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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>June 28, 2017 <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Memo To: Executive Officers, Board Members, Chapter & Division Presidents & Others<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>From: Frank Coppel, President<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Positive Note 1611<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Greetings Fellow Federationists:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> This week a very important program is taking place in the NFB of SC. The program occurring this week is Children’s Camp which is being held at RBRCCB. The camp began June 25, and will conclude on July 1. The camp is under the direction of Jennifer Bazer who appears to have assembled an excellent staff of blind and sighted volunteers who are assisting her in providing a meaningful and fun filled camping experience for the approximately twenty-seven children attending camp. The children, will no doubt, enjoy visiting a rock climbing wall and visiting a horse farm just to name a few of the activities planned for this week. Tomorrow, July 29, Ed Bible and I will be traveling to Rocky Bottom to observe Children’s camp and to participate in a RBRCCB Advisory Board meeting. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> If you have not done so already, I would strongly encourage you to go ahead and make your hotel reservations for the 2017 NFB of SC State Convention which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Greenville, SC August 18-20. Room rates are very affordable. Rates for this year’s convention are $99 per night for up to four in a room. In addition to the room rates there will be a tax, which at present is 12 percent. There will also be a limited number of rooms available for the $99 rate Thursday, August 17. The deadline to make reservations is July 27, 2017. The Hyatt Regency Hotel has set aside a block of rooms for the NFB of SC until July 27 which is only four weeks away. If you wait until after July 27, to make your hotel reservation, the hotel may not have an available room for you. If you pay in advance, your reservation will be guaranteed; however, you will not have to pay as long as you arrive by 6:00 p.m. Any amount you pay, of course, will be applied toward your bill. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> You can make your room reservations by calling the Hyatt Regency reservation telephone number 402-592-6434 and inform the reservationist you are reserving a room for the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina state convention. The Hyatt Regency Hotel has also made available a dedicated website to book your hotel rooms online. Reservations can be made starting immediately at this web address: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>https://aws.passkey.com/go/natfedblind.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Also, I would strongly encourage you to go ahead and pay your $80 preregistration fee for this year’s State Convention to the Federation Center of the Blind, 119 S. Kilbourne Rd. Columbia, SC 29205. For the 2017 state convention, we are offering families with children a discount regarding the preregistration fee. Parents will pay the $80 preregistration fee and each child eight teen years of age and younger will pay $20. All preregistration fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable. The $80 preregistration fee will cover the reception on Friday evening, continental breakfast Saturday morning, the luncheon, banquet, and a continental breakfast Sunday morning. The deadline to accept your $80 preregistration fee is August 9. If you wait until after the deadline of August 9, the registration will increase to $100. Save $20 and preregister early! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> The theme of this year’s state convention is “You can live the life you want” and many of the agenda items on Saturday will reflect this theme. For the first time, on Friday afternoon, August 18, we will hold the third quarter meetings of the Board of Directors of the Rocky Bottom Retreat and Conference Center of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina. Both of these meetings will be open to all, and we encourage you to come and participate in the discussions. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> I’m saddened to report that Nancy Hines from our Spartanburg Chapter passed away this past weekend. Nancy was a longtime member of the federation and she was President of the Spartanburg Chapter for many years. Let’s keep her family in our thoughts and prayers. Hats off” to Mr. and Mrs. Capps who celebrated their sixty-eighth wedding anniversary this past Sunday, June 25! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day, we raise the expectations of blind people because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want: blindness is not what holds you back. Joining me for comments in this Positive Note is the President Emeritus of the NFB of SC. Here is Dr. Capps. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> I know many of you will be happy to receive the following information submitted by Parnell Diggs in his new position. It sounds complicated to me but Parnell seems to have things under control and we certainly do hope that he lands a position in Columbia. Our best wishes to Parnell in his new position.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> “The position of administrative law judge (ALJ) is derived from the Administrative Procedure Act. Unlike federal magistrates, district judges, and appellate judges (which function in the Judiciary branch); ALJs work in the executive branch and are responsible for adjudicating administrative matters for agencies across the federal government.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> There are approximately 1,800 ALJs working for federal agencies today, and about 1,600 of them work for the Social Security Administration's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. Other examples of federal agencies which use ALJs are The Department of Health and Human Services (which is responsible for administering the Medicare program) and the Department of Labor. To become an ALJ at the federal level, one must successfully complete a competitive examination administered by the United States Office of Personnel Management. Upon completion of the competitive examination, candidates who successfully complete the rigorous competition are placed on the national ALJ register of eligible individuals to be considered for appointment to the position of Administrative Law Judge. Only candidates on the ALJ register are even eligible to seek ALJ positions in the federal government.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> I was placed on the ALJ register in January, 2017; and when the Social Security Administration announced its intention to hire a new class of ALJs, I was informed that I was being considered for employment in 13 cities, including Columbia, South Carolina, in the spring of 2017 round of hiring. I made it clear that Columbia was my first choice; but if you get the call, you are not given the option to choose where you would like to be assigned. You are merely offered a position in a given location, and you can accept the offer or turn it down. Most new ALJs move to unfamiliar cities across the country to work in their first duty station; however, after 15 months, an ALJ is permitted to seek to be transferred to a different location. Obviously, South Carolina is the place where I would ultimately like to be assigned. In the meantime, Cincinnati is a wonderful city, and the office is filled with tremendously talented, caring people. I'm not exactly spending my time counting off the days until 15 months has passed. I am enjoying getting to know the people in the Cincinnati hearing office, but I must admit that South Carolina is still home.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> As you know, my sister Loretta Capps-Collins passed away last February. Unfortunately I developed an acute case of vertigo and could not travel, preventing me from going to Mullins to attend the funeral service. We traveled to Mullins on Friday, June 23 and my nephew Wayne Collins was a wonderful host. After sharing in a wonderful lunch we traveled to the Mausoleum where Loretta is entombed. We did a brief prayer and this seemed to be a fulfillment of our memorial experience. Wayne mentioned he had received several living memorial contributions and expressed his gratitude. Any additional living memorials should be made payable to RBRCCB.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Final Thought: “When you set out to be of service, you need to go the extra mile to be noticed because most everyone does enough to just get by. If you want to get noticed, do a little more.” – Todd Shaw, Out of the Box and Loving It, page 56<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>