[Nfb-editors] Arizona's Monthly newsletter from the President - March issue

Mon Mar 11 03:01:18 UTC 2013

March 8, 2013 

Hello, fellow Federationists, 

This month, we will discuss - 

NFB National scholarship deadline approaches 

NFBA At-Large chapter meeting by telephone Monday, March 11 

Limited financial assistance available for Arizona members to participate in
the NFB national convention 

Statewide Needs Assessment by Rehabilitation Services 

Pat Eschbach offers for sale Bob's Humanware Braille note Apex 

Tsb vision day March 19 in Tucson 

Request for assistance from the Jernigan Institute for summer youth STEM
program 

Survey participants requested by the Braille and Talking Book Library 

Kernel book story by Jim Gashell 

The deadline for applying for one of 30 NFB national scholarship is March
31.  It is not too late to apply, so please recommend to graduating blind
high school seniors or college students to apply now.  

* The NFBA At Large chapter meeting will take place Monday, March 11 at 7
pm.  Participants will telephone Duane Keyannie's chat room by dialing - 

(712) 432-6448 then pound sign

Then 1 to go to live chat room

Then 307 pound to join the teleconference 

.               The NFBA board of directors has authorized limited financial

assistance for Arizona members to participate in the NFB national convention
this year.  Because we conducted a successful fundraiser, the Caribbean
cruise raffle, we have funds for this assistance.  

.               The board authorized funds for members who are not first
timers,

since funds are available from the Jernigan Fund for first timers and RSA
may authorize for voc rehab clients who have not yet been to a consumer
convention.  

Up to $300.00 is available for up to five members.  Please telephone NFBA
president Bob Kresmer prior to May 1, 2013 to make a request.  There will
not be enough funds for all who make the request.  Please make the request
early! 

* The Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is conducting its
tri-annual Comprehensive Statewide Needs Assessment (CSNA) designed to
gather data from persons with disabilities in the state of Arizona regarding

their experiences and needs surrounding services and resources.   This

information will be used to develop priorities and strategies within the
Vocational Rehabilitation program and other programs administered by RSA to
optimize services for persons with disabilities in the state of Arizona. 

We are requesting your assistance in distributing this survey to the
community so they may have a voice in this effort.  The below link will take
individuals to an electronic version of the survey.  If a paper version is
needed please contact Chris Deere at (602)542-1228 or CDeere at azdes.gov .

Thank you.

The below link will allow access to the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CSNAFY2013

This survey will be open until March 22, 2013

Christopher Deere, M.A., MBA

Manager of Programs and Policy

Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration Phone (602)542-1228

* Pat Eschbach is offering Bob's Braille note Apex 32 cell refreshable note
taker for $4,000.00.  The unit is in like - new condition.  If you are
interested, please call Pat at (520) 840-4835  

* Tucson Society of the Blind and Freedom Scientific are conducting their
Vision Awareness Day March 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  There will be a
continental breakfast and free lunch This year there will be two groups
meeting separately.  One group will be those with low vision and the other
group will be those who are totally blind.  TSB will be giving away great
door prizes. Freedom Scientific will be donating, as a door prize, a RUBY
Handheld Video Magnifier, valued at $545 and a MAJIC Screen Magnification
Software & Large Print Keyboard valued at $595.  To register for this event,
call 800-336-5658 by March 12.  Seating is limited and PLEASE RSVP for food
count.

* we need your help--to rally support for the NFB's STEM programming. We are
hoping to raise these needed funds in the next two weeks in order to make it
possible for fifty blind students to travel to Baltimore to participate in a
dynamic education program. 

Please consider making a general donation online today and encourage your
friends and family to do so as well. Please share this information on social
media sites. You can also download our donation form and donate now by mail.

When you make your contribution, please note that you are responding to this
request to support our summer STEM programs. Our individual efforts,
collectively focused, will help us invest in providing blind young people
better access to the key subjects of the twenty-first century.

As we struggle as a nation with the hard decisions about how to stabilize
our federal budget for the future, let's not forget that there are great
organizations in our communities doing great work driven by the
contributions of individuals who want to make a difference. Thank you for
your role in helping us provide educational opportunities to the blind
across America.

* The Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped (NLS) is conducting a survey to understand how to
better serve the needs of readers of talking books and Braille. Take the
survey now to let your opinions be heard and help us better serve you! You
do not have to be a current NLS reader to take the survey. The survey should
take no longer than 25 minutes. 

It will be used to improve services to current readers and find out what
services non-NLS readers are looking for. Your answers to the survey
questions will be kept confidential. 

Go to www.LibraryOfCongressSurvey.org to take the survey online Call
866-545-1618 to schedule a phone survey What is the National Library Service
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS)? 

The Library of Congress NLS provides free talking books and Braille
materials to eligible citizens through a national network of regional
libraries. Reading materials can be downloaded online or sent through the
mail. There are materials for readers of all ages. 

Who should take the survey? 

If you are eligible to use the National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped (NLS) services and live in the United States, this
survey is for you! 

You do not have to be a current NLS reader to take the survey. We want to
hear from you if you are a U.S. citizen, age 18 or older, and meet one of
the following

criteria: you are legally blind; you cannot see or focus well enough to read
regular print, although you wear eyeglasses or contact lenses; you are
unable to hold or handle print books or turn pages; or you have a reading
disability because of an organic or physical dysfunction.

* From the Kernel book "Celebrate" 

By James Gashell

I have been blind all my life, and I grew up in Iowa where Dr. Kenneth
Jernigan was my teacher on matters dealing with blindness and life in
general. He taught us that it is respectable to be blind. This is the most
important lesson I ever learned.

Knowing that blindness is respectable leads to self-confidence. I still see
blind people holding back on trying things they could do if they only had
the confidence to try. More than loss of eyesight, this is the real problem
of blindness. Dr. Jernigan taught us this too.

During the time I was in college in Iowa and starting to think about such
things, I knew blind people who were told they couldn't take certain classes
or be hired for certain jobs, for example as teachers. I knew this was
wrong, and this is why I joined the National Federation of the Blind.

I learned that a form of discrimination occurs when blind people are denied
jobs or other opportunities based on misconceptions. Not all denials are
discrimination, such as refusing to issue a blind person a driver's license.

Denials based on incorrect facts or false reasoning are discrimination, but
are almost never mean-spirited as we sometimes think of with racial or
ethnic prejudice. Still, even if kindness is the reason, blind people do
face discrimination in the form of exclusion from opportunities.

In the National Federation of the Blind we share stories with one another
about the successes we have and the barriers we still face. This is how I
first learned that blind people were being excluded from jury service. I
knew that blind people were working as lawyers, so I couldn't figure out why
we couldn't serve on juries.

Who would think that the legal system would discriminate against blind
people? None of this seemed right, and it wasn't right. I wondered what
would happen if I was called to serve. On whom can you count for justice
when the law enforcer has already made up his mind against you?

Many years went by, and I was never called for jury duty. Then it happened.

I now live in Baltimore, Maryland, where the circuit court has a "one trial
or one day" rule. This results in being called for jury duty as often as
once a year and certainly within two years, but many more people are called
than actually serve on a jury.

The first time I was called the day was uneventful, but the second time was
different. My summons number was 14, so if a judge needed a jury, I was
certain to be in the group called for screening. In fact, this is exactly
what happened as soon as we had received the general "pep-talk" about the
importance of jury service.

The announcement made by a court official instructed anyone with a number
between 1 and 100 to report to one of the courtrooms in the building across
the street. Using a long white cane, which I do, no one could miss that I am
blind, but nobody mentioned it either. So, off to the courtroom I went where
the judge told us the procedures and started asking questions to select the
jury.

This was a civil dispute. The plaintiff was an older gentleman and the
defendant was a young man in his early 20's. These two had been involved in
a traffic accident, and the issue was over who caused it and who would pay.

According to the instructions we were supposed to stand up if we had to
answer "no" to any of the questions. I kept my seat since I had no reason to
give a "no" answer. Then the judge started calling numbers, and what do you
know, number 14 was the very first one called.

When I rose, white cane in hand, the judge told me to take the first chair
in the jury box. Actually, I had no idea where the jury box was, let alone
the first chair, but I walked confidently toward the bench to an area where
I assumed the jury would have to be seated to view the attorneys, the
witnesses, and the judge.

With two rows of chairs there, it turned out that I was right. I proceeded
to the first chair at the end closest to the judge in the front row,
figuring that this was the one intended for me. This view was confirmed too
when the judge called the next juror's number as I confidently took my seat.

Finally we were all seated, and the trial commenced. At noon we took a
break, and a court employee escorted all of the jurors to a room where we
were told to reassemble after lunch, after which we were dismissed for lunch
on our own. I'm not sure when we were told that the juror in the first chair
is the foreman, but I remember feeling a great sense of responsibility as I
left the courthouse for lunch. Here I was, the foreman of a jury at the
Circuit Court in Baltimore.

Some time after 1:00 p.m., when everyone was back, the trial resumed. We
listened to testimony for the next two and a half hours, nothing like the O.

J. Simpson trial that lasted several months. Anyway, the judge started to
read instructions to us at about 3:30 p. m., and we filed back to the jury
room to deliberate. It was close to 4:00 p. m.

The judge's instructions included three or four questions that we were
specifically directed to answer. I wrote these questions down on a Braille
device I use, and read my Braille notes to direct the jury. The crux of the
case was who caused the accident? Did the older gentlemen fail to see the
car driven by the younger man before he pulled out, or was the younger
driver speeding out-of-control as the older gentleman alleged?

All of the sympathies were with the plaintiff (the older gentleman) who had
been seriously injured in the accident, but my responsibility was to lead
the jury to evaluate the proof. With four years of intercollegiate debating
and subsequent work as a high school forensics coach, I was probably the
best-qualified person in the room to explain the burden of proof to the
others. Emotions were running high as we argued the merits of each side, but
no one mentioned that I am blind and cannot drive a car. If they had, I
would have argued that this would leave me free from preconceptions that
drivers might have in evaluating the facts of this case. Knowing about
evaluation of evidence and burden of proof were more important in that
setting than knowing about driving, so no one challenged me on that point.

Anyway, when all was said and done, the jury reached a unanimous vote that
the plaintiff had not established the defendant's fault. I directed another
juror to complete the printed form for the judge, and we returned to
announce the verdict. The day was almost over. It was now my responsibility
to speak for the jury to confirm the decision, which I did. At that point we
received the judge's thanks, and the trial was over.

As I left the courthouse it struck me, blindness had not come up all day. I
had gone to the bar of justice and been treated as a first-class citizen.

There was no need to argue or persuade anyone that as a blind person I could
still judge the facts of a traffic accident. No one seemed to doubt my
ability. The message of the National Federation of the Blind is really
getting through. Here's the proof: there was no discrimination at the
courthouse.

Thanks for reading this all the way through!  If you have suggestions for

next month's message please call or email. 

Bob Kresmer, president 

Toll free 1 888 899-6322 

krezguy at cox.net 

Robert Leslie Newman

Personal Website-

Adjustment To Blindness And Visual impairment

http//www.thoughtprovoker.info

NFB Writers' Division, president

http://www.nfb-writers-division.net 

Chair of the NFB Communications Committee   