 92801; 714-533-6051

Catherine Schmitt: 348 S. Prospectors Road, 	#9, 	Diamond Bar, CA 91765 909-861-1653

Connie Skeen: 3250 Maple Ave., Oakland, CA 94602; 510-532-7687


??



 

 





