[nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates AgainstBlindStudentsand Faculty

[Kirt Manwaring]

:)  Yes, sir.  I'm there for sure.

On 11/14/10, Peter Donahue <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com> wrote:
> Hello Jedi and everyone,
>
>     Some of us who dared to believe that a car drivable by the blind as far
> back as the 1960s was a possibility were subject to horrendous treatment by
> some agencies for the blind for thinking out-of-the-box. At one
> God-for-saken hell hole in Massachusetts that fortunately no longer operates
> voicing such beliefs could get you confined to your room for five hours at a
> time without supper. Hence when someone voices a belief concerning an
> initiative they have not taken the time to research thoroughly such as the
> blind driver challenge they're walking on the fighting side of me!
>
> Peter Donahue
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jedi" <loneblindjedi at samobile.net>
> To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 5:48 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates AgainstBlindStudentsand
> Faculty
>
>
> In the short-run, maybe. But a blind drivable car would solve more
> problems in the long-run. By making blind folks see, we're not dealing
> with the social problems of blindness being a sort of second-class
> citizenship. With the car, we're forcing people to think and talk about
> the issues we've been tackling for years. Cheers.
>
> Respectfully,
> Jedi
>
> Original message:
>> Hello Peter,
>> I think your point is valid.  However, speaking as an engineer, I think it
>> would be as easy, and perhaps easier, to develop an artificial eye than to
>> develop the type of car you are suggesting.  An artificial eye would of
>> course solve many more problems than the car.  Just a thought.
>> Dennis
>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 2:49 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates Against BlindStudentsand
>> Faculty
>
>
>> Hello everyone,
>
>>     Some of us contemplated the possibility of the blind being able to
>> drive
>> as far back as the 1960s and will do whatever is necessary to make it
>> happen. If you think this is a waste of time remember this exchange the
>> next
>> time you must travel to an area where there is no public transportation or
>> the next time your bus, taxi, or paratransit vehicle is late picking you
>> up.
>> It's not just about blind people driving but about blind people being
>> empowered to live their lives as they choose.
>
>> Peter Donahue
>
>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 3:20 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Studentsand
>> Faculty
>
>
>> I don't understand, are you mad because we did take a stand on this?
>> While
>> I think that blind people driving is a long shot, there is a lot of
>> technology
>> that can spin off from that effort that will help us in other areas,
>> particularly in the area of possible travel aids and even tactile
>> graphics.
>> The fact is,
>> whether you or I like it or not, something like blind people driving pries
>> loose funding from sources that would not be interested in anything less
>> dramatic.
>
>> Best regards,
>
>> Steve Jacobson
>
>> On Sat, 13 Nov 2010 09:56:26 -0800 (PST), William ODonnell wrote:
>
>>> What elce is new when you live as a blind person in the U.S.  This is
>>> what
>>> the NFB should take a stand on, not a fabrication that the blind can and
>>> will
>> drive today.  Have that dream for the next 100 years when the problems of
>> today are solved.  With these continuing problems, we should focus on the
>> problems of today without falsifying reality.  The blind can and will not
>> drive when our culture still thinks so little of us.
>
>
>
>>> --- On Fri, 11/12/10, Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org> wrote:
>
>>>> From: Freeh, Jessica <JFreeh at nfb.org>
>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Students and
>>>> Faculty
>>>> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
>>>> Date: Friday, November 12, 2010, 7:38 PM
>
>>>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
>
>>>> CONTACT:
>
>>>> Chris Danielsen
>
>>>> Director of Public Relations
>
>>>> National Federation of the Blind
>
>>>> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
>
>>>> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
>
>>>> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>
>
>
>
>>>> Penn State Discriminates Against Blind Students and
>>>> Faculty
>
>
>
>
>>>> National Federation of the Blind Files Complaint Against
>>>> Penn State
>
>
>
>>>> Baltimore, Maryland (November 12, 2010): The National
>>>> Federation of the Blind (NFB), the nationâ¬"s oldest and
>>>> largest organization of blind people, announced today that
>>>> it has filed a complaint with the United States Department
>>>> of Education, Office for Civil Rights, requesting an
>>>> investigation of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
>>>> for violating the civil rights of blind students and
>>>> faculty.  The NFB filed the complaint because a variety
>>>> of computer- and technology-based services and Web sites at
>>>> Penn State are inaccessible to blind students and
>>>> faculty.  Title II of the Americans with Disabilities
>>>> Act requires public state universities to offer equal access
>>>> to their programs and services.
>
>
>
>>>> The accessibility problems at Penn State include:
>>>> Â Â Â * The library at Penn State hosts a Web
>>>> site with access to the library catalog that is available to
>>>> any registered student.  The Web site, however, is not
>>>> fully accessible to blind students due to improper coding
>>>> that prevents screen access software used by the blind from
>>>> properly interpreting the site.
>>>>    * Many of Penn Stateâ¬"s departmental Web
>>>> sites are not fully accessible to the blind, including,
>>>> ironically, the Web site for the Office of Disability
>>>> Services.
>>>> Â Â Â * Penn State utilizes the ANGEL course
>>>> management system.  ANGEL is an integral part of the
>>>> learning and teaching experience at Penn State that allows
>>>> students and professors to interact with each other online
>>>> and perform various  course-related functions. This
>>>> course management software is almost completely inaccessible
>>>> to blind users.
>>>> Â Â Â * Many teachers at Penn State use a
>>>> â¬Ssmart⬠ podium, which allows the professor to connect
>>>> his/her laptop to a computer at the podium and display
>>>> images and videos loaded from the laptop on a screen at the
>>>> front of the room.  The podium is operated by an
>>>> inaccessible touchscreen keypad that controls almost all
>>>> podium functions.  Thus, blind faculty members must
>>>> rely on assistance from a sighted person to utilize the
>>>> podium.
>>>> Â Â Â * Penn State contracts with PNC Bank to
>>>> enable students to use their identification cards as debit
>>>> cards.  The PNC Web site is nearly inaccessible with
>>>> screen access software, and there is only one ATM on the
>>>> entire Penn State campus with audio output through a
>>>> headphone jack so that blind students can use it privately
>>>> and independently.
>
>>>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of
>>>> the Blind, said: â¬SThe number and scope of the
>>>> accessibility problems at Penn State demonstrate the
>>>> institutionâ¬"s blatant­and unlawful­lack of regard for
>>>> the equal education of its blind students and failure to
>>>> accommodate its blind faculty members and employees.Â
>>>> There is simply no excuse for blind students and faculty to
>>>> be denied the same access to information and technology as
>>>> their sighted peers.  Sadly, this cavalier attitude
>>>> toward accessibility is found not only at Penn State, but at
>>>> many of our nationâ¬"s colleges and universities.  That
>>>> is why we have asked the United States Department of
>>>> Education to act swiftly and decisively to ensure that blind
>>>> students and faculty members are given the same access and
>>>> opportunity to succeed as their sighted peers.â¬
>
>
>
>>>> The National Federation of the Blind is represented in this
>>>> matter by Daniel F. Goldstein, Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, and
>>>> Brooke Lierman of the Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and
>>>> Levy.
>
>
>
>>>> ###
>
>
>
>
>
>>>> About the National Federation of the Blind
>
>>>> With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of
>>>> the Blind is the largest and most influential membership
>>>> organization of blind people in the United States.  The
>>>> NFB improves blind peopleâ¬"s lives through advocacy,
>>>> education, research, technology, and programs encouraging
>>>> independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading
>>>> force in the blindness field today and the voice of the
>>>> nation's blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the
>>>> National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the
>>>> first research and training center in the United States for
>>>> the blind led by the blind.
>
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>
>
>
>
>
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