[Nfbsatx] September Presidential Release

Mary Donahue braille at satx.rr.com
Thu Sep 15 01:10:51 UTC 2011


Hello Athalie and everyone,

    I've been in this organization at the national level for almost 31 years. Four of those years, I was a member of the Wisconsin affiliate. Where I lived, at that time, there was no Chapter. There were two of us in the state affiliate in the same town, and we shared Presidential Releases back and forth when they were on cassette tape.

    As I said in my previous message, if I am elected president in January, I will make sure the whole Presidential Release is played in its entirety, and I will identify it in the monthly agenda.

Mary Donahue

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mary Etter 
  To: San Antonio Texas Chapter Mailing List 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 6:38 PM
  Subject: Re: [Nfbsatx] September Presidential Release



  Good Evening at this present time I do not have access to my email so I have someone else doing this for me.

  I have been a member of numerous organizations political, social and charitable. And I have NEVER seen or heard such childish and juvenile behavior that  I am now seeing with in this organization. First and foremost, this chapter has gathered to spread information about the blind and to teach. And also to to fight for the rights of the blind. And that is on a local level.  Yes we need to know what is going on at a national level, and as of late we are getting the releases and  we are learning what is being done on the national level. Now because of ONE incident in which we did not hear the full release it has been made into a firestorm. The only disrespect that is out there is the disrespect of individuals towards the President of the chapter and unprofessional behavior. As far as I am concerned this matter is closed to public opinion.  If it needs to be discussed, the individual will discuss it in private with the President and the Board.  For those that do not know me, understand me well, I do not deal with juveniles and unprofessional people.

  Good evening to you all
  Athalie Malone



  On Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 9:21 PM, Jose Martinez <jose.martinez07 at gmail.com> wrote:

    If someone felt disrespected or insulted for a decision that was made
    by the leadership of this chapter, then I believe there are proper
    channels that can be taken to ensure that that does not happen. It is
    really not ment to be taken personal, because decisions are made for
    the betterment of the chapter. So it is an overall decision! I am very
    excited to see how this chapter finishes out the year strong 

    Thank you

    A. Z.
    President



    On 9/13/11, Cindy Garcia <ccgarcia2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
    > what is rong with leaving the meetings the way they were. I would like to
    > know, because I was under the impression that the playing of the Pr was not
    > very boring, or long at all. I never found the Pr to be tedious, even when I
    > was a new member. It is like reading my dayly news paper, except it is
    > monthly. I like to listen to the release around others so we may all share
    > in the joys and sorrows, and everything new that happens in the nfb. yes, I
    > have the option to listen to it on my own however, I believe that fellowship
    > is the first way anyone, new or old build in respect for our organization as
    > a whole. It was an insult to me when i realized that the Pr was edited down.
    > I wonder, why such a thing was done, when there was enough time to cover
    > everything on the agenda. I know for certin, that when elections arive in
    > january, I will be sure to nominate a president who will be dependable, and
    > stick to their guns where the agenda is concerned. If a recording
    >  will not be given some respect, it is my belieff, that disrespect also
    > comes to those who did the recording. if disrespect is what we strive to do,
    > then we should just play our music players, and Ipods loud while the meeting
    > is going on because of the simple fact that noone in their right mind will
    > want to listen to that chatter about things noone will know about. what is
    > the point of coming to the meeting then? Presentations of any sort, need to
    > be given the upmost attention. Anyone who gives a presentation, works very
    > hard: even before the thought of presenting comes in to play. Then, there is
    > the act of the presenting itself. what is the point of presenting?Why
    > present something noone will listen to.? I will tell you this answer now, if
    > I may. A presentation occurs because we as the presenter, have no right to
    > presume that we know how every person's mind works. It is not our
    > responsability as the presenter, to care about what the minds of our
    >  listeners are doing, or if they even stay focused. We the presenter, need
    > to consintrate on the task at hand, and that task is informing our
    > audiences. When people attend our chapter meetings, they are coming to view
    > our live presentations of what the Nfb truly is all about. If we cut things
    > out, and assume things, how does that look to the organization to whom we
    > are presenting? All I am saying here, is that by cutting things and
    > presuming to know how everyone thinks, is not only disrespectful, and
    > insulting, but it is a disrespect of anonymity. If I have it my way, thmy
    > anonymity will not be disrespected. I will say now to Peater and Mary
    > Donahue, thank you for bringing this to our attention. It is my hope, that
    > this insulting act will not happen again. I'm sure if the president of the
    > United States were to shorten his speaches to the american people, we would
    > not take that kindly will we not?
    >
    > On Tue Sep 13th, 2011 2:13 PM CDT Peter Donahue wrote:
    >
    >>Hello A.Z. and everyone,
    >>
    >>    I dare you to tell Dr. Maurer that these concerns are childish and
    >> such!
    >>The how point in playing these releases is so folks come to know our
    >>national president and understand what we're doing to improve the lives of
    >>our nation's blind. Other businesses and organizations distribute similar
    >>communications that are distributed/played during their local, national,
    >> and
    >>World gatherings with both old timers and new recruits present. I too was
    >>once new and never complained when I came to chapter meetings and sat
    >>through the playing of the presidential release. I figured that this is a
    >>part of the program and I'm to take it or leave it. Hmmm. I didn't know
    >> that
    >>this had a name "Informed choice" back in 1976. None the less I got used to
    >>
    >>hearing the presidential releases and looked forward to hearing them
    >>whenever we met.
    >>
    >>    Back then no one ever suggested that playing presidential releases in
    >>their entirety would turn prospective members away. Rather it was the
    >>opposite and needs to remain that way now and in to the future. There's
    >>nothing childish about a long-standing tradition those of us who have been
    >>in the organization for years intend to fight to protect.
    >>
    >>Peter Donahue
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>----- Original Message -----
    >>From: "Jose Martinez" <jose.martinez07 at gmail.com>
    >>To: "San Antonio Texas Chapter Mailing List" <nfbsatx at nfbnet.org>
    >>Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 11:17 AM
    >>Subject: Re: [Nfbsatx] September Presidential Release
    >>
    >>
    >>First of all, thank you Peter for sending us the direct link to the
    >>presidential release. Now this way individuals have another great
    >>opportunity to get a hold of this product. Now as to why the
    >>presidential release is edited down a little bit for our chapter
    >>meetings.
    >>
    >> You are correct that the presidential release has been a long time
    >>tradition in the federation chapter meetings, but at no time has there
    >>ever been a rule saying that they have to be played at all. So to
    >>state that changing or modifying the recording may bring us problems,
    >>is a bit outlandish and childish. Our national center puts out
    >>materials for us to use at our own discretion in order to get the
    >>message of the federation across to as many people as possible.
    >>
    >> We have been doing this for a while with the understanding that we
    >>have new individuals coming out to learn about the chapter and the
    >>organization and listening to a 20 minute presentation from someone
    >>they do not know talking about things that are not familiar to them
    >>yet may turn them away. So a little edited form of the release is
    >>presented to introduce the federation’s doings on a national level and
    >>other very important information. We also make sure that everybody
    >>knows that these presidential releases are available to all to listen
    >>to and download at their own time in the full form.
    >>
    >> The leadership and the majority of this chapter agrees on what steps
    >>are being taken, if you have an issue with how things are ran at our
    >>chapter, please make sure to bring the issue up in the proper forum
    >>for discussion!
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>Thank you
    >>
    >>A. Z.
    >>President
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>On 9/12/11, Peter Donahue <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com> wrote:
    >>> Good afternoon everyone,
    >>>
    >>>     To insure you hear the September 2011 Presidential Release in its
    >>> entirety you will find the link below:
    >>>
    >>> http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Audio/pr/PR398.mp3
    >>>
    >>>     Our national office works very hard to produce these every month.
    >>> It's
    >>> our responsibility to be sure they're played in their entirety during
    >>> local
    >>> chapter and division meetings. There was content on last month's
    >>> presidential release that would have been of benefit to the new people
    >>> who
    >>> attended their first chapter meeting. We have no right to prevent them
    >>> from
    >>> learning about services like the Blio E-book reader. Jim Gashel
    >>> demonstrated
    >>> it on the last presidential release. He also does a demonstration on this
    >>> month's release in connection with the announcement about the
    >>> availability
    >>> of Mike Hingson's book "Thunder Dog" now available in the Blio Bookstore.
    >>> I've known Mike Hingson for many years and want people to be aware of the
    >>> availability of Thunder Dog from all sources including Blio. Our
    >>> presidential releases are a great way for spreading the word.
    >>>
    >>>     Our literature including our presidential releases are intellectual
    >>> property of the National Federation of the Blind. Altering its content in
    >>> any way opens us up to the possibility of legal action something I and
    >>> others don't want to see happen to our chapter. Dr. Maurer and I have
    >>> discussed this matter in the past. He has discussed it with me personally
    >>> and during a seminar I attended at our national center in 2008 that was
    >>> held
    >>> for our Webmasters.
    >>>
    >>>     Having presidential releases played at local chapter meetings is a
    >>> long-standing tradition in this movement. When I joined the organization
    >>> in
    >>> 1976 presidential releases were always played during chapter meetings.
    >>> Like
    >>> Dr. Maurer Dr. Jernigan kept us informed about what the organization was
    >>> doing around the country and what we could do in our community to further
    >>> the work of the federation. At no time were these releases ever altered
    >>> just
    >>> because of time constraints. If we need more time for the meeting to be
    >>> able
    >>> to play the presidential releases please arrange for it Mr. President. I
    >>> recall that we had 30 minutes after the last meeting took place time that
    >>> could have been used to play the last presidential release in its
    >>> entirety.
    >>>
    >>>     Anyway enjoy the unadulterated version of this month's Presidential
    >>> Release. Let's hope that what you hear by following the link above is
    >>> what's
    >>> played at Saturday's meeting. This kind of thing must stop! All the best.
    >>>
    >>> Peter Donahue
    >>>
    >>> "Will you come and awake our lost land from its slumber
    >>>       And her fetters we'll break, links that long are encumbered.
    >>>       And the air will resound with hosannas to greet you
    >>>       On the shore will be found gallant Irishmen to greet you."
    >>> Will You Come to the Bower
    >>> Traditional Irish Folk Song
    >>>
    >>>
    >>> _______________________________________________
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    >>>
    >>
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