DISCLAIMER: This publication contains announcements from the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind and is also a forum for opinions relating to blindness issues. Signed articles reflect the views, and research, of their authors.
STATUS: SVCB is a 501(c)3 non profit, tax-exempt organization under the California Council of the Blind.
Note: Postal addresses and phone numbers are not included in the online version of this newsletter. For contact information, email membership@svcb.cc
By the time you get this newsletter, Daylight Savings Time will have passed. (If it didn't, we have a problem!)
Our October program was well worth attending. People who have jobs shared their experiences in keeping them and advancing their careers. It seems the two most important aspects of a successful career are being flexible and networking with everyone around you.
SVCB raised $65 through the auction of a laptop computer. Brian Higgins was the worthy winner.
The slate of candidates for 2010 have been announced. We will be electing SVCB's 2010 administration during the November business meeting. Remember that although the Nominating Committee will be proposing its choices for the various offices, you can make your own choice from the floor during elections. The slate is:
Mike Keithley: President; Susan Schulter: Vice President; Rob Turner: Recording Secretary; Naomi Grubb: Corresponding Secretary; Judy Polatchek: Treasurer; and Steve Nakagawa and Lorraine Brown: directors. (Victor Clifford continues in his second year as director).
Usually a change of administration brings with it the appointment of chairs for our standing committees. You can review Victor's mentoring article in the October newsletter for a list of committees. If you are interested in serving on a committee, contact any board member. The base qualifications for any of these jobs is a passion for the work and networking.
Although the chapter decided not to charge its convention delegates concerning the issue of one vs. two yearly conventions, it was quite clear that most people prefer two conventions.
Discussions are underway concerning a future SVCB program, perhaps as early as next year, to provide a grant for a student in a local middle- or high-school to purchase technology to further his/her education. For more information, contact Mike Keithley.
Those of you who are SVCB members should have received your new membership list. If you haven't, call Julie Lovins or email database@svcb.cc.
Get ready for the joint Delta Gamma/SVCB holiday party on December 12 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. An invitation will soon be in your mailbox. The Sweet Adelines will be there as well as the Jingleers. (See Article in this issue.)
Return to the Table of ContentsAt our November 21 meeting, we will have Scott Blanks and Silvana Rainey from Adaptive Technology Services in San Francisco. Scott writes:
"Silvana and I look forward to attending the November SVCB meeting.
"We are eager to discuss the wide range of computer- related services we provide, including training, custom scripting, and assessments. In addition, we have recently launched an employment workshop to aid those in the visually impaired community in preparing for and finding work."
Return to the Table of ContentsThis month we welcome David Hoffman of Cupertino, who is in the process of becoming a new SVCB member, and is also celebrating a November birthday! Other Happy Birthdays are due Naomi Grubb, Tom Karnes, Perla Kohs, Carol Ann Owens, Amy Shao, Rob Turner, and Vivian Younger.
Return to the Table of ContentsGreetings, everyone. This is a friendly reminder to all chapter members about an informal challenge that we set for ourselves at our September membership meeting. The challenge concerns how we plan to honor and celebrate Braille Literacy month in January of 2010. As braille literacy chair, I suggested the following possibilities:
1. Meet for lunch at a local restaurant and hold a playful sit-in, where we openly read braille books in the restaurant as we wait for a table, wait for our food to arrive, and then eat our meal. Scandalous, don't you think?
2. Conduct an informal reading at a Borders or Barnes and Noble bookstore, in which we casually read aloud from favorite braille books. --Imagine how much fun it would be to compete with the whoosh and hiss of the store's ever-present cappuccino maker. As part of the reading, we could tell listeners about Louis Braille, his life and legacy, and the perilous state of braille literacy in the world today.
3. Contact one of the libraries where we donated a 'Louis Braille: A Touch of Genius' book and see if the librarians want us to sponsor a reading event.
4. Speak at a local school, college or senior community center about the importance of braille.
5. Go anywhere during the month of January armed with a braille book. Dare to read it: on a park bench, on a bus, inside a shopping mall, in a public garden, anywhere where casual reading feels good. The idea is simply to be seen reading braille. --Remember during the 1970s when streaking was the craze? Well, this year's craze can be the public unveiling of braille.
6. If we're in a public setting where we encounter a positive experience with braille, contact powers that be and let them know how delighted we are. The encounter might be finding a braille menu in a restaurant, encountering good braille restroom, elevator or other facility signage, or attending a public event at which, surprise surprise, there's a braille program. When we have these positive braille encounter experiences, we need to express our appreciation to public officials. Make them aware of the value of braille, and offer our own services in helping to make more braille available in the future.
Following some thoughtful discussion, our chapter decided that rather than planning and coordinating a braille literacy event in which we all participated together, we would each individually perform one action during January 2010, in honor of braille. We would then report back to the chapter at our January meeting regarding what we did. I will write an article that summarizes our activities, and we'll celebrate our collective efforts. The possibilities listed above are just those that we brainstormed at our meeting, and our list is by no means all inclusive. Please do whatever inspires you and let us know what you do.
Return to the Table of ContentsSaturday, December 12, 2009, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Dear friends of Delta Gamma and Silicon Valley Council of the Blind,
Please join us for our annual Holiday Party at the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center, 101 North Bascom, San Jose 95128. Please note, this is a new location!
A wonderful music program includes: Mission Valley Sweet Adelines, Brandon Biggs, the Jingleers, and SVCB voices and instrumentals.
Lunch will be served.
We are looking forward to sharing the holiday spirit with you!
RSVP deadline: December 1. Please contact Lolly Osborne, lolly@osbofamily.com.
If you wish to bring an appetizer or dessert, please contact Beverly Clifford at bevclffrd@sbcglobal.net.
Return to the Table of ContentsWe held another auction at our October meeting. This time we auctioned a laptop computer with a demo version of Jaws. The winning bid was $65. Thanks to all of our participants, to Rob Turner for describing the computer for our bidders, and to the anonymous donor for giving SVCB the computer to auction.
We sold a couple of T-shirts and a calendar, talked with several attendees, and distributed information about SVCB, CCB, and CCLVI at our booth at Vista Center's Low Vision Expo in Santa Cruz on October 10. Many thanks to Eleine Skidmore and Allen Jones for assisting me with the booth. One particularly interesting highlight of our day was our conversation with Rachel Mayo. She works at the Watsonville satellite campus of Cabrillo College. She purchased one of our shirts to display on the wall of the reading lab in the learning center. She wants the students to be able to touch and read the shirt. We even got to hand out some of our SVCB business cards. We gave Rachel one of them in case any of the students would like to know how to get one of our T-shirts for themselves.
SVCB's "reading is for everyone" T-shirt is now also available in tall large through tall 3X. Sorry, no pocket is available for these sizes. They cost $17 each for large-XL and $20 each for sizes 2X-3X. Shipping charges will apply if you are unable to pick up orders personally. For more information or to place an order, contact me at fund.raising@svcb.cc or to svcb@onebox.com.
See's Candies has four- ounce boxes of assorted chocolates packaged for Christmas. The Mini Holiday Fancy Box and the Santa Bear Box each contain an assortment of light and dark chocolates. They cost $6 each. See's Candies also has larger boxes of candy available, so if you're interested, please ask for descriptions and pricing. I can also get gift certificates for one pound boxes for $15.60 each, or I can use gift certificates to purchase other types of See's candy such as the five-ounce box of peanut brittle or the various types of sugar free candy which is not part of their regular fund-raising program. To place an order or for more information, call or send email to me as listed above. Please place orders for the Christmas boxes no later than November 30. Unlike previous years, we do not need to get full cartons of these Christmas items, so I will only be purchasing enough to fill the orders I receive.
Only a few calendars for 2010 remain! SVCB is again selling large print/braille calendars featuring artwork by blind and visually impaired people of all ages. These calendars cost $9 each. To reserve yours, please contact me as listed above.
SVCB is again selling Entertainment Coupon Books! They cost $30 each. For the first 37 books sold, SVCB will receive 20 percent for each book sold. We will receive 50 percent for each book sold after that. To order or help sell books or for more information, please contact Mike Keithley at mkeithley@pobox.com. Mike can also order books for you that can be used in other regions.
Remember to continue saving your recyclable aluminum cans. Charlie Stein redeems them for funds which are then used to support SVCB activities. You may give cans to Charlie at an upcoming meeting or call him to make other arrangements.
See you at our November meeting!
Return to the Table of ContentsIt's been some time since my last report, so it's now time to catch up.
HR 734 has 109 co-sponsors, 11 from California, as of the last Washington Connection. More are needed. As far as I know, none of our local representatives are co-sponsoring the bill. HR 734 is the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, which would direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop minimum sound levels for new quiet cars. A Resolution sponsored by CCB, SJR 6, placed the California legislature on record in support of this bill. There is a companion bill in the Senate called S 841, and neither Senators Boxer or Feinstein have co-sponsored it. So we have work to do.
H.R. 3101 is the Twenty First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009. Among other things, this bill would reinstate required minimum amounts of described television programming, and require that menus on telecommunications devices, such as telephones, television sets and DVD players, be made accessible to blind and deaf-blind consumers. Last I heard there were only eight co-sponsors of this bill, a far cry from the 100 needed to get a hearing. Again, I haven't heard of any of our local representatives co-sponsoring it.
S 700 and its companion HR 1708 have been introduced. These identical pieces of legislation are entitled, "Ending the Medicare Disability Waiting Period Act of 2009." Unfortunately I haven't heard about action on these bills.
I encourage you to call your congressional representatives and U.S. Senators in support of these bills. You can reach the office of your member of Congress by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 or by accessing the appropriate website and emailing them.
Return to the Table of ContentsThe Davao School and Rehabilitation Center for the Visually Impaired, located in Davao City, Philippines, needs braille-writers and other materials and equipment to use to teach their blind and visually impaired students. Reuben Burleson is collecting items in the Bay Area to ship to the school. He says that they may also collect funds that they can use to purchase braille-writers to give to the school. For more information or to make a donation, contact him at 510-734-7748.
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