[nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing

Thu Jun 13 03:32:36 UTC 2013

To add to what is been said, anyone who wants to know what NABS Is
doing and is coming to the convention in Orlando might consider coming
to the business meeting at national convention.

Chris Nusbaum

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 12, 2013, at 10:22 PM, justin williams
<justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I will be sure to be on some of the conference next year.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Antonio M.
> Guimaraes Jr.
> Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 9:39 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing
>
> Hi all,
>
> I appreciate all the time that goes into running a division. I volunteered
> at some of my own to a couple of NABS committees.
>
> Wow there is a lot to say for running an active organization, I wonder what
> the real numbers say.
>
> How many attend each conference call? Is there an increasing number of
> participants from one conference call to another? Is the readership of the
> students late increasing? Is the website getting more hits?
> How many members leave, and how many join our organization?
>
> I do not wish to imply these numbers are low. I actually am curious to know
> how our effort is paying off.
>
> Antonio
>
> On Jun 11, 2013, at 9:29 PM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Joe,
>>
>> I think you make an excellent point about finding a place for young
>> professionals in this organization. I am still a student, but am
>> reaching the end of my studies and am at an age where most of my
>> friends are now young professionals. I, too, have begun to feel burned
>> out which was a big part of the reason for my resignation from NABS
>> leadership in 2011. I agree that there isn't a great place for young
>> professionals in the NFB yet. I also think that we could do better at
>> reaching out to people who have finished their education but are not
>> yet employed, or who are struggling to find work. Unemployment is
>> obviously a huge issue facing blind people, and securing education and
>> blindness skill training is only part of the solution for that.
>> Perhaps the employment committee should be expanded or converted into
>> a division for young professionals and those looking to start careers
>> (including non-traditional students who have graduated and are now
>> looking to start second or third careers?)
>>
>> Best,
>> Arielle
>>
>> On 6/11/13, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>> I agree with Elizabeth. You expressed my sentements too.
>>> I see the slate for more in depth articles and stories about
>>> students. I found them inspiring and informative. For instance, Mary
>>> Fernandez wrote an
>>>
>>> article on volunteering, an article about finding her first job and
>>> one on clothes. I liked the nabs updates  for the same reasons you
>>> expressed. I am
>>>
>>> not in a state  with an active student division and when I went to
>>> meetings
>>>
>>> several years and tried to reach other students in between, I got
>>> discouraged. We tried a listserve, but vabs remains inactive to this day.
>>> People in our state cannot or will not even take the time to post to
>>> the list.
>>> So, I liked hearing about other student division successes and
> activities.
>>>
>>> I hope they return; maybe not monthly, but enough to keep us informed.
>>>
>>> Ashley
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Elizabeth Mohnke
>>> Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 8:40 PM
>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing
>>>
>>> Hello Arielle,
>>>
>>> Thank you for providing your perspective regarding the history of the
>>> NABS updates. I did not know this was something you struggled with
>>> when you were the President as well. However, I have always enjoyed
>>> reading them whoever was in charge of creating them.
>>>
>>> I guess from my point of view, I see the NABS Updates and the Student
>>> Slate serving two different functions. I enjoy reading the Student
>>> Slate as something for longer in-depth articles that inspire and
>>> motivate me to become more involved in the organization as well as
>>> life in general as a blind student. However, I also enjoy reading the
>>> NABS Updates for more of the shorter announcements regarding the
> logistics of the organization.
>>>
>>> I enjoyed being able to find all major announcements all in one
>>> place. I also enjoyed reading the summaries of how major events
>>> turned out especially when I am not able to attend them. And most of
>>> all, I enjoyed reading what other state student divisions have been
>>> doing. Granted, not everyone can participate in what every other
>>> state student division is doing, but when you are a struggling state
>>> student division, these short announcements can help provide ideas on
>>> what is possible. If something works for another state then perhaps
>>> it can work in your state as well.
>>>
>>> However, I completely understand that people lead busy lives, and
>>> producing a monthly NABS update along with the current issues of the
>>> Student Slate may be too much. But perhaps there might be some
>>> workable solution that would allow for some combination of both.
>>> Perhaps the NABS Updates are not produced as often, or maybe simply
>>> in-between the issues of the Student Slate. Perhaps each board member
>>> could take a turn writing the NABS Update highlighting some of their
>>> individual accomplishments, or what they plan to accomplish, as a
>>> member of the board. I am not quite sure what the answer might be,
>>> but I know I definitely miss reading the NABS Updates, and would like
>>> to see them return in some sort of fashion.
>>>
>>> Warm regards,
>>> Elizabeth
>>>
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>> From: "Arielle Silverman" <arielle71 at gmail.com>
>>> Sent: Monday, June 10, 2013 9:17 PM
>>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> If I may, I'd like to offer a little bit of historical perspective
>>>> on the NABS presidential updates. When I first joined NABS ten years
>>>> ago, the president would write a quarterly update which would appear
>>>> in the Student Slate in place of the editor's introduction,
>>>> explaining what NABS has been up to and what is planned for the
>>>> upcoming months. More recently, NABS went through a period of a few
>>>> years where the Slate was published very irregularly. When I became
>>>> president in 2009, I was concerned about whether or not we could
>>>> return to quarterly Slate releases, so I started releasing monthly
>>>> updates so that the membership could stay up-to-date on NABS board
>>>> activities and upcoming events even if the Slate did not come out
>>>> very often. Now that we have a wonderful, dependable Slate committee
>>>> publishing regular issues again, the NABS updates may be able to go
>>>> back on a quarterly schedule and be published in the Slate. I will
>>>> also add that writing monthly updates by myself was a fairly
>>>> time-consuming task, and I, too, thought about stopping them because
>>>> it seemed to me that few people actually read them. Several members
>>>> of my board (including our current NABS president) encouraged me to
>>>> keep going with the monthly updates, so I did. Sean continued the
>>>> monthly updates for a time after becoming president, but I know he
>>>> is a busy guy and may have just decided that it was too much. I do
>>>> think that if even a few people read the updates with interest, it
>>>> is probably worth continuing them, but perhaps the NABS board could
>>>> pick up some of the workload of writing them so it's not all on the
> president's shoulders, or go to a quarterly schedule.
>>>> Finally, the issue of membership feeling a lack of communication
>>>> with the board is a perennial complaint I've seen come up over and
>>>> over with multiple NABS administrations. So the current
>>>> administration should not at all feel singled out by this complaint.
>>>> To an extent it is natural for a national organization like NABS to
>>>> experience occasional lapses in communication. I have also learned
>>>> that managing communication between board and membership is a
>>>> responsibility that must be shared between both parties. There are
>>>> always things the board could be doing to more clearly communicate
>>>> about past accomplishments and future plans, but there are also ways
>>>> for interested members to initiate communication with the board.
>>>> Calling or emailing NABS board members to ask what's been going on
>>>> or to offer feedback is great, but an even better way to stay in the
>>>> loop would be to serve on a NABS committee. Much of the day-to-day
>>>> work of NABS is conducted within committees. Board members chair
>>>> them, but members do (or at least
>>>> should) form the backbone of the committees and carry out the
>>>> organization's day-to-day operations. And, there are openings for
>>>> several board members at this year's election.
>>>>
>>>> Best,
>>>> Arielle
>>>>
>>>> On 6/10/13, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hello all,
>>>>> I believe  that  if you were to speak to any member of the NABS
>>>>> board and/or NABS leadership, you will find that we believe that
>>>>> this organization is  one that only functions at it's best when
>>>>> it's membership is a  vital part of it's activities.
>>>>> Basically, NABS needs every person who wants to bea part  of
>>>>> building this division. We need your ideas, we need your expertise,
>>>>> your time, your energy.  We need you to help us try out new ideas, and
>>>>> we need those ideas   to work and even not to work.  This is how we
>>>>> grow together, this is how we   grow closer and help change people's
>>>>> thoughts about what a blind person can and cannot do.
>>>>> We need you to help educate the educators and fellow students.  We
>>>>> need you to help educate the public, and to fight the battles that
>>>>> need to be faught to win accessability, equil treatment, and equil
>>>>> rights.
>>>>> we need you to tell  us what things work and don't work, and even
>>>>> more so, we need you to help us fix  what isn't working.
>>>>> You all do a great job of driving our listserve by bringing up
>>>>> important topics of interest  to be discussed.
>>>>> Please don't let those discussions stop there,  please bring your
>>>>> passion and ideas to NABS and your state  student division.  Please
>>>>> bring your ideas to  your affiliate, and  as well our National
>>>>> office, especially if you think it might be a good thing to do.
>>>>>
>>>>> Please take these wrds as  an oppertunity, a challange.
>>>>> What canyou bring to the table?  Whatwill you do today to  build a
>>>>> better tomorrow?
>>>>> I am sure  that as a member of the NABS board that I can improve
>>>>> in a few  ways, I'm sure all of us on the NABS board could  improve
>>>>> somehow, so I, nor anyone else is likely to tell you that we are
>>>>> perfect.
>>>>>
>>>>> So you know what? let's improve.  let's all find ways that we all can
>>>>> improve.   that's is the  best thing that we can do.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best,
>>>>>
>>>>>  Darian
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 6/10/13, Rania Ismail LMT <raniaismail04 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> I saw them and each time I would read them I was happy to see what
>>>>>> nabs was doing.
>>>>>> Rania,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>>>>> Elizabeth Mohnke
>>>>>> Sent: Monday, June 10, 2013 2:10 AM
>>>>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hello Sean,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am sorry you took my email so personally. It was not meant to be
>>>>>> a personal attack on any particular individual, nor was it meant
>>>>>> to discount the participation of any particular individual within
>>>>>> this organization.
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> was just simply trying to offer my thoughts on the notion of this
>>>>>> organization being about the members at large and not just the
>>>>>> board as mentioned in a previous email recently sent out from the
> board.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Based upon this comment, I received the impression that one of the
>>>>>> goals of
>>>>>>
>>>>>> the current board is to make the organization about the membership
>>>>>> at large
>>>>>>
>>>>>> and not just the board. However, as a general member, I see a
>>>>>> growing disconnect in this area, and offered how I see this
>>>>>> disconnect take place as
>>>>>>
>>>>>> well as a possible solution to the problem by bringing back the
>>>>>> monthly updates.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I think it is great that the board has accomplished all of the
>>>>>> things that you listed in your email. However, I am not quite sure
>>>>>> how I am expected to
>>>>>>
>>>>>> know about all of these accomplishments as a general member when
>>>>>> it appears
>>>>>>
>>>>>> as though most of these accomplishments take place behind the
>>>>>> scenes without
>>>>>>
>>>>>> the involvement of the membership at large. I can only speak from
>>>>>> my observations as a general member, so I am glad to hear there
>>>>>> are some things
>>>>>>
>>>>>> going on despite whether or not they can be seen by the membership
>>>>>> at large.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Since the comment about the organization being about the
>>>>>> membership at large
>>>>>>
>>>>>> and not just the board was made in a public email circulated on
>>>>>> all of the student email lists, I thought this would be an
>>>>>> acceptable subject to discuss on the email list. I was curious if
>>>>>> others have seen this same disconnect from the membership at large
>>>>>> and the board, or if it was just me.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I do not know, perhaps I am the only one who enjoys reading the
>>>>>> monthly updates, and actually looks forward to receiving them.
>>>>>> Again,, I am sorry you took my email so personally.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Warm regards,
>>>>>> Elizabeth
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> From: <nabs.president at gmail.com>
>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2013 9:15 PM
>>>>>> To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What Has The NABS Board Been Doing
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I appreciate your indicating that the monthly updates are
>>>>>>> something that you found useful. Perhaps we should consider
>>>>>>> bringing those back. The impression I had was that not many
>>>>>>> people took the trouble to read them, and they do take a fair
>>>>>>> amount of time and effort to put together. Thank you for writing
>>>>>>> to suggest the reinstatement of the NABS Notes updates.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Beyond that, I must respectfully take issue with your
>>>>>>> characterization of the current situation. NABS board members,
>>>>>>> working side by side with many other members of NABS, have
>>>>>>> engaged in multiple projects over the last year.
>>>>>>> We have sent representatives to numerous student functions and
>>>>>>> state conventions around the country. We have overhauled the
>>>>>>> membership list and put it in a searchable database. We have held
>>>>>>> multiple informative membership calls. We have put out issues of
>>>>>>> the Student Slate. We have held a student leadership seminar in
>>>>>>> Baltimore. We have worked on a mentoring program for first-time
>>>>>>> convention attendees that will be taking place in Orlando. We
>>>>>>> have raised significant funds for the work of NABS and the NFB as
>>>>>>> a whole. And we have NABS board members and general members alike
>>>>>>> who hold significant leadership positions in their chapters and
>>>>>>> affiliates.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I am 100% open to thoughts, suggestions, or criticism. However, I
>>>>>>> do not appreciate having my board and our many hard-working
>>>>>>> members called out for doing nothing in a public forum such as
>>>>>>> this list. Suggestions on what NABS or the board could be doing
>>>>>>> better are always welcome at nabs.president at gmail.com. I
>>>>>>> appreciate all constructive feedback, be it positive or negative.
>>>>>>> But let us not discredit the time and energy that many
>>>>>>> individuals volunteer to continue to build our organization and
>>>>>>> make progress on issues of importance to all of us.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thank you,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sean
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sean Whalen
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> President, National Association of Blind Students
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> (608) 332-4147
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Nabs.president at gmail.com
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> www.nabslink.org
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>> .com
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Darian Smith
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Text the word BLIND to 85944 to donate $10 to the NFB Imagination
>>>>> Fund via your phone bill.
>>>>>
>>>>> The time is now to eliminate Subminimum Wages for People with
>>>>> Disabilities
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.nfb.org/fairwages
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "We know not of our future, but we know of our past. A past that is
>>>>> made up of our ancestor's Dreams, their stories and hopes.
>>>>> These sights once seen, sounds heard and emotions felt are now our
>>>>> knowledge. The knowledge that guides us to this very moment."
>>>>> -Darian Smith
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>> 40gmail.com
>>>>
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