1999 NFB Scholarship Program
The 1999 National
Federation of the Blind Scholarship Program
This year's scholarship program will be the
sixteenth since the organization determined to expand the number, variety, and value of
the scholarships presented each year at our annual convention in July. Assisting the
nation's most talented post-secondary students to fulfill their academic and professional
dreams is one of the most effective ways for us to demonstrate our conviction that blind
Life-Changing Experience
Diana Knox
A Life-Changing Experience
by Diana Knox
From the Editor: The following speech was
delivered at the 1998 convention of the National Federation of the Blind of Maine. It is a
moving illustration of the importance of our scholarship program. This is what Diana Knox
said:
I was awarded an NFB scholarship at the 1997
convention in New Orleans, and I've been asked to speak to you about my convention
Bugner Educates the Press
Stephen Bugner
NFB Scholarship Winner
Educates the Press
From the Editor: The following article is
reprinted from the May 19, 1998, edition of the Providence Journal. Steven Bugner was a
1995 NFB scholarship winner and is an active member of the National Federation of the
Blind of Rhode Island. He has clearly taken to heart the importance of educating the
public about the normality and competence of blind people. Here is the story:
With Guide Dog by His Side, Steve Bugner
Sunday Papers
Marc Maurer in 1962.
Sunday Papers
by Matt Maurer
From the Editor: I was going through the mail one
day last May with my secretary when we came upon a brief letter from a man in Indiana. He
explained that he was sending me a short piece about starting a paper route with his
brother in 1962 or -3 when they were kids. He explained that his brother was blind and
that, aside from the humor of the story, he thought it demonstrated the determination of a
blind boy.
I turned to the article with curiosity and
N.C. Surprise From the Legislature
Herman Gruber
North Carolina Agency
Survives Surprise from Legislature
by Herman Gruber
From the Editor: On Tuesday morning, July 21, I
was at my desk when the phone rang. It was Wayne Shevlin, Second Vice President of the NFB
of North Carolina. His news was dismaying, but all too familiar. The state agency was in
deep trouble, and the affiliate was swinging into high gear to rescue it if it could be
done. Wayne had already talked to President Maurer and Peggy Elliott, and now he was
Early Blind Education
Martha Hays
U.S. Public School
Education of the Blind
in the Early Twentieth Century:
One Pupil's Account
by Jana L. Schroeder and Martha B. Hays
The following paper was prepared for the Second
International Conference on the Blind in History and the History of the Blind, which took
place in Paris, June 22 to 24, 1998. Jana Schroeder was a 1984 NFB scholarship winner and
a history major in college. She has worked for some years for the American Friends Service
Monitor Miniatures
Monitor Miniatures
News from the Technology World:
We received the following press release shortly
before the National Convention. It is self-explanatory:
Blazie Engineering to Acquire
Telesensory's Computer Access Products Group
Forest Hill, MD and Sunnyvale, CA—June 18,
1998--Blazie Engineering and Telesensory Corporation jointly announced the planned
acquisition by Blazie Engineering of Telesensory Corporation's Computer Access Products
Taking Out the Garbage
Taking Out the Garbage
by Kathy McGillivray
From the Editor: The following article first
appeared in the Spring, 1998, issue of the Minnesota Bulletin, a publication of the NFB of
Minnesota. Kathy McGillivray is a Disability Specialist in the Disability Services
department at the University of Minnesota. As Kathy's experience shows, NFB philosophy and
self-confidence come to a person in varied and interesting ways. This is what she says:
The day had finally arrived. The last box had
The NFB Makes the Difference
Seville Allen
Different Roads: The NFB
Makes the Difference
by Seville Allen
From the Editor: The following article first
appeared in the Spring, 1998, issue of the Vigilant, the publication of the National
Federation of the Blind of Virginia. Seville Allen edits that publication. She is a
longtime Federationist and a leader of the NFB of Virginia. This is what she says:
We hadn't seen each other since that day in June,
New Mexico School Update
New Mexico School Update
From the Editor: For some time now we have been
following the situation at the New Mexico School for the Visually Handicapped (NMSVH).
(See the October, 1996, issue of the Braille Monitor for details.) In May of this year the
U.S. Justice Department finally released its report on the school. It makes discouraging,
if not distressing, reading. In recent months some hopeful signs have appeared. The Board
of Regents is now radically different from the one that looked the other way when the