[nagdu] Some Perspective on the Policy

Sat Jul 2 00:07:19 UTC 2011

I think the city where we were not invited back was Louisville, though that has since been resolved.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 1, 2011, at 7:50 PM, "Jenine Stanley" <jeninems at wowway.com> wrote:

> ACB was in Chicago in 1994. Marion was correct in that the relief area
> situation was horrible, one set of boxes on a 6th floor roof. Street curbing
> was dangerous at best but no more so than in Manhattan. 
> 
> That hotel actually asked ACB back several years ago but rates were way too
> high in general. I was personally shocked they'd want us back after the mess
> but they had no qualms about it. 
> 
> Jenine Stanley
> jeninems at wowway.com
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Dan Weiner
> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 7:40 PM
> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Some Perspective on the Policy
> 
> Just one minor correction.
> The convention in 1994 was in Detroit, I was there.
> The Chicago convention was 1995.
> 
> Dan W.
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Lyn Gwizdak
> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 6:39 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Some Perspective on the Policy
> 
> Thank you, thank you, thank you, Marion for this post!
> 
> Maybe you need to hang on to this to paste it into your remeinder of the
> policy next year and maybe the folks who complain will finally understand
> it.
> 
> Have fun - I don't envy you when you have to bust people at the conventions.
> 
> Having close to 5,000 people this year!  Wow!
> 
> Lyn and Landon
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
> To: "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 7:46 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Some Perspective on the Policy
> 
> 
>> dear All,
>>   I hope everyone will read this entire post and that it will give a 
>> little perspective to the NFB policy concerning leaving dogs unattended in
> 
>> guest rooms during convention. Please keep in mind that this policy was 
>> enacted in an effort to resolve some very serious problems the 
>> organization faced in the past. It is not an arbitrary policy the 
>> Federation issued to attempt to make life difficult for guide dog users. 
>> Also, please keep in mind that the NFB Board of Directors is very 
>> supportive of the National Association of Guide dog Users and its members.
> 
>> This year, the NFB will spend about $8500 providing relief areas for our 
>> guide dogs. This is quite a significant investment! Now, to the purpose of
> 
>> this post.
>>   In order to understand the need for the policy, we need a bit of 
>> historical perspective. In 1994, the NFB convention was in Chicago, Ill. 
>> During that convention, there were some very serious problems, as it 
>> pertained to guide dog handlers. There were more than the average number 
>> of accidents, partly due to the fact that the area around the hotel had 
>> very little grass, except for Grant Park, which was swamped with millions 
>> of people for the Taste of Chicago. In addition to these accidents in the 
>> public areas of the hotel, several guide dog users left their dogs 
>> unattended to go to the fireworks in grant Park because they knew their 
>> dogs were afraid of the noise. A very large number of stressed-out dogs 
>> carried on well into the night, disrupting other guests staying in the 
>> hotel. Furthermore, some of these dogs literally destroyed the rooms. The 
>> long story short, since the guests were unable to pay for the damages, the
> 
>> NFB had to cover the cost, which ran well into the thousands of dollars. 
>> Of course, some will say that the NFB should have required the responsible
> 
>> parties to pay the damages, but you know the old adage of getting blood 
>> from a turnip! If the NFB didn't pay the damages, they would have been 
>> hard-pressed to find another hotel willing to offer us the rates we are 
>> accustomed to receiving. Even though we did pay the damages, though, word 
>> travels quickly in the hospitality industry and the NFB was having a 
>> difficult time finding properties willing to host our conventions and 
>> negotiating the rates.
>>   The NFB attempted to assess a surcharge of $25 for each guide dog user,
> 
>> but this was met with a great deal of resistance and this plan was 
>> scrapped very quickly. The resulting compromise was the policy that draws 
>> so much contention every year.
>>   I would like to offer a real-life analagy. Most communities have a 
>> public intoxication law. Basically, this law says that, if you are 
>> intoxicated and behave in a disorderly fashion, you are going to jail. The
> 
>> law is enacted because there was a problem with intoxicated people 
>> behaving in a disorderly manner. Now, some could argue that it is their 
>> right to drink if they are over the age of 21 and they would be correct. 
>> Therefore, they would argue, it is their right to become intoxicated and, 
>> again, they are right! However, if your public intoxication results in 
>> behavior the community deems disorderly, impinging on the rights of others
> 
>> to be free from such behavior, the police have the right to impose the 
>> remedies available under the law. at the same time, if one chooses to 
>> become intoxicated in public and behave themselves, no one really cares. 
>> It is only when that state of intoxication imposes negative consequences 
>> on public order that the remedies available are imposed.
>>   One post implied that I was only agreeing to the policy because it came
> 
>> from the leadership. This member is absolutely correct. Policies and laws 
>> are enacted for the general good of the community in an effort to provide 
>> remedies for behaviors that negatively impact that community. Barking and 
>> destructive dogs negatively impact the NFB community and the leadership of
> 
>> this community has designed a policy to resolve this issue and provide 
>> remedies. As a member of this community, you agree to abide by the 
>> policies or laws that govern that society's behavior or face the 
>> consequences for their violation. Whether that society is a country, 
>> state, county, city, place of business, workplace, or the NFB convention, 
>> there are acceptable behaviors and consequences for unacceptable behavior.
> 
>> Anything else is anarchy!
>>   I reject the notion that this - or any other - policy treats one like a
> 
>> child. In fact, what is childish is being intentionally oppositional and 
>> defiant of societal norms and mores. Remember that it was not too many 
>> months ago when someone believed he had the right to insult anyone he 
>> wanted to on this list and no one could do anything about it. How many of 
>> you rejoiced when it was announced that he was permanently banned from 
>> subscribing to any of the NFBNET lists? Parenthetically, he telephoned me 
>> to advise me that he intended to disrupt the NAGDU meeting this year. the 
>> Board has taken the measure of refusing his membership for conduct 
>> unbecoming a member. Since only members in good standing can speak on the 
>> floor, this effectively bars him from disrupting our meetings. Might he do
> 
>> so anyway? Perhaps! But there are other remedies available, too!
>>   I hope you have a better understanding of how this policy came to be 
>> and the practical issues it addresses. It is not an anti guide dog policy;
> 
>> rather, it is meant to prevent a serious issue and maintain order for the 
>> common good of all concerned. It is unfortunate that such a policy had to 
>> be implemented to deal with a problem created by a few. Just as most 
>> people are generally honest, but we have laws against stealing to provide 
>> remedies for the few that are not, most guide dog users are responsible. 
>> The policy is to provide remedies for those who are not!
>>   I hope that everyone has a fantastic convention. I understand that we 
>> are expecting more than 4000 in Orlando. That means we will most likely 
>> have close to 500 guide dog teams! I hope many of you will join us for the
> 
>> NAGDU meetings on Sunday & Tuesday in the Panzacola H-3 ballroom at 7:00 
>> pm! I'll see you then or here on the list afterward! Have an awesome 
>> Fourth of july!
>> 
>> Fraternally yours,
>> Marion Gwizdala, President
>> National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU)
>> National Federation of the Blind
>> 813-626-2789
>> President at NAGDU.ORG
>> HTTP://WWW.NAGDU.ORG
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> et 
> 
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