Monitor Miniatures

Monitor Miniatures

Monitor Miniatures

Braille Books Needed:

Monitor readers may remember that in

the March, 1997, issue we carried a notice from Judith Kramer offering free

Braille books while her supply lasted. The response to the notice was overwhelming.

Long after the books were gone, she received the following letter from Ethiopia:

November 12, 1997

Dear Mrs. Judith Kramer,

I am a blind teacher of history in Ethiopia.

I also study law in evening classes. When I read in the Braille Monitor that

you have available books in Braille, I felt great joy, because in my area there

is no library, and I almost work and study empty-handed. As a result I determined

to write for more information about the books and to request available books

of history, law, or English. Hopefully, I expect your quick response.

Sincerely,

Teklay Tesfay

If anyone has Braille books on the requested

topics that could be donated, send them to Teklay Tesfay, P.O. Box 211, Mekele,

Tigray, Ethiopia.

For Sale:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

I have for sale an electric battery-operated

Canon typewriter with three cartridges and manual, $100; Scrabble board game,

$50; Checkerboard and checkers, $15; Dominoes, $15; Braille compass, $25; and

a Braille watch, $20. Contact Jake E. Miller, 434 N. Washington St., P.O. Box

5001, Millersburg, Ohio 44654, (330) 674-0015.

Elected:

Patrick Comorato, Board Member of the

Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the NFB of Pennsylvania, reports the chapter's

recent election results. The new members are Margaret Mason, President;

Leon Conaway, First Vice President; Bernice

Johnson, Second Vice President; Marilyn Klein, Secretary; and Lois Holmes,

Treasurer. Patrick Comorato and Stanley Ingram are the new Board Members.

Computer System for Sale:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

I have for sale a complete computer system

(two years old) including access technology. The system includes a Gateway

2000 p5-133XL computer. The full tower system includes a 133 MHz Pentium processor,

32 megabytes of memory, a 1.6 gigabyte hard disk, 3.5 and 5.25 inch floppy

drives, a 3-disk quad speed CD-ROM changer, Creative Labs AWE32 Sound Blaster

sound card and speakers, Matrox Millenium SVGA video board and 17-inch monitor,

and a Jumbo 1.3 gigabyte tape backup drive. The system also includes Windows

95, DOS 6.22, Office 95, Encarta 95, backup software for the tape drive, and

various other CD-ROM disks and other software programs. The system can also

be sold with a SynPhonix 215 speech synthesizer, the latest versions of Artic's

Business Vision and WinVision, and the SONIXTTS module. I am also willing to

throw in a Hewlett-Packard 2p scanner with interface card.

I am asking $2,500 or best offer for

everything. I would

prefer to sell everything together but

might be willing to sell

the access hardware/software and the

scanner separately if no one

is interested in the whole package. You

can contact me by calling

(612) 696-1679 or sending e-mail to [email protected]

Correction:

NFB of Iowa member John TeBockhorst of

SOS Send Our Silks, a

small company selling silk-flower arrangements,

writes to say

that in the Miniature appearing in the

December issue the

business Web site address was incorrect.

The right address is

http://www.sossendoursilks.com

We regret the error.

Max Woolly Dies:

We recently learned that on Friday, December

19, 1997, J. Max Woolly, superintendent of the Arkansas School for the Blind

until his retirement in 1982, died at the age of eighty-three. Until very recently

Mr. Woolly, who received many honors in the blindness field, continued to be

an influential force at the Arkansas School for the Blind.

For Sale:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Accu-check II Freedom blood glucose monitor

with voice output. Best offer. Call Doris at (402) 273-4361.

Elected:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Tina Hansen recently wrote to announce

that in April of 1997 the Capitol Chapter of the NFB of Oregon elected the

following members to office: Jackie Shepherd, President; Kathlene McGrew, Vice

President; Tina Hansen, Secretary; and Donna Henry, Treasurer.

In Memoriam:

Ramona Walhof, President of the NFB of

Idaho, reports the death of Ethel Vulgamore, former President of the Magic

Valley Chapter in Twin Falls and organizer of the West End Chapter in Buhl.

She died on December 7, 1997, in Twin Falls at the age of eighty-nine. Ethel

lost her vision in her seventies, took training, and became dynamite in working

with other blind people. Although Buhl is a small town (just over 3,000 people),

Ethel was determined to have a chapter there, so she built it. When one of

our deaf-blind members could no longer live alone, Ethel took her into her

own apartment and looked after her. The beginning of her story appears in Walking

Alone and Marching Together. Her memory continues in the hearts of those she

touched. She lived a full life and continued active and productive through

most of her eighties. She will be missed.

Fortune Cookies:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Lucky Touch Fortune Cookie Company is

a student-operated

business at the California School for

the Blind that sells giant

fortune cookies (about six inches by

five inches by four inches)

with combined large print and Braille

fortunes, and regular-sized

fortune cookies with Braille fortunes.

The standard cookies sell

for 40 cents each and the large ones

for $6 each. We can also put

in customized fortunes. For more information

please contact

Judith Lesner, Advisor, at (510) 794-3800,

extension 300, or e-

mail to [email protected]

Audio Darts Tournament:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Audio Darts of Pittsburgh will hold the

first Harold Schledel Darts Tournament during the weekend of April 17 to 19,

1998, at the Best Western Motel, 3401 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania. The room rate is $69 plus tax per night, and four persons may

share a room. For room registrations call (412) 683-6100. The first event will

be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and the tournament should conclude at 5:00 p.m.

on Sunday. The cost of the entire tournament will be $60. Make checks payable

to Audio Darts of Pittsburgh, and mail to Louis Wassermann, 2503 Silver Oak

Drive, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220. For more information, call Lois Briggs

(412) 366-2630, Harold Schlegel (412) 921-0172, or Joe Wassermann (412) 687-5166.

For Sale:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Kurzweil Personal Reader with scanner,

software (version 2.2) and cassette and print manuals for $1,000 or best offer.

Call Cheryl Daube at (312) 236-8569.

JAWS for Windows Needed:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

The Voice of Print of the Northwest Florida

Radio Reading Service, Inc., a free service for the blind and physically handicapped,

needs the Jaws Screen Reader for Windows 95 at a reasonable price or a tax-deductible

donation to our nonprofit organization. We will greatly appreciate the help

since our organization is run strictly by volunteers. For further information

contact us toll-free at (888) 941-2888. Please leave your name and number,

and we will return your call as soon as possible.

For Sale:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Jumbo Braillewriter, $400 (negotiable);

talking adding machine, $200 (negotiable); and Braille 'n Speak 640, $900,

with carrying case and cable. Contact Kathy at (617) 969-3496 (cannot return

long-distance calls).

Back Issues of the Braille Monitor on

NFB NET:

NFB NET, the National Federation of the

Blind's computer bulletin board system, now has over eleven years of Braille

Monitors available for on-line reading or downloading. NFB NET went on-line

in early 1991 and from the beginning has made available all copies of the Monitor

dating from late 1990 to the present. However, users have steadily asked for

older back issues.

With the help of Mrs Dyer, who was formerly

in charge of the Records Center at the National Center for the Blind and who

now serves as Dr. Jernigan's secretary, we are now able to make the Braille

Monitor available on NFB NET, starting with the November, 1986, issue.

All issues can be either read on-line

using the v (View)

command or downloaded to your own computer.

They are available as

both ASCII text files and zipped versions

of the same file. These

zipped files are much faster to download

but require a special

unzip program to extract the file. This

program is also available

from NFB NET. It has the name "PKZ204G.EXE"

Each issue's name starts with the letters

BRLM and is followed by a two-digit year code, a two-digit month code, a period,

and either a TXT or ZIP extension. For example, the November, 1986, Braille

Monitor is "BRLM8611.TXT" or "BRLM8611.ZIP" and the January,

1998, Monitor is either "BRLM9801.TXT" or "BRLM9801.ZIP"

All of the Braille Monitors are located in File Area 3.

You can reach NFB NET with a conventional

modem by calling

(612) 696-1975. If you have an Internet

connection, you can

Telnet to NFB NET free by using the address

"nfbnet.org"

Elected:

At its November, 1997, meeting the Greater

Long Island Chapter of the NFB of New York elected the following officers:

David Stayer, President; Christine Faltz,

First Vice President;

George Dominguez, Second Vice President;

Loraine Stayer, Treasurer; Sara S. Berger, Corresponding Secretary; Lynn Juhlin,

Recording Secretary; and Brad Greenspan and John Stevenson, Board Members.

Database of Accessible Books and Materials:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

The American Printing House for the Blind

(APH) introduces Louis, the Database of Accessible Books and Materials for

People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired (formerly called CARL ET AL). Named

Louis as a celebration and continuation of the work of Louis Braille, this

cooperative database provides bibliographic location information for books

and materials in Braille, large-type, recorded, and computer disk formats.

These materials are available from 200 agencies across North America.

Louis is now available on the Internet

at the APH Web site http://www.aph.org Louis can also be accessed by direct

dial-in. Contact Christine Anderson, Resources Services Manager, to receive

software for direct dial-in access.

There is no charge for access to Louis,

but APH asks major agencies and schools submitting titles and searching Louis

to make an annual contribution of $300. Contact Christine Anderson, Resource

Services Manager, (502) 899-2338 or (800) 223-1839, or Gary Mudd, Public Relations

Director, (502) 895-2405. You may write to American Printing House for the

Blind, Inc., at 1839 Frankfort Avenue, P.O. Box 6085, Louisville, Kentucky

40206-0085, or fax a request to (502) 895-1509.

Summer Music Institute:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

The Music and Arts Center for the Handicapped

is accepting applications from motivated blind musicians throughout the United

States, in high school or beginning college, to participate in its third Summer

Music Institute for Blind College-Bound Musicians. This three-week program,

to be held in July at the University of Bridgeport, will provide exposure to

music Braille, music composition by computer, keyboard, theory, and ensemble

as well as strategies for study and independent living in a college setting.

Enrollment is limited to fifteen students, who will be accepted based on their

applications and over-the-phone interviews. Cost of the program, including

tuition, room and board, and materials, is $2,500. Partial scholarships are

available. Applications must be completed and returned by May 1.

The National Resource Center for Blind

Musicians provides information to musicians, students, and teachers on music

Braille and accessible music technology. The Center can provide advice about

music systems or put people in touch with someone in its national network of

blind musicians with experience in a particular aspect of the field.

For an application to the Summer Music

Institute or to reach

the National Resource Center, contact

the Music and Arts Center

for the Handicapped, 600 University Avenue,

Bridgeport,

Connecticut 06601, phone (203) 366-3300,

e-mail [email protected]

New Chapter:

Robert Greenberg reports the formation

of the Orange-Durham Counties Chapter of the NFB of North Carolina on December

9, 1997. The officers are Robert Greenberg, President; Tonia Valletta, Vice

President; and Denise Schlosser, Secretary/Treasurer.

Braille Materials Needed in China:

We recently received the following request

from Larry Campbell, who conducts international programs for the Overbrook

School in Philadelphia:

The Overbrook School for the Blind has

been co-sponsoring a leadership development and English-as-a-second-language

course for young leaders within the China Association of the Blind. While I

have been to China on many occasions in the past, this time I was struck by

the large number of young blind persons who are struggling to learn English.

Most of them have little or no access to Braille materials in English other

than those we are providing in conjunction with this course. Therefore the

few magazines that do get there are read and reread until the Braille is virtually

worn flat. For example, one young man with whom I spent some time was reading

an old issue of Parenting magazine, which I think he must have had memorized

from rereading it so many times.

It occurred to me that if NFB members

had magazines or literature that they were no longer in need of, the materials

could be put to very good use by these young people in China. The China Braille

Press has set up a section of its library to accommodate such donations and

to arrange for their circulation. In fact, Zhu Ming, who participated in the

Overbrook International Program a couple of years ago, is now working in the

Foreign Language Department of the China Braille Press. Send your Braille materials

to Lawrence Campbell, Administrator, International Program, Overbrook School

for the Blind, 6333 Malvern Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19151-2597,

or China Braille Press, Foreign Language Dept., 39, Cheng Nei Street, Lu Gou

Qiao, Beijing 10072, China.

For Sale:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Zoomtext for DOS, good condition, never

used. I bought wrong

version and would like to sell for $150.

Contact Ricky Melchor,

593 S. Kam Avenue, Kahului, Hawaii 96732

or e-mail to

[email protected]

New Chapter:

Donald Capps, President of the NFB of

South Carolina, reports the formation of the affiliate's fifty-seventh chapter

on November 18, 1997. We welcome the Allendale County Chapter into the Federation

family. The officers are Robert Thomas, President;

Naomi Johnson, Vice President; and Vivian

Durden, Treasurer.

Tactile Map List:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Here is the 1998 book list of tactile

drawings and maps from the Princeton Braillists:

Atlas of the Middle East, 69 pages, $20,

including shipping.

Atlas of North and South America, three

units in four

volumes: Unit 1, Northern North America,

59 pages; Unit 2, The United States, two volumes, 124 pages; and Unit 3, Middle

and South America, 51 pages. Price of four volumes is $50, packaging and shipping,

$6. Individual volumes, $15, packaging and shipping $4.

Basic Human Anatomy, 31 pages, $15 including

shipping.

Maps of Individual U.S. States: Florida,

12 full-page maps

with keys; New York, 13 full-page maps

with keys; Pennsylvania, 9 full-page maps with keys; Vermont, 9 full-page maps

with keys. Cost of each booklet is $6 including shipping by free mail.

Maps of Morocco, 19-page booklet with

seven full-page maps with keys, $5 including shipping by free mail.

Maps of Russia and its Former Republics,

16-page booklet with 6 maps with keys, $4 including shipping by free mail.

Send check or purchase order to the Princeton

Braillists, 28-B Portsmouth Street, Whiting, New Jersey 08759-2049. Credit

card and fax service is not available. Further information may be obtained

by calling (732) 350-3708 or (609) 924-5207.

Choice Magazine Listening:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

Free audio tape anthologies of unabridged

selections from over 100 magazines for anyone who cannot read regular print.

Contact Choice Magazine Listening, 85 Channel Drive, Port Washington, New York

11050, (516) 883-8280, fax: (516) 944-6849.

For Sale:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

New complete Braille Blazer portable

embosser and full case of Braille fan-fold paper; new complete DECtalk PC speech

synthesizer, both complete and never taken out of packaging. Must sacrifice

for $2,750 or best offer, shipped to you. Call Jerry Russell at (303) 769-4581.

Barriers to Employment:

We have been asked to carry the following

announcement:

The Rehabilitation Research and Training

Center (RRTC) on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University requests

assistance in identifying innovative strategies or practices to assist those

who are blind or severely visually impaired in overcoming barriers to employment.

If you know of rehabilitation providers or employers willing to share their

expertise in overcoming employment barriers, contact Amy Skinner at (800) 675-7782,

or write her at MSU-RRTC, P.O. Drawer 6189, Mississippi State University, Mississippi

39762.

NFB PLEDGE

I pledge to participate actively in the

effort of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity,

and security for the blind; to support the policies and programs of the Federation;

and to abide by its constitution.