<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18852"></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left><FONT size=2
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Freeh, Jessica
[mailto:JFreeh@nfb.org]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, November 10, 2009 8:45
AM<BR><B>To:</B> Alpidio Rolon; Amy Buresh; Angela Wolf; Anil Lewis; Art
Schreiber; Beth Rival; Bob Kresmer; Carl Jacobsen; Cathy Jackson; Charlene
Smyth; Christine G. Hall; Dan Hicks; Daniel Burke; Don Galloway; Donna Wood;
Elsie Lamp; Frank Lee; Franklin Shiner; Fred Schroeder; Gary Ray; Gary Wunder;
J.W. Smith; James Antonacci; James Broadnax; Jennelle Bichler; Jennifer Dunnam;
Joe Ruffalo; John Batron; John Fritz; Joyce Scanlan; Ken Rollman; Kevan Worley;
Marie Johnson; Mary Willows; Matt Lyles; Matt Lyles; Melissa Riccobono; Michael
Barber; Michael Freeman; Mika Pyyhkala; Nani Fife; Pam Allen; Parnell Diggs;
Patti Chang; Richard Gaffney; Ron Brown; Ron Gardner; Sam Gleese; Scott LaBarre;
Selena Sundling-Crawford; Terri Rupp<BR><B>Subject:</B> South Bend Tribune
article on Dr. Maurer and the Braille coin<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT
face=Garamond>
<H1 align=left itxtvisited="1"><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"
itxtvisited="1">Blind Notre Dame grad to present Braille coin before
game.</SPAN></H1>
<DIV align=left><!--END Headline--><!--Extra Eyebrow Field--><!--ArticleByline--><FONT
size=2 itxtvisited="1"><B itxtvisited="1">By MARGARET FOSMOE</B><BR
itxtvisited="1"><I itxtvisited="1">Tribune Staff Writer</I><BR
itxtvisited="1"></FONT><BR
itxtvisited="1"><!--Extra Break if needed--><!---->SOUTH BEND — When the coin is
tossed before today's Notre Dame-Navy game, it won't involve any ordinary
coin.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">For the first time, a silver U.S.
coin embossed with readable Braille will be used.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR
itxtvisited="1">One side features an image of Louis Braille, the French inventor
of the Braille reading and writing system for the blind, who was born 200 years
ago. The other side shows an image of a blind child reading Braille, and the
raised Braille letters B R L — signifying Braille's name.<SPAN
class=734050813-09112009> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>The bicentennial silver dollar is being delivered to campus by
Marc Maurer, a 1974 University of Notre Dame graduate who is president of the
National Federation of the Blind.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">Maurer,
58, of Baltimore, will present the coin for the toss before the game.<BR
itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">The commemorative silver dollar was approved
by Congress and released for sale this year by the U.S. Mint.<BR
itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">It's the first commemorative U.S. coin to
feature readable Braille.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">The release of
the coin was a milestone for the nation and its blind citizens, Maurer said. "It
shows the reading method for the blind is valuable, and therefore the blind are
valuable," he said.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">Proceeds from sales
of the coins go to the National Federation of the Blind to fund literacy efforts
among blind children in the United States.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR
itxtvisited="1">Only 10 percent of American children today are learning Braille,
Maurer said. Not knowing Braille severely limits their ability to learn.<BR
itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">One problem is a shortage of teachers who
are trained to teach Braille and to teach students who use Braille, he said.<BR
itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">Maurer, a native of Iowa, was blinded as an
infant when he received too much oxygen after his premature birth. His mother,
June Maurer, taught herself Braille. Then she taught him to read and write in
Braille during the summer after he finished first grade.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR
itxtvisited="1">"I started reading then, and I've been at it ever since," he
said.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">When Maurer enrolled at Notre Dame
in 1970, he knew of no other blind students on campus. He said he found the
university open and welcoming, students and faculty alike. "There was a general
interest in finding ways for me to learn," he said.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR
itxtvisited="1">Maurer majored in liberal studies and was a member of the
philosophy honor society. To fulfill his physical education requirement, he took
ice skating lessons. After graduating, he went on to earn an Indiana University
law degree.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">He and his wife, Patricia,
also blind since birth, have been married for 36 years. They have two grown
children.<BR itxtvisited="1"><BR itxtvisited="1">Maurer on Thursday received the
Rev. John J. Cavanaugh Award for outstanding public service from the Notre Dame
Alumni Association. <BR itxtvisited="1"></DIV>
<DIV align=left><IMG
title="blocked::javascript:NewWindow(480,640,'/apps/pbcs.dll/misc?url=/misc/zoom.pbs&Site=SB&Date=20091107&Category=News01&ArtNo=911079993&Ref=AR&Profile=1130')"
border=0
src="http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SB&Date=20091107&Category=News01&ArtNo=911079993&Ref=AR&Profile=1130&MaxW=290&MaxH=240"></DIV>
<DIV align=left>Tribune Photo/GENE KAISER</DIV></FONT>
<DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt" itxtvisited="1"><B itxtvisited="1">Marc Maurer, a
1974 University of Notre Dame graduate and president of the National Federation
of the Blind, displays a Louis Braille bicentennial silver dollar identical to
the one that will be used for the coin toss before today's Notre Dame-Navy
game.</B></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>