[nabs-l] Justin Salisbury for NABS President

Arielle Silverman arielle71 at gmail.com
Sun Jun 8 02:42:07 UTC 2014


Hi again:

I have a few more things to add after getting caught up on earlier
messages in this thread.
As I said, what I recall from my presidency was that our policy was
not to deliberately help certain candidates by placing them on the
agenda as was done in the past, but at the same time, not turning
anyone away from speaking on the agenda because of their candidacy. It
was a long time ago, however, and very possible I am forgetting
something. In any case, when I was president it was never an issue
because no one who was running for a position ever approached me about
being on the agenda. From what I recall, no candidates spoke on the
2011 agenda, but I don't recall ever turning anyone away who wanted to
speak. It sounds like this is the first time the policy has actually
become relevant.

Regarding the constitution: The NABS constitution is absolutely silent
about the NABS business meeting agenda, beyond mandating that NABS
meet once a year. That's it. The rest is at the discretion of the
president, board, and membership. So any kind of policy about who does
or doesn't speak on the agenda is irrelevant to the constitution. The
president and board are free to set these policies, as agenda
development happens between meetings of the general membership. If
this issue is truly a contentious one, the president has the right to
poll the membership at convention this year about what the policy
should be. If a majority of the membership oppose the policy, then it
should be changed, but a constitutional amendment is not required
because meeting agendas have nothing to do with the constitution. It
sounds like Sean has developed the policy in an appropriate manner by
polling the board and following the majority vote. In general, the
NABS constitution is quite vague about many issues, so the membership
has a lot of leeway to adjust policies from year to year without
amending the constitution.

Finally, I have to agree with Ty's comment. I can see how NABS
presidential candidates want to emphasize how they would change or
improve NABS. But anybody who starts off by saying they considered
leaving the organization's leadership is someone who's lost my vote.
In my opinion the best leaders are those who work with the incumbent
leadership as best they can and support them and the organization even
if they disagree with the way things are handled. When I started on
the NABS board NABS went through a period of decline. I worked with
the incumbent leadership for several years trying to rebuild and
strengthen NABS before I even considered becoming president. I did not
campaign much, but when I did I tried to focus on how I wanted to
improve what NABS already had going instead of complaining and
offering to completely overhaul the current system. I did not need to
campaign much because I could just point people to the work I had done
as vice-president on membership projects, parts of the new NABS
website and other things. I would encourage any presidential hopeful
to focus on what you have done instead of what you dislike about the
organization. When you are elected, you will have the chance to
overhaul the things you don't like and really carry out your vision.

Best,
Arielle

On 6/7/14, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've been moving across the country and was without Internet access
> for the last five days or so, so I missed the beginning of this
> discussion. I would like to offer some historical perspective on how
> NABS has handled elections in the past for whatever it might be worth.
> As far as whether or not to allow candidates to speak on the meeting
> agenda about things unrelated to their candidacy, I think there is
> merit to both sides of the argument.
>
> As you may know, I served on the NABS board from 2005-2009 and as
> president from 2009-2011. When I was elected in 2005, things were
> handled much more behind the scenes, and election matters were not at
> all transparent to the NABS membership. At that time the NABS
> president or a front-runner for president-to-be would select a
> "preferred" slate of officers and board members, call up these
> individuals and request that they run for specific positions. I
> received a phone call around this time from the presidential
> front-runner asking me to run for NABS board member 2. He also
> assigned me, and the other "preferred" candidates, to speak on the
> agenda. Sometime around 2008 or so, we decided that having preferred
> candidates deliberately speak on the agenda was un-democratic and gave
> them unfair advantage, so we stopped doing that. When I ran for
> president in 2009, I did not speak on the agenda, but I did select a
> preferred slate and asked them to run for specific positions as my
> predecessors had. Several individuals ran for the board without my
> invitation. Some were elected, and a few became my best, most
> dedicated board members. The experience taught me, and inspired the
> rest of the board, to build a more open, transparent and democratic
> election process. As of 2011 when I resigned from being president, we
> did not have any kind of "preferred" slate (though we did informally
> discuss who might be good to invite to join the board). As of 2011 we
> had no clear policy about whether or not candidates could speak on the
> agenda. We didn't deliberately encourage it, but if somebody had
> something good to offer NABS in a speech and happened to be running
> for a position, we didn't turn them away either. I am not aware of
> what the current policy is. If there is an actual policy requiring
> candidates not to appear on the agenda, I think it makes sense to make
> this clear to the membership and solicit their input.
> I think that any candidate who speaks at the NABS meeting does get an
> electoral advantage, in terms of name recognition if nothing else. I
> lost one of my board elections to someone new who had spoken on the
> agenda (I did not speak on the agenda that year because I was already
> on the board), and I certainly felt the sting of that. Being a
> scholarship winner could also afford someone an electoral advantage
> for the same reason, though, and I don't think we should block
> scholarship winners from running for our board. Further, I will say
> that being the one to coordinate the convention NABS meeting agenda,
> and finding good people to provide the best possible information and
> inspiration to our membership, is very tricky for the president. There
> are tons of people outside NABS who want five minutes of time to speak
> about this and that, so figuring out how to diplomatically handle
> those requests and also find good speakers from the membership is just
> plain hard. Sometimes the best person to speak about a particular
> issue is a member who just happens to also plan on running for the
> board. While I think NABS should reach out to members beyond the
> leadership for speakers, I can see how NABS wouldn't want to miss out
> on what potential leaders might have to say.
> There are a few ways NABS can handle this. One is to draw agenda
> speakers from the general membership (those not running for the board)
> and then allow the leadership to speak at a different time, such as at
> Washington Seminar. Another is to ensure that if one candidate is on
> the agenda, the other person running against them is also given time
> on the agenda. Of course this is impractical for positions where there
> are lots of people running, but it may make sense for big races such
> as the presidential race. In any event, I think it is great for
> candidates seeking election to make their intentions known on the
> listserv and on an election forum call if there is one this year (we
> had them in 2011 and 2012). Based on my experience, I think NABS has
> come a long way to make elections more transparent and to help the
> members really feel involved in the process. This alone should reduce
> complaints about unfairness or rigging in the elections.
>
> Best,
> Arielle
>
> On 6/7/14, Tamika Williams via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi NABS,
>>
>> While I understand Justin's concerns and frustrations;I do not think that
>> the policy should be changed. for the same reasoning of unfairness
>> previously stated. Instead, I do support the idea to include it in the
>> Constitution.   In my opinion Justin probably post to the list with great
>> ambition but in a bit of frustrated moment  and could have maybe waited
>> to
>> post his campaign until the frustration was gone. In addition, speaking as
>> a
>> former state president, I don't think NABS tried to hide this or make it
>> private. As the leaders change there will always be something that will
>> be
>> changed or done differently from other previous leaders and it does not
>> always occur to the leaders that it is important enough to make it an
>> addition to the Constitution or to make a public announcement. In short,
>> my
>> opinion is to add it to the constitution upon majority membership vote at
>> national convention.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Tamika Williams
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 10:01 PM, Cindy Bennett via nabs-l
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> Great discussion!
>>>
>>> First, I'll talk about the topic at hand. I do want to bring up
>>> something that makes the policy a bit complicated. If the president is
>>> seeking reelection, they still have to give their report. It would be
>>> inane to remove the presidential report from the agenda. Furthermore,
>>> the presidential report consists of one of the longer time slots on
>>> the agenda.
>>>
>>> On one hand, I think it is the responsibility of candidates to
>>> campaign for themselves, and whether someone gets a slot is jut their
>>> luck. If a candidate truly has a good agenda and is personable, they
>>> should be able to influence election results based on campaigning
>>> before the meeting. I was in a contested election for my position as
>>> secretary in 2011. All of us candidates worked hard to convince NABS
>>> that we were the best, and none of us had slots on the agenda. We did
>>> such a good job of networking before the meeting that the secretarial
>>> election had to be counted. I think this speaks to the power of
>>> networking beforehand. Maybe I won because someone spoke out about me
>>> during the agenda. I don't know, but I did not count on the meeting at
>>> all to win me the election. I introduced myself to everyone at the
>>> NABS hospitality night. I campaigned even before convention started.
>>> And as a board member who is not seeking reelection, I plan to still
>>> introduce myself to everyone at our NABS social, and I plan to always
>>> campaign for NABS and the NFB whether I am at national convention,
>>> meeting a blind person for the first time, or educating someone in
>>> public. We can all get out there and talk and network, and although we
>>> have few opportunities to meet in person, NABS does attempt to host a
>>> few activities on the agenda to get students talking.
>>>
>>> However, I realize that there is an unfair advantage, and there is no
>>> way to completely guarantee that someone will not spam the agenda.
>>> Furthermore, as Elizabeth mentioned, in 2011, the candidate, who in
>>> fact was me, didn't even promote herself on the agenda; someone else
>>> did. This promotion was unsolicited and actually evoked embarrassment
>>> on my part and the situation has long since been resolved and is no
>>> longer an issue. But I bring it up to say that such a policy can't
>>> guarantee that other speakers won't use the agenda to promote who they
>>> support, so in that sense, the policy is in no way comprehensive at
>>> guaranteeing that the agenda won't contain campaigning.
>>>
>>> All that being said, it appears that the membership has differing
>>> views on the topic, and I encourage the opinions to keep coming.
>>> Motions can be made, and the policy can be changed if we revisit it as
>>> a board. And a good indication that a policy needs revisiting is when
>>> the membership comes out and says something about it.
>>>
>>> Like some board members have iterated, the policy was never secret,
>>> but I agree that we could do a better job disseminating such
>>> information and am happy to take ideas for that which segues in to my
>>> second topic.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I have some great memories working on the board and getting input from
>>> membership. The first 2 years I was on the board, I was on the Slate
>>> committee. Along with the many members who contributed to our
>>> newsletter, we did a holiday piece where we invited the membership to
>>> write paragraphs about their holiday traditions. It was really fun to
>>> collect and read the stories, and I hope that we can incorporate mass
>>> mini articles like that in the future. I plan to volunteer on the
>>> Slate committee again when I finish my term as NABS secretary at
>>> convention.
>>>
>>> Another memory that stands out and is much more poignant to our
>>> movement than holiday stories was the TEACH stories campaign. I
>>> collected about 60 stories that were printed and sent with delegations
>>> to their appointments on the hill. This experience shows that personal
>>> stories do matter and indirectly in the process, I was able to assist
>>> several story writers to learn who their representative was. Knowing
>>> one's congressional representative is crucial to making a difference
>>> because notes from constituents matter most. This was a direct way
>>> that NABS got involved with the TEACH act, and it was through the NABS
>>> list and word of mouth that I was able to collect many stories.
>>>
>>> Finally, last year, I could not attend national convention so I
>>> offered to coordinate volunteers for our various events at convention.
>>> Again, I reached out to NABS and people that I knew. My spreadsheets
>>> quickly filled with awesome volunteers. That effort was carried out
>>> through the NABS list.
>>>
>>> Coupled with these good memories are frustrating memories. I know for
>>> a fact and can prove through email archive searches that after every
>>> national convention when I was on the board, we evaluated what
>>> committees we wanted to have. This was always followed by recruitment
>>> of committee members via the list serve. There have been a few great
>>> souls who have come forward and done great work. For example, although
>>> not at all comprehensive, Tony Olivero tirelessly maintains our
>>> website. Although not always apparent on the surface, he has assisted
>>> us in improving our web presence and efficiency. Online registration
>>> for events was implemented by him, and now, whenever we update our
>>> database with a new leader, their contact information automatically
>>> populates the state student division contact page. Elizabeth is always
>>> willing to get us tons of great auction items and door prizes donated.
>>> Mary Fernandez was awarded a service award from us last year because
>>> of the initiative she has taken to coordinate NABS candidate debate
>>> calls and the national convention NABS mentoring program.
>>> However, I cannot count the number of times one of our board members
>>> or active volunteers has emailed NABS asking for help or contributions
>>> for one project or another for us to convene and sadly realize that no
>>> one responded to our emails.
>>>
>>> I believe that as a board, we can do better at disseminating this
>>> information on multiple social media platforms, and since convention
>>> is around the corner, it is a perfect time to take suggestions and
>>> make an action plan for how we will recruit committee members, event
>>> volunteers, and contributors for our various fundraising efforts and
>>> Slate newsletters.
>>>
>>> Furthermore, only one tenth of congress seems to understand the
>>> importance of the TEACH act. Sixty stories was not enough and
>>> certainly not representative of the over 100 students who attend our
>>> business meeting each year. I am excited that I got holiday stories,
>>> TEACH stories, and volunteers, through my recruitment on the NABS
>>> list. But I also remember hounding my board members to reach out to
>>> their state student divisions at the last minute to fulfill our need
>>> for event volunteers and to get our TEACH stories up.
>>>
>>> As a board, we need to do better at communicating, and I hope to
>>> continue to represent NABS as an active volunteer while I am in grad
>>> school. But we shouldn't have to hound our membership to participate
>>> in programs and to be active in the movement.
>>>
>>> That being said, we are also an organization that helps each other.
>>> Maybe you don't know how to get involved. Maybe you don't know how
>>> your skills can benefit the movement. Please, please, please reach out
>>> to a leader you trust or to one of the board members as I can
>>> guarantee that we can always use you! Nothing makes my day more than
>>> watching leaders come in my stead and take on new responsibilities. I
>>> am still young and know that my mentors look at my leadership growth
>>> in the same light. But I am not fulfilling my purpose in the NFB and
>>> my overall purpose of being a good person living for the world if I am
>>> not actively mentoring others. And I would absolutely love to talk to
>>> any of you about how you can start with little projects and build your
>>> leadership potential.
>>>
>>> I appreciate that transparency is being brought up and I am not
>>> holding NABS accountable to refute members who hold me as a board
>>> member accountable. But I am genuinely looking forward to feedback
>>> from everyone on how we can optimize a two-way communication stream so
>>> we can best serve each other. This will optimize our effectiveness in
>>> the movement.
>>>
>>> So in short, participate in the Republican Blitz next week! We'll come
>>> calling for convention volunteers soon, so be on the look out for
>>> opportunities to sign up for shifts. We are always looking for door
>>> prizes for our business meeting and this year, for Monte Carlo as
>>> well, so contributions in that realm will be much appreciated. And
>>> finally, please take the initiative to talk to us so that in the
>>> future, these discussions can happen without an emotive email at the
>>> beginning of the thread. :)
>>>
>>> Cindy
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 6/6/14, minh ha via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> Oops, sorry, I hit send by accident.
>>>>
>>>> As I was saying, it doesn't matter because that person already has an
>>>> advantage over the other candidates. Lets say the speaker talks about
>>>> his college experience at a NABS meeting, the students who would be
>>>> casting the vote knows that much more about him than the other
>>>> candidates who do not have the same opportunity. I'm actually really
>>>> surprised that the NABS board was so thoughtful in coming up with this
>>>> policy; it's one of the better ones that I have seen come out of the
>>>> student division. The only thing I wish is that it would have been
>>>> written out in the Constitution to make the policy more transparent so
>>>> that Justin didn't have to feel like he was blowing the whistle.
>>>>
>>>> Minh
>>>>
>>>>> On 6/6/14, minh ha <minh.ha927 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Aleeha,
>>>>>
>>>>> It doesn't matter whether or not the speaker uses that time for his or
>>>>> her campaigning, the fact of the matter is that person has an
>>>>> advantage
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 6/6/14, Aleeha Dudley via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>>> Okay, so how about this proposal? What if, instead of not letting
>>>>>> someone
>>>>>> speak who wishes to run for the board, we say that, if the person
>>>>>> does
>>>>>> speak
>>>>>> and intends to run for the board, they should not be permitted to use
>>>>>> that
>>>>>> time as a self promotion time. If they do so, they would then be
>>>>>> violating
>>>>>> the rules of the election, and, could, therefore, be disqualified
>>>>>> from
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> elections process
>>>>>> Let me know what you guys think.
>>>>>> Aleeha
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Jun 6, 2014, at 6:39 PM, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l
>>>>>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hello Justin,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thank you for posting your intentions to run for the President
>>>>>>> of the National Association of Blind Students. I think emails such
>>>>>>> as
>>>>>>> this
>>>>>>> one
>>>>>>> provide an opportunity for members to make an informed decision when
>>>>>>> casting
>>>>>>> their vote during elections. I also think it helps members who
>>>>>>> cannot
>>>>>>> attend national
>>>>>>> convention to feel as though they are still a part of this
>>>>>>> organization
>>>>>>> despite
>>>>>>> the fact that they are not able to attend national convention.
>>>>>>> Therefore,
>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>> encourage other members seeking election to post their intentions of
>>>>>>> seeking
>>>>>>> election to the email list as well.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> At first glance, I agreed with you on your position regarding
>>>>>>> the unspoken agreement that members seeking election should not
>>>>>>> appear
>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> agenda. I was rather schocked to hear such a policy existed in the
>>>>>>> first
>>>>>>> place.
>>>>>>> However, as I thought about it some more, I could understand why
>>>>>>> such
>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>> policy could
>>>>>>> be important for our organization.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The 2011 national convention stands out in my mind as a
>>>>>>> rather memorable convention for me. One of my favorite things about
>>>>>>> national convention
>>>>>>> is the part during the student seminar where each scholarship winner
>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>> asked
>>>>>>> to say a few words about themselves, where they go to school, what
>>>>>>> they
>>>>>>> are studying,
>>>>>>> and what kind of career they hope to follow upon graduating from
>>>>>>> college.
>>>>>>> I have
>>>>>>> often been inspired by some of the words spoken during these short
>>>>>>> speaches.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> During the 2011 national convention, I recall one of these speaches
>>>>>>> being radically different from the rest of the speaches. However,
>>>>>>> what
>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>> remember about this particular speech was not what the person said
>>>>>>> about
>>>>>>> themselves,
>>>>>>> but rather what this person said about someone else. What I remember
>>>>>>> about
>>>>>>> the speech
>>>>>>> was how this person took this time to endorse a close friend who was
>>>>>>> seeking
>>>>>>> election that year. As I was listening to these words, I found them
>>>>>>> rather
>>>>>>> distasteful for a scholarship speach, and thought they provided an
>>>>>>> unfair
>>>>>>> advantage for the person being endorsed  for the election.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Therefore, I can definitely understand why the National
>>>>>>> Association of Blind Students has a policy not to have those seeking
>>>>>>> election to
>>>>>>> speak on the agenda. I imagine this policy was not created to
>>>>>>> prevent
>>>>>>> anyone
>>>>>>> from appearing on the agenda, but rather to give those who seek
>>>>>>> election
>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>> fair
>>>>>>> chance during the elections.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I understand the value of learning from mistakes in life,
>>>>>>> however, if this person were seeking election today, and asked to
>>>>>>> speak
>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> agenda, I most likely would not include this person on the agenda.
>>>>>>> It
>>>>>>> seems to
>>>>>>> me that it is difficult enough to create a smooth election process
>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>> fair
>>>>>>> to everyone, so I do not believe we should jeperdize this goal on
>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>> account
>>>>>>> of one person.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Please feel free to disagree with my position. However, I just
>>>>>>> simply do not believe it is fair for someone to have the opportunity
>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>> promote
>>>>>>> their bid for election during their spot on the agenda. It just
>>>>>>> seems
>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>> create
>>>>>>> a disadvantage for others during the elections.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Warm regards,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Elizabeth
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org; nabs-presidents at nfbnet.org;
>>>>>>>> ctabs.president at gmail.com; massabs at nfbnet.org; wabs at nfbwis.org
>>>>>>>> Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2014 23:41:13 +0000
>>>>>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Justin Salisbury for NABS President
>>>>>>>> From: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Fellow Federationists:
>>>>>>>> Did you know that the National Association of Blind Students board,
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> bunch of people I love, has a private agreement that presenters on
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> agenda cannot run for officer positions? I think the mere fact that
>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>> am
>>>>>>>> blowing this whistle tells you where I stand on it. I am running
>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> President of the National Association of Blind Students (NABS)
>>>>>>>> because
>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>> love NABS, including my fellow board members, and don't like the
>>>>>>>> way
>>>>>>>> NABS
>>>>>>>> functions today. I was going to disappear from the board and NABS
>>>>>>>> leadership because I was discouraged.  I wanted to focus on
>>>>>>>> chapter,
>>>>>>>> affiliate, and division development, legislative advocacy, and the
>>>>>>>> broader initiatives of the National Federation of the Blind. I
>>>>>>>> wanted
>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> "participate as an integral part of the National Federation of the
>>>>>>>> Blind," which I quote from the NABS constitution, but I did not
>>>>>>>> feel
>>>>>>>> like
>>>>>>>> NABS was a vehicle to do that.  I had come to believe that the
>>>>>>>> primary
>>>>>>>> role of NABS had become a blind student networking outlet.
>>>>>>>> Thankfully,
>>>>>>>> some friends and role models of mine from Baltimore picked me up
>>>>>>>> off
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> ground and told me not to give up on NABS.
>>>>>>>> We will not have to sacrifice the social element of NABS if we move
>>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> our peripheral attention. People love people, and I have faith that
>>>>>>>> we
>>>>>>>> will always build personal relationships. I want us to focus more
>>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>>> activity between the big, face-to-face gatherings that only happen
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> couple of times per year. I want our board to be more hands-on as
>>>>>>>> regional representatives, and, fundamentally, I want to bring more
>>>>>>>> organization to our organization. The National Federation of the
>>>>>>>> Blind
>>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>>> the organized blind movement. I have led workshops and written an
>>>>>>>> article
>>>>>>>> in the Student Slate about creating advertising directories in
>>>>>>>> student
>>>>>>>> divisions. This master email list through which I am contacting you
>>>>>>>> was
>>>>>>>> my idea and my project. I want to focus on unified communication
>>>>>>>> structures for student divisions, like Facebook, Twitter, and
>>>>>>>> NFBnet
>>>>>>>> email lists. The power that comes from being organized is
>>>>>>>> tremendous;
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> little organizing goes a long way. Then, we can focus on both
>>>>>>>> student-specific issues and the broader efforts of the National
>>>>>>>> Federation of the Blind. If we look around the country, college
>>>>>>>> campuses
>>>>>>>> are hotspots for legislative advocacy. I want NABS to reflect this
>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> organized blind movement.
>>>>>>>> I have a mind for organizing everything except my apartment. The
>>>>>>>> more
>>>>>>>> highly we prioritize organization, the more organized we will be
>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> stronger the organization skills of our members and leaders will
>>>>>>>> be.
>>>>>>>> I have the kind of love that enables me to work all night long to
>>>>>>>> further
>>>>>>>> our movement, and it's because I love NABS and my fellow blind
>>>>>>>> students
>>>>>>>> that I am not giving up on NABS. I always focus on preparing and
>>>>>>>> empowering my successors, evident in my article on leadership
>>>>>>>> philosophy
>>>>>>>> in the April 2014 Braille Monitor. I do not hold grudges. I grew up
>>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>> gravel road in northeastern Connecticut and attended a regional
>>>>>>>> high
>>>>>>>> school on the UConn campus. I attack a problem with the same
>>>>>>>> tenacity
>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> work ethic that has produced two years of dual NCAA men's and
>>>>>>>> women's
>>>>>>>> basketball championships from my hometown UConn Huskies. This job
>>>>>>>> will
>>>>>>>> not be easy, but I will not give up on NABS.
>>>>>>>> I love doing the work of the Federation so much that I have left my
>>>>>>>> top-ten economics doctoral program at the University of
>>>>>>>> Wisconsin-Madison
>>>>>>>> to attend Louisiana Tech University to become a cane travel
>>>>>>>> instructor.
>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>> am in the pool of potential speakers for our agenda so that I can
>>>>>>>> tell
>>>>>>>> everyone how my experience at the Louisiana Center for the Blind
>>>>>>>> changed
>>>>>>>> my life and career path. I pray that I will have the opportunity to
>>>>>>>> share
>>>>>>>> my story, but I understand that this would violate the private
>>>>>>>> agreement
>>>>>>>> within the NABS board and will attempt to get it adjusted in my
>>>>>>>> case.
>>>>>>>> Whether I speak or not, I am writing my story as another article to
>>>>>>>> submit to the Braille Monitor.
>>>>>>>> I am proud to be a national leader in our movement and even more
>>>>>>>> proud
>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> have other national leaders supporting and encouraging me. I have a
>>>>>>>> decorated resume with many titles and accomplishments, but I want
>>>>>>>> voters
>>>>>>>> to focus on my love for NABS and my fellow blind students, on the
>>>>>>>> railroad that we can build together, and on the effort to achieve
>>>>>>>> equality, opportunity and security for the blind.
>>>>>>>> I will be forever grateful for your vote, Justin Salisbury for NABS
>>>>>>>> President, at our national convention. I guarantee that countless
>>>>>>>> other
>>>>>>>> blind students and non-students will be grateful, as well.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Love,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Justin Salisbury
>>>>>>>> Board Member
>>>>>>>> National Association of Blind Students
>>>>>>>> president at alumni.ecu.edu<mailto:president at alumni.ecu.edu>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>>>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
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>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> nabs-l:
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>> nabs-l:
>>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/minh.ha927%40gmail.com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
>>>>> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
>>>>> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
>>>>> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
>>>> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
>>>> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
>>>> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Cindy Bennett
>>> Secretary: National Association of Blind Students
>>>
>>> B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
>>> clb5590 at gmail.com
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>




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