[Njabs-talk] NJABS minutes for Sunday, September 11, 2011
Benjamin Vercellone
benvercellone at gmail.com
Wed Sep 14 06:04:54 UTC 2011
NJABS Minutes for Sunday September 11, 2011
The call began at about 8:00 PM, beginning with a moment of silence in
memory of September 11.
Several minutes later, time not exactly known: Our topic began which was
the Youth slam! This is a 5 day program on a college campus, in which
students get to work hands-on as blind people in science, technology,
engineering, and math.Evelyn spreads the word about the Youth Slam in
NJ. There is also the Junior Science Academy. She talks about it.
Mark Coleserto told us of his time at the youth slam. He is now a
freshman at Lehigh University. He attended the 2011 Youth Slam at Towson
University. He participated in the biology track. This track identified
different DNA sequences in different organisms. There were Alternative
techniques. There was an instrument used, maybe called a petrometer. DNA
can be seen with this. Students were Very busy at all times. There were
social gatherings. Different activities too. Goal ball. All students
were able to take part in a dance. They hung out a lot. The Youth slam
was at the University of Maryland in 2009. There was even an
astronomical viewing. There were tactile drawings of the moon. There
were other things. Demonstration of solar system. How did he go? He
found out about this through the NFB. The NJ Commission can help fund it
for students if necessary. Talk to Evelyn or Shafeka. Mark heard about
it at convention. Evelyn got Mark's application and got the note to get
him in. The deadline was passed. She asked why? She is glad she did get
him in.
8:15 PM: Mark finished.
8:16 PM: Mary Fernandez told of her experience at Youth Slam. There have
been 3 Youth Slams thus far. They are every 2 years. People present
there with many different jobs. These are blind people. One job deals
with hazardous material. You decide which track you'll be on. One is
biology. One is forensics. ETC. A blind person got to drive a car in
2009. This was before the Blind Driver Challenge of 2011. There are 2 to
3 people in a pod. They hang out for the whole week. The mentor keeps
them together. Wakes them up too. This was a very fast 5 days. Mary was
a mentor this year and also in 2009. One night, she taught self-defense.
There was some Hip Hop. Some dancing. Yoga. Every night had something
fun and exciting to do. They learned social stuff.
8:23 PM: Mary finished.
8:23 PM: attendance was taken.
Members present:
Evelyn Valdez - President.
Shafeka Hashash - Vice President.
Ben Vercellone - Secretary/Treasurer.
Greg Rivera - board member.
Melissa Hurff - board member.
Mary Fernandez.
Therese Lombardi.
Danny Romero.
Carlos.
Sharon Cortezano.
Alex Kiser.
Marie Lomax.
Sara Weinstein.
Anthony rayes.
8:27 PM: Evelyn talked about the upcoming iPhone demonstration to be
held on Saturday, September 17. Said we will talk after Anthony Rayes.
8:27: Anthony Rayes spoke of his Youth Slam experience. There were
interesting people. Biology activities. Things for the present and
future. He is a sophomore. He is a first timer for youth slam. Covered
youth slam. More details about actual experience. Overwhelming
experience. Fun and informative. Great opportunities. There was an
antibiotic activity. There was the engineering track. He says this was
great. People were getting their hands dirty. They built a hover craft
this time. They worked with robotics. There was social time. He got to
meet other cool people. This is great if you love tech. There were demos
and tutorials. He experience living in a way that was self-reliable and
independent. He, however, had to wake up his mentor.
8:30: Evelyn asked what he walked away with. He said independence and
self-confidence. He knows he did it and can do it again. He got a Good
sense of self confidence. Should someone start out as a mentor or a
participant? He said participant first. Then mentor. These are 2
different sides.
Sarah asked what the latest technology was. Anthony said it was the
latest version of JAWS and Zoom Text. He also went on a Jernigan
institute trip. This was an amazing tech tour.
There are new apple products. Apple stuff is the easiest he says. He saw
it for himself. He got to see a device that can tell you what you are
looking at. It works with colors. It is related to the retina. One track
at Youth Slam got to design app for iPhone or iPad.
8:37: Evelyn turned it over to Greg. What is going on Saturday September
17? This is the iPhone demonstration. Will be at the location of the
central Jersey chapter, and will take place after their meeting. This
will be a demonstration, and Greg Rivera, Danny Romero, Ben Vercellone,
and likely Anthony Rayes will demonstrate how this phone is helpful and
easy to use. It will be about IPhone, accessibility, and cool apps.
Things like GPS. Reading money. How to use phone. Other things. It will
be held in Metuchen. Evelyn said she will post information. Jerilyn
Higgins invited us to do this. Thank you.
Evelyn said this will be at Halie's pub maybe. Not sure of name. The
division meeting starts at 9:30 AM. It will end by noon. There will be
lunch, but each person will have to pay.
The First LEAD meeting will be on September 25, at the Crown Plaza Hotel
in Clark.
The NJ State convention will be at the same location. It is from Nov 11
to 13. It is the 35^th annual NJ state convention. We want to have a
student track. We will have our Annual NJABS business meeting there. Our
student representative used to be Karen Anderson. Now we have a new rep.
Her name may be Brily.
Danny and Melissa got back from the building leadership event in Baltimore.
8:43: Melissa Hurff talked about this experience. She learned more how
to be a leader. Learned ways to get new members in division. How to make
every member feel important. Maybe we will get a committee started in
our division. This can be really neat. They did some fun activities.
They used chainsaws blindfolded. They used the Simulator for the blind
driver. Melissa drove 20 miles per hour.
Evelyn thanked us. Remember that September 17 is the iPhone
demonstration. Anthony offered his assistance. He will join Greg.
Anthony is a developer for apple.
8:47 PM: Call ended.
Respectfully submitted,
Benjamin Vercellone
NJABS, Secretary/treasurer.
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