[nabs-l] ACB/NFB

Fri May 22 03:16:51 UTC 2009

I was one who proposed that the folks who want to put on NFB/ACB joint
projects fund them independently. My reasons for this are sound I think, but
have nothing to do with lack of support. 
	First, Jim, you've seen the traffic on the list. If you proposed an
initiative to the NABS membership that they fund a joint venture with a
group that many of them have hard feelings for, will it pass? I don't know,
but I think it is in doubt. 
	Second, I was once again thinking of California when I made the
comment. We have a tight budget and a lot of things we would like to do.
When you are talking about funds, I think, you have to be a bit of a
hard-ass, and that's the position I'm taking. If folks in CABS proposed a
joint convention between CABS and the ACB student division in California,
I'd support it, I'd help them find sources of funding, but I'd be against
CABS funding it. Maybe CABS and this project could do a joint fund raiser, I
wouldn't be against that, but I would be against using CABS money for it
when there are so many other things we should be doing. I hope that I have
answered your question, and soothed your disappointment Jim. 
Angela  

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Arielle Silverman
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 3:33 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] ACB/NFB

Hello Jim,

I am sorry that you felt you were deceived by the NABS leadership; this was
never our intention. I think an important distinction needs to be made
between supporting an event or activity and funding it. The various national
divisions and committees of the NFB all work together and try their best to
"support" each other's endeavors by giving advice and, sometimes,
contributing volunteers or resources. However, all the different NFB groups
have separate treasuries and simply can't afford to fund each other's
projects. For example, the NFB Sports and Recreation division does a lot of
cool stuff that NABS fully "supports" in that we think the events are great
and will advertise them to our members and may provide advice to Sports and
Rec leaders if requested. But, even though many of their events might be
especially appealing to students, we don't provide funding for their events.
The Employment Seminar you mention is put on by the NFB Employment
Committee, not by NABS, which is why I emphasized talking to their chair,
Buna Dahal, about recording/webcasting arrangements.
I support your venture in that I think it's a good idea, but the employment
seminar doesn't target just students, so it's not something that NABS is
able to spend money on. We need our division's funds to pay for things like
our Website, student mixers like the one we had at Washington Seminar, and
sending volunteers out to state student division meetings-all events that
only focus on students. Also, the NFB national office supports all our
initiatives but doesn't always give us money to carry them out, because they
recognize that we as a division need to raise our own funds.

As for any kind of joint NFB/ACB meeting, getting financial support from
either organization will be difficult, as it would require the agreement and
support of a majority of the leaders of either or both organizations-not
just the student divisions but the national organizations as well.

Arielle Silverman
First Vice-President, NABS

On 5/22/09, Jim Reed <jim275_2 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Dave,
> How are we supposed to "walk the walk" when there is so much 
> negitivity coming from NABS leadership regarding this issue (how it wont
work)?
> Specificly, I remember one post (I don't know who sent it) that said 
> something along the lines of "I don't see the harm in trying, but NABS 
> is not (should not) pay for it." Why should I devote my time and 
> energy to this effort when I know it will get shut down when I ask NABS
for funding?
>
> The same thing happened when I floated the idea of recording the 
> national convention employment seminar. (actually, I thing it was 
> worse. I felt decieved). First, several people in the NABS leadership 
> (including Areielle
> Silverman) mentioned that they thought it was a good idea that was 
> worthy of being pursued. So, I pursued the idea thinking that I had 
> the support of NABS, then, when it came time for NABS to fund the 
> idea, I get an email from Arielle Silverman saying something along the 
> lines of "sorry, this isn't a NABS event/project, therefore NABS 
> can't/won't fund it." I put alot of time and effort into pursuing that 
> idea, just to find out that when push-comes-to-shove, I really did not
have the support of NABS.
>
> So, I ask you, why should I invest the time and energy into 
> "walking-the-walk", when I was decieved last time, and clearly NABS 
> has no interest in pursuing a joint convention?
>
> Jim
>
>
> From: "Dave Wright" <gymnastdave at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Ending the NFB/ACB feud
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>
> Good afternoon all,
> While I've really enjoyed reading all of these messages about finding 
> a way to set aside the differences of both organizations in order to 
> find a common ground on the student level, I'm wondering whether or 
> not if any of the proponents of this idea have taken an active role of 
> setting up a meetting involving students of both organizations on a 
> local level. Since I believe that students should have a choice when 
> it comes to advocacy, I don't mind that there are more than one 
> organization advocating for the rights of blind students. I know how 
> easy it is to talk the talk, but walking the walk and being an active 
> proponent for change is much harder. While the thought of national 
> change is perhaps an idealistic view, lets try first dealing with 
> local change. I know this discussion has leaked over to the ACB listServe
and believe both sides have positive feedback to offer.
> Just my thoughts.
>
>
> Best Regards:
> Dave Wright
> Work Phone: 651-636-5184 X803
> Email:
> dwrigh6 at gmail.com
> WebPage:
> http://www.knfbreader.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> Homer Simpson's brain: "Use reverse psychology."
>  Homer: "Oh, that sounds too complicated."
>  Homer's brain: "Okay, don't use reverse psychology."
>  Homer: "Okay, I will!"
>
>
>
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