[nabs-l] Penn State DiscriminatesAgainstBlindStudentsand Faculty

Dennis Clark dennisgclark at sbcglobal.net
Sun Nov 14 22:54:36 UTC 2010 

Hello Peter,

I went to the link you provided in your email, because I thought I would be 
able to read about the current status of the project.  All I saw there was 
marketing and PR verbiage, which doesn't provide much concrete information. 
It appears from your post that you have actual knowledge as to the present 
status of the project since you said that it is further along than many 
people think.  Can you share your source of information about the project 
with me so I can read about it, or alternatively just tell me what you know 
as to how far along the project is?

I will admit that I am troubled by many aspects of this project.  I guess my 
first question is if this is something which blind people see themselves 
actually owning and being permitted to drive in their lifetimes.  If so, I 
do not want to ever take away someone's hope and optimism for a better life.

At the risk of doing what I just said I do not wish to do, please consider 
the following.  Even if the engineering challenges were to be overcome and 
such a car could be built for a price that people, other than the military 
could actually afford, do you think the legal system would ever allow a 
blind person to man such a vehicle on the open road?  For example, one of my 
engineering professors designed the automatic control system for the Boeing 
767 aircraft.  The 767, along with many other commercial aircraft, can 
actually fly and land itself using the planes automatic control system. 
Despite this fact, there are no blind pilots today, nor are there any pilots 
with less than perfect eyesight flying these planes.  Flying and landing a 
jet using automated controls is substantially easier than driving a car on 
the open road, and yet the FAA and the legal system does not permit this to 
be done.  The reason is of course that automated systems sometimes fail or 
crash, and when this happens, a person who is fully capable of operating the 
vehicle without the automated system must be at the controls to avoid a 
disaster.  A 3000 pound object flying down a freeway at 60 MPH with a blind 
person at the helm, when the "accessible navigation and instrumentation 
interface" crashes, would result in many deaths.

There is no question that the military does want a ground vehicle like a car 
which can be driven using automated controls.  We are currently using 
automated control pilotless airplanes called drones for reconnaissance and 
to drop bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the military does want similar 
ground vehicles for the same type of operations.  If VMI can demonstrate 
some success with this project the military money will come flowing in like 
water from a river whose dam has failed.

Perhaps the NFB has lots of money and if so there is no problem funding such 
projects.  However, most businesses and 501C3 organizations are struggling 
presently, and they are forced to prioritize expenditures to get the most 
bang for the buck.  If the NFB is not in this position, that is wonderful 
and leadership should be commended for their managerial abilities.  If a 
time does come when funds are tight I would hope that the NFB and any other 
501C3 organization would prioritize its spending so as to address today's 
issues, and leave the funding of longer term and more speculative goals to a 
better financial time.

Obviously reasonable people can disagree on such matters, and all the 
foregoing is just one guys opinion.

All the best,
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: Sunday, November 14, 2010 6:55 AM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Penn State DiscriminatesAgainstBlindStudentsand 
Faculty


Good morning everyone,

    Get your rear end to the Rolex 24 in Daytona Beach in January and we'll
discuss it after you've been there and seen the prototype demonstrated.
Learn more at:
http://www.blinddriverchallenge.org

    It's further along than you think. See you there.

Peter Donahue

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dennis Clark" <dennisgclark at sbcglobal.net>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Penn State Discriminates AgainstBlindStudentsand
Faculty


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.⬝
>>
>>
>>
>> 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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