[Iabs-talk] Chicago minutes January 2016

Tue Jan 26 14:32:37 UTC 2016

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF ILLINOIS CHICAGO CHAPTER

MINUTES FOR MEETING OF JANUARY 9, 2016

At 1:04 P.M., First Vice-President Patti Chang called to order the January
2016 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Chicago
Chapter.

Introductions and Federation news

Initial introductions confirmed that 25 members were present. In Federation
news, Teresa Meyer has a surgery scheduled for her ovarian cancer. The date
is January 21 and the place is MacNeal Hospital. Joan Porter has a sister
who is currently in intensive care. Former Illinoisan Kitty Weis sister
passed away earlier on the morning of January 9. Mary Grunwald is continuing
to recover from an illness. Her appearance at the meeting was the first time
she was out of the house in two months. Adrienne Falconer's mother passed
away in December.

Program

Jemal Powell presented the program item which was Be All you can Be, an NFB
thought provoker by Robert Leslie Newman. Gina Falvo read the item. The
primary question of this thought provoker was, should one with partial
vision use a cane or not? Following the thought provoker, a discussion took
place where participants talked about how they came to use the cane, how
they resisted the use of the cane and finally, advantages and disadvantages
brought about by the cane.

Secretaries Report

It was moved and seconded to approve minutes from the December 2015 meeting.
The motion carried without descent.

Treasurers Report

Steve Hastalis, Chicago Chapter treasurer gave the fourth quarter report for
2015. Beginning balance, October 1, $6,738. Income, $2,476. Expenses,
$2,580. Balance, December 31, 2015, $6,634. The report was approved as
presented.

Presidential Reports

National Presidential Release: National Federation of the Blind president
Mark Riccobono reported on the following items. The National convention is
coming up. Those wishing to attend may register to reserve a room, call the
Rosen Shingle Creek Resort at 866-996-6338.Room rates are $83 for singles
and doubles, $89 for triples and quads, excluding tax. One must make a $95
deposit when booking a room. If one needs to cancel, they will receive a
partial refund if the cancellation occurs before May 25. If one cancels
after that date, no refund will be forthcoming. On January 4, the new UEB
code became the standard for literary braille. In the United States, Nemeth
code is continuing to be used for mathematics. President Riccobono reminded
us that we need to advocate for this arrangement. Some states are
implementing the changes in braille in such a way that individual school
districts get to decide whether to use Nemeth code or the UEB Mathematics
code. We need the uniform standard mentioned above. Volunteers are needed to
field test kiosks in Social Security offices to see if they are accessible
as Social security claims. If you are interested in this project, please
contact Valerie Yingling at 410-659-9314. The Washington seminar will kick
off with the Grate Gathering In meeting which will occur at 5:00 P.M. on
Monday, January 25. There will be a reception for congressmen scheduled at
5:00 P.M. at the Dirksen Senate Building. Scheduled appointments should be
mailed into the National Office at hillappointments at nfb.org. The four issues
for this year are the Time Act, the Accessible Materials for students in
higher education, (aimhi Act), the Space available bill and the ratification
of the Marrakesh treaty. Those attending the Washington Seminar will have a
chance to see a prototype of the Transforming Braille Display. This unit is
a 20 cell braille display which may be used along with a computer. The
anticipated cost for this item is $500. In her membership minute, Danielle
Travino encouraged local chapters to invite congressional representatives to
speak to them whenever possible. 

Following the Presidential Release, Patti Chang asked that everyone who has
checks from the state affiliate, or needs to make good on a pledge, please
do so, so that she may complete bookwork for the year 2015.

State Presidential Report

State President Denise Avant reported on the following items. Melissa
Fuller, one of our new members got Congressman Danny Davis to be a cosponsor
of the Time act. She will also be a member of the CTA ADA Advisory
Committee. Andrew Webb is now the chairman of the Blind Services Planning
Council. The four Chicago Chapter members that will be attending Washington
Seminar will be Melissa Fuller, Steve Hastalis, Jemal Powell and Syed
Yusafudden. Our Spring seminar for teachers, parents and students will take
place on April 15-16 at the Marriott Midway Hotel. The keynote speaker will
be Carton Walker from the Jernigan Institute. Anyone wishing to go to
convention may apply to the Chappell-Dennis fund for assistance.
Applications must be sent to President Avant by May 1.First time attendees
may apply to the Jernigan fund for assistance. Denise must have those
applications by March 31. All of us were encouraged to read the Braille
Monitor to stay informed about the Federation. This magazine may be accessed
in a number of different ways including NewsLine, the NFB iPhone ap, the NFB
website, 

On a thumb drive which may be plugged into a digital talking book machine.
You must send the thumb drive back to the National office each time you
complete the magazine. Patti Chang talked about the Bell Academy. We will
have two sessions, one in Springfield and one in Chicago. The Springfield
session will begin July 11-15. The Chicago program will begin July 25 and
run through the first week in August. Amy Lund will select the volunteers
for this program. Amy Lund and Samantha Vole will again be the program
teachers. The state convention will take place October 28-30 at the
Naperville Marriott Hotel. Rates will be $10-4 per night. There will be two
certificate orders this year. They will take place in May and September. All
were encouraged to take part in this fundraiser. We will also have two
raffles. One will be an instant type of raffle and the other will be a
raffle similar to the ones which took place over the past two years.

Chicago fundraising

Patti Chang mentioned that she has not been able to establish contact with
Dicks Last Resort this year. If we get a contract for Dicks last resort. We
will likely have a beggars Eat and Earn fundraiser in April. Howard Wilson
will coordinate this event. We will plan to do a White Sox game this summer.
We should be able to pick a date either at the March meeting or the May
meeting. Patti then demonstrated Federation 4 of a kind, a dice game which
can be played at each meeting. 

There was no old business.

New Business: David Meyer mentioned that the Washington Seminar fact sheets
are now on NewsLine. The next CTA ADA Advisory Committee meeting will occur
at CTA headquarters on Monday, January 11 with the meeting beginning at 1:30
P.M. Denise Avant mentioned our state and national scholarship programs.
Please let anyone know about these programs who are a student. Applications
must be in for both programs on March 31.

The Pace ADA Advisory Committee will take place on January 25 at Willis
Tower. The state Membership Committee and the Spring Seminar committee will
both meet on Monday, January 11. Codes are for Membership "memb" with the
spring seminar committee code being parent. The public relations committee
will meet on Wednesday, January 13. The code for that meeting is "pril."

The meeting was adjourned at 3:24 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted,

David Meyer, Secretary

David Meyer, NFB of Illinois

Coordinator and Channel Administrator, NFB-NewsLine