THE BRAILLE EXAMINER Post-State Convention 2012 Editor: Connie J. Davis Co-Editor: Debbie Stein President: Patti Chang CONTACT INFORMATION President: Patti Chang, (773) 307-6440, pattichang@att.net Editor: Connie Davis, (773) 338-6922, connie.davis@rcn.com Co- Editor: Deborah Kent Stein, (773) 203-1394,dkent5817@att.net Formatting & Electronic Distribution: Connie Davis, (773) 338-6922, connie.davis@rcn.com Newsline® Edition: David Meyer, (708) 209-1767, datemeyer@ sbcglobal.net Limited Print Edition: Bill & Roberta Reif, billreif@ameritech.net Braille Edition: Leslie Hamric, lhamric390@comcast.net Proofreaders: Meg Dowell & Glenn Moore, Website: Byron Lee, webmaster, www.nfbofillinois.org, webmaster@nfbofillinois.org ANNOUNCEMENTS Articles and calendar postings should be submitted to Connie Davis at connie.davis@rcn.com. The Newsletter Committee will meet prior to the publication of each issue of the newsletter. Meetings will be announced on our e-mail listservs, posted to the NFBI calendar and on our website. Our meetings are open and new members are welcome. This newsletter is available in electronic format on our listservs, via e-mail, and on our website. It is also available on Newsline®. It is published in Braille and limited print edition for our donors as well. Postal mail, e-mail address and format changes should be sent to Connie Davis, connie.davis@rcn.com. Question or comments may be addressed with Connie, Debbie or Patti. BRAILLE READERS ARE LEADERS CONTEST (This is a post that appeared on NFBnet.net Members List, posted by David Andrews.) It's time to start reading! The reading period for the annual Braille Readers Are Leaders contest for adults begins November 1. Registration for the contest is now open! You can register at www.nfb.org/BRAL now through the end of the contest, January 4, 2013. The contest is for adults who read Braille. There are categories for all levels of Braille readers, from beginners to experts. Participants read for prizes, practice, and pleasure. Whether you love the competition or are spurred on simply because it's a great way to promote and refine your Braille skills, this contest is for you. For more information, you can check the Web site, www.nfb.org/BRAL. There you will find all the forms and reading logs you will need to participate. If you still have questions, please contact the Braille Readers Are Leaders team at (410) 659-9314, extension 2312, or BrailleReadersAreLeaders@nfb.org. Put your fingers to the paper and start recording what you are reading today! Braille Rocks, The Braille Readers Are Leaders Team MANNA CERTIFICATES ORDER DETAILS & DEADLINE by David Meyer The deadline for placing an order for our Manna Gift Certificates Fundraiser is December 2nd. The order will be placed on December 3rd. If you would like to place an order for certificates, please contact Dave Meyer by calling 708-606-7091 or by e-mailing datemeyer@sbcglobal.net. A complete certificate list has been posted to both of our listservs and on Newsline®. POST-CONVENTION 2012 PRESIDENTIAL REPORT by Patti Gregory-Chang As I write from Washington State, I think with excitement about the convention I am about to attend and review our recent convention in Illinois with pride. I begin with the numbers. We registered 149 people, almost one-third of them people, under the age of thirty. This involvement of young people bodes well for our future. Most of this newsletter will be devoted to convention, but I would like to note a couple of very important things here. First, our At Large Chapter has been issued a charter. We were all so busy during the convention that we forgot to present the charter at our banquet! Be assured that it was issued by our national office. Second, our Vendors Chapter met at convention. By all indications, a new charter will be issued soon for our Illinois Association of Blind Merchants. Now that convention is over, we can begin to work on our first Illinois BELL Program. We plan to conduct a Braille Enrichment for Literacy Program in Chicago next summer. If you wish to serve on the BELL Committee, please let me know. The NFBI board also approved a TVI/Parent seminar for next spring. This should feed students into the more intensive BELL program. We need people to work on this event as well. Even if you can't work during the days of the seminar, you can help with the planning and publicity. I will call on many of you. Please feel free to volunteer by calling me at (773) 307-6440 or e-mailing at pattichang@att.net. We want a good contingent of Illinois Federationists to attend Washington Seminar, which will be held February 2-4, 2013. Applications for Washington Seminar are now available. The 2013 NFB National Convention will take place July 1-6. Please mark your calendars. Convention will be held at the Rosen Center in Orlando, Florida. Please join us. WELCOME ILLINOIS VENDORS!!! by Mary Lou Grunwald On October 17th, The Illinois Association of Blind Merchants voted unanimously to become a chapter of NFBI. This has been a dream of mine for 35 years. That dream has finally come true. Many of my vendor colleagues have been attending state and national events over the past year, and I have had the honor and privilege of sharing all the exciting aspects of our organization with them. I have heard many positive responses. I am looking forward to seeing what new talents and abilities they will bring to NFBI. Welcome fellow vendors!!!! HOW TO KEEP YOUR NEWSLINE® SUBSCRIPTION by David Meyer Several weeks ago, our state president, Patti Chang, received a communiqué from Sharon Ruda of the Illinois Talking Book and Braille Service. The message detailed the process the library has undertaken to identify those who wish to keep or cancel their NewsLine® subscriptions. Since our convention I have learned that not all NewsLine® subscribers have received a survey or any other communications regarding their subscription. We are publishing Ms. Ruda's letter to inform Newsline subscribers before any decision is made on their behalf. If you wish to keep your NewsLine ® subscription, please call the Illinois Talking Book and Braille Service at 800-665-5576. Press 5 to get to the Talking Book and Braille Service, then ask for Debra Hurley. She will be glad to talk to you about this matter. Here is Sharon Ruda's letter to President Chang. Patti, Below is information you can share with NewsLine® subscribers. I think I have included all the information you requested. Please call if you have additional questions. Starting in November of 2011, the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service began to survey individuals who are subscribers to the NFB NewsLine®, a service sponsored and administrated [sic] by the Illinois State Library. Although this survey was approved by our Consumer Advisory Committee, we have learned that some people have questions regarding this project. This is a project we do every two or three years. We do this in conjunction with the annual review of Talking Book and Braille Service readers. Every year, according to National Library Service procedures, we review our Talking Book clients to remove from our program database anyone who is deceased, from whom we have received returned mail/location unknown, people who called and told us to cancel their service for a number of reasons, etc. We follow through and make changes regarding each situation. It is our administrative responsibility to keep our records as up-to-date as possible. Five attempts have been made to contact subscribers who have not responded to the survey. 1. A large print letter was sent to 1351 subscribers in November, 2011. We received 334 responses. A follow-up mailing was sent in March to those who did not respond. Beginning in July, staff at the Chicago office of the Illinois state library have been making calls to 689 subscribers who did not respond to the 2nd mailing. A response was required if the patron wished NewsLine ®. A voice message was left with instructions to call an 800 number if the individual wished to continue the subscription. 4. If phone numbers given to us by subscribers from our database were discontinued, additional sources including the national NewsLine ®) database record phone number, whitepages.com, personal contact numbers, etc. were used to attempt to reach the subscriber. 5. If we were unable to reach subscribers through the above process, the final attempt was through email. We are receiving responses from the email. If we are unable to communicate with people, after trying numerous times, they will be removed from the database. I'm sure you know, being deleted from the NewsLine list is not a problem. If someone is inadvertently deleted, a simple call gets him/her reinstated and at the same time allows us to update his/her record. Updating changes in address or telephone number is critical for any entity that administers a subscription program. It is the responsibility of the subscribers to keep their record up-to-date. If you move or get a cell phone and drop your land line, the ISLTBBC needs that information. An invaluable part of this survey is that David Meyer, our NewsLine® mentor, is getting lots of referrals to people who need his assistance and training. This is beneficial to those who answered our survey, noting that they found NewsLine® too hard to use or didn't know anything about it. The Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service understands how important NewsLine is to our patrons, and we are pleased that NewsLine will continue to enhance the lives of those who use the service. Sharon Ruda Associate Director Illinois State Library THE NFBI SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS OF 2012 by Deborah Kent Stein Last May the NFBI Scholarship Committee tackled the difficult task of selecting the 2012 scholarship winners from a pool of highly qualified candidates. Shortly after the winners were notified, the NFBI board voted to invite them to attend the NFB national convention. With only three weeks notice, three of the winners managed to arrange their busy schedules in order to spend a week in Dallas. Months before they received their awards, they began to learn about available resources, to bond with one another, and to absorb the NFB philosophy. Seven outstanding students were awarded NFBI scholarships at the NFB of Illinois convention banquet on October 6. Kenneth Jernigan schlarships of $1,250 went to Anthony Overhiser, a freshman at Loyola University planning to go to medical school; Ryan Parrey, a doctoral candidate in disability studies at the University of Chicago; Adrian Rodriguez, a pre-law freshman at Stanford University; and Gaia Iaccarino, who studies screenwriting and film at Scott Community College in Bettendorf, Iowa. Mary MadDill Knapheide Scholarships of $1,500 were awarded to Katie Leinum, a freshman at Southern Illinois University/Carbondale who plans to study architecture; and Brianna Lillyman, a freshman at Loyola University who hopes to attend law school. The Peter Grunwald Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 went to Megan Dowell. Meg is a junior at Olivet Nazarene University. She has a double major in English and Dietetics. As the winner of the Grunwald Scholarship, Meg Dowell had the opportunity to address the banquet. "I first want to say thank you so much to everyone who is here. I am so, so grateful," she said. "I would like to tell a story. I am a dietetics major, and I'm learning that it requires a lot of tasks I never thought I could push myself to do. One of my classes this semester is food science. It includes a lab that requires cooking--lots of cooking! That is something I do not have a lot of experience with. There are six kitchens in the lab, and in your kitchen you're part of a group of three. Each person has tasks to do during the lab to get the food prepared. "After the first lab I went to my instructor and said, 'I can't do this. I can't cook this food. I don't know what I'm doing.' And she said, 'We're going to let you do this by yourself so you can learn.' So this past Wednesday I was back in the lab. Part of the lab was to boil green beans. That's not hard, right? You put the pan on the stove and you turn the stove on. Well, I burned my green beans! As I was burning my green beans I turned on the fan and opened all the windows in the kitchen, and I took the beans and dumped them in a strainer in the sink. I thought, what am I doing? Then my instructor walked in and she said, 'What happened in here?' I said to her, 'I am never going to be a dietetics major! I burned my green beans! I can't even boil vegetables! I'm never going to be able to do this! I'm going to fail!' And she said, 'Meg, you can do anything. You just don't know it yet.' "With every green bean I'll ever burn, I will think of NFBI and what you all have blessed me with. You believed in me even before I was here. Thank you so much." CONVENTION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF FIRST-TIMERS A First Timers Perspective By: Ed Birmingham Usually the first weekend in October means high school and college football along with the beginning of baseball playoffs. However, this year would be different. Approximately twenty Randolph-Sheppard Vendors, along with spouses and grandkids, attended our first ever National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Convention. President Patti Gregory-Chang was kind enough to include the Vendors in the Convention agenda. John Gordon, who is the Chairman of the Illinois Committee of Blind Vendors and I were asked to speak briefly at the student luncheon. We also took part in a panel discussion on the Randolph–Sheppard Program with our colleagues, Jesse Rogers and National Association of Blind Merchants President, Nicky Gacos. Raven Pulliam, Administrator for the Business Enterprise Program for the Blind, rounded out the panel. We discussed many issues concerning blind entrepreneurs. The highlight of the weekend for me, personally, was getting the opportunity to listen and learn from all of those involved in the Student Division. I cannot put into words how impressed I was with these young men and women. I also enjoyed National Representative Carl Jacobsen’s keynote address at the banquet Saturday night. I thought Carl delivered a very inspiring message as did so many others before him. As President of the Illinois Association of Blind Merchants, I would like to speak for our entire membership when I tell you that we are ecstatic to be a Division of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois and a proud Affiliate of the National Association of Blind Merchants. We look forward to working collaboratively on issues that affect us all. A FIRST TIMER'S PERSPECTIVE by Linda Hendle As a first-time attendee, I found convention to be very exciting, informative, and fun. Not only did I catch a much-needed getaway, but I also listened to many inspiring speakers such as Carl Jacobsen. He spoke about how he overcame his struggles as a blind person and became a national Rep for NFB. There were the phenomenal high school and college students, who spoke of their efforts and triumphs as blind people. I was inspired by their confidence. I attended both the IABS luncheon and breakfast. I especially liked Karen Anderson's story of how she thought she had it all figured out about mobility and discovered in her last year of college that she needed travel training. I also liked Meg Dowell's story of how she was not discouraged by burning the green beans in cooking class. Her teacher told her not to worry, that she could do anything she wanted, she just didn't know it yet. Then there were the high school students from Freedom Link--Hannah, Dijana, Alexa, and Josh. They spoke of how far they had come since joining the program. I loved Braille Is Beautiful. It really encouraged me. I like and use Braille more since I joined the LIFE group with Bob Gardner. The banquet was an amazing experience, too. When I lost my sight eight and a half years ago, after having glaucoma for thirty-five years, I was devastated. I didn't know my life could change for the better, but it has. I have met wonderful people in the NFB, and especially at this convention. People cared and wanted to help me become more independent. I was very nervous about going to convention, because I had not been away from home since I completely lost my sight. However, as convention got closer, the nervousness turned into excitement, and I couldn't wait to get there. After the banquet a good friend encouraged me to travel back to my room alone. After having done it with someone several times, I said, "Why not?" I was reluctant, but I did find my way. I'm so glad I did it! Since I do not live geographically close to a chapter, I belong to the At Large Chapter. It is so easy to attend meetings! I just pick up the phone. I have also renewed friendships with some people I went to school with because they belong to the NFB. Now I have old and new friends in the same organization. I know I still have a long way to go, but attending convention helped boost my confidence. As Megan's teacher said, "You can do anything you want. You just don't know it yet." Thank you, NFB! INNOVATION by Michael Pickerill Presented at the Parents' Breakfast, October 6, 2012 Good morning. My name is Michael Pickerill. I am eleven years old, and I live in Mount Olive, Illinois. I am in the sixth grade at Mount Olive Grade School. My blindness is the result of Septual Optic Dysplasia. I applied and was accepted as one of thirty students to attend Project Innovation. Twenty Junior Innovators, age seven to thirteen, and ten Senior Innovators, age fourteen through twenty, were given the task of exploring, designing, and experimenting on subjects of their interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Eight weeks before we met at the NFB Center in Baltimore, Maryland, I began to have weekly assignments that I had to record in an investigation journal. I decided to use the Evernote App to record audio notes to share with the NFB staff and the other innovators. For the first four weeks I investigated designing a goalball app for the iPhone. I wanted the app to have a goalball game that users could play and to have the rules and history of goalball. I also wanted to link to the 2012 Paralympics in London, where goalball is an international event. I soon found out that I did not have the necessary skills to write computer code, and for me to get those skills would take more time than was allowed. I went on a website called sciencebuddies.org and did an interest inventory. I decided to build a hovercraft, based on the results. I found that Sir Christopher Cockerell invented the hovercraft in the 1950s. I found a design and instructions online. The hovercraft had a skirt, and some of the air from the skirt goes directly under it to give more lift. Hovercraft are used in emergencies around water. I downloaded the materials list to the NFB staff so I would be able to build when I got to Baltimore. We drove to Baltimore and the NFB provided our meals. We stayed in dorms on site. It took three tries to succeed with my project. First we popped the inner tube with the skirt, and the craft couldn't be lifted into the air. In Baltimore we got to use some talking science equipment, and we even went rock climbing. We got to sit in the Blind Challenge car with Mark Riccobono, the driver. The parents had a workshop and wore eye shields. Mom thought that was scary! The parents learned a lot of cool little things. We went to the Innovation Fair and saw projects from different fields. Thank you for letting me talk about Project Innovation. BRAILLE IS BEAUTIFUL by Deborah Kent Stein "Let's think of a way to demonstrate what fluent Braille reading is really like." The suggestion came from Annette Grove at an NFBI board meeting in 2003. Brainstorming around Annette's idea led to the first Braille Is Beautiful event, a dramatic reading using Braille scripts, at an NFB of Illinois convention. We wanted to show that reading Braille need not be a dreary and laborious exercise. Year after year, the Braille Is Beautiful cast has proven that Braille can be read with flair and for sheer pleasure. Braille Is Beautiful started on a small scale. That first year I carried a bundle of scripts onto the train bound for Springfield, where our convention was to take place. I walked from car to car and invited every Braille-reading Federationist I met to read in that night's performance. Seven readers accepted the challenge. Completely unrehearsed, that first intrepid cast gave a public reading of James Thurber's humorous short story, "File and Forget." Like many convention features, Braille Is Beautiful grew and evolved over the years. In 2005 the reading of Robert MacBrearty's story "First Day," about a new employee's harrowing initiation to the workplace, became available online as part of the convention audio archive. In the next year or two, music and sound effects began to enhance the performances. Since 2007 casting has been done weeks in advance, and two rehearsals have been held via teleconference prior to the reading at convention. In the first years, Braille Is Beautiful showcased our most fluent readers, most of them people who learned Braille in early childhood. In recent years, however, newer Braille readers also have taken part. Braille Is Beautiful gives readers at any level the opportunity to show off their accomplishments as they help bring a play to life before an audience. It is true family entertainment, a venue where adults, teens, and children participate together. Material for Braille Is Beautiful has come from many literary traditions. Selections have included The Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov, "The Stolen White Elephant" by Mark Twain, Nikolai Gogol's The Inspector General, and O. Henry's Short Stories, "The Ransom of Red Chief." In 2009, to celebrate the two hundredth birthday of Louis Braille, Braille Is Beautiful was granted a premier spot on the convention agenda. Twelve readers performed an original script based on James Thurber's fantasy, The Thirteen Clocks. The reading at the 2012 convention was The Imaginary Invalid by the seventeenth-century French playwright Molière. If you have a suggestion for a Braille Is Beautiful play, or if you would like to read at convention in 2013, please contact me at dkent5817@att.net or (773) 203-1394. FOCUS ON PARENTS by Deborah Kent Stein Over the past few years, activities for parents, children, and teens have become an integral part of the NFB of Illinois convention. Nine families of blind children attended the 2012 NFBI convention. The first event geared for parents was the Parents' Breakfast on Saturday morning. Breakfast was served at seven AM. Undaunted by the early hour, a group of parents gathered to listen to the program as they enjoyed eggs and coffee. After President Patti Gregory-Chang delivered a warm welcome, Mindy Jacobsen from New York spoke about the ways her parents helped her grow up to be a confident, successful blind adult. Eleven-year-old Michael Pickerill described his experiences with Project Innovation (his presentation appears elsewhere in this issue). Thirteen-year-old Zach Carr, a winner of the National Writers Division Poetry Contest, spoke about his life as a blind middle-school student. Most of the parents attended the first hour of the Student Luncheon so they could hear several of the presentations, including the introductions by the 2012 scholarship winners. Then the parents crossed the hall for the Parents' Luncheon. The luncheon program featured a talk by Stephanie Provence, a Braille teacher at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired (ISVI). More than twenty of Ms. Provence's students entered the 2011-2012 Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest. Two Braille Readers Are Leaders contestants, Chris Mankowski and Shelley McGrath-Myers, spoke about their participation and how it encouraged them to read more Braille. The final segment of the luncheon program was a discussion based on the Pop-up IEP. The Pop-up IEP is an online resource developed by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) and the National Center for Low Incidence Disabilities (NCLID) at the University of Northern Colorado. It consists of a series of problematic statements often made by school personnel during IEP meetings, such as, "You can't expect the teacher to describe everything to your child" and "Your child is too young to use a cane." Each statement is followed by possible responses, based on disability law. My co-leader for this segment was Sariah Mattinson, the mother of a blind four-year-old. We selected several statements and used them to spark an exchange of ideas. Many features of the general sessions and the banquet also were of high interest to parents. These included a talk by Senior Innovator Katie Leinum of Project Innovation; the presentation of two Excellence in Teaching Blind Students Awards by the Illinois Association of Blind Students (IABS); and talks by four members of Freedom Link, NFBI's transitions program for blind teens. But for parents, as for so many conventioneers, the most important aspect of convention is meeting and networking with other people. As one parent commented, "I'm finding out how much there is for me to learn, and how much the NFB can teach me. I know I'll be back." AT LARGE EVENTS by Leslie Hamric On Friday night of convention, the NFBI At Large Chapter hosted a dinner for all of our members in attendance. Six people in total attended the meal. We ordered subs and drinks from the Village Pizza. A wonderful time was had by all. Just like any other chapter in the state, the At Large Chapter holds regular monthly meetings. We meet on the first Sunday of the month at 7:00 PM via teleconference. Meetings last an hour and a half. During the meeting, we play the National Presidential Release, read and approve minutes, and have a program. If you want to know more about our chapter or our programs, please join us on the first Sunday of the month at 7:00 PM. The phone number is 218-936-1200. We use the pass code 6324, which stands for NFBI. All are welcome, and we look forward to meeting you. Together, we can change what it means to be blind. HAVING A BALL AT KIDS KAMP by Francisco Chang, RN, BSN, AACC, CCRN, CVRN Everybody had a ball at Kids Kamp. In fact, Let's Have a Ball was this year's theme. Most of the activities were focused on baseball. Kids Kamp this year served four children, three blind and one sighted. There were two boys, ages ten and eleven, and two girls, ages five and ten. As a crafts project the kids made pennants. Later they watched an audio-described movie about Arthur making the team and hopped to baseball theme songs led by Dave Meyer and Cathy Randall. Bill Reif read a story called "Babe Ruth Saves Baseball." The highlight of the day was the game of string ball, in which the players pitch and bat a ball back and forth. It took a little while for the kids to get the hang of it, but toward the end they were clamoring for more. Another popular activity was face painting, directed by Teacher of Tomorrow Brian Moles. One boy elected to have his face painted as a clown, and one chose to be a scary zombie. One of the girls wanted to be a butterfly princess. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped make Kids Camp safe, successful and fun, for both adults and children. IABS IN REVIEW by Rose Sloan October was a busy month for the Illinois Association of Blind Students! It all started off on Friday, October 5, at the NFBI state convention in Chicago. IABS hosted the annual IABS Idol event, at which Gaia Iaccarino was crowned the champion. Special thanks go out to Anil Lewis, Jason Meddaugh and Nicky Gacos for being wonderful judges. Among the highlights was a performance of a song called "NFB," sung to the tune of the Beatles song "Let It Be" by affiliate president Patti Chang; Director of BLIND, Inc., Shawn Mayo; and IABS board members Rose Sloan and Julia Chang. Chicago Chapter President Dave Meyer managed to upset Chicago Cubs fans by singing a parody, "The Cubs Have Lost a Hundred Games, Hooray, Hooray." The baseball theme was continued by the Four Rivers Chapter, which happily sang a Cardinals rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Finally, the At Large Chapter was crowned winner of the Battle of the Chapters with its fantastic rendition of "Sixteen Tons." Everyone is looking forward to seeing what At Large will pick as the theme for IABS Idol 2013. IABS also hosted its annual Student Luncheon at the state convention. Highlights of the luncheon included NABS Vice-President Karen Anderson, giving the keynote speech; the chairman of the Illinois Committee on Blind Vendors, John Gordon and President of the Illinois Association of Blind Merchants, Ed Birmingham, giving a presentation about the importance of internships. Finally, the members of the NFB of Illinois scholarship class introduced themselves. Congratulations go out to Meg Dowell, Katie Leinum, Bri Lillyman, Anthony Overhiser, Adrian Rodriguez, Ryan Parrey, and Gaia Iaccarino. Later that day, at the banquet, IABS proudly awarded Kelly Gagen and Summer Porter with Excellence in Teaching Blind Students Awards. Ronza Othman was stunned to be awarded the IABS Service Award. On the final day of state convention, IABS held its annual face-to-face business meeting. At the meeting, members elected the board for the 2012-2014 term. Congratulations go out to President Rose Sloan, First Vice-President Chris Jeckel, Second Vice-President Bri Lillyman, Secretary Julia Chang, Treasurer Meg Dowell, and board members Debbie Stein, Katie Leinum, James Dickman, and Ryan Parrey. Finally, IABS had its first meeting of the new term. The Membership and Outreach Committee and the Mentoring committee were formed. James Dickman will chair the Membership and Outreach Committee and Bri Lillyman will chair the Mentoring Committee. IABS participated in the Disability Resource Fair at Loyola University in Chicago on Monday, November 5th. Members staffed a table, and recruited some new members! If you are interested in IABS, you are invited to attend the next meeting on Sunday, Nov. 11th at 7 PM Central. Call 218-936-1200 and input code IABS (4227). CONVENTION RESOLUTIONS 2012 by Steve Hastalis   This year, the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois unanimously adopted two resolutions at its state convention.  The first commends Equip for Equality for their continuing effort to ensure a smooth voting process for those who wish to vote independently.  The second calls upon the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) to continue the tradition of non-visual access in all transactions related to managing and using fare media of Chicago area transit systems. It additionally calls upon the RTA and its Service Boards to consult with the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois, to ensure that these "Open Standards Fare Media," including Ventra, and related equipment -- ticket vending machines, turnstiles and fare boxes -- be independently accessible to and usable by blind and visually impaired persons. TECH TIP Improving the Speech Response of Your Screen Reader by Bob Gardner Does the speech on your PC’s screen reader seem to drag a little? Does the speech seem to lag behind your typing? Although this is not a problem on all computers, I have seen it on some. To make the speech response of your sound card to be the best it can be, do the following: 1. Go to the control panel, then to “sounds,” and click on that. 2. You should end up on “speakers.” Then hit the applications key on your computer or the right mouse key to get a context menu. 3. Go to “properties” on the context menu and click on that. 4. Go through the resulting tabs 'till you get to “enhancements” tab. 5. Tab till you get to “disable all enhancements.” Check that. 6. Tab to “okay,” then continue tabbing to get a second “okay,” hitting the enter key both times. The speech coming out of your screen reader now should be real snappy, easily keeping up with your typing. Note that making the above change will probably result in a lower volume, so you will have to readjust that. POEM "Misunderstood" By Patrick Olson Face the fury of haters, They are the instigators, Regardless what they say, Be positive anyway, So people believe you are unintelligent, They are unknowing and ignorant, Show them how you really are, Being rude will not show your true caliber, So the world thinks less of you, No matter what, be you and stay true, Being depressed or oppressed will make you lose sight, Find strength and keep your might, Whatever people say about you, Reacting in the same manner is beneath you, You are worthwhile, So don’t ruin your personality or style, Regardless how you have been mistreated, Never decide to be defeated, Expect more from who you are, And you will go far, Let go what other people think, Their opinion shall not put you on the brink, Do not start insults, violence, or frown, Stay cool and calm down, No matter race, class, gender, disability, sexuality, situation, or neighborhood, We have all been misunderstood, It’s important to build humanity, NFBI CALENDAR NOVEMBER--FEBRUARY November December 1--7:00-8:30--At Large Chapter Meeting, Via Conference Call, 218-936-1200, code 6324 1--All Day--Deadline for applying for Chappell Fund Assistance to Washington Seminar 8--11:00-2:00--Four Rivers Chapter Christmas Party, Vito's Italian Restaurant, Belleville, Illinois 11:30-4:30--Chicago Chapter Meeting and Christmas Auction, Exchequer Pub, 226 S. Wabash, Chicago, IL 5:00-7:00--Blackhawk Chapter Christmas Party, Christ United Methodist Church, 3801 7th Street in East Moline January 5--10:00-12:00--Heartland Kankakee Chapter Meeting, Bourbonnais Public Library, 250 W. John Casey Drive, Bourbonnais 6--At Large Chapter Meeting, Via Conference Call, 218-936-1200, code 6324 12--11:30-1:00--Four Rivers Chapter Meeting, Belleville Public Library, 3414 W. Main Street Belleville, Illinois 1:00-3:30-- Chicago Chapter Meeting, Exchequer Pub, 226 S. Wabash, Chicago, IL 1:30-3:30--Blackhawk Chapter Meeting, South Moline Township Center at 637 17th. Avenue in East Moline February 1--Heartland Kankakee Chapter Meeting, Bourbonnais Public Library, 250 W. John Casey Drive, Bourbonnais 2--7:00-8:30--At Large Chapter Meeting, Via Conference Call, 218-936-1200, code 6324 4-7 Washington Seminar, Holiday Inn Capitol Hotel, Washington DC 8---11:30-1:00--Four Rivers Chapter Meeting, Belleville Public Library, 3414 W. Main Street Belleville, Illinois 1:00-3:30-- Chicago Chapter Meeting, Exchequer Pub, 226 S. Wabash, Chicago, IL 1:30-3:30--Blackhawk Chapter Meeting, South Moline Township Center at 637 17th. Avenue in East Moline