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<h1><font size=5 color="#5a2356" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
18.0pt'>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></font></h1>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'>CONTACT: <br>
Terri Rupp, President<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'>National Association of Blind
Students (NABS),<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'>A Division of the National
Federation of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><b><font size=4 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:red;font-weight:bold'>(707) 567-3019<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span lang=ES
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><a
href="mailto:president@nabslink.org/"><span lang=EN-US>president@nabslink.org/</span></a></span></font><font
size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><font size=5 color="#5a2356" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
18.0pt'>Online Portal Opens New Frontiers for Blind Students:</span></font></h1>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=1 color="#333333"
face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";
color:#333333'>Las Vegas</span></font></st1:City><font size=1 color="#333333"
face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";
color:#333333'>, <st1:State w:st="on">Nevada</st1:State></span></font></st1:place><font
size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'> (January 12, 2009)–The
National Association of Blind Students announced today the first phase launch
of its official web site, NABSLink.org. The site comes at the commencement of
a new campaign to reach blind and visually impaired students across the country
and is a direct response to the need for centralized information for high
school and post-secondary students. Terri Rupp, president of NABS, said:
“Students play a crucial role in the movement of the organized blind. We
rely on the up and coming generation to keep the momentum fresh, and it was
time we did something to gather all the tools for their success in a single
convenient location to keep that momentum strong.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'>The site styles itself after a
virtual university. Among other features, NABSLink hosts a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Career</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
and Bluebook to connect students with a number of informative tools and
resources to facilitate their independence inside and outside of the
classroom. To facilitate communication between the organization’s
leadership, membership and the public at large there is also an official blog
and wiki project. The web development team believes these individual features
will help cultivate a thriving repository of up-to-date information to aid
students at various levels in their educational and professional development.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'>The NABS Board of Directors is
pleased to finally release the first phase of a project it hopes to continue
growing with the contributions and support of its members and the general
public. Anyone is welcomed to help build upon this foundation. Ultimately the
site will foster self-sufficiency and independence and be one more vehicle to
expand opportunities for all blind students pursuing a myriad of professional
paths.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'> # # #<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'>About the National Association
of Blind Students<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
mission of the National Association of Blind Students is to promote equal
access to opportunities for all blind students inside and outside of the
classroom. Through conferences, professional networks, mentoring and advocacy
we are changing what it means to be blind in the 21st century, and we achieve
this by adhering to and supporting the goals of the National Federation of the
Blind.</span></font><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'>About the National Federation
of the Blind<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:
9.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>With more
than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and
most influential membership organization of blind people in the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education,
research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and
self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and
the voice of the nation's blind. In January 2004 the NFB opened the
National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and
training center in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United
States</st1:place></st1:country-region> for the blind led by the blind.<br>
<br>
<font color="#999999"><span style='color:#999999'><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></p>
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