[Mn-at-large] Fwd: NFB President’s Notebook - week of 12/ 10/2018

David Andrews dandrews at visi.com
Tue Dec 11 03:31:05 UTC 2018 

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>President's Notebook
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>Mark A. Riccobono
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><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>410-659-9314
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>Dear Fellow Federationists,
>
>In and among all of the holiday parties, it is 
>good to remind ourselves how fortunate we are to 
>have the strong bond of family we have in this 
>organization. This weekend I was at a robotics 
>tournament with my son and I was listening to 
>some of the other parents discuss the internal 
>politics of the charter school and the board of 
>directors. It occurred to me that some of the 
>problems being batted around were very similar 
>to some of the issues we deal with in our 
>affiliates, in terms of trying to balance all of 
>the competing factors within the organization. 
>It did give me some satisfaction to know that it 
>is not only our organization that deals with 
>these things. It also gave me a sense of pride 
>that we have a strong bond of friendship that 
>makes it possible for us to get so much 
>accomplished. In this special time of year, I am 
>thankful for the great network of leaders we have in our organization.
>
>
>
>There are a number of important items below for 
>you to consider. In addition to the news below, 
>I want you to know that on December 1, the Board 
>of Directors of the National Federation of the 
>Blind adopted updates to the organization's Code 
>of Conduct. Some of the changes were technical 
>but others make adjustments to the policy. There 
>are two things of significance that I want to call out:
>    * The addition to the social media 
> guidelines to say that members of the 
> Federation should take care not to make 
> political endorsements in personal social media 
> that might be attributed as endorsements by the 
> Federation. This is not new policy, but it is 
> now stated in the code. The specific bullet now 
> reads: “Refrain from using 
> profanity/derogatory/offensive language or 
> making political endorsements that might 
> reasonably be attributed to the Federation.”
>    * The other major change to call to your 
> attention is updates to section IX, which 
> details how complaints are to be filed. It 
> specifically notes that other officers in 
> addition to the President can take formal complaints.
>
>I encourage you to read the code in its 
>entirety, as it is helpful for you to know it 
>and review it periodically. You can find the 
>updated document on our website at 
><https://nfb.org/code-conduct>https://nfb.org/code-conduct. 
>An updated version of the affiliate code will be 
>coming to you shortly. In addition, we are 
>making other enhancements to our code of conduct 
>that will be shared with members in the new year.
>
>
>
>Critical Actions This Week:
>
>
>
>Washington Seminar Hotel Deadline:
>The deadline to book a room at the Holiday Inn 
>Washington-Capitol at our group rate is Friday, 
>December 28. The rate is $196 per night, plus DC 
>sales tax (14.95 percent). You can book 
>reservations online using 
><http://ichotelsgroup.com/redirect?path=rates&brandCode=HI&regionCode=1&localeCode=en&GPC=NB8&hotelCode=WASSM&_PMID=99801505>this 
>link to the hotel website that includes our 
>booking code. You can also make reservations by 
>calling 877-572-6951 and referencing booking code NB8.
>
>Parent Leadership Program:
>The NOPBC is seeking recommendations for their 
>next Parent Leadership Program (PLP) to be held 
>at the 2019 NFB Washington Seminar. We are in 
>search of parents with the commitment and 
>leadership potential to found or strengthen a 
>parents’ division in your state.  If you have 
>such a parent in your state, please send us the 
>name and contact information and we will send an 
>invitation to become a part of the PLP.  Parents 
>from your state who participated in PLP at the 
>national convention will also be sent 
>invitations. We hope that your affiliate or 
>state POBC can assist in getting the parent to 
>DC. The NOPBC may be able to provide some 
>financial support. Please note that PLP 
>workshops will begin the morning of Sunday, 
>January 27, so participants need to arrive in DC 
>on Saturday, January 26, earlier than most NFB 
>Washington Seminar participants. For more 
>information and to share names of potential PLP 
>participants, please contact PLP coordinator 
>Carol Castellano at 
><mailto:carol_castellano at verizon.net>carol_castellano at verizon.net 
>or via cell at 200-400-1101.
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>News:
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>Presidential Release:
>This month’s release is posted at 
><https://nfb.org/presidential-releases-en/presidential-release-478-english-december-2018>https://nfb.org/presidential-releases-en/presidential-release-478-english-december-2018. 
>
>
>Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Comments Submitted:
>Our comments regarding the Notice of Proposed 
>Rulemaking updates to the definition of 
>“public charge” and related terms were sent 
>last week. You can read what we submitted at 
><https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/nfb-response-dhs-docket-no-uscis-2010-0012-final.pdf>https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/nfb-response-dhs-docket-no-uscis-2010-0012-final.pdf. 
>There is also a related post available on 
><https://www.facebook.com/NationalFederationoftheBlind/posts/10156988849259248?__xts__%5b0%5d=68.ARAn1_3-QTLxFmN72W9ECF4tsFvIfiTZZNB7hXsMB2oakR8YLxEanv25IUJPz7iz4xMGIRvsWNmRRoSQciSD1T0UIsBE__yFiM4lc58laQadlGCb9trE-dhduuWzWOmUGD0f6jGylkOMb1c62XPJJldnn8zOXno5gb3AbM8lb4lc1LUDOe_WUWJC5N755fQeDoQ3BC0cSrhFVdlsuZwsaDdNQOSRXSD2m0s4HoDIeJDNfhuCJrS0zSX7nOgtTaFjzLY9SnPH8ZM4ZZC73Rly5DJ10_P6oVbjbV38WVR5jcblyY-bQu2TMU1jGdGBZRtIAPRDbAzgpW1N3Iug8Q&__tn__=-R>our 
>Facebook page.
>
>Health Care Discrimination Lawsuit:
>We joined together with Disability Rights North 
>Carolina to file a lawsuit against UNC Health 
>Care and Nash UNC Health Care, charging them 
>with discrimination against blind patients. 
>Details are available in 
><https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-and-disability-rights-north-carolina-sue-unc-health-care-and-nash-unc>the 
>press release.
>
>Continued Action on 14(c):
>I had 
><https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/civil-rights/419107-american-nightmare-how-workers-with-disabilities-are-denied>an 
>opinion piece published in The Hill last week 
>talking about 14(c), and then followed it with a 
><https://nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/dol-14(c)-online-application-letter.pdf>letter 
>to Alexander Acosta, Secretary of the US 
>Department of Labor about their announcement of 
>improving online access to the applications for 14(c) certificates.
>
>NFB-NEWSLINE now available on the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot:
>Now you can access NFB-NEWSLINE by asking 
>“Alexa open National Federation.” Once you 
>have logged in, say “Alexa ask National 
>Federation to give me instructions” to learn how to use it.
>
>
>
>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>
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>    * January 28, 2019: Great Gathering-In; Washington Seminar begins
>    * March 28-29, 2019: Jacobus tenBroek Law Symposium
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>
>·         March 31, 2019: 
><https://nfb.org/scholarships>NFB scholarship application deadline
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>·         April 15, 2019: 
><https://nfb.org/programs/dr-jacob-bolotin-awards>Dr. 
>Jacob Bolotin Award application deadline
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>
>    * June 16-22, 2019: NFB EQ, Baltimore, Maryland
>    * July 7-12, 2019: 
> <https://nfb.org/convention/2019>NFB National Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada
>
>The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
>blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
>you or your future. Every day we raise the 
>expectations of blind people, because low 
>expectations create obstacles between blind 
>people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
>want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>
>Mark A. Riccobono, President
>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
>(410) 659-9314 | 
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>
>
><https://nfb.org/>
>National Federation of the Blind
>
>
> 
><http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>
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