[Oabs] Hello, OABS

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi, OABSters,

For those of you who were at convention, I hope you're not too tired;
I know I enjoyed a long weekend packed with excitement, and a
much-needed nap when I got back to my house on campus.  For those of
you who were not able to make convention, here is all the information
you need to know.

Your 2014-2015 board is as follows:
President: Kaiti Shelton.
Vice President: Aleeha Dudley.
Secretary: Macy McClain.
Treasurer: Emily Pennington.
Board Member: Elif Emir Oksuz.

Durring the business meeting, we voted to reduce the board to 5
members instead of 7.  This is because with our small size we've had
difficulty keeping all positions filled.  We may choose to expand the
board again if we grow substantially in size and activity in the
future, but for now 5 members is a comfortable size for our board.
Secretary will now record as well as correspond through Facebook,
Twitter, and email, but I will start sending out meeting reminders
because I've noticed that Eric is the one who does that for the
division rather than Shelbi.  The goal has always been to mirror the
affiliate in structure as much as possible, so that is why that change
will be made now that Macy will need to do what to people used to do
for the most part.

Tim Pennington has agreed to help us establish a web site for OABS,
and is looking into using the domain "ohioblindstudents.org" as our
site.  Unfortunately, oabs.org is already taken by the Ohio
Association of Biblical Scholars, so we can't use that.  I have
emailed back and forth with David Andrews a few times today, and he
seems to have indicated that the platform that Tim uses will be okay
to use instead of Drupal, and he said he can supply scripts for
screenreaders which will increase the accessibility of the site even
further than what Tim will already do to make it blind-user-friendly.

Other goals I'd like to accomplish this year include the following:
Getting the bookmark fundraiser and brochure distribution projects off
the ground in the fundraising and membership committees, producing a
newsletter at some point to send out and post on our web site,
"Infiltrate Wright State" which for those who don't know is the effort
that Richard Payne and I have concocted to get the mass of blind
students at WSU involved in the Federation, and a small convention
assistance program for now.  I'd also like to see a mentoring program
started, and work with the co-presidents of the struggling parents
division to draw in both parents and students to the NFB.  I have a
long-term hope that OABS will eventually be able to sponsor a
scholarship at least at the $500 level, but this is something I expect
to move towards, but not necessarily achieve this year.

Fundraising was a success at convention this year, and drew in $184
from sales of our split-the-pot tickets.  Half of that was donated to
the "Drive for 75" fund by the winner, which we very much appreciated
as the students were not able to contribute to the Money for the
Movement due to shortage of funds.  I am confident that we will be
able to next year as long as fundraising continues to follow an upward
trend.  Membership also had some successes, as several new members
joined the division.  Stephanie Claytor, Michael Welty, and Jonathan
Thomas are all new to us, so let's welcome them into the division.  I
will figure out committee assignments in the next few days, and will
send the completed list over the list once it is complete.

If you were not able to attend the convention, but would still like to
be a member of OABS, please contact Emily Pennington at
emilypennington at fuse.net.  She can give you her address to send $5
dues to, and once you pay you'll be a full-fledged member with voting
rights.

Our first membership meeting will be in either November or December.
Stay tuned for more details.  The membership meeting will be a panel
entitled, "Federation Philosophy: Why Students Matter to the
Movement."  This is a call we have every year, and it is mainly for
the benefit of those who were not able to attend convention.  The
business meeting will be brief, but will be accompanied by a
presentation on the national scholarship program by Patti
Gregory-Chang, who is the chair of the scholarship committee.  I would
encourage you to apply for this program, and to call in to this
meeting.  Several division members have won scholarships in the past,
including Aleeha (2011), myself (2013), and Emily is a Tenbroke Fellow
(2012 and 2014).  Applications opened on Saturday, and the final
deadline is March 31.  You can visit nfb.org/scholarships for more
information, but take advantage of the opportunity to ask questions of
Patti directly.

The convention experience was amazing this year, with the Maurers
there, and the Beatles fundraiser.  I know one thing; after hearing
John Lennon describe American Jelly Beans, I don't think I'll ever
think about them in the same way ever again.

If anyone has questions, comments, concerns, or ideas, feel free to
email me on or off-list depending on the nature of your message.  My
email is kaiti.shelton at gmail.com and my phone is (513)285-2072.
Please remember that I am here to take concerns into consideration and
to do what I can to address them based on what is best for the
division, but I can't fully do my job if these problems or suggestions
are not brought to my attention.  If you have a problem with the way
something is running, or would like to see something change, please
let me know so we can do something about it.  Dr. Maurer said in his
banquet address that the world runs for those who show up, and the
same is true for those who speak up.  If we're all transparent with
each other, the division will run much more smoothly for everyone.

Looking forward to a productive and exciting year!


-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton 2016.
Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma