[Iabs-talk] chicago minutes march 2014

Tue Apr 29 19:47:03 UTC 2014

I approve the minutes


On 4/29/2014 11:45 AM, David Meyer wrote:
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> NFBI CHICAGO CHAPTER
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> March 8, 2014
>
> Exchequer Pub and Restaurant
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> 226 S. Wabash, Chicago
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> CALL TO ORDER
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> Chicago Chapter President David Meyer called the meeting to order at 1:00
> PM.  Thirty-four people were present, including new member Allen Graham,
> returning member Shannetta Winston, and two people from northwest Indiana.
>
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> PROGRAM
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> The program was a discussion of an article from the Braille Monitor called
> "Santa's Little Helper" by Darryl Kirby. Discussion focused on contradictory
> myths about blindness: that it is better to be born blind, and that it is
> better to have experienced sight. Denise Avant pointed out that the most
> important factor in a person's adjustment to blindness is good training and
> mastery of skills.
>
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> LEGISLATIVE REPORT
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> Glenn Moore and Patti Chang presented a report on legislative activities.
>
> Glenn urged everyone to visit his/her representative in the next few months
> to talk about our issues.  We have factsheets on our three current concerns:
>
>
> HR 831, the Fair Wages for People with Disabilities Act; HR 3505, the TEACH
> Act, which creates guidelines for publishers to develop accessible
> educational materials; and the Air Carrier Technology Accessibility Act to
> provide access to in-flight services.  S 4060 is the Senate version of the
> air accessibility bill.  Form letters to representatives have been posted on
> IL-Talk.  We also post legislative updates from the national office.  Glenn
> asked who is willing to visit congressional offices.  Jemal Powell will
> visit Robin Kemp.  Mary Grunwald and Dave Meyer will go to Danny Davis.
>
> Denise Avant and Robert Hansen will go to Mike Quigley.  Patti Chang, Steve
> Hastalis, Bob Widman, and Don Jordan will go to Jan Schakowsky.  Margaret
> James will go with Debbie Pittman to visit Bobby Rush.  Shannetta Winston,
> Hilda Sandifor, and Michal Nowicki will call Glenn to find out who their
> reps are. Gary Jones and Jemal Powell will see Foster.  Patti will think of
> someone for Ed Birmingham to visit.  Dave Meyer will go to Lopinski.  Ken
> Staley and Debbie Stein will go to Gutierrez.  Glenn's number is 8 4 7-8 9
> 9-9 8 0 1.  Dave Meyer will help people get onto the IL-Talk mailing list.
>
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> PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE
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> President Marc Maurer reported that the Action Fund has produced an updated
> version of the Handbook of Braille Contractions. It does not include the UEB
> changes, however. It is available at the Independence Market, and the
> braille version can be downloaded for free from the Action Fund website. The
> NFB is launching a contest to develop a new NFB song for the seventy-fifth
> anniversary. The contest runs from March 1 to July 13, 2014. Submit a
> recording to nfbsong at nfb.org. The song must be original. Members will vote
> on the finalists. If you have questions, contact Gabe Cazares at
> gcazares at nfbtx.org. You can now register for national convention online. It
> saves time at convention and it is less expensive if you pre-register. Dr.
>
> Maurer is working on the agenda, and hopes to have it ready by the end of
> April. He urged people to get their ideas to him as soon as possible. Dr.
>
> Maurer corrected an error from the past release--Dan Wenzel is not yet
> director of BLIND Inc. He is in training to become the next director, but
> the director currently is Dick Davis. President Obama made an executive
> order on February 12, and Dr. Maurer was invited to the signing ceremony.
>
> The executive order says that the minimum wage for work on certain federal
> contracts will be $10 an hour. The order specifically includes persons with
> disabilities. The deadline for national scholarship applications is March
> 31. The Imagination Fund, chaired by Anil Lewis, is a way to raise money at
> the state and national levels. The goal is to raise $300,000 in the next
> three months. Imagination Fund pages will be created for each affiliate. The
> NFB applauds a settlement agreement with PARCC ensuring that blind students
> will be included in pilot testing. The TEACH Act has been introduced in the
> Senate. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.-MA) and Sen. Oren Hatch (R-UT) have agreed
> to sponsor the bill.
>
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> DICK's LAST RESORT
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> Patti Chang announced that thirty-nine people have signed up for our
> fundraiser at Dick's Last Resort.  We need forty to meet our goal.  The
> event will take place at 315 N. Dearborn on March 13.
>
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>
> STATE REPORT
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> Patti Chang reminded everyone that our next state board meeting will be held
> on March 20.  Board meetings are open to all and are held by teleconference
> at 8 0 5-3 6 0-1 0 0 0 with the pass code 6324 (NFBI).  The concurrent
> spring seminars for teachers, parents, and students will take place April 4
> and 5.
>
> There will not be a chapter meeting in April.  Registration for the seminars
> can take place online.  Registration for national convention in Orlando is
> now open.  Convention will take place July 1-6.  Our face-to-face board
> meeting will be held at the Naperville Marriott Hotel on August 30.
>
> Certificates for the Marriott are available through our certificates
> program, and we get 9 percent.  The number for the Rosen Centre Hotel, for
> national convention, is 8 0 0-2 0 4-7 2 3 4.  Patti thanked Byron Lee for
> his help setting up our online registration.  State and national scholarship
> applications are due March 31.  We will do two BELL programs this year.  The
> one in Chicago will take place in late June, and the one in Bloomington will
> be in late July.  There are two ways to help pay for national and state
> conventions.  The Jernigan Fund is a national fund to provide assistance to
> people attending national convention, particularly first timers.
>
> Applications are due April 15, and people must contact Patti Chang for a
> letter of recommendation.  Applications for the Chappell Memorial Fund, for
> state assistance, are due May 1.
>
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>
> OUTREACH
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>
> Chicago State University is holding a disability awareness day on April 30.
>
> Dave Meyer will be there.  He asked for volunteers, and Jemal Powell,
> Margaret James, and Hilda Sandifor volunteered to help.
>
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> FUNDRAISING
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>
> Dave Meyer explained that we can have a candy sale only if we have enough
> orders to avoid delivery fees.  Great American Opportunities has not
> returned calls yet.  DMI still has Fanny May variety packs with 50 $1 bars
> to a case.  We need to sell at least thirty-two cases to avoid paying
> postage.  Many of our resources for sales have disappeared.  Dave will have
> to place orders by August to have candy available in September.  The chapter
> voted to hold the sale if we can get people to take thirty-two cases by
> August.  Ken Staley made a challenge that he will put $200 in the treasury
> if we sell 1600 candy bars.  Dave challenged the rest of the chapter to sell
>
> 150 percent of what Ken Staley sells.  Ken announced that we will have a
> Beggars Pizza Day on April 23.  If you present a coupon, 20 percent of what
> you spend goes to the chapter.  We will sell tickets to the Sox-Twins game
> on August 2 for $25.  The chapter voted to acquire seventy-five tickets for
> sale.
>
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> SECRETARYs MINUTES
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> The minutes for the February 8 meeting were approved.
>
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> NEW BUSINESS
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> There will be a chapter board meeting on March 9 at 6 PM via the conference
> line.  Call 8 0 5-3 6 0-1 0 0 0, pass code CHICAGO (244-2246.  Jemal
> announced that there will be a Transportation Committee meeting on March 18
> at 7.  It will use the same conference line with the code TRANSIT, 872-6748.
> The Membership Renewal Committee also will meet on March 18 at 7, using the
> same conference line with the code MEMB, 6362.  Gary Jones announced that
> the Blue Line will begin construction on March 21, causing lots of weekend
> delays.
>
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> ADJOURNMENT
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> The meeting was adjourned at 2:49 PM.
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> Respectfully submitted,
>
> Debbie Stein, Secretary
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>
> David Meyer, NFB of Illinois
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> Coordinator and channel administrator, NFB-NewsLine
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> Chicago Chapter President
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>
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