[Nfb-editors] Kansas 2012 Fall - Winter Tap Tracks

Sat Sep 21 23:35:34 UTC 2013

TAP TRACKS

The Newsletter of

The National Federation of the Blind of Kansas

Fall/Winter 2012

Editorial Staff:  Susan Tabor, Editor-in-Chief

Tom Page,

Associate Editor

Materials for the next issue of TAP TRACKS please send or email your
contributions to:

Susan Tabor

1234 Tennessee Street

Lawrence, Kansas 66044-3226

Phone (home):  785-841-3875

Cell:  785-865-9949

E-mail:  souljourner at sbcglobal.net

Thank you!

THE PAST YEAR IN A NUTSHELL

By Susan Tabor

     2012 has been a busy year for the NFB of Kansas.  In February of 2012,
12 of us attended the Washington Seminar held each year in Washington, D.C.
One of us worked in the Mercury room where information was taken and where
delegations reported to after their congressional visits.  The rest of us
were divided into teams and between us were able to visit all of the
Congressional delegation from Kansas.  The major issue was worker/wage
equity.  A bill mandating universal access for all household appliances was
also discussed.  Unfortunately, there were no major endorsements from Kansas
Congressional representatives concerning any of the initiatives that were
presented.

     In May of 2012, Rob Tabor represented our state affiliate at a seminar
on technology for the blind which was held at the NFB National Center in
Baltimore, Maryland. He will be using information and resources from that
seminar to give him impetus for the technology seminar that will be a part
of our state convention on Friday afternoon, November 9.

     In early July, 20 of us attended the NFB national convention in Dallas,
Texas.  Among other things, work was done at that Convention to move the
cause of work and wage equity for the blind forward.

     In August of 2012, informational demonstrations were held at the
Goodwill Industries locations in Wichita and Kansas City.  A primary
objective was to get the word out concerning this issue to the general
public and to other organizations who might join in our efforts, as did the
National Council on Persons With Disabilities (NCOD), a major
cross-disability nationally-based advocacy organization.

     This brings us up to our state convention, which will be on November 9,
10 and 11 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Lawrence, Kansas.

     The Jayhawk Chapter is looking forward to again hosting our state
organization and we have educational and fun activities and exhibits
planned.  So put the convention on your calendar now, and we'll see you on
November 9!  The first activity that day will be a workshop on assistive
technology which will run until 4:30.  Then we'll have a bountiful
hospitality suite and there will be several fun and educational exhibits
displaying until 10:00 p.m, which will include some fun chapter fundraisers!
Friday evening.  Resolutions will meet at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening as
well.

     Rooms are a flat $89 per night.  A block of rooms will be held until
October 26th, so make your reservations early so you don't forget!

     Don't miss this opportunity to share knowledge, fun and new ideas! See
you in Lawrence! 

>From The Desk Of The President

By Donna Wood 

     The National Federation of the Blind of Kansas would like to invite you
to our 43rd annual state convention.  The state convention will be held
November 9-11, 2012 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center 200 McDonald Drive
Lawrence, KS 66044.  Room reservations can be made at (785) 841-7077 at $89
per night.  Reservations need to be made by October 26, 2012 to be assured
of the reduced rate.  If you find yourself short of funds this year we have
a few scholarships available for attendance to the convention.  Please
present your need for a scholarship to the local chapter president.  The
local chapter president will then submit the requests to the convention
committee for approval. Registration for convention will be $5
preregistration $10 at door.  There will be a lunch for $10 and Banquet
tickets are $20.  Please see the pre-registration form in this newsletter.  

     We have a full informative weekend planned for this years convention.
Join us on Friday, November 9th in Brazilian B from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm for a
technology seminar.  Presented by Rob Tabor of the NFB of Kansas and Dave
Wilkerson of Nanopac.  The seminar will include, screen readers, IOS
products and Daisy readers.  

     After the seminar plan to stay for the evening events.  We will have a
hospitality room starting at 5:00 pm with plenty of snacks, drinks and fun.
After that plan to visit the Vendors in Brazilian C and then come back to
Brazilian B for resolutions.  We have the privilege of having two
Orientation and Mobility instructors from the Colorado Center for the Blind
participating in our convention this year.  They will have a table in the
Vendors room.  Please stop by and see them and receive some one on one
instruction from them.  

     Saturday will be a full day of presenters in general session.  This
year we are honored to have Cathy Jackson as our National Representative.
Please see her bio later in this newsletter.  On Saturday evening the NFB of
Kansas will be holding our traditional banquet with Ms. Jackson as our
keynote speaker.  Also at the banquet we will be presenting The Tede
memorial scholarships.  Come join us after the banquet for fun and
entertainment.  

     Sunday we will wind up the convention with a worship service and a
business meeting in the Regency A ballroom.  Convention will adjourn at
noon.  The NFB of Kansas has arranged for a late check out of 1:00 pm from
the Hotel.  When checking in please remind the front desk that you will be
checking out late on Sunday. Come and join us and help make this a great
convention. 

National Federation of the Blind

Of Kansas

Annual State Convention

November 9th, 10th, and 11th, 2012

Agenda

Friday, November 9, 2012

(1:00-4:30 pm Technology Seminar, Brazilian B) 

12:00 pm-Registration (Preconvene  hallway) 

1:00 pm-JAWS 

2:00 pm-IOS (iphone, ipad, etc.) 

3:00 pm-Break 

3:15 pm-Daisy Players 

4:15 pm-Q and A 

Friday evening

5:00-7:00 pm-Registration (Preconvene hallway) 

5:00-7:00 pm-Hospitality (Hospitality room) 

7:00 pm-Resolutions, Chair Rob Tabor (Brazilian B)

9:00 pm--Nominating committee closed meeting chair Tom Page (location to be
announced)

6:00-10:00 pm-Vendors (Brazilian C and D) 

Saturday, November 10, 2012

(General Session Brazilian B)

7:00 am-Welcoming the Day with Stretching and Exercise (Brazilian A) 

8:00 am-Registration (Preconvene hallway)  

9:00 am-Welcome 

9:15 am-National Report, Cathy Jackson 

10:00 am-State report, Donna Wood 

10:30 am-Nano-Pac, Dave Wilkerson  

11:00 am-Colorado Center for the Blind (CCB), Steve Patten and David
Nietfeld, orientation and mobility instructors, Serena Nickell, student   

11:45 am-Resolutions and Committee reports  

Noon-Lunch (on site Brazilian C and D)

1:00 pm-Panel on Product use in the job Search, Employment and Academia. 

1:30 pm-Panel on Low Vision Product Use in the job Search, employment and
Academia. 

2:00 pm-Presentation on Cisco Academy for the Visually Impaired (CAVI), Rob
Tabor 

2:30 pm-How to finance technology Basil Kessler, PhD, Executive Director
Kansas Assistive Technology Corporation,  KATCO 

3:00 pm-Break 

3:15 pm-Blio, Chikako Mochizuki

3:45 pm-Newsline, Tom Page 

4:30 pm-Committee reports and resolutions 

5:00 pm-Adjourn 

Saturday Evening

(Brazilian C and D) 

6:00 pm-Happy Hour (cash bar)  

7:00 pm-Banquet, Master of Ceremony, Rob Tabor  

Awarding of Scholarships 

Following banquet there will be music for entertainment and dancing.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

(General session, Regency A) 

7:00 am-Welcome the day with stretching and exercise (Preconvene Hallway) 

8:30 am-Worship service (Regency A) 

9:30 am-Business meeting 

Secretaries report: Sharon Luka 

Treasurers report: Martha Kelly 

Nominations: Tom Page 

Resolutions: Rob Tabor 

Other business 

12:00 pm-Adjourn 

Cathy Jackson Board Member, Advocate, Braille Specialist and Mother

     Mary Catherine Brothers (Cathy) was born on October 25, 1949, in
Louisville, Kentucky, to Charles and Catherine Brothers. She is the third of
nine children, four girls and five boys. 

     Cathy was born with congenital cataracts. In 1949 few resources were
available to parents of blind children. The National Federation of the Blind
was only nine years old, and the Kentucky affiliate was only two years old.
The Brothers family had not heard of either. Her parents had never known any
other blind people and couldn't imagine what the future might hold for their
daughter. However, they decided that a common-sense approach was their best
avenue. Luckily for Cathy, they never considered any approach to raising
their blind daughter other than the methods they were using to raise their
two older boys.

     After several eye surgeries Cathy gained some usable vision in her
right eye. At age five she was enrolled in a Roman Catholic school. Her
parents chose this educational setting since the school offered a
sight-saving class, where she would have access to large-print books and
other materials that would make classroom work easier. Then in the fall of
1960 Cathy was enrolled at the Kentucky School for the Blind, where she
remained until graduating from high school in 1967. Her parents and teachers
decided that it would be more beneficial for her to attend school where she
would have access to all of her textbooks in large print and, perhaps more
important, where she could learn Braille.

     This was Cathy's first exposure to totally blind peers and adults.
Although she had been around other visually impaired students at her
elementary school, the majority of them could see considerably better than
she. She and her parents soon learned that blindness was simply a physical
condition, certainly not one that would keep her from achieving whatever
goals she set for herself. During these seven years while attending the
Kentucky School for the Blind, she began to learn not to be ashamed of her
blindness. She learned to advocate for herself and others. Being student
council president during her junior and senior years launched her political
career.

     During the summer of 1967 Cathy attended the Chicago Lighthouse for the
Blind. An ill-advised rehabilitation counselor thought this training would
be the crowning touch to prepare her for college in the fall. That summer
school Lighthouse class of 1967 was comprised of very bright, outgoing,
normal young adults, who turned the tables on the Lighthouse staff and
teachers. As Cathy remembers the experience, the adults were the ones to get
the education when the students refused to be bound by the low expectations
and negative attitudes of the staff. At this point in her life she still had
not heard about the National Federation of the Blind but was already
preaching and practicing NFB philosophy.

     Upon graduation from high school Cathy attended Spalding University,
formerly Catherine Spalding College in Louisville, Kentucky. She majored in
psychology, minored in sociology, and took an active part in academic,
student government, and social organizations. The blindness skills and
attitudes she had learned at the Kentucky School for the Blind and even the
negative attitudes she had been exposed to at the Lighthouse the summer
before college were beginning to pay dividends. Cathy was growing into an
adult with increasingly resolute convictions and positive attitudes.

     In 1972, Cathy met Betty Niceley, the longtime leader of the Kentucky
affiliate and for many years a member of the NFB board of directors. The
rest is history. This friendship began her formal Federation education.
Although Cathy was slow to join the Federation, Betty never gave up on
recruiting her. In 1975 Cathy became a member of the Louisville Association
of the Blind, the former name of the local NFB chapter. Through the years
Cathy eventually served as secretary, vice president, and president of the
National Federation of the Blind of Greater Louisville. She was also
treasurer of the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille of
Kentucky. In the Kentucky affiliate she has served as board member,
treasurer, first vice president, and now president. At the 2002 annual
convention of the National Federation of the Blind held in Louisville, she
was elected to the board of directors of the National Federation of the
Blind. 

     Cathy has held a variety of jobs through the years. During college she
was employed at the Kentucky Industries for the Blind (now New Vision
Enterprises for the Blind) to do seasonal contract work. For a short time
after college Cathy worked for the state of Kentucky as a social worker in
the Food Stamp Office. After staying home to raise her daughter, Cathy has
worked successively as the program coordinator for the National Federation
of the Blind of Kentucky Braille Service Center, a clerical support staff
member in a law office, and the Braille clerk for the Jefferson County
school system. But her favorite job of all was stay-at-home mom to her
daughter Dana Nicole. She volunteered as a classroom aide, did substitute
teaching, and worked as a secretary in the principal's office. She served as
president of the school Parent Teacher Association, secretary of the
athletic club, and member of the parish council. In addition she coached
both the peewee basketball team and the cheerleading squad.

     Cathy has received a number of awards for academic and athletic
achievement, but the two awards she cherishes most are the Susan B. Rarick
and Harold L. Reagan awards presented to her by the NFB of Kentucky. Cathy
comments that her roots and commitment to the NFB go deep and that the past
twenty-seven years are just the beginning.

NFB of KS Protests Subminimum Wages for Disabled Workers

By Tom Page

     On August 25th the NFB of Kansas continued our proud tradition of
standing up for the rights of disabled Americans and rallied to protest the
practice of paying piece rates amounting to subminimum wages to disabled
workers.  As part of a coordinated effort in 80 locations across the nation
we held rallies in Wichita and Kansas City MO.  These protests specifically
targeted Goodwill Industries.  About 40% of Goodwill entities nationwide
continue to exploit disabled workers for pennies on the dollar in programs
that are advertised as "rehabilitation".  

     Section 14c of the "Fair Labor Standards Act" (FLSA) has allowed
entities providing employment for the "severely disabled" to apply for a
waiver permitting those entities to legally pay less than the minimum wage
to the disabled employees.  Our protests were designed to draw attention to
this unfair, discriminatory, and immoral provision if the FLSA and to the
bill we currently have in the U.S. House of Representatives H.R. 3086 that
would do away with the 14c provision.   Both of the Goodwill entities
targeted by the NFB of KS hold 14c waivers and are currently engaged in
piece rate labor subcontracting for local industry.

     Approximately 25 federationists, friends, and family gathered in
Wichita and approximately 15 participated in the KCMO protest.  At both
locations we politely chanted, sang, picketed, and offered Goodwill patrons
fact sheets on the subminimum wage issue.  Good press was generated both
before and after the event in print
(http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/blog/2012/08/national-federation-of-the-
blind-to.html) and TV form
(http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Kansans-participate-in-national-protest-
of-Goodwills-wages-for-people-with-disabilities-167452395.html).  We gained
the support of the Hutchinson Wichita Labor Federation who issued a strong
statement of support (http://www.whlaborfed.org/).

     Our research revealed that in Wichita alone there were at least 3 other
shops holding 14c certificates.  President Wood and 1st Vice President Page
toured one of these shops at Envision in Wichita.  When we arrived we found
that cooking and karaoke were activities of the day.  We were never shown
how they managed to produce $110,000 in pens in 2011.  Although their 990
form revealed that the top management (3 individuals) was compensated in
excess of $1,000,000 in 2010 the manager of the sweatshop declined to
disclose the actual per piece rate that the Envision employees were being
paid.  The NFB of KS continues to deplore the exploitation of the blind by
Envision in both their subminimum and substandard wage shops.  We are
committed to gaining the actual wage information and bringing the actual
effective hourly wages of the sweatshop employees to the media.  

     These protests built on the awareness that we gained after picketing
Sen. Pat Roberts Wichita office in July 2011.  We were successful then in
stalling the Senate process that threatened to reiterate section 14c in the
new Workforce Investment Act.  This August we were again successful in
raising awareness in the community of the existence of these shops and their
deplorable practices.  However, we have so far not been able to convince any
of the Kansas congressional delegation to co-sponsor H.R. 3086.  Call your
congress person today and recommend that they become a co-sponsor.  For more
information on the fair wages issue and H.R. 3086 please visit:
http://www.nfb.org/fair-wages   

Announcements

The National Federation of the Blind of Kansas invites you to join us on the
third Friday of each month, at 7:00 p.m., for our At Large chapter meetings.
This meeting is held by conference call for those members and interested
guests who do not have access to a local chapter meeting.  Those interested
in calling in you are welcome to use the toll free number of 866-476-8702 if
you have unlimited long distance please dial (916) 233-4200.  After dialing
in, you will be prompted to put in a participants pin number, which is
950655 then press the pound key. We hope to hear from you on our next
conference call on October 19, 2012.  .  

     Wake up with gentle stretches and chair based exercises before the
exciting NFB of Kansas convention day in Lawrence.  This energizing, 30
minute class will be available both Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7 am.
This gives you plenty of time to get to the convention room to hear who gets
the first door prize! 

     This South-Central Chapter fundraiser will be led by Dianne Hemphill.
There will be a focus on providing clear verbal instruction so everyone can
follow the moves. Dianne has her under graduate degree in physical
education. She taught beginning and intermediate dance and gymnastics to
children for over 10 years and adult fitness classes for many years in
Wichita locations including recreation centers and private fitness
facilities. 

     Though we welcome any donation that you might wish to contribute, we
suggest a minimum donation of $3 for one class and a consideration of $5 for
the two.  See you there!

This is one time you won't have to worry about the gasoline pump!

At this year's State Convention in Lawrence, we will be selling pumpkin
bread for five dollars per loaf!

Don't loaf around!

Sign up for the exercise session! Then fuel up and pump up your energy with
a plump loaf of pumpkin bread!

Registration for the NFBK State Convention 

November 9-11, 2012 

Please send registration form and payment to Bob Fuller at 1746 Mississippi
St., Lawrence, KS 66044. Please make checks payable to the National
Federation of the Blind of Kansas. 

If you are registering multiple attendees, please include all names of those
you are registering. 

Name:  

Address: 

Telephone:

E-mail:

Pre-registration:  $5.00 Registration at the door:  $10.00 

Luncheon: $10.00 Banquet:  $20.00 

Please note if you would prefer a vegetarian meal: 

Do you plan to attend the technology seminar on Friday November 9, 2012 from
1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.? No cost.

If so, please note the number of all in your party who will attend. 

The convention will be held at The Lawrence Holiday Inn Holidome and
Convention Center at 200 McDonald Dr., Lawrence, KS 64044 telephone (785)
841-7077. Room rates are $89 per night. Please come and join us in changing
what it means to be blind in Kansas.

National Federation on the Blind                             Free Matter 

Of Kansas                                                            for the
Blind

1451 Fairview

Wichita, KS 67203

Robert Leslie Newman

President, NFB Writers' Division

Division Website

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

Chair, Communications committee

Personal Website-

 <http://www.thoughtprovoker.info/> http://www.thoughtprovoker.info